cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Existence Proof of a Nonconfining Phase in Four-Dimensional U(1) Lattice Gauge Theory

A rigorous lower bound is obtained for the Wilson loop expectation value $〈A[C]〉$ in the four-dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theory with an action of the Villain form. The bound, which holds for ${g}^{2}l0.168$, has the form of a Coulomb interaction and guarantees that electric charges are not confined. Using the strong-coupling results of Osterwalder and Seiler, one concludes that this model has at least one phase transition. Using the work of Elitzur, Pearson, and Shigemitsu, one also concludes that the four-dimensional Villain $Z(N)$ lattice gauge theory has at least three phases if $Ng37$. Finally, it is also shown that the infinite-volume limit of $〈A[C]〉$ exists.
Adaptive balanced computing (ABC) microprocessor using reconfigurable functional caches (RFCs)

A general-purpose computing processor performs a wide range of functions. Although the performance of general-purpose processors has been steadily increasing, certain software technologies like multimedia and digital signal processing applications demand ever more computing power. If the computing resources are variable to the needs of an application, a better performance can be achieved. Adaptive Balanced Computing (ABC) performs a dynamic resource configuration of on-chip cache memory by converting the cache into a specialized computing unit. With a small amount of additional logic and slightly modified microarchitecture, a part of the cache memory can be configured to perform specialized computations in a conventional processor. In this paper, we evaluate the ABC using RFCs in various cache organizations to see the impact of resource reconfiguration. The simulations with multimedia and DSP applications show that the resource configuration speedups ranging from 1.04X to 3.94X in overall applications and from 2.61X to 27.4X in the core computations.
Neurofeedback Practitioner Factors Related to Client Adherence

Introduction. This study systematically identified, extracted, and organized neurofeedback (NFB) practitioner factors connected to client adherence. It is important to understand this connection because increased adherence leads to improved NFB outcomes. A previous NFB conceptual framework and previous NFB client adherence findings were used to guide the current study. Method. One hundred and ninety-eight NFB practitioners completed online surveys gathering demographic information and ratings of practice behaviors and characteristics. For data set analyses, this study utilized SPSS version 20 for descriptive statistics, frequencies, means, standard deviations, ranges, Pearson product-moment correlation analyses, and independent samples t -tests. Results. Findings indicated that the following significantly correlated with client adherence: (a) practitioner technical and interpersonal techniques; (b) practitioner commitment to improving technical and interpersonal skills; and (c) practitioner confidence displayed during sessions. Results also indicated commitment correlated separately with techniques and confidence. These results suggested that practitioners engaging in self-NFB sessions reported significantly higher adherence rates compared to practitioners not engaging in self-NFB sessions. Findings demonstrated that practitioners conducting ≧ 40 monthly NFB sessions reported significantly higher adherence rates compared to practitioners conducting < 40 monthly NFB sessions. Conclusion. This study concluded that practitioners with commitment to improving their technical and interpersonal expertise leads to increased confidence during NFB sessions, ultimately improving adherence and outcome rates. When averaging 40 or more NFB sessions with clients per month, practitioners provide themselves with continued opportunities to practice current and new technical and interpersonal skills. By conducting self-NFB, practitioners develop their own descriptions of physiological regulation and share their own results with clients, which in turn builds rapport and increases therapeutic bonds leading to higher adherence.
Consumer response to retailer use of cause-related marketing: Is more fit better?

Abstract Although marketers increasingly rely upon cause-related marketing strategies to increase sales, controversy exists regarding whether a retailer should partner with causes offering high or low fit levels with its core business practices. The present investigation extends prior research by examining how retailer–cause fit affects consumer evaluations of retailers’ cause-related marketing strategies. The results indicate that the effects of retailer–cause fit are moderated by consumer perceptions of the retailer's motive for engaging in cause-related marketing (Study 1), by the affinity that consumers hold for the social cause component of the campaign (Study 2), as well as by the interactive effects associated with the two moderators (Study 3).
Neuroendocrine mechanisms of immune dysregulation: applications to allergy and asthma

Objective To review the current information and hypotheses related to the underlying mechanisms that link psychological stress and asthma activity via a neuroimmune network dysfunction that may manifest as increased morbidity of immune diseases, such as asthma. Data Sources Literature searches of MEDLINE for published human and animal studies and review articles published in English-language periodicals. Keywords searched included individual and various combinations of psychoneuroimmunology , neuroimmune, neuroimmunology, stress, immunity, allergy , asthma, and inflammation . Both review articles and specific hypothesis-driven articles that focused on immune effects of stress were included. Manuscripts that focused on animal studies were excluded from this review. Study Selection Representative studies that reflect the consensus of the field based on the expert opinion of the author. Results This article demonstrates the established relationships between the neuroendocrine and immune systems and the impact of both acute and chronic psychological stress on neuroendocrine and immune network function. The adverse impact of stress appears to occur more on immune dysregulation rather than immune suppression. Conclusion Psychological stress, allergy and asthma morbidity, and allergy and asthma incidence are all steadily increasing in our society. Establishing a firm relationship can provide a possible new therapeutic direction for evaluation and management of difficult-to-treat patients and possible prophylactic strategies in susceptible populations.
Good Dalits and Bad Brahmins Melodramatic Realism in Dalit Short Stories

