cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Expression of Endogenous Retrovirus ERV-3 Induces Differentiation in BeWo, a Choriocarcinoma Model of Human Placental Trophoblast

Differentiation-related expression of endogenous retrovirus ERV-3 env in the normal human placental syncytiotrophoblast suggests a role in placental development. The choriocarcinoma cell line BeWo, a model of trophoblast differentiation, is maintained in an undifferentiated state and undergoes differentiation upon the addition of forskolin. The expression of ERV-3 env mRNA increased after 48 h forskolin treatment, concurrently with increased intercellular fusion and production of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) mRNA, a hormonal differentiation marker for trophoblast. Over expression of ERV-3 env induced differentiation of BeWo characterized by decreased cell growth, differentiation-related morphologic changes, and induction of beta-hCG mRNA. These results support the first known role for the expression of an endogenous retrovirus in trophoblast differentiation.
Be careful what you wish for: the legacy of Smokey Bear

A century of wildfire suppression in the United States has led to increased fuel loading and large-scale ecological change across some of the nation's forests. Land management agencies have responded by increasing the use of prescribed fire and thinning. However, given the continued emphasis on fire suppression, current levels of funding for such fuel management practices are unlikely to maintain the status quo, let alone reverse the effects of fire exclusion. We suggest an alternative approach to wildfire management, one that places less emphasis on suppression and instead encourages managers to balance short-term wildfire damages against the long-term consequences of fire exclusion. However, any major change in wildfire management, such as the one proposed here, will shift the costs and benefits of wildfire management, inevitably raising opposition.
Stepping-Stone Spatial Structure Causes Slow Decay of Linkage Disequilibrium and Shifts the Site Frequency Spectrum

The symmetric island model with D demes and equal migration rates is often chosen for the investigation of the consequences of population subdivision. Here we show that a stepping-stone model has a more pronounced effect on the genealogy of a sample. For samples from a small geographical region commonly used in genetic studies of humans and Drosophila, there is a shift of the frequency spectrum that decreases the number of low-frequency-derived alleles and skews the distribution of statistics of Tajima, Fu and Li, and Fay and Wu. Stepping-stone spatial structure also changes the two-locus sampling distribution and increases both linkage disequilibrium and the probability that two sites are perfectly correlated. This may cause a false prediction of cold spots of recombination and may confuse haplotype tests that compute probabilities on the basis of a homogeneously mixing population.
Typestate Checking of Machine Code

We check statically whether it is safe for untrusted foreign machine code to be loaded into a trusted host system. Our technique works on ordinary machine code, and mechanically synthesizes (and verifies) a safety proof. Our earlier work along these lines was based on a C-like type system, which does not suffice for machine code whose origin is C++ source code. In the present paper, we address this limitation with an improved typestate system and introduce several new techniques, including: summarizing the effects of function calls so that our analysis can stop at trusted boundaries, inferring information about the sizes and types of stack-allocated arrays, and a symbolic range analysis for propagating information about array bounds. These techniques make our approach to safety checking more precise, more efficient, and able to handle a larger collection of real-life code sequences than was previously the case.
Toxicity of Oral Agents Used to Treat Diabetes

Oral agents used for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus include sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, metglitinides, and/or α-glucosidase inhibitors. These medication classes can b...
Exploration of the e-patient phenomenon in nursing informatics

The availability of health information on the Internet has equalized opportunities for knowledge between patients and their health care providers, creating a new phenomenon called the e-patient. E-patients use technology to actively participate in their health care and assume higher levels of responsibility for their own health and wellness. This phenomenon has implications for nursing informatics research related to e-patients and potential collaboration with practitioners in developing a collective wisdom. Nursing informatics can use the data, information, knowledge, and wisdom (DIKW) framework to understand how e-patients and clinicians may achieve this collective wisdom. Nurse informaticists can use constructivism and Gadamerian hermeneutics to bridge each stage of this framework to illustrate the fundamentals of patient and clinician interactions and commonality of language to achieve a collective wisdom. Examining the e-patient phenomenon will help nurse informaticists evaluate, design, develop, and determine the effectiveness of information systems used by e-patients. The Internet can facilitate a partnership between the patient and clinician and cultivate a collective wisdom, enhanced by collaboration between nurse informatics and e-patients.
Treating the Obese Dialysis Patient: Challenges and Paradoxes

Obesity is a major epidemic in the general population and has added unique challenges to renal replacement therapy as choice of access, dialysis adequacy, and preparation for kidney transplantation may all be affected. There are few clinical studies on managing obese patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and no accepted strategies for the variety of problems encountered in this population. Attempts at weight loss are generally advisable to prevent obesity-related surgical complications and improve patient and graft survival after kidney transplantation. This article reviews the unique aspects of managing obese patients with ESRD.
SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF BAKERY PRODUCTS CONTAINING DISTILLERS’ DRIED GRAIN FROM CORN, BARLEY, AND RYE

