cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of corticosteroid therapy on outcomes in biliary atresia after Kasai portoenterostomy.

Abstract Purpose This study tests the hypothesis that steroid administration improves the outcome of biliary atresia (BA) by evaluating the efficacy of postoperative steroid use on surgical outcomes in infants with BA. Methods Steroid use and outcomes in patients with BA were retrospectively analyzed at a tertiary pediatric hospital. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Results Kasai portoenterostomy (PE) was performed in 43 patients with BA treated from 1992 to 2004 (16 boys and 27 girls). Twenty-one PE patients received steroids and 22 did not. Portoenterostomy was successful in 24 patients (55.8%) with consistent serum bilirubin less than 2 mg/dL. Sixteen (66%) received postoperative steroids. A normal postoperative bilirubin was achieved at 6 months in 16 (76%) of 21 patients with steroids compared with 8 (37%) of 22 in untreated controls (Fisher's Exact test, P = .01). Of the 43 patients, 19 (44%) required liver transplantation, including 7 (37%) of 19 with steroids vs 12 (63%) of 19 without ( P = .2). Twenty-eight infants developed cholangitis (fever with and without changes in hepatic function): 25 after PE and 3 after transplant. Of the 25, 12 (48%) received steroids. Seven died (16%) (range, 7 months to 4 years): 2 while awaiting transplantation (received steroids) and 5 after transplantation (1 received steroids and 4 were untreated). Survival was 86% (18/21) in patients with steroids and 82% (18/22) in those without. Transplant survival (74%) was comparable to previously reported historical controls (82%). Conclusions The Kasai PE continues to be the procedure of choice in infants with BA younger than 3 months. A significantly improved clearance of postoperative jaundice and lower serum bilirubin levels were observed in patients receiving steroids. However, steroids had no effect on the incidence of cholangitis, need for liver transplantation, and overall survival. A prospective study with standardized dose and length of steroid administration and longer period of follow-up is necessary to more accurately assess the effectiveness of steroids after PE.
How Affective Commitment Boosts Guest Loyalty (and Promotes Frequent-guest Programs):

Customer loyalty is the key to success in today’s commoditized hotel industry. To that end, many hotel companies offer frequent-guest programs. The reward programs are not enough to induce loyalty, however, in the absence of an emotional bond with the brand. Instead, affective commitment—that emotional bond—is needed to ensure repeat patronage. This study demonstrates the key role of an affective commitment in strengthening loyalty to the brand and in improving customers’ perceptions of their preferred brand’s frequent-guest program.
A Swarm-Based Volition/Attention Framework for Object Recognition

Visual attention helps identify the salient parts of a scene and enables efficient object recognition by allocating visual resources to more relevant regions of the scene. In this paper, we present an object recognition framework that combines top-down volitional recognition with attention processes using a swarm of cooperating intelligent agents. Each agent in the swarm is a selfcontained independent classifier that can, given any location in the image, predict the presence of a particular object of interest. Our framework combines bottom-up attention and top-down object classification using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) dynamics in a novel architecture that utilizes spatially-modulated evolutionary search to rapidly detect objects of interest in a scene. We use bottom-up maps that are automatically built from saliency, past swarm experience, and constraints on possible object positions to modify the swarms behavior and help guide the swarm in locating objects. We present fast object detection/recognition results for a variety of video sequences. Our results show that our framework allows objects to be quickly and accurately located and classified using very sparse sampling of the scene.
Use of Michelson and Fabry–Perot Interferometry for Independent Determination of the Refractive Index and Physical Thickness of Wafers

We present a method to independently measure the refractive index and the thickness of materials having flat and parallel sides by using a combination of Michelson and Fabry–Perot interferometry techniques. The method has been used to determine refractive-index values in the infrared with uncertainties in the third decimal place and thicknesses accurate to within ±5 μm for materials at room and cryogenic temperatures.
Modeling Ductile/Brittle Behavior in Polymeric Microlaminates: Effect of Volume Fraction

In this work we present a micromechanical model for two-phase ductile/brittle laminates that captures the macroscopic behavior, as well as the underlying micro-mechanisms of deformation and failure, in particular the synergy between the inelastic deformation mechanisms of crazing and shear yielding. The finite element implementation of our model considers a three-dimensional representative volume element (RVE), and incorporates continuum-based physics-inspired descriptions of shear yielding and crazing, along with failure criteria for the ductile and brittle layers. The interface between the ductile and brittle layers is assumed to be perfectly bonded. The model successfully explains the volume fraction effect on the micro and macromechanics of ductile/brittle microlaminates subjected to uniaxial tension.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED GRAINS AND THE CONSUMER

