cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The AMPK-related Kinase HUNK: Potential Target for HER2-positive Breast Cancer

Purpose: Approximately 25% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancers. Although several targeted inhibitors to HER2 are approved for use in breast cancer, many patients either fail therapy or eventually become resistant to HER2 inhibitors. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms that allow breast cancer cells to overcome treatment and become resistance is of critical importance. Methods: We have characterized an AMPK-related protein kinase called Hormonally Upregulated Neu-associated Kinase (HUNK) as a potential target for primary HER2-positive breast cancer using breast cancer cell and HER2/neu-induced mouse mammary tumor models. We have also investigated whether inhibiting HUNK impairs in vivo tumor growth that is initiated by primary (HER2 inhibitor sensitive) and HER2 inhibitor resistant breast cancer cells. Results: We found that HUNK supports the survival of primary HER2/neu-positive breast and mammary tumor cells as well as that of HER2 inhibitor resistant breast cancer cells. Therefore, targeting HUNK in primary HER2-positive breast cancers as well as those that are resistant to the HER2 inhibitor trastuzumab, inhibits tumorigenesis. Conclusions: We conclude from our findings that targeting HUNK is a potential therapeutic strategy for primary and resistant HER2-positive breast cancers. ----------------------------------------- Cite this article as: Yeh ES, Hill EG. The AMPK-related Kinase HUNK: Potential Target for HER2-positive Breast Cancer. Int J Cancer Ther Oncol 2015; 3(4):3406. [This abstract was presented at the BIT’s 8 th Annual World Cancer Congress, which was held from May 15-17, 2015 in Beijing, China.]
Pseudomonas aeruginosa stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of and TLR5 association with the MUC1 cytoplasmic tail through EGFR activation

MUC1 is a membrane-tethered mucin expressed on the surface of epithelial and hematopoietic cells. Previous studies have established that MUC1 attenuates airway inflammation in response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) through suppression of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling. Here, we elucidate the mechanism through which the MUC1 cytoplasmic tail (CT) inhibits TLR5 signaling in response to Pa and its flagellin in primary normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells. NHBE and human and mouse macrophages were stimulated with Pa or flagellin and transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels in cell culture supernatants were measured by ELISA. NHBE cells were stimulated with Pa, flagellin, or TNF-α and MUC1-CT, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) levels were measured by immunoblotting. NHBE cells were stimulated with Pa and MUC1-CT/TLR5 and MUC1-CT/EGFR association were detected by co-immunoprecipitation. Stimulation of NHBE cells with Pa and flagellin each increased release of the EGFR ligand, TGF-α, from NHBE cells. Both stimuli also activated EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation in these same cells. By contrast, stimulation of NHBE cells with Pa failed to induce TNF-α release, whereas stimulation of human or mouse macrophages with Pa promoted TNF-α release. Stimulation of NHBE cells with recombinant TNF-α increased both MUC1 and EGFR protein levels, and stimulation of these cells with Pa enhanced MUC1-CT tyrosine phosphorylation and increased MUC1-CT/TLR5 and MUC1-CT/EGFR protein association, in an EGFR-dependent manner. These results indicate that in response to Pa or flagellin, EGFR associates with and tyrosine phosphorylates MUC1-CT in primary NHBE cells, leading to increased MUC1-CT association with TLR5. Based on prior studies in tumor cells, increased MUC1-CT/TLR5 association in NHBE cells is predicted to competitively inhibit Pa/flagellin-stimulated TLR5 activation, reduce TLR5-dependent cell signaling, and down-regulate airway inflammation. Given that MUC1 is a universal suppressor of TLR signaling, the results from this study suggest that abnormal interactions between MUC1 and EGFR or TLRs may lead to the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. Thus, this is an important finding from the clinical point of view.
Further Development of the Cast Pin Tear Test for Evaluating Solidification Cracking in Ni-Base Alloys

