cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protein-Energy Wasting as a Risk Factor of Morbidity and Mortality in Chronic Kidney Disease

Mortality remains extremely high in patients with dialysis-requiring end-stage renal disease and nondialysis dependent CKD. Whereas traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors are unable to account for this high mortality risk, abnormal nutrition and inflammation have been shown to be some of the strongest risk factors associated with adverse outcomes in these groups. Due to their complex interplay, condition characterized by the presence of malnutrition and/or inflammation are now grouped under the term protein-energy wasting. Indicators of protein-energy wasting such as low serum albumin, low blood cholesterol, low protein intake or low BMI have been associated with an array of adverse outcomes in CKD and ESRD, such as increased mortality, morbidity, and hospitalization rates. Some of these indicators are also traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and the presence of protein-energy wasting may be one of the main reasons why such traditional risk factors have shown inverse associations with outcomes in CKD and ESRD compared to the general population. This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of the epidemiology of protein-energy wasting in CKD and ESRD, including its associations with various adverse outcomes, and discusses the possible pathophysiologic underpinnings of such associations. The strong associations of virtually all aspects of protein-energy wasting with adverse outcomes in CKD and ESRD suggests that treatments directed against these conditions may be beneficial toward improving outcomes in these patients. While there are currently no large clinical trials proving such a benefit, we discuss epidemiologic evidence supporting the efficacy of nutritional interventions in achieving better clinical outcomes in CKD and ESRD.
São Paulo – Normative Autonomy and Informational Failures

Entao! Olhe pra voce e lembre dos irmaos! Com o sangue espalhado, fizeram muitas noticias! Mortos da mao da policia, fuzilados de brucos no chao. Me causa raiva e indignacao A sua indiferenca quanto a nossa destruicao! Racionais MC's, “Juri Racional” (2006) Se eu fosse magico? Nao existia droga, nem fome, nem policia. Racionais MC's, “Magico de Oz” (1998) The Brazilian rap artists Racionais MC's sing of society's indifference to those shot by the police. Their words accurately suggest that state violence in Brazil occurs in a social context that is largely indifferent to the deaths of the poor and marginalized. Only the most dramatic and bloody of these events make the news. It is no surprise, then, that they put the police squarely in the trio of ills they would eliminate if they had magical powers: no more drugs, no more hunger, no more police. All three have a deadly effect on the urban poor of Brazil. This chapter relates precisely this story – the dismal failure of an otherwise relatively functional legal system to respond to a violent police force, largely owing to the indifference of the general public. Sao Paulo presents a clear challenge to the notion that democracy comes all of a piece. Political rights are alive and vibrant in Sao Paulo, and yet the police routinely violate fundamental civil rights and, in practical terms, remain above the law.
Speed of Sound in Gases Measured by in Situ Generated White Noise

The speed of sound in gases is measured by in situ generated white noise in an acoustic tube. The white noise is generated by the expansion of compressed gas rather than electronically. An acoustic tube acts as a resonant filter. A Fourier transform of the recorded sound pressure can identify the resonant acoustic modes which can be related back to the speed of sound in the gas. The student results with this method were compared to prior student results which measured the wavelength of single frequencies by phase comparison. The Fourier transform method using in situ generated white noise showed better accuracy.
Omega-3 production by fermentation of Yarrowia lipolytica: From fed-batch to continuous.

The omega-3 fatty acid, cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5; EPA) has wide-ranging benefits in improving heart health, immune function, and mental health. A sustainable source of EPA production through fermentation of metabolically engineered Yarrowia lipolytica has been developed. In this paper, key fed-batch fermentation conditions were identified to achieve 25% EPA in the yeast biomass, which is so far the highest EPA titer reported in the literature. Dynamic models of the EPA fermentation process were established for analyzing, optimizing, and scaling up the fermentation process. In addition, model simulations were used to develop a two-stage continuous process and compare to single-stage continuous and fed- batch processes. The two stage continuous process, which is equipped with a smaller growth fermentor (Stage 1) and a larger production fermentor (Stage 2), was found to be a superior process to achieve high titer, rate, and yield of EPA. A two-stage continuous fermentation experiment with Y. lipolytica strain Z7334 was designed using the model simulation and then tested in a 2 L and 5 L fermentation system for 1,008 h. Compared with the standard 2 L fed-batch process, the two-stage continuous fermentation process improved the overall EPA productivity by 80% and EPA concentration in the fermenter by 40% while achieving comparable EPA titer in biomass and similar conversion yield from glucose. During the long-term experiment it was also found that the Y. lipolytica strain evolved to reduce byproduct and increase lipid production. This is one of the few continuous fermentation examples that demonstrated improved productivity and concentration of a final product with similar conversion yield compared with a fed-batch process. This paper suggests the two-stage continuous fermentation could be an effective process to achieve improved production of omega-3 and other fermentation products where non-growth or partially growth associated kinetics characterize the process. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 798-812. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Wood, Flour, Journal: How the Electronic Turn Has Affected the Way Journals are Found, Used, and Read

