cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Counterarguing and Selective Exposure to Persuasion

Summary Three separate studies were designed to investigate several factors relating to counterarguing and selective exposure to information. One hundred fifty-six male and female college students served as Ss in the three experiments, 36 in the first, 20 in the second, and 100 in the third. In all three, those Ss who were encouraged to counterargue in response to a counterattitudinal message listened to that message for a longer period of time than Ss who did not have an opportunity to counterargue. Opportunity to counterargue also increased resistance to persuasion, the counterarguing groups showing less attitude change than the control group. In the third experiment, feedback and prompted versus spontaneous counterarguing were explored as additional factors affecting counterarguing. Those Ss who were told to counterargue on prompt, counterargued longer but did not listen longer than Ss who could interrupt the message spontaneously to counterargue. Freedom to counterargue, rather than counterargument pr...
Multiscale Analysis of the Summertime Precipitation over the Central Andes

Precipitation over the central Andes in South America exhibits a marked annual march, with most of the rainfall concentrated during the austral summer season (December‐February), when the atmospheric circulation favors the uplifting of moist air from the lowlands to the east of the mountain range. Within its rainy season, the central Andes experiences week-long rainy and dry episodes. The large-scale and local conditions during these episodes are investigated using satellite imagery, reanalyzed atmospheric fields, and in situ data. Despite the deep layer of conditional instability prevalent during most summertime afternoons, deep convection can occur only on those days in which the mixing ratio within the local boundary layer exceeds some threshold (; 7gk g 21), yielding saturation of near-surface air parcels rising more than 600 m above ground. Convective cloudiness anomalies over the central Andes extend southeastward and tend to be concurrent with anomalies of opposite sign over the eastern part of the continent. Rainy (dry) episodes are also associated with anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomalies centered over subtropical South America that extend through the depth of the troposphere, accompanied by easterly (westerly) wind anomalies over the central Andes. These anomalies are presumably forced by planetary waves originating in the Southern Hemisphere extratropics. To gain insight into the regional processes linking the large-scale and local conditions, The Pennsylvania State University‐National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model Version 5.2 was used to simulate contrasting rainy and dry episodes. The most marked and relevant differences are the strength and extent of diurnally varying flow over the eastern slope of the Andes. During the rainy simulation, strong easterly winds reach the upper part of the slope by midmorning, initiating an intrusion of warm and moist air (high ue air originating in the eastern lowlands) into the central Andes. In the dry case, the moisture transport from the east is restricted to the eastern slope of the Andes, and the central Andes is flooded by low ue air from the western foothills that cannot support deep convection even in the presence of localized updrafts. The momentum balance based on the model output indicates that turbulent momentum mixing from aloft (determined by the large-scale anomalies of the upper-level flow) into the convective boundary layer is the leading term causing the differences in the daytime upslope flow (and hence moisture transport) over the upper part of the eastern side of the Andes between rainy and dry simulations.
Type inference in the presence of type abstraction

A number of recent programming language designs incorporate a type checking system based on the Girard-Reynolds polymorphic l-calculus. This allows the construction of general purpose, reusable software without sacrificing compile-time type checking. A major factor constraining the implementation of these languages is the difficulty of automatically inferring the lengthy type information that is otherwise required if full use is made of these languages. There is no known algorithm to solve any natural and fully general formulation of this “type inference” problem. One very reasonable formulation of the problem is known to be undecidable.Here we define a restricted version of the type inference problem and present an efficient algorithm for its solution. We argue that the restriction is sufficiently weak to be unobtrusive in practice.
3D live fluorescence imaging of cellular dynamics using Bessel beam plane illumination microscopy

3D live imaging is important for a better understanding of biological processes, but it is challenging with current techniques such as spinning-disk confocal microscopy. Bessel beam plane illumination microscopy allows high-speed 3D live fluorescence imaging of living cellular and multicellular specimens with nearly isotropic spatial resolution, low photobleaching and low photodamage. Unlike conventional fluorescence imaging techniques that usually have a unique operation mode, Bessel plane illumination has several modes that offer different performance with different imaging metrics. To achieve optimal results from this technique, the appropriate operation mode needs to be selected and the experimental setting must be optimized for the specific application and associated sample properties. Here we explain the fundamental working principles of this technique, discuss the pros and cons of each operational mode and show through examples how to optimize experimental parameters. We also describe the procedures needed to construct, align and operate a Bessel beam plane illumination microscope by using our previously reported system as an example, and we list the necessary equipment to build such a microscope. Assuming all components are readily available, it would take a person skilled in optical instrumentation ∼1 month to assemble and operate a microscope according to this protocol.
A complex adaptive algorithm for IIR filtering

