cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) of the Thyroid Gland

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of the thyroid gland in children is a relatively simple procedure that can have a huge impact on clinical management. As the incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing in children, it is important for clinicians to have a thorough understanding of the indications of FNA. Additionally, familiarity with the technique is needed to avoid unnecessary procedures and/or complications. Children need to be given special consideration due to their size and frequent need for anesthesia. This chapter covers the epidemiology, risks, benefits, technique, and management of ultrasound-guided FNA of thyroid nodules.
Mechanical Interfacing Using Suspended Ultrathin Films From ALD

Interlocking microstructures formed from suspended ultrathin films create a mechanical bond between heterogeneous microfabricated dies. Films approximately 34 nm in thickness have been fabricated using atomic layer deposition in conjunction with standard surface micromachining. Bonding surfaces consist of polyimide pillars with a pitch of 19.8–29 $\mu \text{m}$ that support nanofilm cantilevers, with an areal density of 9.52 $\times 10^{3}$ joints/mm2 for square surface tiling and $4.14 \times 10^{3}$ joints/mm2 for triangle tiling. Cantilevers 2.2 and 3.1 $\mu \text{m}$ in length provide length-to-thickness aspect ratios of 65:1 and 91:1, respectively. Bonding of complementary mating surfaces has been observed optically through transparent flexible substrates. [2015-0240]
Withdrawing treatment as a diagnostic test - psychosis as an illustrative scenario.

Response to treatment or to treatment withdrawal is commonly used in clinical practice to aid diagnosis. A specific scenario is where clinicians are faced with diagnostic uncertainty in patients who have previously displayed psychotic symptoms in the context of using psychoactive substances. In such cases, it may not be possible to retrospectively distinguish between schizophrenia and drug induced psychosis. Some clinicians may in certain circumstances consider placing patients on "diagnostic" antipsychotic-free periods, by withdrawing the antipsychotic drug in a controlled environment.
Matapanui, a replacement name for Matapa Boessenecker & Fordyce, 2016

In a study reporting new eomysticetid baleen whale material from the Oligocene of New Zealand, we named a new genus and species Matapa waihao Boessenecker & Fordyce, 2016. We were unaware that the genus name Matapa is preoccupied by the southern Asian butterfly Matapa Moore, 1881. We therefore propose Matapanui Boessenecker & Fordyce nom. nov., with the type species Matapa waihao Boessenecker & Fordyce, 2016, as a replacement name for the preoccupied eomysticetid genus. Etymology: Matapanui, meaning large flat face, from the Māori mata (face) plus pa (flat) and nui (large).http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:853A6202-5BD2-4429-A669-F465AA123EDD
P198 Physiological impact of sit-stand workstations

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are common among office workers who often use computers. High static muscle loading has been considered one of the major risk factors responsible for developing WMSDs among office workers. One of the ergonomics intervention strategies in the office environment is to create healthy physical variations. The introduction of sit-stand workstations usually reduces sedentary sitting time during work and is believed to be able to introduce physical variations among office workers. The goal of the present study is to examine systematically several physiological measures on sit-stand workstation use. An earlier study using surface electromyography (EMG) to examine muscle loadings on four office workers when identical works were performed using both sitting and standing workstations showed that the effect of posture on the upper extremity muscle loadings was not consistent among workers. For trapezius muscles, work in standing resulted in overall greater muscle activities for some subjects, but sitting for others. Since the primary objective of that study was not on the sit/stand workstation, several other variables (such as workstation set-up etc.) were not controlled. The present study will therefore standardise factors that might influence the loading (such as workstation set-up, task activities, and work schedule), but only changing sit-stand workstation related factors, so that the impact of sit-stand workstations can be studied. The physiological measures that will be compared among several different sit-stand workstation use schedules include muscle activities measured by electromyography (EMG) during work, muscle fatigue (estimated by median frequency shift of EMG), spinal shrinkage, and foot swelling. Four different sit-stand workstation schedules are studied. The hypothesis of the study is that working at sit and stand postures introduce healthy physical variations of muscle activities. Different sit-stand workstation schedules may have different levels of impact in terms of these physiological measures on the human operators.
Abstract 2468: Antibody targeting soluble NKG2D ligand sMIC induces regression of primary tumors and eliminates metastasis in multiple pre-clinical cancer models