A commercially available distillers’ dried grain (DDG) was chemically and physically characterized and the effects of varying levels of the DDG on the sensory characteristics of bakery products were studied. Total dietary fiber (51.22%) and protein (26.59%) were the principal constituents of the DDG. Compared with all-purpose flour, the DDG was more acidic, absorbed more water and oil, and was darker in color. Consumer panels evaluated the acceptabilities and intensities of sensory characteristics of corn muffins, hush puppies, spiced doughnuts, and molasses-raisin cookies containing 10, 20, and 30% DDG (flour-weight basis). As the replacement level of DDG increased, the appearance, flavor, and texture of the products were adversely affected; however, acceptable products were prepared with either 10 or 20% DDG.
Calculation of electric fields and currents induced in a millimeter-resolution human model at 60 Hz using the FDTD method with a novel time-to-frequency-domain conversion

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has previously been used to calculate induced currents in anatomically based models of the human body at frequencies ranging from 20 to 915 MHz and resolutions down to 1.31 cm. Calculations at lower frequencies and higher resolutions have been precluded by the huge number of time steps which would be needed to run these simulations in the traditional way. This paper describes a new method used to overcome this problem and calculate the induced currents in a MRI-based 6-mm-resolution human model at 60 Hz. A new algorithm based on solving two equations with two unknowns is used for calculating magnitude and phase from the CW FDTD simulation. This allows magnitude and phase calculations to be made as soon as steady-state is reached, which is within a fraction of a cycle. For incident electric fields of 10 kV/m, local induced current densities above 16 mA/m/sup 2/ have been calculated in the torso, with even higher values up to 45 mA/m/sup 2/ for the legs. These are considerably higher than the 4 or even 10 mA/m/sup 2/ that have been suggested in the safety guidelines.
Analysis and comparison of TCP Reno and Vegas

We propose some improvements of TCP Vegas and compare its performance characteristics with TCP Reno. We argue through analysis that TCP Vegas, with its better bandwidth estimation scheme, uses the network resources more efficiently and fairly than TCP Reno. Simulation results are given that support the results of the analysis.
Analysis of Double-Negative (DNG) Bandwidth for a Metamaterial Composed of Magnetodielectric Spheres Embedded in a Matrix

Based on Mie scattering theory and effective medium theory, the percentage bandwidth in which permittivity and permeability of a simple cubic lattice of identical, nonmetallic mag neto-dielectric spheres are simultaneously negative (double-negative, or DNG) is analyzed. Relaxing the restriction of previous work, that k1a → 0 where k1 is the wavenumber in the matrix and α is the particle radius, new analytical formulas are obtained for k1a <; π/10, from which the DNG bandwidth can be easily computed. As an example, a contour map of DNG bandwidth for a wide range of values of particle permittivity and permeability is plotted for particle volume fraction f = 0.3. From the analytical formulas, it is shown that the maximum achievable DNG band width for a simple cubic lattice of spheres with particle volume fraction f = 0.3 is 7.4%, when the particle permittivity and permeability are both approximately 14 times greater than those of the matrix.
Gene therapy strategies for Usher syndrome type 1B.

Usher syndrome type 1B (Usher 1B) is an inherited deaf-blindness disorder, caused by mutations in the MYO7A gene. Newborns with Usher 1 are readily identified due to their congenital profound deafness. Thus, they are prime candidates for gene therapy to treat their ensuing progressive blindness. MYO7A functions in both the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor cells, and Myo7a-null mice demonstrate mutant phenotypes in both cell types. Preclinical studies have tested the efficacy of correcting these mutant phenotypes by delivering MYO7A cDNA with different lentiviral and adeno-associated viral vectors, following subretinal injections. Lentiviruses successfully delivered functional MYO7A to both RPE and photoreceptor cells, although the integrating viruses resulted in some variation in expression level, and thus efficacy, from cell to cell. The size of MYO7A cDNA is too large to be packaged by adeno-associated virus (AAV) without fragmentation; however, AAV delivery was nevertheless found to correct the mutant phenotypes. Therefore, although each viral approach has its own limitation, both vectors work to restore functional MYO7A in the mouse retina, and are realistic candidates for use in preventing blindness in Usher 1B patients.
An intrinsic characterization of foldings of euclidean space

Abstract A folding q : R d → R d is a nonexpansive mapping that is piecewise isometric. Every such function determines a polyhedral complex whose d-dimensional elements are the maximal sets on which q is an isometry. We characterize the complexes which arise from a folding in this manner.
Comments on Proposed Treasury Regulations Defining Terms Relating to Marital Status

