cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of epidemic characteristics and viral antibody level among healthy people against Japanese encephalitis in Jiangsu province during 2010～2011

Objective To understand the epidemic characteristics and viral antibody level among healthy people of Japanese encephalitis in Jiangsu province during 2010 ~ 2011. Methods A total of 70 Japanese encephalitis cases were investigated using descriptive epidemiological method in Jiangsu province during 2010 ~ 2011. One thousand,four hundred and ten healthy people were selected and divided into seven age groups: less than one year old,1 ~ 2 years old,3 ~ 4 years old,5 ~ 6 years old,7 ~ 14 years old,15 ~ 19 years old and above 20 years old,and Japanese encephalitis viral antibody was detected by plaque reduction neutralization. Results The incidence rates of Japanese encephalitis were 0. 0712 /100,000 and 0. 0191 /100,000 respectively in 2010 and 2011 in Jiangsu province,the mortality rate was 0. 0039 /100,000 in 2010. July,August and September were the epidemic peak periods. The cases concentrated on children under 7 years old. The total positive rate of Japanese encephalitis viral antibody was 65. 11%,and GMT was 1∶11. 64. Conclusion Japanese encephalitis incidence rate remains at a low level in Jiangsu province,and the incidence shows seasonal and regional characteristics. The Japanese encephalitis antibody can exert a protective effect on persons over 15 years old. The younger children with lower Japanese encephalitis antibody level should be strengthened the immune monitoring.
Designing Novel Inhibitors of Trypanosoma brucei

Computational simulations of essential biological systems in pathogenic organisms are increasingly being used to reveal structural and dynamical features for targets of interest. At the same time, increased research efforts, especially from academia, have been directed toward drug discovery for neglected tropical diseases. Although these diseases cripple large populations in less fortunate parts of the world, either very few new drugs are being developed or the available treatments for them have severe side effects, including death. This chapter walks readers through a computational investigation used to find novel inhibitors to target one of these neglected diseases, African sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis). Such studies may suggest novel small-molecule compounds that could be considered as part of an early-stage drug discovery effort. As an example target protein of interest, we focus on the essential protein RNA-editing ligase 1 (REL1) in Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis.
Comparisons of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and repeated office measurements in primary care

Background The accuracy of office blood pressure (BP) readings is questionable because of blood pressure variability and measurement errors. The primary aim of this study was to determine the number of office visits required to optimize the estimation of usual blood pressure in older adults in primary care. Methods Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was used to define usual blood pressure in an observational study of 75 randomly selected family practice patients. Each subject made six visits for office BP measurements and had 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring done twice. Mean office BP, based on one through six visits, was compared with mean ambulatory BP. Results The sample consisted of 29 men and 46 women; 18 were black and 57 were white. Twenty-one subjects were taking antihypertensive medication. The mean age +/- 1/standard deviation (SD) was 60 (+/- 8) years. The correlation between mean office BP and mean ambulatory BP rose with the number of visits averaged, with most of the gain obtained within 3 visits. The maximal correlation for 24-hour ambulatory BP was r = .85/.75 (systolic/diastolic) (P or = 10 mm Hg between estimated and observed ambulatory BP levels persisted in 18% to 20% of subjects. Conclusions Readings from at least three office visits should be averaged to estimate usual blood pressure. It should be noted, however, that important discrepancies between estimated and observed mean ambulatory BP persist even after readings taken over six visits. Ambulatory BP monitoring probably provides unique information about usual blood pressure that cannot be captured by repeated office BP readings.
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Measuring 13 C-labeling in Intermediates of the Glycolysis and Pentose Phosphate Pathway

This chapter describes a procedure to analyze (13)C-labeled phosphorylated compounds by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Phosphorylated compounds, intermediaries of the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway, are separated by anion exchange chromatography and their isotopic labeling is determined by mass spectrometry. A sensitivity in the fmole range is achieved using scheduled multiple reaction monitoring mode.
Double red blood cell collection: comparison of three apheresis systems.

Background We compared three instruments for double red blood cell (DRBC) collection to efficiently optimize our RBC inventory. Study design and methods Instruments compared were the TerumoBCT Trima Accel (Trima), the Fenwal Alyx (Alyx), and the Haemonetics MCS+ 8150 (MCS+). Forty consecutive collections (80 products) per instrument were evaluated for hemoglobin (Hb) content, leukoreduction, collection time, instrument efficiency, donor acceptance, and reactions. The total number of whole blood donors who could be eligible for DRBC collection was analyzed. All collections were as per the manufacturer recommendations with target volume of 360 or 400mL. Leukoreduction was integral to the collection procedure for the Alyx and Trima, while it was a separate process for the MCS+. Results The total numbers of whole blood donors who could be eligible for DRBC collection were 10,116 for the MCS+, 9378 for the Alyx, and 8573 for the Trima. All units collected had more than 42.5 g of Hb. Mean Hb levels were as follows: Trima, 59.2 g; Alyx, 56.8 g; and MCS+, 51.5 g. Donor times for the Trima, Alyx, and MCS+ were 52, 45, and 52 minutes, respectively. Technician times for the Trima, Alyx, and MCS+ (without filtration) were 87, 73, and 64 minutes. All collected products had fewer than 5 × 10(6) white blood cells. Conclusions All three instruments would be capable of collecting an acceptable leukoreduced DRBC product. The Alyx was most portable, with the shortest donor time and total technician time (considering filtration time) and highest collection efficiency and would collect from more donors than the Trima. We thus chose the Alyx as it best fits the specific needs of our center.
Rags to riches: Amino acid sensing by the Rag GTPases in health and disease.