The repercussions of the recent dramatic shift in journal publication from a print to a digital platform – a shift termed by the author “the electronic turn” - are far-reaching. Delivered originally as a part of a panel discussion, this essay marks out the profound changes around journal content: how academic libraries purchase it, in how they provide access to it, and in how people use it. Factors contributing to the process include the growth of technological capacity, new publishing models, economic necessity, user preference, and changes in the way people prefer to read. The “electronic turn” is viewed as at the same time unavoidable and calling for corresponding changes in the mindsets of libraries, of publishers, and of researchers.
Do Pacific Islanders in the United States Hold "Good" Jobs?

In the 1980's, the quality of jobs held by Pacific Islander householders generally improved, while job quality declined for the average American householder. The factors that improved the economic position of a Pacific Islander household--education, work experience, and good English language skills--were the same as those that improved the position of other households in the United States. Over the decade, Pacific Islander householders generally acquired more of these productive attributes, which helped them to find employment, get access to better jobs, and increase their earnings.
Motivational neural circuits underlying reinforcement learning.

Reinforcement learning (RL) is the behavioral process of learning to associate rewards with actions or objects. Conceptual and theoretical accounts of RL have focused on the striatum. However, recent data shows that the amygdala also plays an important role in RL.
Substance Use and Bullying Victimization Among Middle and High School Students: Is Positive School Climate a Protective Factor?

This study examined the relationships among substance use, bullying victimization, and school climate among middle and high school students. In high school students, bullying victimization predicted substance use, and victims with positive perceptions of school climate reported less illicit drug use.
Measuring Cognitive Processing Capabilities in Solving Mathematical Problems

Understanding the sources of processing complexity in mathematical problem solving items is an important aspect of test validity. The sources of cognitive complexity may be either construct relevant or construct irrelevant. Studies have shown that the levels and sources of cognitive complexity predict item difficulty (e.g., S.E. Embretson, R.C. Daniel, Understanding and quantifying cognitive complexity level in mathematical problem solving items. Psychol. Sci. 50, 328–344 (2008)) and, further, that items can be selected or designed for difficulty in different sources of cognitive complexity. Although these results are relevant to the response processes aspect of construct validity, potential impact on the other aspects of validity was not addressed. That is, the modeling procedures did not include multidimensional measurement of individual differences in processing capabilities. In the current study, the multicomponent latent trait model for diagnosis (MLTM-D; S.E. Embretson, X. Yang, A multicomponent latent trait model for diagnosis. Psychometrika 78, 14–36 (2013)) was applied to measure cognitive processing capabilities in processing mathematical items. Individual differences in patterns of processing capabilities were significantly related to examinee background variables, thus indicating potential impact on the consequential aspect of validity. Implications of the findings for item design and test development are discussed.
Altered Met receptor phosphorylation and LRP1-mediated uptake in cells lacking carbohydrate-dependent lysosomal targeting.

Acid hydrolases utilize a carbohydrate-dependent mechanism for lysosomal targeting. These hydrolases acquire a mannose 6-phosphate tag by the action of the GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase enzyme, allowing them to bind receptors and traffic to endosomes. Loss of GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase results in hydrolase hypersecretion and profound lysosomal storage. Little, however, is known about how these cellular phenotypes affect the trafficking, activity, and localization of surface glycoproteins. To address this question, we profiled the abundance of surface glycoproteins in WT and CRISPR-mediated GNPTAB−/− HeLa cells and identified changes in numerous glycoproteins, including the uptake receptor LRP1 and multiple receptor tyrosine kinases. Decreased cell surface LRP1 in GNPTAB−/− cells corresponded with a reduction in its steady-state level and less amyloid-β-40 (Aβ40) peptide uptake. GNPTAB−/− cells displayed elevated activation of several kinases including Met receptor. We found increased Met phosphorylation within both the kinase and the docking domains and observed that lower concentrations of pervanadate were needed to cause an increase in phospho-Met in GNPTAB−/− cells. Together, these data suggested a decrease in the activity of the receptor and non-receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatases that down-regulate Met phosphorylation. GNPTAB−/− cells exhibited elevated levels of reactive oxygen species, known to inactivate cell surface and cytosolic phosphatases by oxidation of active site cysteine residues. Consistent with this mode of action, peroxide treatment of parental HeLa cells elevated phospho-Met levels whereas antioxidant treatment of GNPTAB−/− cells reduced phospho-Met levels. Collectively, these findings identify new mechanisms whereby impaired lysosomal targeting can impact the activity and recycling of receptors.
Inhaled budesonide reduced symptoms of mild asthma in primary care

