cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3496: TRAF2 protects mammary epithelial and cancer cells from endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis

TRAF2 plays a key role in the immune response and cell survival by regulating the NF-κB and JNK pathways in response to most members of the TNF superfamily. TRAF2 has also been shown in cell culture systems to mediate IRE1α-induced activation of the ASK1-JNK pathway to promote apoptosis under conditions of acute endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Gene knockout studies revealed that mice deficient for RANKL or NF-κB display defects in osteoclastogenesis and lactating mammary-gland development. Here, we report that TNFα and TRAF2 double knockout (DKO) mice develop with normal bone morphology and density, but the female mice display a severe lactation defect due to significantly increased apoptosis of cells in the lobuloalveolar tree. Unexpectedly, RANKL-induced activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway is not only normal in DKO mammary epithelial cells (MECs), but the expression of the NF-κB target genes is significantly enhanced due to constitutive activation of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway in the absence of TRAF2. On the other hand, cytotoxicity assays revealed that DKO MECs exhibit significantly increased susceptibility to apoptosis induced by chronic ER stress, but not by death receptor or DNA damage. In addition, siRNA-mediated knockdown of TRAF2 in breast cancer cells significantly sensitized the cells to chronic ER stress-induced apoptosis in a RIP1-dependent manner. These data suggest that the physiological function of TRAF2 is to protect the cells from apoptosis under conditions of pathologically relevant chronic ER stress. Given that the lactating MECs and rapidly growing cancer cells have high demands for protein syntheses and ER stress responses, our findings suggest that inhibition of the IRE1α-TRAF2 pathway could be used as a novel adjuvant therapy to treat rapidly proliferating cancer cells. Citation Format: Hasem Habelhah, Laiqun Zhang, Ainiwaer Xialikaer, Ken Blackwell. TRAF2 protects mammary epithelial and cancer cells from endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3496.
Tarski as Intuitionistic Formalist

Accepting the basics of Intuitionistic Formalism, Tarski sought to extend it. In particular, inspired perhaps by Leśniewski’s steps toward formalized syntax [Leśniewski, 1929], [Leśniewski, 1992e], Tarski began to look at the issues that arose when one’s discourse about a deductive theory was itself expressed in a deductive theory. This is the sort of project that would have attracted an ambitious young contributor: investigate whether the going view among his teachers about “metamathematics” could handle metamathematical concepts themselves. His first published contributions to this project were several papers on axioms for the consequence relation. We will look at those works in order to see the beginning of Tarski’s project. After that we will look at his most extensive contribution to the general project, “Some Methodological Investigations on the Definability of Concepts”, which collects work from 1926 and 1932.
Trial of Methylphenidate and Thioridazine

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study of methylphenidate (0.4 mg/kg/day) and thioridazine (1.75 mg/kg/day) in 27 intellectually subaverage children is reported from The Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, and the University of Aukland, New Zealand.
Theories of Creativity

This article surveys the range of contemporary theories of creativity. These are heuristically divided into ten categories: developmental, psychometric, economic, stage and componential process, cognitive, problem solving and expertise-based, problem finding, evolutionary, typological, and systems. These perspectives span a range of subtopics, levels of analysis, and emphases within the study of creativity. Beyond the general overview, prospects for the future role and development of theories of creativity are discussed, offering a critical but hopefully constructive appraisal of current theories and their promise for a continued deeper understanding of the nature of creativity.
Interleaved Presentation Benefits Science Category Learning

The present study investigated whether the sequencing of exemplars affects learning of rule-based science categories. We taught undergraduate students chemical categories by showing them diagrams of organic chemical compounds accompanied by their category label in either an interleaved or blocked fashion. On a categorization test of novel exemplars administered 2 days later, interleaved presentation produced superior performance than blocked presentation for categories that were visually simple (Experiment 1) and relatively more complex (Experiment 2). The advantage of interleaved presentation was still observed when the diagnostic features of each category were highlighted during study (Experiments 3 and 4), suggesting that the benefit of interleaving may not be due solely to increasing the salience of contrastive features that differentiate the categories. These findings demonstrate that interleaved presentation can improve learning of educationally relevant categories, even when coupled with pedagogical techniques that emphasize the diagnostic features of each category.
Decentralization and Public Service Delivery in Ghana’s Fourth Republic

Underpinning this chapter is an in-depth examination of rural electrification efforts under a tenuous trajectory of democratization and decentralization. The chapter argues that successful outcomes of electrification initiatives are the cumulative result of sequenced efforts and transformation of access via a public goods lens. The chapter suggests a need to revisit notions of success and inherent paradox between decentralization objectives, central government and electricity delivery.
A Retrieval Analysis of Impingement in Dual-Mobility Liners