This correspondence generalizes the Gauss-Newton algorithm [1] for adaptive IIR filters to include complex coefficients. The resulting algorithm simultaneously updates the real and imaginary parts of the filter coefficients to minimize the average squared estimation error. It has application in frequency-domain adaptive IIR filtering [2] where the signals and filter coefficients are complex.
Estimating the cost of nosocomial candidemia in the united states.

survey demonstrated that the incidence of nosocomial candidemia in the United States is 8/100,000 population [5], nearly 4 times the rate estimated in the recent cost analysis [3]. The accuracy of this estimate is supported by results from another large population-based study from Connecticut and the Greater Baltimore area that found a nearly identical rate of candidemia (8.1/100,000) [6]. Given that the incidence of candidemia is much higher than previously estimated, excess medical costs incurred as a result of this infection are ∼4 times previous estimates and would exceed $800 million per year in the United States. When one considers lipid formulations of amphotericin B, which were not widely prescribed during the time of the initial cost estimate, a growing population of immunocompromised patients at risk for Candida bloodstream infections, and costs of empiric therapy directed toward patients at high risk for candidiasis without proven invasive infection, costs of candidemia may be still higher. In summary, the excess cost in the United States attributable to candidemia is significantly greater than previously held, approaching $1 billion per year.
Nephrotic Syndrome: Pathogenesis and Management

1. Karl S. Roth, MD* 2. Barbara H. Amaker, MD* 3. James C.M. Chan, MD† 1. *Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Medical College of Virginia Campus, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 2. †Department of Pediatrics, The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the signs and symptoms of minimal-change nephrotic syndrome. 2. Characterize the laboratory findings in children who have minimal-change nephrotic syndrome. 3. Plan a treatment program for a young child who has an initial episode of minimal-change nephrosis. 4. Recognize the major complications of minimal-change nephrotic syndrome. The estimated annual incidence of nephrotic syndrome in healthy children is 2 to 7 new cases per 100,000 children younger than 18 years of age, making it a relatively common major disease in pediatrics. The peak age of onset occurs at 2 to 3 years except for the rare, congenital type of nephrosis. Approximately 50% of affected children are ages 1 to 4 years; 75% are younger than age 10 years. In addition, even the most benign form of the nephrotic syndrome is, by nature, a recurrent disorder, so each new-onset case likely will continue to manifest disease for some time. Nephrotic syndrome is one of the most frequent reasons for referral to a pediatric nephrologist for evaluation, although its insidious onset frequently causes delay in diagnosis. Careful examination of the anatomy of a nephron permits characterization of the glomerular basement membrane as the barrier between the circulation and the external environment. Thus, the glomerular membrane, which permits passage in an adult of approximately 180 L/d of fluid, is the final determinant of how much of the solute originally contained in this volume enters the tubular lumen. The normal glomerular membrane is remarkably selective for protein compared with other solutes (Table 1⇓). Once this selectivity is lost, the ensuing proteinuria defines not only the diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome, but many pathophysiologic consequences as well. It is the purpose of this article to discuss the definition, causes, pathophysiologic consequences, and management of nephrotic syndrome. The emphasis is …
Playing Teacher: Artful Negotiations in the Pre-service Classroom

In this paper, the author draws on poetic analysis and artful inquiry to explore the ways in which pre-service teachers perform their subjectivities. Using a poststructuralist lens, the author seeks to complicate often idealized (re)presentations of Teacher created by students within the courses she teaches while considering the possibilities of engaging critical and artful inquiry in teacher education. Voices and genres intersect throughout the text as a means to illustrate the complex nature of performing self within the work be(com)ing Teacher, while offering space for dialogue and diverse interpretation.
Image registration by "Super-curves"

We solve the 2-D affine image registration problem by curve matching and alignment. Our approach starts with a super-curve, which is formed by superimposing two affine related curves in one coordinate system. We use B-spline fusion technique to find a single B-spline approximation of the super-curve and a registration between the two curves simultaneously. This approach achieves superior accuracy and efficiency in curve matching and alignment. We then address the occlusion problem by finding partial match between the curves segmented using inflections and cusps, which are affine invariant. The combination of edge detection and curve alignment lead to accurate image registration.
Early evolution of Mars with mantle compositional stratification or hydrothermal crustal cooling

