cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
‘Doggie’ and ‘Bunny’

Another of Dummett’s varieties of tone is presented by the pair ‘rabbit’ and ‘bunny’. Who would have imagined that anything much could hang on such an innocuous pair of words as this? ‘Decidability’ and ‘verifiability’, sure. ‘Substance’ and ‘material’, yes. ‘Just’ and ‘fair’, ‘faith’ and ‘trust’? Okay. ‘Beauty’ and ‘loveliness’, perhaps. But ‘rabbit’ and ‘bunny’? What could possibly be of philosophical interest with the likes of these? I must confess to such puzzlement myself. And yet, no less than a former Wykeham Chair of Logic has introduced these into the heart of the discussion. What’s more, at the end of the day an examination of the nature of tonality would simply be incomplete without them. So, let’s see where they take us.
Biomass, Geothermal Energy, and Energy Storage

Biomass is the organic matter that can be converted to useful energy forms such as heat or liquid fuels. Biomass energy, the chemical energy stored in organic plant matter, is derived from solar power via photosynthesis. Biomass can be only a partial answer to the global energy need because of two fundamental constraints: its high water requirements and the inherent low photosynthetic efficiency of converting solar energy into the chemical energy of plant matter. High water requirements constrain biomass production mainly to regions where rainfall is adequate to support commercial yields, whereas the low photosynthetic efficiency can lead to land-use competition with food production. The combustion of biomass or biofuels produces air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates such as soot and ash. The amount of pollution emitted per unit of energy generated varies widely by technology, with wood-burning stoves and fireplaces generally the worst offenders.
OR7 The UCLA virtual crossmatch exchange

The sensitivity and specificity of solid phase assays for HLA antibody identification has given rise to the Virtual Crossmatch (VXM). By providing a means to detect and assess the strength of donor specific antibodies (DSA), solid phase assays have the potential to increase the accuracy of VXM predictions. A Virtual Paper Challenge was offered through the UCLA Flow Crossmatch Exchange in 2015. Initially, participants predicted the T/B XM outcomes for 4 virtual donors against 4 sera based on single antigen bead results and donor specific HLA profiles. In the 1st exchange, 10 laboratories worldwide provided virtual predictions, calculated %PRA, class I/II DSA, and renal transplant risk assessment for each donor–patient pair. In the 2nd exchange, actual cells from 1 original virtual donor were sent (O) and tested against 1 repeat serum (S), allowing comparisons between VXM and actual Flow Cytometric crossmatch (FXM) results. A total of 24 T and 24 B-cell predictions were submitted over 2 exchanges. For the T cell VXM, consensus >80% agreement) was achieved for 22/24 (92%) predictions when DSA strength was strong (MFI > 9000) or multiple DSA were present. For the B cell VXM, 16/24 (67%) predictions reached consensus. Variability in VXM predictions was observed when DSA strength was low to moderate (MFI
Field Performance and Common-Garden Differentiation in Response to Resource Availability in Helianthus porteri (A. Gray) Pruski, a Granite-Outcrop Endemic

Abstract Plant communities on granite outcrops are prone to water and nutrient limitations because of the shallow soils and high summer-temperatures characteristic of that habitat. Thus, resource availability is expected to influence plant performance on these sites. Here, we sought to determine if low resource-availability (water and nutrients) acts as a selective agent in natural populations of Helianthus porteri (Porter's Sunflower), a granite-outcrop endemic. We conducted field observations of growth and survival for 3 years in 3 populations spanning the species' range. We found that survival to flowering was correlated with soil-water availability (estimated by plant predawn water-potentials; Ψpd), and that drought severity (estimated by survival and Ψpd) differed among populations, suggesting the populations could be adaptively differentiated for resource-use traits. However, in a greenhouse common-garden experiment, the population that experienced the greatest drought severity in the field did not ...
Examining potential relationships between exotic monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) and avian communities in an urban environment

ABSTRACT Exotic species are common in urban ecosystems, but their effects on native species are often unknown. Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) have successfully colonized urban ecosystems across the world. Yet, no study has examined relationships between Monk Parakeets and the avian communities in areas they colonize. The species' recent expansion in Chicago, Illinois, USA and other places makes such a study imperative. We examined avian communities both with and without Monk Parakeets and hypothesized that observed differences between the two community types would be associated with the presence of parakeets. At the community level, we observed no significant differences between areas with and without parakeets, and we found only a few weak differences at the species level. Therefore, we conclude that Monk Parakeets likely are not having a strong influence on urban avian communities, but we cannot rule out effects at smaller scales. Nonetheless, data from this study can serve as a benchmark for meas...
Evaluation of PET reconstruction with sinogram restoration and detector motion