BACKGROUND Implant-related impingement is likely a major causative factor of total hip arthroplasty (THA) instability. Dual-mobility (DM) cups can theoretically improve stability in THA, but impingement rates with DM cups are not well studied. We examined retrieved DM THA liners to determine if less evidence existed for prosthetic impingement between the neck and the polyethylene liner than historical studies from our institution on fixed-bearing THAs. METHODS DM components from 93 THAs were identified from 164 THAs whose DM components were revised between 2008 and 2015 through our institutional review board-approved implant retrieval program. The mean age was 63 ± 11 years, mean body mass index was 30 ± 7 kg/m2, and mean length of implantation was 2.08 ± 1.89 years. Two independent graders scored each liner for the presence and severity of impingement. Radiographs were evaluated for inclination, anteversion, change in leg length, and combined offset. RESULTS Only 21.5% (20/93) of DM cups showed evidence of impingement compared to 77% (75/97) of fixed-bearing cups found in a previous study performed at our institution (P < .001). Of the revision components, 35.2% (5/14) demonstrated evidence of impingement compared to 19.7% (14/71) implanted in primary surgery (P = .189). In the cohort revised for instability, the rate of impingement was 35.3% (6/17); for the implants revised for any other reason, the impingement rate was 18.4% (14/77) (P = .126). CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that DM liners significantly reduce the rate of impingement (21.5%) when compared to fixed-bearing liners (77%).
Homogenous Hot Hole Injection by Tunnelling in Gate Oxides of CMOS Devices

Substrate hot hole injection was used to investigate hole trapping in thin oxides of MOS transistors. It has been found that tunnelling hole injection into the oxide may take place at hole energies much lower than that needed for over-the-barrier emission. Resulting threshold voltage shift and hole detrapping kinetics during subsequent high-field electron injection indicate different amount and distribution of trapped positive charge for devices subjected to injection of holes with different energies.
Robust Learning of Consumer Preferences

This paper studies a class of ranking and selection problems faced by a company that wants to identify the most preferred product out of a finite set of alternatives when consumer preferences are a priori unknown. The only information available is that consumer preferences satisfy two key properties: (i) they are consistent with some unknown true ranking of the alternatives and (ii) they are strict, namely, no two products are equally preferred. To learn the unknown ranking, the company is able to sample consumer preferences by sequentially showing different subsets of products to different consumers and asking them to report their top preference within the displayed set. The objective of the company is to design a display policy that minimizes the expected number of samples needed to identify the top-ranked product with high probability. We prove an instance-specific lower bound on the sample complexity of any policy that identifies the top-ranked version within a given (probabilistic) confidence. We also propose a robust formulation of the company's problem and derive a sampling policy (Myopic Tracking Policy), which is both worst-case asymptotically optimal and intuitive to implement. Roughly speaking, the Myopic Tracking Policy randomly alternates between two extreme types of displaying strategies: (i) full display that shows a consumer the entire menu so as to learn something about every version and (ii) pair display that shows a consumer only two versions so as to maximize the informativeness of the choice made by the consumer. To assess the performance of our proposed Myopic Tracking Policy, we conduct a comprehensive set of computational studies and compare it to alternative methods in the literature.
A Rare Co-occurrence of Intestinal Malrotation and Hirschsprung's Disease in a Neonate with 13q21.31q33.1 Interstitial Deletion Including the EDNRB Gene

We report a rare co-occurrence of intestinal malrotation and Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) in a male neonate with a large 38.8 Mb interstitial deletion of chromosome 13 extending from q21.31 to q33.1 including the EDNRB gene, who presented with craniofacial dysmorphic features and central nervous system malformations. The loss of EDNRB gene in addition to bilateral hearing loss and HSCR suggested an additional diagnosis of Waardenburg-Shah's syndrome. This case highlights the fact that prior knowledge of this rare association in infants with 13q deletion syndrome would enable early diagnosis and prompt interventions to prevent gastrointestinal complications.
UNIT 12.16 Morphometric Analysis in Neurodegenerative Disorders

The study of dendritic length and spine density has become standard in the analysis of neuronal abnormalities, since a considerable number of neurological diseases have their foundation in alterations in these structures. One of the best ways to study possible alterations in neuronal morphometry is the use of Golgi impregnation. Introduced more than a century ago, it is still the standard and state-of-the-art technique for visualization of neuronal architecture. We successfully applied the Golgi method to mouse, rat, monkey, and human brain tissues for studying both the normal and abnormal morphology of neurons. We were able to discover subtle morphological alterations in neuronal dendrites and dendritic spines in different brain areas. Although Golgi preparations can be examined by electronic microscopy, we used light microscopy and reconstruction using Neurolucida software to quantitatively explore the relationship between total dendritic length and spine density in different types of neurons. This unit summarizes the methodology used to quantify neuronal abnormalities and discusses the utility of these techniques in different models of neurodegeneration. Curr. Protoc. Toxicol. 43:12.16.1-12.16.14. © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: Golgi impregnation; Neurolucida; dendrites; dendritic spine; neuronal morphometry
Characteristics and Fate of Abstracts Presented at American Academy of Ophthalmology Meetings