A modification of the original Cast Pin Tear Test (CPTT) developed by Hull in the 1970s is being used to quantify weld solidification cracking in Ni-base alloys, including both precipitation-strengthened “superalloys” and solid-solution strengthened alloys. This test uses a copper hearth and mold system to produce cast pins of different length. By changing the cast pin length, the thermal strain during solidification of the pin can be altered. Solidification cracking susceptibility is determined by the degree of cracking on the surface of the pin. As restraint level (pin length) increases, 360-degree circumferential cracking is observed and, eventually, complete pin separation occurs. The advantage of this test is that sample preparation is quite easy and only a few hundred grams of material are required to develop a complete cracking susceptibility curve for a given alloy or filler metal. Alloy additions can be made to the melted button in the hearth, allowing alloy development studies to be readily conducted. The CPTT has been applied to study the effect of dilution on the solidification cracking susceptibility of a new chromium-free welding consumable. In addition, the cracking susceptibility of a number of high-chromium Ni-base filler metals for use in nuclear power plant applications has been quantified and compared. The solidification behavior in these alloys has been studied utilizing the technique for Single Sensor Differential Thermal Analysis (SS DTA) and a button melting technique that closely reproduces the solidification in gas-tungsten arc welds.
Positive end-expiratory pressure potentiates the severity of canine right ventricular ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) increases right ventricular (RV) afterload and oxygen demands. However, whether increased RV oxygen demands with high levels of PEEP can potentiate the severity of RV ischemic damage is unknown. In 20 anesthetized, closed-chest dogs randomly assigned to 0 cmH2O PEEP (ZEEP; n = 10) or 15 cmH2O PEEP (PEEP; n = 10), RV blood flow (radioactive microspheres) and segmental shortening (ultrasonic crystals) were determined during 90 min ischemia and 120 min reperfusion while mean aortic pressure was maintained above 90 mmHg. The in vivo RV area at risk (gentian violet) and area of necrosis (triphenyltetrazolium chloride) were assessed. After application of 15 cmH2O PEEP, pulmonary vascular resistance increased by 75% (P less than 0.05). During ischemia, the RV rate-pressure product remained greater with PEEP (2,403 +/- 174 mmHg.beat.min-1) than with ZEEP (1,909 +/- 94 mmHg.beat.min-1; P less than 0.05), indicating higher oxygen demands with PEEP. The area at risk from ischemia relative to RV free wall tended to be greater with PEEP (68.5 +/- 2.4%) than with ZEEP (60.0 +/- 3.9%; P = 0.08), and collateral blood flow in this risk zone was significantly lower during ischemia with PEEP (9.0 +/- 1.7 ml.min-1 x 100 g-1) than with ZEEP (18.3 +/- 3.6 ml.min-1 x 100 g-1; P less than 0.05). Accordingly, PEEP extended RV necrosis in the area at risk from 21.8 +/- 5.3% (ZEEP) to 58.1 +/- 8.4% (PEEP; P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The systematic application of the satiation procedure to delusional verbiage.

The effect of a form of verbal satiation upon the daily rate of delusional verbiage was investigated. The S, who had been hospitalized for more than 26 years, was forced to voice her delusions for one hour a day. Time samples were collected to measure the delusional verbiage. The procedure lowered the rate but did not lead to complete termination of the behavior. Several factors which may have influenced the results are discussed.
Same-Gender Peer Interaction and Preschoolers’ Gender-Typed Emotional Expressiveness

The present study was guided by hypotheses derived from peer-socialization models of gender development that suggest preschool children’s time spent interacting with same-gender peers would be linked to gender-typed emotional expressiveness. Specifically, I predicted that girls who engaged in high levels of same-gender peer interaction would express more happiness, sadness, and fear, whereas boys who engaged in more same-gender peer interaction would express more anger. To address these hypotheses, a longitudinal study was conducted in which video recordings were made of 122 preschool children (57 boys, 65 girls; 86 European American, 9 African American, 17 Hispanic, and 10 other ethnicity) attending a University sponsored preschool program in the U.S. Southwest over a period of 2 years. Video recordings of children’s peer interactions in Years 1 and 2 were coded for involvement with same-gender peers and emotional expressiveness. Results of analyses revealed that both girls and boys who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 expressed more happiness in Year 2. Boys who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 displayed higher levels of anger in Year 2. Girls who spent more time interacting with same-gender peers in Year 1 displayed higher levels of sadness in Year 2. The findings support arguments made by the peer-socialization model of gender development that gender-segregated peer interaction contributes to patterns of gender-typed expression of emotions.
Exosomes as Tools to Suppress Primary Brain Tumor

Exosomes are small microvesicles released by cells that efficiently transfer their molecular cargo to other cells, including tumor. Exosomes may pass the blood-brain barrier and have been demonstrated to deliver RNAs contained within to brain. As they are non-viable, the risk profile of exosomes is thought to be less than that of cellular therapies. Exosomes can be manufactured at scale in culture, and exosomes can be engineered to incorporate therapeutic miRNAs, siRNAs, or chemotherapeutic molecules. As natural biological delivery vehicles, interest in the use of exosomes as therapeutic delivery agents is growing. We previously demonstrated a novel treatment whereby mesenchymal stromal cells were employed to package tumor-suppressing miR-146b into exosomes, which were then used to reduce malignant glioma growth in rat. The use of exosomes to raise the immune system against tumor is also drawing interest. Exosomes from dendritic cells which are antigen-presenting, and have been used for treatment of brain tumor may be divided into three categories: (1) exosomes for immunomodulation-based therapy, (2) exosomes as delivery vehicles for anti-tumor nucleotides, and (3) exosomes as drug delivery vehicles. Here, we will provide an overview of these three applications of exosomes to treat brain tumor, and examine their prospects on the long road to clinical use.
Short-timing: The carceral experience of soon-to-be-released prisoners:

Roughly 700,000 people are released from American prisons every year, yet we know little about their ground-level experiences at or near the moment of exit. This ethnographic study fills part of th...
Software Enabled Flight Control Using Receding Horizon Techniques

An adaptive Receding Horizon Control (RHC) approach is presented for aircraft control to achieve aggressive maneuvering while enforcing flight condition and mission-state dependent operational limits. Results suggest that the modelling flexibility provided by an adaptive RHC scheme based on flight condition dependent linear prediction models is a necessary requirement for achieving good performance as opposed to a single LTI model based method. The adaptive scheme allows real-time implementation by retaining the modest computational complexity of the optimization problem (QP) that arises when linear prediction models are used. The performance of the RHC controller is evaluated on a nonlinear fighter aircraft model.
Pascal's Matrices

(1993). Pascal's Matrices. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 100, No. 4, pp. 372-376.
RESEARCH REPORT: In VivoPhosphorylation of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase in Guard Cells ofVicia fabaL. Is Enhanced by Fusicoccin and Suppressed by Abscisic Acid

Abstract Plants regulate water loss and CO 2 gain by modulating the aperture sizes of stomata that penetrate the epidermis. Aperture size itself is increased by osmolyte accumulation and consequent turgor increase in the pair of guard cells that flank each stoma. Guard cell phospho enol pyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC 4.1.1.31), which catalyzes the regulated step leading to malate synthesis, is crucial for charge and pH maintenance during osmolyte accumulation. Regulation of this cytosolic enzyme by effectors is well documented, but additional regulation by posttranslational modification is predicted by the alteration of PEPC kinetics during stomatal opening ( FEBS Lett. 352, 45–48). In this study, we have investigated whether this alteration is associated with the phosphorylation status of this enzyme. Using sonicated epidermal peels (“isolated” guard cells) preloaded with 32 PO 4 , we induced stomatal opening and guard cell malate accumulation by incubation with 5 μ m fusicoccin (FC). In corroboratory experiments, guard cells were incubated with the FC antagonist, 10 μ m abscisic acid (ABA). The phosphorylation status of PEPC was assessed by immunoprecipitation, electrophoresis, immunoblotting, and autoradiography. PEPC was phosphorylated when stomata were stimulated to open, and phosphorylation was lessened by incubation with ABA. Thus, we conclude that regulation of guard cell PEPC in vivo is multifaceted; the effects of regulatory metabolites and the activation status of the enzyme are integrated to control malate synthesis. These results, together with the coincident alteration in the kinetics of the enzyme ( FEBS Lett. 352, 45–48), constitute the first unequivocal demonstration of regulatory posttranslational modification of a guard cell protein that is specifically implicated in stomatal movements.
Rifaximin: An Antibiotic with Important Biologic Effects

Rifaximin is a poorly absorbed rifamycin drug with unique pharmacokinetic properties: bile solubility making it highly active against pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial flora in the bile-rich small bowel and low water solubility making it active only against highly susceptible bacteria, primarily anaerobes, in the aqueous colon. The drug has anti-inflammatory gut mucosal stabilization properties that are important to its sustained effects in non-infectious diseases. Rifaximin is used chronically or recurrently for hepatic encephalopathy and diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Monitoring of long-term use of rifaximin for development of resistance and then determining whether developed resistance is associated with reduced efficacy are needed. Studies of changes of intestinal flora during therapy and the health implications of these changes are also needed.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: COMPANY CULTURE AS A REFLECTION OF FOUNDER PERSONALITY IN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS

This paper explores the connection between founder personality and organizational culture in founder-led entrepreneurial companies. It draws from the literature in upper echelon/top management teams, family business and organizational psychology – notably the Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA: Schneider, 1987) and Person-Organization fit (P-O: O'Reilly, Chatman, & Caldwell, 1991) theories. Using ethnographic, psychological and organizational data from the founders and employees of four small firms from multiple industries, we find that, contrary to ASA and P-O predictions, aggregate personality seems to mediate the effect of founder personality on culture. At the same time, the direct impact of founder personality seems to be enhanced by intentional efforts to build culture and by sheer force of personality. The paper concludes with plans for further research into the personality-organizational culture effects and thoughts about the applicability of these results for founders.
PROTA: The Project for the Translation of Arabic

In 1993 I taught an NEH summer seminar for high-school teachers on the Arabic novel in translation. As I went through the listing of translated novels that are available in the 1990s and also made a choice from translations of other genres as back-up materials, I became newly aware of the wealth of material that we now have available. To be sure, it is not of the size and variety that is available for many other literary traditions, but there are now sufficient published novels and anthologies of poetry, drama and short-stories to devote entire courses or at least significant segments of them to individual genres and themes. I could not help thinking back to the start of my teaching career in 1968.
Suites of fire-adapted traits of oaks in the Southeastern USA: Multiple strategies for persistence

