cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Syphilis infection and its influencing Factors among female sex workers in Anshan city( 2010-2012)

Objective To learn about the prevalence rate of syphilis and its influencing factors among female sex workers,and provide basis for adjusting intervention measures. Methods Guided by"National HIV Comprehensive Surveillance Guideline"and using stratified sampling,blood samples were collected. RPR test for syphilis was conducted annually among female sex workers in the entertainment establishments in Anshan from 2010-2012. At the same time,female sex workers were interviewed face to face,and anonymous questionnaires were fulfilled. Results The prevalence rate of syphilis was 1. 24% 、0. 50% and 1. 42% respectively,from 2010 to 2012. Factors associated with syphilis included: marital status,education level and condom-use when having sexual behavior at the latest time. Conclusion The proper use of condoms could effectively reduce the infection risk of syphilis. It should be encouraged to use condom consistently when having sex. Sex workers with lower education level should be more concerned. It is necessary to enhance the awareness of condom-use of sex workers from the view of psychology so as to promote their self-efficacy and positive expectations.
Drafting New York Civil-Litigation Documents: Motion Practice Overview Continued

This chapter continues the overview discussion of motion practice for civil cases in New York. The article appears as a short chapter in Pathway to the Profession: From Law School to Lawyer, published by the New York State Bar Association.
Molecular neurobiology of sleep.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses both molecular and genetic approaches. The chapter highlightsthat functions of sleep may relate to cellular and molecular aspects of neural function. One way to understand the benefit that sleep may bring at the cellular level is to perform an extensive analysis of its molecular correlates. The identification of the genes whose expression changes in the brain between sleep and wakefulness may suggest why brain cells need to sleep and why their functions are impaired if they are prevented from doing so during sleep deprivation. This correlational approach has taken advantage of the DNA microarray technology, which allows whole genome expression profiling of different tissues in different species, from flies to humans. Another causal approach to determine why sleep is necessary is to identify single genes whose activity can significantly affect sleep need. In mutagenesis screenings, all the genes of a given genome are mutagenized at a time and the consequences of the mutations on the sleep phenotype are studied. Sleep-related transcripts suggest that sleep is far from being a quiescent state of global inactivity, and may play a positive role in brain protein synthesis and in complementary aspects of neural plasticity such as synaptic consolidation and downscaling.
Stanford's ultra-low-power CMOS technology and applications

Stanford's approach to low-voltage CMOS shows that, without speed performance loss, significant power reductions are achieved after modifying CMOS processes to accommodate low, tuneable thresholds. A key concept is to balance the leakage power of inactive circuits with the switching power of the circuits doing the work. This requires electrical adjustment of threshold voltages and new circuit design techniques. Electrically tuneable thresholds can accommodate a wide range of applications and activity levels in a system, and can significantly improve worst case performance at low voltage. Well and substrate ties are separated from supply rails and controlled to compensate for process and ambient variations. An implementation of a self tuning system using low/tuneable threshold devices in a VLSI environment was shown. For the same switching speed, fabricated devices show significant reduction in switching power when compared to standard devices operated at a higher supply voltage. Cryogenic ULP techniques allow for insight into deep submicron effects and allow the same performance of standard 5V CMOS to be achieved at 330mV, for 1/230 of the energy. The key to high performance at low voltage is low or near-zero threshold. This requires room temperature thresholds of about -200mV for maximum performance at 77K. ULP techniques are only in their infancy and yet they have already provided a very good opportunity for increased levels of interaction among process, device, circuit and system engineers towards optimum low power microelectronic solutions.
Heparins Inhibit Tumor Angiogenesis by Sequestering Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) from Tumor Vascular Endothelial Cells.

