cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inheritance and Fitness Costs of Resistance to Cry3Bb1 Corn by Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Transgenic crops that produce insecticidal toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely planted to manage pest insects. One of the primary pests targeted by Bt corn in the United States is western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Cry3Bb1 corn for management of western corn rootworm was commercialized in 2003, and beginning in 2009, populations of western corn rootworm with field-evolved resistance to Cry3Bb1 corn were found in Iowa. Here we quantify the magnitude, inheritance, and fitness costs of resistance to Cry3Bb1 corn in two strains (Hopkinton and Cresco) derived from field populations that evolved resistance to Cry3Bb1 corn. For Hopkinton, we found evidence for complete resistance to Cry3Bb1 corn and nonrecessive inheritance. Additionally, no fitness costs of Cry3Bb1 resistance were detected for Hopkinton. For Cresco, resistance was incomplete and recessive, and we detected fitness costs affecting developmental rate, survival to adulthood, and fecundity. These results suggest that variation may exist among field populations in both the inheritance and accompanying fitness costs of resistance. To the extent that field populations exhibit nonrecessive inheritance and a lack of fitness cost, this will favor more rapid evolution of resistance than would be expected when resistance is functionally recessive and is accompanied by fitness costs.
Non-Invasive Monitoring of Acute Intracranial Mass Lesions Using Ultrasonic Fingerprinting

Potentially dangerous neurological changes in shock-trauma patients are currently monitored by computer-aided X-ray tomography which is prohibitively expensive and even dangerous for long-term, e.g., comatose, patients. By ultrasound, only low-frequency “diffuse” ultrasonic inspection is feasible through the skull so that the details are irreversible lost in the essentially random scattering process. In order to overcome this inherent limitation, we adapted a continuous computer-controlled ultrasonic monitoring system based on the ultrasonic fingerprinting method originally developed for materials characterization purposes in the nuclear, civil engineering, and aerospace industries. An ultrasonic detector directed at the general area of interest can be used to record and repeatedly update the personal signature of the patient, which is then used as an “ultrasonic fingerprint.” Any abrupt change in this signature indicates the immediate need for further investigation by CT or other sophisticated diagnostic tools. Experimental studies were conducted on both a human skull/gelatin phantom and 5 intact human cadavers. Ultrasonic fingerprinting could detect the secondary effects of volumetric changes occurring at multiple locations and the average detectable volumes of mass lesions were found to be lower than indications for surgical intervention.
Obesity Increases Complexity of Distal Radius Fracture in Fall From Standing Height.

Objectives To investigate the relationship between obesity and distal radius fracture severity after low-energy trauma and to identify patient-specific risk factors predictive of increasing fracture severity. Design Retrospective review. Setting Level 1 Trauma Center. Patients/participants Four hundred twenty-three adult subjects with a history of fracture of the distal radius resulting from a fall from standing height. Intervention Demographic data and injury characteristics were obtained. Preoperative wrist radiographs were reviewed and classified by the OTA classification system. Distal radius fractures were categorized as simple [closed and extra-articular (OTA 23-A)] and complex [intra-articular (OTA 23-B or 23-C) or open fracture or concomitant ipsilateral upper extremity fracture]. Multivariate logistic regression was completed to model the probability of incurring a complex fracture. Main outcome measurements Simple versus complex fracture pattern. Results Average age at the time of injury was 53.8 years (range, 18.9-98.4). Seventy-nine percent of subjects were female. The average body-mass index was 28.1 (range, 13.6-59.5). Two hundred forty-four patients (58%) suffered complex distal radius fractures per study criteria. Obese patients (body-mass index > 30) demonstrated increased fracture severity as per the OTA classification (P = 0.039) and were more likely to suffer a complex injury (P = 0.032). Multivariate regression identified male gender, obesity, and age ≥50 as independent risk factors for sustaining a complex fracture pattern. Conclusions Obesity is associated with more complex fractures of the distal radius after low-energy trauma, particularly in elderly patients. This relationship may have important epidemiologic implications predictive of future societal fracture burden and severity in an obese, aging population. Level of evidence Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Enhancing the detection limit of nanoscale biosensors via topographically selective functionalization.

