cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Sellar and Parasellar Regions

The article reviews the anatomy and imaging evaluation of the sellar and parasellar regions. Both common and uncommon sellar and suprasellar masses are reviewed, focusing on a systematic approach to analysis and when appropriate, differential creation.
The epidermal response of developing skin to prostaglandin-B1: Mitochondrial alterations obtained in vitro

Abstract 1. 1. The crystallized form of prostaglandin B 1 (XPGB 1 ) and its effects were assessed in organ culture of developing chick skin by electronmicroscopic study. 2. 2. XPGB 1 continued to block feather organ development. The major change in fine structure of the epidermis from control tissues involved a pervasive and marked alteration in morphology of the epidermal mitochondria. All became round and displayed cristae either in concentric whorls or honeycomb patterns, or both. No similar changes occurred in the periderm or in the dermis. 3. 3. A more normal form of mitochondria was retained if the concentration of XPGB 1 in the culture medium was insufficient to completely block feather development. Recovery of the mitochondrial changes was accompanied with restitution of the feather organ when treated explants were transferred to fresh normal medium. 4. 4. It is tentatively concluded that epidermal mitochondria of developing chick skin respond selectively to prostaglandin B 1 , and that this response is directly related to organogenesis of the down feather.
Metabolism of D- and L-glyceraldehyde in adipose tissue: a stereochemical probe for glycerokinase activity.

Distributions of 14C have been determined in free glycerol, in glycerol from triglycerides, in glucose from glycogen, and in lactate after incubation of D-glyceraldehyde- 3J4C and ~-glyceraIdehyde-3-'~C with rat adipose tissue. The distributions are interpreted in terms of presently accepted possible reactions for the initial metabolism of glyceraldehyde. Formation of glycerol-1 -14C from ~-gIyceraldehyde-3-'~C indicates that in adipose tissue glyceraldehyde is reduced to glycerol. Incorporation of 14C from ~-glyceraldehyde-3-'~C into carbon 3 of the glycerol of triglyceride indicates that D- glyceraldehyde is either phosphorylated or oxidized to D- glyceric acid, or both, in its initial metabolism. Incorporation of 14C from ~-glyceraldehyde-3-'~C into carbon 3 of glycerol indicates that L-glyceraldehyde is reduced to glycerol, which is phosphorylated and (or) converted to D-glyceric acid via L- glyceric acid. Some 14C from ~-glyceraldehyde-3-'~C is in- corporated into carbon 1 of glycerol of triglycerides and carbon 4 of glycogen; the explanation for this incorporation is un- certain.
Visualizing Sparse Filtrations.

Over the last few years, there have been several approaches to building sparser complexes that still give good approximations to the persistent homology. In this video, we have illustrated a geometric perspective on sparse filtrations that leads to simpler proofs, more general theorems, and a more visual explanation. We hope that as these techniques become easier to understand, they will also become easier to use.
Radial external fixator for closed treatment of type III and IV supracondylar humerus fractures in children. A new surgical technique

