cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automated micropipette tip-based SPE in quantitative bioanalysis.

Background: Automated methodologies using silica-based, monolithic, micropipette tip-based SPE have been developed for the analysis of small molecules in support of both preclinical and first-in-human development studies using LC–MS/MS. The use of micropipette tip-based SPE with the Tomtec Quadra 96® and the evaluation of prototype micropipette tips for use with the Hamilton Microlab® Star robot is outlined. Results: Mixed-mode cation exchange and C18 SPE methods have been developed using human and rat plasma for the extraction of lipophilic and polar analytes. These methods are advantageous as they use low plasma sample, washing and elution volumes and result in a method extraction cycle time of approximately 6.2 min for 96 samples. Conclusion: This significantly reduced extraction time, compared with 96-well plate format SPE, indicates that the sample preparation stage is no longer the rate-limiting stage in performing a selective extraction procedure. Robust and sensitive methods have been developed th...
Linkage for the diamond and the path with four vertices

Given graphs G and H, we say G is H-linked if for every injective mapping l: V(H)→V(G), we can find a subgraph H′ of G that is a subdivision of H with l(v) being the vertex of H′ corresponding to each vertex v of H. In this article, we prove two results on H-linkage for 4-vertex graphs H. Goddard showed that 4-connected planar triangulations are 4-ordered, or in other words C4-linked. We strengthen this by showing that 4-connected planar triangulations are (K4−e)-linked. X. Yu characterized certain graphs related to P4-linkage. We use his characterization to show that every 7-connected graph is P4-linked, and to construct 6-connected graphs that are not P4-linked. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory, © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Contract grant sponsor: U.S. National Security Agency; Contract grant numbers: H98230-06-1-0051; H98230-09-1-0065 (to M. N. E.); Contract grant sponsor: NSF; Contract grant numbers: DMS-0652306; DMS-0852452 (to G. Y.). The United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints notwith-standing any copyright notation herein.)
Design and Evaluation of a Robust PID Controller for a Fully Implantable Artificial Pancreas

Treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus could be greatly improved by applying a closed-loop control strategy to insulin delivery, also known as an artificial pancreas (AP). In this work, we outline the design of a fully implantable AP using intraperitoneal (IP) insulin delivery and glucose sensing. The design process utilizes the rapid glucose sensing and insulin action offered by the IP space to tune a PID controller with insulin feedback to provide safe and effective insulin delivery. The controller was tuned to meet robust performance and stability specifications. An anti-reset windup strategy was introduced to prevent dangerous undershoot toward hypoglycemia after a large meal disturbance. The final controller design achieved 78% of time within the tight glycemic range of 80–140 mg/dL, with no time spent in hypoglycemia. The next step is to test this controller design in an animal model to evaluate the in vivo performance.
Controlling Order in Block Copolymer Thin Films for Nanopatterning Applications

An attractive “unconventional” lithographic technique to pattern periodic, sub-100 nm features uses self-assembled block copolymer thin films as etch masks. Unfortunately, as-cast films lack the orientational and positional order of the microphase-separated domains that are necessary for many desired applications. Reviewed herein are techniques developed to guide the self-assembly process in thin films, which permit varying degrees of control over the patterns formed by the microdomains. Techniques that can control the out-of-plane order of the microdomains are first summarized. Then, techniques that control the lateral ordering are reviewed, beginning with those that generate large defect-free grains, then those that impart orientational order to the microdomains, and finally those that can control both the orientation and position of individual microdomains. Each technique is summarized with experimental examples and discussions regarding the mechanism of the guided self-assembly process.
Texture analysis via unsupervised and supervised learning

A framework for texture analysis based on combined unsupervised and supervised learning is proposed. The textured input is represented in the frequency-orientation space via a Gabor-wavelet pyramidal decomposition. In the unsupervised learning phase a neural network vector quantization scheme is used for the quantization of the feature-vector attributes and a projection onto a reduced dimension clustered map for initial segmentation. A supervised stage follows, in which labeling of the textured map is achieved using a rule-based system. A set of informative features are extracted in the supervised stage as congruency rules between attributes using an information-theoretic measure. This learned set can now act as a classification set for test images. This approach is suggested as a general framework for pattern classification. Simulation results for the texture classification are given. >
Phenomenological quark model for baryon magnetic moments and beta decay ratios (GA/GV)

Baryon magnetic moments and beta decay ratios ${(G}_{A}{/G}_{V})$ are calculated in a phenomenological quark model. Nonstatic effects of pion exchange and orbital excitation are included. Good agreement with experiment is found for a combined fit to all measured baryon magnetic moments and beta decay ratios. The model predicts an antiquark content for the proton that is consistent with the Gottfried sum rule.
Empirical studies of copyright litigation

This essay summarizes the current state-of-the-art in the application of observational empirical tools to the study of copyright litigation. As a field, Empirical Legal Studies (or ELS) is relatively young, and the subfield of ELS applied to copyright litigation is in its infancy. Broadly speaking, the existing empirical studies of copyright litigation can be classified into three subcategories: studies of judicial behavior; studies of the day to day life of copyright litigation from the time cases are filed to their ultimate disposition; and studies of particular aspects of copyright doctrine. The essay reviews the existing literature and concludes with guidelines for researchers planning to undertake an empirical study of copyright litigation that represent current ‘best practices’.
Does Conversion in Laparoscopic Colectomy Portend an Inferior Oncologic Outcome? Results from 104,400 Patients.