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the characteristics and publication outcomes of abstracts presented in American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meetings.Subject and Methods: Abstra...
E-cadherin Beyond Structure: A Signaling Hub in Colon Homeostasis and Disease

E-cadherin is the core component of epithelial adherens junctions, essential for tissue development, differentiation, and maintenance. It is also fundamental for tissue barrier formation, a critical function of epithelial tissues. The colon or large intestine is lined by an epithelial monolayer that encompasses an E-cadherin-dependent barrier, critical for the homeostasis of the organ. Compromised barriers of the colonic epithelium lead to inflammation, fibrosis, and are commonly observed in colorectal cancer. In addition to its architectural role, E-cadherin is also considered a tumor suppressor in the colon, primarily a result of its opposing function to Wnt signaling, the predominant driver of colon tumorigenesis. Beyond these well-established traditional roles, several studies have portrayed an evolving role of E-cadherin as a signaling epicenter that regulates cell behavior in response to intra- and extra-cellular cues. Intriguingly, these recent findings also reveal tumor-promoting functions of E-cadherin in colon tumorigenesis and new interacting partners, opening future avenues of investigation. In this Review, we focus on these emerging aspects of E-cadherin signaling, and we discuss their implications in colon biology and disease.
Durability of CFRP strands used for prestressing of concrete structural members

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive research conducted to study the synergistic effect of environmental conditions and sustained loading on the mechanical properties of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) prestressing strands. The environmental conditions included exposure of CFRP strands to alkaline solution and sustained loading at an elevated temperature of 55 °C for 3000 and 7000 h. The sustained loading was equivalent to 65 percent of the guaranteed tensile strength of the strands. Mechanical testing performed on the strands included tensile, shear and bond strength as well as evaluation of the elastic modulus of the CFRP strands as affected by the environmental conditions and sustained loading. Durability of the constituent materials of the CFRP strands was also studied.
CALLING FOR SUPPORT: EXTRACORPOREAL MEMBRANE OXYGENATION (ECMO) ASSISTED HIGH RISK PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION OF MULTIVESSEL CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

71 y/o man with h/o known triple vessel CAD (did not follow up for CABG), COPD on home O2, chronic A. Fib on rivaroxaban, HTN, PAD presented to an outside hospital with angina and progressively worsening dyspnea on exertion. He was short of breath at rest, and was found to have acute systolic heart
Absence of glyphosate-induced effects on ovarian folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis

Glyphosate (GLY) is an herbicidal active ingredient and both in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that GLY alters ovarian function. To determine if a chronic GLY exposure model affected steroidogenesis or folliculogenesis in vivo, postnatal day 42 C57BL6 female mice were orally delivered vehicle control (saline) or GLY (2 mg/Kg) from a pipette tip five days per week for either five or ten weeks. Mice were euthanized at the pro-estrus stage of the estrous cycle. GLY exposure did not impact body weight gain, organ weights, or healthy follicle numbers. In addition, GLY exposure did not affect abundance of ovarian mRNA encoding kit ligand (Kitlg), KIT proto-oncogene receptor tyrosine kinase (c-Kit), insulin receptor (Insr), insulin receptor substrate (Irs1 or Irs2) and protein thymoma viral proto-oncogene 1 (AKT) or phosphorylated AKT. Ovarian mRNA or protein abundance of Star, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (Hsd3b1), Cyp11a1 or Cyp19a were also not altered by GLY. Circulating 17β-estradiol and progesterone concentration were unaffected by GLY exposure. In conclusion, chronic GLY exposure for five or ten weeks did not affect the ovarian endpoints examined herein.
On the Top-Level Integration of the EPIDEMIA System

The Epidemic Prognosis Incorporating Disease and Environmental Monitoring for Integrated Assessment (EPIDEMIA) software system was designed and implemented to integrate disease surveillance with environmental monitoring in support of operational malaria forecasting in the Amhara region of Ethiopia [1]. The EPIDEMIA system consists of a collection of independent software subsystems, which were developed separately and are operating in different environments. The users who generate the weekly malaria forecasts are required to have considerable knowledge of the subsystems and manually perform a sequence of steps on these subsystems. As a result, the lack of top-level integration of the system became a barrier for the users to use the system effectively and transfer the technology. Research has been done on solving the barrier by integrating the EPIDEMIA system at the top-level with a simple interface. The result integrated system has a lightweight and user-friendly user interface that significantly reduces the time and effort for generating the forecasting reports and updating the visualizations. This paper briefly reviews the major subsystems of EPIDEMIA and the workflow steps involved in operating the subsystems. It focuses on presenting the details of the design and implementation of the integration.
Curcumin represses mTORC1 signaling in Caco-2 cells by a two-sided mechanism involving the loss of IRS-1 and activation of AMPK