Source Citation O'Byrne P, Cuddy L, Taylor DW, et al. Efficacy and cost benefit of inhaled corticosteroids in patients considered to have mild asthma in primary care practice. Can Respir J. 1996 Ma...
Kinetics of Gelation Monitored Through Dynamics

During the past decade significant advances have been made in developing an understanding of the underlying physics controlling the gelation process in a variety of systems. Of particular interest has been the desire to explore gelation in terms of critical phenomena using critical point exponents for diverging static quantities, such as the weight average molecular weight and cluster sizes. This has encompassed tests of scaling predictions from the Flory-Stockmayer (FS) mean field theory and also percolation models at the gelation threshold.1–3 Of more recent interest has been the desire to examine the gelation critical point using dynamics.4–8 Predictions and experimental values for the divergence exponents of the zero shear rate viscosity and modulus near the gel point have been reported for a number of systems.9–11 However problems exist comparing theory and experiment because of the inability to perform a true zero shear rate experiment particularly given the divergence of the longest relaxation time in the gelling solution.
Poster abstract: Location-centric relationship graph for indoor mobility using WLANs

Understanding the mobile user flow flux patterns is important for numerous applications. Much of the mobility modeling studies have focused on a user-centric approach for outdoors movement. In this study, we take a location-centric approach for indoor mobility to analyze and characterize region relationships as pertains to user flow. Our study is trace-driven, as we use extensive measurements from wireless LANs, and mine them to quantify metrics for influx and outflux for various buildings at a university campus involving more than 84K anonymous mobile users. We derived the regions' relationship graph and compute and contrast its properties in different buildings during both a weekday and a weekend. Then, the influx and outflux degrees are computed for regions during thirty days. Interestingly, the degrees do not follow a power law distribution.
Remembering the Bengal Partition: Trauma and the “slow violence” of refugee existence

I read Jyotirmoyee Devi's 1967 Bengali novel The River Churning as a trauma narrative by focusing on the female protagonist Sutara's experience of a “social death” in the aftermath of an attack on ...
Prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from beef animal hides and carcasses.

This study determined the prevalence of Salmonella on beef animal hides and carcasses and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles against a panel of 13 antibiotics. In each of the eight commercial packing facilities, of which five processed primarily heifers and steers and the remaining three processed primarily cows and bulls, hide and carcass sponge swab samples were obtained immediately before hide removal and before carcass chilling, respectively. Overall, prevalence of Salmonella on external surfaces (hides) of cattle was 15.4% (49 of 319), whereas prevalence after dehiding and other slaughtering/dressing processes, including the application of decontamination treatments, was, as expected, reduced (P < 0.05) to 1.3% (4 of 320) on carcass surfaces. From 53 total Salmonella-positive hide and carcass samples, 526 biochemically confirmed isolates were obtained to determine antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. Of 53 Salmonella-positive samples, individually, 24 (45.3%), 17 (32.1%), 17 (32.1%), 11 (20.8%),...
The Surgical Treatment of Chordee Without Hypospadias in Men

AbstractDuring a 2-year period we treated 26 young men for chordee without hypospadias. Many of these patients had straight erections as children but a ventral curvature developed as they achieved puberty. We describe the anatomical findings and discuss the possible cause for the development of this anomaly.Surgical therapy begins with a circumcising incision and reflection of the skin to expose the shaft of the penis. The corpus spongiosum containing the urethra was mobilized by resecting the dysgenetic tissue in the dartos and Buck’s fascia layers. In 1 patient this dissection was sufficient to straighten the penis but in the remaining 25 the penis was not straight. In those patients we mobilized the dorsal bundle of vessels and nerves, and removed 1 or several ellipses of tunica albuginea to equalize the lengths of the ventral and dorsal aspects of the corpora cavernosa. The corpus spongiosum usually is elastic and the curve almost never is caused by shortness of the urethra, which stretches to fit the...
A Grants Management System for Cost Accounting

The explosive increase in demand for services, relative to the increase in resources, has made essential the need for good financial management, including cost and managerial accounting. Municipalities have found grants from contracts with the Federal and State governments important sources of financing. According to a recent survey, nearly 40% of U.S. cities’ general fund revenue is derived from Federal and State grants.(1) In the case of the City of New York, in 1978, for example, about 37.8% of the City’s general fund revenue came from these sources. It follows that the generation of relevant information involving grant-related financial activities is necessary for the effective and systematic management of this source of the City’s general fund revenue. To address this need, the City of New York has recently installed what is called the grants management system (GMS). Its objective is to provide in an accurate and timely manner specific accounting and reporting facilities needed to manage grants.
Dose dependent inhibition of uridine phosphorylase (UP) by eniluracil (EU): Was the clinical inferiority of the EU/5-fluorouracil (5-FU) phase III trials due to an unrecognized inhibition of 5-FU anabolism?