Nanoscale biosensors have remarkable theoretical sensitivities but often suffer from suboptimal limits of detection in practice. This is in part because the sensing area of nanoscale sensors is orders of magnitude smaller than the total device substrate. Current strategies to immobilize probes (capture molecules) functionalize both sensing and nonsensing regions, leading to target depletion and diminished limits of detection. The difference in topography between these regions on nanoscale biosensors offers a way to selectively address only the sensing area. We developed a bottom-up, topographically selective approach employing self-assembled poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel nanoparticles as a mask to preferentially bind target to only the active sensing region of a photonic crystal (PhC) biosensor. This led to over an order of magnitude improvement in the limit of detection for the device, in agreement with finite element simulations. Since the sensing elements in many nanoscale sensors are t...
Adorno on sport

As Adorno once observed, "...if one were to summarize the most important trends of present-day culture, one could hardly find a more pregnant category than that of sports." Yet it is this very category of mass culture that Adorno has been severely criticized for either ignoring altogether, or treating in an offhand, cavalier manner. In particular, Adorno has been reproached for glossing over the emancipatory potential of the popular sports and leisure pursuits of mass culture,2 and for producing hyper-critical doctrines of the body and of modern sport based on Fascist political paradigms.3 Even more sympathetic critics of Adorno have charged that the only limits to reification he recognized were located at the level of the human subject, and that he never considered "... whether perhaps there are also limits to the reification of the cultural commodities themselves,"4 to include presumably sport and leisure.
Development trend of bag filter in coal-fired power plants and influencing factors on the service life

The theoretical efficiency of electrostatic precipitators (ESP) can be above 99.5%, the practical dust removing efficiency, influenced by the physico-chemical characteristics of mist and dust, could be drop significantly. Generally the bag filter can be hardly influenced by such factors, and the dust removing efficiency always reaches as high as generally above 99.95%. The efficiency is stable and it can capture the tiny dust and the heavy metal of PM10 and below. If the mass concentration of mist and dust emission is lower than 50 mg/m3, the investment and operating cost of ESPs are much higher than those of bag filter. Considering the standard emission and technical economy comparison, it is inevitable to utilize the bag filters. In order to improve the reliability and extend the service life of bag filters, reasonable and scientific measures were utilized in design, commissioning and operation. It is completely feasible to reduce the emission concentration to be less than 30 mg/m3 and to improve the service life to be more than 30 000 h.
Antibacterial effect of Chaige oral solution

OBJECTIVE To investigate the antibacterial effect of Chaige oral solution.METHODS The bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect of Chaige oral solution were observed in vitro and the antiinfectious effect both to the local and whole body infections of the animal models.RESULTS The ED 50 and 95% confidemce interval of antiinfection were 0.44 ml·kg -1 and 0.36-1.57 ml·kg -1 on antagonising Diplococcus pheumoniae respiratory tract infection in Wistar mice;The ED 50 and 95% confidence interval of antiinfection were 0.39 ml·kg -1 and 0.34- 1.15 ml·kg -1 on antagonising Streptococcus whole body infections in BALB/C mice.CONCLUSION Chaige oral solution has obvious antibacterial effect.
Chromatographic Properties and Probable Structure of the Urinary Conjugate of an Ethane-1,2-Diol Formed in Vivo from 3,5,3’-Triiodothyronine (T3)

In earlier communications we have suggested that the diverse actions of thyroid hormones could be explained in one coherent framework if thyroxine were viewed as an amino acid (1,2). Both thyroxine (T4) and its mono-deiodination product, 3,5,3’-triiodothyronine (T3), are aromatic amino acids not only derived from, but similar in structure to tyrosine. In view of the adrenergic effects of thyroid hormones, it seemed reasonable to propose that T4, like tyrosine, would be taken into the nervous system where it and its metabolites could become substrates for the same enzymes which take part in the transformation of tyrosine to the adrenergic neurotransmitters, as well as to their major catabolic products.
Using the trauma film paradigm to explore interpersonal processes after trauma exposure.

OBJECTIVE The present study sought to examine ways in which social support might influence trauma symptoms using a variation of the trauma film paradigm. METHOD Sixty-seven undergraduate female students in romantic relationships were randomized to watch a stressful film clip depicting a sexual assault, either in the presence (PP) or absence (PA) of their romantic partner. RESULTS Analyses showed that the PP condition experienced more intrusive memories of the film than the PA condition. In addition, participants in the PP condition whose romantic partner reported low relationship trust had higher film-related distress than participants in the PP condition whose romantic partner reported high relationship trust. Observational coding of partner behaviors after viewing the film clip found that greater expression of negative emotion from partners predicted participants' negative affect and intrusive memories over time. Positive emotional support did not have any effect upon participants' distress. CONCLUSIONS Findings identify possible ways in which interpersonal processes influence trauma adjustment and suggest that the trauma film paradigm can be adapted to examine the role of interpersonal processes in post-trauma adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record
The Costs of Carrying Inventory: A Survey of Select Fortune 500 Companies and Their Divisions

Authorities in the logistics area have long stipulated the importance of the costs of carrying inventory. Given the desired level of customer service, knowledge of the costs of carrying inventory (CCI) is essential for optimization of the total logistics system within the firm and within the channel of distribution.
Multiple Mobile Agents

In this chapter we study the case where more than one robot is involved in the same environment. The approach taken is distributed, i.e., each mobile robots independently plans its own action based on its map information. The environment contains mobile robots of different capacities regarding knowledge about the environment, planning algorithms, etc. A model for such reactive mobile robots is described and simulation results are presented to show their behavior patterns.
Factors Predictive of Epilepsy Remission

