cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maintenance factors for persistence of bulimic pathology: a prospective natural history study.

Objective—To characterize the natural course of bulimia nervosa and identify potential maintenance factors that predict persistence of bulimic pathology in order to advance knowledge of processes that perpetuate this eating disturbance and permit the design of more efficacious treatments. Method—We followed 96 women with threshold or subthreshold bulimia nervosa over a 1-year period with quarterly interviews. Results—There were high rates of remission and relapse on a month-to-month basis, but remission became more likely to persist after a period of approximately 4 months of symptom abstinence. Initial elevations in thin ideal internalization, expectations for reward from eating, and binge frequency predicted greater time to remission of binge eating. Initial elevations in dietary restraint and compensatory behavior frequency predicted greater time to remission of compensatory behaviors. Conclusion—Results imply that treatments for eating disorder may be more effective if they can reduce thin-ideal internalization, eating expectancies, and ineffective dieting, and produce rapid cessation of binge eating and compensatory behaviors.
Comparison of arterial pressure and plasma ANG II responses to three methods of subcutaneous ANG II administration

Angiotensin II (ANG II)-induced hypertension is a commonly studied model of experimental hypertension, particularly in rodents, and is often generated by subcutaneous delivery of ANG II using Alzet osmotic minipumps chronically implanted under the skin. We have observed that, in a subset of animals subjected to this protocol, mean arterial pressure (MAP) begins to decline gradually starting the second week of ANG II infusion, resulting in a blunting of the slow pressor response and reduced final MAP. We hypothesized that this variability in the slow pressor response to ANG II was mainly due to factors unique to Alzet pumps. To test this, we compared the pressure profile and changes in plasma ANG II levels during subcutaneous ANG II administration (150 ng·kg−1·min−1) using either Alzet minipumps, iPrecio implantable pumps, or a Harvard external infusion pump. At the end of 14 days of ANG II, MAP was highest in the iPrecio group (156 ± 3 mmHg) followed by Harvard (140 ± 3 mmHg) and Alzet (122 ± 3 mmHg) groups. The rate of the slow pressor response, measured as daily increases in pressure averaged over days 2–14 of ANG II, was similar between iPrecio and Harvard groups (2.7 ± 0.4 and 2.2 ± 0.4 mmHg/day) but was significantly blunted in the Alzet group (0.4 ± 0.4 mmHg/day) due to a gradual decline in MAP in a subset of rats. We also found differences in the temporal profile of plasma ANG II between infusion groups. We conclude that the gradual decline in MAP observed in a subset of rats during ANG II infusion using Alzet pumps is mainly due to pump-dependent factors when applied in this particular context.
Hopes and directions for the future

Changes have occurred since the first edition of New Directions for Teaching and Learning was published. This chapter focuses on areas that have changed and on those that will probably not change as we move into the future.
Spontaneous and ultraviolet light-induced direct repeat recombination in mammalian cells frequently results in repeat deletion

Abstract Recombination is enhanced by transcription and by DNA damage caused by ultraviolet light (UV). Recombination between direct repeats can occur by gene conversion without an associated crossover, which maintains the gross repeat structure. There are several possible mechanisms that delete one repeat and the intervening sequences (gene conversion associated with a crossover, unequal sister chromatid exchange, and single-strand annealing). We examined transcription-enhanced spontaneous recombination, and UV-induced recombination between neomycin ( neo ) direct repeats. One neo gene was driven by the inducible MMTV promoter. Multiple (silent) markers in the second neo gene were used to map conversion tracts. These markers are thought to inhibit spontaneous recombination, and our data suggest that this inhibition is partially overcome by high level transcription. Recombination was stimulated by transcription and by UV doses of 6–12 J/m 2 , but not by 18 J/m 2 . About 70% of spontaneous and UV-induced products were deletions. In contrast, only 3% of DSB-induced products were deletions. We propose that these product spectra differ because spontaneous and UV-induced recombination is replication-dependent, whereas DSB-induced recombination is replication-independent.
Competition between Blown Fuse and WASP for WIP binding regulates the dynamics of WASP-dependent actin polymerization in vivo

Dynamic rearrangements of the actin cytoskeleton play a key role in numerous cellular processes. In Drosophila, fusion between a muscle founder cell and a fusion competent myoblast (FCM) is mediated by an invasive, F-actin-enriched podosome-like structure (PLS). Here, we show that the dynamics of the PLS is controlled by Blown fuse (Blow), a cytoplasmic protein required for myoblast fusion but whose molecular function has been elusive. We demonstrate that Blow is an FCM-specific protein that colocalizes with WASP, WIP/Solitary, and the actin focus within the PLS. Biochemically, Blow modulates the stability of the WASP-WIP complex by competing with WASP for WIP binding, leading to a rapid exchange of WASP, WIP and G-actin within the PLS, which, in turn, actively invades the adjacent founder cell to promote fusion pore formation. These studies identify a regulatory protein that modulates the actin cytoskeletal dynamics by controlling the stability of the WASP-WIP complex.
Energetics of heterometal substitution in ɛ-Keggin [MO4Al12(OH)24(OH2)12]6/7/8+ ions