Expression of the MHC I-chain related molecules A and B (MICA/B) on epithelial cell surface in response to transformation or DNA damage can signal the immune system of the abnormality and thus initiate active immune surveillance by Natural Killer (NK) cells and cytotoxicity T cells. We and others have shown that malignant tumor cells can shed MICA/B to down regulate NKG2D expression and negatively impact NK and CD8 T cell function in cancer patients. Increased tumor-specific shedding of cell surface NKG2D ligand, MHC I chain related molecule (MIC), is associated with advanced stage and metastasis in many types of epithelial cancer. High serum levels of soluble MIC (sMIC) insults the immune system not only by down-regulating NKG2D expression on natural killer (NK) cells and effector T cells but also perturbing NK cell peripheral maintenance. Whether sMIC is an effective cancer therapeutic target has not been addressed due to the lack of specific sMIC-blocking reagent and clinically relevant pre-clinical animal models. Using a “humanized” clinically relevant spontaneous prostate carcinoma TRAMP/MIC bi-transgenic mouse model and multiple engineered syngeneic transplantable tumor models, we unprecedentedly show that therapy with a sMIC-specific monoclonal antibody induced rapid regression of primary tumors and metastasis without systemic toxicity. The therapy revamped a myriad of anti-tumor immune responses including NK cell homeostatic renewal and function, CD4 T cells to Th1 and Th17 responses. Using the well-defined melanoma model, we further show that anti-sMIC therapy augments Pmel-1 antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses. Notably, depletion of NK cells mitigated the therapeutic effect of anti-sMIC antibody and the effector function of both CD4 and CD8 T cells. We conclude that sMIC is an effective therapeutic target to potentiate innate and adoptive immune responses against MIC+ malignancies. Citation Format: Jennifer D. Wu, Fahmin Basher, Mark Rubinstein. Antibody targeting soluble NKG2D ligand sMIC induces regression of primary tumors and eliminates metastasis in multiple pre-clinical cancer models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2468. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2468
Thaddeus V. Gromada, editor. Oskar Halecki, 1891-1973: Eulogies and Reflections

Book review of Thaddeus V. Gromada, editor. Oskar Halecki, 1891-1973: Eulogies and Reflections. Preface by Jerzy Wyrozumski, Tatra Eagle Press, 2013. 80 pp. $7.99, paper.
Abstract 210: PPARγ Activation Prevents Cardiac Dysfunction in Sepsis via Stimulation of Energy Production

Septic cardiac dysfunction has been attributed to either inflammation or suppression of fatty acid oxidation (FAO). We hypothesized that energy deprivation accounts for cardiac dysfunction in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sepsis. LPS compromised cardiac function, increased cardiac inflammatory markers (interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α) mRNA, and reduced FAO, ATP and FAO-related gene expression: Peroxisome proliferator activating receptor (PPAR)α, cluster of differentiation 36, lipoprotein lipase (LpL), fatty acid transport protein, carnitine palmitoyl-transferase (Cpt)1, PPARγ coactivator (PGC-1)α and PGC-1β in C57BL/6 mice. LC-MS/MS analysis of cardiac lipids showed that total ceramide, which might account for defective FAO and ceramide species were not modulated by LPS. Electron microscopy and ATPase6 DNA levels showed that LPS-treated animals had fewer and smaller cardiac mitochondria. PPARα agonist, WY-14643, did not prevent cardiac dysfunction and suppression of FAO-associated gene expression in LPS-treated mice. In contrast, LPS did not affect cardiac function of mice with cardiomyocyte-specific expression of PPARγ (αMHC-PPARg), although cardiac IL-1α, IL-6 and TNFα mRNA levels were increased. Despite a 77% reduction in PPARα, mRNA levels of FAO-associated genes, such as acyl-CoA oxidase, PGC-1α, PPARδ, Cpt1 increased over 10-fold as compared to saline-treated αMHC-PPARg mice. Similarly, cardiac FAO and ATP content was 2.6 and 5-fold greater in LPS-treated αMHC-PPARγ mice compared to LPS-treated C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, treatment of C57BL/6 mice with LPS and the PPARγ agonist, rosiglitazone, prevented cardiac dysfunction, increased FAO and relevant gene expression, while IL-1α, IL-6 and TNFα mRNA levels increased. Rosiglitazone prevented LPS-mediated reduction of PGC-1α and maintained the number and size of mitochondria. Treatment of C57BL/6 mice with a lethal dose of LPS (15 mg/kg) and repeated doses of rosiglitazone (30mg/kg/day for 72 hours) improved survival, mobility and overall appearance of LPS-treated mice. Thus, PPARγ activation stabilized cardiac energy and prevented cardiac dysfunction and mortality in septic animals despite cardiac inflammation and PPARα downregulation.
Reducing the Memory Requirements of High Resolution Voxel Phantoms by Means of a Binary Tree Data Structure