These comments respond to proposed Treasury Regulations defining terms relating to marital status in the Internal Revenue Code following the Supreme Court's decision in the Windsor and Obergefell cases. The comments applaud the Internal Revenue Service for reading gendered terms relating to marital status in a gender-neutral fashion. For a number of reasons, however, the comments recommend that the final regulations omit the proposed rule for determining an individual’s marital status and, in its place, codify the current deference to local law in determining marital status for federal tax purposes. Most importantly, the comments further recommend that the final regulations reverse the IRS's current position regarding domestic partnerships, civil unions, and similar relationships and instead recognize those relationships for federal tax purposes.
Three-dimensional tumor cell cultures and the role of tissue biorepositories in personalized medicine

Tissue biorepositories have long been critically important for medical research by providing human tissues for scholarly investigations. In addition to this traditional research role, tissue banks are rapidly assuming new roles in the clinical side of medicine. In the modern era of personalized medicine, tissue biorepositories are increasingly expected to establish close collaborations with clinical and laboratory units and provide banked tissues for a variety of tests that in turn will guide clinical decision making tailored to the patient [1-4]. This new role of biorepositories requires the development of novel complex standard operating procedures (SOPs) for tissue collection, processing and storage that can provide tissues ideal for a variety of novel molecular and other tests [1,3,4].
Ultrasonic Devulcanization of SBR Rubber: Experimentation and Modeling Based on Cavitation and Percolation Theories

Abstract Continuous ultrasonic devulcanization of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is considered. Experiments are performed under various processing conditions. Two recipes of SBR with different amounts of polysulfidic linkages are utilized. Gel fraction and crosslink density of devulcanized rubbers are measured and a unique relationship between them is established. This relationship is found to be in agreement with the 3D percolation theory. Die characteristics with and without imposition of ultrasonic waves are determined. A modification of acoustic cavitation and flow modeling of ultrasonic devulcanization of SBR is proposed using a concept of effective viscosity characterizing the flow of vulcanized particles before devulcanization combined with a shear rate, temperature, and gel fraction dependent viscosity of devulcanized rubber. Velocity, shear rate, pressure, and temperature field along with gel fraction, crosslink density, and number of bonds broken are simulated. Predicted data on gel fraction, cr...
Photoacoustically Measured Speeds of Sound of Liquid HBO2: Semi-Empirical Modeling of Boron-Containing Explosives

Elucidation of geodynamic, geochemical, and shock-induced processes is often limited by challenges to determine accurately molecular fluid equations of state (EOS). High-pressure liquid-state react...
Targeted surveillance and preventive measures on related factors for nosocomial infections in ICU

OBJECTIVE To understand the characteristics of nosocomial infections in ICU and take targeted control measures.METHODS With the prospective target monitoring,the status of nosocomial infections in the hospitalized patients in ICU from Nov 2009 to Oct 2010 was investigated,the incidence of nosocomial infection was adjusted by using ASIS,the invasive operation-related infections were analyzed.RESULTS Among 644 hospitalized patients in ICU,nosocomial infections occurred in 70 patients with the infection rate of 10.87%,there were 104 case-times of infections with the case-time infection rate of 16.15%,the daily infection rate was 8.69 ‰,the daily infection rate was 2.65 ‰ after being adjusted with ASIS according to the average severity of the condition of the patients;the outbreak of the infection was closely related to the underlying diseases,extensive use of antimicrobial drugs,invasive operation,the advanced age and low immunity;the pathogens causing nosocomial infections were mainly the opportunistic pathogens among which gram-negative bacteria dominated.CONCLUSION ICU patients are the major population that are prone to nosocomial infections,the surveillance can be performed with the purpose,planed and orderly process;to find the problems and solve in a timely manner as well as to perform targeted inventions and correction can contribute to the reduction of nosocomial infections.
CLARIFY: Human-Powered Training of SMT Models.

We present CLARIFY, an augmented environment that aims to improve the quality of translations generated by phrase-based statistical machine translation systems through learning from humans. CLARIFY employs four types of knowledge input: 1) direct input 2) results from either a word alignment game, 3) an phrase alignment game, or 4) a paraphrasing game. All of these knowledge inputs elicit user knowledge to improve future system translations.
Solid State NMR Studies of Lipid Bilayer Structure

Phospholipid bilayers are an important class of lyotropic liquid crystals since they are the primary components of biological membranes. Using 2H, 31P, and 13C NMR we have examined a number of aspects of the structure and dynamics of these liquid crystalline systems. In particular, with 2H and 31P NMR we have examined the phase behavior of the ternary mixture dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) — Cholesterol (CHOL) — H2O and we detect “phase boundaries” at both ~20 and ~30 mole % CHOL, thus reconciling conflicting reports in the literature, and with 2H NMR we have studied the microscopic nature of the gel-liquid crystalline transition. Angular dependent 31P studies of highly oriented samples permit a determination of the head group conformation in DPPC and also an assessment of the order in the bilayer plane. Finally, we show that magic angle sample spinning experiments allow observation of high resolution 13C and 31P spectra of aqueous phospholipid dispersions, thus circumventing the decade old controversy of the effect of “sonication” on the NMR spectra of these systems.
Molecular Dissection of Vacuolar H+-Pyrophosphatase