ABSTRACTThe Rags represent a unique family of evolutionarily conserved, heterodimeric, lysosome-localized small GTPases that play an indispensible role in regulating cellular metabolism in response to various amino acid signaling mechanisms. Rapid progress in the field has begun to unveil a picture in which Rags act as central players in translating information regarding cellular amino acid levels by modulating their nucleotide binding status through an ensemble of support proteins localized in and around the lysosomes. By cooperating with other signaling pathways that converge on the lysosomes, Rags promote anabolic processes through positively affecting mTORC1 signaling in the presence of abundant amino acids. Conversely, Rag inactivation plays an indispensible role in switching cellular metabolism into a catabolic paradigm by promoting the activity of the master lysosomal/autophagic transcription factors TFEB and TFE3. Precise control of Rag signaling is necessary for cells to adapt to constantly chang...
Robo-Psychophysics: Extracting Behaviorally Relevant Features from the Output of Sensors on a Prosthetic Finger

Efforts are underway to restore sensorimotor function in amputees and tetraplegic patients using anthropomorphic robotic hands. For this approach to be clinically viable, sensory signals from the hand must be relayed back to the patient. To convey tactile feedback necessary for object manipulation, behaviorally relevant information must be extracted in real time from the output of sensors on the prosthesis. In the present study, we recorded the sensor output from a state-of-the-art bionic finger during the presentation of different tactile stimuli, including punctate indentations and scanned textures. Furthermore, the parameters of stimulus delivery (location, speed, direction, indentation depth, and surface texture) were systematically varied. We developed simple decoders to extract behaviorally relevant variables from the sensor output and assessed the degree to which these algorithms could reliably extract these different types of sensory information across different conditions of stimulus delivery. We then compared the performance of the decoders to that of humans in analogous psychophysical experiments. We show that straightforward decoders can extract behaviorally relevant features accurately from the sensor output and most of them outperform humans.
Optics based method for ionizing radiation photon detection in PET

The coincidence time resolution in a PET system is primarily limited by the scintillation mechanism and other physical properties of scintillation crystals and is normally above 200 picoseconds (ps) for 20 mm length crystals. However, picosecond and femtosecond time resolution is very common in the nonlinear optics field, and measurements of picosecond transitions using modern optics methods are well established in ultrafast optics research. Therefore, combining ultrafast nonlinear optics methods with ionizing radiation detection seems to be a promising approach to dramatically improve PET time resolution.
Sets P Q = Hom( Q , P ) and Products

Order-preserving mappings from one ordered set to another form a natural ordered set under the pointwise order. Since products in general are defined similar to homomorphism sets, we shall investigate homomorphism sets and products of ordered sets closely together. In this chapter we introduce some of the salient results on these sets such as the fixed point theorem for products of two finite ordered sets (cf. Theorem 10.2.11), Hashimoto’s refinement theorem (cf. Theorem 10.4.4) and the cancelation property for exponents (cf. Theorem 10.5.9). The automorphism conjecture (cf. Open Question 11.5.1) as well as the open problems at the end of this chapter show that there are interesting problems related to homomorphism sets and products that remain open.
Catalase deletion promotes prediabetic phenotype in mice

Hydrogen peroxide is produced endogenously and can be toxic to living organisms by inducing oxidative stress and cell damage. However, it has also been identified as a signal transduction molecule. By metabolizing hydrogen peroxide, catalase protects cells and tissues against oxidative damage and may also influence signal transduction mechanisms. Studies suggest that acatalasemic individuals (i.e., those with very low catalase activity) have a higher risk for the development of diabetes. We now report catalase knockout (Cat-/-) mice, when fed a normal (6.5% lipid) chow, exhibit an obese phenotype that manifests as an increase in body weight that becomes more pronounced with age. The mice demonstrate altered hepatic and muscle lipid deposition, as well as increases in serum and hepatic triglycerides (TGs), and increased hepatic transcription and protein expression of PPARγ. Liver morphology revealed steatosis with inflammation. Cat-/- mice also exhibited pancreatic morphological changes that correlated with impaired glucose tolerance and increased fasting serum insulin levels, conditions consistent with pre-diabetic status. RNA-seq analyses revealed a differential expression of pathways and genes in Cat-/- mice, many of which are related to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity, such as Pparg and Cidec. In conclusion, the results of the present study show mice devoid of catalase develop an obese, pre-diabetic phenotype and provide compelling evidence for catalase (or its products) being integral in metabolic regulation.
Children presenting in delayed fashion after minor head trauma with scalp swelling: do they require further workup?

