cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Amae, intimacy, and the early moral self

I believe the universal aspects of Doi's concept of amae have a dual origin in the biologically based motives of infancy and in the expectable adpative experiences of the caregiving relationship. Our theory, arising from recent research, is that the necessary intimacy of this relationship and the exercise of these motives leads to early relationship motives and early moral motives. These in turn find representational coherence in the 3-year-old's narrative self that contains a continual internal dialogue with one or more significant others who are comforting, encouraging, watchful, and critical. The narrative self may also contain an “executive sense of we,” giving the child more of a sense of obligation and power. Many emotionally engaging experiences in infancy are stored as procedural knowledge and are influential later as an “affective core of self” without being accessible to consciousness. Amae also seems based on procedural knowledge. Future research in Japan and the United States will benefit from operationalizing concepts related to amae and to emotional availability. Effects of gender, temperament, and conflicts within and across generations can then be examined.
Automated doorway detection for assistive shared-control wheelchairs

This work presents an algorithm for rapid, automated detection of open doorways using 3D point cloud data. The algorithm has been developed in the context of shared-control powered wheelchairs in which adaptive assistance is provided to individuals who otherwise might not possess the fine motor control necessary to handle potentially challenging activities, such as doorway traversal. In this context it is important to go beyond the 2D laser scanner for open doorway detection, for both safety reasons as well as opportunities for improved shared-control behavior development. We evaluate the doorway detection by systematically testing the performance on several doors and door configurations from varied view points, using point clouds generated by a Microsoft Kinect.
Parenting Practices as Mediators of Treatment Effects in an Early-Intervention Trial of Multidimensional Family Therapy

Background: Contemporary intervention models use research about the determinants of adolescent problems and their course of symptom development to design targeted interventions. Because developmental detours begin frequently during early-mid adolescence, specialized interventions that target known risk and protective factors in this period are needed. Methods: This study (n = 83) examined parenting practices as mediators of treatment effects in an early-intervention trial comparing Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT), and a peer group intervention. Participants were clinically referred, low-income, predominantly ethnic minority adolescents (average age 14). Assessments were conducted at intake, and six weeks after intake, discharge, and at 6 and 12 months following intake. Results: Previous studies demonstrated that MDFT was more effective than active treatments as well as services as usual in decreasing substance use and improving abstinence rates. The current study demonstrated that MDFT improves parental monitoring—a fundamental treatment target—to a greater extent than group therapy, and these improvements occur during the period of active intervention, satisfying state-ofthe-science criteria for assessing mediation in randomized clinical trials. Conclusions and Scientific Significance: Findings indicate that change in MDFT occurs through improvements in parenting practices. These results set the foundation for examining family factors as mediators in other samples.
Bonding with books: the parent-infant connection in the neonatal intensive care unit

Parents of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience one of the most stressful events of their lives. At times, they are unable to participate fully, if at all, in the care of their infant. Parents in the NICU have a need to participate in the care of their infant to attain the parental role. Parental reading to infants in the NICU is an intervention that can connect the parent and infant and offers a way for parents to participate in caregiving. This intervention may have many benefits and may positively affect the parent-infant relationship.
A Flexible and Dynamic Infrastructure for MPI Tool Interoperability

The MPI standard provides tool builders with an efficient profiling interface, PMPI. Although many tools have successfully used this interface, it has three major drawbacks: a need to relink the application in order to use a tool; an inability to combine existing tools easily; and a lack of support for tool modularity. These limitations restrict tool flexibility and increase the threshold for using MPI tools. We present P^NMPI , an infrastructure to load MPI tools dynamically and to chain multiple MPI tools for concurrent use. It works with existing PMPI tools, which can be transparently converted in binary form into loadable PNMPI modules, and newly developed tools, which can exploit additional P^NMPI inter-tool communication services. We show that our implementation achieves our design goals, including ease-of-use and minimal overhead.
Comparison of swallowing function after intensity-modulated radiation therapy and conventional radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Background Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is hoped to protect structures important for swallow function. We compared posttreatment swallow function in 7 pairs of patients with head and neck cancer treated with either IMRT or conventional radiotherapy (RT). Methods Patients were matched on tumor characteristics. Swallowing function was evaluated with the modified barium swallow procedure pretreatment and at 3 and 6 months postcancer treatment completion. Swallows were analyzed for bolus transit times, bolus residues, laryngeal closure (LAC) duration, cricopharyngeal opening (CPO) duration, and oropharyngeal swallow efficiency (OPSE). Data were analyzed using multifactor repeated measures analysis of variance and adjusted for baseline function. Results Main effect of radiation type was significant for all measures on at least 1 bolus type. Patients treated with IMRT demonstrated shorter bolus transit times, less oral and pharyngeal residue, longer LAC, and larger OPSE. Conclusion Patients treated with IMRT demonstrated faster, more efficient swallows, and greater airway protection. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: 1575–1582, 2015
COSAS 2.0—A Macintosh-Based Stereological Analysis System