2058 Background: Eniluracil (EU) is an irreversible inactivator of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). EU inhibits DPD dependent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) catabolism, allowing for oral 5-FU administ...
Endovascular treatment for erectile dysfunction: an old paradigm revisited.

In 1962, the science historian Thomas Samuel Kuhn described a paradigm as not just current scientific theory, but rather the entire world view that encompassed this knowledge ([1][1]). Scientific progress is made when there are anomalies that cannot be explained in one paradigm, leading to a
A Survey of File Organizations and Performance

The importance of information systems in today’s society is well recognized. Their users may vary from government executives and army generals to bank tellers and library patrons. Users’ requirements for an information system may vary significantly, but they all have at least two common goals. That is, they would like to improve performance and reduce cost.
SOLID NITROGEN AT PRESSURES UP TO 410 KBAR

ABSTRACT We pressurized nitrogen from 25 to 410 kbar in a diamond cell at room temperature and observed that the solid remained clear and colorless. Measurements of Raman scattering from 39 to 374 kbar show a smooth increase in the molecular stretching frequency, indicating that no major structural change takes place in the N 2 molecule. Above about 49 kbar, however, the Raman line was accompanied by a weaker, higher frequency peak. From single-crystal x-ray diffraction studies, we found that solid nitrogen undergoes a phase transition near the appearance of the second peak.
Utility and factors associated with imaging early-stage breast cancer: Are we choosing wisely?

52Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women with estimated care costs of $20.50 billion/year by 2020. In 2012, ASCO released the Choosing Wisely Initiative which recommended against the use of routine imaging in patients with newly diagnosed early stage BC. We examined the adherence rate and factors associated with non-adherence in patients with early stage BC treated within a large health care system. Methods: We identified all women with stage I-II BC diagnosed between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2015 from the Cancer Registry of Mount Sinai Health System. Demographic, clinical and treatment related factors were collected. Medical records were reviewed to identify patients who had routine staging scan. Data of initial and follow-up imaging over 1-year period were collected. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from logistic regression models. Results: Among 733 BC patients, the median age at diagnosis was 58 (range 26-98). One hundred thirty...
Whole Cell Electrophysiology of Primary Cultured Murine Enterochromaffin Cells

Enterochromaffin (EC) cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) epithelium constitute the largest subpopulation of enteroendocrine cells. As specialized sensory cells, EC cells sense luminal stimuli and convert them into serotonin (5-hyroxytryptamine, 5-HT) release events. However, the electrophysiology of these cells is poorly understood because they are difficult to culture and to identify. The method presented in this paper outlines primary EC cell cultures optimized for single cell electrophysiology. This protocol utilizes a transgenic cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) reporter to identify mouse EC cells in mixed primary cultures, advancing the approach to obtaining high-quality recordings of whole cell electrophysiology in voltage- and current-clamp modes.
Language-independent talker-specificity in bilingual speech intelligibility: Individual traits persist across first-language and second-language speech

The present study provides evidence of a positive correlation between L1 and L2 intelligibility for bilingual talkers. Each talker in a group of Mandarin-English and Korean-English bilinguals was recorded producing simple sentences in each of their languages. The recordings were then presented to native listeners of the language-being-spoken in a test of sentence-in-noise recognition to yield a pair of L1 and L2 intelligibility scores for each talker based on the proportion of words correctly recognized. For all talkers, their L2 speech (i.e., Mandarin- or Korean-accented English) was consistently lower in intelligibility than their L1 speech (i.e., native accented Mandarin or Korean). This dissociation between L1-L2 speech intelligibility was evident in different intelligibility scores at comparable signal-to-noise ratios (as much as 35 percentage points for the Mandarin-English bilinguals) and in the required boost in signal-to-noise ratio to achieve comparable intelligibility (>8–10 dB). Critically, L1 and L2 intelligibility scores within the bilingual talkers were strongly positively correlated: Talkers with relatively high intelligibility in L1 also achieved relatively high intelligibility in L2. These results indicate a persistent influence of talker-specific trait characteristics that combine with, rather than are overwhelmed by, language-specific and dominance-dependent influences in bilingual speech production.
Inversely and adaptively planned interstitial brachytherapy: A single implant approach