Abstract The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a central modulator of inflammation and tumorigenesis in the gastrointestinal tract. Growth factors upregulate mTORC1 via the PI3K/AKT and/or Ras/MAPK signal pathways. Curcumin (CUR), a polyphenol found in turmeric roots (Curcuma longa) can repress mTORC1 kinase activity in colon cancer cell lines; however, key aspects of CUR mechanism of action remain to be elucidated including its primary cellular target. We investigated the molecular effects of physiologically attainable concentration of CUR (20 μM) in the intestinal lumen on mTORC1 signaling in Caco-2 cells. CUR markedly inhibited mTORC1 kinase activity as determined by the decreased phosphorylation of p70S6K (Thr389, −99%, P
American Law Enforcement Responses to COVID-19

During the spring and summer of 2020, what role did law enforcement play in promoting COVID-19 restrictions in the United States? Because most law enforcement in the US occurs at the local level, we conducted a survey of local police departments to examine their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results show that most departments, especially departments in smaller jurisdictions, played a minimal role in enforcing COVID-related restrictions and tended to only encourage compliance. Further, it was extremely rare for a department to use sophisticated surveillance technology to monitor COVID compliance. This lack of monitoring stands in stark contrast to both the regimes employed by several comparable industrialized countries and the broad surveillance powers permissible under the U.S. Constitution.
Identifying Patterns and Predictors of Prescription Opioid Use After Total Joint Arthroplasty.

INTRODUCTION Total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty account for over 1 million procedures annually. Opioids are the mainstay of postoperative pain management for these patients. In this context, the objective of this study was to determine patterns of use and factors associated with early discontinuation of opioids after total joint arthroplasty (TJA). METHODS TRICARE claims data (2006-2014) were queried for adult (18-64 years) patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty. Prescription opioid use was identified from 6 months before and 6 months after surgical intervention. Prior opioid use was categorized as naive, exposed (with non-sustained use), and sustained (6 month continuous use before surgery). Cox proportional-hazards models were used to identify factors associated with opioid discontinuation following TJA. RESULTS Among the 29,767 patients included in the study, 15,271 (51.3%) had prior opioid exposure and 3,740 (12.5%) were sustained opioid users. At 6 months after the surgical intervention, 3,171 (10.6%) continued opioid use, 3.3% were among opioid naive, 10.2% among exposed, and 33.3% among sustained users. In risk-adjusted models, prior opioid exposure (hazards ratio: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.62-0.67) and sustained prior use (hazards ratio: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.31-0.35) were the strongest predictors of lower likelihood of opioid discontinuation. Lower socio-economic status, depression, and anxiety were also strong predictors. CONCLUSION Prior opioid exposure was strongly associated with continued opioid dependence after TJA. Although one-third of prior sustained users continued use after surgery, approximately 10% of previously exposed patients became sustained users, making them the prime candidates for targeted interventions to reduce the likelihood of sustained opioid use after TJA.
Abstract P241: Why Do We Expect Clinicians to Perform the Work of Computers? Developing an Automated Stroke Registry

Background: Stroke registries are established with the primary goal of improving health care quality and performance improvement through increased adherence to evidenced based guideline recommendat...
Every guy needs his team: the promise of peer-led mentoring groups for college men.

Our study conducted a preliminary evaluation of a peer-mentoring group program for college men (Freshmen League). Participants & Methods: We interviewed first-year men who participated in Freshmen ...
Salience, uniqueness, and the definite determiner -te in Bulu

Analyses of the meanings of definite determiners both in English (Kadmon 1990, Roberts 2003, Elbourne 2013, a.o.) and crosslinguistically (Schwarz 2013, Arkoh and Matthewson 2013) have been framed in terms of two dimensions of meaning: familiarity and uniqueness. This paper presents an analysis of the Bulu (Bantu, Cameroon) definite determiner -te. I argue that the antecedent of an NP with -te is required to be salient and unique. Thus, salience is an additional dimension along which there is crosslinguistic variation in the meanings of definite determiners.
A Postscript on Katz and Stonewall: Evidence from Justice Stewart's First Draft

In an article published in 2008, I suggested that anxieties about homosexuality and its policing lay behind and helped to shape the criminal procedure decisions of the Warren Court — in particular, the landmark Fourth Amendment ruling in Katz v. United States. Katz is the telephone eavesdropping case in which the Supreme Court famously declared that the Fourth Amendment protects “people, not places”; it is the basis for the modern rule that whether police activity constitutes a “search” under the Fourth Amendment depends on whether it intrudes on a reasonable expectation of privacy, not on whether it involves a physical trespass. I argued in 2008 that when deciding Katz at least some of the Justices may have had, in the back in their minds, the then-widespread police practice of spying on men in public toilet stalls to detect homosexual sodomy. Katz plainly helped to end that practice. I suggested that this result was one that the Court, or at least some of its members, would have foreseen and welcomed, but that it was not something the Court felt comfortable addressing directly.When my article was published, the papers of Justice Potter Stewart, the author of the Court’s opinion in Katz, were still under seal. Pursuant to Justice Stewart’s directions, they became public with the retirement of the last Justice to have served with Justice Stewart. That turned out to be Justice Stevens, who stepped down from the Court in 2010. The Stewart Papers include the first draft of what eventually became the Court’s opinion in Katz, and that draft contains a small bit of additional support — suggestive but very far from conclusive — for the argument I made three years ago. This short paper describes the new evidence and includes, as an appendix, a photographic reproduction of Justice Stewart’s first draft in Katz.
Variation in hospital costs, payments, and profitabilty for cardiac valve replacement surgery.