Quantitation of morphological data is a component of both basic and clinical research. Often it is necessary to extract three-dimensional information from two-dimensional images. Stereological analysis, the most reliable means of achieving this, is also increasingly used as a diagnostic tool in pathology. COSAS, a COmputerized Stereological Analysis System, is software which allows rapid recording of morphological data from two-dimensional images and performance of analyses necessary for both quantitation and three-dimensional interpretation. COSAS is reliable and easy to use. It was previously available in a VAX-based version (Cornacchia and Black, 1988). An improved version, COSAS 2.0, is now available for use on the Macintosh. COSAS 2.0 is considerably more "user friendly" and flexible than the VAX version of the program. COSAS 2.0 eliminates the necessity for the user to be linked with a large computer. COSAS 2.0 has the ability to interface with other commercially available software for scanned images (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, NIH-Image) and data manipulation (e.g., EXCEL, Delta Graphics). These features make it useful to both research and clinical laboratories. Although designed for the biologist, the system may be used to study cross sections of any solid. It could be of interest to material scientists, petrographers, and ceramicists, all of whom need to obtain quantitative information about three-dimensional spatial organization from two-dimensional sections or projections.
Genetic Approaches to Facilitate Antibacterial Drug Development

Very few chemically novel agents have been approved for antibacterial chemotherapies during the last 50 yr. Yet new antibacterial drugs are needed to reduce the impact on global health of an increasing number of drug-resistant infections, including highly drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis. This review discusses how genetic approaches can be used to study the mechanism of action of whole-cell screening hits and facilitate target-driven strategies for antimicrobial drug development.
The hydraulics of a stratified fluid flowing through a contraction

The steady hydraulics of a continuously stratified fluid flowing from a stagnant reservoir through a horizontal contraction was studied experimentally and theoretically. As the channel narrows, the flow accelerates through a succession of virtual controls, at each of which the flow passes from sub-critical to supercritical with respect to a particular wave mode. When the narrowest section acts as a control, the flow is asymmetric about the narrowest section, supercritical in the divergent section and self- similar throughout the channel. With increased flow rate a new enclosed self-similar solution was found with level isopycnals and velocity uniform with depth. This flow is only symmetric in the immediate neighbourhood of the narrowest section, and in the divergent section remains supercritical with respect to higher internal modes, has separation isopycnals and splits into one or more jets separated by regions of stagnant, constant-density fluid. Flows which are subcritical with respect to lowest modes can also be asymmetric about the narrowest section for higher internal modes. The experiments are interpreted using steady, inviscid hydraulic theory. Solutions require separation isopycnals and regions of stationary, constant-density fluid in the divergent section.
Head-Disk Interface Performance With a Starved Liquid Bearing—Analytical Solution to Reynolds Equation in the Near-Contact Regime

Further increase in magnetic recording density requires a reduction in slider flying height. The current study employs the short-bearing approximation to determine analytically the static equilibrium configuration of a slider supported by a starved liquid bearing that operates between ideally smooth surfaces. The solution incorporates rheological behavior based on previously acquired data. The accuracy of the short-bearing approximation is assessed by determining how well the resulting solution satisfies the Reynolds equation. The analysis suggests a means of designing a slider to achieve head/medium spacings in the neighborhood of 20 nm.
Micropore and nanopore fabrication in hollow antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides

We demonstrate the fabrication of micropore and nanopore features in hollow antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides to create an electrical and optical analysis platform that can size select and detect a single nanoparticle. Micropores (4 µm diameter) are reactive-ion etched through the top SiO2 and SiN layers of the waveguides, leaving a thin SiN membrane above the hollow core. Nanopores are formed in the SiN membranes using a focused ion-beam etch process that provides control over the pore size. Openings as small as 20 nm in diameter are created. Optical loss measurements indicate that micropores did not significantly alter the loss along the waveguide.
EAF1 Regulates Vegetative-Phase Change and Flowering Time in Arabidopsis