Abstract Objective To evaluate the efficacy, feasibility and safety of image-based, inversely and adaptively planned high-dose rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR-ISBT) to treat advanced primary or recurrent gynecologic malignancy in a single implant, three-consecutive-day regimen. Methods Clinical demographics and outcome data were abstracted from all patients with primary and recurrent gynecologic malignancies who received HDR-ISBT boost from 2014 to 2017. Treatment consisted of a single implant (~7 Gy × 4 fractions) of interstitial needles using the Syed-Neblett template over a three-day hospital admission. CT-based (3D) simulation with inverse and adaptive planning was utilized for each fraction. MR prior to and MR immediately after external beam therapy were fused for HDR-ISBT target delineation. Results Forty women with an overall median follow-up of 18 months (range: 6–54 months) received an HDR-ISBT boost. Of the 30 primary cases (83% cervix, 10% vaginal, 7% uterine), 44% had organ invasion (bladder, rectal or both) on MRI. Median coverage and dose are reported (V100: 98%, HR-CTV EQD2: 85.1 Gy, D90: 92 Gy). A significant association existed between rectal doses exceeding GEC-ESTRO recommendations (D2cc Conclusions A four fraction, inversely and adaptively planned, single-implant approach of image-based HDR-ISBT provides excellent coverage, minimal toxicity and effective local control in patients with advanced and recurrent disease.
An Energy-Stored Quasi-Z Source Converter Based Interlinking Converter for Hybrid AC/DC Microgrids

This paper presents an energy-stored quasi-z source converter (qZSC) which functions as an interlinking converter (IC) to coordinate the control of hybrid AC/DC microgrids. The IC possesses all features of qZSC, such as one-stage converter, continuous input current, and etc. Furthermore, the IC integrates energy storage without introducing additional interface converters, so it can function as an energy hub to provide power support to both DC and AC sub-microgrids. Different operating modes of the proposed IC are analyzed based on the power demand of individual sub-microgrids as well as the state of charge (SOC) of energy storage systems (ESSs). In addition, an effective control scheme is presented to coordinate the power flow of the overall system. Three example cases are studied, and simulation results validate the proposed IC and its control scheme.
Dispersed or Concentrated? Urban Distributions of Ethnic Retail Entrepreneurs: the Late Nineteenth-Century USA

Past research shows that ethnic minority groups’ self-employment opportunities tend to be spatially concentrated. Yet, such research has not fully investigated the extent to which the concentration of these opportunities differs among mainstream and non-mainstream ethnic groups. The present study fills this void, analyzing Census data on retail entrepreneurship in the late nineteenth-century USA. The findings show that ethnic groups’ retail enterprise opportunities decline precipitously across cities, often exponentially or in a manner resembling the Pareto curve. The results further indicate that the decline is particularly steep for blacks and for Southern, Central, and Eastern European immigrant groups. Overall, the evidence suggests that non-mainstream groups’ retail enterprise opportunities are concentrated into a relatively narrow segment of the urban-place distribution, casting doubt on assertions that such groups can realistically use self-employment to gain an economic foothold in a large society like the US.
Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebrae: A Cadaveric Investigation of Prevalence and Relation to Lumbar Degenerative Disease.

STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to verify the prevalence of lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV) in the general population and measure the resulting spinal arthritic changes. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND LSTV are a morphologic variation within the lumbar spine that has potentially significant clinical implications. LSTV prevalence has been investigated using nonrandom volunteer samples and patient populations presenting with medical complaints such as abdominal or lumbar pain warranting computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans. The examination of LSTV prevalence and variations using a true random population to our knowledge has yet to be conducted, and the relation between LSTV and spinal arthritis has not been rigorously examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 560 cadaveric skeletons were obtained from the Hamann-Todd osteological collection. The transverse processes of the terminal lumbar vertebrae were examined and measured, since the classification at times is based on examination and at times is based on measurement. The lumbar degenerative disease was graded on each specimen. RESULTS Our search revealed 489 (87.3%) nontransitional vertebrae and 71 (12.7%) transitional vertebrae, with the majority of these Castellvi type IA (N=28), type IB (N=19), and type IIA (N=11). Transitional vertebrae as a whole (standardized β=0.090, P=0.015), and in particular type Ia showed a correlation to osteoarthritis in the L4-L5 vertebral level (standardized β=0.089, P=0.015). CONCLUSIONS This cadaveric study aids in establishing the prevalence of LSTV (12.7%) in a random population and the frequency of the various Castellvi LSTV morphologies. An association was found between type Ia morphology and L4-L5 osteoarthritis which has not been reported in the past, suggesting that mild LSTV may carry more significance to lumbar pathology than previously considered.
Training psychotherapists in attributes of "mind" from Zen and psychoanalytic perspectives, Part II: Attention, here and now, nonattachment, and compassion.