Health Services Research r Health Research and Educational Trust DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2011.01288.x RESEARCH ARTICLE Variation in Hospital Costs, Payments, and Profitabilty for Cardiac Valve Replacement Surgery James C. Robinson Objective. Examine the variation for Medicare and privately insured patients in hos- pital costs, payments, and contribution margins and their association with characteristics of the patients, hospitals, and hospital markets. Data Sources. Administrative records for 1,858 patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement surgery were obtained from 37 hospitals in 7 states for 2008. Study Design. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses of costs, payments, and profitability (contribution margin) for Medicare and privately insured patients, adjusting for patient, hospital, and market characteristics. Data Collection. Integrated Health Care Association, Aspen Health Metrics, Amer- ican Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals. Principal Findings. Cardiac valve replacement surgery is an expensive but profitable procedure, with average cost and contribution margin per case of U.S.$38,667 and U.S.$21,967, respectively. Average costs per case for Medicare patients are 16.1 percent higher in concentrated than in competitive local markets after adjusting for patient comorbidities, complications, and other relevant factors (po.01). Payments per case were 33.2 percent (po.01) lower from Medicare than from private insurers. The average contribution margin earned by hospitals from Medicare was U.S.$30,986 lower than the margin earned from private insurers (po.01), after adjusting for patient, hospital, and market characteristics. Conclusions. Hospitals charge significantly higher prices and earn significantly higher contribution margins from private insurers than from Medicare for patients undergoing cardiac valve replacement. Key Words. Hospital costs and prices, Medicare cost shifting, health care reform, prospective payment, insurance Expansions of insurance coverage under the Patient Protection and Afford- able Care Act (PPACA) are to be financed partly through restrictions in Medicare payments, relative to expected trends in costs (Davis et al. 2010; Foster 2010; PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Care Research Institute 2010). This financing policy has reinvigorated a long-standing debate over the
Influence of Severe Plastic Deformation on the Structure and Properties of Ultrahigh-Carbon Steel Wire

Ultrahigh-carbon steel wire can achieve very high strength after severe plastic deformation, because of the fine, stable substructures produced. Tensile strengths approaching 6000 MPa are predicted for UHCS containing 1.8%C. This paper discusses the microstructural evolution during drawing of UHCS wire, the resulting strength produced and the strengthening mechanisms active in these materials. Drawing produces considerable alignment of the pearlite plates. Dislocation cells develop within the ferrite plates and, with increasing strain, the size normal to the axis (d) decreases. These dislocation cells resist dynamic recovery during wire drawing and thus extremely fine substructures can be developed (d < 10 nm). Increasing the carbon content reduces the mean free ferrite path in the as-patented wire and the cell size developed during drawing. For UHCS, the strength varies as d-n, where n is 0.5 to 1. The influence of processing and composition on achieving high strength in these wires during severe plastic deformation is discussed.
Use of Hormone Testing for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Male Hypogonadism and Monitoring of Testosterone Therapy: Application of Hormone Testing Guideline Recommendations in Clinical Practice

Abstract Introduction Clinical practice guidelines recommend that testosterone (T) levels be measured on ≥2 occasions to confirm a diagnosis of hypogonadism, gonadotropins be measured to determine whether hypogonadism is primary or secondary, and T levels be measured to monitor the adequacy of T therapy. However, it is not known whether hormone testing as recommended by guidelines is routinely performed in real‐world clinical practice. Aim The aim of this study was to assess the use of hormone testing for the diagnosis and evaluation of hypogonadism and monitoring of T therapy in clinical practice. Methods In this retrospective cohort study of the Truven Health Marketscan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Insurance Databases during 2010–2012, 63,534 men over 18 years old who received T therapy and had continuous medical benefit enrollment for 1 year prior to and 6 months after T therapy initiation were included in this analysis. Main Outcome Measures Proportion of patients who received ≥2, 1, or no T‐level determinations prior to or following T therapy initiation. Results Seventy‐one percent of hypogonadal men had T measured at least once and 40% had ≥ 2 tests, but only 12% of men had luteinizing hormone and/or follicle‐stimulating hormone levels measured prior to T therapy initiation. Following T therapy initiation, 46% had ≥1 follow‐up T measurements. Conclusions Appropriate use of T and gonadotropin levels in clinical practice as recommended by guidelines is suboptimal, increasing the possibility of overdiagnosis of male hypogonadism, underdiagnosis of secondary hypogonadism, and inappropriate T therapy use and management. Further investigation is needed into reasons for nonadherence to guidelines for appropriate hormone testing to inform future quality improvement efforts. Muram D, Zhang X, Cui Z, and Matsumoto AM. Use of Hormone Testing for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Male Hypogonadism and Monitoring of Testosterone Therapy: Application of Hormone Testing Guideline Recommendations in Clinical Practice. J Sex Med 2015;12:1886–1894.
Explicit State Model Checking with Hopper