Background Limited data exist regarding the effect of conversion from laparoscopic to open colectomy on perioperative and oncologic outcomes in colon cancer.
Russian-American Relations, 1917–1933: An Interpretation

The assumption by the government of the United States of diplomatic relations with the government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on November 16, 1933, closed a long and unique chapter in the annals of American diplomacy. Now that this phase has become historic and a new era in Soviet-American relations has been officially inaugurated, it is possible to review and appraise the highly contentious and illucid interval between 1917 and 1933 with some degree of accuracy and finality. The purpose of this discussion is, therefore, to examine the whole period candidly, objectively, dispassionately, by means of an analysis of the attitude of the United States government, as officially expressed in diplomatic documents or the utterances of responsible statesmen in the period since tsardom fell in Russia. It is desirable, however, to relate those statements, and the positions taken, to the historic attitudes of both Russia and the United States in the course of the last one hundred years; for it is only as the policy of the United States is seen in its full historic setting, in relation to the principles of international law long espoused and followed in American diplomatic practice, that the more recent phases of that policy can adequately be judged.
Direct observation of metal-insulator transition in single-crystalline germanium telluride nanowire memory devices prior to amorphization

Structural defects and their dynamics play an important role in controlling the behavior of phase-change materials (PCM) used in low-power nonvolatile memory devices. However, not much is known about the influence of disorder on the electronic properties of crystalline PCM prior to a structural phase-change. Here, we show that the application of voltage pulses to single-crystalline GeTe nanowire memory devices introduces structural disorder in the form of dislocations and antiphase boundaries (APB). The dynamic evolution and pile-up of APBs increases disorder at a local region of the nanowire, which electronically transforms it from a metal to a dirty metal to an insulator, while still retaining single-crystalline long-range order. We also observe that close to this metal–insulator transition, precise control over the applied voltage is required to create an insulating state; otherwise the system ends up in a more disordered amorphous phase suggesting the role of electronic instabilities during the struct...
Diffusivity in asymmetric Yukawa ionic mixtures in dense plasmas

In this paper we present molecular dynamics (MD) calculations of the interdiffusion coefficient for asymmetric mixed plasma for thermodynamic conditions relevant to astrophysical and inertial confinement fusion plasmas. Specifically, we consider mixtures of deuterium and argon at temperatures of 100--500 eV and a number density $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{25} \mathrm{ions}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$. The motion of 30 000--120 000 ions is simulated in which the ions interact via the Yukawa (screened Coulomb) potential. The electric field of the electrons is included in this effective interaction; the electrons are not simulated explicitly. The species diffusivity is then calculated using the Green-Kubo approach using an integral of the interdiffusion current autocorrelation function, a quantity calculated in the equilibrium MD simulations. Our MD simulation results show that a widely used expression relating the interdiffusion coefficient with the concentration-weighted sum of self-diffusion coefficients overestimates the interdiffusion coefficient. We argue that this effect due to cross-correlation terms in velocities is characteristic of asymmetric mixed plasmas. Comparison of the MD results with predictions of kinetic theories also shows a discrepancy with MD giving effectively a larger Coulomb logarithm.
ID: 123: ROLE OF MICRORNA-1 IN REGULATING PULMONARY VASCULAR REMODELING IN PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Rationale Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe, progressive disease characterized by increased pulmonary arterial pressure and resistance due in part to uncontrolled vascular remodeling. The mechanisms contributing to vascular remodeling in PAH are poorly understood and involve rampant pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC) proliferation. We recently demonstrated the important role of sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1), a lipid kinase producing pro-proliferative sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), in the development of pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH. However, the regulatory processes involved in upregulation of SphK1 in this disease are unknown. Objective In this study, we aimed to identify novel molecular mechanisms governing the regulation of SphK1 expression, with a focus on microRNA (miR). Using both in vitro studies in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and an in vivo mouse model of experimental hypoxia-mediated pulmonary hypertension (HPH), we explored the role of miR in controlling SphK1 expression in the development of pulmonary vascular remodeling. Methods and Results In silico analysis identified hsa-miR-1-3p (miR-1) as a candidate targeting SphK1. We demonstrate miR-1 is down-regulated by hypoxia in human PASMCs and in lung tissues of mice with HPH, coinciding with upregulation of SphK1 expression. PASMCs isolated from patients with PAH had significantly reduced expression of miR-1. Transfection of human PASMCs with miR-1 mimics significantly attenuated activity of a SphK1-39-UTR luciferase reporter construct and SphK1 protein expression. miR-1 overexpression in human PASMCs also inhibited proliferation and migration under normoxic and hypoxic conditions, both important in pathogenic vascular remodeling in PAH. Finally, we demonstrated that intravenous administration of miR-1 mimics prevents the development of experimental HPH in mice and attenuates induction of SphK1 in PASMCs. Conclusion These data demonstrate that miR-1 expression in reduced in PASMCs from PAH patients, is modulated by hypoxia, and regulates the expression of SphK1. Key phenotypic aspects of vascular remodeling are influenced by miR-1 and its overexpression can prevent the development of HPH in mice. These studies further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying pathogenic pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH and could lead to novel therapeutic targets. Supported by grants NIH/NHLBI R01 HL127342 and R01 HL111656 to RFM, NIH/NHLBI P01 HL98050 and R01 HL127342 to VN, American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship (15PRE2190004) to JRS, and NIH/NLHBI NRSA F30 Fellowship (FHL128034A) to JRS.
Seasonal Variation in Number of Eggs Laid by Culiseta Incidens (Diptera: Culicidae)