Genetically modified (GM) grains meet a variety of responses from consumers worldwide, with such factors as religion, education, social economic status, safety, and personal assessment of the risk–benefit ratio influencing overall perception. While the scientific community is virtually indisputable with regard to the safety of GM crops, consumers are not entirely confident and remain divided over the subject. However, awareness has significantly increased alongside the ever-burgeoning growth and commercial sale of GM crops across the globe. The wide availability has especially fueled the debate over labeling of GM foods.
Posterior Corneal Astigmatism and Current Strategies for Optimizing Outcomes with Toric IOLs

Traditionally when determining a patient’s astigmatism, only the curvature of the anterior cornea was measured. This was due to the relative ease of anterior measurement and assumptions that the posterior cornea did not play a significant role in refraction. However, new technologies have been developed to measure the posterior corneal curvature, and outcome data have shown that including the posterior curvature in toric IOL power calculations reduces residual astigmatic error. Understanding the contribution of the posterior cornea to a patient’s astigmatism is a key in order to provide the best care and refractive outcomes.
College Talk and the Rural Economy: Shaping the Educational Aspirations of Rural, First-Generation Students

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students’ lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and industries that do not require a college degree, or to leave in pursuit of an education that is often the first step toward an adult life lived away. This study seeks to better understand this dilemma by examining the messages that rural, first-generation students receive about the value of higher education. Drawing upon interviews and observations, it shows that high school guidance counselors, college admissions officials, and the staff of community-based college aspirations organizations adopt a strikingly consistent message: they cite struggling rural economies in their argument for the necessity of a practical degree for all students, one that can be easily lev...
Opening the Black Box: Prospects for Using International Large-Scale Assessments to Explore Classroom Effects

In this article, the authors review International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA)-based research over the last several decades, with specific attention on cross-national analysis of mean differences between and variation within countries in mathematics education. They discuss the role of sampling design and ‘opportunity to learn’ (OTL) indicators to assess the use of ILSAs in examining educational inequalities such as tracking and explore improvements in ILSAs' capacity for studying classroom-level differences in instructional content.
Oxygen Toxicity in Tribolium1 Species

Studies were conducted with the adult and immature stages of Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val and T. castaneum (Herbst) by exposing them to atmosphere containing 100% oxygen for varied lengths of time. Results indicate that immature stages were more susceptible to oxygen poisoning than adults. Increasing exposure temperature from 15.6° to 26.7°C usually increased the susceptibility of insects, however, exceptions were noticed with the adults of T. castaneum and larvae of both species.
Summer Precipitation and Latent Heating over the Tibetan Plateau Based on TRMM Measurements

The unique topography of Tibetan Plateau(TP) throws a great impact on ambient circulation,climate changing and the evolution of severe weather in East Asia.Jointly using measurements form Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) and Global Precipitation Climatology Project(GPCP),this study pays special attention to the aspects of summer precipitation and latent heat over the TP.A maximum of surface rainrate approaching 7mm/h in southeastern TP around Yarlung Zangbo Canyon is revealed by GPCP,while the maximum is only 3mm/h occurring at northern Nyaiqentanglha Mountains indicated by TRMM.The summer average of surface rainrate over the western TP,less than 4mm/h,derived from GPCP is also approximately two times that from TRMM.The storm top over TP presents itself as a tremendous tower that is 2~4km higher than those in surrounding areas.Particularly,three categories of precipitation over TP are defined according to vertical profiles,named as deep strong convective,deep weak convective and shallow convective precipitation,since TRMM operating precipitation classification is proved to be improper for precipitation over TP.The differences of normalized precipitation profile between the three precipitation categories are clarified and a comparison is also conducted for geographical differences on latent heat profiles.The diurnal variation of TP precipitation is remarkable where the peak occurs at 4pm.It is also found that TP precipitation generally arises scatteredly associated with small horizontal scale and a vaulted vertical section.Furthermore,statistical results indicate stronger convective activities over TP than over adjacent areas.The high-level convection acts as a ladder to expediently transport upward parcels of air with much water vapor but little ozone,which results in high vapor content and low ozone content in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere around TP.
Research on the time-varying charging and dynamic data routing strategy for rechargeable wireless sensor networks

The energy problem of wireless sensor networks could be solved by recharging sensor nodes periodically through the wireless energy transfer technique,which would made sensor nodes remain optional persistently.However,appropriate charging and routing strategies were also in great needs.According to the optimization object of maximizing the vacation time ratio of a wireless charging equipment,the continuous time-varying model,the discrete(N+1)-phased nonlinear model and the solvable discrete(N+1)-phased linear model for the charging and routing strategy were proposed successively.The feasibility of these models was proved as well.In conclusion,after solving the last proposed model,the optimized charging and routing strategies were obtained for networks in different scales.
Status after 5 Years of Survival Compliance Testing in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS)