Computational human phantoms are a well-established tool used to simulate the performance of medical imaging devices. The maximum resolution of voxelized phantoms is bounded in practice by the available computer memory, which is especially limited for graphics processing unit (GPU)-based simulations. For phantoms that have been segmented into a small number of tissue types, the use of a uniform grid is inefficient because large numbers of adjacent voxels are composed of the same tissue. The computer files used to store these phantoms can be compressed into a small fraction of their original size using standard lossless compression algorithms. Compression is used for storage and distribution, but not during the simulations because compression algorithms compress the data incrementally from the first byte to the last. This approach intrinsically prevents access to random locations along the data stream, which is an essential requirement of the majority of simulation algorithms. In this paper, we propose to store voxelized phantoms in memory using a binary tree structure, as a way to accomplish both data compression and fast random access. The composition of a particular voxel can be efficiently retrieved by traversing the binary tree down from the root node to the corresponding leaf node. As a drawback, the memory savings come at the cost of more frequent memory access, which might slow down simulations in which memory access constitutes a substantial fraction of the execution time. Methods to generate and efficiently store in memory a binary tree geometry, and an example implementation in a GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo code for X-ray imaging virtual clinical trials, are presented. Results of a simulation of mammography and tomosynthesis imaging with a computational breast phantom voxelized at 50 $\mu \text{m}$ show that the implemented binary tree geometry can achieve a 50-fold reduction of memory use, with a 4.7% increase in simulation time.
Short-Term Methods for Assessing in Vivo Carcinogenic Activity of Complex Mixtures

The carcinogenic activity of a chemical or a complex mixture derived from an environmental sample is assessed most efficiently through a three-tier decision scheme (Bridges, 1973; Weisburger and Williams, 1977; Bull and Pereira, in press). In tier 1, the samples are screened for evidence of carcinogenic and mutagenic activity. The Ames Salmonella mutation bioassay and in vitro and in vivo cytogenetic assays appear to sucessfully identify most chemicals and samples with carcinogenic activity. These two types of assays detect the two major classes of genotoxic agents, mutagens and clastogens, and would therefore form the backbone of tier 1. Other possible assays for tier 1 include mammalian cell mutation, sister-chromatid exchange, micronuclei, and unscheduled DNA synthesis. The nature of tier 1 bioassays--especially their lack of correlation to carcinogenic potency, the absence of a direct demonstration of cancer or neoplasia, and the number of false positives--requires that carcinogenic activity be confirmed in tier 2.
Surgical Management of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Crohn’s disease (CD) and chronic ulcerative colitis (CUC) represent two ends of the spectrum of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Many authors believe there is a complex interaction between genetics, environmental, dietary, and infectious agents that contribute to the onset and progression of both CD and CUC. Because the diseases affect the gut differently and in different places, surgical approaches are distinctly different between them. While in general, the surgical approach to patients with CD is one of conservation, the approach to patients with ulcerative colitis is extirpation of the colon with, in most patients, construction of a pelvic pouch, which facilitates defecation using the normal anatomic pathway. Operations for CD and CUC lend themselves to minimal access surgical techniques. The complications inherent in surgery for IBD are numerous and need to be understood when discussing the goal of surgery for both diseases. The use of anti-TNF biologic therapy has been a great boon to the management of patients with CD, but in patients with ulcerative colitis, its use may complicate definitive surgical management (IPAA). While our understanding of the etiology and medical treatment of both diseases is improving, there is a large and defined role for surgery in the long-term management of patients with both CD and CUC.
Perceptual Co-Reference

The perceptual system estimates distal conditions based upon proximal sensory input. It typically exploits information from multiple cues across and within modalities: it estimates shape based upon visual and haptic cues; it estimates depth based upon convergence, binocular disparity, motion parallax, and other visual cues; and so on. Bayesian models illuminate the computations through which the perceptual system combines sensory cues. I review key aspects of these models. Based on my review, I argue that we should posit co-referring perceptual representations corresponding to distinct sensory cues. For example, the perceptual system represents a distal size using a representation canonically linked with vision and a distinct representation canonically linked with touch. Distinct co-referring perceptual representations represent the same denotation, but they do so under different modes of presentation. Bayesian cue combination models demonstrate that psychological explanation of perception should attend to mode of presentation and not simply to denotation.
Successful Intelligence: A New Approach to Leadership

The intelligence-based approach to leadership has not been a strikingly successful one. On the one hand, intelligence as conventionally measured seems to have some predictive value. On the other hand, its predictive value is not terribly high (see Sternberg, et al. 2000). The predictive value of intelligence for leadership also may vary across situations. Fiedler and Link (1994), for example, have suggested that intelligence predicts leadership success under conditions of low stress but not under conditions of high stress, where experience becomes more important.
A postapocalyptic return to the frontier: The Walking Dead as post-Western:

This article argues that The Walking Dead is a post-Western, a genre that extracts classical Hollywood Western themes and iconography, and resituates them in a dystopian, postapocalyptic setting. T...
Personal growth Initiative: A robust and malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed partial hospital patients.

