cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modulation of Atmospheric Rivers near Alaska and the U.S. West Coast by Northeast Pacific Height Anomalies

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) can cause wide-ranging impacts upon landfall at high northern latitudes, but comparatively little is known about the dynamics supporting these ARs in contrast to their mid-latitude counterparts. Here ARs near the U.S. West Coast and the Gulf of Alaska during 1979–2015 are compared. ARs are found to occur in both regions with similar frequency, but with different seasonality. Composited atmospheric conditions from the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) dataset reveal that a broad height anomaly over the northeast Pacific is influential to AR activity in both regions. When a positive height anomaly exists over the northeast Pacific, AR activity is often deflected poleward toward Alaska, while the U.S. West Coast experiences a decrease in AR activity. The opposing relationship also applies, that is, AR activity is decreased near Alaska and increased along the U.S. West Coast in the presence of a negative height anomaly. Quantitatively, nearly 79% of Gulf of Alaska ARs are associated with a positive northeast Pacific height anomaly and 86% of U.S. West Coast ARs are associated with a negative anomaly. Results suggest that this relationship applies across a range of time scales, to include subseasonal and interannual, not just with respect to individual transient waves. Both ARs and height anomalies are found to be associated with Rossby wave breaking, thereby dynamically linking AR activity with broader North Pacific dynamics.
Targeting Microtubules in Leishmania using a Combined Computational & Experimental Approach

Previous work has shown that targeting microtubules in protozoan parasites has the potential to be an effective therapeutic strategy against diseases caused by these microorganisms, such as Leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness, and Chagas Disease. Preliminary studies demonstrate that tubulin from these parasites exhibits distinct binding properties compared to tubulin from mammalian species. In particular, the well-known tubulin binding drug colchicine is 10,000 times more potent against human cell lines than Leishmania cultures in assays measuring GI50.
Effects of Sudden Commencement on the Ionosphere: PFISR Observations and Global MHD Simulation

Sudden commencement (SC) induced by solar wind pressure enhancement can produce significant global impact on the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) system, and its effects have been studied extensively using ground magnetometers and coherent scatter radars. However, very limited observations have been reported about the effects of SC on the ionospheric plasma. Here we report detailed Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) observations of the ionospheric response to SC during the 17 March 2015 storm. PFISR observed lifting of the F region ionosphere, transient field-aligned ion upflow, prompt but short-lived ion temperature increase, subsequent F region density decrease, and persistent electron temperature increase. A global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation has been carried out to characterize the SC-induced current, convection, and magnetic perturbations. Simulated magnetic perturbations at Poker Flat show a satisfactory agreement with observations. The simulation provides a global context for linking localized PFISR observations to large-scale dynamic processes in the MI system.
Clinical trial results of a HER2/neu peptide (E75) vaccine in preventing recurrence in node positive breast cancer patients

1416 Introduction: The E75 peptide is an immunogenic CTL epitope from the HER2/neu protein that is overexpressed in breast cancer (BrCa). We are conducting clinical trials in node-positive (NP) BrCa patients to test the ability of E75 to prevent breast cancer recurrence. Methods: 34 NP BrCa patients with HER2/neu expressing tumors have been enrolled (14 HLA-A2+ vaccinated and 20 HLA-A2- controls). The first 9 patients were vaccinated with E75 monthly x 6 with 3 dose escalation groups (100, 500, 1000ug) to determine the optimal biological dose (OBD). HLA-A2:Ig dimers loaded with E75 were used with CD8 antibodies to stain peripheral blood cells for the detection of E75 specific CD8 T-cells (E75+CD8) by flow cytometry. DTH to E75 was determined at completion. Clinical recurrences was documented. Results: Only 3 patients experienced Grade II toxicity, but 2 patients did not complete the series by choice. Prior to vaccination, E75+CD8 were detected in 6/12 patients ranging from 0.72-2.36%; the rest had Conclusions: The E75 vaccine strategy is safe and effective in eliciting an immune response against the E75 epitope of the HER2/neu protein in BrCa patients. In high risk breast cancer patients, the E75 vaccine may prevent and/or prolong time to recurrence.
Exploiting fission chain reaction dynamics to image fissile materials

Abstract Radiation imaging is one potential method to verify nuclear weapons dismantlement. We present a method to discriminate between non-multiplying and multiplying neutron sources using a neutron coded aperture imaging system. This method applies time-correlated pulse-height (TCPH) analysis to identify neutrons in fission chain reactions and recreate images using only these events. This analysis was applied to measurements of weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) metal and 252Cf performed at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Device Assembly Facility in July 2015. The results demonstrate it is possible to eliminate the non-fissile 252Cf source from the image while preserving the fissile WGPu source. TCPH analysis was also applied to additional scenes in which the WGPu and 252Cf sources were measured individually. The results of these separate measurements further demonstrate the ability to remove the non-fissile 252Cf source and retain the fissile WGPu source. Simulations performed using MCNPX-PoliMi indicate that in a one hour measurement, hollow WGPu spheres are retained at a 1 σ level for neutron multiplications M ≃ 2 . 7 and above. This work has potential application to dismantlement verification where it may be valuable to verify that all neutron sources in an image are multiplying.
Spectroscopic studies of the cytochrome P450 reaction mechanisms.

The cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are thiolate heme proteins that can, often under physiological conditions, catalyze many distinct oxidative transformations on a wide variety of molecules, including relatively simple alkanes or fatty acids, as well as more complex compounds such as steroids and exogenous pollutants. They perform such impressive chemistry utilizing a sophisticated catalytic cycle that involves a series of consecutive chemical transformations of heme prosthetic group. Each of these steps provides a unique spectral signature that reflects changes in oxidation or spin states, deformation of the porphyrin ring or alteration of dioxygen moieties. For a long time, the focus of cytochrome P450 research was to understand the underlying reaction mechanism of each enzymatic step, with the biggest challenge being identification and characterization of the powerful oxidizing intermediates. Spectroscopic methods, such as electronic absorption (UV-Vis), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), Mossbauer, X-ray absorption (XAS), and resonance Raman (rR), have been useful tools in providing multifaceted and detailed mechanistic insights into the biophysics and biochemistry of these fascinating enzymes. The combination of spectroscopic techniques with novel approaches, such as cryoreduction and Nanodisc technology, allowed for generation, trapping and characterizing long sought transient intermediates, a task that has been difficult to achieve using other methods. Results obtained from the UV-Vis, rR and EPR spectroscopies are the main focus of this review, while the remaining spectroscopic techniques are briefly summarized. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by Erika Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.
Predictors of cross-clamp-induced intraoperative monitoring changes during carotid endarterectomy using both electroencephalography and somatosensory evoked potentials

Abstract Objective The efficacy of selective shunting during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) using intraoperative monitoring (IOM) for detection of cerebral ischemia is well established. There is mounting evidence that monitoring of both electroencephalography (EEG) and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) increases the sensitivity of cerebral ischemia detection. Predictors of cerebral ischemia requiring selective shunt placement using IOM of both EEG and SSEPs have not been previously identified. Methods Consecutive patients who underwent CEA between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2010, were retrospectively analyzed. Primary end points were IOM changes at any time during the operation or IOM changes with carotid cross-clamping. Risk factors assessed included demographics; baseline comorbidities; severity of ipsilateral and contralateral disease; symptomatic status; and use of statin, antiplatelet, and beta-blocker medications. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used for analysis. Results During the 11-year study period, a total of 758 patients underwent 804 CEAs (mean age, 70.6 ± 9.5 years; 59.8% male; 39.2% symptomatic) using IOM of both SSEPs and EEG for selective shunting guidance. Postoperative stroke rate was 1.37%; 27.1% of patients had significant SSEP or EEG changes, and 49.1% of these were clamp induced (within 5 minutes of cross-clamping). Of these patients, 83.2% received a shunt (11.4% overall). The most common reason that a shunt was not placed after cross-clamp-induced changes was that the changes resolved with further blood pressure elevation (8 of 17 patients). Clamp-induced IOM changes were predictive of postoperative stroke (odds ratio [OR], 5.5; P = .005). Risk factors for clamp-induced IOM changes were contralateral carotid occlusion (OR, 2.5; P = .01), symptomatic stenosis (OR, 1.8; P = .006), and diabetes (OR, 1.6; P = .03), whereas there was a trend toward increased risk with female sex (OR, 1.5; P = .08). Risk factors for any IOM change (clamp and nonclamp induced) were symptomatic carotid stenosis (OR, 1.8; P P = .03), and female sex (OR, 1.5; P = .02). Conclusions Whereas some patients can be expected to experience IOM changes by monitoring of SSEPs and EEG, a much smaller percentage will receive a shunt. Contralateral carotid occlusion, symptomatic stenosis, diabetes, and female sex increase the risk of clamp-induced IOM changes and should be anticipated to need a shunt. Patients receiving beta blockers are likely to experience IOM changes during the operation that are not associated with clamping.
Mindfulness for Adolescents in Counseling, Behavioral Health, and Medical Settings

Many adolescents experience personal challenges involving medical and behavioral health concerns including substance abuse and addictions. Treatment for these challenges occurs in outpatient and inpatient settings through personal, group, and family counseling. Mindfulness-based interventions are often offered as an aspect of treatment in these settings and the number of these interventions has steadily increased. Thus, this chapter examines the research about opportunities and benefits derived from mindfulness-based interventions for adolescents in these diverse settings. A case example illustrates the application of a mindfulness-based program for adolescents in a behavioral health setting.
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and Newly Described Hantaviruses in the United States