We have identified a new locus that regulates vegetative phase change and flowering time in Arabidopsis. An early-flowering mutant, eaf1 (early flowering 1) was isolated and characterized. eaf1 plants flowered earlier than the wild type under either short-day or long-day conditions, and showed a reduction in the juvenile and adult vegetative phases. When grown under short-day conditions, eaf1 plants were slightly pale green and had elongated petioles, phenotypes that are observed in mutants altered in either phytochrome or the gibberellin (GA) response. eaf1 seed showed increased resistance to the GA biosynthesis inhibitor paclobutrazol, suggesting that GA metabolism and/or response had been altered. Comparison of eaf1 to other early-flowering mutants revealed that eaf1 shifts to the adult phase early and flowers early, similarly to the phyB (phytochrome B) and spy (spindly) mutants. eaf1 maps to chromosome 2, but defines a locus distinct from phyB, clf (curly leaf), and elf3 (early-flowering 3). These results demonstrate that eaf1 defines a new locus involved in an autonomous pathway and may affect GA regulation of flowering.
Do cytogenetic abnormalities precede morphologic abnormalities in a developing malignant condition

Cytogenetic evaluation of bone marrow and neoplastic tissues plays a critical role in determining patient management and prognosis. Here, we highlight two cases in which the cytogenetic studies challenge the common practice of using hematologic and morphologic changes as key factors in malignant disease management. The first case is that of a lymph node sample from a 40-yr-old non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patient sent for determination of disease progress. Hematologic studies showed no evidence of transformation to high-grade NHL (>15% blasts with rare mitotic figures). Cytogenetic studies of lymph node showed multiple clonal abnormalities, most notably a der(18) from a t(14;18) which is associated with high-grade NHL. After two cycles of chemotherapy with fludarabine, the patient did not show any clinical response, suggesting possible progression to high-grade lymphoma. The second case is of a patient with a history of human immunodeficiency virus and blastic natural killer leukemia/lymphoma. Hematologic studies of ascitic fluid classified the patient as having pleural effusion lymphoma whereas bone marrow analysis showed no malignancy. Bone marrow cytogenetic studies showed multiple clonal abnormalities including a t(8;14), which is commonly associated with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL). To our knowledge, this is the first case wherein a morphologically normal bone marrow showed presence of clonal abnormalities consistent with BL or Pleural effusion lymphoma. After two cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone) chemotherapy, the patient's general condition and ascitis improved and she was discharged. These studies clearly demonstrate that genetic changes often precede morphologic changes in a developing malignant condition. Therefore, the critical information needed for care of patients with malignant disorders may be incomplete or inaccurate if cytogenetic evaluation is overlooked.
Structure of the S -adenosylmethionine riboswitch regulatory mRNA element

Genes are commonly turned on or off by protein factors that respond to cellular signals. The recent discovery of riboswitches, regulatory elements within some messenger RNAs, proved that RNA can also detect essential metabolites and control genes. Two structural studies throw new light on the riboswitch system. Serganov et al. use X-ray diffraction to establish the three-dimensional structure of a riboswitch from Escherichia coli bound to its target, a vitamin B1 derivative. These findings reveal how RNA folds to form a precise pocket for its target and how the antibiotic pyrithiamine acts by tricking the riboswitch. This suggests a new drug design strategy for antibacterials and antifungals targeting riboswitches. Montange and Batey have solved the structure of a bacterial riboswitch RNA bound to S-adenosyl methionine. Its complex folded structure reveals how ligand binding leads structural changes that prevent further transcription. Riboswitches are cis-acting genetic regulatory elements found in the 5′-untranslated regions of messenger RNAs that control gene expression through their ability to bind small molecule metabolites directly1,2. Regulation occurs through the interplay of two domains of the RNA: an aptamer domain that responds to intracellular metabolite concentrations and an expression platform that uses two mutually exclusive secondary structures to direct a decision-making process. In Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus species, riboswitches control the expression of more than 2% of all genes through their ability to respond to a diverse set of metabolites including amino acids, nucleobases and protein cofactors1,2. Here we report the 2.9-A resolution crystal structure of an S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-responsive riboswitch from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis complexed with S-adenosylmethionine, an RNA element that controls the expression of several genes involved in sulphur and methionine metabolism3,4,5,6. This RNA folds into a complex three-dimensional architecture that recognizes almost every functional group of the ligand through a combination of direct and indirect readout mechanisms. Ligand binding induces the formation of a series of tertiary interactions with one of the helices, serving as a communication link between the aptamer and expression platform domains.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitorsin cancer therapy: An update

AbstractRecent progress in the molecular and biological understanding of the VEGF pathway provides us with novel and promising therapeutic strategies and targets for overcoming cancer. VEGF plays an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. It is recognized as an essential regulator of normal and abnormal blood vessel growth. Therapies designed to target VEGF have been in development for the past few years and as a result VEGF inhibitors are now available as standard therapy or as part of clinical trials. Bevacizumab was the first anti-VEGF therapy and was approved for use in metastatic colorectal cancer after showing significant improvement of survival. Recent trials with several VEGF inhibitors in breast, non-small cell lung, ovarian, kidney cancers and melanoma have shown very encouraging results. This review will discuss the role of VEGF in angiogenesis and malignancy, VEGF inhibitors, and the recent clinical trials of their use in different tumors.
Women and Pension Reform: Economic Insecurity and Old Age