It is now established that inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi) is a major energy source for electrogenic H+-translocation across the vacuolar membrane (tonoplast) of plant cells (Rea et al 1992a; Rea and Poole 1993). The enzyme responsible, the vacuolar H+-translocating pyrophosphatase (V-PPase; EC 3.6.1.1), which is an abundant membrane constituent, comprising 1–10% of total vacuolar membrane protein, exclusively utilizes PPi as substrate (Rea and Poole 1986) and, in parallel with the V-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3), generates an inside-acid, inside-positive transtonoplast H+-electrochemical potential difference. The H+ gradient so generated serves to energize a wide range of ΔpH and/or Δψ-coupled transport processes, including the vacuolar accumulation of low molecular weight solutes (sugars, amino acids, carboxylic acids, mineral ions) and the lumenal localization of storage proteins and lysosomal-type hydrolases. Because the plant vacuole is the largest intracellular organelle known, frequently accounting for 40 –99% of total intracellular volume, and directly participates in many fundamental physiological processes such as cytosolic pH stasis, “excretion” of metabolically perturbing agents (e.g. xenobiotics and alkaloids), sequestration of regulatory Ca2+, turgor regulation and nutrient storage and retrieval, any meaningful account of plant cell metabolism is contingent on an understanding of the functional characteristics and organization of the primary energizers responsible for the establishment of the requisite transmembrane ion gradients: the V-PPase and V-ATPase.
Bioactivation of xenobiotics by flavin-containing monooxygenases.

Flavoproteins are ubiquitous in nature but the ones referred to as flavin-containing monooxygenases, or simply by the acronym FMO, share a catalytic mechanism distinctly different from all other known oxidases or monooxygenases bearing flavin, heme or other redox active prosthetic groups. Like other mammalian monooxygenases, FMO’s require NADPH and oxygen as cosubstrates for the oxygenation of the third substrate but they differ in that the third substrate is not required for the generation of the enzyme bound oxygenating intermediate. Kinetic studies on mechanism (Poulsen and Ziegler, 1979, Beaty and Ballou, 1981a, 1981b) have shown that the xenobiotic substrate is not required for flavin reduction by NADPH nor for reoxidation of dihydroflavin by molecular oxygen. The latter reaction produces the 4a-hydroperoxyflavin which, in FMO, is stabilized by the protein microenvironment around the prosthetic group. The enzyme is apparently present within the cell in this form and any soft nucleophile that can gain access to the enzyme-bound oxygenating intermediate will be oxidized. Precise fit of substrate to enzyme is not necessary, and FMO catalyzes at the same maximum velocity the oxidation of compounds that possess few, if any structural features in common (Ziegler, 1988). These flavoproteins apparently discriminate between physiologically essential and xenobiotic soft nucleophiles by excluding the former rather than by selectively binding the latter. This property is largely responsible for the exceptionally broad specificity of these enzymes. Steric parameters controlling access of nucleophiles to the hydroperoxyflavin apparently differ in various forms of FMO.
The Ideology of Sound Science and Its Defense

This chapter explores the construction and deployment of the “sound science” defense of GMOs: examining the way in which proponents of GMOs use the supremacy of science as a means to silence critiques of the technology. Whereas political constraints force antagonists of GMOs to resort to alternative, and in some respects innovative, rhetorical strategies in order to politicize the issue of GM, proponents of GMOs adopt a discourse of “sound science,” which professes itself as a neutral, objective mechanism to evaluate GMOs. By refusing to label products as containing GMOs, producers and manufacturers of the technology attempt to render the product invisible through a political and rhetorical strategy to “depoliticize” the debate over the technology. 1
Patient characteristics and healthcare utilization patterns associated with unused medications among medicare patients.

Abstract Objective To examine what patient characteristics and healthcare utilization patterns are associated with the likelihood of having unused medications among elderly Medicare patients. Design Secondary data analysis combining insurance claims and phone survey data of Medicare Advantage members. Setting Regional health plan in Central Pennsylvania. Participants 528 Medicare Advantage members (age 65 and older), who had Medicare Part D coverage through Geisinger Health Plan as of December 31, 2013, and completed the phone survey in May of 2014. Main outcome Member survey response indicating whether or not the member had any unused medication at the time of the survey. Results 27% of the patients in the sample (142 out of 528) indicated having one or more unused medications. In a bivariate analysis, these patients had higher prevalence of chronic conditions, utilized more medical care (more emergency department visits and physician office visits), and incurred higher cost of care. In a multivariate analysis, patients who received medications with days' supply greater than 30 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.59; p = 0.03) and utilized more acute care (defined as inpatient admissions or emergency department visits) (OR = 4.2; p = 0.04) were more likely to have unused medications. Moreover, patients who were advised by health care professionals about proper medication disposal were less likely to have unused medications (OR = 0.52; p = 0.04). Conclusion These findings suggest potential ways to develop effective strategies to reduce amounts of unused medications. Such strategies are likely to involve limiting quantities of medications dispensed at each fill, and patient education on proper disposal of unused medications, particularly during care transitions.
Young Children’s Inductive Generalizations about Similarities between Siblings or Classmates