Abstract Background Current methods for treating depressive disorders ineffectively treat large portions of patients. We need to identify malleable factors that predict treatment outcome and can be modified prior to or concurrently with treatment to enhance outcomes. We examined personal growth initiative (PGI) as a malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed patients in partial hospital treatment. Methods Archival data were extracted from medical records of 521 adult patients with depression diagnoses (67.2% women) in a partial hospital program (2008 – 2010). Demographic data and admission and discharge scores for depression and PGI were extracted. ANCOVA assessed the extent to which reliable or clinically significant change in PGI predicted level of depression at discharge, controlling for admission depression levels. Results PGI and depression were significantly correlated at admission. PGI scores increased significantly from admission to discharge. Reliable and clinically significant improvement in PGI each significantly, uniquely, and negatively predicted depression at discharge, adjusting for admission depression. Limitations The correlational nature of the longitudinal design precludes definitive statements regarding causality. A large portion of the initial sample was dropped due to substantial missing data, yielding the final N = 521. Dropped patients had higher levels of depression at discharge and increased likelihood of leaving treatment against medical advice, raising concerns about potential other, unmeasured differences. Conclusions Our findings confirm the utility of PGI as a malleable predictor of treatment outcome for depressed patients in partial hospital treatment and may have implications for using PGI-based interventions to enhance treatment outcomes.
Original researchPremenopausal social status and hormone exposure predict postmenopausal atherosclerosis in female monkeys

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether premenopausal social subordination in female monkeys predicts postmenopausal atherosclerosis, and whether any such effect is altered by chronic exposure to contraceptive steroids or postmenopausal hormone replacement. METHODS: One hundred seventy-seven (177) premenopausal cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) housed in social groups of five or six were fed an atherogenic diet that, for half of the animals, also contained an oral contraceptive (OC). Individuals were judged socially dominant or subordinate based on behavioral observations. After 26 months animals were oophorectomized, biopsied for iliac atherosclerosis, and for the next 36 months were fed one of three atherogenic diets containing soy protein: 1) phytoestrogen-free; 2) phytoestrogens intact; and 3) phytoestrogen-free plus conjugated equine estrogens. Plasma lipids and menstrual cyclicity were also assessed. Finally, all animals were necropsied and the extent of atherosclerosis measured in the coronary and iliac arteries. RESULTS: The interaction of premenopausal social status and OC exposure predicted postmenopausal coronary artery atherosclerosis (P = .02). Subordinate animals not receiving OCs developed twice the coronary atherosclerosis of similarly untreated dominants (P < .01), an outcome mitigated by premenopausal OC exposure (P < .01). These effects occurred across postmenopausal treatment groups and independent of variation in plasma lipids. The same associations were observed in the iliac arteries, and, to a similar extent, both pre- and postmenopausally. Hormone data suggest that untreated premenopausal subordinates may have been estrogen deficient. CONCLUSION: Premenopausal social subordination exacerbates postmenopausal atherosclerosis, an effect possibly mediated by estrogen deficiency and shown here to be prevented by premenopausal OC exposure. These results occur irrespective of postmenopausal treatment.
The Role of Additional Spine Surgery in the Management of Failed Back Surgery Syndrome, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, and Intractable Pain in the Setting of Previous or Concurrent Spinal Cord Stimulation: Indications and Outcomes.

Objective Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is both relatively safe and reversible. Although SCS is generally regarded as a last resort, some of these patients will undergo additional spinal surgery after the device has been implanted or after its removal. We present a descriptive study of subsequent spinal surgery after SCS implantation. Methods A retrospective review of patients who had undergone percutaneous or paddle SCS lead placement at our institution from 2009 to 2016 was performed. Patients who had only undergone trials or who had not undergone spine surgery after SCS implantation were excluded. Results We identified 22 patients (5.7%) who had undergone spine surgery during the course of SCS treatment or after SCS removal, or both, of a total 383 patients who had undergone paddle and/or percutaneous SCS implantation. The most common additional spine interventions included lumbosacral decompression and fusion (n = 15; 42%). Of 36 surgeries, the most frequent indications for subsequent intervention were stenosis or restenosis (n = 16; 73%) and spine deformity (n = 6; 27%). The median EuroQol-5D index was 0.397 preoperatively and 0.678 postoperatively. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to describe spine surgery in the setting of SCS implantation. Our results have indicated that spine surgery subsequent to, or concurrent with, SCS implantation appears to occur in few patients. Our study results suggest a modest improvement in quality of life outcomes. Therefore, clinicians should remember that patients might require further spine surgery despite the use of SCS implantation and, thus, might require reevaluation by the spine team.
Greater anemia tolerance among hospitalized females compared to males

