cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cardiac myocytes' dynamic contractile behavior differs depending on heart segment

Cardiac myocytes originating from different parts of the heart exhibit varying morphology and ultra- structure. However, the difference in their dynamic behavior is unclear. We examined the contraction of cardiac myocytes originating from the apex, ventricle, and atrium, and found that their dynamic behavior, such as amplitude and frequen- cy of contraction, differs depending on the heart segment of origin. Using video microscopy and high-precision image correlation, we found that: (1) apex myocytes exhibited the highest contraction rate (� 17 beats/min); (2) ventricular myocytes exhibited the highest contraction amplitude (� 5.2 micron); and (3) as myocyte contraction synchro- nized, their frequency did not change significantly, but the amplitude of contraction increased in apex and ventricular myocytes. In addition, as myocyte cultures mature they formed contractile filaments, further emphasizing the dif- ference in myocyte dynamics is persistent. These results suggest that the dynamic behavior (in addition to static properties) of myocytes is dependent on their segment of origin.
Dispersal pathways across the Pacific: the historical biogeography of Astelia s.l. (Asteliaceae, Asparagales)

Aim To investigate the origin and pathways of expansion of the austral genus Astelia s.l. (Asteliaceae, Asparagales) and to reconstruct the historical biogeography of the genus across the Pacific. Location Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Guinea, South America, Pacific archipelagos (Austral Islands, Fiji, Hawaii, Marquesas Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Society Islands and Vanuatu) and the Mascarene Islands. Methods Biogeographical patterns were determined using the Asteliaceae phylogeny, divergence dating, and ancestral area reconstruction techniques. All Asteliaceae genera, including 46 of 47 ingroup taxa, were sampled. Divergence times were estimated using a relaxed molecular clock model, calibrated according to Astelia s.l. fossil data from New Zealand. Ancestral areas were reconstructed using statistical dispersal–vicariance (S-DIVA) and dispersal–extinction–cladogenesis (DEC) models. Results Asteliaceae originated in Australia and Astelia s.l. (including Collospermum) underwent its greatest radiation in New Zealand. Within Astelia s.l., every node along the backbone of the phylogeny was assigned to New Zealand, with the earliest of these dated to 27.1 Ma (95% HPD: 17.6–40.0 Ma). Five range expansions from Australia and New Zealand to islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans were identified for Astelia s.l. New Zealand origins are identified for all Pacific taxa, with the earliest divergence of a Pacific taxon, that of the New Caledonian A. neocaledonica, at 7.6 Ma (95% HPD: 1.1–15.3 Ma). There were six dispersals from New Zealand, including four to Pacific archipelagos, and independent dispersals to Australia and South America. Additionally, stepping-stone pathways from New Zealand included dispersal to the western Pacific (Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu) and – independently – to the eastern/northern Pacific (Austral Islands, Hawaii and the Marquesas Islands). Main conclusions The Asteliaceae originated in Australia, but the largest genus, Astelia s.l., radiated most extensively in New Zealand, beginning at c. 27.1 Ma. Both western and eastern Pacific islands were colonized via direct and stepping-stone dispersal pathways from New Zealand.
Defining and Assessing Organizational Culture

PROBLEM. Using theories from several disciplines, the concept of organizational culture remains controversial. Conflicting definitions, lack of semantic clarity, and debate over the most appropriate methods for assessing organizational culture have led to disagreement over the value and validity of such inquiry. METHODS. This paper reviews development of the concept of organizational culture and methods for assessing organizational culture, focusing on the healthcare environment. FINDINGS. Most work on organizational culture concerns the traditional corporation. Therefore, some adaptation to the central goals and focus of a human services organization are necessary before application to healthcare settings.
Divided within: Heterogeneity within Adult Stem Cell Pools

In this issue, Wilson et al. (2008) demonstrate that there are two functional subsets of hematopoietic stem cells that have distinctive kinetics of cell cycling. They present evidence that cells may transition between the two kinetic states, establishing one subpopulation that is ready to proliferate and another that is a deeply quiescent reserve.
Probabilistic Grammars for Natural Languages

Although a fully adequate grammar for a substantial portion of any natural language does not exist, a vigorous and controversial discussion of how to choose among several competing grammars has already developed. On occasion, criteria of simplicity have been suggested as systematic scientific criteria for selection. The absence of such systematic criteria of simplicity in other domains of science inevitably raises doubts about the feasibility of such criteria for the selection of a grammar. Although some informal and intuitive discussion of simplicity is often included in the selection of theories or models in physics or in other branches of science, there is no serious systematic literature on problems of measuring simplicity. Nor is there any systematic literature in which criteria of simplicity are used in a substantive fashion to select from among several theories. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the most pressing one is that the use of more obviously objective criteria leaves little room for the addition of further criteria of simplicity. The central thesis of this paper is that objective probabilistic criteria of a standard scientific sort may be used to select a grammar.
Restoration and Canopy Type Influence Soil Microflora in a Ponderosa Pine Forest