This study investigated 3- to 5-year-olds’ inductive generalizations about similarities between siblings. Children were presented with contrasts in appearance and either sibling or classmate status and asked to generalize either biological properties or behaviors. Performance did not differ from chance for judgments about siblings, but children generalized on the basis of appearance more than classmate status. Thus, young children do not necessarily expect siblings to share biological and behavioral characteristics, but do regard sibling status as different from an arbitrary social relationship such as classmate status.
The impact of detergents on the tissue decellularization process: A ToF-SIMS study.

Biologic scaffolds are derived from mammalian tissues, which must be decellularized to remove cellular antigens that would otherwise incite an adverse immune response. Although widely used clinically, the optimum balance between cell removal and the disruption of matrix architecture and surface ligand landscape remains a considerable challenge. Here we describe the use of time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) to provide sensitive, molecular specific, localized analysis of detergent decellularized biologic scaffolds. We detected residual detergent fragments, specifically from Triton X-100, sodium deoxycholate and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in decellularized scaffolds; increased SDS concentrations from 0.1% to 1.0% increased both the intensity of SDS fragments and adverse cell outcomes. We also identified cellular remnants, by detecting phosphate and phosphocholine ions in PAA and CHAPS decellularized scaffolds. The present study demonstrates ToF-SIMS is not only a powerful tool for characterization of biologic scaffold surface molecular functionality, but also enables sensitive assessment of decellularization efficacy.
Cranioplasty Complications and Costs: A National Population-Level Analysis Using the MarketScan Longitudinal Database.

Objective To characterize cranioplasty complications and costs at a population level using a longitudinal national claims database. Methods We identified patients undergoing cranioplasty between 2007 and 2014 in the MarketScan national database. We evaluated age, autograft usage, cranioplasty size, and cranioplasty timing stratified by postoperative outcomes. We further analyzed associated costs. A subset analysis of adult patients with emergent indications, including stroke and trauma, was performed. Results We identified 8275 patients (mean age 44.0 years ± 20.0, 45.2% male), including 13.8% children ( P 5 cm) had higher complication rates than small cranioplasties (≤5 cm; P = 0.047). In patients with emergent indications ( n = 1282), size did not influence complications, although large cranioplasties showed higher infection risk ( P = 0.02). Autograft use did not affect outcomes but was associated with higher complication risk, including infections, in the subset with emergent indications ( P P = 0.001). Late (>90 days) cranioplasty timing had higher complication rates in the overall cohort and the subset with emergent indications ( P P Conclusions A high complication rate is associated with cranioplasty in the United States. Older age, large cranioplasties, and delayed cranioplasties increased complication risk overall. Among patients with emergent indications, complications were associated with delayed time to cranioplasty and autograft usage.
Emergency Department Visits for Postpartum Complications.

Abstract Introduction: Most estimates of the prevalence and types of postpartum complications are based on hospital readmissions. However, using hospital readmissions (which occurs in only 1%–2% of postpartum women) is problematic as it fails to include women with postpartum complications assessed in the office or emergency department (ED). We utilized data from a cohort of women evaluated in an ED setting to better characterize complications experienced by women in the postpartum period. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all postpartum visits to the ED at a tertiary care women's hospital over 6 months. We described characteristics of the population and clinical details of the ED visit, specifically the presenting complaint, delivery type, final diagnosis, and admission rate. Results: Among 5708 deliveries during the study period, 252 women had at least one visit to the ED within 42 days after delivery, and the median timing for first visit was 7.5 days postpartum. The most c...
Matter Pools: Fluidity and Containment in French Decadent Literature: Essays in Honour of Robert E. Ziegler

‘Matter pools’, an expression drawn from Robert Ziegler's Octave Mirbeau's Fictions of the Transcendental (2015), evokes the generally transparent materials comprising the seemingly impervious cont...
Bruce Schneier on Future Digital Threats

Computer security expert Bruce Schneier weighs in on a number of issues explored in this column.
Walk this way, talk this way: legislator speech and lobbying