In May, 1993, an outbreak of an acute undifferentiated febrile illness, followed by rapid development of respiratory failure, shock, and, in many cases, death, was identified in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1993). Specimens from the patients were tested for a wide variety of agents at the University of New Mexico (UNM), the state health departments of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In early June, the first evidence of the cause of illness was found. Detection of IgG and IgM antibodies to several hantaviruses by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) suggested that the illness was caused by a serologically cross-reactive hantavirus. Within a few days, other laboratory and epidemiologic information confirmed the preliminary results. Antigen was detected in endothelial cells of lungs and other organs by immunohistochemistry, using a broadly reactive hantavirus nucleoprotein monoclonal antibody (Zaki et al., 1995). Nichol and colleagues (Nichol et al., 1993), using nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), independently confirmed the serologic results by detecting hanta-virus genetic sequences in patient tissues. Furthermore, the sequence was unique and represented a new hantavirus most closely related to Prospect Hill virus, a North American hantavirus not known to cause human disease. Like previously discovered hantaviruses, this newly recognized virus was found to be carried by rodents, and the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) was incriminated (Childs et al., 1994). This rodent species had the highest antibody prevalence among animals tested, and RT-PCR products from rodents captured at case households were identical or closely related to those from the human patients. The concurrence of antibody and virus RNA detection in nearly all (96%) of the deer mice tested by both techniques suggested a chronic infection of this host, leading to the conclusion that P. maniculatus was the primary reservoir of this newly recognized hantavirus.
Neural coding of fine-grained object knowledge in perirhinal cortex

Over 40 years of research has examined the role of the ventral visual stream in transforming retinal inputs into high-level representations of object identity. However, there remains an ongoing debate over the role of the ventral stream in coding abstract semantic content, which relies on stored knowledge, versus perceptual content that relies only on retinal inputs. A major difficulty in adjudicating between these mechanisms is that the semantic similarity of objects is often highly confounded with their perceptual similarity (e.g., animate things are more perceptually similar to other animate things than to inanimate things). To address this problem, we developed a paradigm that exploits the statistical regularities of object colors while perfectly controlling for perceptual shape information, allowing us to dissociate lower-level perceptual features (i.e., color perception) from higher-level semantic knowledge (i.e., color meaning). Using multivoxel-pattern analyses of fMRI data, we observed a striking double dissociation between the processing of color information at a perceptual and at a semantic level along the posterior to anterior axis of the ventral visual pathway. Specifically, we found that the visual association region V4 assigned similar representations to objects with similar colors, regardless of object category. In contrast, perirhinal cortex, at the apex of the ventral visual stream, assigned similar representations to semantically similar objects, even when this was in opposition to their perceptual similarity. These findings suggest that perirhinal cortex untangles the representational space of lower-level perceptual features and organizes visual objects according to their semantic interpretations.
Pheochromocytoma/Paraganglioma: Update on Diagnosis and Management

After more than a century since they were described, pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PHEOs/PGLs) still pose great diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Recent discoveries and progress in the understanding of molecular and metabolic changes associated with tumorigenesis allowed us to get closer to deciphering the secrets of these tumors. New knowledge allows us to develop novel diagnostic methods and identify specific treatment targets to improve the care of PHEO/PGL patients.
Diseases Caused by Spirochetes

Microorganisms in the order Spirochaetales form a group with similar morphological properties. The order is divided into the family Spirochaetaceae, which includes seven genera. Three genera, Treponema , Borrelia, and Leptospira contain infectious agents that cause human disease. These include the diseases known as syphilis, Yaws, Bejel, Pinta, Lyme, and Relapsing Fever.
A taxonomic foundation for evidence-based research on employee performance management

ABSTRACTThis study presents a taxonomic foundation for research on employee performance management practices based on a comprehensive review of the literature (198 articles and book chapters). The taxonomy consists of 50 practices organized within seven topic categories, including an evaluation of the amount of research evidence supporting each practice. This taxonomic foundation facilitates the aggregation, integration, interpretation, and explanation of performance management research based on a role-theoretic perspective derived from the behavioural approach to strategic human resource management. The proposed direct-linkage path model shows how this taxonomic foundation ties performance management practices to behaviours and results. We build on this Practice – Behaviour – Results (PBR) critical path model with moderators and mediators based on cognitive and social factors identified in the extensive previous research. This PBR model provides a foundation for orderly and structured growth for future r...
Mechanical endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke: An indirect treatment comparison between Solitaire and Penumbra thrombectomy devices.