In a recent paper, a resolution-enhancement approach for tomographic imaging was proposed (see J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, vol. 9, p. 1547-53, 1992). The authors suggested that improved image quality can be achieved by undersampled tomographic systems if scanning motions are introduced, and signal restoration is applied in the preparation of the sinogram prior to reconstruction. Here, the authors summarize the results of studies designed to evaluate the performance of the method for quantitative imaging tasks. They use wobble motion to improve restoration performance by finely sampling the signal. The method of projections onto convex sets (POCS) is used to compute the sinogram, from which the image is reconstructed by conventional filtered backprojection. The advantage of this approach is that significant improvements in image quality are obtained without the computational burden associated with iterative image-space reconstruction methods. >
Volumetric phase imaging using Fourier ptychography

Fourier ptychography uses angularly varying illumination and post-processing algorithms to create gigapixel images. Here, we extend this work to measure the 3D refractive index profile of thick specimens at high resolution. Article not available.
Genome Wide DNA Methylation and Transcriptome Analysis in HSC Aging

Abstract 2367 Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) Aging is a complex process linked to number of changes in gene expression and functional decline of self-renewal and differentiation potential. While epigenetic changes have been implicated in HSC aging, little direct evidence has been generated. DNA methylation is one of the major underlying mechanisms associated with the regulation of gene expression, but changes in DNA methylation patterns with HSC aging have not been characterized. We hypothesize that revealing the genome-wide DNA methylation and transcriptome signatures will lead to a greater understanding of HSC aging. Here, we report the first genome-scale study of epigenomic dynamics during normal mouse HSC aging. We isolated SP-KSL-CD150+ HSC populations from 4, 12, 24 month-old mouse bone marrow and carried out genome-wide reduced representative bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) and identified aging-associated differentially methylated CpGs. Three biological samples were sequenced from each aging group and we obtained 30–40 million high-quality reads with over 30X total coverage on ∼1.1M CpG sites which gives us adequate statistical power to infer methylation ratios. Bisulfite conversion rate of non-CpG cytosines was >99%. We analyzed a variety of genomic features to find that CpG island promoters, gene bodies, 59UTRs, and 39UTRs generally were associated with hypermethylation in aging HSCs. Overall, out of 1,777 differentially methylated CpGs, 92.8% showed age-related hypermethylation and 7.2% showed age-related hypomethylation. Gene ontology analyses have revealed that differentially methylated CpGs were significantly enriched near genes associated with alternative splicing, DNA binding, RNA-binding, transcription regulation, Wnt signaling and pathways in cancer. Most interestingly, over 579 splice variants were detected as candidates for age-related hypermethylation (86%) and hypomethylation (14%) including Dnmt3a, Runx1, Pbx1 and Cdkn2a. To quantify differentially expressed RNA-transcripts across the entire transcriptome, we performed RNA-seq and analyzed exon arrays. The Spearman9s correlation between two different methods was good (r=0.80). From exon arrays, we identified 586 genes that were down regulated and 363 gene were up regulated with aging (p Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Regression Analysis of Tumour Prevalence Data

SUMMARY This paper proposes a logistic regression model for comparing treatment groups with respect to tumour prevalence. The prevalence test commonly used to compare treatments in animal tumorigenicity experiments (Hoel and Walburg, 1972; Peto et al., 1980) is essentially equivalent to a likelihood score test derived under a logistic model that expresses tumour prevalence as a function of time and treatment. The more general regression context suggests an alternative to the convention of grouping observations into arbitrarily chosen intervals. The model also incorporates covariates, provides a framework for estimating the strength of a dose-response relationship and for testing a central assumption underlying the usual prevalence test, and is computationally simple to analyse.
331. Development of Neisseria meningitidis CRISPR/Cas9 Systems for Efficient and Specific Genome Editing