OBJECTIVE Closed, anatomical reduction and reliable fixation of type III and IV supracondylar fractures that are either difficult or impossible to treat with conventional methods. INDICATIONS According the Pediatric Comprehensive AO Classification for long bones this technique is preferred for type III and IV supracondylar fractures that cannot be reduced using closed standard manipulative techniques, where stable fixation using standard percutaneous wire configurations cannot be achieved, when severe swelling, open fracture, primary neurological or vascular problems ("pulseless pink hand") or multiple injuries indicate that optimal management of the injured limb should be free from cast. In patients with comorbidities (e.g., seizures or spasticity) requiring more stable fixation. CONTRAINDICATIONS In principle there are no contraindications. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE Prior to reduction of the fracture, fluoroscopically controlled insertion of a single Schanz screw into the lateral (radial) aspect of the distal fragment, which is defined by bulls eyeing the capitellum in the perfect lateral radiographic projection of the epiphysis, parallel to the physis. For very distal fractures this screw may be intra-epiphyseal, although usual placement is in the metaphysis just distal to the fracture line. After obtaining perfect lateral radiographic projection of the distal humeral metaphyseal-diaphyseal junction, a second Schanz screw is inserted independently into the proximal fracture fragment at the proximal end of the lateral supracondylar ridge in the sagittal plane perpendicular to the long axis of the humeral diaphysis. By bringing the screws parallel to each other in the coronal and transverse planes direct manipulations of the fragments and anatomical reduction using the so-called joystick technique is achieved. Fracture reduction can then be adjusted anatomically under fluoroscopic control and through clinical assessment. Once reduction is achieved the fragments have to be secured with a so-called "anti-rotation" K-wire. This wire significantly enhances stability and prevents pivoting of the fracture fragments around the Schanz screws in the sagittal plane and assists in prevention of medial collapse of the reduced fracture. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT No additional plaster cast fixation required; mobilization of the upper limb as comfort allows. RESULTS The majority of children have a normal range of motion at the time of external fixator removal. At follow-up (40 months), 30 of 31 children had normal function and a normal, anatomical axis as judged against the contralateral upper limb.
Metabolism of 14C-penfluron in the House Fly

14C-penfluron was used in the study of its metabolism in Musca domestica L. After injection of 298,000 dpm (11 μg)/female, the distribution of radioactivity was determined and percentages were calculated on the basis of the total injected amount. At 72 h posttreatment, the recovery was 95.2% in treated flies, 94.6% as unchanged penfluron, 0.57% as conjugates, and 2% as conjugates in the excreta. At one wk posttreatment, recovery was 87% in treated flies, 86.2% as unchanged penfluron, 0.82% as conjugates, and 5.6% as conjugates in the excreta. The conjugates consisted of 4 metabolites that upon acid hydrolysis yielded a single relatively nonpolar metabolite which was assumed to be a hydroxylated derivative of penfluron.
Anuria in Transplant Patient Following Inguinal Herniorrhaphy

AbstractWe report ureteral ligation following inguinal herniorrhaphy in a transplant patient. Successful treatment was accomplished by percutaneous nephrostomy and ureteral reimplantation.
Technology-Based International Strategic Alliances: Recent Information Technology Evidence and its Implications

Recent information technology (IT) evidence suggests a rapid growth of technology-based international alliances, with three dominant motives: market access, technological complementarity, and reduction of innovation time span. This paper suggests further that technology alliances portend the beginnings of a larger trend, namely, vertical disintegration of important segments of the IT industry’s R&D activity, as exemplified by the emergence of a competitive stand-alone software industry.
Complete Transcriptome RNA-Seq

RNA-Seq is the leading technology for analyzing gene expression on a global scale across a broad spectrum of sample types. However, due to chemical modifications by fixation or degradation due to collection methods, samples often contain an abundance of RNA that is no longer intact, and the capability of current RNA-Seq protocols to accurately quantify such samples is often limited. We have developed an RNA-Seq protocol to address these key issues as well as quantify gene expression from the whole transcriptome. Furthermore, for compatibility with improved sequencing platforms, we use restructured adapter sequences to generate libraries for Illumina HiSeq, MiSeq, and NextSeq platforms. Our protocol utilizes duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) to remove abundant ribosomal RNA sequences while retaining other types of RNA for superior transcriptome profiling from low quantity input. We employ the Illumina sequencing platform, but this method is described in sufficient detail to adapt to other platforms.
Survival of Campylobacter jejuni in Fresh and Heated Red Meat.

Studies were done to assess the ability of Campylobacter jejuni to survive in fresh ground beef during refrigerated storage and to identify time-temperature treatments needed to inactivate Campylobacter in ground and cubed red meat. The organism survived well in refrigerated ground beef containing large numbers of indigenous bacteria. Relatively little death (< 1.2-log10 reduction) occurred for 7 of 8 strains during 14 d at 4°C. C. jejuni inoculated into ground beef and cubed lamb meat was quite sensitive to heat treatment. D-values for inactivation of campylobacters in ground beef ranged from 5.9 to 6.3 min at 50°C and from 12 to 21 s at 58°C. D-values were generally greater when campylobacters were heated in lamb meat, ranging from 5.9 to 13.3 min and 12.5 to 15.8 s at 50 and 60°C, respectively. All strains of C. jejuni were more sensitive to heat than salmonellae, hence meat heated to a temperature sufficient to inactivate Salmonella spp. should be free of viable campylobacters.
VIDEO: Technique to Restrict the Gore Viatorr Stent-Graft for TIPS Reduction