Background Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared mechanical endovascular therapy (MET) in addition to intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IVtPA) to IVtPA alone for the management of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Direct comparative studies between individual METs are not available. In lieu of head-to-head randomized control trials, we performed an adjusted indirect treatment comparison (ITC) meta-analysis to assess the comparative efficacy and safety of different METs, Solitaire+IVtPA and Penumbra+IVtPA in AIS patients. Methods and findings We searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Embase from January 1, 2005 through April 1, 2017 for RCTs in AIS patients, comparing a single MET+IVtPA to IVtPA alone and reporting shift in ordinal modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 90 days. Secondary endpoints included 90 day mortality and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). Endpoints were pooled using traditional random effects meta-analysis methods, producing odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Adjusted ITCs using pooled estimates were then performed. Three studies (SWIFT PRIME, EXTEND-IA, THERAPY) were included; two evaluating the Solitaire stent retriever and one the Penumbra system. Traditional meta-analysis demonstrated that each MET+IVtPA resulted in increased odds of improving ordinal mRS score vs. IVtPA alone, but did not alter the odds of death or sICH. Adjusted ITC showed no significant difference between the METs for any outcome. Conclusion No significant difference in efficacy or safety between the Solitaire and Penumbra devices was observed.
Gonadal steroid enhancement of facial nerve regeneration: role of heat shock protein 70.

Over the past decade, our laboratory has been investigating the now well-established neurotrophic capabilities of gonadal steroids in the context of peripheral nerve injury and repair. The focus of our work has been on the hamster facial motoneuron (FMN) system (Kujawa & Jones, 1995), although we have recently begun to explore two additional motoneuron injury paradigms, the rat sciatic and hamster rubrospinal systems (Kujawa et al., 1993). In this brief review, we will discuss the effects of androgens and estrogens on the regenerative properties and the molecular programming of injured hamster FMN. This will be followed by a discussion of the effects of androgens on the glial response to injury in the facial nucleus. Finally, a working model of the mechanism by which gonadal steroids enhance neuronal reparative processes will be advanced. Our proposed mechanism involves a neuroprotective role for gonadal steroids, in that we hypothesize that exposure to these agents at the time of injury reduces the need for the injured neuron to mount a classical “stress response” involving the production of heat shock protein 70. Finally, a series of future directions for our work will be presented.
Chateaubriand’s War

Immediately upon Montmorency’s return to Paris, November 30, the contest between him and Villele was joined. The Paris ambassadors’ conference, meanwhile, pressed the French cabinet to concert with the eastern courts, a policy opposed by some of the ultra-Royalist journals which emphasized the imperative duty of France to declare war on Spain.2 The Quotidienne, which expressed the views of Joseph Francois Michaud, the historian and publicist, was as hostile to the Alliance as to the premier. The indecisive and temporizing policy of the Congress of Verona, it declared, would never triumph at Paris, for war was inevitable. The Drapeau blanc, the organ of Alphonse Dieudonne Martainville and Felicite Robert de Lamennais, then an ultramontane priest, also urged an independent, national posture, a position close to that of Chateaubriand. Martainville attacked the vacillation of the ministry and called upon France to take up arms, not against Spain, but for Spain. It was not sufficient just to overthrow the Spanish revolution, for it still remained to reestablish in Europe a social order based on the union of political principles with religious faith.3 On this point, the Drapeau blanc critized the Alliance, alleging that it had been founded upon a fallacy. Lamennais inquired: What is the Christianity on which the Holy Alliance rests? The reunion of several sects which have neither the same faith nor the same leader. Therefore, either the Holy Alliance has no base, or it supposes that all sects profess Christianity equally. In the first case, there is no alliance at all; in the second, it rests on indifference to all religions.4
Memory awareness disruptions in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: comparison of multiple awareness types for verbal and visuospatial material

Successful memory is normally accompanied by explicit awareness of retrieval and confidence in the accuracy of the retrieval product. Prior findings suggest that these features of metamemory can be...
PMDC: Programmable Mobile Device Clouds for Convenient and Efficient Service Provisioning

Modern mobile devices feature ever increasing computational, sensory, and network resources, which can be shared to execute tasks on behalf of nearby devices. Mobile device clouds (MDCs) facilitate such distributed execution by exposing the collective resources of a set of nearby mobile devices through a unified programming interface. However, the true potential of MDCs remains untapped, as they fail to provide practical programming support for developers to execute distributed functionalities. To address this problem, we introduce a microservice-based Programmable MDC architecture (PMDC), highly customized for the unique features of MDC environments. PMDC conveniently provisions functionalities as microservices, which are deployed on MDC devices on demand. PMDC features a novel domain specific language that provides abstractions for concisely expressing fine-grained control over the procedures of device capability sharing and microservice execution. Furthermore, PMDC introduces a new system component—the microservice gateway, which reconciles the supply of available device capabilities and the demand for microservice execution to distribute microservices within an MDC. Our evaluation shows that MDCs, expressed by developers through the PMDC declarative programming interface, exhibit low energy consumption and high performance.
Gendered Differences in Letters of Recommendation for Transplant Surgery Fellowship Applicants.