Fire is integral to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems of the southeastern USA and is a strong selective force on plant species. Among woody plants, oak species (Quercus spp. L) have diverse life history traits that appear to reflect their evolution in this fire-prone region. Oaks also occur across wide gradients of fire frequency and intensity, from annually burned savannas to fire-protected forests. As such, oak functional traits are presumed to reflect adaptations to acquire limited resources (i.e., “physiological traits”) or survive environmental stress (i.e., “protective traits”). Oak functional traits may also influence fire regimes (i.e., via “flammability traits”) by altering fire behavior through effects on fuels and their combustion. We synthesized evidence from ecophysiological measurements, laboratory burning and drying experiments, and field experiments to determine the suites of functional traits that reflect fire adaptive strategies in eight Southeastern oaks for which abundant data were available. We found strong correlations among Principal Components Analysis axes for flammability (litter burning and drying), protective (bark and wound responses), and physiological (growth) traits. The eight oaks clustered into three strategies: 1) pyrophytic species that produce highly flammable leaf litter, accrue thick bark rapidly, close wounds rapidly, and grow slowly; 2) mesophytic species that produce low flammability litter, have thin bark, and are fast growing; and 3) fire-avoider species with a mixture of traits from the two extremes. This synthesis clarifies the relative pyrophily of Southeastern oaks and suggests how suites of fire-related traits influence fire regimes and species habitat preferences.
Shamanism: Piers Vitebsky; Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, 184 pages

Piers Vitebsky is repeatedly asked about Shamanism and Shamans, especially each time he returns from fieldwork in traditional Shamanic communities. Questions abound like: What are Shamans? What do ...
Rhetoric of Obedience and Self-Sacrifice in Confucianism and Christianity

The moral values of obedience and self-sacrifice have deeply impacted the formation and development of Korean women’s self-esteem. Because of the particular influence of Confucianism and Christianity on their social patterns as well as cultural anthropologies, this chapter deals with the values of obedience and self-sacrifice in these two religio-cultural traditions. Specifically, it investigates how Confucianism and Christianity shape Korean women’s sense of self-esteem and relationship. First, it analyzes the language of obedience in Confucianism, which is used to maintain the relational hierarchy and the subordinated status of women. Then, it explores the traditional understanding of Christianity, which identifies self-pride as a primary sin and self-sacrifice as a central virtue.
Spherical Panoramic Image Payload Design for Stratospheric Ballooning

The 2017 total solar eclipse inspired innovation in design and implementation in stratospheric ballooning techniques and payloads to fully document the unique near-space experience. The Arkansas BalloonSAT team, as part of the Eclipse Ballooning Project, designed and fabricated a spherical panoramic image payload using computer aided design (CAD) software to capture images of the eclipse from the high altitude balloon. The light, durable, and water resistant mount consisted of a polyurethane-coated UV-resin based enclosure that housed six Hero 4 Session GoPro cameras, and a relative inertial measurement unit (IMU) PCB equipped with GPS. The cameras’ lenses faced radially outward on the six faces of a cube. The IMU/GPS PCB system computed the absolute orientation of the cameras, which allows the time-lapse pictures to be stitched together into a relatively stable spherical video. The batteries for this system experienced a voltage drop during flight as the payload temperature dropped below -60 degrees Celsius resulting in an auto-shutdown procedure disabling the system before eclipse totality. Future designs for this model will include a temperature regulation or insulation system to prevent this voltage drop.
Suicide Among Eastern European Immigrant Youth

Suicidality in Eastern European immigrant youth is a vastly under-researched topic. The socioeconomic climate of the region has been in a state of constant flux in the last few decades with wars, atrocities, and mass migration. Children who were born in this region have a high risk of being exposed to psychosocial adversity and trauma, which can be directly responsible for the manifesting of self-harming behaviors. Major risk factors for suicide could build on one another quickly and unexpectedly in this vulnerable group. It is important to have a thorough understanding of the sociopolitical background of each client from this multiethnic area. This helps mental health (MH) providers have cultural knowledge specific to the population that informs them of risk factors, strengths, early symptom manifestations, and modalities of depression and suicide. Available information and data regarding the MH and acculturation experiences of this community from the home region and host countries in the European Union can enable US MH services to design interventions and protocols suiting the needs of these immigrants.
Setting Accurate Expectations of Robot Capabilities

Imagine you are assembling a table with a robot and it asks you to pass the table leg. Unsure of which leg to pass, you ask to clarify but do not receive a response and are left confused. As robots with diverse skills and complex learning algorithms emerge, an important prerequisite of seamless human-robot collaboration will be for humans to understand what robots can and cannot do, and why. Robots, in turn, need to understand how their actions affect humans perceptions of their capability (e.g. asking a question may unintentionally imply that the robot can also understand speech). Robots also need to generate behavior that humans can easily understand. A mismatch in expectations of capability can lead to inefficient teamwork and weakened trust. To this end, I have been motivated by how robots can accurately set expectations of their capabilities. In particular, I have focused on how robots can communicate incapability. In Kwon et al., we presented an optimization-based method to automatically generate trajectories that express a robot»s incapability.
Strongly Participatory Science and Knowledge Justice in an Environmentally Contested Region.