BACKGROUND Although females have a lower baseline hemoglobin (Hb) compared to males, it is unknown whether females have a greater tolerance for anemia when hospitalized. We tested the hypothesis that females tolerate severe anemia better than males, with decreased inpatient mortality in this setting. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study in 230,644 adult patients admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital from January 2009 to June 2016. The relationships between nadir Hb and percentage change in Hb with inpatient mortality were assessed for nontransfused males and females. A multivariable logistic regression was used to determine risk-adjusted differences between males and females for the likelihood of inpatient mortality at nadir Hb levels of 5, 6, and 7 g/dL. RESULTS Males had increased mortality when nadir Hb was 6.0 g/dL or less (p < 0.05), whereas females did not. The risk-adjusted likelihood for inpatient mortality was greater for males compared to females at a nadir Hb of 6 g/dL or less (odds ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-3.16) (p = 0.02), but this sex-related difference was not significant at a nadir Hb of 5 or 7 g/dL or less. Inpatient mortality increased significantly in both males and females when the percentage decrease in Hb was greater than 50% from baseline (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Compared to males, females tolerate a lower nadir Hb, but a similar percentage change in Hb, before an increase in inpatient mortality is recognized. The findings suggest that females may be "preconditioned" to tolerate anemia better than males.
Reconstructing faces from voices.

Voice profiling aims at inferring various human parameters from their speech, e.g. gender, age, etc. In this paper, we address the challenge posed by a subtask of voice profiling - reconstructing someone's face from their voice. The task is designed to answer the question: given an audio clip spoken by an unseen person, can we picture a face that has as many common elements, or associations as possible with the speaker, in terms of identity? To address this problem, we propose a simple but effective computational framework based on generative adversarial networks (GANs). The network learns to generate faces from voices by matching the identities of generated faces to those of the speakers, on a training set. We evaluate the performance of the network by leveraging a closely related task - cross-modal matching. The results show that our model is able to generate faces that match several biometric characteristics of the speaker, and results in matching accuracies that are much better than chance.
A New Fastener With Improved Bone-To-Implant Interface Shows Superior Torque Stripping Resistance Compared With the Standard Buttress Screw.

Objective The conventional AO buttress screw used for fracture fixation relies on a historic buttress thread design, which is prone to stripping at the bone-implant interface. We hypothesized that a new Bone-Screw-Fastener with an innovative interlocking thread design demonstrates increased resistance to torque stripping forces compared with the buttress screw, without compromising pullout strength. Methods A biomechanical model was established in 6 matched pairs of adult human cadaveric tibiae to test torque resistance between the 3.5 mm Bone-Screw-Fastener and the 3.5 mm cortical AO buttress screw until failure. Uniaxial pullout testing of both screw types was performed as an internal control experiment. Results The 3.5 mm Bone-Screw-Fastener had a significantly increased resistance to torque failure compared with the standard 3.5 mm AO buttress screw (P = 0.0145). In contrast to the buttress screws, none of the Bone-Screw-Fasteners stripped from the bone but rather failed at the screwdriver-implant interface in terms of a metal-on-metal failure. The internal control experiments revealed no significant difference in axial pullout strength between the 2 implants (P = 0.47). Conclusions These data demonstrate the superiority of the new Bone-Screw-Fastener over the conventional AO buttress screw regarding protection from torque stripping forces. In addition, the new thread design that interlocks to the bone does not sacrifice axial pullout resistance conveyed by the buttress screw. Future controlled trials will have to validate the in vivo relevance of these findings in a clinical setting.
Low-Latency CoAP Processing in FPGA for the Internet of Things

A prominent characteristic of Internet of Things is the seamless integration of diverse, heterogeneous technologies working together to empower cyber-physical spaces and experiences, effectively changing how we perceive the environment around us. Myriads of applications supported by IoT require diverse communication patterns and network requirements. Although IoT infrastructure is often associated to high latency communication, a significant number of applications demand low latency - Augmented Reality and Industrial IoT, for instance. A considerable amount of embedded devices' processing power is dedicated to performing network message exchanges. Thus, speeding up their execution while alleviating the CPU load is crucial and has a beneficial impact to the whole IoT application. In this paper, we present a design and implementation of a CoAP Accelerator as a hardware module synthesizable in an FPGA, and a companion programming model. The accelerator cooperates with the device's CPU and/or other embedded hard-ware, enabling the entire IoT device to sustain high protocol processing rates at low latency. Evaluations were carried out and have demonstrated the endpoint's performance improvement on the order of 308%.
Patterns of Switching and Relocation