This article examines the literary strategies that shape contemporary Dalit fictional prose in Hindi. Based on the analysis of two short stories by the prolific Dalit writers Omprakash Valmiki and ...
Laser-produced carbon plasma evolution and lifecycle

Laser produced plasmas (LPPs) have been the focus of extensive basic research which have led to a diverse range of applications in many domains including extreme ultraviolet lithography, cellular microsurgery, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, nanocluster and nanotube production, laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) etc. [1,2]. Studies of LPPs have been necessary to understand the physical and chemical processes associated with the ablation of a target material and the hydrodynamic target response to the intense heating induced by nanosecond and femtosecond lasers. While numerous materials have been studied using various laser beams, carbon has received particular attention due to its applications in fullerene production, deposition of diamond-like thin films, and choice for the design of plasma facing components in magnetic and inertial fusion reactors. However, though much effort has been expended to characterize carbon plasmas with laser ablation through the investigation of emission spectra, a thorough understanding of the entire cycle of carbon produced plasmas is lacking.
Mucosal addressin expression and binding‐interactions with naive lymphocytes vary among the cranial, oral, and nasal‐associated lymphoid tissues

The head and neck lymph nodes (LN)--or cranial, oral, and nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (CONALT)--help disseminate activated lymphocytes to produce salivary immune responses, especially after intranasal immunization. To elucidate the mechanisms that induce immunity at these sites, we investigated the interactions between addressins and homing-receptors that allow for lymphocyte binding to high endothelial venules (HEV) of CONALT. In vivo lymphocyte trafficking to CONALT was mediated primarily through interactions between peripheral node addressin (PNAd) and L-selectin, whereas interactions between mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) and alpha 4 beta 7 played a role in retention in cervical LN (CLN). Upon immunofluorescent staining for PNAd and MAdCAM-1, nearly all HEV in CONALT expressed PNAd, with varying MAdCAM-1 expression among these LN. The parotid gland LN (PRLN) and submaxillary gland LN (SMLN) rely exclusively upon PNAd-L-selectin interactions for naive-lymphocyte binding, whereas the CLN utilize PNAd-L-selectin interactions and MAdCAM-1-alpha 4 beta 7 interactions for binding. Intense staining of non-HEV-expressed vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) was observed in PRLN, whereas SMLN and CLN displayed less VCAM-1 but showed intense staining for diffuse MAdCAM-1. This study suggests that though PNAd-L-selectin interactions play an important role in the trafficking of lymphocytes throughout CONALT, varying MAdCAM-1 and VCAM-1 addressin expression and usage impart important differences among the PRLN, SMLN, and CLN.
The Reliability of Algometry in the Assessment of Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome

SUMMARYObjectives: The purpose of this review is to document the utility and reliability of quantitative body tenderness examination in fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS] by two methods: digital pressure tender point index [TPI], and average pain threshold [APT] by algometry.Findings: Body tenderness in people with musculoskeletal pain has been recognized for over 500 years. Current criteria for the diagnosis of FMS are based on chronic widespread pain and pain induced by digital palpation at 11 or more of 18 anatomically defined tender point [TP] sites. The relative reliabilities of TPI and APT as measures of severity have been confirmed. Inter-rater and intra-rater, test-retest reliability assessments for paired examinations have shown that both APT and TPI were highly reliable but that APT has been marginally superior. Some self-report measures of FMS subjects, such as visual analog scales [for pain, insomnia, headache, stiffness] and several questionnaires [for disability, anxiety, depression] correlate with...
Individual Factors Influencing Medical Conditions

This chapter is concerned with actual medical conditions that are significantly influenced by psychological, behavioral, and/or environmental factors. Psychological factors that contribute to medical conditions include personality variables such as negative stress appraisal styles or excessive worrying. Contributing maladaptive behaviors or coping strategies can include smoking, overeating, or working excessively. Environmental factors (e.g., job stress and divorce) are typically unrelated to individuals, yet can interact with their physiology, behaviors, and personality type. Medical conditions that are mediated by individual and environmental factors include (but are not limited to) cardiovascular disorders, gastritis, headache, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, cancer, diabetes, and skin problems. Unlike somatoform disorders for which no physical cause can be detected, these disorders present themselves as real medical problems which have been caused or exacerbated by individual and environmental factors.
Latent Space Tracking from Heterogeneous Data with an Application for Anomaly Detection