species. The risk of stand-replacing fire has also greatly increased due to heavy fuel loading and high tree den- control duringeither the dryor wet periodsof the growingseason. Soil macroscale impacts of ecological restoration in this re- respiration measured in situ was significantly higher in the restoration gion (e.g., Stone et al., 1999; Bailey and Covington, 2002), treatments than in the control only during the dry period, while soil enzyme activities were generally higher in the composite restoration little emphasis has been given to possible impacts on the treatmentthaninthethinningrestorationorcontroltreatmentsduring soil microflora. Soil microorganisms play fundamental the wet period. Community-level physiological profiles suggested dif- roles in many ecosystem processes, including decompo- ferences in the physiological capacities of bacteria and fungi in the sition and nutrient cycling, and affect many important composite restoration treatment compared with the other treatments. soil hydrological and chemical properties (Gallardo and We also compared microbial characteristics under different canopy Schlesinger, 1994; Hart et al., 2005). Hence, changes in types to evaluate the impacts of pine invasion and establishment in grass the soil microbial community may lead to changes in openings on soil microorganisms. Soil respiration rates (dry period only) the structure and function of the overall ecosystem, and and enzyme activities (wet period only) were higher in grass openings ultimately determine ecosystem sustainability (Bossio than under presettlement trees, with intermediate values found under postsettlement pines that have invaded grass areas. Taken together, and Scow, 1995). our results suggest that restoration treatments have long-term impacts Soils disturbed by tree removal often have reduced on the soil microflora in these forests. microbial diversity compared with undisturbed areas (Atlas et al., 1991; Arunachalam et al., 1999; Byrd et al., 2000). Furthermore, prescribed fire has been shown to
Displaying realistic contact accelerations via a dedicated vibration actuator

During real physical interactions, contact between a hand-held tool and an object causes high-frequency tool accelerations that are detected by mechanoreceptors in the human hand. These haptic signals provide salient cues about changes in tool-surface contact state and enable effortless identification of material and surface properties. Unfortunately, these rich contact sensations are often absent from haptic renderings of virtual and remote objects. This demonstration features a classic implementation of bilateral teleoperation with two augmented SensAble Omni haptic interfaces. By using this system to touch a variety of remote objects, users will have an opportunity to experience first-hand the remarkable improvements in haptic realism that can be achieved through the use of a dedicated high-frequency vibration actuator driven by contact accelerations.
Resilient Pipeline Under Supply Noise With Programmable Time Borrowing and Delayed Clock Gating

A technique is presented to prevent timing errors under transient noise by borrowing time over multiple stages and by compensating once by delaying the clock gating over multiple cycles from the time-borrowing detection point. A logic network is presented for programming the number of stages n, over which time borrowing is performed to trade off supply noise tolerance with a performance penalty. The constraint that is associated with the control delay from the time-borrowing detection to the clockgating circuit is also relaxed to n cycles. The technique is referred to as the programmable time borrowing (PTB) technique, as time borrowing is performed over a programmable number of stages. A test chip with a five-stage pipeline employing the PTB is designed in the 130-nm CMOS technology, and the measurement results demonstrate improved noise tolerance and effective performance.
Advanced protein formulations

It is well recognized that protein product development is far more challenging than that for small-molecule drugs. The major challenges include inherent sensitivity to different types of stresses during the drug product manufacturing process, high rate of physical and chemical degradation during long-term storage, and enhanced aggregation and/or viscosity at high protein concentrations. In the past decade, many novel formulation concepts and technologies have been or are being developed to address these product development challenges for proteins. These concepts and technologies include use of uncommon/combination of formulation stabilizers, conjugation or fusion with potential stabilizers, site-specific mutagenesis, and preparation of nontraditional types of dosage forms—semiaqueous solutions, nonfreeze-dried solid formulations, suspensions, and other emerging concepts. No one technology appears to be mature, ideal, and/or adequate to address all the challenges. These gaps will likely remain in the foreseeable future and need significant efforts for ultimate resolution.
Speech tracking in the evaluation of a multichannel cochlear prosthesis

Individual speech tracking data were analyzed in relation to other variables in 11 adult users of the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant. Patients were categorized according to postoperative speech tracking results. The resultant groups could also be differentiated on the basis of postoperative MAC scores, surgeon's rating of overall success, and duration of deafness before implantation. The speech tracking paradigm appears to be a useful technique for the evaluation of performance with a cochlear prosthesis.
Get What You Give? An Examination of Enlightened Self-Interest, Philanthropic Intent, and Engagement in Philanthropy for Small Firm Owners