Background No published study has explored gender differences in letters of recommendation for applicants entering surgical subspecialty fellowships. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of letters of recommendation to a transplant surgery fellowship written for residents finishing general surgery residency programs. A dictionary of communal and agentic terms was used to explore differences of the letters based on applicant's gender as well as the academic rank and gender of the author. Results Of the 311 reviewed letters, 228 were letters of recommendation written for male applicants. Male surgeons wrote 92.4% of the letters. Male applicant letters were significantly more likely to contain agentic terms such as superb, intelligent, and exceptional (p = 0.00086). Additionally, male applicant letters were significantly more likely to contain “future leader” (p = 0.047). Letters written by full professors, division chiefs, and program directors were significantly more likely to describe female applicants using communal terms like compassionate, calm, and delightful (p = 0.0301, p = 0.036, p = 0.036, respectively). In letters written by assistant professors, female letters of recommendation had significantly more references to family (p = 0.036). Conclusions Gendered differences exist in letters of recommendation for surgical fellowship applicants. This research may provide insight into the inherent gender bias that is revealed in letters supporting candidates entering the field.
Anticipating trade-offs between urban patterns and ecosystem service production: Scenario analyses of sprawl alternatives for a rapidly urbanizing region

Abstract Expanding demand for low-density development has restructured the urban-rural frontier throughout North America, shifting the burden of ecosystem provisioning to increasingly fragmented green infrastructure remnants. Planners have responded with approaches to control low-density development (‘sprawl’) that dominates North American exurbia. However, the ability of sprawl alternatives to preserve ecosystem services have not been systematically evaluated. Using a novel integration of land change simulation and ecosystem services modeling, we used proxies to estimate changes in water quality, climate regulation and biodiversity, and returns to landowners associated with sprawl alternatives and business-as-usual trends for the rapidly urbanizing Charlotte (NC) region by 2030. We found no single growth scenario simultaneously reduced pollution, stored additional carbon, and retained sensitive habitat, underscoring trade-offs likely encountered when balancing development and environmental outcomes. Watersheds at the extremes of the urban-rural gradient exhibited significantly different and often opposing responses to policies aimed at reducing environmental impacts. Scenarios of increased land use density yielded stronger financial returns to landowners as concentrated economic activity drove up land rents while minimizing broader pollution costs. Our simulated landscape approach overcame limitations associated with scale and data, and projected regional environmental outcomes emerging from local development events.
No Cell Left Unturned: Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm Heterogeneity

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is a pancreatic cancer precursor lesion with established genetic features, but the cellular ecosystem of these tumors remains to be fully characterized. This study utilizes single-cell RNA sequencing to describe the dynamic landscape of epithelial, immune, and stromal cells during IPMN progression to invasive cancer. See related article by Bernard et al., p. 2194
Abstract P2057: Oscar 2 & Spacelabs 90207/90217 Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors Differ from Each Other & Trained Clinicians Using a Mercury Column in the Laboratory

Background & Purpose: Our Dual Monitor Protocol with postural challenges in normotensives (n=15), hypertensives (n=14) and alcohol-dependents (n=11) revealed that an auscultatory ambulatory blood p...
Perioperative Glucocorticoid Therapy for Patients with Adrenal Insufficiency: Dosing Based on Pharmacokinetic Data

BACKGROUND Perioperative glucocorticoid therapy for patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) is currently based on anecdotal reports, without supporting pharmacokinetic data. METHODS We determined the half-life, clearance, and volume of distribution of 2 consecutive intravenously (IV)-administered doses of hydrocortisone (15 or 25 mg every 6 hours) to 22 dexamethasone-suppressed healthy individuals and used the data to develop a novel protocol to treat 68 patients with AI who required surgical procedures. Patients received 20 mg of hydrocortisone orally 2 to 4 hours before intubation and were started on 25 mg of IV hydrocortisone every 6 hours for 24 hours and 15 mg every 6 hours during the second day. Nadir cortisol concentrations were repeatedly measured during that period. RESULTS In healthy individuals, cortisol half-life was longer when the higher hydrocortisone dose was administered (2.02 ± 0.15 vs 1.81 ± 0.11 hours; P < 0.01), and in patients with AI, the half-life was longer than in healthy individuals given the same hydrocortisone dose. In both populations, the cortisol half-life increased further with the second hormone injection. Prolongation of cortisol half-life was due to decreased hydrocortisone clearance and an increase in its volume of distribution. Nadir cortisol levels determined throughout the 48 postoperative hours were within the range of values and often exceeded those observed perioperatively in patients without adrenal dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS Cortisol pharmacokinetics are altered in the postoperative period and indicate that lower doses of hydrocortisone can be safely administered to patients with AI undergoing major surgery. The findings of this investigation call into question the current practice of administering excessive glucocorticoid supplementation during stress.
Chapter 4 – Fundamentals of Orbit Determination