Factors predictive of epilepsy remission were determined in a prospective community based cohort study of 792 patients at the Institute of Neurology, National Hospital, Queen Square, London, UK.
Early Childhood Education Teachers: Life History, Life Course, and the Problem of Family—Work Balance

ABSTRACTIn contrast to the wider education literature, rather little is known about the lives of early childhood education (ECE) teachers and the impact of those lives on their practice. Drawing on surveys completed by Head Start assistant and lead teachers, teacher lifelines, and interviews, and through the lens of life-course theory, the author portrays the life histories of four teachers. Teachers were selected whose lives represented some of the range of the challenges faced by ECE teachers as they struggle under current institutional, social, and economic conditions in the United States to achieve balance between family and work demands.
Comparison of Long-Term Fertility and Bleeding Outcomes after Robotic-Assisted, Laparoscopic, and Abdominal Myomectomy

Background/Aims. To compare long-term fertility and bleeding outcomes of women who underwent robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, and abdominal myomectomy at our institution over a 15-year period. Methods. This was a retrospective cohort study of myomectomy patients 18-39 years old that had surgery between January 1995 and December 2009 at our institution. Long-term follow-up on fertility and bleeding outcomes was collected from the patient directly. The uterine fibroid symptom and quality of life survey was also administered to assess current bleeding patterns. Baseline characteristics were compared across groups. Univariable comparisons of fertility and bleeding outcomes based on surgical approach were made using analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis analysis of ranks, and Chi-square tests as appropriate. Results. 134/374 (36%) subjects agreed to participate in the study. 81 subjects underwent an open procedure versus 28 and 25 subjects in the laparoscopic and robotic groups, respectively. Median follow-up after surgery was 8 years. 50% of patients desired pregnancy following surgery and, of those, 60% achieved spontaneous pregnancy; the spontaneous pregnancy rate did not differ between groups. Additionally, UFS-QOL scores and/or subscores did not differ between groups. Conclusion. There is no significant difference in long-term bleeding or fertility outcomes in robotic-assisted, laparoscopic, or abdominal myomectomy.
CSI i filtr eksplanacyjny: Dembski w ogniu krytyki

Author presents the explanatory filter concept formulated by intelligent design theory proponent William A. Dembski. The filter is intended to be an universal instrument for detecting design that is not only the work of human beings but also of other intelligent entities. The filter is supposed to be applicable even to such fields of natural science as biology and cosmology. Author replies also to some objections to Dembski’s concept.
An evaluation of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of oncologists’ regarding fertility preservation: A survey of Midwest area oncologists.

e17662 Background: Fertility preservation (FP) is a growing quality of life issue in the world of oncology as the number of young long-term cancer survivors increase. In 2008, the Centers for Disea...
Immigration and Neighborhood Change: Methodological Possibilities for Future Research

The recent settlement of immigrant populations into a wider range of geographies and communities across the United States raises new questions about the dynamics of residential segregation and comp...
Wind effects on the spring phytoplankton dynamics in the middle reach of the Chesapeake Bay

Abstract The spring phytoplankton bloom, bridging nutrient loading and summer hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay especially in its middle reach, is highly sensitive to physical forcing. In addition to riverine input, winds could be a noticeable driver of estuarine phytoplankton variability, affecting its water quality and ecosystem health. In this study, wind impacts on the spring bloom were investigated utilizing the 29-year (1985–2013) monitoring data and an existing FVCOM-ICM estuarine water quality model. The retrospective analysis revealed that winds exerted a significant control on the spring algal biomass in the middle bay, which could be as important as the effects of riverine inputs. According to the model simulation, the mid-bay spring algal bloom was mainly fueled by the riverine nutrients, and its biomass was higher on the western than that on the eastern flank. Numerical experiments indicated a negative relationship between stratification and the overall algal biomass. It was found that up-estuary (southerly) winds could induce upwelling, thus enhance primary production along the western shore, and increase phytoplankton transport to deeper waters, making up-estuary winds most effective in the mid-bay transverse phytoplankton enrichment. Given that the regional wind pattern is tightly coupled with the large-scale climatic variability, it is recommended to fully consider climatic effects on the lower food web in ecosystem management in the future.
Resolution of die chippings thru determination of occur and escape cause at automatic optical inspection process — Wiljelm Carl K. Olalia

At Wafer Level Chip Scale Package, Every Sawn Wafers underwent Automatic Optical Inspection to ensure that all Dice affected by Mechanical Defect specifically Chippings will be screened-out effectively. An average of 151 defect per million of Chippings has been effectively screen-out at AOI process from WW07'15 to WW32'15.
Henry Whitney Bellows and “A New Catholic Church”