Prior researchers agree that small businesses are important community contributors due to their active engagement in broader social responsibility activities, such as philanthropy. Despite their purported importance to charitable giving and philanthropy, little is known about the factors that motivate small business owners’ decisions to engage in philanthropic giving. We integrate enlightened self-interest theory and the theory of planned behavior to examine how enlightened self-interest influences intentions to engage in philanthropy during start-up, which in turn impacts current levels of engagement in philanthropic activities. Our results suggest that intentions to engage in philanthropy at start-up do partially mediate the relationship between enlightened self-interest and engagement in philanthropy behaviors; thus, suggesting that entrepreneurs’ motivations grounded in enlightened self-interest influence intentions to engage in philanthropy and subsequent engagement in such activities.
Interaction of Radiation with Molecules

We now discuss the most important features of the interactions. We only present the main ideas and results, without derivations. Derivations involve quantum electrodynamics—since the photon always moves with the velocity of light (it is light!), no nonrelativistic theory of light exists. The techniques and ideas used in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics thus must be extended and generalized—a task that leads too far astray here. For details of the aspects that we introduce here we therefore refer to the relevant texts.
Mechanism and Control of Pyrrole Synthesis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the enzymatic control of pyrrole synthesis (porphobilinogen). It focuses on the mechanism of the reaction and the nature and conformation of the enzyme involved in a particular biological system. Porphobilinogen is enzymatically synthesized (δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase) from two molecules of δ-aminolevulinic acid that arise from the condensation of succinyl-CoA and glycine (δ-aminolevulinic acid synthetase). The synthesis of the aminoketone, δ-aminolevulinic acid, can be considered to be the first committed step in the series of reactions that lead to the synthesis of porphyrins and related compounds, whereas the synthesis of the pyrrole is the step in which aromatization occurs. The latter reaction may also be considered a distinct committed step, because an aliphatic compound is changed into an aromatic ring compound. If these two enzymatic reactions are committed steps, they may both be subjected to metabolic control by feedback inhibition and/or by repression.
Barriers to participation in breast cancer trials

6593 Background: Clinical cancer trials allow investigators to test the effectiveness and safety of new cancer drugs and treatments. Historically, fewer that 5% of cancer patients have participated...
Interactions of d-cellobiose with selected chloride salts: A 13C NMR and FT-IR study

The interactions of cellulose model compound d-cellobiose with chloride salts of Zn(2+), Ca(2+), Li(+), Sn(2+), La(3+), Mg(2+), K(+) and NH4(+) were evaluated by measuring the (13)C NMR chemical shift changes (Δδ) of the disaccharide due to the addition of salts in D2O. The KCl and NH4Cl showed similar Δδ changes due to interactions only with the Cl(-) anion. Whereas other chloride salts showed interactions with both cation and anion. Among these salts the total interactions are in the order: Zn(2+)>Sn(2+)>Li(+)>Ca(2+)~La(3+)>Mg(2+). The FT-IR spectra of D-cellobiose-chloride salt 1:2 mixtures also indicate that KCl and NH4Cl interacts similarly with D-cellobiose in the solid state.
Patients with mosaic methylation patterns of the Prader-Willi/Angelman Syndrome critical region exhibit AS-like phenotypes with some PWS features.

Loss of expression of imprinted genes in the 15q11.2-q13 region is known to cause either Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) or Angelman syndrome (AS), depending on the parent of origin. In some patients (1 % in PWS and 2–4 % in AS), the disease is due to aberrant imprinting or gene silencing, or both. We report here a 4-year-old boy on whom a chromosomal microarray (CMA) was performed due to mild hand tremors, mild developmental delays, and clumsiness. CMA revealed absence of heterozygosity (AOH) spanning the entire chromosome 15, suggesting uniparental isodisomy 15. The patient had no definitive phenotypic features of PWS or AS. Methylation-sensitive multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MS-MLPA) was performed to determine the parent of origin of the uniparental disomy (UPD) by examining methylation status at maternally imprinted sites. Interestingly, our patient had a mosaic methylation pattern. We identified nine additional previously tested patients with a similar mosaic methylation pattern. CMA was performed on these individuals retrospectively to test whether patients with mosaic methylation are more likely to have UPD of chromosome 15. Of the nine patients, only one had regions of AOH on chromosome 15; however, this patient had numerous regions of AOH on multiple chromosomes suggestive of consanguinity. The patients with mosaic methylation had milder or atypical features of AS, and the majority also had some features characteristic of PWS. We suggest that quantitative methylation analysis be performed for cases of atypical PWS or AS. It is also important to follow up with methylation testing when whole-chromosome isodisomy is detected.
An examination of the effectiveness of a sexual ethics curriculum