In her article entitled Women and Pension Reform: Economic Insecurity and Old Age, Professor Lorraine Schmall laments about the plight of women's economic security as they age. Despite all the talk about Social Security insolvency and fears of aged poverty, over the last fifteen years, the private supplemental pension coverage rates have remained fairly stable. The author observes that women make less than men during their working lives, and, therefore, have much less than men when they are too old to work. Her concern is that pension policies, practices, and laws that do not recognize and compensate for women's immutable differences perpetuate not only discrimination, but the reality of poverty for older women for generations to come. The author reviews statistics that support the claim that wage discrimination may be rationalized based upon objective, observable differences between genders as well as discrimination against women's occupations. Her analysis reveals that future societal changes are unlikely to address adequately the immediate needs of older women. She notes important political and philosophical differences between the genders where women favor government because they rely on these programs as an important source of financial support, whereas men negatively view such programs as the primary source of higher taxes. The author makes the noted observation that women are not paid the same as men for equal work. She emphasizes that pensions have become more important, especially in light of the budgetary pressures on the Social Security System and increase in the population of older people.
Evidence-Based Update on Treatments of Fecal Incontinence in Women

Fecal incontinence is a highly prevalent and distressing condition that has a negative impact on quality of life. The etiology is often multifactorial, and the evaluation and treatment of this condition can be hindered by a lack of understanding of the mechanisms and currently available treatment options. This article reviews the evidence-based update for the management of fecal incontinence.
Dispersoid Modification of Ti3Al-Nb Alloys

Titanium aluminide alloys with matrix compositions of essentially Ti3Al plus 0, 5, 7.5, and 10 a/o Nb and with and without rare earth elements for dispersoid formation were prepared. The alloys were rapidly solidified by melt spinning. Ribbon was consolidated by HIP and extrusion at temperatures below the beta transus temperatures of the alloys. The effects of processing conditions and dispersoid additions on room temperature ductility and fracture toughness were studied.
Developing a set of guidelines for your research field: a practical approach

Since 2008, the autophagy community has periodically published a set of guidelines, currently titled "Guidelines for the Use and Interpretation of Assays for Monitoring Autophagy." The newest version of the guidelines was published in 2016. There are many reasons for establishing a set of guidelines in a given research field. This Perspective explores some of these reasons, including standardizing nomenclature for better communication, improving reproducibility, and making it easier for newcomers to enter the field. It also includes the approach I have used to generate and update the guidelines that are now widely used in the autophagy field. The suggestions are not meant to be formulaic, and the method is certainly not perfect. Instead, this should be viewed as a starting set of, well, guidelines.
Effects of hypercholesterolemia on monokine-induced smooth muscle cell proliferation.

Macrophage/smooth muscle cell interactions play a role in atherogenesis and foreign body reactions to biomaterials. This study investigates the effect of a hypercholesterolemic diet on the ability of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to respond to monokines which are produced in response to hypercholesterolemia, biomaterials or both. Peritoneal macrophages were harvested from rabbits fed either a normal (MoNL) or a 2% cholesterol/ 6% peanut oil diet (MoATH) (plasma cholesterol 2840 vs 42.3 [p < 0.005]). The macrophages were then cultured in the presence of either 1) polyglactin 910 (PG910), 2) Dacron, or 3) no biomaterial (control), and the media collected and pooled by week for the smooth muscle cell mitogenesis assays. Rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells were harvested and cultured from the same two groups of rabbits (SMCNL or SMCATH), quiesced in serum free media (48 h) followed by addition of the test media and 3H-TdR. The addition of either biomaterial to MoNL -conditioned media increased 3H-TdR incorporation in both smooth muscle lines as compared to controls. PG910 resulted in significantly higher 3H-TdR incorporation than Dacron (weeks 3–5, p < 0.005). The addition of either biomaterial to MoATH also increased 3H-TdR incorporation in both smooth muscle cell lines, however, the magnitude of the response was decreased as compared to the MoNL -conditioned media in both cell lines (p < 0.001 for either SMC line). In contrast to the MoNL-conditioned media, the addition of Dacron to MoATH resulted in the highest level of 3H-TdR incorporation in both cell lines as compared to the media without biomaterial. The SMCNL had a higher response to both the monokines in conditioned media (2-fold) and to fetal bovine serum (3-fold) than the SMCATH(p < 0.001). Although there is a generalized decrease in release of mitogens active on SMCs from MoATH, the MoATH exposed to Dacron release increased amounts of mitogenic factors, most active on the SMCATH cell line. A common mode of failure of small diameter Dacron grafts in man is pseudointimal hyperplasia, and it is inviting to postulate that the Dacron/macrophage/smooth muscle cell interactions in this atherosclerotic group of patients plays a role in the pathogenesis of this lesion.
Measuring the resiliency of cellular base station deployments