This article draws insights from a case study examining unanswered health questions of residents in two polluted towns in an industrial region in southern France. A participatory health study, as conducted by the author, is presented as a way to address undone science by providing the residents with relevant data supporting their illness claims. Local residents were included in the health survey process, from the formulation of the questions to the final data analysis. Through this strongly participatory science (SPS) process, the townspeople offered many creative ideas in the final report for how the data could be used to assist in improving their health and environment and policy work is already in evidence, resulting from the study. Drawing from the literature on participatory science and expertise as well as from the initial outcomes of the local health study, I propose that SPS produces a form of knowledge justice. Understanding knowledge and its making as part of a social justice agenda aligns well ...
Fundamentals of steady flow thermodynamics

The previous chapter emphasized the behaviour of incompressible fluids in motion. Accordingly, the analyses were based on the mechanisms of fluid dynamics. In expanding these to encompass compressible fluids and to take account of thermal effects, we enter the world of thermodynamics.
Combined Unidirectional and Cyclic Strain

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses combined unidirectional and cyclic strain. If the stress is static, the strain is usually obtainable from data of static stress/strain curves and the theorems of continuum mechanics that relate such data. However, if the static stress is combined with a cyclic one, the strain may be unpredictable, for cyclic stress can induce micro structural instabilities which are still largely unexplored. The instabilities are of practical interest because they can lead to a creeping strain even at normal temperatures where thermally induced creep is negligible. Metals most studied under the combined axial tension and cyclic torsion has been ductile ones. In these, fracture seems to depend on which predominates, the cyclic strain or the axial creep. If it is the cyclic strain, then fracture is primarily by fatigue, though the axial tension produces secondary effects. In general, the cyclic strain predominates when the axial tension is not sufficient of itself to produce much plastic extension. If it is sufficient, then the axial creep predominates in determining the mode of fracture. Fracture then becomes primarily of the tensile type, characterized by local necking. Thus, this type appears in the repeated-tension type of test when the tension is high.
Time Synchronization in Wide Area Damping Control of Power Systems

Synchrophasor data, now prevalent in power systems around the world, is enabling the development of applications such as wide area control systems (WACS). Because synchrophasor data is transmitted from dispersed locations it is only available to WACS after a certain delay and at irregular time intervals. This paper initially shows that these non-uniformities in the availability of the data cause the WACS output command to be non-smooth potentially affecting the actuator. Next, paper also shows how delays in the WACS input signal are translated into erroneous and inverted WACS output commands. Finally, the paper proposes exact time-synchronization of the data as a solution of the above problems to ensure that the control action is not compromised.
III–V Solar Cells Grown on Unpolished and Reusable Spalled Ge Substrates

Substrate reuse offers a promising route toward enabling high-efficiency III–V solar cells to become cost-competitive for one-sun terrestrial applications. In this study, Ge films were spalled using an electroplated Ni stressor layer, and the fracture surface was characterized. Initial heteroepitaxial GaAs films grown on spalled Ge substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy were found to be single crystal with nearly equivalent growth rates between growth on epi-ready and unpolished spalled Ge substrates. We show the first demonstration of III–V solar cells (GaInAsP, Eg ∼ 1.7 eV) grown on unpolished spalled Ge substrates to assess the viability of substrate reuse. We demonstrate equivalent performance for a solar cell grown on spalled Ge and on a coloaded epi-ready Ge substrate, despite the residual roughness on the spalled Ge substrate and the lack of any substrate surface preparation. This initial demonstration of combining substrate reuse with the ability to grow III–V solar cells using a high growth rate and high throughput deposition process is a promising step toward low-cost III–V photovoltaics.
CD72 is associated with kidney cancer.