AbstractThis article presents early evaluation data on the effectiveness of an ethics-based sex education program, the Sexual Ethics for a Caring Society Curriculum (SECS-C), which strives to develop adolescents’ thinking about sex so that they might act ethically in relation to other people and reflect ethically upon sexual messages and events in the world around them. Unlike typical evidence-based curricula that measure prevention goals from a health perspective, effectiveness was measured in terms of attitude change. Seventy-nine 9th graders from 7 diverse classrooms at a charter school received 8 lessons from the curriculum. Pre and post measures assessed belief in rape myths (the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale) and bystanderism (the Bystander Attitude Scale, Revised (BAS-R)). The students showed improvements with regard to rape myth attitudes but not with regard to their beliefs in the likelihood of intervening in troublesome sexual situations.
Abstract 16851: ST Segment Variability as a Predictor of Clinical Deterioration in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Introduction: The interstage mortality rate for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is high at 12%. Modalities to predict clinical decline would be useful in this high risk population. Due to cardiac conduction system anomalies in HLHS, electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring of the ST segment is confounded. Our aim is to develop a monitor of ST variability that predicts deterioration despite the presence of an abnormal ST segment baseline. Hypothesis: Increased ST variability is associated with clinical deterioration in HLHS. Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted at Texas Children’s Hospital using interstage recordings of 5 lead ECG. From January 2013 to January 2014, 25 subjects were admitted with HLHS; 21 had requisite ECG data for inclusion. In 11 subjects, there were 17 deterioration events, defined as rapid response team (RRT) activation. Events included 13 instances of respiratory failure with intubation and 4 instances of chest compressions. The control group included 10 subjects with no deterioration. An approach to quantify variability was developed where the ST segment vector was resolved using 3 orthogonal leads (II, V5, and aVF) and variability quantified with two metrics: 1) Displacement: distance between ST vector tips at 30 s intervals and 2) Component range: sum of ST vector tip movement in 3 dimensions over 10 min intervals. Comparison was made with the four hour window prior to RRT activation in the deterioration group against the four hour window prior to ICU discharge in the control group. Results: Four hours prior to clinical deterioration, increased ST variability was noted in both methods. For the 30 s displacement method, subjects with deterioration had a median value of 0.059 mm [IQR: 0.039 - 0.075] compared with 0.037 mm [IQR: 0.025 - 0.053] in the control group (p = 0.023). For the 10 min component range method, subjects with deterioration had a median value of 3.0 mm [IQR: 1.8 - 4.5] compared with 1.9 mm [IQR: 1.0 - 2.8] in the control group (p = 0.031). Conclusions: ST variability is increased in HLHS subjects prior to deterioration. Although conduction abnormalities limit the utility of ST monitoring in this population, quantification of ST variability may have a role in advanced systems to monitor clinical deterioration.
Appling Fuzzy Comprehensive Judge Method to Identify Deficient Returing Well

During the field waterflooding process,it will appear the advancing situation of flood water,which is caused by the effects of heterogeneities of reservoir plane and fluid and development condition.When we inject water to oil displacement on different directions in water injection well,the advancing is always heterogenetic.Generally,there is one direction′s advancing that is the fastest.It may be developed to be ″a channel″ after long-term watering,which can form the flood water of deficient circulation.we set up a mathematical model that appling fuzzy comprehensive judge method to identify deficient returning well.Through analysis of living example,it is shown that it is a objective and effective method which is convenience to calculating and easy to manipulate and popularize.
Mouse model of chronic plus binge ethanol feeding(NIAAA model or Gao-binge model)

Alcoholic liver disease(ALD) is one of the most important reasons of chronic liver diseases. Currently, the studies on the pathogenesis and treatment targets of ALD are based on animal models, so it is important to establish an animal model similar to human ALD. The established animal models of ALD are either associated with mild liver injury or difficulty in performing. Recently, the Laboratory of Liver Diseases from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism(NIAAA), National Institutes of Health, has established a simple chronic-binge ethanol feeding model(NIAAA model or Gao-Binge model). This chronic-plus-binge ethanol feeding mimics the drinking pattern in many patients with alcoholic hepatitis and generates obvious liver injury. This model is easy to perform, and is time and cost efficient.
Bilateral Renal Oncocytoma: Report of 2 Cases and Literature Review

AbstractWe report on 2 patients with bilateral renal oncocytoma treated in the last 5 years. One patient underwent bilateral partial nephrectomy for a solitary tumor in each kidney. Both tumors were confirmed to be renal oncocytomas by light and electron microscopic examination. After 4 years this patient had no evidence of local recurrence or distal metastasis. The second patient presented with bilateral multiple renal oncocytomas. Transabdominal bilateral renal exploration revealed 2 tumors in the right kidney and 3 tumors in the left kidney. Right radical nephrectomy and enucleation of the left renal tumors were performed. Examination by light and electron microscopy confirmed that all tumors from both kidneys were oncocytomas. Only 8 cases of bilateral renal oncocytoma have been reported in the literature, including our 2 cases. In 6 of these 8 cases the tumors were multicentric, which may be a characteristic of bilateral renal oncocytoma. Recognizing the coexistence of multicentricity and bilateralit...
A validated protocol to quantify severity of male urogenital feminization using the MOUSE (Mouse objective urethral severity evaluation)