Streaming heterogeneous information is ubiquitous in the era of Big Data, which provides versatile perspectives for more comprehensive understanding of behaviors of an underlying system/process. Human analysis of these volumes is infeasible, leading to unprecedented demands for mathematical tools which effectively parse and distill such data. However, the complicated nature of streaming heterogeneous data prevents the conventional multivariate data analysis methods being applied immediately. In this paper, we propose a novel framework together with an online algorithm, denoted as \(\mathtt {LSTH}\), for latent space tracking from heterogeneous data. Our method leverages the advantages of dimension reduction, correlation analysis and sparse learning to better reveal the latent relations among heterogeneous information and adapt to slow variations in streaming data. We applied our method on both synthetic and real data, and it achieves results competitive with or superior to the state-of-the-art in detecting several different types of anomalies.
The Cellular Basis of Hepatic Fibrosis -- Mechanisms and Treatment Strategies

Hepatic fibrosis is a common response to chronic liver injury from many causes, including alcohol, persistent viral and helminthic infections, and hereditary metal overload. Emerging evidence suggests that cellular mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis are shared among these different insults and, moreover, that the liver's response is a paradigm for parenchymal wound healing in other tissues. Advances in the isolation and characterization of liver cells, in conjunction with progress in matrix and cytokine biology, have led to important new insights about the cellular basis of hepatic fibrosis. In particular, the hepatic lipocyte (also known as the stellate, fat-storing, perisinusoidal, or Ito . . .
GENOTYPE-BY-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS FOR FITNESS OF ERIGERON ANNUUS SHOW FINE-SCALE SELECTIVE HETEROGENEITY.

The results of natural selection depend critically on whether variation in fitness is finegrained or coarse-grained with respect to dispersal, but little is known of the spatial scale of fitness variation in natural populations. For most evolutionary questions, environmental heterogeneity must be defined by reversals in the relative fitness of genotypes; absolute fitness may vary, but if genotypes respond in parallel then selection is uniform. Thus, measurements of genotype-by-environment (G × E) interactions for fitness are necessary to understand patterns of variation in natural selection.
[Esters of alpha-hydroxy-beta-phenyl aliphatic acids that attract female yellow-fever mosquitoes].

An attiactant for the yellow-fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.), is needed for its detection. In our screening of chemicals, several chlorohydrins and α-hydroxy esters showed significant attraction for unfed nongravid female mosquitoes.
Predicting local road crashes using socioeconomic and land cover data

ABSTRACTEstimating and applying safety performance functions (SPFs), or models for predicting expected crash counts, for roads under local jurisdiction is often challenging due to the lack of vehicle count data to be used for exposure, which is a critical variable in such functions. This article describes estimation of SPFs for local road intersections and segments in Connecticut using socioeconomic and network topological data instead of traffic counts as exposure. SPFs are developed at the traffic analysis zone (TAZ) level, where the TAZs are categorized into six homogeneous clusters based on land-cover intensities and population density. SPFs were estimated for each cluster to predict the number of intersection and segment crashes occurring in each TAZ. The number of intersections and the total local roadway length were also used as exposure in the intersection and segment SPFs, respectively. One aggregate SPF using the entire data set was also estimated to compare with the individual cluster SPFs. Ten...
Study on Survival Status and Will of Peasant Workers in City—Taking Fanyu District in Guangzhou City as A Case

Randomly selecting 600 peasant workers from Fanyu District in Guangzhou Province as questionnaire investigation objects,it was found that the survival status of peasant workers is not optimistic,such as housing,employment and welfare.
Analyses on Nanning Railway hepatitis B infection in health professionals et 2008-2009

Objective To understand the health of employees in Nanning Railway hepatitis B infection,control the hepatitis B distribution of characteristics in the population.Methods 2008-2009 Nanning Railway Center for Disease Control and Prevention health practitioners,using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection of hepatitis B virus antigen,for statistical analysis of examination.Results The results of physical examination in 2008-2009 total of 11063 people,there are 686 people have been detected infected with hepatitis B,males 349,females 337.The total infection rate of hepatitis B 5.43%～6.63%,and males 6.22%～7.97%,female 4.91%～5.56%.The rate of hepatitis B infection in 2008 women less than men,the difference was statistically significant;in 2009 the total infection rate of hepatitis B less than in 2008,and the male-significant differences were statistically significant.Conclusion Nanning Railway employees in the health of hepatitis B infection rates decline.
Rethinking the Numerate Citizen: Quantitative Literacy and Public Issues – Reply

Does a citizen need to possess quantitative literacy in order to make responsible decisions on behalf of the public good? If so, how much is enough? This paper presents an analysis of the quantitative claims made on behalf of ballot measures in order to better delineate the role of quantitative literacy for the citizen. I argue that this role is surprisingly limited due to the contextualized nature of quantitative claims that are encountered outside of a school setting. Instead, rational dependence, or the reasoned dependence on the knowledge of others, is proposed as an educational goal that can supplement quantitative literacy and, in so doing, provide a more realistic plan for informed evaluations of quantitative claims.
Evaluation of microscopic hematuria and risk of urologic cancer in female patients.