AbstractSurvival studies of juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. implanted with acoustic tags have been conducted at hydroelectric dams within the Federal Columbia River Power System in the Columbia and Snake rivers between 2010 and 2014 to assess compliance with the dam passage survival standards stipulated in the 2008 Biological Opinion. For juvenile yearling Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha and steelhead O. mykiss that migrate downstream in the spring, dam passage survival (defined as survival from the upstream dam face to the tailrace mixing zone) must be ≥ 96%, and for subyearling Chinook Salmon that migrate downstream in summer, dam passage survival must be ≥ 93%. Precision requirement stipulates a standard error ≤ 1.5% (i.e., a 95% confidence interval of ± 3%). A total of 29 compliance tests have been conducted at six of eight main-stem dams in the Federal Columbia River Power System, using over 109,000 acoustic-tagged salmonid smolts. Of these 29 compliance studies, 23 met the survival standards...
Integrating quality cues across products in reputation judgment

In the current study, we explore the micro foundation of firm reputation and explore how firm reputation is constructed from multiple cues at the lower product level. We integrate the social-cognit...
Identifying and investigating the “best” schools: A network-based analysis

AbstractThis paper aims to provide a fresh perspective on the predominantly negative discourse on schooling quality in low-income countries by focusing on the research questions: ‘How can one identify great schools and what makes them special?’ Using a network-based perspective, I measure peer evaluations of quality in two districts in Nepal. Specifically, I ask principals to mention three schools they view as the ‘best’ schools in their district and then map the interconnections between schools as a result of this response. I additionally analyse the differentiating characteristics of these schools and qualitatively investigate the most frequently cited ‘best’ school in each district. Public school principals collectively chose a few schools as being among the ‘best’; these chosen schools had relatively higher enrolment and better student performance. The in-depth qualitative analysis highlights less quantifiable measures, such as motivated leaders who were able to help schools succeed despite difficult ...
Injuries of the Hindfoot

Comprehensive workup of hindfoot injuries includes evaluation of open vs. closed injury neurovascular compromise, fracture vs. dislocation vs. fracture-dislocation, intraarticular vs. extra-articular, stability after reduction, energy of injury, associated injuries, and displaced vs. non-displaced.
Systems integration and verification in an advanced smart factory

In 2014, Raytheon Missile Systems began work on creating a new satellite manufacturing facility in Tucson, AZ. The primary objective of this new factory was to minimize costly human-based oversight inspection while increasing the level of quality assurance related to the assembly process. Unlike assembly lines which produce hundreds or even thousands of the same item on a continuous basis, the new factory had to be adaptable to doing "one-of-a-kind" production. In order to assure a high-level of confidence in the proper assembly and testing of such unique space assets, the Raytheon team architected an approach that incorporated some of the newest advances in information technology and robotic testing. The factory relies on an event-driven architecture that incorporates streaming analytics as the basis for removing human quality control observers. An integrated sensor network and a supporting information system powered by open source software securely receives, stores, and analyzes the data streams. The data management platform known as the Open Manufacturing Information System or OMIS, is based on the Apache Hadoop environment. Hadoop provides the power and flexibility that enables rapid adjustment to changing customer requirements and differences between each satellite that is brought into the factory.
Personality traits within a pediatric surgery fellowship applicant pool

Abstract Background The Big Five framework examines five factors that represent a description of human personality. These factors correlate with success measures and job satisfaction. The Big Five Inventory is a 44-item instrument designed to measure the Big Five framework. Our aim was to document the distribution of Big Five personality traits among Pediatric Surgery fellowship applicants, compare with community norms, surgical residents, between genders, and correlate to the fellowship match results. Materials and methods Forty Pediatric Surgery fellowship applicants at a university hospital completed the Big Five Inventory during the interview process. It was analyzed and compared with general surgery residents' results and community norms. The data were compared regarding gender and match results. Continuous variables were compared by unpaired t -tests and Mann–Whitney tests. A P value Results The 40 applicants were equally divided between male and female. When compared with general surgery residents and community norms, applicants of both genders scored higher on agreeableness ( P P P P P = 0.026). Matched applicants scored higher for conscientiousness than unmatched applicants ( P = 0.016). Conclusions Pediatric Surgery fellowship applicants expressed higher levels of desirable professional traits compared with general surgery residents and community norms. Male applicants demonstrated higher emotional stability than females. Conscientiousness was higher in matching applicants. This first reported experience with personality testing in Pediatric Surgery fellow selection demonstrated potential utility in applicant matching.
2D location biases depth-from-disparity judgments but not vice versa.