Purpose It is common to evaluate children who have sustained minor head trauma with computed tomography (CT) of the head. Scalp swelling, in particular, has been associated with intracranial injury. A subset of patients, however, present in delayed fashion, often days after the head trauma, as soft tissue edema progresses and their caregiver notices scalp swelling. We explore the value of further workup in this setting.
Integrated oncopalliative care versus standard care for patients with metastatic lung cancer: A single institution retrospective review.

9566 Background: Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving early palliative care (PC) demonstrated improved anxiety, quality of life, and survival compared to standard o...
Analysis and Design of Integrated Active Cancellation Transceiver for Frequency Division Duplex Systems

An active transmitter (TX) cancellation scheme enabling integration of the antenna interface for frequency division duplex systems is presented. A replica of the TX current is synthesized in shunt with the receiver (RX) by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The replica DAC virtually shorts out the TX signal at the RX input while having minimal impact on the TX insertion loss. Propagation of the TX phase noise in the RX band is analyzed and shown to be feed-forward cancelled in the proposed system. A prototype chip including integrated TX, measurement RX, and cancellation circuits, operating on a single-shared antenna, is implemented in 65-nm CMOS. The cancellation replica demonstrates > 50 dB cancellation of a +12.6 dBm peak 20-MHz TX signal across a wide range of center frequencies and up to 5:1 voltage standing-wave ratio at the antenna interface. The RX is able to down-convert the RX signal at 40-MHz offset with < 4.3 dB noise figure degradation in the presence of the residual TX signal.
Type 2 diabetes, glucose, insulin, BMI, and ischemic stroke subtypes: Mendelian randomization study

Objective: To implement a mendelian randomization (MR) approach to determine whether type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and body mass index (BMI) are causally associated with specific ischemic stroke subtypes. Methods: MR estimates of the association between each possible risk factor and ischemic stroke subtypes were calculated with inverse-variance weighted (conventional) and weighted median approaches, and MR-Egger regression was used to explore pleiotropy. The number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) used as instrumental variables was 49 for T2D, 36 for fasting glucose, 18 for fasting insulin, and 77 for BMI. Genome-wide association study data of SNP-stroke associations were derived from METASTROKE and the Stroke Genetics Network (n = 18,476 ischemic stroke cases and 37,296 controls). Results: Conventional MR analysis showed associations between genetically predicted T2D and large artery stroke (odds ratio [OR] 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16–1.40, p = 3.3 × 10 −7 ) and small vessel stroke (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.10–1.33, p = 8.9 × 10 −5 ) but not cardioembolic stroke (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.97–1.15, p = 0.17). The association of T2D with large artery stroke but not small vessel stroke was consistent in a sensitivity analysis using the weighted median method, and there was no evidence of pleiotropy. Genetically predicted fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels and BMI were not statistically significantly associated with any ischemic stroke subtype. Conclusions: This study provides support that T2D may be causally associated with large artery stroke.
Personalized Hypertension Management Using Patient-Generated Health Data Integrated With Electronic Health Records (EMPOWER-H): Six-Month Pre-Post Study

Background: EMPOWER-H (Engaging and Motivating Patients Online With Enhanced Resources-Hypertension) is a personalized-care model facilitating engagement in hypertension self-management utilizing an interactive Web-based disease management system integrated with the electronic health record. The model is designed to support timely patient-provider interaction by incorporating decision support technology to individualize care and provide personalized feedback for patients with chronic disease. Central to this process were patient-generated health data, including blood pressure (BP), weight, and lifestyle behaviors, which were uploaded using a smartphone. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the program among patients within primary care already under management for hypertension and with uncontrolled BP. Methods: Using a 6-month pre-post design, outcome measures included office-measured and home-monitored BP, office-measured weight, intervention contacts, diet, physical activity, smoking, knowledge, and health-related quality of life. Results: At 6 months, 55.9% of participants (N=149) achieved office BP goals (<140/90 mm Hg; P<.001) and 86.0% achieved clinically meaningful reduction in office BP (reduction in systolic BP [SBP] ≥5 mm Hg or diastolic BP [DBP] ≥3 mm Hg). At baseline, 25.2% of participants met home BP goals (<135/85 mm Hg), and this percentage significantly increased to 71.4% (P<.001) at 6 months. EMPOWER-H also significantly reduced both office and home SBP and DBP, decreased office-measured weight and consumption of high-salt and high-fat foods (all P<.005), and increased intake of fruit and vegetables, minutes of aerobic exercise, and hypertension knowledge (all P<.05). Patients with higher home BP upload frequencies had significantly higher odds of achieving home BP goals. Patients receiving more total intervention, behavioral, pharmaceutical contacts had significantly lower odds of achieving home BP goals but higher improvements in office BP (all P<.05). Conclusions: EMPOWER-H significantly improved participants’ office-measured and home-monitored BP, weight, and lifestyle behaviors, suggesting that technologically enabled BP home-monitoring, with structured use of patient-generated health data and a personalized care-plan facilitating patient engagement, can support effective clinical management. The experience gained in this study provides support for the feasibility and value of using carefully managed patient-generated health data in the day-to-day clinical management of patients with chronic conditions. A large-scale, real-world study to evaluate sustained effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and scalability is warranted. [J Med Internet Res 2017;19(9):e311]
The Philosophy of African Economic Humanism: Ubuntu and Afri-Capitalism as Case Studies