Extracted text; Background Congenital abnormalities vary in presentation, yet studies using model organisms tend to focus on occurrence rather than severity of the defect. Scoring severity of abnormalities in model systems allows explicit hypothesis testing during basic, translational, and reverse translational studies. We developed and validated a protocol to quantify severity of male urogenital feminization (hypospadias) in the mouse model. Hypospadias is one of the most common birth defects in the world. Methods To induce genital feminization, pregnant mice were exposed to different concentrations of the anti-androgen vinclozolin. Genitalia were photographed at gestational age 18.5. A dichotomous scoring system to evaluate genital feminization was developed, and validated against histological measurements of urethral length. A training protocol was developed for novice scorers, and criteria were defined to evaluate precision and accuracy of scores. Results Vinclozolin induced variation in hypospadias severity. Severity scores were tightly correlated with histologically determined urethral length and both techniques showed similar dose response relationships. Novice observers were trained to precisely and accurately score hypospadias severity. Conclusion This standardized scoring system advances the mouse as a model to study urogenital development, and will facilitate research on the mechanisms driving genital feminization in males, and aid translational hypospadias research.; 48 pictures for hypospadias severity scoring practice. 24 pictures for training set 1 and 24 pictures for training set 2. Scoring instructions are included in the Scoring Protocol file.
Authors’ reply to Henderson

We appreciate the comments on our study raised by readers of The BMJ .1 As our article acknowledged,2 recall of adolescent diet as an adult will be affected by measurement error, relying primarily on memory. We were unable to conduct ideal validation study of the high school dietary questionnaire—that is, collecting detailed weighed dietary records and biomarkers from high school …
Reversal by Caffeine of Triazolam-Induced Impairment of Waking Function

Twelve, healthy normal men aged 21–25 years received each of four treatments (triazolam placebo plus caffeine placebo, triazolam 0.50 mg plus caffeine placebo, triazolam 0.50 mg plus caffeine 4 mg/kg, triazolam 0.50 mg plus caffeine 8 mg/kg), double blind, in a Latin-Square design. Triazolam or placebo was administered at 0830 and caffeine or placebo at 1000 and 1245. On two memory tasks, administered at 1015 with an immediate recall and a delayed recall at 1230 following a 90 min nap (1030–1200), both immediate and delayed recall was impaired by triazolam. Neither caffeine dose reversed the impairments. Sleep latency and sleep efficiency were improved by triazolam and not reversed by caffeine. On a performance battery presented at 1300 most measures of performance were impaired by triazolam; in general the caffeine dose of 4 mg/kg partially reversed the effect while the dose of 8 mg/kg completely restored performance.
Excited State Charge Separation in Solution and in Electropolymerized Films of Terthiophene-Fullerene Dyad and Phenothiazine-Terthiophene-Fullerene Triad

This article reports synthesis, X-ray structure and excited state events occurring in a terthiophene-C₆₀ dyad (TT-C₆₀), and a phenothiazine-terthiophene-C₆₀ triad (PTZ-TT-C₆₀).
Personal Metrics: Methodological Considerations of a Praxiographical Approach

As a personal metric in contemporary (ac)counting practices to do with eating, health and exercise, the calorie is ubiquitous. It plays a significant part in what has come to be called the ‘Quantified Self Movement’. As it is used in contemporary quantification practices, the calorie carries the traces of its conditions of production in a previous era, when energy and efficiency were central matters of concern. This article explores calorie-counting practices and en route explains what it entails to do so with a praxiographical approach.
Observing algorithmic marketplaces in-the-wild

In this letter, we briefly summarize two recent works from our group that use observational data to study the mechanisms used by two large markets. First, we examine Uber's surge price algorithm, and observe that its incentive model may not be effective at changing driver behavior. Second, we study the adoption of dynamic pricing strategies by sellers on Amazon Marketplace, and investigate how these strategies interact with Amazon's "Buy Box" matching algorithm. We make our data available to the research community.
Adaptive lymphocyte profiles correlate to brain Aβ burden in patients with mild cognitive impairment