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) has defined resiliency as the ability of a network to withstand the loss of assets and to recover quickly from such losses. How to measure the resiliency of a base station deployment is an important consideration for network planners and operators. In this paper, we propose a resiliency measurement method in conjunction with a performance metric such as coverage or supported throughput, where we define the resiliency as the maximum number of sites that can fail before the metric falls below a minimum acceptable threshold. Because the number of combinations of failures increases exponentially with respect to the number of sites in a given deployment, we introduce an algorithm that generates estimates of the lowest, highest, and average values of the metric for a given failure count while examining a subset of the possible failure combinations. We use an example deployment to demonstrate how the resiliency metric can be used to identify sites that have a disproportionate impact on performance; the network planner can harden these sites or, for a future deployment, adjust the site placement to reduce the effect of the high-impact sites.
Adaptive Resolution Terahertz Dual Frequency Comb Spectroscopy

We demonstrate an electro-optic technique to adaptively control the frequency resolution of a terahertz dual-comb spectrometer. Our approach is simple and should permit megahertz sampling resolution across the full terahertz spectral bandwidth.
Corn Earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): Comparison of Field Survival of Larvae from Normal and Irradiated Parents

Corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), larvae from selected crosses of irradiated (10 krad) and normal parents were compared for their ability to survive in the field on whorl-stage sweet corn and in the laboratory on a meridic diet. Survival rates in the field and the laboratory were highest for larvae from normal parents (inbred) and lowest for larvae from irradiated parents (inbred). Mortality for all larvae was greater in the field than in the laboratory. The mortality differential between larvae from irradiated and normal parents was greater in the laboratory than in the field. Implications of these data on potential use of inherited sterility for control of corn earworm are discussed.
Investigation and analysis of an outbreak of epidemic parotitis at a primary school in Fangxian County, Hubei Province.

An outbreak of epidemic parotitis occurred in a primary school in Fangxian County,Hubei Province on June 11,2008.A total of 95 patients were diagnosed with epidemic parotitis by the end of the epidemic on July 30th.The epidemic was brought under control by taking active and effective preventive and control measures.Epidemic parotitis spreads easily in populations in nurseries,kindergartens,or schools.Therefore,the monitoring of epidemic parotitis in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens should be enhanced.Appropriate control measures should be taken promptly to prevent greater prevalence when cases of epidemic parotitis are detected in institutions.
Recent advances in carbon fibers derived from biobased precursors

High-performance carbon fibers (CFs) are currently produced primarily from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). However, the high cost of such CFs and the environmental concerns during its manufacturing (from PAN) are stimulating research on alternative bio-based precursors and environmentally friendly processing routes. This review summarizes the recent research studies on the pathways for converting cellulose and lignin (most abundant and renewable biomass) into suitable precursor fibers and CFs. The role of various bio-based precursors, fiber spinning routes, and process conditions on the final properties of CFs is discussed. Although bio-based CFs reported in the current research studies have limited strength and modulus to be considered for high-performance aerospace applications, further progress in precursor purification and optimized fiber processing may lead to their application in less demanding structural applications such as automotive and industrial. Even in their current state, a lack of graphitic crystallinity results in a lower conductivity for the resulting CFs and makes them suitable for ultrahigh temperature insulative applications. Furthermore, the noncrystalline form of carbon obtained from bio-based precursors clearly indicates a significant potential of carbon nanofibers, mats, and activated CFs in nonstructural applications that require a large specific surface area, such as electrochemical energy storage and purification. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43794.
Addressing issues for early detection and screening in ethnic populations.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe how multicultural knowledge and skills are applied in culturally competent practice to develop and deliver available, accessible, acceptable, and appropriate programs in early cancer detection and screening programs in ethnic communities. DATA SOURCES Literature and clinical community practice reports. DATA SYNTHESIS Successful community screening programs can be conducted within ethnic minority populations. Practitioners must tailor care based on salient cultural differences of the population of focus. Culturally based practice results in the (a) increased ability to think critically in community and individual assessments, (b) development of more accurate program plans and designs, and (c) increased likelihood that appropriate outcomes will be used in the evaluation of care. CONCLUSIONS Greater cultural competence increases the accuracy of care and thereby its effectiveness, efficiency, and success in providing acceptable and optimal programs. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE The first step in a cultural assessment is to know one's own beliefs and attitudes. The second step, conducted in parallel, requires knowledge about the groups that make up the patient and staff populations within the practice setting and then integrating those perspectives into practice. Practitioners then can begin the third step of negotiation of all stages of the project with members of the various communities on an equal basis that recognizes the expertise and integrity of all parties.
The Microphysiology Systems Database for Analyzing and Modeling Compound Interactions with Human and Animal Organ Models.