Aluminum hydroxide ions in the ɛ-Keggin structure provide geochemical models for how structure affects reactivity, and consequently, how aqueous ions evolve to bulk precipitates. Here we report a systematic comparison of heterometal substitution into the MAl12 ɛ-Keggin structure, where M = GaIII, AlIII, or GeIV. We use direct solution calorimetric techniques to compare the energetics of these substituted structures and complement these measurements with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to further examine this structure as a host to alternative heterometals. The measured enthalpy of solution (Δ H soln) at 28 °C in 5 N HCl for the selenate salts of GaAl127+ and AlAl127+, was measured as −869.71 ± 5.18 and −958.04 ± 2.79 kJ/mol, respectively. The enthalpies of formation from the elements, Δ H °f,el, for the selenate salts of GaAl127+ and AlAl127+, are −23 075.02 ± 61.68 and −23 334.18 ± 60.38 kJ/mol, respectively, supplanting previous values. We compare structural relationships to both experimental and calculated energies to identify the driving forces that control these substitutions and stability, and establish that tetrahedral M-O bond lengths are closely related to the strain and stability of the structure. We show that substitution depends on the size and valence of the heterometal through energetics, and we extend our thermodynamic and structural relationships to other not yet synthesized MAl12 clusters (M = SiIV, FeIII, BeII, MgII, or ZnII).
Are infant mortality rate declines exponential? The general pattern of 20th century infant mortality rate decline

Background Time trends in infant mortality for the 20th century show a curvilinear pattern that most demographers have assumed to be approximately exponential. Virtually all cross-country comparisons and time series analyses of infant mortality have studied the logarithm of infant mortality to account for the curvilinear time trend. However, there is no evidence that the log transform is the best fit for infant mortality time trends.
Neurotoxic Effects of Anthracycline- vs Nonanthracycline-Based Chemotherapy on Cognition in Breast Cancer Survivors

Importance Chemotherapy exposure is a known risk factor for cancer-related cognitive impairments. Anthracycline-based regimens are commonly used chemotherapies that have been shown to be associated with cognitive impairment and brain changes in clinical studies. Objective To directly compare the effects of anthracycline and nonanthracycline regimens on cognitive status and functional brain connectivity. Design, Setting, and Participants In this observational study, we retrospectively examined cognitive and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired from 62 primary breast cancer survivors (mean [SD] age, 54.7 [8.5] years) who were more than 2 years off-therapy, on average. Twenty of these women received anthracycline-based chemotherapy as part of their primary treatment, 19 received nonanthracycline regimens, and 23 did not receive any chemotherapy. Participants were enrolled at a single academic institution (Stanford University) from 2008 to 2014, and the study analyses were performed at this time. Main Outcomes and Measures Cognitive status was measured using standardized neuropsychological tests, and functional brain connectivity was evaluated using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging with a focus on the brain’s default mode network. Results The anthracycline group demonstrated significantly lower verbal memory performance including immediate recall ( F = 3.73; P = .03) and delayed recall ( F = 11.11; P F = 7.48; P = .001) compared with the other 2 groups. Patient-reported outcomes related to cognitive dysfunction ( F = 7.27; P = .002) and psychological distress ( F = 5.64; P = .006) were similarly elevated in both chemotherapy groups compared with the non–chemotherapy-treated controls. Conclusions and Relevance These results suggest that anthracyclines may have greater negative effects than nonanthracycline regimens on particular cognitive domains and brain network connections. Both anthracycline and nonanthracycline regimens may have nonspecific effects on other cognitive domains as well as certain patient reported outcomes. Further research is needed to identify potential methods for protecting the brain against the effects of various chemotherapeutic agents.
Using elimination and delegation to implement a scalable NUMA-friendly stack

Emerging cache-coherent non-uniform memory access (cc-NUMA) architectures provide cache coherence across hundreds of cores. These architectures change how applications perform: while local memory accesses can be fast, remote memory accesses suffer from high access times and increased interconnect contention. Because of these costs, performance of legacy code on NUMA systems is often worse than their uniform memory counterparts despite the potential for increased parallelism.We explore these effects on prior implementations of concurrent stacks and propose the first NUMA-friendly stack design that improves data locality and minimizes interconnect contention. We achieve this by using a dedicated server thread that performs all operations requested by the client threads. Data is kept in the cache local to the server thread thereby restricting cache-to-cache traffic to messages exchanged between the clients and the server. In addition, we match reciprocal operations (pushes and pops) by using the rendezvous elimination algorithm before sending requests to the server. This has the dual effect of avoiding unnecessary interconnect traffic and reducing the number of operations that change the data structure. The result of combining elimination and delegation is a scalable and highly parallel stack that outperforms all previous stack implementations on NUMA systems.
Backdoor censorship: How media giants' copyright protection policies collide with the First Amendment