Culiseta incidens egg rafts collected from the field in the spring contained more eggs than did rafts taken at other times of the year in southern California, USA. Evidence presented elsewhere indicates that females emerging in the spring develop at lower temperatures, are subjected to less crowding during development, and thus are larger than females emerging at other times of the year. Data are given on fecundity and fertility of Cs. incidens and Cs. inornata .
Exploring the causes of an extreme flood event in Central New York, USA

AbstractThis study examined the causes of an extreme flood event on 28 June 2013 in Central New York, USA by comparing its hydrological, hydrometeorological, and rainfall-runoff transformation characteristics with those of a typical flood event. Flood frequency analyses showed that the maximum rainfall intensity and the peak discharge of the extreme event had recurrence intervals (RIs) of 8 and 86 years, respectively, while RIs for the typical event were 42 and 11 years, respectively. Their severity diagrams and quantification of their rainfall spatial variations illustrated that the extreme event was spatially localized with high intensities, whereas the typical event was spatially uniform and prolonged. Watershed modeling indicated that the rainfall-runoff transformation was dominated by the infiltration excess process for the extreme flood, while controlled by both infiltration and saturation excess processes for the typical event. These analyses revealed that the upgrade-magnitude conversion pattern o...
Language and Society: A Global Perspective

Many people believe that language is the province of language teachers and that society is a topic left to social studies teachers. But social studies as a subject is incomplete without a knowledge of the role of language in human social, political and economic behaviour. Language study is incomplete without an understanding of the social setting of language. This paper is intended to assess the role of language in society and analyses how society shapes language.
On How to Be an Innovative Teacher in Mordern Times

The professional morality is the spiritual support throughout the whole process of teaching,and it stimulates and influences the students and the society.Meanwhile,it is an essential request for the teachers to master knowledge of both profession and teaching theory.Creative teachers in modern times must all promote themselves in profession and teaching theory so as to meet the needs of our time.
Dynamic Research of Seed Filling on High Quality Super Rice Variety Songjing No.9

Dynamic study of seed filling on Songjing No.9 was conducted.The results showed that: The seed filling character of Songjing No.9 was earlier,faster and more stable than the two contract varieties.It was the same as CKs that the seeds filling velocity on top and low were stable,and reached the maximum after 25 days of heading,but the middle seeds were 5 days later than the top and low.The difference was evident that the filling velocity of seeds on different part,the sequence of filling velocityand seed weight from strong to weak was top,middle and low.
Patient-specific whole-body dosimetry: principles and a simplified method for clinical implementation.

The purpose of this article is to describe the methods used to determine the precise, patient-specific dose (in mCi) of 131 I anti-B1 antibody needed to deliver a specified whole-body radiation dose (generally 75 cGy) to patients being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Methods: The general principles, as well as simplified methods for dosimetry calculation, are described, and a worked example is provided. The approach described involves administration of a tracer dose that is used to determine the patient-specific whole-body residence time. The total-body radiation dose per unit of cumulated activity is calculated using an ellipsoid model of the human body, with an assumption of uniform distribution of radioactivity. Together, they determine the appropriate patient-specific therapeutic dose of radiolabeled antibody needed to deliver a specified total-body dose of radiation. Results: Because a mono-exponential whole-body effective half-time adequately describes the total-body kinetics, the patient's whole-body residence time is estimated from three whole-body radioactivity observations obtained over 6-7 days. Whole-body counts can be collected using either a thyroid probe system or a whole-body gamma camera. The residence time, in conjunction with the patient's weight, determines the desired therapeutic activity. Dose attenuations are instituted for obesity and reduced blood platelet counts. Conclusion: Methods for determining total-body dose of radiation, including a simplified dosimetric method based on just three data points, are described. Tables and graphs to allow such calculations are presented for radioimmunotherapy with 131 I anti-B1 antibody, although they are likely to be useful in other forms of radiopharmaceutical therapy as well.
The influence of affect on stereotyping: The case of illusory correlations.