We previously found that subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment exhibit a pro-inflammatory immune profile in the cerebrospinal fluid similar to multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system autoimmune disease. We therefore hypothesized that early neuroinflammation would reflect increases in brain amyloid burden during amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples were collected from 24 participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (12 men, 12 women; 66 ± 6 years; 0.5 Clinical Dementia Rating) enrolled in the AETMCI study. Analyses of cerebrospinal fluid and blood included immune profiling by multi-parameter flow cytometry, genotyping for apolipoprotein (APO)e, and quantification of cytokine and immunoglobin levels. Amyloid (A)β deposition was determined by 18F-florbetapir positron emission tomography. Spearman rank order correlations were performed to assess simple linear correlation for parameters including amyloid imaging, central and peripheral immune cell populations, and protein cytokine levels. Soluble Aβ42 in the cerebrospinal fluid declined as Aβ deposition increased overall and in the precuneous and posterior cingulate cortices. Lymphocyte profiling revealed a significant decline in T cell populations in the cerebrospinal fluid, specifically CD4+ T cells, as Aβ deposition in the posterior cingulate cortex increased. In contrast, increased Aβ burden correlated positively with increased memory B cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, which was exacerbated in APOe4 carriers. For peripheral circulating lymphocytes, only B cell populations decreased with Aβ deposition in the precuneous cortex, as peripheral T cell populations did not correlate with changes in brain amyloid burden. Elevations in brain Aβ burden associate with a shift from T cells to memory B cells in the cerebrospinal fluid of subjects with amnestic mild cognitive impairment in this exploratory cohort. These data suggest the presence of cellular adaptive immune responses during Aβ accumulation, but further study needs to determine whether lymphocyte populations contribute to, or result from, Aβ dysregulation during memory decline on a larger cohort collected at multiple centers. AETMCI NCT01146717
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Analysis of Urological Stone Disease

Abstract Introduction The documented increasing incidence of nephrolithiasis in the United States will likely be associated with significant economic impact. Time-driven activity-based costing is an analytical method that has been successfully adapted from industrial analysis for use in health care. Using this costing approach we characterized the cost of 4 stone treatment modalities at our academic medical center, including trial of passage, semirigid ureteroscopy, flexible ureteroscopy and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Methods We developed process mapping for urological evaluation, treatment and followup of renal or ureteral stones less than 10 mm in size for each treatment method. We calculated cost of resources, equipment, disposables, personnel and space used for each step in the process. Cost was based on the capacity of each resource and the amount of time required for the treatment process. Results The cost for trial of stone passage, $389, was expectedly lower than for surgical interventions and was mainly driven by clinic visit costs. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and semirigid and flexible ureteroscopy costs were $4,367, $4,830 and $5,356, respectively. Intraoperative disposables and personnel were the top contributors to overall treatment costs. Conclusions Conservative management is less costly than surgical interventions. Flexible ureteroscopy is the most expensive of surgical interventions. We describe the first time-driven activity-based cost analysis of stone management to our knowledge. Identifying the main drivers of cost can help to improve the value of urological care and improve future cost-effectiveness analyses.
Psychological Distress, Health Behaviors, and Benefit Finding in Survivors of Multiple Primary Cancers: Results From the 2010 Livestrong Survey

Purpose/objectives To evaluate whether survivorship of multiple primary cancers (MPCs) is associated with psychological distress, positive health behaviors, and benefit finding. . Design Secondary analysis of the 2010 Livestrong cross-sectional survey. . Setting Online survey. . Sample 238 MPC survivors and 3,295 single cancer survivors. . Methods Chi-square and t tests for group comparisons were used. Multivariate linear regression, adjusted for covariates, was used to determine associations between variables. . Main research variables MPC versus single cancer; psychological distress, health behavior (healthy lifestyle and positive healthcare utilization), and benefit-finding scores. . Findings Survivors of MPCs (compared to single cancer survivors) were significantly older, less likely to have a spouse or partner, further out from original cancer diagnosis, and less likely to be employed full-time, and they differed by cancer diagnoses and survivorship stage. Having MPCs was associated with significantly higher psychological distress and healthcare utilization but not healthy lifestyle or benefit finding. . Conclusions Relative to those with single cancers, MPC survivors are at increased risk for psychological distress and are more likely to receive recommended cancer screenings. Additional research is needed to understand mechanisms surrounding psychological distress in MPC survivors. . Implications for nursing Targeted distress screening in MPC survivors may allow for early identification and interventions to ameliorate distress and reduce negative downstream health effects.
Overlapping Community Detection via Constrained PARAFAC: A Divide and Conquer Approach

The task of community detection over complex networks is of paramount importance in a multitude of applications. The present work puts forward a top-to-bottom community identification approach, termed DC-EgoTen, in which an egonet-tensor (EgoTen) based algorithm is developed in a divide-and-conquer (DC) fashion for breaking the network into smaller subgraphs, out of which the underlying communities progressively emerge. In particular, each step of DC-EgoTen forms a multi-dimensional egonet-based representation of the graph, whose induced structure enables casting the task of overlapping community identification as a constrained PARAFAC decomposition. Thanks to the higher representational capacity of tensors, the novel egonet-based representation improves the quality of detected communities by capturing multi-hop connectivity patterns of the network. In addition, the top-to-bottom approach ensures successive refinement of identified communities, so that the desired resolution is achieved. Synthetic as well as real-world tests corroborate the effectiveness of DC-EgoTen.
Mourning the Commons: Circulating Affect in Crowdfunded Funeral Campaigns:

This article focuses on the role of circulated affect in crowdfunded funeral campaigns, which have attracted little scholarly attention so far. This study is based on content analysis of online cam...
The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems

(2007). The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems. Math Horizons: Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 22-22.
US National Trends in Mortality From Acute Myocardial Infarction and Heart Failure: Policy Success or Failure?