Part II of this paper enumerates four additional attributes of mind derived from Zen that could enrich the training of a psychotherapist. These include: training and modulation of the therapist’s a...
Two-Player Games for Learning Real-Time Model Checking

This paper describes the utility of using two-player games to teach formal methods and real-time model checking. Many systems that we want to model involve two parts: a discrete control program and a continuous environment. One player can be used to play the role of the control program and the other can play the role of the environment. Consequently, two-player games allow us to teach model checking techniques that can also be applied to build models to solve complex problems found in industry. The limitations of model checkers and the challenge of limiting the size of the state space are evident as students try to solve problems of varying size and difficulty.
Growth control in the Drosophila wing disk.

The regulation of size and shape is a fundamental requirement of biological development and has been a subject of scientific study for centuries, but we still lack an understanding of how organisms know when to stop growing. Imaginal wing disks of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, which are precursors of the adult wings, are an archetypal tissue for studying growth control. The growth of the disks is dependent on many inter- and intra-organ factors such as morphogens, mechanical forces, nutrient levels, and hormones that influence gene expression and cell growth. Extracellular signals are transduced into gene-control signals via complex signal transduction networks, and since cells typically receive many different signals, a mechanism for integrating the signals is needed. Our understanding of the effect of morphogens on tissue-level growth regulation via individual pathways has increased significantly in the last half century, but our understanding of how multiple biochemical and mechanical signals are integrated to determine whether or not a cell decides to divide is still rudimentary. Numerous fundamental questions are involved in understanding the decision-making process, and here we review the major biochemical and mechanical pathways involved in disk development with a view toward providing a basis for beginning to understand how multiple signals can be integrated at the cell level, and how this translates into growth control at the level of the imaginal disk. This article is categorized under: Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods Biological Mechanisms > Cell Signaling Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Cellular Models.
Access to higher education and the likelihood of being married

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the potential association of the likelihood of being married with access to higher education at college ages, considering a large-scale higher education expansion program in small and medium-sized counties during the 2000s in Iran. We focus on the country’s two major university systems that were mainly responsible for the expansion. We provide evidence that the expansion in one of the university systems was not significantly correlated with the underlying county-level trends. Matching detailed county-level Iranian university enrollment data to individual-level data from annual household surveys, we show that exposure to a university during college ages had a significant negative association with the likelihood of being married among 28–32-year-old individuals. Specifically, exposure to a university opening in the county of residence at ages 18–22 years was associated with up to a 5.9 percentage point decrease in the likelihood of being married at ages 28–32 years, depending on the university system, one’s gender, and the study period.
Fred Donner and Tilman Nagel on Muslims and Believers

Fred Donner contends that Muḥammad (c. 570–632) led an ecumenical movement of “believers,” a term used frequently in the Qur’ān which Donner defines as a generic term that included Jews and Christi...
Buried Daggers, Furious Queens, and Mythic Disruptions: Kentucky Reconstruction Intrigue in Elizabeth Madox Roberts’ “Record at Oak Hill”

Kentucky writer Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881–1941) has been lauded mainly for her novels covering the sweep of white pioneer settlement in the Bluegrass State, where she lived most of her life. Th...
Mismatch between obesogenic intrauterine environment and low-fat postnatal diet may confer offspring metabolic advantage.

Objective Mismatch between a depleted intrauterine environment and a substrate-rich postnatal environment confers an increased risk of offspring obesity and metabolic syndrome. Maternal diet-induced obesity (MATOB) is associated with the same outcomes. These experiments tested the hypothesis that a mismatch between a nutrient-rich intrauterine environment and a low-fat postnatal environment would ameliorate offspring metabolic morbidity. Methods C57BL6/J female mice were fed either a 60% high-fat diet (HFD) or a 10% fat control diet (CD) for 14-week pre-breeding and during pregnancy/lactation. Offspring were weaned to CD. Weight was evaluated weekly; body composition was determined using EchoMRI. Serum fasting lipids and glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed. Metabolic rate, locomotor, and sleep behavior were evaluated with indirect calorimetry. Results MATOB-exposed/CD-weaned offspring of both sexes had improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared to controls. Males had improved fasting lipids. Females had significantly increased weight and body fat percentage in adulthood compared to sex-matched controls. Females also had significantly increased sleep duration and reduced locomotor activity compared to males. Conclusions Reduced-fat dietary switch following intrauterine and lactational exposure to MATOB was associated with improved glucose handling and lipid profiles in adult offspring, more pronounced in males. A mismatch between a high-fat prenatal and low-fat postnatal environment may confer a metabolic advantage. The amelioration of deleterious metabolic programming by strict offspring adherence to a low-fat diet may have translational potential.
Comorbid alcohol-related problems and suicidality disproportionately impact men and emerging adults among individuals with depressive symptoms.