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the fundamentals of orbit determination. This improvement in orbit determination accuracy was motivated by the ever increasing demands of scientists in the oceanographic and geodetic communities. In particular, the need for centimeter-level accuracy in global ocean topography obtained from altimetric satellites spurred extensive and unprecedented model improvements during the past two decades. The chapter describes the role of the measurement model in introducing nonlinearity to the process. In the general orbit determination problem, both the dynamics and the measurements involve significant nonlinear relationships. It illustrates the role of the estimation process in improving the force and measurement models as an integral step in the process.
Analyses of Backward Erosion Progression Rates from Small-Scale Flume Experiments

AbstractBackward erosion piping is a leading cause of levee failures, second only to overtopping, and is therefore of great concern to engineers involved in flood control. Backward erosion piping r...
Advance Care Planning: Promoting Effective and Aligned Communication in the Elderly (ACP-PEACE): the study protocol for a pragmatic stepped-wedge trial of older patients with cancer.

Introduction Advance care planning (ACP) is associated with improved health outcomes for patients with cancer, and its absence is associated with unfavourable outcomes for patients and their caregivers. However, older adults do not complete ACP at expected rates due to patient and clinician barriers. We present the original design, methods and rationale for a trial aimed at improving ACP for older patients with advanced cancer and the modified protocol in response to changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and analysis The Advance Care Planning: Promoting Effective and Aligned Communication in the Elderly study is a pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial examining a Comprehensive ACP Program. The programme combines two complementary evidence-based interventions: clinician communication skills training (VitalTalk) and patient video decision aids (ACP Decisions). We will implement the programme at 36 oncology clinics across three unique US health systems. Our primary outcome is the proportion of eligible patients with ACP documentation completed in the electronic health record. Our secondary outcomes include resuscitation preferences, palliative care consultations, death, hospice use and final cancer-directed therapy. From a subset of our patient population, we will collect surveys and video-based declarations of goals and preferences. We estimate 11 000 patients from the three sites will be enrolled in the study. Ethics and dissemination Regulatory and ethical aspects of this trial include Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval via single IRB of record mechanism at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Data Use Agreements among partners and a Data Safety and Monitoring Board. We plan to present findings at national meetings and publish the results. Trial registration number NCT03609177; Pre-results.
Electronic & Mechanical Development of a Multi-platform Infrared LED Scene Projector System

Infrared scene projectors (IRSP) are critical laboratory tools used for setup, calibration, and testing of infrared imaging systems. This paper highlights a multi-platform solution for handling higher resolutions, faster frame rates; and creating a modular and scalable hardware architecture to drive current and future systems.
Advances in ANCA-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis.

In 2020 a number of clinical trials have provided insights into therapeutic approaches for the treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis and lupus nephritis. Moreover, mechanistic insights have potential to open new therapeutic strategies in the future.
Active and Dynamic Beam Tracking UnderStochastic Mobility.

We consider the problem of active and sequential beam tracking at mmWave frequencies and above. We focus on the dynamic scenario of a UAV to UAV communications where we formulate the problem to be equivalent to tracking an optimal beamforming vector along the line-of-sight path. In this setting, the resulting beam ideally points in the direction of the angle of arrival with sufficiently high resolution. Existing solutions account for predictable movements or small random movements using filtering strategies or by accounting for predictable mobility but must resort to re-estimation protocols when tracking fails due to unpredictable movements. We propose an algorithm for active learning of the AoA through evolving a Bayesian posterior probability belief which is utilized for a sequential selection of beamforming vectors. We propose an adaptive pilot allocation strategy based on a trade-off of mutual information versus spectral efficiency. Numerically, we analyze the performance of our proposed algorithm and demonstrate significant improvements over existing strategies.
Maternal histone variants and their chaperones promote paternal genome activation and boost somatic cell reprogramming

The mammalian egg employs a wide spectrum of epigenome modification machinery to reprogram the sperm nucleus shortly after fertilization. This event is required for transcriptional activation of the paternal/zygotic genome and progression through cleavage divisions. Reprogramming of paternal nuclei requires replacement of sperm protamines with canonical and non-canonical histones, covalent modification of histone tails, and chemical modification of DNA (notably oxidative demethylation of methylated cytosines). In this essay we highlight the role maternal histone variants play during developmental reprogramming following fertilization. We discuss how reduced maternal histone variant incorporation in somatic nuclear transfer experiments may explain the reduced viability of resulting embryos and how knowledge of repressive and activating maternal factors may be used to improve somatic cell reprogramming.
eOS - the dawn of the resource economy