Importance Hospitals in the United States have been subject to mandatory public reporting of mortality rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) since 2007 and to value-based payment programs for these conditions since 2011. However, whether hospitals with initially poor baseline performance have improved relative to other hospitals under these programs, and whether patterns of improvement differ by condition, is unknown. Understanding trends within public reporting and value-based payment can inform future efforts in these areas. Objective To examine patterns in 30-day mortality from AMI and HF and determine whether they differ for baseline poor performers (worst quartile in 2009 and 2010 in public reporting, prior to value-based payment) compared with other hospitals. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cross-sectional study at US acute care hospitals from 2009 to 2015 that included 2751 and 3796 hospitals with publicly reported mortality data for AMI and HF, respectively. Exposures Public reporting and value-based purchasing. Main Outcomes and Measures Hospital-level risk-adjusted 30-day mortality rates. Results We identified 422 and 600 baseline poor-performing hospitals for AMI and HF, respectively. Baseline poor performers for AMI were more often public and for-profit and less often teaching hospitals. Baseline poor performers for HF were less often large hospitals. For AMI, 30-day mortality among baseline poor performers was higher at baseline but improved more over time compared with other hospitals (18.6% in 2009 to 14.6% in 2015; −0.74% per year; P P P for interaction P P P for interaction, Conclusions and Relevance Despite being subject to identical policy pressures, mortality trends for AMI and HF differed markedly between 2009 and 2015.
Pharmacometabolomics reveals a role for histidine, phenylalanine, and threonine in the development of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Approximately 25% of breast cancer patients experience treatment delays or discontinuation due to paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PN). Currently, there are no predictive biomarkers of PN. Pharmacometabolomics is an informative tool for biomarker discovery of drug toxicity. We conducted a secondary whole blood pharmacometabolomics analysis to assess the association between pretreatment metabolome, early treatment-induced metabolic changes, and the development of PN. Whole blood samples were collected pre-treatment (BL), just before the end of the first paclitaxel infusion (EOI), and 24 h after the first infusion (24H) from sixty patients with breast cancer receiving (80 mg/m2) weekly treatment. Neuropathy was assessed at BL and prior to each infusion using the sensory subscale (CIPN8) of the EORTC CIPN20 questionnaire. Blood metabolites were quantified from 1-D-1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectra using Chenomx® software. Metabolite concentrations were normalized in preparation for Pearson correlation and one-way repeated measures ANOVA with multiple comparisons corrected by false discovery rate (FDR). Pretreatment histidine, phenylalanine, and threonine concentrations were inversely associated with maximum change in CIPN8 (ΔCIPN8) (p < 0.02; FDR ≤ 25%). Paclitaxel caused a significant change in concentrations of 2-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate, pyruvate, o-acetylcarnitine, and several amino acids from BL to EOI and/or 24H (p < 0.05; FDR ≤ 25%), although these changes were not associated with ΔCIPN8. Whole blood metabolomics is a feasible approach to identify potential biomarker candidates of paclitaxel-induced PN. The findings suggest that pretreatment concentrations of histidine, phenylalanine, and threonine may be predictive of the severity of future PN and paclitaxel-induced metabolic changes may be related to disruption of energy homeostasis.
Allylboron and Boron Enolate Chemistry

Reactions of allylic boranes with aldehydes have proved to be among the most efficient means of building a stereocontrolled set of several adjacent chiral centers. Boron enolates follow a similar mechanistic path and have also provided significant advances in asymmetric synthesis. The chemistry described in this chapter has been the key to a considerable number of major natural products syntheses, especially of macrolide or ionophore antibiotics.
Strategic Planning Models: The Arab Organization for Mediation and Conflict Resolution

This paper talks about two models of strategic planning approaches, and using The Arab Organization for Mediation and Conflict Resolution as an example for non-profit organizations in our discussion.
Corruption and the Role of Middlemen

This paper develops a game theoretic model of corruption in tax assessments. Bureaucrats are assumed to be heterogeneous in the level of corruption and the favors they offer to the public. Our first result establishes the optimal amount of bribe public offers to the bureaucrat in the simplified case where no middlemen are present. The second result provides a sufficient condition for the public to prefer a higher tax proposal. The middlemen, who know the type of the bureaucrat, are introduced next to show that it is possible to reduce the incidence of bribe offers made by the public.
The Role of Small Firms in U.S. Biotechnology Clusters