This article examines the evolution of Bellow’s proposal for a newly reformed Unitarian “catholic” church during the 1850s and 1860s. For Bellows in particular, political, cultural, and ecclesiastical matters collided in his efforts to transform a diffuse set of liberal Christian churches in fellowship into a denomination of national, even global, caliber. The creation of this “new catholic church” would, in turn, help to heal an ailing nation. There are two questions driving this narrative. First, how did Bellows arrive at the conclusion that Unitarianism was the future of Christendom, the more “Protestant-Protestantism,” or even more boldly, the “more Catholic-Catholicism?” Secondly, how did Bellows arrive at the conclusion that uniting Christendom under a “catholic” Unitarian banner could unite a fractured country? During the early 1860s, the language of nationalism and catholicity merged in Bellows’ organization of the National Convention.
REFORMED COLLAGEN FIBRES

ABSTRACT Collagen is the primary structural component of connective tissue and because of its inherent biocompatibility is an ideal candidate for biomedical applications such as scaffolds for tissue regeneration. One route to create a collagenous biomaterial which can be produced in a variety of forms is to render the collagen soluble and then reconstitute it. The research reported here is concerned with reconstituted collagen fibres and specifically compares different solubilisation processes (acid soluble collagen, ASC vs pepsin soluble collagen, PSC), and the influence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution on fibre formation. The structure and mechanical properties of reformed fibres were examined. It was found that PEG was essential for the formation of fibres from PSC but its use caused a decrease in the strength of the fibres from ASC. The yield of fibres from PSC was much greater than that from ASC. Some dried reformed fibres produced from both acid soluble and pepsin soluble collagen had a tensile strength equal to that of dried native collagen fibres.
In Cocaine Dependence, Neural Prediction Errors During Loss Avoidance Are Increased With Cocaine Deprivation and Predict Drug Use

Abstract Background In substance-dependent individuals, drug deprivation and drug use trigger divergent behavioral responses to environmental cues. These divergent responses are consonant with data showing that short- and long-term adaptations in dopamine signaling are similarly sensitive to state of drug use. The literature suggests a drug state–dependent role of learning in maintaining substance use; evidence linking dopamine to both reinforcement learning and addiction provides a framework to test this possibility. Methods In a randomized crossover design, 22 participants with current cocaine use disorder completed a probabilistic loss-learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging while on and off cocaine (44 sessions). Another 54 participants without Axis I psychopathology served as a secondary reference group. Within-drug state and paired-subjects’ learning effects were assessed with computational model–derived individual learning parameters. Model-based neuroimaging analyses evaluated effects of drug use state on neural learning signals. Relationships among model-derived behavioral learning rates ( α+, α− ), neural prediction error signals ( δ+, δ− ), cocaine use, and desire to use were assessed. Results During cocaine deprivation, cocaine-dependent individuals exhibited heightened positive learning rates ( α+ ), heightened neural positive prediction error ( δ+ ) responses, and heightened association of α+ with neural δ+ responses. The deprivation-enhanced neural learning signals were specific to successful loss avoidance, comparable to participants without psychiatric conditions, and mediated a relationship between chronicity of drug use and desire to use cocaine. Conclusions Neurocomputational learning signals are sensitive to drug use status and suggest that heightened reinforcement by successful avoidance of negative outcomes may contribute to drug seeking during deprivation. More generally, attention to drug use state is important for delineating substrates of addiction.
Semantic segmentation of multisensor remote sensing imagery with deep ConvNets and higher-order conditional random fields

Aerial images acquired by multiple sensors provide comprehensive and diverse information of materials and objects within a surveyed area. The current use of pretrained deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) is usually constrained to three-band images (i.e., RGB) obtained from a single optical sensor. Additional spectral bands from a multiple sensor setup introduce challenges for the use of DCNN. We fuse the RGB feature information obtained from a deep learning framework with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) features to obtain semantic labeling. Specifically, we propose a decision-level multisensor fusion technique for semantic labeling of the very-high-resolution optical imagery and LiDAR data. Our approach first obtains initial probabilistic predictions from two different sources: one from a pretrained neural network fine-tuned on a three-band optical image, and another from a probabilistic classifier trained on LiDAR data. These two predictions are then combined as the unary potential using a higher-order conditional random field (CRF) framework, which resolves fusion ambiguities by exploiting the spatial–contextual information. We utilize graph cut to efficiently infer the final semantic labeling for our proposed higher-order CRF framework. Experiments performed on three benchmarking multisensor datasets demonstrate the performance advantages of our proposed method.
Novel Immunotherapeutics for Treatment of Glioblastoma: The Last Decade of Research