Abstract The association between cancer and thromboembolic disease is a well-known phenomenon and contributes to the morbidity and mortality of cancer patients. Clinical studies of thrombosis in these patients show that heparins may have beneficial effects on survival. Antithrombotic agents have been shown to exert an anti-tumor effect in various experimental models however the underlying mechanism remains unknown. We show that heparins inhibit in vivo tumor angiogenesis and offer molecular evidence that heparins exert an anti-angiogenic effect by directly sequestering fibroblast growth factor (FGF) from its receptor on tumor derived endothelial cells (TDECs). NIH-3T3 fibroblasts were stably transfected with an expression construct that results in the constitutive excretion of FGF-1 (Clone C). Clone C gives rise to aggressive and highly angiogenic xenograft tumors. Clone C was inoculated into nude mice and therapeutic doses of Low Molecular Weight (LMW) heparins were injected daily beginning on Day 2. Tumors in the control group were grossly angiogenic and highly vascularized. In contrast, the heparin treated tumors were pale and possessed only scant peri-tumoral vessels. In order to assess the biologic mechanism of this, murine TDECs were isolated and cultured as previously published. Unfractionated and LMW heparins inhibit FGF-induced TDEC mitogenesis in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. FGF overcame and rescued heparin-induced inhibition suggesting that an FGF-heparin interaction is responsible. In order to test the hypothesis that heparin strips and sequesters FGF off its receptor on TDECs, we used a FGF protein fused to a hemagglutinin peptide tag at the carboxyl-terminus end (FGF-HA). FGF-HA is biologically identical to wild type FGF, but its detection limit is 10X more sensitive. FGF-HA was allowed to bind to FGFR on TDECs. These cells were subsequently incubated with Heparin covalently linked to Sepharose beads (Heparin-Sepharose) or to Sepharose alone. These beads were removed, and TDEC growth analyzed prospectively. Heparin-Sepharose treatment results in significant TDEC growth inhibition as compared to incubation with Sepharose alone. Western blot analysis shows that FGF was sequestered only on the Heparin-Sepharose beads. Conclusion: The anti-angiogenic mechanism of heparins resides, in part, in its ability to sequester angiogenic cytokines such as FGF from its receptor on tumor endothelium.
Anthropologist-Parents as Researchers: A Critical Appreciation of 'Doing Fieldwork in China . . . With Kids!' by Cornet and Blumenfield

This article is a review of a book that contains reflective accounts by western anthropologists who were accompanied by their children when they were conducting their anthropological fieldwork in rural China. The presence of the children resulted in unplanned interactions, leading to new data for their research. It also triggered new questions on the researchers’ cultural assumptions. Although set in the specific context of anthropological fieldwork, the reflective accounts can serve as useful learning material for early-stage researchers in many other fields.
An Immune-Competent Murine Model to Study Elimination of AAV-Transduced Hepatocytes by Capsid-Specific CD8+ T Cells.

Multiple independent adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy clinical trials for hemophilia B, utilizing different AAV serotypes, have reported a vector dose-dependent loss of circulating factor IX (FIX) protein associated with capsid-specific CD8+ T cell (Cap-CD8) elimination of transduced hepatocytes. Hemophilia B patients who develop transient transaminitis and loss of FIX protein may be stabilized with the immune-suppressive (IS) drug prednisolone, but do not all recover lost FIX expression, whereas some patients fail to respond to IS. We developed the first animal model demonstrating Cap-CD8 infiltration and elimination of AAV-transduced hepatocytes of immune-deficient mice. Here, we extend this model to an immune-competent host where Cap-CD8 transfer to AAV2-F9-treated mice significantly reduced circulating and hepatocyte FIX expression. Further, we studied two high-expressing liver tropic AAV2 variants, AAV2-LiA and AAV2-LiC, obtained from a rationally designed capsid library. Unlike AAV2, Cap-CD8 did not initially reduce circulating FIX levels for either variant. However, FIX levels were significantly reduced in AAV2-LiC-F9-treated, but not AAV2-LiA-F9-treated, mice at the study endpoint. Going forward, the immune-competent model may provide an opportunity to induce immunological memory directed against a surrogate AAV capsid antigen and study recall responses following AAV gene transfer.
High-latitude settings promote extreme longevity in fossil marine bivalves

One of the longest-lived, noncolonial animals on the planet today is a bivalve that attains life spans in excess of 500 years and lives in a cold, seasonally food-limited setting. Separating the influence of temperature and food availability on life span in modern settings is difficult, as these two conditions covary. The life spans of fossil animals can provide insights into the role of environment in the evolution of extreme longevity that are not available from studies of modern taxa. We examine bivalves from the unique, nonanalogue, warm and high-latitude setting of Seymour Island, Antarctica, during the greenhouse intervals of the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. Despite significant sampling limitations, we find that all 11 species examined are both slow growing and long-lived, especially when compared with modern bivalves living in similar temperature settings. While cool temperatures have long been thought to be a key factor in promoting longevity, our findings suggest an important role for caloric restriction brought about by the low and seasonal light regime of the high latitudes. Our life-history data, spanning three different families, emphasize that longevity is in part governed by environmental rather than solely phylogenetic or ecologic factors. Such findings have implications for both modern and ancient latitudinal diversity gradients, as a common correlate of slow growth and long life is delayed reproduction, which limits the potential for evolutionary change. While life spans of modern bivalves are well studied, data on life spans of fossil bivalves are sparse and largely anecdotal. Life histories of organisms from deep time can not only elucidate the controls on life span but also add a new dimension to our understanding of macroevolutionary patterns.
Evaluation of undoped ZnS single crystal materials for x-ray imaging applications