ABSTRACTVisual cognition in our 3D world requires understanding how we accurately localize objects in 2D and depth, and what influence both types of location information have on visual processing. Spatial location is known to play a special role in visual processing, but most of these findings have focused on the special role of 2D location. One such phenomena is the spatial congruency bias, where 2D location biases judgments of object features but features do not bias location judgments. This paradigm has recently been used to compare different types of location information in terms of how much they bias different types of features. Here we used this paradigm to ask a related question: whether 2D and depth-from-disparity location bias localization judgments for each other. We found that presenting two objects in the same 2D location biased position-in-depth judgments, but presenting two objects at the same depth (disparity) did not bias 2D location judgments. We conclude that an object’s 2D location may ...
The jellyfish Cassiopea exhibits a sleep-like state

Do all animals sleep? Sleep has been observed in many vertebrates, and there is a growing body of evidence for sleep-like states in arthropods and nematodes. Here we show that sleep is also present in Cnidaria, an earlier-branching metazoan lineage. Cnidaria and Ctenophora are the first metazoan phyla to evolve tissue-level organization and differentiated cell types, such as neurons and muscle. In Cnidaria, neurons are organized into a non-centralized radially symmetric nerve net that nevertheless shares fundamental properties with the vertebrate nervous system: action potentials, synaptic transmission, neuropeptides, and neurotransmitters . It was reported that cnidarian soft corals and box jellyfish exhibit periods of quiescence, a pre-requisite for sleep-like states, prompting us to ask whether sleep is present in Cnidaria. Within Cnidaria, the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea spp. displays a quantifiable pulsing behavior, allowing us to perform long-term behavioral tracking. Monitoring of Cassiopea pulsing activity for consecutive days and nights revealed behavioral quiescence at night that is rapidly reversible, as well as a delayed response to stimulation in the quiescent state. When deprived of nighttime quiescence, Cassiopea exhibited decreased activity and reduced responsiveness to a sensory stimulus during the subsequent day, consistent with homeostatic regulation of the quiescent state. Together, these results indicate that Cassiopea has a sleep-like state, supporting the hypothesis that sleep arose early in the metazoan lineage, prior to the emergence of a centralized nervous system.
Geological and hydrogeochemical controls on radium isotopes in groundwater of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt.

Abstract Radium isotopes ( 226 Ra and 228 Ra) were analyzed in 18 groundwater samples from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) and the shallow alluvial aquifers overlying the basement complex of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Groundwater samples from deep Nubian aquifer wells (total depths 747 to 1250 m) have 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities ranging from 0.168 to 0.802 and 0.056 to 1.032 Bq/L, respectively. The shallower Nubian aquifer wells (63 to 366 m) have 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities ranging from 0.033 to 0.191 and 0.029 to 0.312 Bq/L, respectively. The basement shallow alluvial aquifers have 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities ranging from 0.014 to 0.038 and 0.007 to 0.051 Bq/L, respectively. Combined Ra activities in most wells were generally in excess of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the European Union (EU), and the World Health Organization (WHO) maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for drinking water. Radium in groundwater is produced mainly by decay of parent nuclides in the aquifer solids, and observed activities of dissolved Ra isotopes result from a combination of alpha-recoil, adsorption/desorption, co-precipitation/dissolution processes. The observed correlation between Ra activities and salinity indicates that adsorption/desorption processes may be the dominant factor controlling Ra mobility in Sinai groundwater. Radium activities in central and northern Sinai are generally higher than those in southern Sinai, consistent with a gradual increase in salinity and water-rock interaction with increasing groundwater age. Barite is approximately saturated in the groundwater and may limit maximum dissolved Ra concentration. The results of this study indicate that Sinai groundwater should be used with caution, possibly requiring Ra removal from water produced for domestic and agricultural consumption.
Teleology, Ecology, and Unity and the French Enlightenment

An important marker of a modern conception of science lies in the rejection of teleology (final causes) and an understanding of the place of humans in the unity of nature. Although the philosophers were not the first writers to hold a nonteleological view of the world, they were among the first western writers to develop the idea as a central literary theme with the backing of modern science, especially astronomy. I discuss final causes and the alternate belief in the unity of nature in Fontenelle’s Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, English writer Shaftesbury’s Characteristics, Voltaire’s Micromegas, Rousseau’s Reveries of the Solitary Walker, and Diderot’s D’Alembert’s Dream, and other works. Although these works operate differently and employ different genres, they are all rhetorical responses to unscientific and irrational assumptions held in contemporary European society, and they remain relevant and startlingly modern in point of view.
Experimental assessment of phase aberration correction for breast MRgFUS therapy.