This thesis analyzes an alarming trend among large media companies to use copyright laws to censor news and news related websites using takedown notices, cease and desist letters and other legal threats. The paper examines the origins of takedown problem and the copyright, fair use and First Amendment concerns surrounding the issue. In addition, the paper identifies recent examples of takedowns and related censorship in an effort to explain the takedown problem and lessen its occurrence in the future. The goal of this paper is to provide concrete suggestions for dealing with the takedown problem to better protect the free speech and free press guarantees of the First Amendment. These suggestions include educating online journalists about their legal rights, fighting back against unfounded takedowns, getting added protection with insurance, publicizing wrongful takedowns, and most important, revising current copyright law.
Joint machine learning and human learning design with sequential active learning and outlier detection for linear regression problems

In this paper, we propose a joint machine learning and human learning design approach to make the training data labeling task in linear regression problems more efficient and robust to noise, modeling mismatch, and human labeling errors. Considering a sequential active learning scheme which relies on human learning to enlarge training data set, we integrate it with sparse outlier detection algorithms to mitigate the inevitable human errors during training data labeling. First, we assume sparse human errors and formulate the outlier detection as a sparse optimization problem within the sequential active learning procedure. Then, for non-sparse human errors, with the IRT (item response theory) to model the distribution of human errors, appropriate data are selected to reconstruct a training data set with sparse human errors. Simulations are conducted to verify the desirable performance of the proposed approach.
Does Municipally Subsidized Housing Improve School Quality? Evidence from New York City

Problem: Policymakers and community development practitioners view increasing subsidized owner-occupied housing as a mechanism to improve urban neighborhoods, but little research studies the impact of such investments on community amenities.Purpose: We examine the impact of subsidized owner-occupied housing on the quality of local schools and compare them to the impacts of city investments in rental units.Methods: Using data from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), we estimate three main sets of regressions, exploring student characteristics, school resources, and school outcomes.Results and conclusions: The completion of subsidized owner-occupied housing is associated with a decrease in schools’ percentage of free-lunch eligible students, an increase in schools’ percentage of White students, and, controlling for these compositional changes, an increase in scores on standardized reading and math exams. By contrast, our results suggest that investments in rental housing have little, if any, effect.Takeaway for practice: Policies promoting the construction of subsidized owner-occupied housing have solidified in local governments around the country. Our research provides reassurance to policymakers and planners who are concerned about the spillover effects of subsidized, citywide investments beyond the households being directly served. It suggests that benefits from investments in owner occupancy may extend beyond the individual level, with an increase in subsidized owner-occupancy bringing about improvements in neighborhood school quality.
A Rothschild-Stiglitz Approach to Bayesian Persuasion

Abstract Rothschild and Stiglitz (1970) represent random variables as convex functions (integrals of the cumulative distribution function). Combining this representation with Blackwell's Theorem (1953), we characterize distributions of posterior means that can be induced by a signal. This characterization provides a novel way to analyze a class of Bayesian persuasion problems.
Quantitative evaluation of the myocardial preservative characteristics of nifedipine during hypothermic myocardial ischemia

Nifedipine, a slow calcium-channel blocker, has been used to preserve myocardial function in the ischemic heart To. quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of nifedipine as a cardioplegic agent during moderate hypothermia (28° C), 15 pigs were evaluated on total and right heart bypass with measurement at normothermia and after 1 hour of hypothermic ischemia of stroke volume, coronary blood flow, myocardial oxygen consumption, and lactate extraction. Myocardial tissue gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) were continuously monitored. Animals were divided into three groups: (1) hypothermic ischemia, (2) hypothermic ischemia with infusion of nifedipine carrier without nifedipine, and (3) hypothermic ischemia with nifedipine and its carrier. A significant decrease in stroke volume was seen in all three groups; however, the depression was significantly greater following hypothermic ischemia than following cardioplegia with either nifedipine or its carrier. The mean recovery value of stroke volume was highest in the nifedipine group, but this difference between nifedipine and its carrier alone did not reach statistical significance. Coronary blood flow, myocardial oxygen consumption, lactate extraction, and tissue gases failed to substantiate a significant benefit when nifedipine was compared with its carrier alone. We conclude that under these hypothermic conditions, no proven statistically significant advantage was noted in the nifedipine group when compared with the nifedipine carrier group in swine. However, both nifedipine and the carrier were superior as a myocardial preservative when compared with hypothermic ischemic arrest alone.
New Directions in Policy Borrowing Research.