Targeted genome modification using the CRISPR/Cas9 system has been extensively embraced by the research community as a powerful tool in biotechnology and life sciences, and it holds promise for the future of personalized medicine. The CRISPR/Cas9 system consists of an RNA guide strand (gRNA) for target site recognition and the CRISPR associated protein Cas9 for DNA cleavage. Cleavage of a site requires a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence. CRISPR induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) stimulate cellular DNA repair via non-homologous end joining or homologous recombination, which allows specific genome modification. However, previous studies have demonstrated high levels of off-target cleavage with CRISPR/Cas9 that may lead to unwanted or deleterious genomic modifications. Therefore, developing strategies to reduce nuclease off-target effects is essential for therapeutic applications of genome editing.The widely used Streptococcus pyogenes (Sp) CRISPR/Cas9 system recognizes a total of 22 bases, twenty via the gRNA and two via the PAM NGG. Here we describe further development of the Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) orthologous CRISPR/Cas9 system for efficient and specific genome editing in mammalian cells. The Nm Cas9 recognizes a longer PAM sequence than that of Sp Cas9, which has the potential to result in fewer off-target sites genome-wide. The Nm CRISPR/Cas9 systems preferentially recognize longer target sites than the Sp system, and a longer PAM as previously identified, NNNNGATT. The Nm cleavage activity level is as high as 70%, similar to that of Sp Cas9. We tested the ability of Nm Cas9 to cleave targets with other PAM sequences and found that other PAM allowed cleavage, such that the PAM preference can be represented as NNNNGHTT. Interestingly, there was a difference between the one guide strand and two guide strand systems. The single guide strand system (sgRNA) displayed greater stringency in PAM recognition than the innate system (with separate tracrRNA and crRNA). Nm gRNAs were able to tolerate 1 base mismatches and 1 base DNA and RNA bulges to some extent when tested in a single-strand annealing assay. To further investigate the specificity of Nm CRISPR/Cas9 at the genomic level we used deep sequencing of potential off-target sites after CRISPR transfection. To directly compare the specificity of both Sp and Nm CRISPR/Cas9 systems, overlapping Nm and Sp target sites were identified in seven different genes. For the three targets where there was comparable on-target activity, potential Nm and Sp off-target sites were identified and subjected to deep sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform. We found that Sp CRISPR/Cas9 displayed greater levels of genome-wide off-target activity. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the Nm CRISPR/Cas9 systems have better targeting specificity and thus provide an alternative to the widely used Sp CRISPR/Cas9.
Two Neural Measures Differ between Urban and Rural Song Sparrows after Conspecific Song Playback

Urbanization is a critical form of environmental change that can affect the physiology and behavior of wild animals and, notably, birds. One behavioral difference between birds living in urban and rural habitats is that urban males show elevated boldness or territorial aggression in response to simulated social challenge. This pattern has been described in several populations of song sparrow, Melospiza melodia. Such behavioral differences must be underpinned by differences in the brain, yet little work has explored how urbanization and neural function may be interrelated. We explored the relationship between urbanization and neural activation within a network of brain regions, collectively called the social behavior network, which contributes to the regulation of territorial aggression. Specifically, we captured free-living, territorial male song sparrows by playing them conspecific songs for 6-11 minutes, and then collected their brains. We estimated recent neural activation, as indicated by the immediate early gene FOS, and measured levels of a neuropeptide, arginine vasotocin (AVT), which is involved in the regulation of social behavior. Based on previous studies we expected urban males, which are generally more territorially aggressive, to have lower FOS expression in a node of the social behavior network implicated in regulating territoriality, the lateral septum (LS). Additionally, we expected urban males to have lower AVT expression in a brain region involved in the regulation of sociality, the medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTm). We found that, compared to rural males, urban male song sparrows did have lower FOS expression in the LS. This pattern suggests that lower neural activation in the LS could contribute to behavioral adjustments to urbanization in male song sparrows. Additionally, counter to our predictions, urban male song sparrows had higher AVT-like immunoreactivity in the BSTm. Future work building upon these findings is needed to determine the causal role of such neural differences across rural and urban habitats. Understanding the mechanisms impacted by urbanization will inform our understanding of the reversibility and consequences of this form of habitat change.
Simple Cylindrical and Spherical Finite Elements

Summary Finite element approximations are developed for three-dimensional domains naturally represented in either cylindrical or spherical coordinates. Lines of constant radius, axial length, or angle are used to represent the domain and cast approximations that are natural for these geometries. As opposed to general isoparametric three-dimensional elements generated in conventional parent space, these elements can be evaluated analytically and do not generate geometric discretization error. They also allow for anisotropic material coefficients that are frequently aligned in either cylindrical or spherical coordinates. Several examples are provided that show convergence properties and comparison with analytical solutions of the Poisson equation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Re: Chang's Score Is Only Helpful Within the First 4 to 5 Days of Life.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Hyperbilirubinemia acknowledged the fact that there is no standard for discontinuing phototherapy.1 For infants who are readmitted after birth, it recommends that phototherapy may be discontinued when the total serum bilirubin level (TSB) falls to <13 to 14 mg/dL (239–239 μmol/L).1 On the basis of a huge cohort of newborns treated for hyperbilirubinemia, Chang et al2 thankfully provided an evidence-based prediction tool (score) to help clinicians decide when … E-mail: korsche{at}kliniken-koeln.de
Maternal and Paternal Infertility Disorders and Treatments and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from the Study to Explore Early Development

Previous studies of associations between ASD and conception using assisted reproductive technology (ART) are inconsistent and few studies have examined associations with other infertility treatments or infertility disorders. We examined associations between ASD and maternal/paternal infertility disorders and numerous maternal treatments among 1538 mother-child pairs in the Study to Explore Early Development, a population-based case-control study. ASD was associated with any female infertility diagnosis and several specific diagnoses: blocked tubes, endometriosis, uterine-factor infertility, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Stratified analyses suggested associations were limited to/much stronger among second or later births. The findings were not explained by sociodemographic factors such as maternal age or education or multiple or preterm birth. ASD was not associated with ART or non-ART infertility treatments.
Interregional Shifts in the Location of Population and Employment