Publisher Summary For many years, the prevailing view of stereotyping and prejudice was that, these phenomena are manifestations of affective processes that shape people's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. This implicit assumption took a number of specific forms; the Freudian concepts of projection and displacement, Lippmann's views on stereotypes as defense, the frustration–aggression hypothesis, the research culminating in The Authoritarian Personality, and the notion of scapegoating provide examples of this perspective. The common element in all of these concepts is the view that intergroup judgments are driven by affective processes. From this perspective, to understand stereotyping, one needs to focus on these affective origins. This chapter presents an analysis by considering what recent research on affect and cognitive processing has demonstrated and how these findings have been conceptualized in this literature. It also discusses the implications of these findings for the specific processes underlying illusory correlations.
Spotlight on bevacizumab in metastatic colorectal cancer: patient selection and perspectives

Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a prevalent disease for which combination cytotoxic chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment. With the use of targeted therapy, including anti-angiogenic agents, there have been significant improvements in overall outcome of patients with mCRC. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor ligand A, is approved for use in mCRC patients in both the first and second lines of therapy. With a better understanding of the disease through molecular profiling, identification of prognostic biomarkers may lead to better patient selection with improved outcomes for those affected by this disease.
Building energy modeling (BEM) using clustering algorithms and semi-supervised machine learning approaches

Abstract Energy efficiency is a critical element of building energy conservation. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) estimated that over 6% of electrical energy was lost during transmission and distribution. Sensing and tracking technologies, and data-mining offer new windows to better understanding these losses in real-time. Recent developments in energy optimization computational methods also allow engineers to better characterize energy consumption load profiles. The paper focuses on developing new and robust data-mining techniques to explore large and complex data generated by sensing and tracking technologies. These techniques would potentially offer new avenues to understand and prevent energy losses during transmission. The paper presents two new concepts: First, a set of clustering algorithms that model the supply-demand characterization of four different substations clusters, and second, a semi-supervised machine learning and clustering technique are developed to optimize the losses and automate the process of identifying loss factors contributing to the total loss. This three-step process uses real-time data from buildings and the substations that supply electricity to the buildings to develop the proposed technique. The preliminary findings of this paper help the utility service providers to understand the energy supply-demand requirements.
Abstract 342: Variation In Contrast Volumes For Percutaneous Interventions Across Hospitals In Northern New England: It Is Not Just Patient And Procedural Characteristics

Background: Contrast volume (CV) is an important risk factor for acute kidney injury following PCI. Hypothesis: Hospitals participating in a regional PCI registry differ in their use of CV and this difference is a consequence not only of patient characteristics but of modifiable site-specific practices. Methods: Data from 4110 consecutive PCIs performed during 2011 at 7 member sites of the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group PCI Registry. Contrast volume was categorized into 100ml increments. Ordered multivariate logistic regression identified patient characteristics associated with CV and compared site use of CV after controlling for them. Then, procedural characteristics significantly associated with CV were added to the model and the influence of site reassessed. Results: CV differed across sites (Figure 1). Patient characteristics significantly associated with CV included age, sex, body mass index, prior CABG or PCI, ejection fraction, and pre-procedure estimated GFR. After adjusting for patient characteristics there remained a significant difference in CV use with Site 7 (OR 0.45, p<0.01) and Site 3 (OR 0.25, p<0.01) using less contrast volume than referent Site 4. Available procedural characteristics significantly associated with CV included access site (OR 0.73), Ad Hoc PCI (OR 3.65), CTO PCI (OR 2.1), number of vessels intervened on (OR 0.67-0.99) and number of lesions attempted (OR 1.59-9.40). After controlling for patient and procedural characteristics, 4 of 7 sites (Sites 3, 5, 7, and 10) were found to use significantly less contrast volume than referent Site 4. A ’Chi-Pie’ model showed that 16% of the variation was explained by patient characteristics, 45% by procedure characteristics, and 39% by site-specific factors. Conclusions: Even after controlling for patient and procedural characteristics, there remains significant variation in CV across northern New England PCI sites. Some of the known procedural characteristics may be modifiable. In addition, as yet unmeasured site-specific characteristics (e.g., method of assessing EF, catheter size, automatic vs hand injections) contribute to 39% of the variation. A better understanding of what drives the use of CV represents an opportunity for some sites in northern New England to decrease CV and improve PCI outcomes. ![Graphic][1] [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
A serum miRNA profile of human longevity: findings from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)