This chapter further unravels the rich case history that supports the book’s thesis that Afri-capitalism and Ubuntology are narratives of an African difference understood through the philosophy of African Economic Humanism. In doing so, the chapter reveals how these African economic social constructions straddle between principles and contexts that are drawn from both Africa Rising and Pan Africanist narratives and processes. To this end, we will see how these narratives embody while also representing the contradictions and dialectics involved in Africans’ nationalistic and regional worldviews that are being negotiated in the contemporary global economy. Responding to four questions—What are the value and philosophical precepts of Afri-capitalism and Ubuntu economics? How have they been socially constructed as economic ideologies? How do they operationalize as new Pan African economic philosophies? How are they cultivating new Afri-conscious international political economies and practices?—the chapter examines how each narrative reflects the Pan Africanist principles of self-determination, resistance to Western appropriation, autonomous agency, and African-derived knowledge. Further, the chapter exposits the converged African humanist values that undergird Africapitalism and Ubuntu business models and reveals their philosophical agenda to Africanize and Pan Africanize an African global economy that is too inclined to foreign extraversion.
Factors associated with digital piracy among early adolescents

Abstract With increasing capacity for storing and transmitting digital content via peer-to-peer networks, digital piracy remains to be a growing concern for various industries worldwide. Concurrently, young people have been at the forefront of adopting and using new technology to share or distribute information with one another. Given that the majority of existing studies have relied on college samples, it is valuable to explore the factors associated with digital piracy among adolescents in non-Western cultures. Using a South Korean sample and multivariate logistic regression, the current study found that association with deviant peers as well as attitudinal and perception indicators are linked with one's participation in digital piracy. These findings suggest that in addition to peer association, an individual's moral attitude toward and perceived legality of digital piracy play a role in the illegal downloading and unauthorized uploading of copyrighted media files among youth. Implications for research and policy are discussed.
Transgenic Solanum brevidens

Solanum brevidens Phil. is a wild species of potato that does not bear tubers but has resistance to potato leaf roll virus (PLRV), potato virus X, and potato virus Y (Jones et al. 1990). It is, however, sexually incompatible with the domestic potato, S. tuberosum. Somatic hybrids of S. brevidens + S. tuberosum are resistant to PLRV and late blight (Helgeson et al. 1986) and have shown a novel resistance to Erwinia tuber soft rot (Austin et al. 1988). Because these interspecific somatic hybrids are fertile, they have great potential for use in potato breeding programs (Helgeson et al. 1993). One method that has facilitated the selection of S. tuberosum + S. brevidens somatic hybrids is transformation of S. brevidens with the nptll selectable marker before protoplast fusion (Puite and Schaart 1993). Another potentially important use for trans-genic S. brevidens is the preferential inclusion of chromosomes in asymmetric fusion products between irradiated transgenic S. brevidens and S. tuberosum (Puite and Schaart 1993).
Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics of Developmental Plasticity: Novel Approaches and First Insights From the Study of Horned Beetles

Phenotypic plasticity pervades organismal development and physiology where it facilitates an enormous range of adaptive responses to novel or stressful environments. Plasticity also impacts evolutionary processes, reducing the probability of population extinction in the face of environmental changes and sometimes increasing speciation rates in developmentally plastic lineages. Despite the adaptive significance of plasticity, organisms are not infinitely plastic; rather they are constrained in the kinds and ranges of environmental changes to which their body parts, organs, and tissues can respond. Understanding the nature, costs, and limits of developmental plasticity requires insight into (i) the developmental-genetic and genomic mechanisms underlying plastic responses as well as (ii) their interplay with ecological and social conditions. In this chapter we review and summarize recent progress in the development of horned beetles as a study system with which to explore the interactions between changing ecological conditions and plastic, genome-wide responses in gene expression and developmental function. In particular, we focus on plastic responses to nutritional variation, which in horned beetles differ widely as a function of body region, sex, and species. We begin by introducing the study system and summarize the developmental-genetic and genomic tool set currently available for horned beetles. We then present recently developed statistical approaches that can be used to guide the design of multi-factorial genome-wide transcriptional comparisons when circumstances prohibit a fully balanced design. We present an example of such an approach in the horned beetle Onthophagus taurus and end by highlighting the growing opportunities for future ecological-genomic studies in horned beetles.
Myofilament Protein Phosphorylation and Neural Regulation of Cardiac Contractility