Regional employment and population changes are expected to be positively correlated. However, while a positive qualitative relationship exists between regional employment and population changes, the quantitative relationship among these variables is far from being clear. Available data suggest a highly unstable relationship between the variables over time and also a relationship that differs considerably among regions. A report presented in this chapter reports for each census region the average annual rate of growth of nonagricultural employment for the period 1947–1977 and for various subperiods within this time interval. Over this period of time, the West experienced an average annual rate of growth of 3.42%, which was over three times as high as the average annual rate of 1.03% in the Northeast and twice as high as the average rate of 1.77% in the North Central region. During the same period, the South had an average annual rate of nonagricultural employment growth of 3.04%.
Don’t Toss Your Turtle! Seizures and Fever in an Infant

A 10-month-old male presented with new-onset seizure activity, a 6-week fever of unknown origin, and a left-sided frontoparietal subdural fluid collection. The child’s mother reported tonic-clonic movements that lasted for about 15 min and that resolved with one dose of lorazepam. At 9 months of age, the infant’s pediatrician had noted an increase in the patient’s head circumference.
Doping induced enhanced density of states in bismuth telluride

Power factor enhancement through resonant doping is explored in Bi2Te3 based on a detailed first-principles study. Of the dopant atoms investigated, it is found that the formation of resonant states may be achieved with In, Po, and Na, leading potentially to a significant increase in the thermoelectric efficiency at room temperature. While doping with Po forms twin resonant state peaks in the valence and conduction bands, the incorporation of Na or In results in the resonant states close to the valence band edge. Further analysis reveals the origin of these resonant states. Transport calculations are also carried out to estimate the anticipated level of enhancement.
¿Qué hacer con los muertos? Claudia Hernández y el trabajo del duelo en la postguerra salvadoreña

El presente articulo explora el trabajo del duelo en la literatura salvadorena contemporanea. Para esto, se presta especial atencion al cuento “Hechos de un buen ciudadano” (Partes I y II) de Claudia Hernandez. Se propone que el trabajo del duelo en la literatura salvadorena de postguerra puede entenderse como un proceso inconcluso, el cual busca oponerse a los esfuerzos oficiales de “sanar las heridas del pasado” y rearticular la comunidad nacional. Asi, el duelo inacabado, como lo presenta Hernandez, se convierte en una demanda de justicia por los crimenes cometidos por el Estado. Palabras claves: El Salvador, Claudia Hernandez, postguerra, duelo This article explores the task of mourning in contemporary Salvadoran literature with special attention to Claudia Hernandez’s short story “Hechos de un buen ciudadano” (Parts I and II). It posits that the task of mourning in postwar Salvadoran fiction may be understood as an unfinished process that seeks to challenge the official aims of “healing the wounds of the past” and restore the national community. Therefore, the incomplete task of mourning, as Hernandez presents it, becomes a demand for justice for the crimes committed by the State. Keywords: El Salvador, Claudia Hernandez, postwar, mourning
Accelerated 3D bSSFP imaging for treatment planning on an MRI-guided radiotherapy system

Purpose The purpose of this study was to introduce a compressed sensing and parallel imaging-combined technique to reduce the acquisition time of planning MRI for MR-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) systems. Methods and materials A variable-density Poisson-Disk (VDPD) undersampling acquisition along with compressed sensing reconstruction technique was developed and compared with the current planning MR protocol, which uses an optimized balanced steady-state free precession sequence with 7.5-fold (7.5×) acceleration achieved by GRAPPA and partial Fourier. The image quality of GRAPPA and VDPD with 7.5× and 15× acceleration was compared with fully sampled images on a phantom. Two volunteers were recruited to compare the in vivo imaging performance. Ten patients with abdominal tumors were scanned using the conventional GRAPPA 7.5× (25 s) and the proposed VDPD 15× (12.5 s) sequences. Three readers scored the two approaches in terms of the quality for organ and tumor delineation. The gross tumor volume (GTV) and two kidneys were contoured. Differences in centroid location and contour volumes, Dice coefficients, and mean distance-to-agreement (MDA) between contours draw on the two techniques were calculated. All studies were performed on a 0.35 T MRgRT system. Results In the phantom study, VDPD with 15× acceleration rate had lower noise level than GRAPPA with 7.5× acceleration. In both the phantom and volunteer study, noise amplification was apparent when the acceleration rate was increased from 7.5× to 15× in the GRAPPA acquisition, whereas it was minimally increased using the VDPD approach. In the patient study, no significant difference was found for the scoring and contouring statistics between the two techniques, whereas VDPD only took half the scan time as GRAPPA. Volume difference for the GTV and two kidneys between GRAPPA 7.5× and VDPD 15× was around 7.6%, 1.3%, and 2.8%, respectively; while the Dice index was approximately 0.85, 0.92, and 0.90, respectively. Conclusion The proposed technique reduced the acquisition time by half and provided comparable or improved image quality than the standard planning MRI protocol.
RANGER-DTL 2.0: rigorous reconstruction of gene-family evolution by duplication, transfer and loss.