The Murϕ-based Hopper tool is a general purpose explicit model checker. Hopper leverages Murϕ’s class structure to implement new algorithms. Hopper differs from Murϕ in that it includes in its distribution published parallel and disk based algorithms, as well as several new algorithms. For example, Hopper includes parallel dynamic partitioning, cooperative parallel search for LTL violations and property-based guided search (parallel or sequential). We discuss Hopper in general and present a recently implemented randomized guided search algorithm. In multiple parallel guided searches, randomization increases the expected average time to find an error but decreases the expected minimum time to find an error.
Stable isotope patterns of benthic organisms from the Great Lakes region indicate variable dietary overlap of Diporeia spp. and dreissenid mussels

Competition between native and invasive species may bring about a suite of ecological and evolutionary outcomes, including local extirpations. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, competition for food ma...
Eyeing the complications of hemodialysis in the eye

The effect of hemodialysis (HD) on intraocular pressure (IOP) is variable and the exact mechanisms are not clear. Increased, decreased, as well as unchanged IOP has been described during HD in various case reports and studies. Patients with certain types of glaucoma and aqueous outflow obstruction of any other cause might be more susceptible to increase in IOP. This can cause severe eye pain, blurry vision, and headaches, causing significant morbidity for such dialysis patients. Certain changes in dialysis prescription may help relieve the above symptoms. There is a lack of awareness among nephrologists about the effects of HD on IOP. This may be especially relevant in the African American patients who besides having a higher risk of developing end-stage renal disease also have a higher risk of developing glaucoma. Recognition as well as management of signs and symptoms of elevated IOP in the dialysis population is significant morbidity and unnecessary work-up.
A-C contactors supplied by long control lines

WHEN a-c operated contactors are controlled by push buttons located at some distance from the contactor, the wire-to-wire and wire-to-ground capacitance of these control leads may be sufficient to prevent the contactor from dropping out when the off button at the remote station is depressed.
Defending recommender systems: detection of profile injection attacks

Collaborative recommender systems are known to be highly vulnerable to profile injection attacks, attacks that involve the insertion of biased profiles into the ratings database for the purpose of altering the system’s recommendation behavior. Prior work has shown when profiles are reverse engineered to maximize influence; even a small number of malicious profiles can significantly bias the system. This paper describes a classification approach to the problem of detecting and responding to profile injection attacks. A number of attributes are identified that distinguish characteristics present in attack profiles in general, as well as an attribute generation approach for detecting profiles based on reverse engineered attack models. Three well-known classification algorithms are then used to demonstrate the combined benefit of these attributes and the impact the selection of classifier has with respect to improving the robustness of the recommender system. Our study demonstrates this technique significantly reduces the impact of the most powerful attack models previously studied, particularly when combined with a support vector machine classifier.
Modification of the Carrier, Greengard, and Rokhlin FMM for Independent Source and Target Fields

The Greengard?Rokhlin fast multipole method (FMM) provides an efficient numerical algorithm to calculate the two-dimensional stream function and velocity field at a number of target points associated with a large system of vortices (sources). In this paper we discuss an extension to their adaptive scheme. The added feature allows the specification of target points that do not have to coincide with the location of the sources. This is useful when specifying separate source and target fields for calculating boundary conditions, trajectories of passive scalar quantities, data for stream-function plots, etc. A simple algorithm has been developed to optimize the method for cases where the number of sources differs significantly from the number of target points.
Optimism and Revolt of the Oppressed: A Comparison of Two Polish Jewish Ghettos of World War II