AbstractPurpose: This study validates that phase aberrations in breast magnetic resonance-guided focussed ultrasound (MRgFUS) therapies can be corrected in a clinically relevant time frame to generate more intense, smaller and more spatially accurate foci.Materials and methods: Hybrid angular spectrum (HAS) ultrasound calculations in an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based tissue model, were used to compute phase aberration corrections for improved experimental MRgFUS heating in four heterogeneous breast-mimicking phantoms (n = 18 total locations). Magnetic resonance(MR) temperature imaging was used to evaluate the maximum temperature rise, focus volume and focus accuracy for uncorrected and phase aberration-corrected sonications. Thermal simulations assessed the effectiveness of the phase aberration correction implementation.Results: In 13 of 18 locations, the maximum temperature rise increased by an average of 30%, focus volume was reduced by 40% and focus accuracy improved from 4.6 to 3.6 mm. Mixed r...
Meillassoux, Correlationism, and the Ontological Difference

Meillassoux defines “correlationism” as the view that we can only access the mutual dependence of thought and being—specifically, subjectivity and objectivity—which he attributes to Heidegger. This attribution is inapt. It is only by accessing being—via existential analysis—that we can properly distinguish beings like subjects and objects. I propose that Meillassoux’s misattribution ignores the ontological difference that drives Heidegger’s project. First, I demonstrate the inadequacy of Meillassoux’s account of correlationism as a criticism of Heidegger and dispense with an objection. Second, I argue that Meillassoux’s neglect of the ontological difference stems from a question-begging appeal to transcendental realism, which is at odds with Heidegger’s twin claims for a variety of transcendental idealism in Being and Time. Third, I offer a reflection on three general marks of transcendental idealism.
Top-Up Options and Tender Offers

We investigate the role of top-up options granted by target managers to bidders in tender offers. A top-up option enables bidders to bypass target shareholder consent and allows for relatively fast execution of the tender offer. Our evidence, from 456 tender offers announced during 2000-2012 suggests that deals with top-up options are detrimental to both bidder and target shareholders, when compared to tender offers without the top-up feature. This effect seems to be concentrated in the pre-2007 period. After 2006 a large majority of tender offers include top-up options. We also find that the use of top-up options is negatively related to the use of lock-up options in the early period. In the later period of our sample, when lock-up options are no longer used in tender offers, toeholds are negatively related to the use of top-up options. Moreover, top-up options increase the speed of deal completion and are associated with less hostility, higher target free cash flows, and higher termination fees. We also provide some evidence that targets that provide top-up options have weaker governance and we find that target management that provides a top-up option is more likely to receive a golden parachute. Overall we conclude that the use of top-up options is most consistent with an anti-competitive hypothesis.
A conserved His-Asp signal response regulator-like gene in Heterosigma akashiwo chloroplasts.

Regulation of gene expression in plastids may involve molecular components conserved from cyanobacteria-like ancestors. Among prokaryotes, genes are commonly regulated at the transcriptional level by `two-component' or `His-Asp' signal transducers, consisting of a `sensor kinase', which autophosphorylates at a conserved histidine residue, and a cognate response regulator, which is phosphorylated by the sensor kinase at a conserved aspartate residue. A putative His-Asp response regulator gene (trg1: transcriptional regulatory gene 1) has been identified in the estuarine raphidophytic alga Heterosigma akashiwo. The chloroplast-encoded trg1 is 693 bp in length, contains no introns, and yields a conceptual translation product of 231 amino acids, with a predicted mass of 27 kDa. Homology searches suggest that Heterosigma trg1 has an ompR-like identity within the DNA-binding His-Asp family of response regulators. trg1 contains both the phosphorylation and DNA-binding domains which are present in prokaryote response regulators. Quantitative competitive RT-PCR showed that Heterosigma trg1 is expressed at low levels (5 μg per g total RNA). In contrast, psbA (a photosystem II component) transcript is abundant (60 mg per g total RNA). Cell cycle analysis showed that psbA abundance oscillates in response to light but trg1 mRNA levels are invariant. We hypothesize that a His-Asp phosphorelay mechanism may affect chloroplast genome transcription in a manner similar to bacterial signal transduction pathways in which `sensor kinase' and cognate `response regulator' proteins interact.
Safety of radiofrequency ablation for adenotonsillectomy after cochlear implantation.

Abstract Objective While a cadaveric animal study has suggested that radiofrequency ablation can be safely used in patients with cochlear implants, no in vivo studies have been published to confirm that radiofrequency ablation does not alter the integrity of the cochlear implant device. Methods Cochlear implant impedance and functional performance were studied through a prospective case series in five children with seven functioning multichannel implants before and after radiofrequency ablation adenotonsillectomy. Results There were 4 females and 1 male patient, aged 6–10 years (mean 8.5 ± 1.95 years) with 7 functioning implants. Pre- and post-surgical impedance testing revealed all electrodes were within normal operating limits. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean pre and post-operative impedances in 5 of the 7 tested implants (P = 0.2–0.8). The other two implants showed statistically significant improvement in impedance values which were not clinically significant (P = 0.02 and P Conclusions We found that radiofrequency ablation used in the oropharynx during adenotonsillectomy did not alter the integrity of the cochlear implant devices when assessed using electrode impedance testing, audiometry and speech perception evaluation. These results confirm those reported in previous in vitro studies and confirm the safety of radiofrequency ablation adenotonsillectomy for children who have undergone previous cochlear implant placement.
Factors associated with false‐negative pathologic diagnosis of calciphylaxis