Prior scholarship suggests that public committee hearings allow legislators to grandstand, but serve little purpose from a representation perspective. Here, I show some legislators use committee hearings to represent elite interests, and that elites take that form of representation as a credible commitment. Using a novel dataset of hearing transcripts in the 1990–2016 period, I show legislators who speak with greater similarity to interest group representatives are more likely to take jobs as lobbyists upon leaving office. Public committee hearings allow legislators to commit to the preferences of organized interests. I also show public committee hearings have not become more acrimonious, inconsistent with a pure “grandstanding” theory, nor less sophisticated over time.
Extracting viewpoints from knowledge bases

Viewpoints are coherent collections of facts that describe a concept from a particular perspective. They are essential for a wide variety of tasks, such as explanation generation and qualitative modeling. We have identified many types of viewpoints and developed a program, the View Retriever, for extracting them from knowledge bases, either singly or in combinations. The View Retriever provides a general solution to the central problem in extracting viewpoints: determining which facts are relevant to requested viewpoints. Our evaluation indicates that viewpoints extracted by the View Retriever are comparable in coherence to those people construct.
Angioplasty/Stenting/Lysis/Thrombectomy of Hemodialysis Access

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects approximately one in nine people in the United States with over 300,000 patients on hemodialysis.
Response To Margalit

That it is logically possible that any extralogical statement we believe true is false is, of course, vacuous full stop. Instead of calling it “near vacuous”, I should, perhaps, have said “nearly innocuous”. The claim is utterly innocuous as long as one is not tempted to conclude that the logical possibility that an extralogical statement is false ought always to be taken seriously. But the temptation seems to be quite strong and attracts followers of the thesis of fallibilism which is far from vacuous or innocuous.
The effects of microstructure and porosity on the competing fatigue failure mechanisms in powder metallurgy Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract In near-net-shape manufacturing methods, such as powder metallurgy, additive manufacturing, and metal injection molding, porosity has historically been viewed as the sole limiting factor for fatigue life. This is because pores tend to act as stress concentrators. However, in this work, a fractographic analysis of Ti-6Al-4V produced through several powder metallurgy techniques has shown that microstructural faceting due to slip can cause fatigue failure, even in the presence of porosity. The likelihood of pore related failure was found to be dependent on microstructure size and morphology. Additionally, a minimum pore size threshold was found to exist for each microstructure, under which pores will not cause fatigue failure. A simple model was developed to determine this threshold based on the microstructural characteristics of the material. This model was then compared to experimental data and properly predicted the fatigue failure mechanism in over 99% of the samples examined.
Operative Behandlung der arthrotischen Hüftschmerzen mit Trochanterabmeißelung kombiniert mit partieller Bänder- und Kapselresektion sowie Adduktorentenotomie

Es wird uber eine operative Behandlungsmethode der arthrotischen Huftschmerzen mittels Trochanterabmeiselung, kombiniert mit partieller Bander- und Kapselresektion sowie Adduktorentenotomie, berichtet. Nach einem schematischen Uberblick uber Moglichkeiten konservativer und operativer Behandlungen beim arthrotischen Huftschmerz werden bei obiger palliativ-operativer Methode die anatomischen Grundlagen und die Indikationen schrieben. Das Patientengut wurde bezuglich Altersverteilung, Liegedauer und Atiologie der Huftarthrose untersucht. Es sind zu 72% altere Leute, d. h. uber 50 Jahre alt. Bei 21, das sind 70% der 30 operierten und beurteilten Patienten trat allgemein eine Besserung der Schmerzen ein. Bei 8 dieser 21 Patienten entstand die Schmerzbesserung wohl infolge der nachfolgenden Versteifung, so das bei 13 Patienten die Schmerzen gelindert und gleichzeitig auch die Beweglichkeit gebessert wurde.
Influence of Sex on Cognition and Peripheral Neurovascular Function in Diabetic Mice

Cognition impairment and peripheral neuropathy (DPN) are two major complications of diabetes. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of sex differences on cognition and DPN in diabetic mice. Male and female BKS.Cg-m+/+Leprdb/J (db/db) and db/m mice were used. At ages of 20 and 30 weeks, all animals were subjected to learning, memory and neurological function tests. Regional blood flow in footpad and sciatic nerves were measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. Our data showed that male db/db mice aged 20 weeks and 30 weeks spent significantly more time to locate the hidden platform in the correct quadrant and spent significantly less time exploring the cage with a new stranger mouse compared to aged-matched female db/db mice. Electrophysiological recordings showed that male db mice aged 30 weeks had significantly reduced motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity compared with females. Hot plate and tactile allodynia tests revealed that males exhibited significantly higher thermal and mechanical latency than females. Male db mice aged 30 weeks displayed significantly reduced blood perfusion in sciatic nerve and footpad tissues compared with females. In addition, compared with male and female non-diabetic db/m mice, db/db mice exhibited increased time spent on locating the hidden platform, decreased time spent on exploring the novel odor bead and an unfamiliar mouse, as well as showed significantly lower levels of blood flow, lower velocity of MCV and SCV, higher thermal and mechanical latencies. Blood glucose levels and body weight were not significantly different between male and female diabetic animals (age 30 weeks), but male db mice showed a higher serum total cholesterol content. Together, our data suggest that males develop a greater extent of diabetes-induced cognition deficits and peripheral neurovascular dysfunction than females.
Impact of Resistive Superconductive Fault Current Limiter’s Location and its Resistance Value on the Stability of Micro Grid System