Abstract Microfluidic human organ models, microphysiology systems (MPS), are currently being developed as predictive models of drug safety and efficacy in humans. To design and validate MPS as predictive of human safety liabilities requires safety data for a reference set of compounds, combined with in vitro data from the human organ models. To address this need, we have developed an internet database, the MPS database (MPS-Db), as a powerful platform for experimental design, data management, and analysis, and to combine experimental data with reference data, to enable computational modeling. The present study demonstrates the capability of the MPS-Db in early safety testing using a human liver MPS to relate the effects of tolcapone and entacapone in the in vitro model to human in vivo effects. These two compounds were chosen to be evaluated as a representative pair of marketed drugs because they are structurally similar, have the same target, and were found safe or had an acceptable risk in preclinical a...
Abstract 766: Control of lung cancer with aspirin-triggered stimulation of resolution

Objective: To establish aspirin-triggered resolvins as a novel treatment to enhance current cancer therapies through the resolution of inflammation and clearance of cancer therapy-induced tumor cell debris. Background: Inflammation in the tumor microenvironment is now recognized as a strong promoter of tumor growth. Substantial epidemiological evidence suggests that aspirin, which suppresses inflammation, also reduces the risk of cancer. However, the mechanism by which aspirin reduces cancer risk and improves survival remains unclear, and toxicity has limited its clinical use. Low-dose aspirin stimulates the endogenous production of aspirin-triggered (AT) resolvins, novel omega-3 fatty acid-derived pro-resolving lipid autacoid mediators. We recently discovered that resolvins have potent anti-tumor activity, making resolvins potential candidates to mediate the anti-cancer activity of aspirin. Thus, we hypothesize that aspirin9s anti-cancer activity is mediated in part by AT-resolvins via novel anti-inflammatory and pro-resolution mechanisms. Methods: Flow cytometry confirmed apoptotic and necrotic lung tumor cell debris following chemotherapy (etoposide) or targeted therapy (erlotinib) treatment in vitro. Macrophage phagocytosis was quantified via Relative Fluorescent Units (RFU). Cytokine levels were quantified via ELISA. Results: AT-resolvins counter therapy-induced debris-stimulated tumor growth and spontaneous lung metastases via enhancing endogenous clearance of tumor debris via macrophages and counter-regulating macrophage cytokine production. Pharmacological and genetic antagonism of the AT-resolvin D1 receptor (ALX/FPR2) neutralized aspirin9s anti-cancer activity. Conclusions: AT-resolvins may provide a novel pathway and molecular mechanism to explain how aspirin reduces cancer risk so broadly. These anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid autacoid mediators may complement current therapies for lung cancer with minimal toxicity. Citation Format: Molly M. Gilligan, Megan L. Sulciner, Yael Gus-Brautbar, Sesquile Ramon, Romain A. Colas, Sui Huang, Charles N. Serhan, Dipak Panigrahy. Control of lung cancer with aspirin-triggered stimulation of resolution. [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 766.
The association between varicella (chickenpox) and group A streptococcus infections in historical perspective.

Objectives:The aim of the research is to investigate the historical relationship between varicella and Streptococcus pyogenes infections. In the past few decades, varicella has been identified as a risk factor for invasive group A streptococcus infections. The question is whether this relationship also existed between varicella and scarlet fever in the historical era.Methods:The analysis begins with a search of historical medical reports on the relationship between varicella and scarlet fever epidemics in the late 19th and early 20th century, as well as in more recent empirical studies. Correlations and cross-correlations between varicella and scarlet fever are analyzed using weekly public health case reports from 1924 to 1932 for Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia. Regression models are used to estimate the relationship between varicella and scarlet fever after controlling for seasonal forcing.Results:Historical records give limited support for a causal relationship between varicella and sc...
The Nyāya Misplacement Theory of Illusion & the Metaphysical Problem of Perception