One World War II Jewish ghetto that revolted, the Warsaw Ghetto, is compared to one that did not, the Lodz Ghetto, in order to examine the causes of violent resistance. This structured focused comparative method (George, 1979) illuminates problems with previous explanations for revolt and nonrevolt in Jewish ghettos and suggest psychological variables that might have led to or precluded organized violence. Specifically, it appears that these two ghettos differed in their perceptions about their future. The residents of the Warsaw Ghetto believed they had no hope of survival while residents of the Lodz Ghetto remained optimistic. These differing perceptions seem to have led to the different outcomes. Possible causes of these percetpions are also discussed. Language: en
Altered mRNA expression of Pax5 and Blimp-1 in B cells in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder that potentially initiates during an early stage of B-cell development. We encountered an unidentified isoform of B cell–specific activator protein (BSAP, or Pax5) in MM cells while performing differential analyses to compare mRNA expression in malignant and normal plasma cells. Pax5 is a transcription factor that plays a central role throughout B-cell development until the point of terminal differentiation. Our finding of this unique isoform prompted us to investigate Pax5 isoform usage in plasma cells and B-cell populations in other MM and healthy subjects. In contrast to normal Pax5 expression, we observed multiple isoforms of Pax5 in conjunction with low levels of expression of the full-length Pax5 in B cells from MM patients. The expressed isoforms in MM varied considerably from patient to patient, with no clear pattern. We also performed semiquantitative analyses of the mRNA expression levels of B lymphocyte–induced maturation protein (Blimp-1), because expression levels of Pax5 and Blimp-1 have been shown to be inversely correlated. We observed the expression of Blimp-1 in the B-cell populations in all 11 MM patients but in none of 11 healthy subjects. We hypothesize that premature Blimp-1 expression coupled to altered and deficient Pax5 expression causes some proliferating B cells to prematurely differentiate to plasma cells in MM.
Thermodynamics of calcium chloride in highly concentrated aqueous solution and in hydrated crystals

Measured values of the pressure of H2O over saturated solutions in equilibrium with the dihydrate, tetrahydrate or hexahydrate of CaCl2 are converted to osmotic coefficients and compared with literature values for solutions of smaller molality. It is found that the osmotic coefficient is constant, within the uncertainty, from about 7 mol-kg−1 to soturation at all temperatures from 25 to 100°C. From this simple approximation, the activity coefficient is calculated for high molalities and at saturation. By combination of these results with other established data, entropies and Gibbs energies of formation are calculated for the crystalline hydrates of CaCl2.
Multiple interactions: An empirically suggested model

Abstract A modified version of Schoener's non-linear competition model is presented. The model describes the competitive dynamics of two species competing for a common resource. A second resource made available by species 1 for the exclusive use of species 2 is also present. This second resource is generated in an undefined way from the common resource. The presence of the exclusive resource serves to prevent the extinction of species 2 even when that species is at a great competitive disadvantage in obtaining the common resource. A feedback loop is established, dependent on the exclusive resource, making possible an increase in numbers of species 2 as the numbers of species 1 increase. This is represented as a reversal in the slope of the species 2 isocline. The behavior of the isoclines of both species is examined as certain key parameters are varied. The model is related to the results obtained from experiments involving Tribolium and Drosophila.
Integrated Population Balance Model Development and Validation of a Granulation Process

This study is concerned with the development of an integrated three-dimensional population balance model (PBM) that describes the combined effect of key granulation mechanisms that occur during the course of a granulation process. Results demonstrate the importance of simulating the different mechanisms within a population balance model framework to elucidate realistic granulation dynamics. The incorporation of liquid addition in the model also aids in demarcating the dynamics in different regimes such as premixing, granulation (during liquid addition) and wet massing (after liquid addition). For the first time, the effect of primary particle size distributions and mode of binder addition on key granule properties was studied using an integrated PBM. Experimental data confirms the validity of the overall model as compared to traditional models in the literature that do not integrate the different granulation mechanisms.
Tag decay: A view into aging folksonomies

As work continues with folksonomies and databases of tag activity grow large and mature, we will begin to run into the problem of staleness across our tag sets. The problem of agedness and increasing irrelevance can be combated with interesting visualizations and necessary new techniques. From the perspective of each of the other two tenets of folksonomy (objects and people) (Vander Wal, 2007), we can look at how tags are being used over time.
Measurement of oral status and treatment need among subjects with dental prostheses: Are the measures less reliable than the prostheses? Part II: Treatment need in removable prosthodontics

Evaluation of treatment need in removable prosthodontics has been an important component of many epidemiologic and clinical oral health surveys. Accurate measurement of need for care enhances health care program planning, quality of care evaluation, and good clinical and health services research. Unfortunately, similar to the measures of oral and prosthesis status discussed in Part I of this review, measures of treatment need in removable prosthodontics have generally been neither reliable nor valid, and have lacked scientific credibility. Part II describes existing measures for treatment need in removable prosthodontics.
Cerebrospinal fluid values in the very low birth weight infant

The cerebrospinal fluid values obtained in the first 12 weeks of life from 43 infants with birth weights of 1500 gm or less were analyzed to determine the ranges for leukocyte count and chemistry values. All these neonates had birth weights appropriate for gestational age, negative cerebrospinal fluid culture for bacteria, and no evidence of intracranial bleeding by head ultrasound examination. The mean birth weight was 1002 gm (range 550 to 1500 gm), and mean gestational age was 27 weeks (range 24 to 33 weeks). The mean cerebrospinal fluid leukocyte count was 5 cells/mm 3 (range 0 to 44 cells/mm 3 ); leukocyte differential was 7% polymorphonuclear leukocytes (range up to 66%) and 85% mononuclear leukocytes (range 13% to 100%). Additional values included protein concentration, 142 mg/di (range 45 to 370 mg/dl); and glucose, 60 mg/dl (range 29 to 217 mg/dl). Knowledge of these measurements should help in the interpretation of the cerebrospinal fluid values of the very low birth weight infant undergoing examination of a central nervous system disorder.
A topological space could have infinite successor point-open type