In this chapter, the author examines estimates of the extent of STEM switching and relocation at the national and institutional levels drawing on evidence from national survey sources and from institutional records provided by the six institutions participating in the study. The institutional records analysis points to variations in types of switchers. It also yields rates of switching and persistence by institutions, disciplines, gender, race/ethnicity, first-generation student status, and quartiles of highest-to-lowest blocks of mathematics scores and GPAs. Analysis by combinations of these variables offers a more accurate picture of which groups switch than analysis of groups in isolation. Comparison of students in the highest and lowest quartiles of cumulative GPAs before switching also yielded contrasts between these student groups in terms of their choices of initial and destination majors, gender, and URM status. As in the original study, the vulnerability of high-performing women to switching was revealed in the institutional records analysis with women in under-represented minority groups at greater risk of switching than white women and all men. This chapter also describes the most populous pathways of switchers into non-STEM majors, with variations by initial majors, gender, race/ethnicity, and GPA. It draws attention to a strong trend among switchers from all disciplines to move into undeclared majors. This chapter ends with a discussion of findings about the timing of students’ moves out of their initial STEM majors.
Social Taste Buds: Evidence of Evolved Same-Sex Friend Preferences from a Policy-Capturing Study

Despite the importance of friendship, the traits that people seek in a friend are not well understood. Here, we pursue the hypothesis that same-sex friendships evolved as ongoing cooperative relationships, so friend preferences should at least partially focus on those traits that would have made someone a good cooperative partner within the conditions of the human ancestral environment. We tested this hypothesis in a face perception paradigm in which undergraduate participants rated the friend desirability of target faces that were also rated on several traits hypothesized to be relevant to friend choice. This allowed us to test the actual predictors of attraction, rather than relying on self-reported preferences. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that judgments of a target person’s desirability as a friend depended on perceptions of their ability to create material benefits in the ancestral environment (e.g., skill as a hunter or gatherer). These effects were not due to an attractiveness “halo effect” or a preference for intelligence more generally. In addition, we found mixed evidence for sex differences that match the typical hunter-gatherer division of labor. We discuss implications of these findings for the study of friend choice, and for understanding social preferences more broadly.
Factors Associated with Mental Health Service Utilization Among Ethiopian Immigrants and Refugees

This study assesses factors associated with mental health service utilization by Ethiopian immigrants and refugees in the U.S. A cross-sectional survey, based on Anderson and Newman's Framework of Health Services, which examines facilitators and barriers of service utilization, was implemented to gather data from 297 Ethiopian immigrants and refugees in the U.S. from February to March 2018. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, and logistic regression were calculated. Approximately 13.3% of participants sought mental health services from healthcare professionals; while 17.3% utilized non-healthcare professionals for mental health problems. A mental health need (depressive symptoms) was identified. A model containing predictors of mental health service use was statistically significant, with gender, marital status, and employment (full-time or part-time) as the strongest predictors. The findings suggest a need for the development of culturally appropriate interventions and implementation of policies to minimize barriers to mental health services among this under-researched population.
Influence of pubertal development on urinary oxidative stress biomarkers in adolescent girls in the New York LEGACY cohort.

Context: Puberty is a time of intense growth and differentiation of breast tissue and a window of susceptibility (WOS) for breast cancer. Although oxidative stress markers have been associated with...
Using Soft Systems Thinking to Craft Instructional Design and Technology Interventions

Underutilized in higher education, soft systems thinking can mitigate common challenges in implementing instructional design and technology initiatives. A valuable approach is soft systems methodology (SSM), which captures multiple stakeholder perspectives in rich pictures and activity models to support structured conversations about how to improve a problematical situation. To demonstrate SSM’s utility for instructional design and technology professionals, this article provides an overview of macrolevel processes that often influence interactions with stakeholders. It explains how to capture stakeholders’ perspectives in rich pictures and models spanning multiple system layers through collaboration. From a wide range of interventions that can then be discussed, the article explores two interventions focused on redesigning employment processes and elaborates their importance for common instructional design and technology initiatives. By relating key SSM concepts and techniques to these initiatives, this article demonstrates the practical value of systems thinking for those leading and transforming university learning.
Development and application of potentiometric methods of charcterizing potassium in soils and micaceous minerals