Summary RANGER-DTL 2.0 is a software program for inferring gene family evolution using Duplication-Transfer-Loss reconciliation. This new software is highly scalable and easy to use, and offers many new features not currently available in any other reconciliation program. RANGER-DTL 2.0 has a particular focus on reconciliation accuracy and can account for many sources of reconciliation uncertainty including uncertain gene tree rooting, gene tree topological uncertainty, multiple optimal reconciliations and alternative event cost assignments. RANGER-DTL 2.0 is open-source and written in C++ and Python. Availability and implementation Pre-compiled executables, source code (open-source under GNU GPL) and a detailed manual are freely available from http://compbio.engr.uconn.edu/software/RANGER-DTL/. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Mao Parade: Huang Jun and New Chinese Painting

In May 1949, a few months after the Communist army took control of the city of Beijing, Huang Jun, an ink painter who specialized in traditional figures, produced May Day Celebrations (fig. 2.1). The painting depicts a rowdy parade during a celebration of the first Labor Day after the Communist “liberation,” peasants gleefully hoisting portraits of Mao and Zhu De, head of the People’s Liberation Army. Together with more than two hundred pieces from around eighty painters, May Day Celebrations was shown at the New Chinese Painting Exhibition, which opened at the city’s Sun Yat-sen Park on May 13, 1949. Huang Jun’s painting was also selected and reprinted in the People’s Daily, though the paper showed only the left part of the painting, representing the beginning of the parade, with the peasants dancing and the workers holding the banner that reads qingzhu wuyi (May Day Celebrations).
An MCEM Framework for Drug Safety Signal Detection and Combination from Heterogeneous Real World Evidence

Delayed drug safety insights can impact patients, pharmaceutical companies, and the whole society. Post-market drug safety surveillance plays a critical role in providing drug safety insights, where real world evidence such as spontaneous reporting systems (SRS) and a series of disproportional analysis serve as a cornerstone of proactive and predictive drug safety surveillance. However, they still face several challenges including concomitant drugs confounders, rare adverse drug reaction (ADR) detection, data bias, and the under-reporting issue. In this paper, we are developing a new framework that detects improved drug safety signals from multiple data sources via Monte Carlo Expectation-Maximization (MCEM) and signal combination. In MCEM procedure, we propose a new sampling approach to generate more accurate SRS signals for each ADR through iteratively down-weighting their associations with irrelevant drugs in case reports. While in signal combination step, we adopt Bayesian hierarchical model and propose a new summary statistic such that SRS signals can be combined with signals derived from other observational health data allowing for related signals to borrow statistical support with adjustment of data reliability. They combined effectively alleviate the concomitant confounders, data bias, rare ADR and under-reporting issues. Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed framework.
Gestão escolar: os reflexos da gestão administrativa e pedagógica nos cursos de ensino superior do IFES Campus Vitória

This research had as main objective to verify what are the positive and negative effects concerning the services provided to the higher education course departments by the administrative sectors at IFES - Vitoria Campus in 2014. In the whole presentation of this thesis, 100% of the questionnaires applied were answered by the professionals mentioned above and by those directly involved in the actions taken by the current school management at IFES - Vitoria Campus. They responded to closed and open questions and could provide feedback and suggest improvements to procedures and routines used by the sectors to which they belong and also to the current campus management. After the questionnaires application, it was identified that they have similar views about the current school management at IFES - Campus Vitoria and about the positive and negative effects related to the services provided to the higher education course departments at IFES - Vitoria Campus. Through a wider and more general analysis, it was found that the three groups of subjects questioned reported problems such as lack of communication, lack of information and lack of interaction between sectors and people, lack of standardized procedures and regulations and excessive bureaucracy currently applied in the institution.
Family Structure and Stressors in a Child Guidance Clinic Population

Differences and similarities in family and child functioning by family structure were studied in a child guidance clinic population. Single-parent families showed more social–environmental stress, ...
Response to Pharmaceutical Formulation of Purified Cannabidiol (CBD) in Pediatric and Adult Patients with Treatment-Refractory Epilepsy (P1.030)