BACKGROUND Calciphylaxis is a rare, painful, and debilitating disorder of vascular calcification and skin necrosis that typically affects patients with advanced kidney disease. During our routine pathology practice, we noted several missed diagnoses on calciphylaxis consultation cases originating from outside institutions and sought to explore factors associated with false-negative pathologic diagnosis of calciphylaxis. METHODS The pathology database of a large tertiary academic medical center was retrospectively searched for "calciphylaxis" in inside reports on outside surgical consultation cases between 2007 and 2017. Inside and outside pathology reports were compared and medical records were searched for calciphylaxis clinical diagnosis and risk factors. RESULTS Twenty-four calciphylaxis patients were identified, with median age of 63.5 years. Seven of 24 (29%) of specimens were inadequate (e.g., lack of subcutaneous adipose tissue for evaluation). Eight of 17 (47%) of adequate specimens had a first false-negative pathologic diagnosis of calciphylaxis. Histochemical staining for calcium significantly correlated with true-positive diagnosis (93% vs 55%, P = 0.004). Dermatopathology fellowship training significantly correlated with true-positive diagnosis (82% vs 38%, P = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS Adequate sampling, dermatopathology training, and use of histochemical stains to identify calcium associate with decreased false-negative rate for calciphylaxis diagnosis. These findings need further evaluation in larger prospective studies.
Abstract A24: SAS1B protein: Determining whether ASTL or SAS1B has a role in tumor progression

The matrix metalloproteinase- Sperm Acrosomal SLLP1 Binding (SAS1B) is an ideal molecular and cellular candidate for both female contraception and for cancer therapies. SAS1B translation is restricted among adult tissues to the ovary and oocytes, and SAS1B first appears in oocytes of follicles at the primary‐secondary transition and also in tumors of varied types and stages. Research conducted using SAS1B antibodies suggested that the protein is localized at the cell membrane of cancer cells and can get internalized in a classical endocytosis assay and can be killed using an immunotoxin linked onto antibodies. The current study aims at deciphering whether the ASTL gene or the SAS1B protein is important for tumor progression, invasion and metastasis through cell biology and molecular biology tools and ensuring tumor cell killing properties via an ADC mediated killing using biochemistry and molecular biology tools. PCR, immunohistochemistry, Immunofluorescence, and Western Blots revealed that a non cancerous breast cell line MCF10A5E is SAS1B null and can be used to study cancer like properties once stably transfected with the SAS1B construct. Previous work in the lab indicated that an SAS1B-ADC strategy is a viable immunotherapy that could benefit patients who have failed to respond to chemotherapy, if indeed SAS1B plays a role in cancer development and progression. The outcomes of a SAS1B-ADC in a breast cancer model will be presented. Citation Format: Zunair Shakeel Khokhar, Alexander J. Kim, Eusebio Pires, Ryan D’Souza. SAS1B protein: Determining whether ASTL or SAS1B has a role in tumor progression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Breast Cancer Research; 2017 Oct 7-10; Hollywood, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2018;16(8_Suppl):Abstract nr A24.
Deferred radiotherapy after debulking of non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas: Clinical outcomes

Background: To describe the outcome for a cohort of patients with non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFPMA), managed by debulking surgery with radiation therapy delayed until progression. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven patients were treated surgically for pituitary tumors at our institution between 1997 and 2005. One hundred and twenty-six patients met the inclusion criteria of NFPMA. They were followed for at least 2 years. Results: At presentation, 58% of patients had objectively decreased visual function, 66% had endocrine abnormalities, and 46% had headaches. Of the entire cohort, 75% of tumors abutted the optic chiasm and 87% had suprasellar extension. Over a median follow up of 112 months from surgery, 52% of patients had evidence of radiographic tumor progression, and 39% required additional treatment. There was a significant difference freedom from progression and in the number of patients receiving additional treatment with preoperative adenoma size of < 2 vs. ≥2 cm (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Close observation with radiation therapy delayed until the time of progression is an appropriate option for patients presenting with initial adenoma size < 2 cm, and can be considered for those with initial sizes up to 4 cm, as the majority of patients do not require further intervention for 10 or more years, thereby meaningfully postponing the risks of radiotherapy.
Power Pulsation Decoupling in a Series-Stacked PV- Battery Inverter

This paper presents the design of an energy buffer decoupling double-line-frequency AC power pulsation from main DC power sources in the single-phase series-stacked PV-battery inverter. As the active decoupling technique reducing the amount of capacitance required to stabilize the DC-bus voltage and achieving elimination of electrolytic capacitors, the series-stacked buffer architecture is adopted. In this work, the focus is on the optimization of the buffer design in the series-stacked PV-battery inverter and presenting the control scheme of the partial-power DC-DC optimizer to avoid processing the double-line-frequency AC current through all the DC sources: a PV string and a battery. The steady-state operation of the AC power pulsation decoupling of the series-stacked PV-battery inverter is demonstrated and verified through the controller hardware-in-the-loop test.
Mapping the Earth’s Gravity Field with Orbiting GPS Receivers