Research on policy borrowing is a well-established research area of comparative education. Over the past 20 years or so it gained prominence among globalization scholars. Of great interest is not so much the question of which reforms “travel” internationally, and which ones are homebound, but rather why traveling reforms resonate in a given context and at a specific moment, and how they are subsequently translated or locally adapted. In addition to issues of reception and translation, questions on the politics and economics of policy transfer are central to this research area. Empirical studies have shown that borrowing reforms from other countries, from other sectors within a country, or from “international standards” broadly defined often help coalition-building in a country. Policy borrowing also helps to mobilize financial resources, especially when it is preceded by political talk of falling behind some international standards or “best practices.” Therefore, the methods of inquiry used, the type of research questions asked, and the conclusions drawn in this body of research tend to address political and economic aspects of educational reform. Arguably, a transnational perspective is indispensable to carry out this kind of intellectual project. The academic preoccupation with policy borrowing has helped to formulate the contours of comparative policy studies. The article provides a brief overview of the main tenets of policy borrowing research and then focuses specifically on three aspects: policy reception, policy projection, and the rise of the global education industry as a new actor and beneficiary of global education policy.
A multi-path routing scheme for GMPLS-controlled WDM networks

This paper analyzes destination initiated routing for GMPLS based WDM networks and determines, via simulation, both forward blocking and backward blocking. During light traffic load, the degradation in performance is due to backward blocking, whereas during heavy traffic load forward blocking dominates. In order to minimize the degradation due to blocking, this paper proposes a token based routing scheme. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed technique significantly improves the blocking performance and setup delay.
What Title III Crowdfunding Costs

Under the final rules for crowdfunding, the SEC (the commission) has developed detailed cost estimates for Title III JOBS Act issuers. These estimates cover the cost of each requirement imposed on issuers. This chapter describes these estimates and offers my perspective. As an initial cost guide, I think these estimates will be of interest to those considering JOBS Act crowdfunding under Title III.
Human Salivary Protein Histatin 5 Has Potent Bactericidal Activity against ESKAPE Pathogens

ESKAPE (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) pathogens have characteristic multiple-drug resistance and cause an increasing number of nosocomial infections worldwide. Peptide-based therapeutics to treat ESKAPE infections might be an alternative to conventional antibiotics. Histantin 5 (Hst 5) is a salivary cationic histidine-rich peptide produced only in humans and higher primates. It has high antifungal activity against Candida albicans through an energy-dependent, non-lytic process; but its bactericidal effects are less known. We found Hst 5 has bactericidal activity against S. aureus (60-70% killing) and A. baumannii (85-90% killing) in 10 mM and 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer (NaPB), while killing of >99% of P. aeruginosa, 60-80% E. cloacae and 20-60% of E. faecium was found in 10 mM NaPB. Hst 5 killed 60% of biofilm cells of P. aeruginosa, but had reduced activity against biofilms of S. aureus and A. baumannii. Hst 5 killed 20% of K. pneumonia biofilm cells but not planktonic cells. Binding and uptake studies using FITC-labeled Hst 5 showed E. faecium and E. cloacae killing required Hst 5 internalization and was energy dependent, while bactericidal activity was rapid against P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii suggesting membrane disruption. Hst 5-mediated killing of S. aureus was both non-lytic and energy independent. Additionally, we found that spermidine conjugated Hst 5 (Hst5-Spd) had improved killing activity against E. faecium, E. cloacae and A. baumannii. Hst 5 or its derivative has antibacterial activity against five out of six ESKAPE pathogens and may be an alternative treatment for these infections.
Outpatient Management and Long-Term Complications in Heart Transplantation

Outpatient management after heart transplantation requires longitudinal follow up to monitor for potential complications. Frequent follow up is required post heart transplant to monitor for allograft rejection (Chap. 12) or potential infection (Chap. 11). The focus of this chapter is the diagnosis and management of additional potential long term complications including cardiac allograft vasculopathy, malignancy, hypertension, renal dysfunction, hyperlipidemia, endocrine and bone complications, gastrointestinal complications, heart rhythm disorders, and other cardiac structural problems.
Taking Stock and Moving Forward: Lessons From Two Plus Decades of Research on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

In this article we review the substantial literature on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the U.S.’s oldest and largest urban school voucher program, and use the review to propose an ag...
Microfluidic modeling of the biophysical microenvironment in tumor cell invasion