There is considerable research literature that discusses designs and properties of resistive Superconductive Fault Current Limiter in the field of power systems. However, only few consider applications of Superconductive Fault Current Limiter in Micro Grid Systems. This paper studies the impact of the Superconductive Fault Current Limiter’s resistance value and physical location in a Micro Grid System by simulating faulty conditions including three phase faults. The studies vary the number of Superconductive Fault Current Limiters and wind turbines. Simulation results prove that the location of the Superconductive Fault Current Limiter and its resistive value have different impacts on currents in the system during faulty conditions.
Helicopter Parenting and Adjustment Outcomes in Young Adulthood: A Consideration of the Mediating Roles of Mastery and Self-Regulation

The present study considered whether helicopter parenting in emerging adulthood is linked to adjustment outcomes (i.e., social competence, prosocial behavior, depression, substance use, and lifetime criminality) above and beyond other parenting practices (i.e., acceptance, psychological and firm control), and whether any associations are mediated by personal mastery and/or self-regulation. Young adults ages 18 to 24 years responded to anonymous internet surveys (N= 302; 64.9% female, 79.4% white, 9.1% Hispanic). High helicopter parenting was linked to low mastery, self-regulation, and social competence, and to high depression. Only associations with depression were attenuated when other parenting practices were controlled. Direct effects of helicopter parenting on depression and social competence were mitigated to non-significance when self-regulation and/or mastery were modeled. Helicopter parenting and parental acceptance had indirect effects on all forms of adjustment via self-regulation, as well as indirect effects via mastery for depression. Collectively, the findings suggest that helicopter parenting has comparatively stronger impacts for socio-emotional versus behavioral adjustment, operating indirectly via self-regulation versus mastery.
Hospital to home transport at end of life: Survey of clinician experience:

Background:Palliative transport is transport home of patients requiring critical care transport support with expectation of imminent death. Many parents prefer their child’s death at home; evidence...
Matters of Life and Death: Why Do Older Patients Choose Conservative Management?

Background Although many older patients with end-stage renal disease and limited prognoses prefer conservative management (CM), it is not widely offered in the United States. Moreover, there is a dearth of US-based literature reporting clinical experience with shared decision making regarding CM of advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods We describe the clinical experience of 13 patients who opted for CM at the University of Rochester Medical Center's CKD clinic during 2016-2017. Main outcomes include: (1) reason for choosing CM, (2) completion of advance directives, (3) location of death, and (4) utilization of hospice service. Patients' reasons for choosing CM were categorized into 4 broad categories based on a review of their electronic medical records. A retrospective chart review conducted by 2 reviewers determined the status of advance care planning, hospice referral, and place of death. Results The mean age of these patients was 81.8 years (SD 7.3). Their reasons for choosing CM included: poor prognoses; a wish to maintain their quality of life; their desire for a dignified life closure; and the intention to protect family members from having to see them suffer, based on their own memory of having witnessed a relative on dialysis previously. A total of 8 patients died: all received hospice services, 6 died at home, one at a nursing home, and one at a hospital. Advance care planning was completed in 100% of the cases. Symptoms were managed in collaboration with primary care physicians. Conclusion Patients' decisions to choose CM were influenced by their values and previous experience with dialysis, in addition to comorbidities and limited prognoses. Promoting the choice of CM in the United States will require training of clinicians in primary palliative care competencies, including communication and decision-making skills, as well as basic symptom management proficiencies.
Individual differences in selective attention and scanning dynamics influence children’s learning from relevant non-targets in a visual search task

Efficient selective attention is critical for engaging in task-oriented behavior but may also limit our processing of potentially meaningful, task-irrelevant details. Both older adults and younger children demonstrate poor selective attention skills but show increased processing of task-irrelevant information. This broader attention to non-targets can benefit learning among older adults when the non-target information is relevant to a primary learning goal. Although young children show similar patterns of attention to non-targets, it is unknown whether relevant non-targets similarly benefit their learning. This study examined the relationship between 4- to 8-year-old children's selective attention skills and their learning from incidental exposure to relevant non-targets. In Experiment 1, children completed an incidental encoding phase, followed by a visual search task and then a final recognition memory task. During the search task, participants identified a target within arrays containing 0, 5, 10, or 15 non-targets. Half of the images from the encoding phase appeared in the search as "relevant" non-targets, whereas the remainder never appeared during the search task. Participants showed better memory for images presented as relevant non-targets. However, children showed the largest memory benefit when efficient selective attention allowed for increased scanning of the relevant non-targets after target detection. Experiment 2 confirmed that children showed similarly efficient selective attention skills but no longer showed enhanced learning when they could not scan relevant non-targets following target detection. These results suggest that children's incidental learning from relevant non-targets is an active process that depends on how children use selective attention to engage in effective information gathering.
Reduced-Complexity Singular Value Decomposition For Tucker Decomposition: Algorithm And Hardware