In C. elegans, miRNAs are genetic biomarkers of aging. Similarly, multiple miRNAs are differentially expressed between younger and older persons, suggesting that miRNA-regulated biological mechanisms affecting aging are evolutionarily conserved. Previous human studies have not considered participants' lifespans, a key factor in identifying biomarkers of aging. Using PCR arrays, we measured miRNA levels from serum samples obtained longitudinally at ages 50, 55, and 60 from 16 non-Hispanic males who had documented lifespans from 58 to 92. Numerous miRNAs showed significant changes in expression levels. At age 50, 24 miRNAs were significantly upregulated, and 73 were significantly downregulated in the long-lived subgroup (76-92 years) as compared with the short-lived subgroup (58-75 years). In long-lived participants, the most upregulated was miR-373-5p, while the most downregulated was miR-15b-5p. Longitudinally, significant Pearson correlations were observed between lifespan and expression of nine miRNAs (p value<0.05). Six of these nine miRNAs (miR-211-5p, 374a-5p, 340-3p, 376c-3p, 5095, 1225-3p) were also significantly up- or downregulated when comparing long-lived and short-lived participants. Twenty-four validated targets of these miRNAs encoded aging-associated proteins, including PARP1, IGF1R, and IGF2R. We propose that the expression profiles of the six miRNAs (miR-211-5p, 374a-5p, 340-3p, 376c-3p, 5095, and 1225-3p) may be useful biomarkers of aging.
High dimensional model representation for solving expensive multi-objective optimization problems

Metamodel based evolutionary algorithms have been used for solving expensive single and multi-objective optimization problems where evaluation of functions consume major portion of the running time. The system can be complex, high dimensional, multi-objective and black box function. In this paper, we have proposed a framework for solving expensive multi-objective optimization problems that uses high dimensional model representation (HDMR) as a basic model. The proposed method first explores the region of interest and then exploits them by narrowing the search space. It uses Kriging to interpolate subcomponents of HDMR and NSGA-II to solve the model space. It is compared with basic NSGA-II and multi-objective Kriging method on ZDT, DTLZ and CEC09 test problem suits. The results show that this framework is able to find a good distribution of solutions which are sufficiently converged to Pareto optimal fronts with limited number of solution evaluations.
Personalization without user interruption: boosting activity recognition in new subjects using unlabeled data

Activity recognition systems are widely used in monitoring physical and physiological conditions as well as observing the short/long term behavioral patterns for the purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of the users. The major obstacle in widespread use of these systems is the need for collecting labeled data to train the activity recognition model. While a personalized model outperforms a user-independent model, collecting labels from every single user is burdensome and in some cases impractical. In this paper, we propose an uninformed cross-subject transfer learning algorithm that leverages the cross-user similarities by constructing a network-based feature-level representation of the data in source and target users and perform a best effort community detection to extract the core observations in target data. Our algorithm uses a heuristic classifier-based mapping to assign activity labels to the core observations. Finally, the output of labeling is conditionally fused with the prediction of the source-model to develop a boosted and personalized activity recognition algorithm. Our analysis on real-world data demonstrates the superiority of our approach. Our algorithm achieves over 87% accuracy on average which is 7% higher than the state-of-the art approach.
Probe Tip Force and Beam States Observer for Position Control of a Scanning Stylus Nano Profiler

Abstract The small rocking beam electrostatic force balance sensor is an effective metrology tool for applications such as micro topography of semiconductor devices. During the vertical scanning of the sample surface the capacitor sensor of the beam measures the angular displacement of the rocking beam. To design an effective control system for high speed imaging of a sample surface it is desirable to estimate the force acting between the probe tip and the sample surface, and also the states of the force sensor from the measured signal. These estimated variables are used for feedback position control of the force sensor and the scanning piezo actuator assembly for vertical positioning of the probe tip relative to the sample surface. A force / beam states observer for the rocking beam force sensor is investigated in this paper. Simulated result is presented for performance evaluation of the proposed observer.
Low Pre-Transplant Vitamin D Levels Predict an Inferior Survival in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Undergoing an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant

Introduction Nearly 40% of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma are vitamin D deficient (Br J Haematol. 2008;142(3):492-4). Low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher ISS (International staging system) stage, higher creatinine, and higher serum C-reactive protein levels at diagnosis (Am J Hematol. 2009;84(7):397-400). Along with its key role in bone metabolism, vitamin D promotes differentiation, inhibits proliferation and is pro-apoptotic at the cellular level. In our retrospective study, we assessed the prognostic effect of pre-transplant vitamin D levels in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) undergoing their first autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Methods All patients who underwent an ASCT for MM since 2010 were identified from the Wake Forest University Comprehensive Cancer Center registry. 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels checked within 90 prior to ASCT were recorded, along with key clinical variables as noted in table 1. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was employed to define best discriminant levels for predicting mortality. Survival was calculated from the date of transplant to the date of death or last follow up. The JMP (SAS Institute) statistical package was used for all calculations. Results A total of 176 patients received ASCT for MM from 2010 to 2015, of whom 158 (90%) had pre-transplant vitamin D levels checked within 90 days of ASCT and were included in the analysis. Most patients (140/158, 89%) underwent ASCT within one year of MM diagnosis. ROC analysis identified a 25-OH vitamin D level of ≤ 23 ng/mL (AUC 0.57) as best discriminant level for predicting mortality. Using this cut-off, vitamin D deficiency was identified in 60% (94/158) patients. Low vitamin D levels were significantly associated with younger age at MM diagnosis and ASCT (P =0.001). There were no other significant differences in the baseline characteristics of patients with low versus normal vitamin D levels (Table 1). Survival from the time of transplant was inferior in vitamin D deficient patients compared to those with normal levels (HR 2.55, 95% CI 1.08-7.03; P= 0.03). Median survival in vitamin D deficient patients was 25 months versus 32 months in those with normal vitamin D levels (P= 0.03). Multivariable analysis in the context of ISS and ASBMT disease risk confirmed the independent prognostic relevance of vitamin D levels (P= 0.01). Conclusion Low pre-transplant vitamin D levels are associated with an inferior survival in patients with multiple myeloma who undergo an ASCT. Further studies are needed to determine whether repleting vitamin D in vitamin D deficient patients improves outcomes. Prognostic impact of pre-transplant vitamin D levels in MM patients undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Rapid detection of trace ozone in TiO2–In2O3 materials by using the differential method

Abstract TiO 2 –In 2 O 3 composites were fabricated for detecting trace amounts of gaseous ozone and were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The fabricated TiO 2 –In 2 O 3 composites exhibited a high ozone gas sensor response of 56.5–2.0 ppm at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C) under irradiation at 405 nm using a light-emitting diode. The differential function dR/dt (R, sensor resistance; t, time) was used to analyze ozone concentrations from 40 to 2000 ppb, and a favorable regression coefficient of R 2 = 0.997 was obtained. In addition, the results revealed that the ozone sensor exhibited a rapid response rate of 30 s and favorable short-term stability to 2.0 ppm ozone. A possible sensing mechanism was proposed.
Landing on Europa, part 1: Mission proposal

This paper, the first of three, compares the merits of current or planned missions to Jupiter and Europa and then proposes a lander vehicle for studying Europa. It outlines the launch vehicle and spacecraft, the mission trajectory, and potential spacecraft instruments. It estimates power consumption, cost, and schedule for a mission to Europa.
Lift-Off Screw Results in Accurate Sagittal Tilt Correction in a Distal Radius Fracture Model.

Purpose To determine the accuracy of a distal-first open reduction internal plate fixation technique in achieving correction of volar tilt in dorsally angulated distal radius fractures. Methods Twenty foam radius models were divided evenly into groups N (normal) and O (osteoporotic). Dorsally angulated extra-articular distal radius fractures were then created. Group O underwent further modification to simulate an osteoporotic model. After static pinning in various degrees of dorsal angulation, opaque fiducial markers were placed and fluoroscopy was used to measure prereduction volar tilt. A variation of the distal-first plate application technique was used where a lift-off screw (LOS) was placed in the proximal most locking hole and propped the proximal aspect of the plate by the screw's length. The LOS length corresponded to the volar tilt correction needed. After fracture reduction using this technique, we measured the volar tilt again. We then compared the actual volar tilt correction with what was predicted based on the LOS length used. We also compared the tilt correction accuracy in the normal and osteoporotic models. Results Prereduction tilt ranged from 3° to 52° of dorsal tilt from normal (10° volar tilt). Corresponding LOSs ranged from 5 to 42 mm in length. Tilt correction correlated with screw length in a linear fashion (R = 0.9). The mean difference between actual and predicted tilt correction for a given screw length was 0.5° ± 3.0°, and the mean absolute difference was 2.4° ± 1.7° for all specimens. There was no difference between normal and osteoporotic models. Conclusions Prereduction dorsal tilt can be accurately corrected within a few degrees of the goal by using the distal-first technique with an LOS. The LOS length can be calculated, and this technique can potentially be used with any distal radius periarticular locking plate with locking options in the shaft. Clinical relevance A technique that provides accurate tilt correction would be of benefit to surgeons treating distal radius fractures with volar plates.
Hydra: a modular, universal multi-sensor data collection system