ZnS-based materials have a long history of use as x-ray luminescent materials. ZnS was one of the first discovered scintillators and is reported to have one of the highest scintillator efficiencies. The use of ZnS for high energy luminescence has been thus far limited to thin powder screens, such as ZnS:Ag which is used for detecting alpha radiation, due to opacity to its scintillation light, primarily due to scattering. ZnS in bulk form (chemical vapor deposited, powder processed, and single crystal) has high transmission and low scattering compared to powder screens. In this paper, the performance of single crystalline ZnS is evaluated for low energy x-ray (<10 keV) imaging. For these applications, a scintillator needs to be thick enough to absorb the incoming x-rays and to provide sufficient gain, but thin enough to allow for a good spatial resolution. The scintillators also need to have a good radiation hardness, a fast decay time, and low levels of afterglow. We present a trade study which compares the calculated scintillation gain and absolute efficiency for low energy x-rays (<10 keV) comparing thin (<100 μm) ZnS to CsI:Tl, Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO), and Y3Al5O12:Ce (YAG:Ce). The study also gives insight into the spatial resolution of these scintillators. Further, photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation (PLE) of several undoped ZnS single crystals is compared to their Radioluminescence (RL) spectra. It was found that the ZnS emission wavelength varies on the excitation source energy.
Association between features of patient-provider discussions and routine prostate-specific antigen testing.

Introduction Although the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends against routine prostate cancer screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, specialty organizations support screening via shared decision making between providers and selected patients. While discussions about advantages and disadvantages of testing are a feature of patient-centered care, it is unclear how provider recommendations and the presence of a personal doctor influence testing in the presence of such discussions. Materials and methods We used the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to identify 1,737 male respondents surveyed about their PSA testing decisions. We describe the prevalence of provider recommendations and utilize weighted multivariable logistic regression models to examine the impact of provider recommendations and presence of a personal doctor on routine testing while accounting for patient-provider discussions about advantages and disadvantages. Results The majority (70.4%) of respondents reported some form of discussion with providers about testing and most underwent screening in accordance with provider recommendations. In multivariable analyses, men whose providers had never recommended PSA test were less likely to receive screening [OR 0.03, 95% CI (0.02–0.05)], and patients who did not identify a personal doctor in their care were less likely to undergo testing [OR 0.12, 95% CI (0.04–0.32)]. Discussion Provider recommendations and having a personal doctor are associated with routine PSA testing. These findings suggest that providers and policymakers should be aware of how the content and context of communication with patients, beyond discussions of risks and benefits, can influence routine PSA testing behaviors.
The neuroscience of understanding the emotions of others

We cannot help but impute emotions to the behaviors of others, and constantly infer not only what others are feeling, but also why they feel that way. The comprehension of other people’s emotional states is computationally complex and difficult, requiring the flexible, context-sensitive deployment of cognitive operations that encompass rapid orienting to, and recognition of, emotionally salient cues; classification of emotions into culturally-learned categories; and using an abstract theory of mind to reason about what caused the emotion, what future actions the person might be planning, and what we should do next in response. This review summarizes what neuroscience data − primarily functional neuroimaging data − has so far taught us about the cognitive architecture enabling emotion understanding in its various forms.
Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults.

R.K. is a 52-year-old white man who presents to your office for a preventive health visit. He is overweight and has a history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia, which are stable and well controlled with medication. One of his coworkers was recently diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and R.K. wants to know if he should be screened, although he is not aware of any symptoms.
Sexual Identity Disclosure and Awareness of HIV Prevention Methods Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men.

Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) are disproportionately affected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, yet we know little about how HIV-negative BMSM of different sexual orientations access HIV prevention strategies. Identity development, minority stress, and disclosure theories suggest that for people of different sexual orientations, disclosure of sexual identity may be related to health behaviors. We performed a latent class analysis on a sample of 650 BMSM (Mage = 33.78, SD = 11.44) from Atlanta, Georgia, to explore whether sexual orientation, disclosure of sexual identity, and relationship status were related to HIV prevention strategies, including awareness of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and frequency of HIV testing. We found three distinct BMSM classes referred to as (1) closeted bisexuals, (2) sexual identity managers, and (3) gay, out, and open; all classes primarily engaged in casual sex. Classes differed in their awareness and access to HIV prevention strategies. The closeted bisexual class was least aware of and least likely to access HIV prevention. Findings have important implications for future research, namely the consideration of sexual identity and disclosure among BMSM. With this knowledge, we may be able to engage BMSM in HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention services.
Cross-View Training for Semi-Supervised Learning