Tim Crane (The problem of perception. In: Zalta EN (ed) The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Spring 2011 ed). http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/perception-problem/, 2011) distinguishes between the metaphysical problem of perception and the epistemological problem of perception. The metaphysical problem can be articulated as a function of the joint inconsistency between several theses concerning the nature of perception, such as the openness to the world thesis and the transparency of experience thesis. Disjunctivism holds that veridical and non-veridical perceptual experiences are distinct in some important way. Disjunctivism is often offered as a solution to the metaphysical problem of perception as well as a response to scepticism. In this comparative-philosophical-exploratory essay, I argue that on the basis of a specific reading of the Nyāya misplacement theory of illusion one can generate a specific kind of disjunctivism about perception, which I call causal disjunctivism. Causal disjunctivism is distinct from Duncan Pritchard’s epistemic disjunctivism, and John McDowell’s metaphysical disjunctivism. The core idea of causal disjunctivism is that the processes that bring about veridical perception are distinct from the process that bring about non-veridical perception at the level of causal generation. Second, on the basis of causal disjunctivism, I go on to show that it offers a plausible solution to the metaphysical problem of perception.
The "Hysterical" Emily Hobhouse and Boer War Concentration Camp Controversy

This essay provides a rhetorical analysis of some of the gender, class, and racial politics of the “concentration camp” controversy of the Anglo‐Boer war. The author argues that a synchronic ideographic analysis of key colonial fragments illustrates the ways that British and South African officials tried to create an image of a “hysterical” Emily Hobhouse, as a way of quelling the criticism of both the war and the camps. By investigating some of the newspaper accounts, diary entries, Parliamentary statements, and other contemporary documents, the author concludes that growing public pressure forced British administrators to eventually make needed reforms in the camps.
Still Human: A Call for Increased Focus on Ethical Standards in Cadaver Research

Research on human cadavers is an important mechanism of scientific progress and comprises a large industry in the United States. However, despite its importance and influence, there is little ethical or regulatory oversight of cadaver-based research. This lack of transparency raises important ethical questions. Thus, this paper serves as a call for ethicists and regulators to pay increased attention to cadaver research. I argue that cadaver research ought to be considered a subset of human subjects research and held accountable to higher ethical standards. After describing current practices, I argue that oversight of cadaver research as a form of human subjects research is appropriate because cadaver research is similar to other types of human research, participants in cadaver research incur risks of harm, and a current lack of oversight has allowed the cadaver industry to entice research participation through ethically questionable practices. This paper urges greater dialogue among human subjects research ethicists and regulators about what constitutes appropriate protections for participants in cadaver research.
Complex modes expansion with vector projection using power flow to simulate Lamb waves scattering from horizontal cracks and disbonds.

This paper presents an inexpensive but accurate analytical method to calculate the scattering of straight-crested Lamb waves from cracks parallel to the plate surface. The same method is applicable for the disbond problem. In this method, the scatter field is expanded in terms of complex Lamb wave modes with unknown amplitudes. These unknown amplitudes are obtained from the boundary conditions using vector projection utilizing the power expression. The process works by projecting the stress conditions onto the displacement eigen-spaces of complex Lamb wave modes and vice versa. The authors call this technique “complex modes expansion with vector projection” (CMEP). The CMEP approach is versatile and can be readily applied to corrosion, cracks, or disbonds. In this paper, the CMEP method is applied to a horizontal crack in a plate. For verification of the results the authors compared them with the results obtained by using the finite element method (FEM) and literature. The FEM analysis was conducted in th...
Effects of a brief education and treatment-planning group on evidence-based PTSD treatment utilization and completion among veterans.

OBJECTIVE Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presenting for care with Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VA) tend not to engage in evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) despite widespread availability of these treatments. Though there is little evidence that "readiness for treatment" affects treatment choice, many VA providers believe that interventions to increase readiness would be helpful. This naturalistic study examined the effects of a 4-session education/treatment-planning group on treatment choice among veterans in a VA outpatient PTSD treatment program. METHOD Treatment choices and completion rates of 114 veterans who received at least 1 session of the group (EG) were compared with those of 68 veterans who did not receive the group and received PTSD program treatment as usual (TAU). TAU and EG cases were matched on gender and service era. RESULTS Of 114 EG cases, 52 (45.6%) chose to receive EBPs, compared with 10 of 68 TAU cases (14.7%). These rates were significantly different, χ2(1) = 18.1, p < .0001. Among cases choosing EBPs, 52.2% of EG cases completed the EBPs as planned, compared with 60% of TAU cases. These percentages were not significantly different. Among EG cases choosing EBPs, lower likelihood of treatment completion was related to psychiatric medication prescription, presence of PTSD service connection, and higher overall service-connection level. CONCLUSION The education/treatment-planning group was associated with higher likelihood of selecting but not completing EBPs for PTSD. The decision to engage in trauma-focused treatment may be a different process from the decision to complete such treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record
Improving Disk Throughput in Data-Intensive Servers