Objective: To assess changes in seizure frequency (SF) and severity (Chalfont Seizure Severity Scale; CSSS) and durability of the response to CBD (Epidiolex ® ) in patients with treatment-refractory epilepsy enrolled in an open-label compassionate use safety study. Background: Patients with video-EEG confirmed epilepsy who have failed at least 4 different AEDs and were experiencing on average ≥4 countable seizures per month were enrolled. Design/Methods: In 132 patients (70 pediatric) pre-CBD SF and CSSS were averaged over 3 months prior to initiating CBD at 5mg/kg/day; dose increases were made as tolerated q2 weeks by 5mg/kg/day up to a maximum of 50mg/kg/day. SF and CSSS were collected at 12, 24, and 48 weeks after enrollment. Other AEDs were adjusted as needed. Standard statistical measures including censoring for dropouts and early terminations were used for this non-normally distributed cohort. Results: At the time of the analyses, of the 132 enrolled patients, 130 had 12 week, 88 had 24 week, and 61 had 48 week data (411 individual encounters). There were no differences between participants who contributed all 4 data points and who contributed less than 4 data points ( Conclusions: This compassionate use open-label study indicates significant improvements in SF and CSSS at 12 weeks with response maintained over the 48-week duration of the study. Study Supported by: State of Alabama Disclosure: Dr. Szaflarski has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Lundbeck, Serina Therapeutics Inc., LivaNova Inc., Greewich Biosciences Inc., and Neuropace Inc. Dr. Bebin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gaston has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Greenwich Biosciences. Dr. Perry has nothing to disclose. Dr. Liu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cutter has nothing to disclose.
False-Negative Platelet Factor 4 Antibodies and Serotonin Release Assay and the Utility of Repeat Testing in the Diagnosis of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis

Objective. To report a case of false-negative serological tests in the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) followed by a brief review of the literature on this topic. Case Presentation. A 75-year-old Caucasian female patient was admitted with a traumatic right ankle fracture that required open reduction and internal fixation. Despite postoperative subcutaneous heparin chemoprophylaxis, she developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) on day 4 and subsequently started on continuous heparin infusion. On day 5, she suffered a stroke from a complete occlusion of the right common carotid artery with tandem occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery. She underwent successful thrombectomy of both arteries. The proposed stroke mechanism was paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale. Over the next few days, thrombocytopenia was noted, the heparin drip was stopped, and HIT antibodies (antibodies targeting the complex of platelet factor 4 and heparin; PF4-H AB) and serotonin release assay (SRA) tests were sent. Because of the suspicion for HIT, she was started on bivalirudin with subsequent improvement in platelet count. Initial PF4-H AB and SRA tests were negative, bivalirudin was stopped, and heparin was restarted. Subsequently, her platelets trended down, again raising clinical suspicion of HIT. Repeat PF4-H AB and SRA testing resulted positive. Conclusions. A positive SRA in the appropriate context is considered for the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. This case report highlights that false-negative serological evaluation is possible early in the course of the disease. Repeat testing is recommended in patients with high clinical suspicion.
Posttranscriptional Inhibition of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Nonreceptor Type 23 by Staphylococcal Nuclease and Tudor Domain Containing 1: Implications for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Oncoprotein staphylococcal nuclease and tudor domain containing 1 (SND1) regulates gene expression at a posttranscriptional level in multiple cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Staphylococcal nuclease (SN) domains of SND1 function as a ribonuclease (RNase), and the tudor domain facilitates protein-oligonucleotide interaction. In the present study, we aimed to identify RNA interactome of SND1 to obtain enhanced insights into gene regulation by SND1. RNA interactome was identified by immunoprecipitation (IP) of RNA using anti-SND1 antibody from human HCC cells followed by RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (RIP-Seq). Among RNA species that showed more than 10-fold enrichment over the control, we focused on the tumor suppressor protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 23 (PTPN23) because its regulation by SND1 and its role in HCC are not known. PTPN23 levels were down-regulated in human HCC cells versus normal hepatocytes and in human HCC tissues versus normal adjacent liver, as revealed by immunohistochemistry. In human HCC cells, knocking down SND1 increased and overexpression of SND1 decreased PTPN23 protein. RNA binding and degradation assays revealed that SND1 binds to and degrades the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of PTPN23 messenger RNA (mRNA). Tetracycline-inducible PTPN23 overexpression in human HCC cells resulted in significant inhibition in proliferation, migration, and invasion and in vivo tumorigenesis. PTPN23 induction caused inhibition in activation of tyrosine-protein kinase Met (c-Met), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Src, and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), suggesting that, as a putative phosphatase, PTPN23 inhibits activation of these oncogenic kinases. Conclusion: PTPN23 is a novel target of SND1, and our findings identify PTPN23 as a unique tumor suppressor for HCC. PTPN23 might function as a homeostatic regulator of multiple kinases, restraining their activation.
CD8αα homodimers function as a coreceptor for KIR3DL1