We present Cross-View Training (CVT), a simple but effective method for deep semi-supervised learning. On labeled examples, the model is trained with standard cross-entropy loss. On an unlabeled example, the model first performs inference (acting as a "teacher") to produce soft targets. The model then learns from these soft targets (acting as a ``"student"). We deviate from prior work by adding multiple auxiliary student prediction layers to the model. The input to each student layer is a sub-network of the full model that has a restricted view of the input (e.g., only seeing one region of an image). The students can learn from the teacher (the full model) because the teacher sees more of each example. Concurrently, the students improve the quality of the representations used by the teacher as they learn to make predictions with limited data. When combined with Virtual Adversarial Training, CVT improves upon the current state-of-the-art on semi-supervised CIFAR-10 and semi-supervised SVHN. We also apply CVT to train models on five natural language processing tasks using hundreds of millions of sentences of unlabeled data. On all tasks CVT substantially outperforms supervised learning alone, resulting in models that improve upon or are competitive with the current state-of-the-art.
Three-Dimensional Cultures of Mouse Mammary Epithelial Cells

The mammary gland is an ideal "model organism" for studying tissue specificity and gene expression in mammals: it is one of the few organs that develop after birth and it undergoes multiple cycles of growth, differentiation and regression during the animal's lifetime in preparation for the important function of lactation. The basic "functional differentiation" unit in the gland is the mammary acinus made up of a layer of polarized epithelial cells specialized for milk production surrounded by myoepithelial contractile cells, and the two-layered structure is surrounded by basement membrane. Much knowledge about the regulation of mammary gland development has been acquired from studying the physiology of the gland and of lactation in rodents. Culture studies, however, were hampered by the inability to maintain functional differentiation on conventional tissue culture plastic. We now know that the microenvironment, including the extracellular matrix and tissue architecture, plays a crucial role in directing functional differentiation of organs. Thus, in order for culture systems to be effective experimental models, they need to recapitulate the basic unit of differentiated function in the tissue or organ and to maintain its three-dimensional (3D) structure. Mouse mammary culture models evolved from basic monolayers of cells to an array of complex 3D systems that observe the importance of the microenvironment in dictating proper tissue function and structure. In this chapter, we focus on how 3D mouse mammary epithelial cultures have enabled investigators to gain a better understanding of the organization, development and function of the acinus, and to identify key molecular, structural, and mechanical cues important for maintaining mammary function and architecture. The accompanying chapter of Vidi et al. describes 3D models developed for human cells. Here, we describe how mouse primary epithelial cells and cell lines--essentially those we use in our laboratory--are cultured in relevant 3D microenvironments. We focus on the design of functional assays that enable us to understand the intricate signaling events underlying mammary gland biology, and address the advantages and limitations of the different culture settings. Finally we also discuss how advances in bioengineering tools may help towards the ultimate goal of building tissues and organs in culture for basic research and clinical studies.
Day-after Recall of Listerine Corrective Commercials:

The communication effectiveness of Listerine corrective advertising was assessed through unaided and aided recall measures. The four day-after recall tests revealed that insertion of a corrective m...
Muscarinic activity in hippocampus and entorhinal cortex is crucial for spatial and fear memory retrieval.

Hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are key players of learning and memory. Despite their established role in memory processes, the contribution of muscarinic receptor activity in these brain regions during memory retrieval remains elusive. This study was aimed to assess the role of hippocampal CA1 and medial entorhinal cortex muscarinic receptors in memory retrieval. Mice were implanted with bilateral cannulas in the hippocampus CA1 and medial entorhinal cortex. After recovery they were trained for Morris water maze test, novel object recognition test and contextual fear conditioning. Scopolamine was infused 10 min prior to retrieval test. Pre-test scopolamine infusion in hippocampal CA1 and medial entorhinal cortex significantly reduced overall exploration of objects (p < 0.001). Similarly, pre-retrieval inactivation dorsal hippocampal CA1 and medial entorhinal cortex muscarinic activity caused significant impairment of spatial and fear memories retrieval (p < 0.05). These findings showed vital role of muscarinic activity in retrieving hippocampal and entorhinal cortex dependent memories and suggest a possible target for treating retrograde amnesia.
Identification and Management of Adolescent Depression in a Large Pediatric Care Network.

Objective Primary care has been promoted as a setting to identify and manage adolescent depression. This study examined primary care-based adolescent depression identification and follow-up care when elevated symptoms were identified. Methods Data came from a large pediatric care network with an organizational recommendation to screen for depression at age 16 well-visits using an electronic health record (EHR)-integrated standardized measure. Analyses examined rates of screening and elevated symptoms, pediatricians' initial responses to elevated scores, and types of follow-up care received over 1 year using retrospective EHR data extraction and manual chart reviews. Results Across program sites, 76.3% (n = 6981) of patients attending their age 16 well-visits were screened. About one-quarter had an elevated score (19.2% mild and 6.7% moderate-to-severe), many of whom received active follow-up on their well-visit date. Over 1 year, three-fourths of patients with scores in the moderate-to-severe range and 40.0% of patients with scores in the mild range received follow-up care (e.g., antidepressant prescriptions) as per EHR extraction. Follow-up rates were higher as per manual chart reviews. Conclusion Routine adolescent depression screening is feasible across diverse primary care sites. Most patients with elevated scores were not already receiving behavioral health services, suggesting screening identified previously undetected concerns. In turn, many adolescents with elevated scores initiated treatment after screening, which indicates providing screen results at the point of care may facilitate pediatrician actions. Still, gaps in follow-up care demonstrate the need for greater investment in primary care-based behavioral health services to support high-quality treatment and ultimately decrease the burden of adolescent depression.
Gamma-Ray Emission from Extragalactic Radio Sources: Egret Observations of Active Galactic Nuclei

The Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory is an imaging high-energy telescope with sensitivity from approximately 20 MeV to 30 GeV. EGRET has observed more than 129 sources during more than 4 years of operation. Among these sources, 51 have been identified with active galaxies. A common characteristic of the AGN sources is that they are all radio-loud, flat radio spectrum sources. Many of them are seen as superluminal radio sources as well. The gamma-ray emission characteristics of these sources are reviewed and some of the proposed emission models are discussed.
Reflecting on the life of Kenneth H. Hunt and his contributions to Mechanism

Abstract Kenneth Henderson Hunt, see Fig. 1, was the Foundation Professor of Engineering, and the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. He was the Dean of Engineering from 1961 until 1975 and then served as the Chair of Mechanism from 1976 until 1985. He is remembered as the scientist who rediscovered Ball's theory of screws and who made significant contributions to screw system theory which he applied to the kinematics of spatial mechanisms, shaft couplings, and robotics. Kenneth authored two classical books Mechanisms and Motion and Kinematic Geometry of Mechanisms, and co-authored the more modern text Robots and Screw Theory: Applications of Kinematics and Statics to Robotics. He was also one of the founding fathers, contributing to the foundation act with the initial member organizations, of the International Federation for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms (in 1998 the official name was changed to IFToMM, acronym for the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science). The federation was officially born in 1969 and Kenneth served on the first Executive Council and was the founding chairman of the Australian Committee.
Does Agency Type Matter for Female Federal Agents? Exploring the Offices of Inspectors General

Recent scholarship has examined the barriers women experience in well-known federal law enforcement agencies. However, there is scant research that examines a unique subgrouping of agents within th...
“It Might Also Be Good for Your Brain”: Cognitive and Social Benefits That Motivate Parents to Permit Youth Tackle Football:

Concussions in youth sports are a rising health concern. Between 1.7- and 3-million concussions occur each year in youth sport and recreation settings. This qualitative study investigated how paren...
Sex differences in amygdala structure and function: From rodents to humans

Abstract This chapter examines existing literature on sex differences in amygdala development, plasticity, and control of behavior. We pull from both animal and human research, integrating findings from neuroimaging, electrophysiology, cognitive, and neuroanatomical studies to identify cross-species patterns and gaps in our current knowledge. Special attention is paid to the role of both gonadal and stress-related hormones in mediating observed sex differences, which could influence long-term outcomes after stress exposure. Given the amygdala's key role in the neuropathology of sex-biased mental illnesses that are often precipitated by stress, improving our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie sexual divergence in amygdala structure and function is a critical goal for preclinical, basic science research.
SoS Meta-Architecture Selection for Infrastructure Inspection System Using Aerial Drones

Infrastructure inspection using unmanned aerial drones has a great potential to support complex inspection tasks especially where inspection task can be dangerous, dull or dirty. The increased number of systems in this type of inspection process makes it a very complex systems-of-systems (SoS) which is hard to assess. As a result, it becomes very difficult to satisfy all stakeholder needs and requirements. Therefore, an assessment system is required that can efficiently assess the meta-architecture of drone based inspection system. This paper presents a method to generate and evaluate systems of systems (SoS) architecture model for aerial inspection with drones. Where, a meta-architecture containing system component and a system to system interface is presented. To map the desired SoS attributes from stakeholders, different characteristics of the architecture capabilities are evaluated using some linguistic terms called key performance attributes (KPA). KPAs are combined in a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) to evaluate an overall fitness value that is optimized using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for the SoS within the meta-architecture. The integrated evaluation method presented in this paper utilizes the SoS explorer to evaluate the SoS meta-architecture using synthetic parameter values.
PTSD as a Risk Factor for Chronic Gang Membership During Adolescence and Early Adulthood: A Group-Based Trajectory Modeling Approach:

This study sought to identify developmental patterns of gang membership among a sample of juvenile offenders during adolescence and early adulthood. Examine the relevance of PTSD for predicting dev...
Building and Operating a Large-Scale Enterprise Data Analytics Platform

Abstract Over the last three years we have been running a large-scale data processing platform for applying analytics to corporate data at scale on an OpenStack private cloud instance. Our platform makes a wide variety of corporate data assets, such as sales, marketing, customer information, as well as data from less conventional sources such as weather, news and social media available for analytics purposes to hundreds of globally distributed teams across the company. We control every layer in the stack from the processing engines down to the hardware. Here we report our experiences in building and operating such a system. We describe our technical choices and describe how they evolved as we observed the actual workloads created by users.
Impact of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on Outcomes and Readmissions following Cardiac Operations.