Low disk throughput is one of the main impediments to improving the performance of data-intensive servers. In this paper, we propose two management techniques for the disk controller cache that can significantly increase disk throughput. The first technique, called File-Oriented Read-ahead (FOR), adjusts the number of read-ahead blocks brought into the disk controller cache according to file system information. The second technique, called Host-guided Device Caching (HDC), gives the host control over part of the disk controller cache. As an example use of this mechanism, we keep the blocks that cause the most misses in the host buffer cache permanently cached in the disk controller. Our detailed simulations of real server workloads show that FOR and HDC can increase disk throughput by up to 34% and 24%, respectively, in comparison to conventional disk controller cache management techniques. When combined, the techniques can increase throughput by up to 47%.
Coherent combination of signals from diverse sensors

We consider a the problem of coherently combining signals having several sinusoidal components as measured via multiple sensors, in which each sensor has its own transfer function. It is desirable to combine the sensor outputs to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, but simply co-adding the signals could result in signal cancellation, due to phase changes in the sensors. We propose here a combining architecture which blindly adjusts the phases of the signals to maximize signal output. Different combining filters are considered: an allpass filter, and FIR filters designed according to a maximum SNR and minimum mean-squared error constraint. The allpass filters are trained both via steepest ascent and simplex optimization. The allpass combining filters provide excellent SNR improvement, while preserving all the frequency components.
Burden of Bites by Dogs and Other Animals in Los Angeles County, California, 2009-2011.

Objectives:The objective of this study was to analyze all animal-to-human bite reports during a 3-year period from a regional surveillance database. Results helped to inform local efforts to reduce...
Recent Trends in Imaging Use in Hospital Settings: Implications for Future Planning

Abstract Purpose To compare trends in utilization rates of imaging in the three hospital-based settings where imaging is conducted. Methods The nationwide Medicare Part B databases for 2004-2014 were used. All discretionary noninvasive diagnostic imaging (NDI) CPT codes were selected and grouped by modality. Procedure volumes of each code were available from the databases and converted to utilization rates per 1,000 Medicare enrollees. Medicare's place-of-service codes were used to identify imaging examinations done in hospital inpatients, hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs), and emergency departments (EDs). Trends were observed over the life of the study. Results Trendlines were strongly affected by code bundling in echocardiography in 2009, nuclear imaging in 2010, and CT in 2011. However, even aside from these artifactual effects, important trends could be discerned. Inpatient imaging utilization rates of all modalities are trending downward. In HOPDs, the utilization rate of conventional radiographic examinations (CREs) is declining but rates of CT, MRI, echocardiography, and noncardiac ultrasound (US) are increasing. In EDs, utilization rates of CREs, CT, and US are increasing. In the 3 years after 2011, when no further code bundling occurred, the total inpatient NDI utilization rate dropped 15%, whereas the rate in EDs increased 12% and that in HOPDs increased 1%. Conclusions The trends in utilization of NDI in the three hospital-based settings where imaging occurs are distinctly different. Radiologists and others who are involved in deciding what kinds of equipment to purchase and where to locate it should be cognizant of these trends in making their decisions.
Application of synchrotron and neutron scattering techniques for tracking phase transformations in steels

Abstract: This chapter reviews the role of synchrotron and neutron scattering techniques for measurement of transformation kinetics in steels and understanding of phase transformation mechanisms. In the first part of the chapter, various techniques are introduced. In the second part of the chapter, the use of these techniques are demonstrated by published examples. These examples include non-equilibrium phase transformations during liquid to solid as well as solid-solid phase transformations. As a part of solid-state transformation, austenite formation during heating as well as the decomposition of austenite to various ferrite morphologies are considered. Extensions of these techniques for describing phase transformation during thermo-mechanical transients are also described.
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction across an Antiferromagnet-Ferromagnet Interface.

The antiferromagnet- (AFM-)ferromagnet (FM) interfaces are of central importance in recently developed pure electric or ultrafast control of FM spins, where the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Here we report the direct observation of an Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) across the AFM-FM interface of $\mathrm{IrMn}/\mathrm{CoFeB}$ thin films. The interfacial DMI is quantitatively measured from the asymmetric spin-wave dispersion in the FM layer using Brillouin light scattering. The DMI strength is enhanced by a factor of 7 with increasing IrMn layer thickness in the range of 1--7.5 nm. Our findings provide deeper insight into the coupling at the AFM-FM interface and may stimulate new device concepts utilizing chiral spin textures such as magnetic Skyrmions in AFM-FM heterostructures.