Abstract For each infinite ordinal less than or equal to ω · 2, we give a ZFC example of a topological space which has point-open type that ordinal.
Design and Synthesis of Model Transparent Aqueous Colloids with Optimal Scattering Properties

We demonstrate the synthesis and self-assembly of colloidal particles with independently controlled diameter and scattering cross section. We show that it is possible to prepare bulk colloidal suspensions that are nearly transparent in water, while the particles themselves can be individually resolved using optical microscopy. These particles may be ideal model colloids for real-space studies of self-assembly in aqueous media. Moreover, they illustrate the degree to which the optical properties of colloids can be engineered through straightforward chemistry.
Tumbling Gauge Theories

We consider a class of gauge theories in which chiral fermion fields are coupled to gauge fields. If the fermion content does not form a real representation of the gauge group, these theories may undergo dynamical symmetry breaking. In all but the simplest cases the breakdown appears to occur in a sequence of steps leading to a hierarchy of mass scales. This may be related to the hierarchal character of quark and lepton masses.
Biochemical properties of latices from the Euphorbiaceae

Abstract Latex sera from 18 Euphorbia species were surveyed for protein, carbohydrate and total solid contents. Protease, esterase, alkaline and acid phosphatase, N -acetyl-β-glucosaminidase, α-mannosidase, α- and β-galactosidase, α- and β-glucosidase, α-amylase, lysozyme, leucine amino peptidase and cellulase activities were also measured. The effects of nine protease inhibitors were assayed as were haemagglutinating (lectin) contents. Two-dimensional (isoelectric focusing and SDS) PAGE maps of the sera were made. The results obtained show that the latices have widely varying biochemical properties.
Proteomic analysis of fructose-induced fatty liver in hamsters

High fructose consumption is associated with the development of fatty liver and dyslipidemia with poorly understood mechanisms. We used a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-based proteomics approach to define the molecular events that link high fructose consumption to fatty liver in hamsters. Hamsters fed high-fructose diet for 8 weeks, as opposed to regular-chow-fed controls, developed hyperinsulinemia and hyperlipidemia. High-fructose-fed hamsters exhibited fat accumulation in liver. Hamsters were killed, and liver tissues were subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-based proteomics. This approach identified a number of proteins whose expression levels were altered by >2-fold in response to high fructose feeding. These proteins fall into 5 different categories including (1) functions in fatty acid metabolism such as fatty acid binding protein and carbamoyl-phosphate synthase; (2) proteins in cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism such as apolipoprotein A-1 and protein disulfide isomerase; (3) molecular chaperones such as GroEL, peroxiredoxin 2, and heat shock protein 70, whose functions are important for protein folding and antioxidation; (4) enzymes in fructose catabolism such as fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and glycerol kinase; and (5) proteins with housekeeping functions such as albumin. These data provide insight into the molecular basis linking fructose-induced metabolic shift to the development of metabolic syndrome characterized by hepatic steatosis and dyslipidemia.
A High Speed Flexible Encoder for Low-Density Parity-Check Codes

Encoder implementations of low-density parity- check codes are typically optimized for area due to their high complexity. Such designs usually have relatively low data throughput. Two new encoder designs are presented here that achieve much higher data rates while requiring more area for the implementation. One of these design achieves encoding rates in excess of 400 Mbps. All of the designs presented can fit on FPGAs currently available. The methodology for both designs and performance results are presented.
Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior Among Adults With Self-Reported Pain Conditions in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Abstract We sought to examine whether the presence of a noncancer pain condition is independently associated with an increased risk for suicidal ideation, plan, or attempt after adjusting for sociodemographic and psychiatric risk factors for suicide and whether risk differs by specific type of pain. We analyzed data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a household survey of U.S. civilian adults age 18 years and older (n = 5692 respondents). Pain conditions, nonpain medical conditions, and suicidal history were obtained by self-report. DSM-IV mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders were assessed using the World Health Organization's Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Antisocial and borderline personality traits were assessed with the International Personality Disorder Examination screening questionnaire. In unadjusted logistic regression analyses, the presence of any pain condition was associated with lifetime and 12-month suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt. After controlling for demographic, medical, and mental health covariates, the presence of any pain condition remained significantly associated with lifetime suicidal ideation (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–1.8) and plan. Among pain subtypes, severe or frequent headaches and “other” chronic pain remained significantly associated with lifetime suicidal ideation and plan; “other” chronic pain was also associated with attempt. Perspective The risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors that may accompany back, neck, and joint pain can be accounted for by comorbid mental health disorders. There may be additional risk accompanying frequent headaches and “other” chronic pain that is secondary to psychosocial processes not captured by the mental disorders assessed.