Electrochemical cells for the determination of potassium consist of a potassium ion-selective electrode (K-ISE) and a reference electrode that contacts the test solution either directly (i.e., cells without transfer­ ence) or through a salt bridge (i.e., cells with transference). The choice of both the K-ISE and the reference electrode depends on a number of factors, including the ionic strength and composition of the test solutions and the presence of interfering ions. The performance charac­ teristics of several electrochemical cells have been critically evaluated. Cells without transference were found to be suitable for specific situ­ ations where the ion contributing to the potential of the reference elec­ trode can be maintained at a constant level and does not interfere with the K-ISE. A cell consisting of a pH glass electrode, a valinomycin—based K-selective electrode (VKE), and a solution adjusted for ionic strength and pH by lithium chloride and lithium hydroxide-diethylamine, respec­ tively, was well-suited for potassium determinations when NH^ interfer­ ences were negligible. However, cells with transference were of more general utility. Many of the salt bridges that have been used or recom­ mended for use with K-ISEs in cells with transference gave inaccurate results because the salts did not provide constant or negligible E^ and/or they interacted with the K-ISEs. A sleeve-type double-junction reference electrode with a saturated lithium acetate bridge provided the best results. Several commercial and laboratory-prepared K-ISEs were evaluated. "I" Ammonium, Na , and Li each posed a serious interference problem with the
A Paleozoic stem hagfish Myxinikela siroka — revised anatomy and implications for evolution of the living jawless vertebrate lineages

Hagfishes and lampreys comprise cyclostomes, the earliest branching and sole surviving clade of the once diverse assemblage of jawless crown-group vertebrates. Lacking mineralized skeletons, both o...
Melanized nanoparticles lodged in the bone marrow have protective effect against external gamma radiation

630 Objectives: Melanin is a high molecular weight pigment that is ubiquitous in nature and has a variety of biological functions. Melanin is synthesized by some fungi that are extremely resistant to gamma radiation. We have recently established that melanin protects fungi against radiation and suggested that the protective efficacy of this pigment is a function of its chemical composition and arrangement into the nanosize spheres. There is a need for novel approaches to protect bone marrow against excessive radiation doses during radiation therapy or in the event of a radiological attack. We hypothesized that it was possible to create melanin-covered nanoparticles (MNs) that would deposit in the bone marrow and protect bone marrow from radiation-induced damage by virtue of the radiation shielding effects of melanin. Methods: We utilized 20 nm silica nanoparticles which were melanized overnight by incubation in a solution of 3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanin (L-Dopa). To measure the uptake of MNs in major organs and bone marrow with and without pluronic acid (PA) – a co-polymer of the poloxamer series which minimizes interaction of nanoparticles with the reticuloendothelial elements of liver and spleen, we radiolabeled MNs with 188-Rhenium (188Re) and injected them IV into CD-1 mice. To investigate the radiation protective properties of melanized nanoparticles, groups of 3 CD-1 mice were injected IV with MNs alone or with PA + MNs. Control groups consisted of untreated mice, mice given PA alone, non-melanized nanoparticles alone, and PA + non-melanized nanoparticles. The mice were irradiated with either 1.25 or 2.50 Gy of gamma radiation and their platelet and WBC counts were monitored for 28 days post-treatment. Results: Silica particles became melanized overnight. To prove that the dark color of melanized particles was due to melanin, we incubated the MNs with the immunofluorescently-labeled melanin-binding antibody 6D2, and observed surface immunofluorescence. The results of the 3 and 24 hr biodistribution revealed that pre-injection with PA increased the MNs bone marrow uptake from 0.2 ± 0.1 to 6.2 ± 2.0 % ID/g. The platelet and WBC counts on Days 2, 5, 10 and 14 post-treatment were highest in mice given PA + MNs followed by the group given MNs only, in comparison with the control groups. The protective effect was more pronounced in mice irradiated with 1.25 Gy. Conclusions: MNs which deposit themselves in bone marrow due to the body “sieving” effect can protect bone marrow against high doses of external gamma radiation and mouse pre-treatment with PA increases the MNs protective effect. These results are encouraging for the development of similar strategies in patients undergoing EBRT or RIT.
Getting the Most From Surveys: How Method Selection and Method Modification Impact Butterfly Survey Data

Many methods are used to survey butterfly populations, with line transect and area surveys being prominent. Observers are typically limited to search within 5 or 10 m from the line, while observers are unrestricted in larger specified search regions in area surveys. Although methods differ slightly, the selection is often based on producing defendable data for conservation, maximizing data quality, and minimizing effort. To guide method selection, we compared butterfly surveys using 1) line versus area methods and 2) varying width transects (5 m, 10 m, or unrestricted) using count data from surveys in North Dakota from 2015 to 2018. Between line and area surveys, we detected more individuals with area surveys, even when accounting for effort. However, both methods accumulated new species at similar rates. When comparing transect methodology, we detected nearly 60% more individuals and nine more species when transect width increased from 5 m to unrestricted, despite similar effort across methodology. Overall, we found line surveys slightly less efficient at detecting individuals, but they collected similar species richness to area surveys when accounting for effort. Additionally, line surveys allow the use of unrestricted-width transects with distance sampling procedures, which were more effective at detecting species and individuals while providing a means to correct count data over the same transect length. Methods that reduce effort and accurately depict communities are especially important for conservation when long-term datasets are unavailable.
Association of Circadian Clock Gene Expression with Glioma Tumor Microenvironment and Patient Survival.