Tensors, as the multidimensional generalization of matrices, are naturally suited for representing and processing high-dimensional data. To date, tensors have been widely adopted in various data-intensive applications, such as machine learning and big data analysis. However, due to the inherent large-size characteristics of tensors, tensor algorithms, as the approaches that synthesize, transform or decompose tensors, are very computation and storage expensive, thereby hindering the potential further adoptions of tensors in many application scenarios, especially on the resource-constrained hardware platforms. In this paper, we propose a reduced-complexity SVD (Singular Vector Decomposition) scheme, which serves as the key operation in Tucker decomposition. By using iterative self-multiplication, the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the storage and computational costs of SVD, thereby reducing the complexity of the overall process. Then, corresponding hardware architecture is developed with 28nm CMOS technology. Our synthesized design can achieve 102GOPS with 1.09 mm2 area and 37.6 mW power consumption, and thereby providing a promising solution for accelerating Tucker decomposition.
Chapter 5 – ADHD

Publisher Summary This chapter reveals that patients with symptoms of ADHD without comorbid depression or anxiety should initially be tried on caffeine, and if insufficient response is obtained, pycnogenol may be tried. If insufficient response is evident, Omega-3 supplements may be attempted, again as monotherapy or as adjuncts to caffeine and/or pycnogenol. Patients with symptoms of ADHD and comorbid anxiety should initially be tried on inositol, and DMAE or choline can be added. If insufficient response is apparent, Omega-3 can be attempted, as monotherapy or adjunct to inositol and vitamin E and/or carnitine may also be added. Because of its potentially activating effects, patients with anxiety probably are not good candidates for rhodiola.
Revisiting hierarchy: Deep learning with orthogonally constrained prior for classification

Abstract Deep learning has attracted significant attention for its applications to a variety of classification problems, such as handwritten recognition, image classification and document categorization. One reason behind the success of deep learning can be attributed to its strong representation power with multiple layers of hidden variables. However, complex models are often encompassed with overfitting problems when limited training data is available. In this paper, we are interested in deep learning for classification with prior, where the set of labels are expressed in a hierarchy. In particular, we attempt to leverage knowledge transfer and parameter sharing among classes. We introduce the orthogonally constrained prior into deep learning, which exploits the following information among different classes: (1) introduce weight decomposition to model parameter sharing along the path from the root to leafs; (2) incorporate the orthogonal restrictions among adjacent nodes in the hierarchy. We test our method on challenge datasets in the case of a few training examples available, and show promising results compared to support vector machines and other deep learning methods.
Radiation Dose to the Rectum With Definitive Radiation Therapy and Hydrogel Spacer Versus Postprostatectomy Radiation Therapy.

Abstract Purpose Management options for localized prostate cancer include definitive radiation therapy (RT) or radical prostatectomy, with a subset of surgical patients requiring adjuvant or salvage RT after prostatectomy. The use of a peri-rectal hydrogel spacer in patients receiving definitive RT has been shown to reduce rectal doses and toxicity. However, in the postprostatectomy setting, a hydrogel spacer cannot be routinely placed. Therefore, we sought to compare rectal dosimetry between definitive RT with a hydrogel spacer versus postoperative RT. Methods and Materials We identified patients with prostate cancer who underwent conventionally fractionated RT. Rectal dosimetry was evaluated between 2 groups: definitive RT with a hydrogel spacer (79.2 Gy, group 1) and postoperative RT (70.2 Gy, group 2). Rectal dosimetry values were tabulated and compared using Mann-Whitney U test. We implemented a Bonferroni correction to account for multiple comparisons (threshold P Results We identified 51 patients treated during years 2017 to 2018; 16 (31%) and 35 (69%) patients were included in groups 1 and 2, respectively. The rectal volume receiving ≥65 Gy (V65) was significantly lower in group 1 (median, 2.1%; interquartile range, 0.9%-3.1%) than in group 2 (10.7%, 6.6%-14.5%) (P Conclusions Rectal dosimetry is more favorable for definitive RT (79.2 Gy) with a hydrogel spacer compared with postoperative RT (70.2 or 66.6 Gy). This may inform shared decision-making regarding primary management of prostate cancer, especially among patients at high risk of needing postoperative RT after prostatectomy.