122 CD72 is a membrane protein that involves in the negative regulation of B cells. CD72 is also expressed in many other cell types and its function is still unknown. In the analysis of cDNAs from tumor tissues, we have found that mutations exist in cDNA clones from several forms of tumor including thyroid follicular carcinoma, leukemia, chondrosarcoma and endometrial adenocarcinoma. Human CD72 gene has nine exons and contains variable numbers of tandem repeat in Intron 8. When normal human population was investigated, one or two tandem repeats were found. In another region of Intron 8, allele with a deletion of four nucleotides was found (CACT- allele). We investigated if the alleles of CD72 are associated with kidney cancer. 45 kidney tumor samples, 66 tissue samples of normal individuals were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction to determine the alleles. The tandem repeat of Intron 8 is not associated with kidney cancer. However, 2 out of 33 (6%) tumor tissues were found to have microsatellite instability in the tandem repeat region. We also investigated the association of CACT alleles with kidney cancer. CACT+ is negatively associated with kidney cancer (3 out of 45 vs 23 out of 66 normal samples, 2-tailered Fisher’s exact test, P
Modifiable Risk Factors in Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Multicenter groups have reported reductions in the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) among preterm infants over the past 2 decades. These large-scale prevalence studies have coincided with reports from multicenter consortia and single centers of modifications in practice using quality-improvement techniques aimed at either reducing NEC risk specifically or reducing risk of mortality and multiple morbidities associated with extreme prematurity. The modifications in practice have been based on mechanistic studies, epidemiologic association data, and clinical trials. Recent reports from centers modifying practice to reduce NEC are reviewed and select modified/modifiable practices discussed.
Measuring the health utility of chronic eustachian tube dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE To assess the health utility of chronic Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). METHODS This is a prospective study of 53 patients with chronic ETD recruited from a tertiary clinic from April 2017 to July 2018. The 7-Item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ-7) was administered, and health utility was evaluated using the EuroQol-5 Dimensions-3 Level Instrument (EQ-5D-3L), the visual analogue scale (VAS), time tradeoff (TTO), and standard gamble (SG). Participants were grouped into medical or procedural management groups. One-week follow-up included repeated health utility measures and ETDQ-7. RESULTS Fifty-three patients were included in the final analysis. Of those, 34 were managed medically, and 19 received myringotomies ± PE tubes. The mean baseline ETDQ-7 was 4.26 ± 1.31; whereas health utility measures were different depending on the method utilized: EQ-5D-3L 0.90 ± 0.11; VAS 0.76 ± 0.21; TTO 0.85 ± 0.23; and SG 0.94 ± 0.11 (P < .001). There was a significant change in ETDQ-7 (P = .001) and TTO (P = .011) scores posttreatment. On the ETDQ-7, question 2 (pain in the ears) was significantly associated with VAS (P = .032), and question 4 (ear symptoms during a cold or sinusitis) was significantly associated with TTO (P = .006). CONCLUSION Chronic ETD has a significant burden on quality of life, with a health utility similar to gastroesophageal reflux disease and moderate asthma. Although treatment-related changes are measurable using disease-specific quality-of-life measures, only TTO was significantly changed after treatment. Health utility seemed to depend on the method of measurement but provided a benchmark for evaluating cost-effectiveness of innovations to manage ETD. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2 Laryngoscope, 130:E39-E44, 2020.
Non-operative management of congenital tracheal stenosis: criteria by computed tomography

Whether to perform surgical or conservative treatment for congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) is controversial. Thus, the computed tomography (CT) criteria for conservative treatment of CTS were investigated. From 2005 to 2017, 28 CTS cases were included. The operative cases and preoperative death cases constituted the required intervention group (group I), and the non-operative surviving cases constituted the observation group (group O). The diameter of the tracheal narrowest part (DTNP) on CT was evaluated as a criterion for non-operative follow-up. Chest CT was performed 19 times in 19 group I cases and 18 times in 9 group O cases. The median age of the patients that underwent CT scan examinations was 3.4 months (range 0–25 months) in group I and 22 months (range 0–60 months) in group O. The cut-off values of the non-operative criteria were 40.8% (AUC: 0.82, p < .01) normal for age of the trachea’s narrowest part, and 41.6% normal for body weight (AUC: 0.92, p < .01), respectively. DTNP is 40% and more of the normal diameter appears necessary for non-surgical management. The present study suggests that the criteria for conservative management of CTS are that the DTNP is not less than 40% of the normal tracheal diameter, with a few symptoms.
Stress-Controlled Apparatus for Triaxial Testing

A testing machine in which the rate of true stress can be controlled manually or automatically is described. A pneumatic analog computer continuously calculates the cross section of the test specimen and provides the loading unit with a pressure such that the force applied produces a given axial stress. The whole test, up to fracture, is entirely automated. A wide range of stress paths is made possible by this machine. Tests on a saturated kaolinite serve to illustrate some of the capabilities as well as to point out some of the problems that this machine may help investigate.
Crosstalk from Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells (PAEC) Alters Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell (PASMC) Metabolic Phenotype in Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn (PPHN)

Crosstalk between PAEC and PASMC plays a major role in the regulation of pulmonary vascular resistance. To date, it is still unclear how the hypertensive phenotype of PAEC contributes to the phenotypic change of PASMC in PPHN. Our current study is …
A Rare Case of Resolution of High-Degree Atrioventricular Block Associated With COVID-19

Cardiac arrhythmias have been reported in the setting of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. To date various tachyarrhythmias have been noted. This case report describes an atypical clinical hospitalization course of high-degree atrioventricular (AV) block in the setting of COVID-19 infection which required no intervention. This case highlights the importance of an initial electrocardiogram (ECG) upon presentation and consideration for constant cardiac monitoring in select patients.
Idiopathic Spontaneous Intraperitoneal Hemorrhage due to Rupture of Short Gastric Artery Presenting as Massive Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Rare Case Presentation and Literature Review