Abstract Background Outcomes of cardiac operations in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been examined in limited series. The present study aimed to assess the impact of CLL on clinical outcomes and resource utilization following cardiac operations in a nationally representative cohort. Methods All adult patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting, valve repair or valve replacement were identified utilizing the 2010-2017 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Patients were stratified by history of CLL. Incidence of in-hospital mortality, perioperative complications, blood transfusions and readmission within 90 days were examined. We subsequently performed 3:1 nearest neighbor matching between CLL and non-CLL patients for all primary and secondary outcomes of interest. Results Of an estimated 1,250,882 patients undergoing cardiac operations, 0.23% had a diagnosis of CLL. Among 11,237 propensity matched patients, those with CLL had similar rates of in-hospital mortality (3.8 vs 2.6%, P=0.08) and perioperative complications (33.4 vs 33.6%, P=0.92) compared to their non-CLL counterparts. Although the incidence of infection was comparable (8.5 vs 9.4%, P=0.38), CLL patients did require blood transfusions more frequently (33.7 vs 28.4%, P=0.003) than others. Furthermore, CLL patients were more likely to be readmitted with respiratory etiologies contributing significantly to re-hospitalization. Conclusions Patients with CLL generally have similar outcomes following cardiac operations but may more commonly require blood transfusion. Blood conserving interventions may be considered in this at-risk population to improve outcomes. Furthermore, interventions to mitigate readmission deserve further exploration.
K-median: exact recovery in the extended stochastic ball model

We study exact recovery conditions for the linear programming relaxation of the k-median problem in the stochastic ball model (SBM). In Awasthi et al. (2015), the authors give a tight result for the k-median LP in the SBM, saying that exact recovery can be achieved as long as the balls are pairwise disjoint. We give a counterexample to their result, thereby showing that the k-median LP is not tight in low dimension. Instead, we give a near optimal result showing that the k-median LP in the SBM is tight in high dimension. We also show that, if the probability measure satisfies some concentration assumptions, then the k-median LP in the SBM is tight in every dimension. Furthermore, we propose a new model of data called extended stochastic ball model (ESBM), which significantly generalizes the well-known SBM. We then show that exact recovery can still be achieved in the ESBM.
Video on demand: what deepfakes do and how they harm

This paper defends two main theses related to emerging deepfake technology. First, fears that deepfakes will bring about epistemic catastrophe are overblown. Such concerns underappreciate that the evidential power of video derives not solely from its content, but also from its source. An audience may find even the most realistic video evidence unconvincing when it is delivered by a dubious source. At the same time, an audience may find even weak video evidence compelling so long as it is delivered by a trusted source. The growing prominence of deepfake content is unlikely to change this fundamental dynamic. Thus, through appropriate patterns of trust, whatever epistemic threat deepfakes pose can be substantially mitigated. The second main thesis is that focusing on deepfakes that are intended to deceive, as epistemological discussions of the technology tend to do, threatens to overlook a further effect of this technology. Even where deepfake content is not regarded by its audience as veridical, it may cause its viewers to develop psychological associations based on that content. These associations, even without rising to the level of belief, may be harmful to the individuals depicted and more generally. Moreover, these associations may develop in cases in which the video content is realistic, but the audience is dubious of the content in virtue of skepticism toward its source. Thus, even if—as I suggest—epistemological concerns about deepfakes are overblown, deepfakes may nonetheless be psychologically impactful and may do great harm.
Open Your Casebooks Please: Identifying Alternatives to Langdell's Legacy

Nonprofits, academic institutions, and educators have collaborated, at all academic levels, to create quality Open Educational Resources (OERs) since that term was defined by UNESCO in 2002. These open-source educational materials are in the public domain and published under an open license, meaning that they can be freely copied, used, adapted, and re-shared with the public. They include not only textbooks but supplemental educational materials in various media formats. Their value is such that even federal and state legislatures are taking note and passing laws to incentivize the creation and use of OER in both secondary and higher education. Despite the momentum in academics toward the adoption of open textbooks and supplemental materials, legal academia has been slower to embrace open casebooks. By design, OER offers a great deal of flexibility for educators and the promise of cost savings for academic institutions and students. This paper examines the modern history of casebooks and the OER movement, as well as the various OER platforms ideally suited to create open content for law courses. The authors posit that a greater understanding of OER will give law professors and students a wider range of choice and ownership in course materials.
Using Mathematical Models to Improve the Utility of Quantitative ICU Data