Background Urologic cancer has a lower prevalence in women compared with men; however, there are no differences in the recommended evaluation for women and men with microscopic hematuria. Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that are associated with urologic cancer in women with microscopic hematuria and to determine the applicability of a hematuria risk score for women. Study Design We conducted a retrospective cohort study within an integrated healthcare system in Southern California. All urinalyses with microscopic hematuria (>3 red blood cells per high-power field) that were performed from 2009–2015 were identified. Women who were referred for urologic evaluation were entered into a prospective database. Clinical and demographic variables that included the presence of gross hematuria in the preceding 6 months were recorded. The cause of the hematuria, benign or malignant, was entered into the database. Cancer rates were compared with the use of chi-square and logistic regression models. Adjusted risk ratios of urologic cancer were estimated with the use of multivariate regression analysis. We also explored the applicability of a previously developed, gender nonspecific, hematuria risk score in this female cohort. Results A total of 2,705,696 urinalyses were performed in women during the study period, of which 552,119 revealed microscopic hematuria. Of these, 14,539 women were referred for urologic evaluation; clinical data for 3573 women were entered into the database. The overall rate of urologic cancer was 1.3% (47/3573). In women P P 60 years old (odds ratio, 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.6–5.9), a history of smoking (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.8–5.9), and a history of gross hematuria in the previous 6 months (odds ratio, 6.2; 95% confidence interval, 3.4–11.5) were associated with urologic cancers. A higher microscopic hematuria risk score was associated with an increased risk of cancer in this test cohort ( P Conclusions In this female population, >60 years old and a history of smoking and/or gross hematuria were the strongest predictors of urologic cancer. Absent these risk factors, the rate of urologic cancer did not exceed 0.6%. A higher hematuria risk score correlated significantly with the risk of urologic cancer in this female test cohort.
Characterization of a small-animal high-purity germanium SPECT system

Attempts have been made to use segmented planar germanium detectors for nuclear medicine imaging since the early 1970's, but have been hindered by difficulties with detector fabrication, cumbersome electronics, and limited computing power, in addition to the need for a bulky liquid nitrogen dewar to achieve required operating temperatures. Advances in electronics in addition to compact mechanical cooling systems have made high-purity germanium (HPGe) systems appealing for biomedical applications. We are developing a small-animal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system based on an HPGe double-sided strip detector that is 90 mm in diameter, 10 mm thick, and comprised of two sets of 16 orthogonal strips that are each 4.75 mm wide with a 5 mm strip pitch. The detector's energy resolution is <;1% FWHM at 140 keV, and the spatial resolution is approximately 1.5 mm FWHM. The system is equipped with a single-pinhole collimator with a 1mm diameter and a 70-degree opening angle with a focal length variable between 4.5 and 9 cm. Preliminary phantom images from a bench-top HPGe SPECT system and from an integrated HPGe-SPECT-CT system are shown.
A Method to Reduce Electrode Erosion in a Magnetically Driven Rotating Arc

One or a few current carrying cables are located along the axis outside the concentric arc electrodes. These cables produce a tangential magnetic field in the interelectrode gap, which has different directions at different azimuthal angles. Interaction of this field with the radial arc current causes the arc column to oscillate and slowly drift in axial direction, thus spreading the thermal and erosion load of the electrodes.
Response sensitivity of material and geometric nonlinear force‐based Timoshenko frame elements

Summary Response sensitivity is an essential component to understanding the complexity of material and geometric nonlinear finite element formulations of structural response. The direct differentiation method (DDM), a versatile approach to computing response sensitivity, requires differentiation of the equations that govern the state determination of an element and it produces accurate and efficient results. The DDM is applied to a force-based element formulation that utilizes curvature-shear-based displacement interpolation (CSBDI) in its state determination for material and geometric nonlinearity in the basic system of the element. The response sensitivity equations are verified against finite difference computations, and a detailed example shows the effect of parameters that control flexure–shear interaction for a stress resultant plasticity model. The developed equations make the CSBDI force-based element available for gradient-based applications such as reliability and optimization where efficient computation of response sensitivities is necessary for convergence of gradient-based search algorithms. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Influence of uniaxial single-ion anisotropy on the magnetic and thermal properties of Heisenberg antiferromagnets within unified molecular field theory