The orbit of an artificial satellite is shaped primarily by the force of terrestrial gravitation. If the earth were a perfect and homogeneous sphere, the orbit would be a simple Keplerian ellipse. The planet is closer to a flattened ellipsoid than to a sphere; the pull of its equatorial bulge causes the orbit to turn within its plane at a constant rate (precession of the perigee), and also slowly rotates the plane of the orbit about the earth’s axis (precession of the line of nodes). But the actual shape and mass distribution is much more complex than for a flattened, homogeneous ellipsoid. Departures from this simpler body cause irregularities (anomalies) in the gravity field that in turn produce “wiggles” or perturbations in the orbit. These departures from a precessing ellipse about a flattened ellipsoid can be sensed with tracking systems that measure the instantaneous distance or velocity of the satellite along the line of sight to the tracker.
Population-based estimates of humoral autoimmunity from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960-2014.

Objective Based on US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, we attempted to provide an unbiased, population-based estimate of autoantibody prevalence overall and by age and sex. Methods US autoantibody prevalence estimates for detectable rheumatoid factor, anti-thyroglobulin, anti-thyroperoxidase, anti-transglutaminase, anti-endomysial, anti-GAD65, antinuclear autoantibodies, and autoantibodies to extractable nuclear antigens were estimated from the 1960-1962 National Health Examination Survey, NHANES III (1988-1994), and the NHANES 1999-2014 cross-sectional surveys. Survey design variables and sample weights were used to account for differential probabilities of selection within the complex survey design. Data analysis used SASTM and SUDAAN™ software. US Census Bureau data were used to estimate the absolute numbers of persons with autoantibodies. Results NHANES III data show that the overall US prevalence of having a detectable serum autoantibody is substantial in adults, in both women and men. Thyroid autoantibodies were present in 18% of US adults (31 million persons) including 10% of younger adults and 25% of older persons. Overall autoantibody prevalences increased significantly with age: 32% of US adults 60+ years of age (12.8 million persons) had at least one of the four autoantibodies rheumatoid factor, anti-thyroglobulin, anti-thyroperoxidase, or anti-tissue transglutaminase. Older women had higher levels of autoantibodies, but this was a relative difference. Autoantibody prevalence in both sexes was substantial (women 39%; men 22%). Fourteen percent of adults 60+ years of age have multiple autoantibodies. Conclusions Autoantibodies are present in a significant fraction of the general population, especially in older adults and women relative to men. Although all known clinically significant autoantibodies were not analyzed, these data provide an important population perspective on the scope and magnitude of humoral autoimmunity in the US. This is vital for prevention efforts to reduce autoimmune disease and helps clarify the potential impact of autoimmunity on the general population.
Public attitudes about emergent issues in LGBTQ rights: Conversion therapy and religious refusals:

Following legal recognition of marriages for same-sex couples, new topics have emerged in debates over LGBT rights. While numerous studies of public opinion about gay and transgender rights have be...
Inverse correlation between fatty acid transport protein 4 and vision in Leber congenital amaurosis associated with RPE65 mutation.

Fatty acid transport protein 4 (FATP4), a transmembrane protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), is a recently identified negative regulator of the ER-associated retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)65 isomerase necessary for recycling 11-cis-retinal, the light-sensitive chromophore of both rod and cone opsin visual pigments. The role of FATP4 in the disease progression of retinal dystrophies associated with RPE65 mutations is completely unknown. Here we show that FATP4-deficiency in the RPE results in 2.8-fold and 1.7-fold increase of 11-cis- and 9-cis-retinals, respectively, improving dark-adaptation rates as well as survival and function of rods in the Rpe65 R91W knockin (KI) mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). Degradation of S-opsin in the proteasomes, but not in the lysosomes, was remarkably reduced in the KI mouse retinas lacking FATP4. FATP4-deficiency also significantly rescued S-opsin trafficking and M-opsin solubility in the KI retinas. The number of S-cones in the inferior retinas of 4- or 6-mo-old KI;Fatp4−/− mice was 7.6- or 13.5-fold greater than those in age-matched KI mice. Degeneration rates of S- and M-cones are negatively correlated with expression levels of FATP4 in the RPE of the KI, KI;Fatp4+/−, and KI;Fatp4−/− mice. Moreover, the visual function of S- and M-cones is markedly preserved in the KI;Fatp4−/− mice, displaying an inverse correlation with the FATP4 expression levels in the RPE of the three mutant lines. These findings establish FATP4 as a promising therapeutic target to improve the visual cycle, as well as survival and function of cones and rods in patients with RPE65 mutations.
Agency Theory Revisited: CEO Return and Shareholder Interest Alignment