The Sensor Analysis and Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) at Mississippi State University's (MSU's) Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) and the Social, Therapeutic and Robotic Systems Lab (STaRS) at MSU's Computer Science and Engineering department have designed and implemented a modular platform for automated sensor data collection and processing, named the Hydra. The Hydra is an open-source system (all artifacts and code are published to the research community), and it consists of a modular rigid mounting platform (sensors, processors, power supply and conditioning) that utilize the Picatinny rail (a standardized mounting system originally developed for firearms) as a rigid mounting system, a software platform utilizing the Robotic Operating System (ROS) for data collection, and design packages (schematics, CAD drawings, etc.). The Hydra system streamlines the assembly of a configurable multi-sensor system. This system is motivated to enable researchers to quickly select sensors, assemble them as an integrated system, and collect data (without having to recreate the Hydras hardware and software). Prototype results are presented from a recent data collection on a small robot during a SWAT-robot training.
Evidence-Based Use of Progesterone During IVF

It has been well demonstrated that luteal phase physiology is disrupted in IVF cycles conducted with either GnRH agonists or antagonists, and that supplementation of the luteal phase with exogenous progesterone is necessary to optimize IVF cycle outcomes. There is now sufficient evidence to state that intravaginal progesterone preparations in therapeutic doses are equally efficacious and better tolerated by patients compared to traditional intramuscular progesterone preparations. There is no need to monitor serum progesterone levels with vaginal supplementation as adequate endometrial maturation is achieved at relatively low serum progesterone levels because of superior local absorption. In this chapter, we examine the evidence for efficacy, dosing, and timing of several progesterone preparations and also discuss as yet unclear issues of the ideal duration of progesterone support in early pregnancy and progesterone replacement in frozen embryo transfer cycles and donor/egg recipient cycles.
Muscle Ph, PO2, PCO2 Monitoring: A Review of Laboratory and Clinical Evaluations

The vital physiologic data necessary for the care of the critically ill are currently obtained from clinical observation, pulse, arterial and central venous pressures, electrocardiogram and blood gas determinations. In the infant, these parameters are often inaccurate (clinical observation), difficult to obtain because of the infant’s size (blood pressure), potentially hazardous (in-dwelling arterial line), and fail to provide minute-to-minute information (blood gas determination). In addition, these parameters may not necessarily reflect the physiologic state of the peripheral tissues. In our search for better and safer methods to assess vital functions in the very young, we have been evaluating the feasibility of continuous tissue monitoring of pH and more recently PCO2 and PO2.
Semantic Annotation of Clinical Events for Generating a Problem List

We present a pilot study of an annotation schema representing problems and their attributes, along with their relationship to temporal modifiers. We evaluated the ability for humans to annotate clinical reports using the schema and assessed the contribution of semantic annotations in determining the status of a problem mention as active, inactive, proposed, resolved, negated, or other. Our hypothesis is that the schema captures semantic information useful for generating an accurate problem list. Clinical named entities such as reference events, time points, time durations, aspectual phase, ordering words and their relationships including modifications and ordering relations can be annotated by humans with low to moderate recall. Once identified, most attributes can be annotated with low to moderate agreement. Some attributes – Experiencer, Existence, and Certainty - are more informative than other attributes – Intermittency and Generalized/Conditional - for predicting a problem mention’s status. Support vector machine outperformed Naive Bayes and Decision Tree for predicting a problem’s status.
MaxEnt and MaxEP in Modeling Fractal Topography and Atmospheric Turbulence

Recent investigations on scale-invariant processes such as topography and modeling evapotranspiration demonstrate the usefulness and potential of the principles of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and maximum entropy production (MaxEP) in the study of Earth systems. MaxEnt allows theoretical predictions of probability distributions of geophysical multifractal processes based on a small number of geometric parameters. MaxEP leads to the prediction of evapotranspiration and heat fluxes using fewer input variables than existing process based models. Encouraging progress in the application of MaxEnt and MaxEP, viewed as unified principles of inference, paves the way for more approaches of understanding, characterizing and predicting the behavior of the complex Earth systems.
The impact of study abroad on improved cultural awareness: a quantitative review

Studying abroad (SA) represents a valuable experience for many students within higher education settings. Recently, the number of students choosing to SA within higher education has risen. Quantita...
Oncogenic R132 IDH1 Mutations Limit NADPH for De Novo Lipogenesis through (D)2-Hydroxyglutarate Production in Fibrosarcoma Cells.

Neomorphic mutations in NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases (IDH1 and IDH2) contribute to tumorigenesis in several cancers. Although significant research has focused on the hypermethylation phenotypes associated with (D)2-hydroxyglutarate (D2HG) accumulation, the metabolic consequences of these mutations may also provide therapeutic opportunities. Here we apply flux-based approaches to genetically engineered cell lines with an endogenous IDH1 mutation to examine the metabolic impacts of increased D2HG production and altered IDH flux as a function of IDH1 mutation or expression. D2HG synthesis in IDH1-mutant cells consumes NADPH at rates similar to de novo lipogenesis. IDH1-mutant cells exhibit increased dependence on exogenous lipid sources for in vitro growth, as removal of medium lipids slows growth more dramatically in IDH1-mutant cells compared with those expressing wild-type or enzymatically inactive alleles. NADPH regeneration may be limiting for lipogenesis and potentially redox homeostasis in IDH1-mutant cells, highlighting critical links between cellular biosynthesis and redox metabolism.
Gynecologic Organ Involvement During Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Cancer: Is It Time to Routinely Spare the Ovaries?