Tumor cell invasion, whether penetrating through the extracellular matrix (ECM) or crossing a vascular endothelium, is a critical step in the cancer metastatic cascade. Along the way from a primary tumor to a distant metastatic site, tumor cells interact actively with the microenvironment either via biomechanical (e. g. ECM stiffness) or biochemical (e.g. secreted cytokines) signals. Increasingly, it is recognized that the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a critical player in tumor cell invasion. A main challenge for the mechanistic understanding of tumor cell–TME interactions comes from the complexity of the TME, which consists of extracellular matrices, fluid flows, cytokine gradients and other cell types. It is difficult to control TME parameters in conventional in vitro experimental designs such as Boyden chambers or in vivo such as in mouse models. Microfluidics has emerged as an enabling tool for exploring the TME parameter space because of its ease of use in recreating a complex and physiologically realistic three dimensional TME with well-defined spatial and temporal control. In this perspective, we will discuss designing principles for modeling the biophysical microenvironment (biological flows and ECM) for tumor cells using microfluidic devices and the potential microfluidic technology holds in recreating a physiologically realistic tumor microenvironment. The focus will be on applications of microfluidic models in tumor cell invasion.
Dorsal Root Ganglion Field Stimulation Prevents Inflammation and Joint Damage in a Rat Model of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objectives Electrical stimulation of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), referred to here as ganglionic field stimulation (GFS), is effective in reducing clinical pain, probably by interrupting transmission of afferent impulse trains on sensory neurons as they pass through the DRG. We therefore tested whether efferent impulse trains conveyed by sensory neurons, which contribute to neurogenic inflammation, may also be interrupted by GFS. Materials and Methods Collagen-induced arthritis, a model of clinical rheumatoid arthritis, was initiated in rats concurrently with the insertion of an electrode for GFS at the fourth lumbar DRG. Continuous GFS (20 Hz pulse rate, current at 80% of the motor threshold) was initiated 6 days later and continued for 14 days. Plantar pain sensitivity, ankle arthritis score, and dimensions of the foot and ankle were determined one hour after termination of GFS. Results The foot/ankle contralateral to GFS developed hypersensitivity to threshold and noxious mechanical stimulation, swelling, and high arthritis score, all of which were normalized in the foot/ankle ipsilateral with GFS. Histology showed GFS limited joint destruction. Electrophysiological recording showed GFS can block efferent impulse trains. Conclusions Our findings show that GFS can reduce neurogenic inflammation and the resulting joint damage in a model of rheumatoid arthritis, probably by blocking the transit of impulse trains through the DRG. GFS may have clinical utility in limiting joint destruction in inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Accurate Identification of Colonoscopy Quality and Polyp Findings Using Natural Language Processing.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to test the ability of a commercially available natural language processing (NLP) tool to accurately extract examination quality-related and large polyp information from colonoscopy reports with varying report formats. BACKGROUND Colonoscopy quality reporting often requires manual data abstraction. NLP is another option for extracting information; however, limited data exist on its ability to accurately extract examination quality and polyp findings from unstructured text in colonoscopy reports with different reporting formats. STUDY DESIGN NLP strategies were developed using 500 colonoscopy reports from Kaiser Permanente Northern California and then tested using 300 separate colonoscopy reports that underwent manual chart review. Using findings from manual review as the reference standard, we evaluated the NLP tool's sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and accuracy for identifying colonoscopy examination indication, cecal intubation, bowel preparation adequacy, and polyps ≥10 mm. RESULTS The NLP tool was highly accurate in identifying examination quality-related variables from colonoscopy reports. Compared with manual review, sensitivity for screening indication was 100% (95% confidence interval: 95.3%-100%), PPV was 90.6% (82.3%-95.8%), and accuracy was 98.2% (97.0%-99.4%). For cecal intubation, sensitivity was 99.6% (98.0%-100%), PPV was 100% (98.5%-100%), and accuracy was 99.8% (99.5%-100%). For bowel preparation adequacy, sensitivity was 100% (98.5%-100%), PPV was 100% (98.5%-100%), and accuracy was 100% (100%-100%). For polyp(s) ≥10 mm, sensitivity was 90.5% (69.6%-98.8%), PPV was 100% (82.4%-100%), and accuracy was 95.2% (88.8%-100%). CONCLUSION NLP yielded a high degree of accuracy for identifying examination quality-related and large polyp information from diverse types of colonoscopy reports.
Photoacoustic effect generated by moving optical sources: Motion in three dimensions

Although the photoacoustic effect is commonly produced through use of pulsed or amplitude-modulated radiation, it can also be generated by a steady source moving in space. Here, the properties of the photoacoustic effect generated by moving sources in three dimensions are investigated. The mathematics for the moving photoacoustic point source are shown to be closely related to that for derivation of the Lienard-Wiechert potential for a moving point charge. The cases of rectilinear motion with the speeds lower than, equal to, and greater than the sound speed, as well as a point source oscillating in space are reported. Of note is that a bounded amplification effect is found for a Gaussian source moving at the sound speed, which is in contrast to the unbounded amplification seen in a one-dimensional geometry.
Soil Testing Bray-1 Phosphorus with Non-Reagent Grade Hydrochloric and Sulfuric Acids

ABSTRACTPortable instruments have reduced on-site testing costs for soil pH and potassium in isolated locations. Acids could not be shipped to a remote Africa field laboratory. Bray-1 phosphorus (P) testing is difficult because hydrochloric (HCl) is required in the extraction solution and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is used in color development stock solutions. Muriatic HCl acid and battery H2SO4 were available in a local stores. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the accuracy of P soil testing using diluted, non-reagent HCl for making modified Bray1-P extractant and non-reagent H2SO4 for color development. Experiment 1 was conducted with soil samples from fields using Sunnyside™ and Klean Strip™ HCl muriatic acids. Soil samples extracted with diluted reagent HCl were closely related to P results using diluted Klean Strip (R2 = 0.96) and Sunnyside (R2 = 0.84) HCl. In Experiment 2, two commercial brands of H2SO4 acid used to refill car battery cells were evaluated. Test results suggested that the batt...
A Potential Material for Use in Ultrasound Phantoms