The influence of uniaxial single-ion anisotropy -DSz^2 on the magnetic and thermal properties of Heisenberg antiferromagnets (AFMs) is investigated. The uniaxial anisotropy is treated exactly and the Heisenberg interactions are treated within unified molecular field theory (MFT) [Phys. Rev. B 91, 064427 (1915)], where thermodynamic variables are expressed in terms of directly measurable parameters. The properties of collinear AFMs with ordering along the z axis (D > 0) in applied fields Hz = 0 are calculated versus D and temperature T. The high-field average magnetization per spin muz(Hz,D,T) is found, and the critical field Hc(D,T) is derived at which the second-order AFM to PM phase transition occurs. The magnetic properties of the spin-flop (SF) phase are calculated, including the zero-field properties TN(D) and mu(D,T). The high-field muz(Hz,D,T) is determined, together with the associated spin-flop field HSF(D,T) at which a second-order SF to PM phase transition occurs. The free energies of the AFM, SF and PM phases are derived from which Hz-T phase diagrams are constructed. For a certain combination of parameters we find a topologically distinct phase diagram where a spin-flop bubble occurs at finite Hz and T. Also calculated are properties arising from a perpendicular magnetic field. In addition to the above results for D > 0, some properties with D < 0 are determined. In order to compare the properties of the above spin systems with those of noninteracting systems with DSz^2 uniaxial anisotropy with either sign of D, an Appendix is included in which results for the thermal and magnetic properties of such noninteracting spin systems are provided.
A hands-on approach to operating systems through simulation projects

It is effective for Operating Systems (OS) courses at universities to use programming projects that support deeper learning of OS topics with the goal of not being unreasonably time intensive. Using a set of simulator projects, we present an alternative course model to textbook learning or the use of so-called OS training systems. The simulation is based on higher level input data that serves as a set of instructions for the students' simulation systems. Students program an OS simulator that runs using what we call "meta data instructions" to simulate common actions of an operating system. By the end of the course, the students' programs simulate a simple operating system capable of moderately complex computer tasks. The proposed course model emphasizes student design and implementation of OS concepts, applied data structures, and also includes a component requiring student peer review of each other's code. The purpose of this paper is to determine peer feedback on the simulation model for improvement and implementation in university OS course education.
The temporal basis of angiogenesis.

The process of new blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) is highly dynamic, involving complex coordination of multiple cell types. Though the process must carefully unfold over time to generate functi ...
Determination of the asymptotic D- to S-state ratio for 3He via (d

Angular distributions of the tensor analyzing powers {ital A}{sub {ital yy}} and {ital A}{sub {ital zz}} have been measured for the ground-state transition in the {sup 93}Nb({ital {rvec d}},{sup 3}He){sup 92}Zr reaction at {ital E}{sub {ital d}}=12 MeV, and of {ital A}{sub {ital zz}} for the ground-state transitions in {sup 63}Cu({ital {rvec d}},{sup 3}He){sup 62}Ni at {ital E}{sub {ital d}}=8 MeV and {sup 89}Y({ital {rvec d}},{sup 3}He){sup 88}Sr at {ital E}{sub {ital d}}=10.5 MeV. The data are compared with predictions of full finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA) calculations from which the asymptotic {ital D}- to {ital S}-state ratio, {eta}, for {sup 3}He is extracted to be {minus}0.0386{plus_minus}0.0045{plus_minus}0.0012. The difficulties with a choice of deuteron tensor optical potentials used in the DWBA calculations are discussed.
Indoor Radon in Micro-geological Setting of an Indigenous Community in Canada: A Pilot Study for Hazard Identification

Background: Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. In Canada, the health authorities have no access to comprehensive profile of the communities built over uranium-rich micro-geological settings. The present indoor radon monitoring guideline is unable to provide an accurate identification of health hazards due to discounting several parameters of housing characteristics. Objective: To explore indoor radon levels in a micro-geological setting known for high uranium in bedrock and to develop a theoretical model for a revised radon testing protocol. Methods: We surveyed a remote Inuit community in Labrador, located in the midst of uranium belt. We selected 25 houses by convenience sampling and placed electret-ion-chamber radon monitoring devices in the lowest levels of the house (basement/crawl space). The standard radon study questionnaire developed and used by Health Canada was used. Results: 7 (28%) houses had radon levels above the guideline value (range 249 to 574 Bq/m 3 ). Housing characteristics, such as floors, sump holes, ventilation, and heating systems were suspected for high indoor radon levels and health consequences. Conclusion: There is a possibility of the existence of high-risk community in a low-risk region. The regional and provincial health authorities would be benefited by consulting geologists to identify potentially high-risk communities across the country. Placing testing devices in the lowest levels provides more accurate assessment of indoor radon level. The proposed protocol, based on synchronized testing of radon (at the lowest level of houses and in rooms of normal occupancy) and thorough inspection of the houses will be a more effective lung cancer prevention strategy.
Urban environment: a risk factor for canine immune-mediated disease?