Hearts function reasonably well without nerves, but the close match of cardiac output to metabolic demands across a wide range of work loads involves adjustments of the functional properties of the cells by extrinsic regulation involving the autonomic nervous system. Parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves and their neurotransmitters influence not only the frequency of cell beating but also the dynamics of their contraction and relaxation (1,2). The parasympathetic nerves and their neurotransmitter acetylcholine also influence the extent of effects of a given level of sympathetic nervous stimulation (3). As an example of the effects of the autonomic nervous system on the mechanics of heart muscle contraction, Figure 1 shows a schematic of the well-known changes in the twitch dynamics of papillary muscle in response to adrenergic stimulation. Maximum force is increased and the rates of rise and fall of force are increased. These changes reduce overall cycle time and ensure adequate filling of the ventricle in spite of relatively fast heart rates.
2001 INVITED ADDRESS: Empowerment Evaluation: Building Communities of Practice and a Culture of Learning

Empowerment evaluation is the use of evaluation concepts, techniques, and findings to foster improvement and self-determination. Program participants—including clients—conduct their own evaluations: an outside evaluator often serves as a coach or additional facilitator depending on internal program capabilities. Empowerment evaluation has three steps: 1) establishing a mission; 2) taking stock; and 3) planning for the future. These three steps build capacity. They also build a sense of community, often referred to as communities of practice. Empowerment evaluation also helps to create a culture of learning and evaluation within an organization or community.
Mining the Categorized Software Repositories to Improve the Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities

Security has become the Achilles' heel of most modern software systems. Techniques ranging from the manual inspection to automated static and dynamic analyses are commonly employed to identify security vulnerabilities prior to the release of the software. However, these techniques are time consuming and cannot keep up with the complexity of ever-growing software repositories (e.g., Google Play and Apple App Store). In this paper, we aim to improve the status quo and increase the efficiency of static analysis by mining relevant information from vulnerabilities found in the categorized software repositories. The approach relies on the fact that many modern software systems are developed using rich application development frameworks (ADF), allowing us to raise the level of abstraction for detecting vulnerabilities and thereby making it possible to classify the types of vulnerabilities that are encountered in a given category of application. We used open-source software repositories comprising more than 7 million lines of code to demonstrate how our approach can improve the efficiency of static analysis, and in turn, vulnerability detection.
Tuberous Sclerosis: Dermatological Features

G.Y. Wu et al. (eds.), Atlas of Dermatological Manifestations of Gastrointestinal Disease, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-6191-3_46, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Clinical signs and features include: Neurocutaneous syndrome: variable phenotype characterized • by the development of multiple hamartomas throughout the body [ 1 ] Classically presents with seizures, mental retardation, • facial angio fi bromas (this triad is found in only 29% of cases) [ 1 ] Incidence is about 1:6,000–1:10,000, although it is hard • to calculate as individuals with mild or asymptomatic disease may never be diagnosed [ 1 ] Manifests in the brain (cortical tubers, subendymal • nodules, and giant cell astrocytomas leading to seizures and mental retardation), kidney (angiomyolipoma), lung (lymphangiomyomatosis), heart (rhabdomyoma), and eyes (retinal hamartomas) [ 1 ] Cutaneous features are present in nearly 100% of patients • and include [ 1 ] : Facial angio fi bromas: red to pink papules/nodules with – a smooth, glistening surface, symmetrically and bilaterally distributed over the centrofacial areas sparing the central upper lip and appearing at 2–5 years of age in 75–85% of patients and may grow rapidly during puberty ( see Fig. 46.1 ) Large hypomelanotic macules (ash leaf spot): 1–2 cm – in diameter lesions that occasionally are more round or polygonal than “leaf” shaped; these are often the earliest visible signs of the condition as usually present at birth; they are present on 97% of affected persons Confetti-like lesions: 1–3 mm white macules, sym – metrically distributed over the extremities and appear in adulthood in about 3% of cases; Shagreen patches and plaques present in 50% of cases, increase in number and size with age, and are found on the dorsal body, especially the lumbosacral area. These have a rough texture resembling an orange peel Ungual/periungual fi bromas: fi rst develop at puberty, – affect 15% of cases, and appear as red/skin-colored papules that arise from the lateral nail grove, plate, and folds; forehead fi brous plaques: yellow to brown to skin-colored large, soft, doughy plaques with variable size and shape that may appear at any age and affect nearly 20% of patients ( see Fig. 46.1 ) Pathogenesis of this genetic disease involves: Autosomal dominant inheritance, although two thirds of • cases are from sporadic mutation [ 1 ] Two tuberous sclerosis genes: • TSC2 : 16p13.3 (more severe phenotype); TSC1 : 9q34 Two proteins—tuberin and hamartin—form a tight • binding relationship that regulates cell growth and tumor genesis by inhibiting mTOR, a cell cycle regulating protein, GAP portion of TSC1 / TSC2 protein is the site of mutations that results in tuberous sclerosis (TS) [ 1 ] Tuberous Sclerosis: Dermatological Features
A D2D Based Clustering Scheme for Public Safety Communications