[1] Analysis of Martian gravity and topography implies that crustal thickness variations created in the earliest evolution of planet have persisted to the present day. Relaxation of crustal thickness variations due to lower crustal flow by thermally activated creep is strongly temperature-dependent and so, for particular crustal rheology and thickness, provides a constraint on thermal evolution. Previous models have assumed that the heat flux from the mantle, which controls lower crustal temperatures, simply reflects radiogenic heat production. However, global thermal evolution models in which the mantle cools by solid-state thermal convection indicate that the additional contribution to near-surface heat flux due to secular cooling significant increases lower crustal temperatures. With, a 50-km-thick crust, and a wet diabase rheology, these higher temperatures allow crustal rock to flow fast enough to relax crustal thickness variations during the first ∼750 Myr of evolution. Previous studies have not considered the presence of an impact-brecciated crustal layer that would almost certainly be present on early Mars and could have a significant influence on crustal temperatures. The presence of a dry brecciated crustal layer several kilometers thick would significantly increase the temperature of the lower crust resulting in more rapid relaxation of crustal thickness variations. If the porosity of a brecciated crust is water saturated, then the effect of such a layer is greatly reduced. However, if water is present, cooling of the upper crust by groundwater convection in a deeper impact-fractured crustal layer with modest permeabilities could reduce lower crustal temperatures enough to explain the preservation of ancient crustal thickness variations. A cooler lower crust is also possible if solid-state thermal convection in the mantle is inhibited by a stable compositional stratification resulting from the fractional solidification of an early magma ocean.
A high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for the determination of desbutylhalofantrine enantiomers in rat plasma.

PURPOSE: To develop a stereoselective high performance liquid chromatographic assay for determination of desbutylhalofantrine (DHF) enanti- omers in rat plasma. METHODS: After protein pre- cipitation of 100 µL of rat plasma, racemic DHF and internal standard (quinidine sulfate) were extracted into hexane in the presence of pH 8 phosphate buffer. After transfer and evaporation of the hexane, the resi- due was derivatized using 0.25 M (+)-di-O-acetyl-L-tar- taric acid anhydride at 4°C. After 5 min the reaction was stopped by addition of methanol in water, and the tube contents were dried, reconstituted in the mobile phase, and injected into a C 18 analytical column under reverse phase conditions. RESULTS: The derivatized enantiomers were baseline resolved and free of interfer- ence from endogenous components in plasma. Stan- dard curves were linear (r 2 >0.99) over the range of enantiomer concentrations from 25-1000 ng/mL. The assay was validated to concentrations as low as 25 ng/ mL, based on 100 µL of rat plasma. The nature of dias- tereomers formed was found to be dependent on the temperature used during the derivatization step. In a preliminary experiment in the rat, stereoselectivity in the plasma concentrations of DHF were observed, indicating stereoselectivity in the pharmacokinetics of the metabolite. CONCLUSIONS: The assay was sen- sitive and appropriate for use in pharmacokinetic stud- ies of DHF in the rat.
Severe Weather Prediction Using Storm Surrogates from an Ensemble Forecasting System

AbstractProbabilistic severe weather forecasts for days 1 and 2 were produced using 30-member convection-allowing ensemble forecasts initialized by an ensemble Kalman filter data assimilation system during a 32-day period coinciding with the Mesoscale Predictability Experiment. The forecasts were generated by smoothing the locations where model output indicated extreme values of updraft helicity, a surrogate for rotating thunderstorms in model output. The day 1 surrogate severe probability forecasts (SSPFs) produced skillful and reliable predictions of severe weather during this period, after an appropriate calibration of the smoothing kernel. The ensemble SSPFs exceeded the skill of SSPFs derived from two benchmark deterministic forecasts, with the largest differences occurring on the mesoscale, while all SSPFs produced similar forecasts on synoptic scales. While the deterministic SSPFs often overforecasted high probabilities, the ensemble improved the reliability of these probabilities, at the expense o...
Assessment, Diagnosis, and Risk Management of Sexual Offenders with Intellectual Disabilities

This chapter discusses characteristics associated with intellectual disabilities and those who have sexually offended and modifications needed in the assessment process including adapting interviewing and testing techniques and procedures selected for lower cognitive levels of functioning. In addition, issues related to comorbid psychiatric and psychological conditions and, more broadly, diagnostic challenges are addressed. The applications of actuarial risk assessment, as well as other approaches to risk assessment, are considered relative to offenders with intellectual disabilities. Finally, evidence-based interventions are considered, including both those designed to assist the offender-client in reducing his own risk and interventions to assist persons in the offenders’ “risk management circle.”
The cercarial tail in Proterometra macrostoma (Digenea: Azygiidae): permeability and fine structure of the tegument.