Despite surgical resection and adjuvant chemoradiation, survival for glioblastoma remains poor. Because of the dismal prognosis, attention has shifted to alternative adjuvant treatment modalities. Although traditionally limited to systemic malignancies (melanoma, lung and colon cancer), the field of immunotherapy has recently identified glioblastoma as a potential target for new treatments. Anti-tumor vaccines (dendritic cell/heat shock), checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric T-cell receptors, and virotherapy all have been preliminarily trialed in glioblastoma patients with reasonable success and safety. Although there are certainly limitations due to autoimmune reactions and immune escape, immunotherapeutics hold much promise in the future treatment paradigms for malignant glioma.
Two-Level Switches for Advanced Time-Division Multiplexing

Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID)-based time-division multiplexing (TDM) is a mature and widely implemented technology used to read out transition-edge sensor arrays. As the number of pixels in modern arrays continues to increase, a higher multiplexing factor is required to reduce the number of wires and amplifier channels. However, as the multiplexing factor is increased, the number of row-select wires (used to turn on a row of TDM SQUIDs in a two-dimensional configuration) also increases, limiting the reduction in array wires. We present a more advanced TDM architecture that implements multi-level switching between subgroups of pixels. We show that this technique can dramatically reduce the number of required row-select lines. We also present the design, fabrication, and testing of a TDM multiplexer incorporating a two-level switch, which implements a second switch for each group of ten TDM pixels. In this implementation, a multiplexing factor of 100 can be addressed using ten group-select wiring pairs and ten row-select wiring pairs. We demonstrate multiplexer functionality and present measured operating margins of this new TDM multiplexer.
Nursing Training and Management in the Neurocritical Care Unit

Neurocritical care nursing requires a specific training program consisting of specialty training in neuroscience nursing and general critical care. The needs of neurocritical care patients span a continuum from post-operative care to medical-surgical critical care focused on the central nervous and other organ systems as a patient’s condition evolves.
Quantum Monte Carlo Methods for Astrophysical Applications

In recent years, new astrophysical observations have provided a wealth of exciting input for nuclear physics. For example, the observation of two-solar-mass neutron stars put strong constraints on possible phase transitions to exotic phases in strongly-interaction matter at high densities. Furthermore, the recent observation of a neutron-star merger in both the electromagnetic spectrum and gravitational waves has provided compelling evidence that neutron-star mergers are an important site for the production of extremely neutron-rich nuclei within the r-process. In the coming years, an abundance of new observations is expected to be made, which will continue to provide crucial constraints on the nuclear physics of these events. To reliably analyze such astrophysical observations and extract information on nuclear physics, it is very important that a consistent approach to nuclear systems is used. Such an approach consists of a precise and accurate method to solve the nuclear many-body problem in nuclei and nuclear matter, combined with modern nuclear Hamiltonians that allow to estimate the theoretical uncertainties. Quantum Monte Carlo methods are ideally suited for such an approach and and have been successfully used to describe atomic nuclei and nuclear matter. In this contribution, I will present a detailed description of Quantum Monte Carlo methods focusing on the application of these methods to astrophysical problems. In particular, I will discuss how to use Quantum Monte Carlo methods to describe nuclear matter of relevance to the physics of neutron stars.
Endogenous retroviral proteins provide an immunodominant but not requisite antigen in a murine immunotherapy tumor model

Clinical observations suggest that responses to cancer immunotherapy are correlated with intra-tumoral T cell receptor (TCR) clonality, tumor mutation burden (TMB) and host HLA genotype, highlighting the importance of host T cell recognition of tumor antigens. However, the dynamic interplay between T cell activation state and changes in TCR repertoire in driving the identification of potential immunodominant antigen(s) remains largely unexplored. Here, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing on CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T cells (TILs) using the murine colorectal tumor model MC38 to identify unique TCR sequences and validate their tumor reactivity. We found that the majority of clonally expanded TILs are tumor-reactive and their TCR repertoire is unique amongst individual MC38 tumor-bearing mice. Our query identified that multiple expanded TCR clones recognized the retroviral epitope p15E as an immunodominant antigen. In addition, we found that the endogenous retroviral genome encoding for p15E is highly expressed in MC38 tumors, but not in normal tissues, due to epigenetic derepression. Further, we demonstrated that the p15E-specific TILs exhibit an activated phenotype and an increase in frequency upon treatment with anti-41BB and anti-PD-1 combination immunotherapy. Importantly, we showed that although p15E-specific TILs are not required to mount a primary anti-tumor response, they contributed to the development of strong immune memory. Overall our results revealed that endogenous retroviral antigens expressed by tumor cells may represent an important and underappreciated category of tumor antigens that could be readily targeted in the clinic.
Spine-Equivalent Beam Modeling Method With In Vivo Validation for the Analysis of Sagittal Standing Flexion