Abstract Purpose To determine a subset of women who could undergo ovary-sparing radical cystectomy (OSRC) for bladder cancer without compromising oncologic safety. Patients and Methods A retrospective review was performed of 164 consecutive women who underwent cystectomy at a single tertiary-care center from 1997 to 2018. Clinicopathologic and preoperative radiographic data were reviewed. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models adjusting for pathologic stage, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and carcinomain-situ were performed to evaluate the risk of ovarian and reproductive organ (RO) involvement. Results A total of 123 women with a median age of 71 years underwent radical cystectomy (RC) with removal of ROs for primary bladder cancer. Nineteen women (15%) had RO involvement by bladder cancer, and 5 of them (4%) were specifically found to have ovarian involvement. Patients with ovarian involvement of bladder cancer had more locally advanced disease (P = .01), LVI (P = .003) and positive margins (P = .003). On multivariable logistic regression, ≥ pT3 (odds ratio = 10.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-51.6; P = .005) and LVI (odds ratio = 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-14.2; P = .037) were associated with increased risk of RO involvement. Among 15 patients excluded for having a nonbladder primary malignancy, a third had RO involvement, and 2 (13%) had ovarian metastases. No women in our cohort had a primary ovarian malignancy detected at the time of RC. Conclusion Women with ovarian involvement by malignancy at the time of RC either had locally advanced disease with LVI or a non-bladder primary malignancy. The risk of incompletely resecting the primary malignancy would be rare if OSRC was performed on women with organ-confined (≤T2) urothelial carcinoma.
Empirically Examining the Quality of Source Code in Engineering Software Systems

In Engineering and Scientific computing, a significant number of software systems that are being commonly used by the Engineering community are developed and deployed as Open Source Systems (OSS). This collaborative development model has been widely accepted in both academia and industry. As these systems are typically developed by developers who are experts in their fields (e.g., Engineering), some of those programmers may be lacking an essential skillset today's software quality and engineering concepts (e.g., source code maintainability and analyzability, source code vulnerability, parallelization, etc.). An empirical study is presented that examines some of the source code quality aspects and programming practices (e.g., jumps statements, usage of recursion) from software engineering perspective in ten open source Engineering software systems. The studied systems are written in the C/C++ programming languages and comprised of over ten million lines of code, and present numerous tasks of the engineering community, including computer-aided design, computational fluid dynamics, and finite element analysis. Static analysis methods are applied to each system to determine the number of jump statements (Goto and Break statements) and functions that are recursively invoked. Functions that contain direct or indirect recursive calls are determined and counted. The results show that number of the used jump statements and functions that have recursive calls are significant and thus pose more of a roadblock to effectively and automatically maintain, comprehend, analyze, and re-engineer systems. Lastly, this leads to inefficiencies in a software engineer's ability to accomplish these common tasks. The study showed that issues in source code stemming from the lack of coding standards have increased over time and are prevalent.
Training in cognitive strategies reduces eating and improves food choice

Obesity rates continue to rise alarmingly, with dire health implications. One contributing factor is that individuals frequently forgo healthy foods in favor of inexpensive, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. One important mechanism underlying these choices is food craving: Craving increases with exposure to unhealthy foods (and food cues, such as advertisements) and prospectively predicts eating and weight. Prior work has shown that cognitive regulation strategies that emphasize the negative consequences of unhealthy foods reduce craving. In Studies 1 and 2, we show that cognitive strategies also increase craving for healthy foods by emphasizing their positive benefits, and change food valuation (willingness to pay) for both healthy and unhealthy foods. In Studies 3 and 4, we demonstrate that brief training in cognitive strategies ("Regulation of Craving Training"; ROC-T) increases subsequent healthy (vs. unhealthy) food choices. This was striking because this change in food choices generalized to nontrained items. Importantly, in Study 5, we show that brief training in cognitive strategies also reduces food consumption by 93-121 calories. Consumed calories correlated with changes in food choice. Finally, in Study 6, we show that the training component of ROC-T is necessary, above and beyond any effect of framing. Across all studies (NTOTAL = 1,528), we find that cognitive strategies substantially change craving and food valuation, and that training in cognitive strategies improves food choices by 5.4-11.2% and reduces unhealthy eating, including in obese individuals. Thus, these findings have important theoretical, public health, and clinical implications for obesity prevention and treatment.