Permeability of the cercarial tail in Proterometra macrostoma was examined in vitro with 1 mM 3H-glucose, which tails absorb by diffusion alone. Naturally emerged cercariae (bodies withdrawn into tails) were permeable, but they rapidly (3 min) equilibrated with glucose in the bathing medium and maintained steady state for 4 hr. Metabolism of absorbed glucose was not detectable until after 90 min, and radioactivity in bodies dissected from tails after 4 hr was negligible. On the basis of cercarial water content (90% of total weight) and absorbed isotope at steady state, the calculated volume of the equilibrating compartment was 4% of an intact cercaria. This value correlated well with that of the tegument (3–5%), which was 1–2 µm thick as seen by transmission electron microscopy. A continuous, electron-dense basal membrane/lamina separated the tegument from subtegument. We conclude that the glycocalyx and external plasma membrane are freely permeable, whereas the basal membrane is the barrier that effectiv...
Monthly Price-Quantity Relations for Broilers at the Farm Level

Knowledge of seasonal demand patterns can be of value in production planning and orderly marketing of agricultural commodities. This paper presents monthly estimates of broiler price-quantity relations at the farm level for the 1953–63 period. The monthly relations differed significantly from each other. Differences were mainly in the levels of the relations rather than the slopes. A model using zero-one variables was then employed which constrained the slopes of the regression lines to a single value but allowed the levels to vary. The level was lowest in December. The regression line shifted upward each month until July, after which it shifted rapidly back downward during the fall months. Estimates of farm level price elasticity of demand for broilers ranged from around −1.4 during the late winter and early spring months to around unity during the summer and fall months.
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE AND VENTURE EXIT: IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY

We examine the role that changes to the institutional environment play in the formation, exit, and performance of ventures. We do so by taking advantage of two natural experiments in Japan that relates to the exit of a venture: successful IPO, and failure in bankruptcy. In our first study, we examine lowering the “barriers to success” of IPO reform. In our second study, we look at lowering the “barriers to failure” of bankruptcy. We use the empirical context of Japan in an era of reform. While results are preliminary, our work has implications for scholars and policymakers in showing that policies for entrepreneurship should give more import to the quality rather than the quantity of entrepreneurs, and to the second order effects of reforms not just their direct effects.
Ovarian cancer screening--what women want

Background The attitude of women with regard to the threat of ovarian cancer and toward screening for this disease is undefined. Objective To examine the 30-day moving results of a poll presented to women with a brief instructional component about ovarian cancer. Methods A poll was incorporated into the information page (http://ovarianscreening.info) used for recruitment of women into the University of Kentucky Ovarian Screening Research Program. Instructional information on ovarian cancer was included in the poll. The information page has received 26,055 unique visits, with 89.6% originating in the United States. Poll tabulation changes daily to cover the most current 30-day moving window. Results The current window (December 19, 2011) of poll results included views from 748 respondents. Ninety-seven percent of the respondents felt that ovarian cancer was a concern or threat to them. Only approximately 3% of women who felt that they were without risk factors and did not have any symptoms responded that they either did not want to participate in screening or were undecided, whereas only 2 women ( Conclusions Women in the United States indicate in the ongoing poll that they are concerned about ovarian cancer and want screening to the extent that they express a willingness to pay for it from their own resources.
Fast Multispecies Gas Monitoring Based on a Single Modulated Grating Y-branch Diode Laser Operating Between 1529 nm and 1565 nm

A multispecies sensor based on one single modulated grating Y-branch diode laser is presented. Sequential scanning of three gases with absorption lines separated 30 nm in less than 20 ms is demonstrated.
Polarimetric Radar Observations of Precipitation Type and Rate from the 2–3 March 2014 Winter Storm in Oklahoma and Arkansas

AbstractA powerful winter storm affected the south-central United States in early March 2014, accompanied by elevated convective cells with hail and high rates of sleet, freezing rain, and snow. During portions of the event the thermal profile exhibited a shallow surface cold layer and warm, unstable air aloft. Precipitation falling into the cold layer refroze into ice pellets and was accompanied by a polarimetric refreezing signature and numerous crowdsourced surface ice pellet reports. Quasi-vertical profiles of the polarimetric variables indicated an enhanced reflectivity factor ZHH below the melting layer bright band and enhanced low-level differential reflectivity ZDR values coincident with surface ice pellet reports. Freezing rain rate was highest in areas with high ZHH and specific differential phase KDP values at low levels. High snow rates were most closely associated with 1- and 1.5-km ZHH values, though KDP and ZDR also appeared to show some ability to distinguish high snow rate. Numerous eleva...
Decision analysis of intracranial monitoring in non-lesional epilepsy

Abstract Purpose Up to one third of epilepsy patients develop pharmacoresistant seizures and many benefit from resective surgery. However, patients with non-lesional focal epilepsy often require intracranial monitoring to localize the seizure focus. Intracranial monitoring carries operative morbidity risk and does not always succeed in localizing the seizures, making the benefit of this approach less certain. We performed a decision analysis comparing three strategies for patients with non-lesional focal epilepsy: (1) intracranial monitoring, (2) vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) implantation and (3) medical management to determine which strategy maximizes the expected quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for our base cases. Method We constructed two base cases using parameters reported in the medical literature: (1) a young, otherwise healthy patient and (2) an elderly, otherwise healthy patient. We constructed a decision tree comprising strategies for the treatment of non-lesional epilepsy and two clinical outcomes: seizure freedom and no seizure freedom. Sensitivity analyses of probabilities at each branch were guided by data from the medical literature to define decision thresholds across plausible parameter ranges. Results Intracranial monitoring maximizes the expected QALYs for both base cases. The sensitivity analyses provide estimates of the values of key variables, such as the surgical risk or the chance of localizing the focus, at which intracranial monitoring is no longer favored. Conclusion Intracranial monitoring is favored over VNS and medical management in young and elderly patients over a wide, clinically-relevant range of pertinent model variables such as the chance of localizing the seizure focus and the surgical morbidity rate.
The Interaction of Supply and Demand