Idiopathic spontaneous intraperitoneal hemorrhage (ISIH) or abdominal apoplexy is due to the tear of an intra-abdominal visceral vessel spontaneously where no cause can be identified. It is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening condition that generally shows up as a diagnostic dilemma as well as is related to formidable mortality. Among all the reported cases, the extemporaneous tear of short gastric arteries is extremely rare, but it has never been reported to present with massive gastrointestinal bleeding. We report a rare instance of idiopathic spontaneous intraperitoneal hematoma eroding the stomach wall, causing massive gastrointestinal bleeding.
Mental Health, Physical Activity, and Quality of Life of US Adolescent Athletes During COVID-19-Related School Closures and Sport Cancellations: A Study of 13 000 Athletes.

Context In the spring of 2020, US schools closed to in-person teaching and sports were cancelled to control the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is critical to understand the mental and physical health of adolescent athletes during this time. Objective To describe the health of athletes during COVID-19-related school closures and sport cancellations. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting A national sample recruited via social media. Patients or other participants A total of 13 002 US adolescent athletes (age = 16.3 ± 1.2 years, females = 52.9%, males = 47.0%) completed an anonymous online survey. Main outcome measure(s) Demographic information collected was sex, grade, sport(s) played, and zip code. Assessments used were the General Anxiety Disorder 7-Item for anxiety, Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item for depression, the Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale for physical activity, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 for quality of life. Mental health, physical activity, and health-related quality-of-life variables were compared among sex, grade, sport(s) played, and poverty level using means and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from the survey-weighted analysis of variance. Results Females reported a higher prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms (females = 43.7% versus males = 28.2%). The Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale score was highest (best) for grade 9 (mean = 14.5, 95% CI = 14.0, 15.0) and lowest for grade 11 (mean = 10.9, 95% CI = 10.5, 11.3). The prevalence of depression symptoms was highest in team sport (74.1%) and lowest in individual sport (64.9%) participants. The total Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory score was lowest (worst) for athletes from counties with the highest poverty levels (high: mean = 74.5, 95% CI = 73.7, 75.3; middle: mean = 78.9, 95% CI = 78.0, 79.8; and low: mean = 78.3, 95% CI = 77.4, 79.1). Conclusions The health of US adolescents during the COVID-19-related school closures and sport cancellations varied to differing degrees depending on sex, grade level, type of sport participation, and level of poverty. Health policy experts should consider these findings in the future when creating and implementing policies to improve the health of adolescents in the United States.
Towards Automated Evidence Generation for Rapid and Continuous Software Certification

Software system traceability plays a crucial role in the development and assurance of any dependable softwareintensive system. Federal agencies developing or regulating mission-centric or safety-critical software systems require traceability as a core component of the approval and certification process. Manually generating and managing traceability links is a tedious and error-prone task that requires great effort. The state-of-the-art automated traceability techniques rely on information retrieval and machine learning techniques. While these techniques create semantic links between artifacts, they are inadequate for analyzing the satisfiability of the underling traceability criteria. Therefore, in this paper, we describe SHERLOCK, an integrated environment to facilitate the rapid and continuous certification of software systems. At the core of SHERLOCK’S capabilities is the novel concept of Traceability Certification Models (TCM) and a Catalog of Certification Assurance Case Patterns (CACP) which guides the efforts of establishing the required trace links for fulfilling the criteria for a given certification. By relying on TCMs, CACPs as well as traceability and change impact analysis techniques, SHERLOCK can report the system’s traceability coverage in terms of missing traceability links required for certification, and deprecated/unnecessary links. We showcase SHERLOCK’S capabilities using a case study of certifying an Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS).
Investigation of particle density on dust cloud dynamics in a minimum ignition energy apparatus using digital in-line holography

Abstract Solids industries have inherent dust explosion hazards. Process risk assessment parameters include overpressure, deflagration index, and minimum ignition energy. These parameters are influenced by dust dynamics, such as turbulence and concentration. Cloud dynamics are affected by particle morphology, density, size, and polydispersity, which affect explosion parameters. Influence of properties such as density during explosion parameter measurement is often overlooked. This study examines particle density influence on dust clouds in the Kuhner MIKE3. Two clouds of particles with different density, but similar particle size and morphology were examined with high-speed digital in-line holography, providing velocity and concentration measurements prior to ignition. Results show velocity and concentration of denser dust is lower compared to lighter dust after ignition delay. The results highlight the density effect on cloud dynamics and make a case for particle density to be considered in setting ignition delay in order to get consistent cloud dynamics and test results.
Tax-Exempt Hospitals and Community Health Under the Affordable Care Act: Identifying and Addressing Unmet Legal Needs as Social Determinants of Health