Agency theory suggests that managerial mischief may occur when the interests of owners and managers diverge and that a solution to this agency problem is alignment of owner and agent interests through agent compensation and equity ownership. We develop the theoretical concept of CEO return and measure and estimate financial alignment as the relationship between CEO and shareholder returns. Our results, based on this new conceptualization and corresponding measurement, suggest stronger alignment than reported in previous work. The magnitude of this alignment is associated with subsequent firm performance, but in ways not clearly articulated or tested in prior research.
Comparison of Exercise Capacity in Patients with Bicuspid Aortic Valve with and without Aortic Stenosis

Background: Bicuspid Aortic Valve (BAV) is a common congenital heart defect with a risk for progressive worsening of aortic stenosis (AS). Severe symptomatic AS is associated with poor prognosis and therefore, exercise capacity (XC) testing is routinely performed in BAV. While correlation of exercise limitation with AS severity has been established in adults, similar data in the pediatric population are lacking. Objective: Our aim was to compare XC in patients with BAV with and without Aortic Stenosis. Methods: This single center retrospective chart review …
A Simulation-based Approach for Large-scale Evacuation Planning

Evacuation planning methods aim to design routes and schedules to relocate people to safety in the event of natural or man-made disasters. The primary goal is to minimize casualties which often requires the evacuation process to be completed as soon as possible. In this paper, we present QueST, an agent-based discrete event queuing network simulation system, and STEERS, an iterative routing algorithm that uses QueST for designing and evaluating large scale evacuation plans in terms of total egress time and congestion/bottlenecks occurring during evacuation. We use the Houston Metropolitan Area, which consists of nine US counties and spans an area of 9,444 square miles as a case study, and compare the performance of STEERS with two existing route planning methods. We find that STEERS is either better or comparable to these methods in terms of total evacuation time and congestion faced by the evacuees. We also analyze the large volume of data generated by the simulation process to gain insights about the scenarios arising from following the evacuation routes prescribed by these methods.
Specific MicroRNAs Found in Extracellular Matrix Vesicles Regulate Proliferation and Differentiation in Growth Plate Chondrocytes

Matrix vesicles (MVs) are extracellular organelles produced by growth plate cartilage cells in a zone-specific manner. MVs are similar in size to exosomes, but they are tethered to the extracellular matrix (ECM) via integrins. Originally associated with matrix calcification, studies now show that they contain matrix processing enzymes and microRNA that are specific to their zone of maturation. MVs produced by costochondral cartilage resting zone (RC) chondrocytes are enriched in microRNA 503 whereas those produced by growth zone (GC) chondrocytes are enriched in microRNA 122. MVs are packaged by chondrocytes under hormonal and factor regulation and release of their contents into the ECM is also under hormonal control, suggesting that their microRNA might have a regulatory role in growth plate proliferation and maturation. To test this, we selected a subset of these enriched microRNAs and transfected synthetic mimics back into RC and GC cells. Transfecting growth plate chondrocytes with select microRNA produced a broad range of phenotypic responses indicating that MV-based microRNAs are involved in the regulation of these cells. Specifically, microRNA 122 drives both RC and GC cells toward a proliferative phenotype, stabilizes the matrix and inhibits differentiation whereas microRNA 22 exerts control over regulatory factor production. This study demonstrates the strong regulatory capability possessed by unique MV enriched microRNAs on growth plate chondrocytes and their potential for use as therapeutic agents.
Heart Disease, Advanced Age, Minority Race, and Hispanic Ethnicity Are Associated With Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

Background The objective of this study was to determine the associations between heart disease, obesity, and demographic factors and increased COVID-19 mortality. Methods We extracted deidentified patient-level data from the Froedtert Health System and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and used descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression to characterize relationships between heart disease, obesity, age group, sex, race and ethnicity and mortality following COVID-19 diagnosis. Results We found heart disease (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.85; 95% CI, 2.11-8.83) and other demographic factors are significant predictors of increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. However, obesity was not a significant predictor of mortality (AOR 1.04; 95% CI, 0.53- 3.10). Discussion These unique results indicate some comorbid conditions and patient demographics contribute more strongly to mortality in COVID-19 patients.
Who's In The Dark: Satellite Based Estimates Of Electrification Rates

A technique has been developed to estimate the percent population having electric power access based on the presence of satellite detected nighttime lighting. A global survey was conducted for the year 2006 using nighttime lights collected by the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) in combination with the U.S. Department of Energy Landscan population dataset. The survey includes results for 229 countries and more than 2000 subnational units. The results are compared to reported electrification rates for 87 countries compiled from a variety of sources by the International Energy Agency. The DMSP derived estimate of number of people worldwide who lack access to electricity is 1.62 billion, only slightly larger than the 1.58 billion estimated by the International Energy Agency.