We found in the two previous chapters that both demand- and supply-based models are supported by the empirical evidence. Each of the two types of models is capable of explaining a significant portion of the observed interregional variations in the growth rates of output. Furthermore, each of the two types of models is capable of generating regional growth patterns closely resembling those observed.
Known Bleeding Disorders for Surgery

Persons with congenital bleeding disorders pose a surgical challenge as hemostasis is already difficult without the added iatrogenic stress of surgery. For some bleeding disorders, there are therapeutic options including plasma-derived blood products and even recombinant factor products that are available. These may be administered pre- and post-op to prevent bleeding complications. Unfortunately for some rare bleeding disorders, there are no commercially available plasma-derived concentrates or recombinant products to administer pre- or postoperatively to prevent hemorrhagic sequelae. Fresh frozen plasma or cryoprecipitate becomes the only available option for surgical prophylaxis. A non-transfusional alternative such as desmopressin may be used with/without replacement factor to maintain hemostasis, depending on the individual response to desmopressin. Antifibrinolytics are another option as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy to prevent bleeding diathesis. The following discussion serves as a guide to the perioperative management of individuals with congenital bleeding disorders based on their diagnosis, type of surgery, and commercially available products.
Critical Updates to the Leukemia Stem Cell Model

Leukemia/cancer stem cells (LSCs/CSCs) are a multibillion dollar research and commercial enterprise. This massive, ongoing intellectual and economic activity was initiated by a study of acute myeloid leukemia primary cells. The model states that leukemia cell populations recapitulate the hierarchical structure of normal hematopoiesis, in that stem cells, possessing intrinsic, indefinite self-renewal capacity, generate and sustain the overall malignant population. This perspective promised insight into, and solutions for, the enduring problem of resistance. It implied that the key to clonal advantage was pathways driving stem cell self-renewal and that relapse was because exclusive LSC escaped treatment effects using stem cell qualities such as quiescence. Arguably, however, this model has not translated into meaningful clinical impact. Ongoing investments deserve updated guidance. Multiple, reproduced lines of evidence demonstrate that LSCs are not akin to normal hematopoietic stem cells, and resistance is not from quiescence. Instead, LSCs (leukemia-initiating cells) are committed progenitors. These are numerous, intrinsically proliferative cells. The key to clonal advantage is impeded maturation, the everyday, routine control on exponential progenitor growth (proliferation without maturation equals to self-renewal). Resistance is similarly prosaic, relating to interactions between leukemia genetics/metabolism and specific treatments, eg, TP53 mutation/deletion confers resistance to apoptosis-intending treatments; shifts in pyrimidine salvage pathways decrease cytidine analog incorporation in leukemia cells. This updated model warrants equal, or probably greater, prominence than the original.
Transthyretin V122I (pV142I)* cardiac amyloidosis: an age-dependent autosomal dominant cardiomyopathy too common to be overlooked as a cause of significant heart disease in elderly African Americans

Since the identification of a valine-to-isoleucine substitution at position 122 (TTR V122I; pV142I) in the transthyretin (TTR)-derived fibrils extracted from the heart of a patient with late-onset cardiac amyloidosis, it has become clear that the amyloidogenic mutation and the disease occur almost exclusively in individuals of identifiable African descent. In the United States, the amyloidogenic allele frequency is 0.0173 and is carried by 3.5% of community-dwelling African Americans. Genotyping across Africa indicates that the origin of the allele is in the West African countries that were the major source of the slave trade to North America. At autopsy, the allele was found to be associated with cardiac TTR amyloid deposition in all the carriers after age 65 years; however, the clinical penetrance varies, resulting in substantial heart disease in some carriers and few symptoms in others. The allele has been found in 10% of African Americans older than age 65 with severe congestive heart failure. At this time there are potential forms of therapy in clinical trials. The combination of a highly accurate genetic test and the potential for specific therapy demands a greater awareness of this autosomal dominant, age-dependent cardiac disease in the cardiology community.Genet Med advance online publication 19 January 2017.
Programmed cooling experiments in the system MgO-SiO2; kinetics of a peritectic reaction