Circadian clock genes have been linked to clinical outcomes in cancer, including gliomas. However, these studies have not accounted for established markers that predict the prognosis, including mutations in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH), which characterize the majority of lower-grade gliomas and secondary high-grade gliomas. To demonstrate the connection between circadian clock genes and glioma outcomes while accounting for the IDH mutational status, we analyzed multiple publicly available gene expression datasets. The unsupervised clustering of 13 clock gene transcriptomic signatures from The Cancer Genome Atlas showed distinct molecular subtypes representing different disease states and showed the differential prognosis of these groups by a Kaplan–Meier analysis. Further analyses of these groups showed that a low period (PER) gene expression was associated with the negative prognosis and enrichment of the immune signaling pathways. These findings prompted the exploration of the relationship between the microenvironment and clock genes in additional datasets. Circadian clock gene expression was found to be differentially expressed across the anatomical tumor location and cell type. Thus, the circadian clock expression is a potential predictive biomarker in glioma, and further mechanistic studies to elucidate the connections between the circadian clock and microenvironment are warranted.
Recent and Future Advances in the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Homogeneous Glycans for Bacterial Glycoconjugate Vaccine Development

Vaccines are important in preventing disease outbreaks and controlling the spread of disease in a population. A variety of vaccines exist, including subunit, recombinant, and conjugate vaccines. Glycoconjugate vaccines have been an important tool to fight against diseases caused by a number of bacteria. Glycoconjugate vaccines are often heterogeneous. Vaccines of the future are becoming more rationally designed to have a defined oligosaccharide chain length and position of conjugation. Homogenous vaccines could play an important role in assessing the relationship between vaccine structure and immune response. This review focuses on recent advances in the chemoenzymatic production of defined bacterial oligosaccharides for vaccine development with a focus on Neisseria meningitidis and selected WHO-prioritized antibacterial resistant-pathogens. We also provide some perspective on future advances in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of well-defined oligosaccharides.
A simulation model evaluating costs of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) for a typical U.S. cow-calf producer and benefits of multiple test and cull strategies

Increasingly, veterinarian organizations in the United States recommend the control and eradication of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV). Cow-calf producers comprise 35% of U.S. cattle; however, research on the effects of BVDV in these herds is limited. To gain a better understanding of the pathology of BVDV in cow-calf producers, a stochastic simulation model was developed in C++ to measure epidemiological and financial outcomes. Additional simulations were run to evaluate changes in producer profit for several test and cull strategies. Introducing a PI animal decreased profit by an average of {dollar}13,971 over 10 years. When a second generation of PI animals was born, profit decreased an average of {dollar}18,738 over 10 years. Of the test and cull methods run, herds with PI animals profited the most by testing newborn calves before the start of breeding each year. When one PI animal was introduced, testing newborn calves each year before breeding increased profit by an average of {dollar}8,498 over 10 years. For producers with a low risk of PI introduction, testing retained calves after weaning when motivated by an unusually small number of calves was the least costly strategy and successfully identified 77% of simulations that introduced one PI animal in the herd.
Mitochondrial mRNA Editing in Kinetoplastid Protozoa

The mRNAs in the mitochondrion of kinetoplastid protozoa are often modified by the precise addition or deletion of uridylates (U's) by a process termed RNA editing. This chapter focuses on the molecular basis of RNA editing, and the integration of biochemical mechanism with the structure of the editing machinery. The mitochondrial mRNAs are translated on mitochondrial ribosomes and produce functional proteins. It is clear that while minicircles do not encode proteins directly, they play an important role in RNA maturation by encoding most of the guide RNAs (gRNAs) necessary for the editing of mitochondrial mRNAs. The secondary structures determined for the four gRNAs, while similar, have Gibbs free energies well below those predicted for the most stable structures for these RNAs. In a series of UV cross-linking studies, gRNAs binding proteins have also been identified from Trypanosoma brucei mitochondrial extracts. When different gRNAs specific to different mRNA editing sites are incubated with mitochondrial extracts, the same eight proteins are able to bind. Based entirely on analysis of genomic and cDNA sequences, we can predict with some certainty that RNA editing is obligatory for the formation of mitochondrial mRNAs with correct initiation and termination codons and continuous open reading frames to encode these mitochondrial proteins.
TRADING COSTS AND THE PATTERN OF TRADE IN PRE-INDUSTRIAL EUROPE*

The development of pre-industrial Europe was driven by the expansion of trade. This paper describes the patterns of trade and shows how they can be understood in terms of differences in trading costs. It discusses how the different levels of trade-from local to transoceanic-contributed, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to the process of growth.