Public safety communications provide effective communications amongst the first responders and victims in public safety scenarios. Device-to-device (D2D) communication is a technique that can be used to enhance network coverage in cellular networks. In this paper, we propose a novel D2D clustering scheme to expand cellular coverage for public safety communications. In the proposed scheme, cluster heads are selected from a group of public safety user equipment based on different metrics such as remaining battery power, SINR, number of discovered out of coverage devices and mobility. Each cluster head provides synchronization, radio resource management information and coverage to its cluster members. The simulation results demonstrate that our proposed scheme outperforms previous methods in terms of coverage percentage and energy consumption.
Rasmussen's Encephalitis

Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) is a childhood epilepsy syndrome characterized by drug-refractory focal seizures especially epilepsia partialis continua, progressive hemiparesis, and neurocognitive decline. Diagnosis is mainly clinical and can be ambiguous during the early stages of the disease. Its underlying etiology is still elusive, but is suspected to be immune mediated. Treatment of seizures and disease progression is challenging, and although immunotherapy may delay its course, to date, surgical disconnection of the diseased hemisphere remains to be the only effective treatment providing seizure freedom in 60 to 85% of cases. The following review summarizes the current knowledge of the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, management, and treatment of RE.
Antepartum Fetal Assessment and Therapy

This chapter reviews the various methods of antepartum fetal assessment, such as ultrasonography, fetal heart rate monitoring, and biophysical profile.
Respiratory Therapy and Family Engagement in the Intensive Care Unit

Mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving intervention for many patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). While often necessary, it is a source of distress for the family to experience. Respiratory therapists are an important part of the team caring for mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU. Respiratory therapists interact with families daily as they care for the patient at the bedside. In this chapter, we will examine some of the interactions respiratory therapists have with these families and identify areas of opportunity to engage and empower families to participate in the care of their loved ones.
Technology-Based Interventions to Address Pediatric Health Disparities

As we delve into interventions, it is important to consider that strategies aimed at improving disparate health outcomes may potentially have higher uptake and greater results in populations with better baseline health. The most successful strategies avoid widening disparities in their design. This section will explore potential benefits and barriers to Technology-Based Interventions.
Research note: the relationship of organizational justice variables with job involvement among southern prison staff

ABSTRACTThere is a growing body of research that has explored how workplace factors affect prison staff, although empirical research specifically aimed at how organizational justice affects correct...
The spacetime metric of a spherically symmetric deformation of space derived from the cosmic fabric model of gravity

The Cosmic Fabric model of gravity that was previously introduced by Tenev and Horstemeyer [T. G. Tenev and M. F. Horstemeyer, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 27 (2018) 1850083; Rep. Adv. Phys. Sci. 2 (2018) ...
TPN Primer for the Pharmacist: Approach to Nutrition Therapy

Abstract Nutrition support has historically been a challenging area of practice in pharmacy, with the role of many pharmacists confined to strictly the physical preparation and dispensing of the final product. Many hospital pharmacists have little to no formal training with parenteral nutrition (PN); yet, they are facing an area of patient care that is growing in both complexities and in potential patient risk when utilized suboptimally. As the role of the pharmacist continues to evolve, it is imperative to possess a working knowledge of both a safe and effective approach to the management of PN to provide optimal patient outcomes.
The ‘Treatise on the Wuxing’ (Wuxing zhi)

Most researchers in Chinese studies shy away from the ‘superstitious’ material in the Sui shu 隋書 ‘Wuxing zhi’ 五行志 (the History of the Sui ‘Treatise on the Wuxing’), preferring to reduce the messages it would convey to the purely political and invoking Liu Zhiji’s condemnations of such treatises in his Shitong 史通 (Generalities on History). This essay suggests that such treatises in the official histories may provide some of the best entry points into the distinctive cast of mind of their compilers in their ventures into world-making. After all, both rulers and officials often subscribed to the belief, reiterated in the Five Classics, that history’s patterns, as reflected in the resonant cosmos, could be read not only for possible insights into past events but also as reliable guides to the future. The Sui shu ‘Wuxing zhi’ therefore becomes an important part of the educational plan for princes and those who serve them. The essay also attests the great flexibility of the formal aspects of such treatises, whose categories grow, shrink and change to adapt to new realities on the ground.
Leukocyte Evaluation of the Free-Ranging Deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) from Montana, USA

We generated reference ranges for seasonal leukocyte differential counts of the free-ranging deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) from Montana, US. Blood was collected from the retro-orbital capillary sinus of deermice after topical anesthesia with proparacaine. Although season influenced lymphocyte, neutrophil, and monocyte absolute counts, sex and reproductive status did not.
The sonic aesthetics of writing: pedagogy, timbre, and thought

While research on sound and education has opened up important pathways, it dominantly approaches sound as meaningful. This paper charts another tendency, exploring sound as educational precisely be...
Exposure to extracellular vesicles from Pseudomonas aeruginosa result in loss of DNA methylation at enhancer and DNase hypersensitive site regions in lung macrophages.