Abstract Objective Depressive disorders are common among adults with alcohol use disorder and with suicidality; however, demographic differences in comorbid alcohol use disorder, binge drinking, and suicidality are understudied. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which comorbid suicidality and alcohol use disorders and comorbid suicidality and binge drinking differ by age and gender among adults with depressive symptoms. Method The sample included adults (unweighted N=29,460) in the United States who completed the 2015-2018 National Survey of Drug Use and Heath and screened positively for depression. Gender and age groups odds of alcohol use disorder only, suicidality only, and alcohol use disorder+suicidality were compared to neither problem. Similar analyses were conducted for binge drinking. Results Men showed disproportional odds of alcohol use disorder only, all suicidality and alcohol use disorder comorbidities, and binge drinking+active suicidal ideation than women. Emerging adults showed higher odds of: passive and active suicidal ideation only and suicidality+alcohol use disorder than adults 35 and older; binge drinking only, binge drinking+passive suicidal ideation, and binge drinking+active suicidal ideation than all older adults; binge drinking+suicide planning and binge drinking+attempts than adults 50 and older. Limitations Because participants all reported depression symptoms either at the subclinical or clinical level, demographic differences in suicidality, alcohol use disorder, and binge drinking found in this study cannot be generalized to non-depressed samples. Conclusions Treatment providers should be aware of disproportionately higher odds of comorbid suicidality and alcohol use disorder, and suicidality and binge drinking among men and emerging adults.
Dietary fat intake during early pregnancy is associated with cord blood DNA methylation at IGF2 and H19 genes in newborns.

Maternal fat intake during pregnancy affects fetal growth, but mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. We performed an exploratory study of the associations of fat consumption during pregnancy with cord blood DNA methylation of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and H19 genes. We used data from 96 uncomplicated full-term pregnancies of mothers of whom majority had normal body mass index (BMI) (66%) in Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort. We assessed maternal diet with validated food frequency questionnaires during the first and second trimesters and measured DNA methylation in segments of the IGF2- and H19-differentially methylated regions (DMRs) by pyrosequencing DNA extracted from umbilical cord blood samples. Mean (SD) age was 32.8 (4.1) years and prepregnancy BMI was 24.0 (4.4) kg/m2 . Mean DNA methylation was 56.3% (3.9%) for IGF2-DMR and 44.6% (1.9%) for H19-DMR. Greater first trimester intake of omega-6 polyunsaturated fat (effect per 1% of calories at the expense of carbohydrates) was associated with lower DNA methylation of IGF2-DMR (-1.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.2%, -0.2%) and higher DNA methylation at H19-DMR (0.8%; 95% CI: 0.3%, 1.3%). On the other hand, greater first trimester intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fat was associated with lower DNA methylation of the H19-DMR (-4.3%; 95% CI: -7.9%, -0.8%). We did not find significant associations of IGF2 and H19 methylation with IGF2 cord blood levels. Our findings suggest that early prenatal fat intake (omega-3, omega-6, and saturated fatty acids) may influence DNA methylation at the IGF2 and H19 locus, which could impact fetal development and long-term health.
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION: A required course in leadership, entrepreneurship, and administration in pharmacy

Context: Worldwide, there is growing interest in equipping pharmacy graduates with the requisite skills to assume responsibilities related to management and leadership in the profession. To meet this need, the required course “Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Administration in Pharmacy” is provided as a culminating experience for pharmacy students. Description of course: In this course, students learn concepts related to management, leadership, and entrepreneurship and complete assignments including financial statement exercises, human resources management simulations, personal leadership development plans, and business plan projects with professional poster presentations. The course in its current form has been offered four times to 541 students. Evaluation: Student evaluations (n=214) show the course is well-received and provides opportunities to develop knowledge and skills not covered previously. As the pharmacy profession is constantly evolving, students need a strong foundation in management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Sharing experiences from this course will aid faculty at other institutions wanting to include similar topics in their curriculum.
Platelet activation in unstable angina

Coronary thrombi range in size from focal aggregates of platelets detectable by scanning electron microscopy only, to a mass large enough to occlude a major coronary artery. The former are probably very common in all subjects who have advanced atheroma [1]. Thrombi large enough to produce clinical symptoms directly by altering blood flow can be detected angiographically and/or angioscopically, and in necropsy studies they can be reconstructed from serial histological sections to assess the structure of underlying intima to elucidate factors which initiate thrombosis [1]. These reconstructions show that both deep and superficial intimai injury can invoke thombus formation. The latter is associated with endothelial loss (“denudation injury”) with exposure of the immediately underlying connective tissue matrix [1]. Deep intimai injury underlies 75% of large intraluminal thrombi and is the results of tears or splits extending deep into the intima from the lumen [1]. Plaque fissures with overlying mural thrombi are the morphological basis of angiographic type II lesions, described both in patients with unstable angina [2] and following thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction [3].
Environmental Specialists in Water Agencies