An ideal ultrasonic soft tissue equivalent phantom should exhibit the same speed of sound, the same attenuation coefficient, and the same scattering properties as those possessed by soft tissue; these qualities should agree at all frequencies in the clinical ultrasound range (1 to 15 mHz). Our group has made progress developing a material which exhibits speeds of sound in the range 1520–1650 m/s and attenuation coefficients approximating 1 dB/cm/mHz. In pursuing the creation of such a material, we have concentrated our efforts on pharmaceutical gel mixtures with various additives including preservatives and alcohols for varying the speed of sound. The major concern has been the development of control over the attenuation coefficient so that reasonable agreement can be obtained with published values for human tissues.1 This has been accomplished through the introduction of uniform concentrations of graphite powder or tiny plastic spheres. Graphite seems to give the best agreement, and the results using graphite are presented here.
Rules: The Basis of Morality… ?

Most theories of moral knowledge, throughout history, have focused on behavior-guiding rules . Those theories attempt to identify which rules are the morally valid ones, and to identify the source or ground of that privileged set. The variations on this theme are many and familiar. But there is a problem here. In fact, there are several. First, many of the higher animals display a complex social order, one crucial to their biological success, and the members of such species typically display a sophisticated knowledge of what is and what is not acceptable social behavior—but those creatures have no language at all. They are unable even to express a single rule, let alone evaluate it for moral validity. Second, when we examine most other kinds of behavioral skills—playing basketball, playing the piano, playing chess—we discover that it is surpassingly difficult to articulate a set of discursive rules, which, if followed, would produce a skilled athlete, pianist, or chess master. And third, it would be physically impossible for a biological creature to identify which of its myriad rule are relevant to a given situation, and then apply them, in real time, in any case. All told, we would seem to need a new account of how our moral knowledge is stored, accessed, and applied. The present paper explores the potential, in these three regards, of recent alternative models from the computational neurosciences. The possibilities, it emerges, are considerable.
CDMA power control for wireless networks

Code division multiple access (CDMA) has been proposed for wireless networks including digital cellular. Power control is an important aspect of such systems. We consider here power control in the reverse link direction. The objective is to equalize the powers received at a base station from different mobiles. Otherwise, those users with low received power could have severely degraded performance. We address two questions: How well need it be done? and How well can it be done? For the first question, we quantify the loss in capacity due to imperfect power control. For the second question, we discuss the response speed needed for a feedback controller to combat Ray leigh fading.
Effect of Ambient Atmosphere on Sintering of αA12O3 Supported Pt Catalysts

Samples of 0.036 and 0.046% Pt supported on α-Al2O3 were sintered in air, argon and nitrogen, at temperatures Between 650° and 800°C. Air sintered samples revealed a signal effect of average crystallite size upon CO oxidation (structure sensitivity) at low CO partial pressures, while structure insensitivity was manifested for the same reaction at higher CO partial pressures.
Anti-interleukin-2 receptor antibodies for the prevention of rejection in pediatric renal transplant patients: current status.

The anti-interleukin-2 receptor (anti-IL-2R) antibody therapy is an exciting approach to the prevention of acute rejection after renal allograft transplantation whereby immunosuppression is exerted by a selective and competitive inhibition of IL-2-induced T cell proliferation, a critical pathway of allorecognition. The anti-IL-2R antibodies specifically block the α-subunit of the IL-2R on activated T cells, and prevent T cell proliferation and activation of the effector arms of the immune system. The anti-IL-2R antibodies are used as induction therapy, immediately after renal transplantation, for prevention of acute cellular rejection in children and adults. During acute rejection, the IL-2Rα chain is no longer expressed on T cells; thus, the antibodies cannot be used to treat an existing acute rejection.
Multi-Query Optimization in Wide-Area Streaming Analytics

Wide-area data analytics has gained much attention in recent years due to the increasing need for analyzing data that are geographically distributed. Many of such queries often require real-time analysis on data streams that are continuously being generated across multiple locations. Yet, analyzing these geo-distributed data streams in a timely manner is very challenging due to the highly heterogeneous and limited bandwidth availability of the wide-area network (WAN). This paper examines the opportunity of applying multi-query optimization in the context of wide-area streaming analytics, with the goal of utilizing WAN bandwidth efficiently while achieving high throughput and low latency execution. Our approach is based on the insight that many streaming analytics queries often exhibit common executions, whether in consuming a common set of input data or performing the same data processing. In this work, we study different types of sharing opportunities and propose a practical online algorithm that allows streaming analytics queries to share their common executions incrementally. We further address the importance of WAN awareness in applying multi-query optimization. Without WAN awareness, sharing executions in a wide-area environment may lead to performance degradation. We have implemented our WAN-aware multi-query optimization in a prototype implementation based on Apache Flink. Experimental evaluation using Twitter traces on a real wide-area system deployment across geo-distributed EC2 data centers shows that our technique is able to achieve 21% higher throughput while saving WAN bandwidth consumption by 33% compared to a WAN-aware, sharing-agnostic system.
Do single neuron models exhibit temporal interference stimulation