Summary form only given. We believe that achieving the benefits of a resource economy, which supports the execution of services wherever and whenever is most convenient, cost-effective, and trustworthy, represents the next big computer systems research opportunity. That is, the emphasis in the operating research community should move away from extracting a few more percentage points of speed from individual computing resources, and focus instead on how to size, provision, and manage those resources to serve the needs of a rapidly diversifying set of services. HP Laboratories are embarking on a major endeavor to pursue this, and are actively seeking research partners to collaborate with us.
How to Perform Impossible Rhythms

[1.1] As an ex-mathematician, I do not use the word “impossible” lightly. When a mathematician says that something is impossible, it means the thing involves some inherent logical contradiction. Adding two even numbers and getting an odd number, for example, is impossible, no matter how much one practices one’s addition. This paper, accordingly, is not about rhythms that are merely very difficult, as might be encountered in the music of Elliott Carter or Brian Ferneyhough. Rather, it is about rhythms with the curious property that, no matter how faultless a performer’s mental metronome and digital dexterity may be, it is logically, mathematically, absolutely impossible to play exactly what the composer wrote. (1)
Episode III: Enjoy Poverty: An Aesthetic Virus of Political Discomfort

This article considers Renzo Martens's controversial 2008 film, Episode III (Enjoy Poverty). Martens's film is a conceptual film that satirizes documentaries about poverty in Africa by exposing the ways in which consumers of poverty images enjoy such images. It argues that the film, which creates troubling identifications and disidentifications for a Western spectator, offers a politically productive lesson on the power of discomfort to disrupt unethical image practices. Communication studies scholars have engaged in these conversations via studies about identification and disidentification and the documentary genre; affect in cinematic media; and more directly, through work that investigates the perils of cookie-cutter frames for representing (racialized) poverty.
Risk Shifting and Reliability in Labor Markets

This paper analyzes the allocation of risk which is associated with variations in the value of aggregate output in a context of differences in worker and firm attitudes to risk. The analysis emphasizes two factors—limited firm risk-absorbing capacity and worker unreliability—which make it infeasible for risk-neutral firms to relieve risk-averse workers of all risk. The main ideas are that the limitation on current wage payments imposed by the value of current output implies that firms generally cannot guarantee their workers a stable consumption stream and that firms generally earn rents in their risk-absorbing role. In addition, differences among workers in their reputation for reliability, which relate to their behavior when the value of output is high, produce differences in the terms at which they can obtain consumption when the value of output is low. Specifically, workers of unproven reliability obtain less consumption in bad states of nature and, unless they plan to be unreliable, have lower current expected utility than workers of proven reliability. Those workers who earn reputations for reliability tend to be those who are relatively more risk averse and those who belong to groups which have a relatively good record for reliability.
Functional requirements for information resource provenance on the web

HTTP transactions have semantics that can be interpreted in many ways. At a low level, a physical stream of bits is transmitted from server to client. Higher up, those bits resolve into a message with a specific bit pattern. More abstractly, information, regardless of the physical representation, has been transferred. While the mechanisms associated with these abstractions, such as content negotiation, are well established, the semantics behind these abstractions are not. We extend the library science resource model Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Resources (FRBR) with cryptographic message and content digests to create a Functional Requirements for Information Resources (FRIR) ontology that is integrated with the W3C Provenance Ontology (PROV-O) to model HTTP transactions in a way that clarifies the many relationships between a given URL and all representations received from its request. Use of this model provides fine-grained provenance explanations that are complementary to existing explanations of web resources. Furthermore, we provide a formal explanation of the relationship between HTTP URLs and their representations that conforms with the existing World Wide Web architecture. This establishes the semiotic relationships between different information abstractions, their symbols, and the things they represent.
Feedback to know, to show, or both? A profile approach to the feedback process

Abstract Learners seek feedback on their performance with varying motives. Using a latent profile analysis, we identified three subpopulations of college students with distinct patterns of feedback motives – instrumental isolated, undifferentiated, and instrumental enhancement. These groups differed in achievement goals, regulatory focus, and feedback orientation (Study 1, N = 563). In Study 2 (N = 294), we replicated the three profile groups and linked them to feedback-seeking behaviors. The instrumental enhancement profile group most frequently sought feedback across types of behaviors (monitoring, inquiry) and sources (peers, instructors). We discuss the implications of our findings for feedback research and practice involving learners in various contexts.
Collapsibility and consistency in quantified constraint satisfaction

The concept of consistency has pervaded studies of the constraint satisfiction problem. We introduce two concepts, which are inspired by consistency, for the more general framework of the quantified constraint satisfaction problem (QCSP). We use these concepts to derive, in a uniform fashion, proofs of polynomial-time tractability and corresponding algorithms for certain cases of the QCSP where the types of allowed relations are restricted. We not only unify existing tractability results and algorithms, but also identify new classes of tractable QCSPs.
Folate Transport Proteins Mediate the Bidirectional Transport of 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate in Cultured Human Proximal Tubule Cells