Objectives To investigate whether dogs living in urban areas are more likely to develop immune-mediated disease than those in rural areas. Materials and Methods A case–control study comparing the prevalence of urban home location between dogs with immune-mediated disease and matched controls. Dogs diagnosed with immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia, immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, immune-mediated polyarthritis or meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin were identified by case record searches. Breed-matched dogs presenting to the same hospital during the same year as cases were randomly selected as controls. Home locations were classified as rural or urban using the population density of the relevant census tract and conditional logistic regression was used to examine association between home location and immune-mediated disease. Results In the 137 cases and 137 breed-matched controls, the odds ratio for any immune-mediated disease for dogs living in urban (versus rural) areas was 0·94 (95% confidence interval 0·58 to 1·55, P=0·80). Odds ratios for development of immune-mediated haematological diseases, immune-mediated polyarthritis or meningoencephalomyelitis of unknown origin were also not significantly different from the null value. Multivariable analysis including age, gender and season of presentation did not suggest confounding of effect of home location by these additional variables. Clinical Significance This study does not support an association between urban environment and immune-mediated disease in dogs.
Conjugates of Cell Adhesion Peptides for Therapeutics and Diagnostics Against Cancer and Autoimmune Diseases

Overexpressed cell-surface receptors are hallmarks of many disease states and are often used as markers for targeting diseased cells over healthy counterparts. Cell adhesion peptides, which are often derived from interacting regions of these receptor-ligand proteins, mimic surfaces of intact proteins and, thus, have been studied as targeting agents for various payloads to certain cell targets for cancers and autoimmune diseases. Because many cytotoxic agents in the free form are often harmful to healthy cells, the use of cell adhesion peptides in targeting their delivery to diseased cells has been studied to potentially reduce required effective doses and associated harmful side-effects. In this review, multiple cell adhesion peptides from extracellular matrix and ICAM proteins were used to selectively direct drug payloads, signal-inhibitor peptides, and diagnostic molecules, to diseased cells over normal counterparts. RGD constructs have been used to improve the selectivity and efficacy of diagnostic and drug-peptide conjugates against cancer cells. From this precedent, novel conjugates of antigenic and cell adhesion peptides, called bifunctional peptide inhibitors (BPIs), have been designed to selectively regulate immune cells and suppress harmful inflammatory responses in autoimmune diseases. Similar peptide conjugations with imaging agents have delivered promising diagnostic methods in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis. BPIs have also been shown to generate immune tolerance and suppress autoimmune diseases in animal models of type-1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Collectively, these studies show the potential of cell adhesion peptides in improving the delivery of drugs and diagnostic agents to diseased cells in clinical settings.
Application of the Biosafety RAM and eProtocol Software Programs to Streamline Institutional Biosafety Committee Processes at the USDA-National Animal Disease Center

The National Animal Disease Center (NADC) conducts basic and applied research on endemic animal diseases of high priority that adversely affect US livestock production or trade. Experiments conduct...
Taking Stock: A Meta-Analysis of the Predictors of Restrictive Housing

Two competing views on the use of restrictive housing have emerged in the literature. The first position has argued that restrictive housing helps make correctional institutions safer and more secu...
Mechanisms — Changes Induced by Long-Term High-Dose Muscle Relaxant Administration

Over 95% of the literature describes the use of muscle relaxants in patients undergoing surgery even though doses, ranging from five to 100 times larger than that used in the operating room, are used in the ICU. These large doses far exceed those described in the package insert. Furthermore, these large doses are given to ICU patients who are frequently much sicker than those in the operating room. Yet, the literature is rather sparse regarding the use of muscle relaxants in the ICU.
Why do we need to regulate autophagy (and how can we do it)? A cartoon depiction

In a recent issue of this journal I attempted to explain the purpose of macroautophagy/autophagy to a non-specialist audience through the use of cartoons. In the present article, I am continuing this approach by considering the topic of autophagy regulation-why does the cell need to modulate the autophagic response, and what are the basic morphological mechanisms that can be used to attain different levels of autophagy activity?
A Phospholipase C-Like Protein From Ricinus communis Increases Hydroxy Fatty Acids Accumulation in Transgenic Seeds of Camelina sativa

There have been strong interests in producing unusual fatty acids in oilseed crops to provide renewable industrial feedstock. Results are so far largely disappointing since much lower amounts of such fatty acids accumulate in genetically engineered seeds than in their original natural sources. It has been suggested that the flux of unusual fatty acids through phosphatidylcholine (PC) represents a major bottleneck for high accumulation of such fatty acids in triacylglycerol (TAG). We show here that a phospholipase C-like protein (RcPLCL1) from castor bean, which accumulates nearly 90% of the hydroxylated ricinoleic acid in its seed TAG, increases the amount of hydroxy fatty acids (HFAs) when co-expresses with the fatty acid hydroxylase (RcFAH12) in transgenic seed of Camelina sativa. RcPLCL1 shows hydrolyzing activities on both PC and phosphatidylinositol substrates in our in vitro assay conditions. The PC-PLC activity of the RcPLCL1 may have increased the efficiency of HFA-PC to diacylglycerol conversion, which explains our observation of increased HFA contents in TAG concomitant with decreased HFA in the membrane lipid PC during seed development. Consequently, this may also alleviate the potential detrimental effect of HFA on germination of the engineered camelina seeds. Our results provide new knowledge that will help design effective strategies to engineer high levels of HFAs in transgenic oilseeds.
Polymer nanocomposites with improved mechanical and thermal properties by magnetically aligned carbon nanotubes