Performing deep-brain stimulation (DBS) noninva-sively can have a drastic impact on neuroscience and clinical care. A recent work suggests that such noninvasive DBS is feasible using “Temporal Interference” (TI) stimulation, where two interfering high-frequency sinusoidal currents produce electrical stimulation only when the amplitudes of the sinusoids are approximately equal. While electrical stimulation using TI has been studied for decades, the understanding of its fundamental neurobiological mechanisms is still poor. In order to establish a better understanding of TI stimulation, a theoretical and computational approach is needed. In this work, we adopt such an approach using a computational model that is a sea of single neurons inside a spherical head. We demonstrate that the classical Hodgkin-Huxley squid neurons and some mammalian cells do exhibit TI stimulation in this model. We also observe that some mammalian neurons do not exhibit TI stimulation, suggesting that deeper studies are needed to understand if TI stimulation works with all neuron-types, or if it is network mechanisms (instead of single neuron dynamics) that enable TI stimulation.
Characterizing Sexual Assault Among Female U.S. Soldiers With Suicidal Behavior

Associations between sexual assault and demographic and military characteristics, health indicators, and socioenvironmental factors among female U.S. Army soldiers who exhibited suicidal behavior f...
ID2 and GJB2 promote early-stage breast cancer progression by regulating cancer stemness.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive form of breast cancer which could progress to or recur as invasive breast cancer. The underlying molecular mechanism of DCIS progression is yet poorly understood, and appropriate biomarkers to distinguish benign form of DCIS from potentially invasive tumor are urgently needed. To identify the key regulators of DCIS progression, we performed gene-expression analysis of syngeneic breast cancer cell lines MCF10A, DCIS.com, and MCF10CA and cross-referenced the targets with patient cohort data. We identified ID2 as a critical gene for DCIS initiation and found that ID2 promoted DCIS formation by enhancing cancer stemness of pre-malignant cells. ID2 also plays a pivotal role in survival of the aggressive cancer cells. In addition, we identified INHBA and GJB2 as key regulators for the transition of benign DCIS to aggressive phenotype. These two genes regulate migration, colonization, and stemness of invasive cancer cells. Upregulation of ID2 and GJB2 predicts poor prognosis after breast-conserving surgery. Finally, we found a natural compound Helichrysetin as ID2 inhibitor which suppresses DCIS formation in vitro and in vivo. Our results indicate that ID2 is a key driver of DCIS formation and therefore is considered to be a potential target for prevention of DCIS, while INHBA and GJB2 play vital roles in progression of DCIS to IDC and they may serve as potential prognosis markers.
Generation, transcriptome profiling, and functional validation of cone-rich human retinal organoids.

Rod and cone photoreceptors are light-sensing cells in the human retina. Rods are dominant in the peripheral retina, whereas cones are enriched in the macula, which is responsible for central vision and visual acuity. Macular degenerations affect vision the most and are currently incurable. Here we report the generation, transcriptome profiling, and functional validation of cone-rich human retinal organoids differentiated from hESCs using an improved retinal differentiation system. Induced by extracellular matrix, aggregates of hESCs formed single-lumen cysts composed of epithelial cells with anterior neuroectodermal/ectodermal fates, including retinal cell fate. Then, the cysts were en bloc-passaged, attached to culture surface, and grew, forming colonies in which retinal progenitor cell patches were found. Following gentle cell detachment, retinal progenitor cells self-assembled into retinal epithelium—retinal organoid—that differentiated into stratified cone-rich retinal tissue in agitated cultures. Electron microscopy revealed differentiating outer segments of photoreceptor cells. Bulk RNA-sequencing profiling of time-course retinal organoids demonstrated that retinal differentiation in vitro recapitulated in vivo retinogenesis in temporal expression of cell differentiation markers and retinal disease genes, as well as in mRNA alternative splicing. Single-cell RNA-sequencing profiling of 8-mo retinal organoids identified cone and rod cell clusters and confirmed the cone enrichment initially revealed by quantitative microscopy. Notably, cones from retinal organoids and human macula had similar single-cell transcriptomes, and so did rods. Cones in retinal organoids exhibited electrophysiological functions. Collectively, we have established cone-rich retinal organoids and a reference of transcriptomes that are valuable resources for retinal studies.
Acute Kawasaki Disease Therapy