Intensive care medicine is one of the areas of medicine most closely linked to applied physiology. Furthermore, it has a long tradition of being the forefront of advanced physiologic measurement technologies. The associated volume of quantitative data about a patient’s physiologic status, therapy, together with the output of off-line analyses, creates an information overload that profoundly reduces efficient and effective information processing. To a certain extent, this disconnection is a reason for the slow progress in utilizing such information across patients and hospital systems to improve patient care, perhaps most prominently evidenced by the failure of the physiologically valuable information provided by pulmonary artery catheterization to improve outcome in the critical care setting [1, 2]. In fact, for newer and more advanced monitoring equipment, evaluations of utility and ability to fit into proven treatment protocols is often lacking. Although the difficulty in translating the increased amount of available patient-specific information into patient benefit may in part be due to the lack of adequate therapeutic options, where clear benefit is known, actual translation of this information into practice is a primary barrier to improving patient care.
Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase: a model for utilization of substrate binding energy for proton translocation.

The energy-transducing nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenases of mammalian mitochondria and bacteria are structurally related membrane-bound enzymes that catalyze the direct transfer of a hydride ion between NAD(H) and NADP(H) in a reaction that is coupled to transmembrane proton translocation. The protonmotive force alters the affinity of the transhydrogenase for substrates, accelerates the rate of hydride ion transfer from NADH to NADP, and shifts the equilibrium of this reaction toward NADPH formation. Transhydrogenation in the reverse direction from NADPH to NAD is accompanied by outward proton translocation and formation of a protonmotive force. In reverse transhydrogenation, the enzyme utilizes substrate binding energy for proton pumping. Therefore, with regard to the mechanism of energy transduction, the transhydrogenase works according to the same principles as the ATP synthase complex of mitochondria and bacteria, the proton and cation ATPases, and possibly certain redox-linked proton pumps. H...
Rough Sets and Bayesian Methods Applied to Cancer Detection

The paper describes an application of soft computing methods of rough sets and Bayesian inference to a breast cancer detection using electro-potentials. The statistical principal component analysis (PCA) and the rough sets methods were applied for feature extraction, reduction and selection. The quadratic discriminant was applied as a classifier for a breast cancer detection.
The water towing tank as an experimental facility

Wind tunnels and flumes have become standard laboratory tools for modeling a variety of aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flow problems. Less available, although by no means less useful, are facilities in which a model can be towed (or propelled) through air or water. This article emphasizes the use of the water towing tank as an experimental tool for aerodynamic and hydrodynamic studies. Its advantages and disadvantages over other flow rigs are discussed, and its usefulness is illustrated through many examples of research results obtained over the past few years in a typical towing tank facility.
What a difference a cloud makes: cognitive abilities, tasks, and the search results interface

Introduction. The objective of this study is to expand our understanding of the relationships between selected cognitive abilities, search result interfaces, and tasks. The overarching objective is to understand how to match search result presentations with different tasks and user contexts. Method. Twenty three participants conducted four search tasks of two types and used two interfaces (List and Overview) to refine and examine search results. Clickthrough data were recorded. This controlled study employed a mixed model design, with two within-subject factors (task and interface) and two between-subject factors (two cognitive abilities: memory span and verbal closure). Analysis. Quantitative analyses were carried out by means of the statistical package SPSS. Specifically, multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures and non-parametric tests were performed on the collected data. Results. The overview of search results appeared to have benefited users in several ways. It made searchers faster; it facilitated formulation of more effective queries and helped to assess search results. The List interface discriminated between searchers with different cognitive abilities. Searchers with higher cognitive abilities were fastest in less demanding situations and expended more search effort in more demanding situations (in the List interface and on more complex tasks). Conclusions. These findings have implications for the design of search interfaces. They suggest benefits of providing result overviews. They also suggest the importance of considering cognitive abilities in the design of search results presentation and interaction.
Texture analysis using Minkowski functionals

Minkowski Functionals (MFs) are geometric measurements of 3D shapes, including volume, surface area, curvature and Euler number. MFs can be used as texture descriptors for medical image analysis in the segmentation of normal anatomy as well as in the detection/diagnosis of pathology. In this paper, we propose a method for fast computation of MFs based on integral images, which offers significantly improved accuracy and efficiency compared with previous works. In addition, MFs computed using our method are used in applications on image segmentation and pathology detection. Our experiment results clearly demonstrate the potential of MFs in such medical image analysis tasks.
A dynamic model for solder and the problem of accelerated life testing

Solder joint reliability under thermal cycling is a key problem in electronic packaging. Accelerated life testing (few cycles, larger temperature excursions) is often a practical necessity in predicting fatigue life in field environments (many cycles, smaller temperature excursions). Complex solder behavior with marked temperature dwell and cycle time influence at slower frequencies makes this a difficult problem. A dynamic model is presented which couples the effect of instability of coarsened grain shear band evolution in microstructure with the change in macroscopic constitutive behavior. Key features of the model include effects of shear band thickness compared with total solder joint thickness, pertinent to small scale design, and frictional resistance at slow deformation rates. Model correlation with test data is discussed and applied to the accelerated life test design.
Buspirone vs. Haloperidol: A Double-Blind Trial for Agitation in a Nursing Home Population With Alzheimer's Disease.