Although reabsorption across the apical (AP) membrane of the renal proximal tubule cell plays a vital role in the conservation of plasma 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, basolateral (BL) membrane-directed secretory pathways may also be important in regulating the urinary excretion of folate. Folate transport proteins, folate receptor and the reduced folate carrier have been implicated in the renal conservation of folate across the AP membrane, but their role in BL membrane-directed folate transport has not been studied. 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate transport across the AP and BL membranes of human proximal tubule cells was studied in cells grown on membrane inserts to allow optimum differentiation of AP and BL domains. Colchicine, an inhibitor of vesicular-mediated endocytosis, inhibited AP binding and AP-directed transport without affecting BL transport. Probenecid, an inhibitor of anion exchange, did not affect binding, but inhibited both AP and BL-directed transport with a greater effect on BL transport. Folic acid abolished AP binding of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, but diminished AP-mediated transport by only 50%. These data suggest that both the folate receptor and the reduced folate carrier participate in AP uptake of folates by human kidney cells, but that BL-mediated uptake occurs primarily by the reduced folate carrier. Folate transport from the secretory direction occurred as readily as that from the reabsorptive direction, indicating that altered secretion could mediate excess urinary folate excretion.
Fluorine Passivation in Gate Stacks of Poly- $\hbox{Si}/\hbox{TaN}/\hbox{HfO}_{2}$ (and $\hbox{HfSiON}/\hbox{HfO}_{2})/\hbox{Si}$ Through Gate Ion Implantation

Fluorine passivation in poly-Si/TaN/HfO2/p-Si and poly-Si/TaN/HfSiON/HfO2/p-Si gate stacks with varying TaN thickness through gate ion implantation has been studied. It has been found that when TaN thickness was less than 15 nm, mobility and subthreshold swing improved significantly in HfO2 nMOSFETs; while there was little performance improvement in HfSiON/HfO2 nMOSFETs due to the blocking of F atoms by the HfSiON layer in gate dielectrics, as has been proved by the electron energy loss spectroscopy mapping
Polynuclear copper(II) complexes with oxygen bridges: The relationship betweeen magnetic properties and structure

Abstract The structures of two copper(II) complexes of the general formula CuL (where L represents the dianion of H3CC(O)CH2C(CH3)N(CH2)nOH) have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The compound with n = 2, abbreviated Cu(EIA), crystallizes as tetragonal crystalls (a = b = 14.46 A, c = 7.63 A) of space group P421c with two tetramers per unit cell (ϱobsd = 1.70; ϱcalcd = 1.71 g/cm3; the compound with n = 3, abbreviated Cu(PIA), crystallizes as monoclinic crystals (a = 5.98 A, b = 10.97 A, c = 14.42 A, and β = 106.75°) of space group P21/c, with two dimers per unit cell (ϱobsd = 1.61; ϱcalcd = 1.61 g/cm3). Both structures were solved from Patterson and electron density maps and refined by least-squares methods to conventional R values of 8.9% and 10.0% for Cu(EIA) and Cu(PIA), respectively. The two structures differ in the coordination about the bridging oxygens — in Cu(EIA) the oxygen is tetrahedrally coordinated and in Cu(PIA) the three — coordinate oxygen is planar. The fourth outer orbital of the planar oxygen and the dxz, dyz orbitals of copper can overlap to form a delocalized π-system; the pairing of electrons in delocalized π-orbitals is suggested as an explanation of the singlet ground state observed for most oxygen-bridged copper(II) complexes.
Evolution and new advances in Doppler lidar for atmospheric studies

Doppler lidar continues to advance as a useful method for remote sensing of atmospheric winds. Applications from mobile and ship-based platforms have demonstrated the impact of coherent lidar observations for studying the structure of the stable and marine boundary layers. Airborne deployments enable observations over extended areas, and were used to measure water vapor transport over the US Great Plains. Recently, smaller coherent lidars operating at 1.6 μm have become commercially available. A new direct detection lidar currently will enable airborne observations in aerosol-sparse atmospheric regions. Efforts to extend Doppler lidar to space are underway in Europe, with a Doppler lidar winds mission planned for late 2010.
The embeddedness of Japanese HRM practices: The case of recruiting

Abstract This paper examines Japanese recruiting practices to illustrate how Japanese personnel practices are embedded in the social structure and norms of Japan. It approaches embeddedness from two angles. First, it argues that Japanese recruiting practices have been slow to adapt to the dramatically changing job market of the 1990s, because these practices have been embedded in social structures that have been slow to change. Second, it argues that the social structure underlying these practices is so firmly rooted that even powerful foreign firms have had no success in bringing about change, but have been forced to conform to Japanese practices.