Abstract A procedure to successfully tether iron oxide nanoparticles to Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) in a water solution containing a sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate surfactant was developed. Through the application of a magnetic field, the SWNTs with tethered Fe2O3 particles could then be stretched and aligned in a parallel configuration within the fluid. The experimental results indicated that aligning the magnetically sensitive nanoparticle (Fe2O3) attached SWNTs in a polymer matrix under a magnetic field, may substantially improve the physical and mechanical properties of the composites. In this investigation, the mechanical and thermal properties of SWNTs/epoxy composites were investigated to determine the potential impact of the SWNT alignment. Neat epoxy composites were produced to serve as a baseline and the results compared with composites loaded with magnetically sensitive SWNTs with weight percentages of 1 wt% and 2 wt%, both with and without magnetic field alignment. The results indicate that the alignment has a significant effect on the mechanical properties, with 1 wt% loaded composites under a magnetic field exhibiting a 9.8% enhancement in tensile strength compared to 1 wt% loaded composites in the absence of the magnetic field. Similarly, 2 wt% loaded composites under a magnetic field demonstrated a 9.7% enhancement in tensile strength compared to 2 wt% loaded composites without the magnetic field. The thermal conductivity of 0.1 wt %, 0.2 wt %, 0.3 wt%, 0.4 wt% and 0.5 wt% loaded composites under a magnetic field were also evaluated and indicated a 35% increase over the baseline values. As a result, this new alignment methodology may provide significant opportunities by which varying tensile strength and thermal conductivity can be used in both research and industrial applications.
Trends in the Medical Complexity and Outcomes of Medicare-insured Patients Undergoing Kidney Transplant in the Years 1998-2014.

BACKGROUND Graft and patient survival following kidney transplant are improving. However, the drivers of this trend are unclear. To gain further insight, we set out to examine concurrent changes in pretransplant patient complexity, posttransplant survival, and cause-specific hospitalization. METHODS We identified 101 332 Medicare-insured patients who underwent their first kidney transplant in the United States between the years 1998 and 2014. We analyzed secular trends in (1) posttransplant patient and graft survival and (2) posttransplant hospitalization for cardiovascular disease, infection, and cancer using Cox models with year of kidney transplant as the primary exposure of interest. RESULTS Age, dialysis vintage, body mass index, and the prevalence of a number of baseline medical comorbidities increased during the study period. Despite these adverse changes in case mix, patient survival improved: the unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for death in 2014 (versus 1998) were 0.61 (confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.73) and 0.46 (CI, 0.39-0.55), respectively. For graft failure excluding death with a functioning graft, the unadjusted and multivariable adjusted subdistribution HRs in 2014 versus 1998 were 0.4 (CI, 0.25-0.55) and 0.45 (CI, 0.3-0.6), respectively. There was a marked decrease in hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease following transplant between 1998 and 2011, subdistribution HR 0.51 (CI, 0.43-0.6). Hospitalization for infection remained unchanged, while cancer hospitalization increased modestly. CONCLUSIONS Medicare-insured patients undergoing kidney transplant became increasingly medically complex between 1998 and 2014. Despite this, both patient and graft survival improved during this period. A marked decrease in serious cardiovascular events likely contributed to this positive trend.
High-Throughput Analysis of Gene Function in the Bacterial Predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus.

ABSTRACT Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a bacterial predator capable of killing and replicating inside most Gram-negative bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Despite growing interest in this organism as a potential therapeutic, many of its genes remain uncharacterized. Here, we perform a high-throughput genetic screen with B. bacteriovorus using transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) to explore the genetic requirements of predation. Two hundred one genes were deemed essential for growth in the absence of prey, whereas over 100 genes were found to be specifically required for predative growth on the human pathogens Vibrio cholerae and Escherichia coli in both planktonic and biofilm states. To further this work, we created an ordered-knockout library in B. bacteriovorus and developed new high-throughput techniques to characterize the mutants by their stage of deficiency in the predator life cycle. Using microscopy and flow cytometry, we confirmed 10 mutants defective in prey attachment and eight mutants defective in prey rounding. The majority of these genes are hypothetical and previously uncharacterized. Finally, we propose new nomenclature to group B. bacteriovorus mutants into classes based on their stage of predation defect. These results contribute to our basic understanding of bacterial predation and may be useful for harnessing B. bacteriovorus to kill harmful pathogens in the clinical setting. IMPORTANCEBdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a predatory bacterium that can kill a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including many human pathogens. Given the global rise of antibiotic resistance and dearth of new antibiotics discovered in the past 30 years, this predator has potential as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. For many years, B. bacteriovorus research was hampered by a lack of genetic tools, and the genetic mechanisms of predation have only recently begun to be established. Here, we comprehensively identify and characterize predator genes required for killing bacterial prey, as well as genes that interfere in this process, which may allow us to design better therapeutic predators. Based on our study, we and other researchers may ultimately be able to genetically engineer strains that have improved killing rates, target specific species of prey, or preferentially target prey in the planktonic or biofilm state.
Flap Structure-Specific Endonuclease 1 (FEN1) May be a Key Mediator of Genome Instability in Myeloma: A Cellular Vulnerability with Potential Therapeutic Significance