We review the acute management of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD), including adjunctive primary therapies and the treatment of patients with resistance to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). IVIG administered within 10 days of fever in patients with (KD decreases the risk of coronary artery complication from ~ 25% to < 5%. However, patients at high risk of IVIG resistance or those with coronary changes at diagnosis may benefit from additional primary anti-inflammatory therapies. All patients with suspected KD should be treated with aspirin and IVIG (2 g/kg). Patients at high risk of treatment resistance and/or coronary complications may benefit from adjunctive treatments, including corticosteroids or infliximab. Patients with persistent fever after initial IVIG treatment are at high risk of coronary complications and usually are retreated with IVIG. Corticosteroids, infliximab, cyclosporine, anakinra, and cyclophosphamide have also been described in patients refractory to initial therapy, though optimal therapy in this high-risk group remains unknown.
Responsibility for Asthma Management Among Adolescents With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Abstract Purpose Among diverse, low-income urban adolescents with persistent asthma, we examined whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbidity, compared with asthma alone, was associated with clinical outcomes, healthcare utilization, and responsibility for self-management. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a large school-based study of adolescents with asthma in Rochester, NY. Adolescents reported asthma symptoms over 2 weeks and primary care and hospital admissions over 1 year. We assessed shared responsibility for asthma management between caregivers and adolescents. Results ADHD comorbidity was common (28%) in this sample of 370 adolescents. Adolescents with ADHD had more primary care utilization and hospitalizations than those without, despite having similar asthma symptoms. Caregivers and adolescents with ADHD reported that adolescents had less shared responsibility for nine asthma management tasks. Conclusions Adolescents with ADHD share less responsibility for asthma self-management. These teens' increased healthcare use might provide opportunities for clinicians to provide extra self-management support.
Spaces of Belonging and the Precariousness of Home

In this essay, I pose the question: what does it mean to be at home in a world where housing is increasingly a private commodity? I draw upon phenomenological analyses of the experience of home from Bachelard and Heidegger, both elaborating upon the fruitful descriptions of home as anchoring our temporal experience, while at the same time critiquing Bachelard’s all too hasty claim that all human beings begin in welcoming homes. As such, I claim that insofar as spaces of dwelling are not simply available in an increasingly precarious world, we ought to commit ourselves both to the work of cultivating more spaces of dwelling, and resisting an economic and political understanding of dwelling that reduces it to a purely material structure, or worse, an essentially fungible commodity or investment property, rather than a place that provides the conditions and parameters for human life.
Physician Advertising and Self Promotion

Advertising is a delicate area; from an ethical standpoint, it could be argued that banning advertising is the only way to avoid physicians preying on unwitting patients with false or deceptive claims that may encourage inappropriate healthcare utilization. On the other hand, advertising bans may promote restraint of trade, monopoly, and an exacerbation of the knowledge gap regarding therapeutic options and costs between physicians and patients.
Pancreatic Frozen Section Guides Operative Management With Few Deferrals and Errors.

Context.— Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment, and frozen section analysis is used to confirm diagnosis and determine resectability and margin status. Objective.— To evaluate use and accuracy of frozen section and how diagnosis impacts surgical procedure. Design.— We reviewed patients with planned pancreatic resections between January 2014 and March 2019 with at least 1 frozen section. Pathology reports including frozen sections, preoperative cytology, and operative notes were reviewed. Frozen sections were categorized by margin, primary pancreatic diagnosis, metastasis, or vascular resectability. The deferral and error rates and surgeons' response were noted. Results.— We identified 898 planned pancreatic resections and 221 frozen sections that were performed on 152 cases for 102 margins, 94 metastatic lesions, 20 primary diagnoses, and 5 to confirm vascular resectability. The diagnosis was deferred to permanent sections in 13 of 152 cases (8.6%) on 16 of 221 frozen sections (7.2%): 6 for metastasis, 8 for margins, and 2 for primary diagnosis. Discrepancies/errors were identified in 4 of 152 cases (2.6%) and 4 of 221 frozen sections (1.8%). Surgeon's response was different than expected in 8 of 221 frozen sections (3.6%), but their actions were explained by other intraoperative findings in 6 of 8. Conclusions.— Frozen section remains an important diagnostic tool used primarily for evaluation of margins and metastasis during pancreatectomy. In most cases, a definitive diagnosis is rendered, with occasional deferrals and few errors. Intraoperative findings explain most cases where surgeons act differently than expected based on frozen section diagnosis.
AniProtDB: A Collection of Consistently Generated Metazoan Proteomes for Comparative Genomics Studies

To address the void in the availability of high-quality proteomic data traversing the animal tree, we have implemented a pipeline for generating de novo assemblies based on publicly available data from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive, yielding a comprehensive collection of proteomes from 100 species spanning 21 animal phyla. We have also created the Animal Proteome Database (AniProtDB), a resource providing open access to this collection of high-quality metazoan proteomes, along with information on predicted proteins and protein domains for each taxonomic classification and the ability to perform sequence similarity searches against all proteomes generated using this pipeline. This solution vastly increases the utility of these data by removing the barrier to access for research groups who do not have the expertise or resources to generate these data themselves and enables the use of data from non-traditional research organisms that have the potential to address key questions in biomedicine.