Motivated by the need to incorporate human spine mechanics into the design loop of wearable spine assistive devices, this article presents a spine-equivalent beam (SEB) model for analyzing kinematics and mechanics of a human spine in sagittal standing flexion. The model is capable of handling loads resulted from the head, arms, external payload, torso weight, and back muscle effects, and it also handles pelvis rotation. The derivation of the physiologically equivalent parameters is discussed, including initial curvature, cross-sectional area, area moment of inertia, force/moment of the back muscles, and the equivalent Young's modulus. The SEB model and its equivalent parameters are validated with published in vivo measurement collected by telemeterized implant embedded on subjects who have undergone vertebra body replacement surgery. Results show that the model is capable of predicting flexion angles and compression force experienced by the intervertebral discs throughout the flexion process, which provides a practical yet effective approach to incorporate the spine mechanics into the design of wearable spine assistive devices.
White, Green futures

Black, Indigenous and otherwise minoritized communities of color are amongst the most vulnerable to the adverse consequences of environmental crises and the solutions proposed to remedy them. The p...
Machine learning models accurately predict recurrent infection following revision total knee arthroplasty for periprosthetic joint infection.

PURPOSE This study aimed to develop and validate machine-learning models for the prediction of recurrent infection in patients following revision total knee arthroplasty for periprosthetic joint infection. METHODS A total of 618 consecutive patients underwent revision total knee arthroplasty for periprosthetic joint infection. The patient cohort included 165 patients with confirmed recurrent periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Potential risk factors including patient demographics and surgical characteristics served as input to three machine-learning models which were developed to predict recurrent periprosthetic joint. The machine-learning models were assessed by discrimination, calibration and decision curve analysis. RESULTS The factors most significantly associated with recurrent PJI in patients following revision total knee arthroplasty for PJI included irrigation and debridement with/without modular component exchange (p 4 prior open surgeries (p < 0.001), metastatic disease (p < 0.001), drug abuse (p < 0.001), HIV/AIDS (p < 0.01), presence of Enterococcus species (p < 0.01) and obesity (p < 0.01). The machine-learning models all achieved excellent performance across discrimination (AUC range 0.81-0.84). CONCLUSION This study developed three machine-learning models for the prediction of recurrent infections in patients following revision total knee arthroplasty for periprosthetic joint infection. The strongest predictors were previous irrigation and debridement with or without modular component exchange and prior open surgeries. The study findings show excellent model performance, highlighting the potential of these computational tools in quantifying increased risks of recurrent PJI to optimize patient outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV.
A Renaissance without Order

T his study proposes a critical revision of a recent trend in Renaissance scholarship.1 Over the last thirty years, scholars have increasingly argued that the rise of printing and the illustrated printed treatise was a transformative development in the history of architecture. Specifically, Mario Carpo has influentially asserted that mechanical reproduction created stable, authoritatively identical reproductions that removed the creative drift inherent in a system of drawn copies. In doing so, the printed treatise, in particular that of Sebastiano Serlio, codified a new canon of easily reproducible, standardized orders and marginalized a fluid sketchbook tradition built on the practice of copying drawings, especially those of antiquity. The printed treatise by extension framed a series of formal models within a work of architectural theory defined by rules of composition and authorial agency. In sum, according to this paradigm, print was an agent of change that at its most basic level attempted to impose columnar order beginning in 1537 with the first installment of Serlio’s treatise.2 Counter to this argument stands a series of single-sheet engravings of column capitals, bases, and cornices, examples of which the architect Giovan Battista Aleotti (1546–1636), also known as L’Argenta, assembled in an album now in Ferrara.3 Described by the architect as “fragments of each order that wandered as prints and were collected elsewhere by the architect L’Argenta,” Aleotti arranged these printed fragments by columnar order, interleaved between sections of Vignola’s Regola delli cinque ordini d’architettura (1562), and even transformed them into an entire architectural composition (Figure 1).4 While these engravings, found outside of treatises and produced primarily by unknown engravers, have often been relegated to footnotes and separated from their original context, they are evidence that from the very beginning of the sixteenth century, printing unleashed a plethora of varied models …
Design considerations for combined radiation effects facilities for twelve year outer planet spacecraft voyages

The design considerations influencing the choice and utility of environmental simulation methods and facilities are described, insofar as they relate to the requirements imposed on outer planet spacecraft because of radiation environments to be expected. Possible means for duplicating the radioisotope thermoelectric generator radiation environment, and for duplicating the effects of the trapped radiation belt environment are described, together with an assessment of radiation levels to be expected in the vicinity of an environmental testing chamber when in use.
A dynamic dialog system using semantic web technologies