There are five different roles that environmental specialists can play in water resource agencies: (1)Environmental planning; (2)environmental design; (3)system monitoring; (4)report preparation; and (5)report review. Placement of environmental specialists in line units (e.g., planning, design, and maintenance) facilitates coordination. There are, however, significant advantages, in terms of report preparation and review, of keeping environmental specialists in one organizational unit and not diffusing them into various line units. But with a separate staff unit for environmental specialists, these specialists have less influence on planning and decision making. Numerous aspects of this dilemma are explored using data for the Santa Clara Valley Water District in California and several District Offices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the final analysis, the organizational arrangement that is in some sense best depends on which of the several roles played by the environmental specialists is to receive emphasis.
Implementing Quotient Operators in Fuzzy Data Bases Using OWA Operators

We provide for an extension of the relational algebra operation of quotient to fuzzy relational-data. bases. This extension not only allows for the application of the quotient operator in these fuzzy data bases but provides for a fuzzification of the notion of quotient. Central to the development is the realization that the classic quotient operation is essentially an application of the universal quantifier, for all. In this work we take advantage of the linguistic quantifiers and their close relationship OWA operators.
Perfluorinated Alkyl Acids in Wildlife

The first measurements of perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) in wildlife from the aqueous and terrestrial environment showed their ubiquitous presence. Since the initial studies in 2001 their presence, distribution, and fate in the environment has broadly been studied. PFOS, perfluorooctane sulfonate, is the dominant and most frequently detected PFAA in wildlife from around the world. Additionally long-chain (greater than eight carbons long) perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs) have also been measured in biota, with some of the highest concentrations being measured in wildlife from the Arctic. The majority of temporal studies have shown PFOS concentrations increasing over time; however, more recent observations have started showing a decline in PFOS in some wildlife. Long-chain PFCA (greater than eight carbons) concentrations have shown an increase in recent temporal studies, with PFCA concentrations comparable to those of PFOS measured in the same animals. Many food-web studies have examined bioaccumulation and biomagnification of PFAAs. Most studies have shown biomagnification of PFAAs, with PFOS especially having a higher biomagnification potential compared to the PFCAs. While much work has been done during the 15 years PFAAs have been examined in wildlife, there are still gaps. There has been limited work on wildlife from terrestrial ecosystems. There are also many geographical locations that have very limited studies or lack them altogether. Additional monitoring of the terrestrial environment and the inclusion of new geographical locations are needed to help understand the global distribution of PFAAs in wildlife.
Physics for Device Simulations and its Verification by Measurements

The motivations for using computers to simulate the electrical characteristics of transistors are discussed. Our work and that of others in the area of device physics and modeling are described. We compare conventional device physics with an alternative approach to device physics that is more directly traceable to quantum-mechanical concepts. We then apply this new approach to quasi-neutral regions, space-charge regions, and regions with high levels of carrier injection. Examples of applying quantum-mechanically-based device physics to energy band diagrams for bipolar transistors are given. The limits for using theoretical results from uniform media in numerical simulations of devices with large concentration gradients are discussed. Calculations of the effective intrinsic carrier concentrations for gallium arsenide and silicon are also given along with published data. In addition, calculations of the mobilities for GaAs that are based in part on quantum-mechanical phase shifts are compared with published data. We then conclude with a discussion of the requirements for verifying and calibrating device simulators for the submicrometer domain.
Comments upon Being Honored by Adelphi University School of Social Work

This article presents the author’s comments when she was honored by the Adelphi University School of Social Work in 2003. Here she offers her view of the nature and qualities of a group.
Erfahrungen bei Konzeption, Entwicklung und Einführung des Personalinformations-Systems der IBM Deutschland

Die Gestaltung eines Personalinformations-System wird stark beeinflust vom bereits erreichten Mechanisierungsgrad und der Art der Organisation (zentral oder dezentral) eines Unternehmens in diesem Bereich.
A non-prenex, non-clausal QBF solver with game-state learning

We describe a DPLL-based solver for the problem of quantified boolean formulas (QBF) in non-prenex, non-CNF form. We make two contributions. First, we reformulate clause/cube learning, extending it to non-prenex instances. We call the resulting technique game-state learning. Second, we introduce a propagation technique using ghost literals that exploits the structure of a non-CNF instance in a manner that is symmetric between the universal and existential variables. Experimental results on the QBFLIB benchmarks indicate our approach outperforms other state-of-the-art solvers on certain benchmark families, including the tipfixpoint and tipdiam families of model checking problems.
Time reversal 3-D imaging using single-cycle terahertz pulses

We demonstrate time reversal 3-D imaging using single-cycle terahertz pulses. The photoconductive transmitter and receiver are arranged in a reflection imaging configuration. The synthesized ring annular detection array can distinguish spatially separated image planes.