Various pathogens use differing strategies to evade host immune response including modulating the host’s epigenome. Here, we investigate if EVs secreted from P. aeruginosa alter DNA methylation in ...
Measuring Long-Run Gasoline Price Elasticities in Urban Travel Demand

I develop a structural model of urban travel to estimate long run gasoline price elasticities. I model the demand for transportation services using a dynamic discrete-choice model with switching costs and estimate it using a panel dataset with public market-level data on automobile and public transit use in Chicago. Long-run own- (automobile) and cross- (transit) price elasticities are substantially more elastic than short-run elasticities. Elasticity estimates from static and myopic models are downward biased. I use the estimated model to evaluate the response to several counterfactual policies. A gasoline tax is less regressive after accounting for the long-run substitution behavior.
Skin Cancer Knowledge, Awareness, and Perception

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. The malignancy occurs less frequently in individuals with skin of color, yet has a higher mortality rate than other racial groups due to misdiagnoses, inaccessibility to skin cancer screenings, and lack of skin cancer awareness. Skin cancer can present atypically in individuals with skin of color, often resulting in misidentification, a delayed diagnosis, and an advanced tumor. In skin of color, basal cell carcinoma is associated with UVR and presents as a pigmented nodule with pearly borders. Squamous cell carcinoma commonly arises from chronic inflammation, appearing as a pigmented papule or nodule on non-sun-exposed areas such as the lower extremities and anogenital region. Malignant melanoma is the deadliest form, occurring in abnormal anatomical sites including the nail beds, palms and soles, and mucosal membranes. Understanding the characteristic features for skin cancers in skin of color and increasing awareness of the malignancy is necessary to improve the outcome for this population and allow for prompt diagnoses and effective treatment.
Early- and late-time dynamics of laser-produced plasmas by combining emission and absorption spectroscopy

Abstract Optical emission spectroscopy and laser absorption spectroscopy are two highly complementary techniques for diagnosing plasmas, specifically determining important parameters such as temperature and density. In this work, we characterized a laser-produced plasma by combining emission and tunable laser absorption spectroscopy. Plasmas are produced by focusing pulses from a frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser onto a glass target containing a minor concentration of aluminum in an ambient atmosphere of ~100 Torr N2. Emission spectroscopy is used to investigate the line behavior of Al and Ca, electron density, and excitation temperature at times ≤ 5 μs, while absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the line behavior of Al and Ca, species density, and kinetic temperature at times ≥ 5–100 μs. A comparison is made between the excitation temperature measured from emission using the Boltzmann plot method and the kinetic temperature measured from absorption; the implications of this comparison on local thermodynamic equilibrium and line-of-sight averaging are discussed. Combining the two methods of optical emission and laser absorption spectroscopy, a comprehensive characterization of the plasma over the entire lifetime of its evolution is possible, leading to a greater understanding of plasma behavior.
Mortality and Readmission Rates Among Patients With COVID-19 After Discharge From Acute Care Setting With Supplemental Oxygen.

Importance To optimize patient outcomes and preserve critical acute care access during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services developed the SAFE @ HOME O2Expected Practice (expected practice), enabling ambulatory oxygen management for COVID-19. Objective To assess outcomes of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia discharged via the expected practice approach to home or quarantine housing with supplemental home oxygen. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study included 621 adult patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who were discharged from 2 large urban public hospitals caring primarily for patients receiving Medicaid from March 20 to August 19, 2020. Patients were included in the analysis cohort if they received emergency or inpatient care for COVID-19 and were discharged with home oxygen. Interventions Patients receiving at least 3 L per minute of oxygen, stable without other indication for inpatient care, were discharged from either emergency or inpatient encounters with home oxygen equipment, educational resources, and nursing telephone follow-up within 12 to 18 hours of discharge. Nurses provided continued telephone follow up as indicated, always with physician back-up. Main Outcomes and Measures All-cause mortality and all-cause 30-day return admission. Results A total of 621 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (404 male [65.1%] and 217 female [34.9%]) were discharged with home oxygen. Median age of these patients was 51 years (interquartile range, 45-61 years), with 149 (24.0%) discharged from the emergency department and 472 (76%) discharged from inpatient encounters. The all-cause mortality rate was 1.3% (95% CI, 0.6%-2.5%) and the 30-day return hospital admission rate was 8.5% (95% CI, 6.2%-10.7%) with a median follow-up time of 26 days (interquartile range, 15-55 days). No deaths occurred in the ambulatory setting. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, patients with COVID-19 pneumonia discharged on home oxygen had low rates of mortality and return admission within 30 days of discharge. Ambulatory management of COVID-19 with home oxygen has an acceptable safety profile, and the expected practice approach may help optimize outcomes, by ensuring right care in the right place at the right time and preserving access to acute care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nature of the volatile technetium species formed during vitrification of borosilicate glass