A dialog system or a conversational agent provides a means for a human to interact with a computer system. Dialog systems use text, voice and other means to carry out conversations with humans in order to achieve some objective. Most dialog systems are created with specific objectives in mind and consist of preprogrammed conversations. The primary objective of this dissertation is to show that dialogs can be dynamically generated using semantic technologies. I show the feasibility by constructing a dialog system that can be specific to control physical entry points, and that can withstand an attempt to misuse the system by playing back previously recorded conversations. As a solution my system randomly generates questions with a pre-specified difficulty level and relevance, thereby not repeating conversations. In order to do so, my system uses policies to govern the entrance rules, and Item Response Theory to select questions derived from ontologies relevant to those policies. Furthermore, by using contextual reasoning to derive facts from a chosen context, my dialog system can be directed to generate questions that are randomized within a topic, yet relevant to the task at hand. My system design has been prototyped using a voice interface. The prototype demonstrates acceptable performance on benchmark data.
Rate-adaptive modulation techniques for infrared wireless communications

While infrared links can support transmission at high bit rates, it is difficult to maintain a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) sufficient to support these high bit rates under all conditions using reasonable transmitter power levels. Under adverse conditions, instead of incurring abrupt link failure, it is preferable to achieve graceful degradation by lowering the bit rate until a suitably low error probability can be attained. We describe several coding and decoding schemes for rate-adaptive transmission, and we discuss their performance and implementation complexity. The codes considered are rate-compatible punctured convolutional (RCPC) codes and simple repetition codes. Each code is combined with L-ary pulse-position modulation. We present results of a search for families of good RCPC codes derived from rate-1/5 and rate-1/7 mother codes.
Adoptive transfer of polyclonal and cloned cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) specific for mouse AIDS-associated tumors is effective in preserving CTL responses: a measure of protection against LP-BM5 retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency.

Abstract Cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) can be raised against C57BL/6 B-cell lymphomas from mice with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus-induced AIDS (MAIDS). Adoptive transfer of polyclonal anti-MAIDS tumor CTL or two CTL clones specific for the B6-1710 MAIDS lymphoma caused preservation of major histocompatibility complex-restricted and allogeneic CTL responses, which may be interpreted as indices of protection from LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus-induced immunodeficiency.
The interaction of oxygen and nitrogen with the niobium (100) surface. I. Morphology

Abstract Low energy electron diffraction has been used to investigate the reactions between nitrogen and oxygen and the (100) face of niobium. Several different oxygen containing surface structures were observed.
Oceanic Effects on Earth's Rotation Rate

Changes in the mass distribution of water in Earth9s oceans in turn leads to variations in its angular momentum. In his Perspective, Wilson discusses results presented in the same issue by Marcus et al . in which techniques of radio astronomy were used to measure changes in Earth9s angular momentum. The variations were observed by measuring changes in the length of day, and therefore Earth9s rotation rate. Measurements such as these may serve as an indicator of oceanic behavior, much as other indices are used to keep track of atmospheric climate.
Modulation of Sox10, HIF-1α, Survivin, and YAP by Minocycline in the Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Handicaps following Hypoxic Insult

Premature infants are at an increased risk of developing cognitive and motor handicaps due to chronic hypoxia. Although the current therapies have reduced the incidence of these handicaps, untoward side effects abound. Using a murine model of sublethal hypoxia, we demonstrated reduction in several transcription factors that modulate expression of genes known to be involved in several neural functions. We demonstrate the induction of these genes by minocycline, a tetracycline antibiotic with noncanonical functions, in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Specifically, there was induction of genes, including Sox10 , Hif1a , Hif2a , Birc5 , Yap1 , Epo , Bdnf , Notch1 (cleaved), Pcna , Mag , Mobp , Plp1 , synapsin, Adgra2 , Pecam1 , and reduction in activation of caspase 3, all known to affect proliferation, apoptosis, synaptic transmission, and nerve transmission. Minocycline treatment of mouse pups reared under sublethal hypoxic conditions resulted in improvement in open field testing parameters. These studies demonstrate beneficial effects of minocycline treatment following hypoxic insult, document up-regulation of several genes associated with improved cognitive function, and support the possibility of minocycline as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of neurodevelopmental handicaps observed in the very premature newborn population. Additionally, these studies may aid in further interpretation of the effects of minocycline in the treatment trials and animal model studies of fragile X syndrome and multiple sclerosis.
Induction of Drosophila eye development by decapentaplegic

The Drosophila decapentaplegic (dpp) gene, encoding a secreted protein of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, controls proliferation and patterning in diverse tissues, including the eye imaginal disc. Pattern formation in this tissue is initiated at the posterior edge and moves anteriorly as a wave; the front of this wave is called the morphogenetic furrow (MF). Dpp is required for proliferation and initiation of pattern formation at the posterior edge of the eye disc. It has also been suggested that Dpp is the principal mediator of Hedgehog function in driving progression of the MF across the disc. In this paper, ectopic Dpp expression is shown to be sufficient to induce a duplicated eye disc with normal shape, MF progression, neuronal cluster formation and direction of axon outgrowth. Induction of ectopic eye development occurs preferentially along the anterior margin of the eye disc. Ectopic Dpp clones situated away from the margins induce neither proliferation nor patterning. The Dpp signalling pathway is shown to be under tight transcriptional and post-transcriptional control within different spatial domains in the developing eye disc. In addition, Dpp positively controls its own expression and suppresses wingless transcription. In contrast to the wing disc, Dpp does not appear to be the principal mediator of Hedgehog function in the eye.
Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma: A report of six cases