The biotechnology industry poses a particular challenge to analysis because its origins were poorly understood or even noticed at the time. The purpose of this paper is to examine and make sense of recent developments in the U.S. biotechnology industry. The pioneers and subsequent followers in biotechnology came from other fields. They altered their career trajectories in sciences like genetics and medical research to enter an unknown and undefined field, which only subsequently became labeled as biotechnology. Those regions exhibiting the greatest success in developing biotechnology clusters also possessed the greatest ability to unleash the potential commercialization latent in those scientists. To generate a successful regional cluster, the existence of world class scientific talent is a necessary condition. However, it is not a sufficient condition. The ancillary or complementary factors must also be available to translate this knowledge into a commercialized product. The complementary factors include the presence of venture capital and other forms of finance, the existence of an entrepreneurial culture, and transparent and minimal regulations fostering the start-up and growth processes.
Re-examining the mental imagery debate with neuropsychological data from the clock drawing test

Reasoning by the usage of mental images has been the subject of much debate in Cognitive Science, especially among the schools of depictive and descriptive imagistic representations. Whether or not reasoning with mental images involves a mechanism or a process different from language based reasoning is an important question. This paper proposes that any theory which aims for a cohesive whole needs to be constrained by neurophysiological data and such data can be obtained by the Clock Drawing Test. The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a screening tool for cognitive impairment and can be used as a tool to test resilience of certain factors of visual spatial representations. Thus, it can help to form an empirical case for which factors are prone to debility and which factors are not during the onset and progress of cognitive impairment from a mental representation point of view. This paper presents 50 CDT tests done on patients with cognitive impairment and analyses the results which support the case for a depictive rather than a descriptive theory for imagistic representations. Lastly, this paper proposes that there is some evidence for a more dynamic and distributed nature of representation in the observations which question the above dichotomy and can be partly explained by certain aspects of the connectionist school of thought.
Fabrication of highly effective hybrid biofuel cell based on integral colloidal platinum and bilirubin oxidase on gold support.

A hybrid biofuel cell (HBFC) is explored as a low-cost alternative to abiotic and enzymatic biofuel cells. Here the HBFC provides an enzymeless approach for the fabrication of the anodic electrode while employing an enzymatic approach for the fabrication of the cathodic electrode to develop energy harvesting platform to power bioelectronic devices. The anode employed 250 μm braided gold wire modified with colloidal platinum (Au-co-Pt) and bilirubin oxidase (BODx) modified gold coated Buckypaper (BP-Au-BODx) cathode. The functionalization of the gold coated multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) structures of the BP electrodes is achieved by 3-mercaptopropionic acid surface modification to possess negatively charged carboxylic groups and subsequently followed by EDC/Sulfo-NHS (1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride and N-Hydroxysulfosuccinimide) crosslinking with BODx. The integration of the BODx and gold coated MWCNTs is evaluated for bioelectrocatalytic activity. The Au-co-Pt and BP-Au-BODx exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity towards glucose oxidation with a linear dynamic range up to 20 mM glucose and molecular oxygen reduction, respectively. The HBFC demonstrated excellent performance with the largest open circuit voltages of 0.735 V and power density of 46.31 μW/cm2 in 3 mM glucose. In addition, the HBFC operating on 3 mM glucose exhibited excellent uninterrupted operational stability while continuously powering a small electronic device. These results provide great opportunities for implementing this simple but efficient HBFC to harvest the biochemical energy of target fuel(s) in diverse medical and environmental applications.
Cognition and Cerebral Infarction in Older Adults After Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement

Background Aortic valve replacement (AVR) for calcific aortic stenosis is associated with high rates of perioperative stroke and silent cerebral infarcts on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but cognitive outcomes in elderly AVR patients compared with individuals with cardiac disease who do not undergo surgery are uncertain. Methods One hundred ninety AVR patients (mean age 76 ± 6 years) and 198 non-surgical participants with cardiovascular disease (mean age 74 ± 6 years) completed comprehensive cognitive testing at baseline (preoperatively) and 4 to 6 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. Surgical participants also completed perioperative stroke evaluations, including postoperative brain MRI. Mixed model analyses and reliable change scores examined cognitive outcomes. Stroke outcomes were evaluated in participants with and without postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Results From reliable change scores, only 12.4% of the surgical group demonstrated postoperative cognitive dysfunction at 4 to 6 weeks and 7.5% at 1 year. Although the surgical group had statistically significantly lower scores in working memory/inhibition 4 to 6 weeks after surgery, the groups did not differ at 1 year. In surgical participants, postoperative cognitive dysfunction was associated with a greater number (p Conclusions In high-risk, aged participants undergoing surgical AVR for aortic stenosis, postoperative cognitive dysfunction was surprisingly limited and was resolved by 1 year in most. Postoperative cognitive dysfunction at 4 to 6 weeks was associated with more and larger acute cerebral infarcts.