Programmed cooling experiments with compositions in the system MgO-SiO 2 ranging from 59 wt.% SiO 2 (with olivine on the liquidus) to 63 wt.% SiO 2 (with protoenstatite on the liquidus) cooled at rates of from 0.4 to 25% min crystallize forsterite but not pyroxene. Because pyroxene does not nucleate, the forsterite plus melt reaction does not take place, allowing forsterite to crystallize metastably at sub-solidus temperatures. A 65.1 wt.% SiO 2 composition (with cristobalite on the liquidus) crystallizes a number of different phases depending on cooling rate and initial superheating. The ease of forsterite nucleation relative to pyroxene offers an explanation for the occurrence of olivine instead of low-Ca pyroxene in the groundmass of tholeiitic basalts.--Modified journal abstract.
Effects of spatial fMRI resolution on the classification of naturalistic movies

Abstract Studies involving multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of BOLD fMRI data generally attribute the success of the information-theoretic approach to BOLD signal contrast on the fine spatial scale of millimeters facilitating the classification or decoding of perceptual stimuli. However, to date MVPA studies that have actually explored fMRI resolutions at less than 2 mm voxel size are rare and limited to small sets of unnatural stimuli (like visual gratings) as well as specific sub-regions of the brain, notably the primary somatosensory cortices. To investigate what spatial scale best supports high information extraction under more general conditions this study combined naturalistic movie stimuli with high-resolution fMRI at 7 T and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of global and local BOLD signal patterns. Contrary to predictions, LDA and similar classifiers reached a maximum in classification accuracy (CA) at a smoothed resolution close to 3 mm, well above the 1.2 mm voxel size of the fMRI acquisition. Maximal CAs around 90% were contingent upon global fMRI signal patterns comprising 4 k–16 k of the most reactive voxels distributed sparsely throughout the occipital and ventro-temporal cortices. A Searchlight analysis of local fMRI patterns largely confirmed the global results, but also revealed a small subset of brain regions in early visual cortex showing limited increases in CA with higher resolution. Principal component analysis of the global and local fMRI signal patterns suggested that reproducible neuronal contributions were spatially auto-correlated and smooth, while other components of higher spatial frequency were likely related to physiological noise and responsible for the reduced CA at higher resolution. Systematic differences between experiments and subjects suggested that higher CA was significantly correlated with more consistent behavior revealed by eye tracking. Thus, the optimal resolution of fMRI data for MVPA was mainly limited by physiological noise of high spatial frequency as well as behavioral (in-)consistency.
Posttraumatic Cerebellar Contusions and Hematomas

Cerebellar contusions and hematomas result from local trauma to the occipital area, mainly from hitting a solid object with the back of the head and from occipital blows. But the protection of the cerebellum by the strong musculature of the neck, the massive bone with smooth and regular internal contours, the elastic tentorium of the cerebellum and the “fluid cushions” of the fourth ventricle and subarachnoid cisterns make up a “buffer” significantly reducing the amount of energy delivered at the moment of impact. Therefore cerebellar lesions are significantly less common than lesions of the cerebral hemispheres.
Quantifying Model Discrepancy in Time-Dependent, Coupled Analyses

Model discrepancy in coupled, time-dependent analyses is addressed with emphasis on aerothermoelastic response prediction for hypersonic aircraft. Time-dependent temperature data from historic hype...
Multisystem multitasking by CXCL12 and its receptors CXCR4 and ACKR3.

Abstract Chemokines are named and best known for their chemotactic cytokine activity in the hematopoietic system; however, their importance extends far beyond leukocytes, cell movement and immunoregulation. CXCL12, the most protean of chemokines, regulates development in multiple systems, including the hematopoietic, cardiovascular and nervous systems, and regulates diverse cell functions, including differentiation, distribution, activation, immune synapse formation, effector function, proliferation and survival in the immune system alone. The broad importance of CXCL12 is revealed by the complex lethal developmental phenotypes in mice lacking either Cxcl12 or either one of its two known 7-transmembrane domain receptors Cxcr4 and Ackr3, as well as by gain-of-function mutations in human CXCR4, which cause WHIM syndrome, a multisystem and combined immunodeficiency disease and the only Mendelian condition caused by a chemokine system mutation. In addition, wild type CXCR4 is important in the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS and cancer. Thus, CXCL12 and its receptors CXCR4 and ACKR3 provide extraordinary examples of multisystem multitasking in the chemokine system in both health and disease.
Tissue acylcarnitine status in a mouse model of mitochondrial β-oxidation deficiency during metabolic decompensation due to influenza virus infection