The authors report on a pilot double-blind comparison of buspirone with haloperidol in the treatment of agitation manifested by physical tension and motor activity in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A group of 26 nursing home residents underwent a 10-week comparison of 15 mg buspirone ( n = 12) vs. 1.5 mg haloperidol ( n = 14) per day. Tension and anxiety decreased to a greater extent in those patients who were treated with buspirone. Although it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions from a treatment study that does not include a placebo group, these findings suggest the potential value of further clinical research on buspirone in managing agitation in AD.
Specificity of embryonic lethal mutations in Drosophila analyzed in germ line clones

Only a small fraction of the known mutations causing death to homozygous Drosophila produce gross morphological defects during embryogenesis. We have examined fourteen such loci on the X-chromosome to determine: 1) whether the requirement for their respective activities is restricted to embryogenesis; and 2) whether the embryonic phenotype in mutant embryos is affected by the dosage of wild-type alleles in the mother. For two alleles per locus germ line clones were produced during larval development by irradiating females heterozygous for the lethal mutation and a dominant female sterile (ovoD). Only one of the 14 loci (armadillo) is required during development of the germ cell to make morphologically normal eggs. Mutations at two other loci, (bazooka and Notch), allow normal oogenesis but cause major reductions in the viability of genetically normal (i.e., heterozygous) progeny. The majority of the loci (11/14) are not required in the germ line for either oogenesis or embryogenesis. However, in three cases (extradenticle, faintoid and lethal myospheroid), germ line homozygosity results in a readily detectible enhancement of embryonic phenotype over that observed in embryos derived from heterozygous mothers still possessing one wild type allele. The same six loci which show the most substantial effects on germ line homozygosity (arm, baz, N, exd, ftd and mys) also show an amelioration of the mutant phenotypes when maternal dosage is increased to wild type levels by using attached-X females. Four of these same loci (arm, baz, N and exd were cell lethal in imaginal discs.
A paradigm for viewing biologic systems as scale-free networks based on energy efficiency: implications for present therapies and the future of evolution

A network constitutes an abstract description of the relationships among entities, respectively termed links and nodes. If a power law describes the probability distribution of the number of links per node, the network is said to be scale-free. Scale-free networks feature link clustering around certain hubs based on preferential attachments that emerge due either to merit or legacy. Biologic systems ranging from sub-atomic to ecosystems represent scale-free networks in which energy efficiency forms the basis of preferential attachments. This paradigm engenders a novel scale-free network theory of evolution based on energy efficiency. As environmental flux induces fitness dislocations and compels a new meritocracy, new merit-based hubs emerge, previously merit-based hubs become legacy hubs, and network recalibration occurs to achieve system optimization. To date, Darwinian evolution, characterized by innovation sampling, variation, and selection through filtered termination, has enabled biologic progress through optimization of energy efficiency. However, as humans remodel their environment, increasing the level of unanticipated fitness dislocations and inducing evolutionary stress, the tendency of networks to exhibit inertia and retain legacy hubs engender maladaptations. Many modern diseases may fundamentally derive from these evolutionary displacements. Death itself may constitute a programmed adaptation, terminating individuals who represent legacy hubs and recalibrating the network. As memes replace genes as the basis of innovation, death itself has become a legacy hub. Post-Darwinian evolution may favor indefinite persistence to optimize energy efficiency. We describe strategies to reprogram or decommission legacy hubs that participate in human disease and death.
Autophagy and innate immunity to viruses

Evaluation of: Lee HK, Lund JM, Ramanathan B, Mizushima N, Iwasaki A: Autophagy-dependent viral recognition by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Science 315, 1398–1401 (2007). Plasmacytoid dendritic cells play a key role in the innate immune response to viral infection. They produce high amounts of IFN-α in response to viral nucleic acids. Nucleic acid stimulation of IFN-α production occurs through the activation of Toll-like receptors localized in the endosome. Lee and colleagues have identified autophagy as an essential component for IFN-α production in response to certain viruses, including a ssRNA virus and a dsDNA virus. Their findings indicate that autophagy may deliver viral replication intermediates located in the cytosol to Toll-like receptors located in the endosome to trigger cytokine production.