Abstract Multiple myeloma is associated with a marked genomic instability which leads to acquisition of mutational changes, some of which underlie disease progression including development of drug resistance and poor clinical outcome. Understanding mechanisms of genomic instability is, therefore, extremely important to develop novel improved therapeutic strategies. Since dysregulated nuclease activity can induce DNA breaks and genetic recombination eventually disrupting genomic integrity, we have evaluated nuclease activity and specific nucleases for their role in genomic instability in MM. We previously identified a nuclease gene signature correlating with genomic instability in a myeloma patient dataset and tested it for correlation with survival in two other datasets. We showed that expression of these genes associated with poor overall as well as event free survival in both datasets, IFM172 (P Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Full Wave Analysis for Estimating Wave Attenuation In a Random Volume of Metallic Wires Using Monte Carlo Simulation

This paper presents a model for electromagnetic waves propagating through a volume of metallic wires. These wires are assumed to be randomly distributed, perfectly conducting, and electrically large. The mean field propagating through such a medium resembles a field propagating through an effective homogeneous medium with complex permittivity and permeability. The mean field is calculated by coherently averaging the field scattered by many statistically relevant configurations of this random medium. The scattered field is calculated using the Method of Moments (MoM). The average scattered field is then compared to the field scattered by a homogeneous medium. The effective medium is defined as the medium for which the greatest amount of matching exists between the average scattered field and the effective medium scattered field. The propagation parameters of this effective medium are then given for a medium composed of half wavelength long wires occupying a varying volume fraction of the medium.
Percutaneous resection of metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Introduction Metastasis-directed therapy of small solitary foci of metastatic renal cell carcinoma has been associated with improved survival. Percutaneous resection of tumors in the upper tract urinary system has been widely used for treatment of localized urothelial carcinoma, however, its role in renal cell carcinoma has not been described. Herein, we present the first case of patient undergoing percutaneous resection of renal cell carcinoma in the contralateral renal pelvis. Materials and methods This is a case report describing the diagnosis, management and surgical approach to renal cell carcinoma recurrence in the contralateral renal pelvis. Results Our patient was a 75-year-old male with a history of renal cell carcinoma status post radical nephrectomy who developed a solitary 2 cm recurrence in the contralateral renal pelvis, which was found after he presented with gross hematuria. He underwent successful percutaneous resection of this recurrence with final pathology showing clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Conclusion We present the first case of renal cell carcinoma recurrence in the contralateral renal pelvis treated with percutaneous resection.
Structural Compression of Convolutional Neural Networks

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successful in many tasks in machine vision, however, millions of weights in the form of thousands of convolutional filters in CNNs makes them difficult for human intepretation or understanding in science. In this article, we introduce CAR, a greedy structural compression scheme to obtain smaller and more interpretable CNNs, while achieving close to original accuracy. The compression is based on pruning filters with the least contribution to the classification accuracy. We demonstrate the interpretability of CAR-compressed CNNs by showing that our algorithm prunes filters with visually redundant functionalities such as color filters. These compressed networks are easier to interpret because they retain the filter diversity of uncompressed networks with order of magnitude less filters. Finally, a variant of CAR is introduced to quantify the importance of each image category to each CNN filter. Specifically, the most and the least important class labels are shown to be meaningful interpretations of each filter.
Coupled-inductor Configurations for a High-gain, Interleaved, Hybrid Boost Converter

Interleaved boost converter has been widely used due to its current sharing characteristics and reduced input current ripple with reduced inductor size. To further improve the power density of the converter, coupled inductors are employed. This paper analyzes the operation of high gain switched capacitor interleaved boost converter with coupled inductor configuration. The coupled inductor configurations discussed are easy to implement with standard available cores. The converter is operated in Zone I, which corresponds to the highest gain and the converter possesses inherent current sharing among different phases. The coupled inductors are loosely coupled in order to keep the input as well as inductor current ripple low and to reduce the size keeping the efficiency same or more. The proposed integrated magnetics design is validated through a 2kW 4-phase hardware prototype. The net inductor volume, in case of coupled inductor with single core is reduced by 36% while the efficiency at rated power increases by 0.2% compared to non-coupled inductor configuration. Also, it is shown that the net inductor volume can be reduced upto 56% in case of coupled inductor with same results as compared to non-coupled inductors.