Abstract Despite judicious monitoring and care, patients with fatty acid oxidation disorders may experience metabolic decompensation due to infection which may result in rhabdomyolysis, cardiomyopathy, hypoglycemia and liver dysfunction and failure. Since clinical studies on metabolic decompensation are dangerous, we employed a preclinical model of metabolic decompensation due to infection. By infecting mice with mouse adapted influenza and using a pair-feeding strategy in a mouse model of long-chain fatty acid oxidation (Acadvl−/−), our goals were to isolate the effects of infection on tissue acylcarnitines and determine how they relate to their plasma counterparts. Applying statistical data reduction techniques (Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis), we were able to identify critical acylcarnitines that were driving differentiation of our experimental groups for all the tissues studied. While plasma displayed increases in metabolites directly related to mouse VLCAD deficiency (e.g. C16 and C18), organs like the heart, muscle and liver also showed involvement of alternative pathways (e.g. medium-chain FAO and ketogenesis), suggesting adaptive measures. Matched correlation analyses showed strong correlations (r > 0.7) between plasma and tissue levels for a small number of metabolites. Overall, our results demonstrate that infection as a stress produces perturbations in metabolism in Acadvl−/− that differ greatly from WT infected and Acadvl−/− pair-fed controls. This model system will be useful for studying the effects of infection on tissue metabolism as well as evaluating interventions aimed at modulating the effects of metabolic decompensation.
Sense of Coherence Buffers Relationships of Chronic Stress with Fasting Glucose Levels

Sense of coherence (SOC) was examined as a buffer of the relationship of chronic stress with fasting glucose and insulin levels. Spouse caregivers of persons with diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 73) were compared to controls [spouses of nondemented persons (n = 69)], group-matched on age/gender. After controlling for anger and coronary heart disease (CHD), interactions of SOC and gender explained variance in glucose (but not insulin) at study entry (T1) and 15-18 months later (T2). However, this occurred only in caregivers. At both times SOC and glucose were negatively related in men caregivers but not in women caregivers or in controls. In caregivers (but not controls), SOC at T1 predicted glucose at T2, independent of gender, anger, and glucose at T1; and hassles at T1 appeared to mediate this relationship. Future research should examine SOC as a buffer of other chronic stressors and metabolic variables.
Act One: Introduction

It has been said that we go to the movies to fall in love. We know that is true and we fall in love regularly with an enormous screen there in the dark. But we also go to the movies to get wisdom about how life works, to predict the future, to learn how to see what is over the next hill, and what is down the next road. For a lifetime, I have looked to the movies for lessons in reality. But none of these sources of the immortal myths and legends by which we structure our lives could compare in reality or in mythic moment with what was taking place as the pictures and stories and faces – never forget the faces – were transferred from the big screen to the even bigger screen in my head.
Memory: Genetic Approaches

There is a long history documenting the usefulness of genetic approaches in studies of brain function, including learning and memory. These approaches fall into two general categories: forward and reverse genetics. Forward genetics is concerned with the identification of genes involved in biological processes such as learning and memory. The starting point of these studies is usually the identification of mutant organisms with interesting phenotypic changes, and their goal is to identify the mutations underlying these changes. In reverse genetic studies, the gene is already at hand, and the goal is to define its role in biological processes of interest. This normally involves the derivation and study of organisms with defined genetic changes. Although the principal purpose of genetic approaches is to study how genetic information determines biological function, recently animals with genetically engineered mutations have been used to develop and test multidisciplinary theories of learning and memory that go well beyond gene function.
Experimental hypertension in pregnant sheep: III. Central hemodynamic alterations in the one-kidney model

Experimental renal hypertension, with use of the one-kidney, one-clip model, was produced in nine pregnant ewes who were then studied during the last one third of gestation. The animals were chronically instrumented for the recording of arterial pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output; blood volume was determined weekly. The studies were carried out in four phases; a control period of 2 weeks, a surgery period of 1 week, a constriction or hypertensive period, and a postpartum period of 2 weeks. We detected no significant changes in heart rate or cardiac output during any phase of the study. The arterial pressure significantly increased during the constriction and postpartum phases (p less than 0.05). Blood volume remained relatively stable during the three pregnancy phases but significantly decreased in the postpartum phase (p less than 0.05). Systemic vascular resistance followed a pattern similar to that of the arterial pressure.
New Clinical Phenotype Caused by a Novel SLC6A1 Mutation with Marked Responsiveness to Zonisamide (P4.179)