This article reviews recently promulgated Internal Revenue Service regulations for nonprofit hospitals seeking tax exemption and a new estimate of national hospital community benefit spending, and analyzes how they point to the value of hospitals working with community partners to address the social determinants of health. It then explains how unmet legal needs function as health determinants, and suggests how hospitals’ participation in medical-legal partnerships can address those needs.
Gas chromatographic analysis of wine

Abstract Gas chromatography (GC) has been used for the analysis of wine almost since its inception. While the focus of much research (both initially and currently) has been the application of GC for the analysis of volatiles associated with aroma, many other analytes can be measured by GC, including pesticides, sugars, acids, amines, polyphenols, and organic metal-containing compounds (e.g., organic selenium). This review will discuss selected current applications of GC for analysis of wines, while emphasizing future trends and challenges and providing an update since the first edition of this volume.
Improving the performance of AI models in tactical environments using a hybrid cloud architecture

As the Department of Defense (DoD) looks to exploit and scale Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities across the warfighting domains, the Army plans to integrate advanced features into many of its combat systems. The benefits of cloud technologies offer promising solutions to these needs. While cloud-based AI-enabled capabilities leverage flexibility, common interfaces, and virtually infinite scale of resources, they suffer from their lack of proximity to the tactical edge. Tactical AI-enabled systems cannot reliably leverage advantages provided by cloud resources due to limited standardized practices for integration of on-premise/edge systems required by the deployed military. Future high-intensity conflict will be fought in a degraded, denied, intermittent, and lowbandwidth (DDIL) digital environment. As a result, tactical AI-enabled systems will be required to operate in a scenario where high speed, reliable cloud access is unavailable. This paper proposes a hybrid-cloud architecture that leverages resources of the cloud, when available, while also maintaining the capability to retrain tactical AI models in the field environment, using on-site computation and storage. The hybrid cloud construct consists of tactical cloud nodes that reside in closer proximity to AI-enabled systems at the edge. They may retain connectivity to the enterprise cloud yet have the ability to provide the common AI development platform and tool sets to support continuous integration, delivery, and deployment. Thus, its ultimate objective is to enable the seamless and expeditious operation of a distributed AI development environment for the Army and DoD that bridges the tactical edge and enterprise cloud.
Temporary Migrant Work and the Bonds of Citizenship

Temporary migrant workers constitute an important component of many developed economies. The working conditions of these workers are often difficult, and their political and legal rights often highly curtailed. Much of the scholarship on temporary migrant workers has understandably focused on the poor working conditions and limited rights that they are afforded. This article asks a different question, namely how might the relegation of certain kinds of work to temporary migrant workers affect the bonds and grounds of citizenship in the countries that utilize these regimes of temporary migrant work? It argues that regimes of temporary work are problematic for the countries and its citizens that rely on them, because reliance by a political community on temporary migrant workers is potentially detrimental to the political health of a nation, to democracy, and to the bonds of citizenship.
On the quality of professional development in the United States: Examining music educators’ experiences, sentiments, and emotions:

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable assessment tool to measure music educators’ participation in and perceptions of their high-quality professional development (PD) experi...
BIM and GIS Integration and Interoperability Based on Semantic Web Technology

AbstractWhen making design and construction decisions, planners must consider information from different scales and domains. Currently, building and geospatial data are shared and exchanged through...
Crowdsourced Comprehension: Predicting Prerequisite Structure in Wikipedia

The growth of open-access technical publications and other open-domain textual information sources means that there is an increasing amount of online technical material that is in principle available to all, but in practice, incomprehensible to most. We propose to address the task of helping readers comprehend complex technical material, by using statistical methods to model the "prerequisite structure" of a corpus --- i.e., the semantic impact of documents on an individual reader's state of knowledge. Experimental results using Wikipedia as the corpus suggest that this task can be approached by crowd-sourcing the production of ground-truth labels regarding prerequisite structure, and then generalizing these labels using a learned classifier which combines signals of various sorts. The features that we consider relate pairs of pages by analyzing not only textual features of the pages, but also how the containing corpora is connected and created.
Future Possibilities for Lepton-Hadron Collider Physics and Detectors

We have considered the physics opportunities of future lepton-hadron colliders and how these opportunities might be realized in a possible polarized eRHIC facility and an e-p collider as part of a staged or final version VLHC. We evaluated the physics priorities based on experience at HERA and, using simulated data for e-p collisions with √ s > 1 TeV, showed how detector designs would be
New Bridges Across the Chasm: Macro- and Micro-Strategies for Russia and other Transitional Economies

This paper deals with Russia’s transition from communism to market economy which has been harder than anticipated just a decade ago. The rise in prosperity that the market economy had promised had not been materialised. But, in other transition countries from successes and failures, lessons have been learned, strategies devised and examples set which can serve as the basis for the success of transition not only in Russia but also in other countries of East Europe. This paper discusses these very aspects.