Pulmonary artery tumors are rare and a frequently overlooked cause of pulmonary artery occlusion. The presentation is one of progressive pulmonary dysfunction and right ventricular failure. The diagnosis seldom is made preoperatively. We report 6 cases of primary sarcoma of the pulmonary artery identified at operation, which were treated surgically. Resection with or without adjuvant therapy currently offers the only chance for survival. Emphasis must be placed on earlier identification of these tumors.
SIMMOS: A Multiple-Delay Switch-Level Simulator

SIMMOS is a multiple-delay logic simulator for MOS VLSI circuits based on the switch-level model. In addition to finding the ternary logic state at each node, SIMMOS estimates the time delay required for that state to become valid. The delay calculation method, based on the theory of RC trees, is introduced as a natural extension of the dominant-path algorithm used for node state evaluation. Multi-level simulation in SIMMOS is achieved by using special models for gate-level primitives, and the ability to drive, and be driven by an RTL simulation environment. For test-pattern grading, SIMMOS uses a probabilistic fault analysis algorithm, modified to operate on bidirectional as well as gate-level models.
Methed-Up FOXOs Can't In-Akt-ivate

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Yamagata et al. (2008) identify a role for the protein methyltransferase, PRMT1, in Akt-dependent regulation of the FOXO1 transcription factor and demonstrate another level of control in this critical metabolic and cell survival signaling pathway.
Effect of Sample and Incident Beam Areas on Quantitative Spectroscopy

Quantitative spectroscopy is based upon the Bouguer-Lambert-Beer law, often referred to as Beer's law, which is expressed as: A = log(I0/I) = abc (1) where A is the absorbance, I0 is the background intensity, I is the intensity measured with the sample present, a is the absorptivity, b is the sample thickness, and c is the sample concentration.
Physiological studies on fibrin network structure.

Abstract Networks were developed in fibrinogen solution under pathophysiological conditions of clotting and their permeability and turbidity were measured. Mass-Length ratio of fibrin fibres (a measure of fibre thickness) was derived from two independent methods based on turbidity (μT) and permeability (μP ). Both μT and μP increased as thrombin concentration was decreased. Data arePn agreement with the concept that the fibrin network develops initially as a mesh of protofibrils. Fibrin monomer generated subsequently is incorporated into the existing network making individual fibres thicker. Consequently, slow fibrin monomer generation promotes thicker fibres. When the concentration of thrombin or fibrinogen was altered systematically, μT and μP were found to mirror each other except when the fibrinogen concentration Rvas increased at low thrombin concentrations. This breakdown between the two derivations of mass-length ratio is discussed in terms of the two network model.
What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic

Lively and highly readable, What Made Pistachio Nuts? examines what Henry Jenkins calls the anarchistic tradition of American film comedy. Anarchistic comedies of the 1930s mock the social order and celebrate the creativity and impulsiveness of their protagonists in a form of clowning that ultimately reestablishes the status quo. Jenkins focuses on well-known films such as the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup and W.C. Fields' It's a Gift, as well as all-but-forgotten works like Diplomaniacs,Hollywood Party, So Long Lefty, and others. He tracks the careers of the comic stars -Eddie Cantor, Winnie LIghtner, W.C. Fields, Charlotte Greenwood, the Marx Brothers, and Wheeler and Woolsey- as they moved from vaudeville and the New York reviews to Hollywood.
Feasibility of diffuse optical imaging with long-lived luminescent probes

Long-lived near-infrared phosphors with high quantum yields have recently become available, making it possible to image oxygen distributions in tissue in three dimensions. By numerical simulations we demonstrate that, by using phosphorescent probes with appropriate oxygen quenching constants, one can image hypoxic phantoms in scattering media with adequate spatial resolution, employing simple time-gated measurements. The approach developed will guide experimental imaging of phosphorescence lifetime and oxygen pressure in living tissue.
Kinetic models of a binary alloy at zero temperature

We study theoretically two types of kinetic models of a binary alloy at zero temperature. In the phase separation model, a nearest-neighbor interchange can occur if the fraction of AB bonds (where A and B denote distinct species of atoms in a binary alloy) is thereby decreased. The crystallization model is defined by the opposite evolution rule. We examine these models in one dimension and obtain exact analytical results for the densities of domain walls, defects, and for a number of other correlators. Nonergodic zero-temperature dynamics leads to final states strongly dependent on initial conditions. For generalized models, in which nearest-neighbor interchange is also performed if the portion of AB bonds is not changed, a very rich kinetic behavior is observed.