Vitrification of sodium pertechnetate into borosilicate glass was performed in air at 1100 °C. A glass with a composition similar to the one developed for vitrification of the low activity waste at the Hanford site was used. A red volatile species was observed above 600 °C. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure results indicate the environment of the absorbing Tc atom consists of 2.9(6) O atoms at 1.73(2) A, 2.2(4) O atoms at 2.02(2) A, and 0.8(2) O atoms at 2.18(2) A. The results are consistent with the presence of a mononuclear species with a structure closely related to TcO3(OH)(H2O)2.
The effects of utilizing high element ropes courses as a treatment intervention on self-efficacy.

Adventure-Based Therapy (ABT) is a treatment intervention in Recreational Therapy (RT) that has the capacity to produce a variety of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social outcomes. While there is research on the potential benefits of ABT and ropes course experiences, there is a lack of research on which course types lead to specific results, which may result in inconsistent programming. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine the impact of a static belay high ropes course experience on self-efficacy and to explore the different parts of the course experience that were beneficial in developing self-efficacy. Assessments reflected a significant increase in self-efficacy following the ropes course experience. Focus groups and follow-up interviews reflected the different factors of ropes course experiences that led to the differences between pre- and postassessment scores. These results supported that high ropes course programming can impact self-efficacy development, including mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional and physiological arousal. Based on these findings, recreational therapists should consider the use of the high ropes course as a tool to improve self-efficacy. Additional implications for practice and future research are included.
CYTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ANTIMICROBIAL ANTIBIOSIS. III. CYTOLOGICALLY DISTINGUISHABLE STAGES IN ANTIBIOTIC ACTION OF COLISTIN SULFATE ON ESCHERICHIA COLI.

Kaye, Jeremy J. (Cornell University Medical College, New York, N.Y.) and George B. Chapman. Cytological aspects of antimicrobial antibiosis. III. Cytologically distinguishable stages in antibiotic action of colistin sulfate on Escherichia coli . J. Bacteriol. 86: 536–543. 1963.—Broth cultures of Escherichia coli were subjected to a constant concentration of colistin sulfate for varying periods of time. Controls and treated cells were fixed, dehydrated, and embedded in methacrylate, and ultrathin sections were examined in an electron microscope. Three stages in the antibiotic process were discerned. Stage 1 was characterized by a disruption of the axial orientation of the nuclear material and by an invasion of nuclear areas by tufts of material presumably of cytoplasmic origin; no loss of cellular contents could be detected cytologically. Stage 2 was characterized by the loss of nuclear material and by a loss of typical cytoplasmic granularity, an increase in cytoplasmic electron density, and an agglomeration of the cytoplasm into packed tufts of material; in contrast to the nuclear material, there was no loss of cytoplasmic material in this stage. Stage 3 was characterized by the loss of the altered cytoplasmic material but with the persistence of mesosomes, plasma membrane, and cell wall. Speculation that each and all of these changes might have resulted from an altered intracellular milieu secondary to a primary effect of the antibiotic on the plasma membrane is presented. Images
Damage to the perirhinal cortex exacerbates memory impairment following lesions to the hippocampal formation

Recent work has been directed at identifying the critical components of the medial temporal lobe that, when damaged, produce severe memory impairment. The H+A+ lesion includes the hippocampal formation, the amygdala, and the adjacent entorhinal, parahippocampal, and perirhinal cortices. A more restricted medial temporal lobe lesion that includes the hippocampal formation and parahippocampal cortex (the H+ lesion) produces less severe memory impairment. Previous work demonstrated that extending the H+ lesion forward to include the amygdala did not exacerbate the impairment. Here, we tested the hypothesis that extending the H+ lesion forward to include the perirhinal cortex (the H++ lesion), but sparing the amygdala, should produce a more severe memory impairment and one that would approximate the level of memory impairment associated with the H+A+ lesion. Monkeys with the H++ lesion were severely impaired on two of three amnesia-sensitive tasks (delayed nonmatching to sample and delayed retention of object discrimination). On the third amnesia-sensitive task (concurrent discrimination learning), two of the monkeys in the H++ group obtained poorer scores than all seven normal monkeys, although the overall group comparison was not significant. The memory impairment following H++ damage was more severe overall than the impairment associated with the H+ lesion and approached the level of impairment associated with the H+A+ lesions. Quantitative measurement of damage in each anatomical component of the lesion indicated that the perirhinal cortex was the only brain region that was more extensively damaged in the H++ group than in the H+ group. These findings emphasize the importance of the perirhinal cortex in the anatomy of the medial temporal lobe memory system.