Objective: To report a new clinical phenotype associated with a previously unreported SLC6A1 mutation. Background: Pathogenic variants of the SLC6A1 gene, coding for GABA transporter protein 1, have recently been reported to cause drug resistant myoclonic-astatic epilepsy and is associated with generalized spike/polyspike slow wave discharges. Design/Methods: Retrospective review of the medical records. Results: 3-year-old boy who sat at age 6 months, walked at 18 months and said his first word at 2 years. He developed at the age of 9 months, episodes (10/day) of sudden initial complete loss of tone followed by 2–3 seconds of persistent atonia, or eyelid blinking or tonic clonic activity. EEG showed bilateral independent multifocal frontal and temporal spikes and no ESES. Seizures did not improve on levetiracetam and the patient was noted to have poor social interaction and poor eye contact. At the age of 2.5 years he was started on Zonegran 3 mg/kg/day and within a few days his seizures dropped to 2–3/day, his eye contact improved and his vocabulary quickly increased to 20 words. The dose was increased about a month later to 6 mg/kg/day and he had further marked improvement: He started to follow instructions, had further improved eye contact and three months later had endured only 3 seizures one of which was precipitated by an illness, and another after an LP. He was noted to become much more social with increased energy and improved social interaction. In another 3 months while on the same dosage he was seizure fee except for rare 1–2 second staring spells (1–2/week), likely behavioral, or single mild extremity myoclonic jerks (1–2/week). Extensive metabolic workup was negative. Whole Exome Sequencing showed a novel c.196A>G, p.Asn66Asp variant strongly predicted to be disease causing. Conclusions: Our findings expand the epilepsy phenotype caused by SLC7A1 mutations. Disclosure: Dr. Helseth has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mohamad has nothing to disclose.
Best Intentions Are Not Best Practices: Lessons Learned While Conducting Health Research With Trauma-Impacted Female Victims of Nonpartner Sexual Violence in Haiti:

Culturally sound health research and culturally relevant interventions are foundational to health promotion and disease prevention around the globe, especially for vulnerable populations in low-and...
Comparative Life-Cycle Assessment of Li-Ion Batteries through Process-Based and Integrated Hybrid Approaches

This paper analyzes and compares the life cycle environmental impacts of two major types of Li-ion batteries using process-based and integrated hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. The life cycle inventories (LCIs) of Li-ion battery contain component production, battery assembly, use phase, disposal and recycling and other related background processes. For process-based LCA, 17 ReCiPe midpoint environmental impact indicators and three end point environmental impact indicators are considered. As for the integrated hybrid LCA study, life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption are emphasized. Furthermore, we perform sensitivity analysis of life cycle GHG emissions with respect to the uncertainties in product prices, mass of BMS and cooling system, and production efficiency. The integrated hybrid LCA results show that battery cell production is the most significant contributor to the life cycle GHG emissions and the economic input-output (EIO) systems contribute the largest part...
Sequential conditioning-stimulation reveals distinct gene- and stimulus-specific effects of Type I and II IFN on human macrophage functions

Macrophages orchestrate immune responses by sensing and responding to pathogen-associated molecules. These responses are modulated by prior conditioning with cytokines such as interferons (IFNs). Type I and II IFN have opposing functions in many biological scenarios, yet macrophages directly stimulated with Type I or II IFN activate highly overlapping gene expression programs. We hypothesized that a sequential conditioning-stimulation approach would reveal with greater specificity the differential effects of Type I and II IFN on human macrophages. By first conditioning with IFN then stimulating with toll-like receptor ligands and cytokines, followed by genome-wide RNA-seq analysis, we identified 713 genes whose expression was unaffected by IFN alone but showed potentiated or diminished responses to a stimulus after conditioning. For example, responses to the cytokine TNF were restricted by Type II IFN conditioning but potentiated by Type I IFN conditioning. We observed that the effects of IFN were not uniformly pro- or anti-inflammatory, but highly gene-specific and stimulus-specific. By assessing expression levels of key signal transducers and characterizing chromatin accessibility by ATAC-seq, we identify the likely molecular mechanisms underlying Type I and Type II-specific effects, distinguishing between modulation of cytoplasmic signaling networks and the nuclear epigenome that synergistically regulate macrophage immune responses.
Stylistic information in pitch-class distributions

This study examines pitch-class distributions in a large body of tonal music from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries using the DFT on pitch-class sets. The DFT, applied over the p...
Steric effects of bulky tethered arylpiperazines on the reactivity of Co-Schiff base oxidation catalysts—a synthetic and computational study

New C2-symmetric and C2-asymmetric Co-Schiff base catalysts tethered to arylpiperazine units were synthesized and used to oxidize phenolic lignin models to para-benzoquinones. Synthetic approaches to these catalysts were optimized to include fewer steps and broaden the types of catalyst structures available. In contrast to conventional Co-Schiff base catalysts, these systems induce phenolic oxidation in the absence of an external axial base, simplifying the process. Asymmetric catalysts bearing a phenylethylene or diphenylmethyl piperazine substituent display the highest catalytic activity observed to date for the conversion of S-models to 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone (DMBQ). Computational analysis shows that more reactive catalysts populate conformations that favor oxidation in preference to non-productive decomposition routes. This balance between catalyst reactivity and catalyst deactivation is optimized by inclusion of sufficient steric bulk around the periphery of the Schiff base ligand, reducing catalyst deactivation and allowing oxidations to proceed in the absence of an added axial ligand.