Cluster of differentiation 8 (CD8) is a cell surface glycoprotein, which is expressed as 2 forms, αα homodimer or αβ heterodimer. Peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complex class I (pMHC-I) molecules are major ligands for both forms of CD8. CD8αβ is a coreceptor for the T cell receptor (TCR) and binds to the same cognate pMHC-I as the TCR, thus enabling or augmenting T cell responses. The function of CD8αα homodimers is largely unknown. While CD8αβ heterodimer is expressed exclusively on CD8+ T cells, the CD8αα homodimer is present in subsets of T cells and human natural killer (NK) cells. Here, we report that the CD8αα homodimer functions as a coreceptor for KIR3DL1, an inhibitory receptor of NK cells that is specific for certain MHC-I allotypes. CD8αα enhances binding of pMHC-I to KIR3DL1, increases KIR3DL1 clustering at the immunological synapse, and augments KIR3DL1-mediated inhibition of NK cell activation. Additionally, interactions between pMHC-I and CD8αα homodimers regulate KIR3DL1+ NK cell education. Together, these findings reveal another dimension to the modulation of NK cell activity.
The X-ray superbubble in Cygnus

It is shown that Cyg X-6 and Cyg X-7 are part of a large X-ray ring, 13 degrees in diameter. At a distance of 2 kpc, this X-ray source lies behind the Great Rift of Cygnus, and as such has radiation from its central region absorbed. The diameter of the emitting region is 450 pc. The X-ray source is associated with a ring of elongated H-alpha filaments which enclose the Cygnus X radio source. At the center of this region lies the highly luminous Cygnus OB2 association.
A new Spanish enemy;the Spanish flu in the Netherlands in the period 1918-1920

The Dutch example shows that there are not only differences but also several similarities between COVID-19 and the Spanish flu, although risk of infection and death toll were much higher than they are now, especially at the end of 1918. These similarities include emphasis on the importance of hand washing, prohibition of gatherings (and disregard of these rules), disruption of public life, uncertainty about the nature of the cause, praise of and warnings against ineffective medication as well as debate on use and necessity of certain measures. There is also the social context in which the disease and the measures taken to combat it are happening, with the poor paying the highest price, now as well as then.
Best Practices for Mentoring in Arts Entrepreneurship Education: Findings From a Delphi Study:

Arts entrepreneurship education is a multifaceted endeavor encompassing a diversity of learning contexts, from collegiate lecture halls to close apprenticeships and one-on-one coaching. Although ex...
Fully variational incremental CASSCF.

The complete-active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method is a canonical electronic structure theory that holds a central place in conceptualizing and practicing first principles simulations. For application to realistic molecules, however, the CASSCF must be approximated to circumvent its exponentially scaling computational costs. Applying the many-body expansion—also known as the method of increments—to CASSCF (iCASSCF) has been shown to produce a polynomially scaling method that retains much of the accuracy of the parent theory and is capable of treating full valence active spaces. Due to an approximation made in the orbital gradient, the orbital parameters of the original iCASSCF formulation could not be variationally optimized, which limited the accuracy of its nuclear gradient. Herein, a variational iCASSCF is introduced and implemented, where all parameters are fully optimized during energy minimization. This method is able to recover electronic correlations from the full valence space in large systems, produce accurate gradients, and optimize stable geometries as well as transition states. Demonstrations on challenging test cases, such as the oxoMn(salen)Cl complex with 84 electrons in 84 orbitals and the automerization of cyclobutadiene, show that the fully variational iCASSCF is a powerful tool for describing challenging molecular chemistries.
Social and Individual Interest Conflicts

One of the continuing, unresolved problems in medical ethics is the conflict between micro-ethics and macro-ethics, or individual and social interest conflicts. The individual, as a subsystem of the general social system, interacts with all other individuals in a precarious balance (controlled state or homeostasis) whose result is the social system. Not only do various individual needs and interests conflict with each other, but the specific needs of an individual (subsystem) can seriously conflict with maintaining the balance of the global system. One of the major problems in ethics (and politics) is the question of how we choose between these very different needs and who does the choosing. We know, for example, that complex feedback mechanisms in biological systems routinely function to sacrifice subsystems in order to maintain homeostasis. Shock in a complex organism is a good example of certain built-in physiological valuations of what is expendable in a trauma situation.
Reflections on the financial innovation of China’s capital market from the perspective of economic transformation

General Secretary Xi Jinping said at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee that “the new development concept is a systematic system. In the perspective of economic transformation, we should do a good start and a good step in development. Under the premise of comprehensive thinking of China’s capital market finance, adhere to the reform and innovation development, green coordinated development, resource sharing development, political open development” “In the perspective of economic transformation, Party members and cadres at all levels should adhere to the implementation of the new development concept, pay attention to the common prosperity, to achieve the modernization process of continuous development. To address the wealth gap between urban and rural areas, between regions and between populations.” This article is written after carefully studying the important speeches of General Secretary Xi Jinping and consulting a large number of relevant reference materials. This paper deeply reflects on the financial innovation characteristics of the capital market in China’s economic transformation period, and puts forward new suggestions on the development of economic transformation, aiming to help some government functionaries improve their understanding of the capital market.
Frequency and Characteristics of Nodal and Deltoid FDG and 11 C-Choline Uptake on PET Performed After COVID-19 Vaccination.

BACKGROUND. COVID-19 vaccination may trigger reactive lymphadenopathy, confounding imaging interpretation. There has been limited systematic analysis of PET findings after COVID-19 vaccination. OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of abnormal FDG and 11C-choline uptake on PET performed after COVID-19 vaccination. METHODS. This retrospective study included 67 patients (43 men and 24 women; mean [± SD] age, 75.6 ± 9.2 years) who underwent PET examination between December 14, 2020, and March 10, 2021, after COVID-19 vaccination and who had undergone prevaccination PET examination without visible axillary node uptake. A total of 52 patients received the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech; hereafter referred to as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine), and 15 received the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna; hereafter referred to as the Moderna vaccine). Sixty-six of the patients underwent PET/CT, and one underwent PET/MRI. Fifty-four PET examinations used FDG, and 13 used 11C-choline. PET was performed a median of 13 and 10 days after vaccination for patients who had received one (n = 44) and two (n = 23) vaccine doses, respectively. Two nuclear medicine physicians independently reviewed images and were blinded to injection laterality and the number of days since vaccination. Lymph node or deltoid SUVmax greater than the blood pool SUVmax was considered positive. Interreader agreement was assessed, and the measurements made by the more experienced physician were used for subsequent analysis. RESULTS. Positive axillary lymph node uptake was observed in 10.4% (7/67) of patients (7.4% [4/54] of FDG examinations and 23.1% [3/13] of 11C-choline examinations); of the patients with positive axillary lymph nodes, four had received the Pfizer vaccine, and three had received the Moderna vaccine. Injection laterality was documented for five of seven patients with positive axillary lymph nodes and was ipsilateral to the positive node in all five patients. PET was performed within 24 days of vaccination for all patients with a positive node. One patient showed extraaxillary lymph node uptake (ipsilateral supraclavicular uptake on FDG PET). Ipsilateral deltoid uptake was present in 14.5% (8/55) of patients with documented injection laterality, including 42.9% (3/7) of patients with positive axillary lymph nodes. Interreader agreement for SUV measurements (expressed as intraclass correlation coefficients) ranged from 0.600 to 0.988. CONCLUSION. Increased axillary lymph node or ipsilateral deltoid uptake is occasionally observed on FDG or 11C-choline PET performed after COVID-19 vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. CLINICAL IMPACT. Interpreting physicians should recognize characteristics of abnormal uptake on PET after COVID-19 vaccination to guide optimal follow-up management and reduce unnecessary biopsies.
NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDS FOR THE ALFALFA WEEVIL EGG PREDATOR PERIDESMIA DISCUS (HYMENOPTERA: PTEROMALIDAE) IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

Peridesmia discus (Walker), a pteromalid egg predator of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), which was previously introduced form Europe as a biological control agent, recently was foun...
Multi-sensor Mobile Robot Localization for Diverse Environments

Mobile robot localization with different sensors and algorithms is a widely studied problem, and there have been many approaches proposed, with considerable degrees of success. However, every sensor and algorithm has limitations, due to which we believe no single localization algorithm can be “perfect,” or universally applicable to all situations.
United States Policy: The Wilson Administration and the Developing Ruhr Question

During the years from 1919 through 1924, when the Ruhr controversy was symbolical of dangerous currents in European and world politics, the United States saw its foreign policy molded by three Presidents — one Democrat and two Republicans — as well as by several Secretaries of State, leaders in Congress, and others. While the ensuing narrative can scarcely presume to be an exhaustive or definitive analysis of the policy attitudes and decisions of all statesmen, political leadels, and other interested parties who were involved, it can and will attempt to depict some of the highlights and overall implications of certain main trends in United States foreign policy. As the actual invasion of 1923 and the London Settlement of 1924 occurred while Charles Evans Hughes was Secretary of State, his policies will necessarily loom large in this account. It is necessary, however, to recognize that the basic policy developments actually emerged under the Administration of President Wilson. It is to these developments that the reader’s attention must first be directed.
Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Local Development

Book review by James W. Bronson. Luca Iandoli, Hans Landstrom, and Mario Raffa, eds. Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness and Local Development. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 2007. ISBN 9781847203274
Post‐traumatic Growth as Positive Personality Change: Evidence, Controversies and Future Directions

This target article focuses on the construct of post-traumatic growth—positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances. Prominent theories of post-traumatic growth define it in terms of personality change, and as a result, this area of research should be of great interest to personality psychologists. Despite this fact, most of the research on this topic has not been sufficiently informed by relevant research in personality psychology, and much of the extant research suffers from significant methodological limitations. We review the literature on post-traumatic growth, with a particular focus on how researchers have conceptualized it and the specific methodological issues associated with these conceptualizations. We outline some ways in which personality science can both be enriched by the study of this phenomenon and inform rigorous research on post-traumatic growth and provide a series of guidelines for future research of post-traumatic growth as positive personality change.