OBJECTIVE. The Viatorr stent-graft (W. L. Gore and Associates), specifically made for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation, has significantly improved TIPS patency compared with bare metal stents. Post-TIPS hepatic encephalopathy (HE), however, remains relatively common after TIPS creation. We describe a technique to secondarily restrict a Viatorr stent-graft to treat post-TIPS refractory HE and maintain use of the Viatorr device. CONCLUSION. We show a simple technique to modify the Viatorr stent-graft for TIPS reduction.
A total of 1,007 percutaneous coronary interventions without onsite cardiac surgery: acute and long-term outcomes.

Objectives We sought to compare clinical outcomes of elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and primary PCI for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at a community hospital without onsite cardiac surgery to those at a tertiary center with onsite cardiac surgery. Background Disagreement exists about whether hospitals with cardiac catheterization laboratories, but without onsite cardiac surgery, should develop PCI programs. Primary PCI for STEMI at hospitals without onsite cardiac surgery have achieved satisfactory outcomes; however, elective PCI outcomes are not well defined. Methods A total of 1,007 elective PCI and primary PCI procedures performed from March 1999 to August 2005 at the Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital–Mayo Health System (ISJ) in Mankato, Minnesota, were matched one-to-one with those performed at St. Mary’s Hospital (SMH) in Rochester, Minnesota. Strict protocols were followed for case selection and PCI program requirements. Clinical outcomes (in-hospital procedural success, death, any myocardial infarction, Q-wave myocardial infarction, and emergency coronary artery bypass surgery) and follow-up survival were compared between groups. Results Among 722 elective PCIs, procedural success was 97% at ISJ compared with 95% at SMH (p = 0.046). Among 285 primary PCIs for STEMI, procedural success was 93% at ISJ and 96% at SMH (p = 0.085). No patients at ISJ undergoing PCI required emergent transfer for cardiac surgery. Survival at two years’ follow-up by treatment location was similar for patients with elective PCI and primary PCI. Conclusions Similar clinical outcomes for elective PCI and primary PCI were achieved at a community hospital without onsite cardiac surgery compared with those at a tertiary center with onsite cardiac surgery using a prospective, rigorous protocol for case selection and PCI program requirements.
Hemoglobin-Specific Antibody in a Multiply Transfused Patient With Sickle Cell Disease

Human hemoglobins (Hbs) are known to be immunogenic, and both normal and variant forms of Hb have been shown to stimulate antibody formation in a variety of animal species. In patients who are homozygous for the sickle Hb (HbS) mutation, transfusion of normal, HbA-containing erythrocytes provides a potential stimulus for HbA alloimmunization. We tested serum samples for the presence of anti-Hb antibody by a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using Hb-coated polystyrene microtiter plates. Hb-bound antibody was identified using an antihuman IgG antibody. Serum samples from 89 patients with sickle cell disease were initially tested for evidence of Hb antibody. The serum from three individuals exhibited antibody activity against HbA with little or no activity against HbS. Only one of them, a multiply transfused adult with HbSS, was available for further study. When this patient's antibody was tested against a variety of normal and mutant Hbs using antibody either to human IgG or to κ chains, the anti-Hb antibody demonstrated specificity for the region of the Hb β chain corresponding to the site of the amino acid substitution of HbS. The level of activity of the patient's anti-HbA showed no significant change over 1.5 years of observation. The transfusion of erythrocytes containing Hb structurally different from that of the recipient appeared to be capable of stimulating the production of Hb-specific alloimmune antibody.
Zero Order Drug Release from Bioerodible Polymers

The purpose of this chapter is to review drug release from bioerodible polymers with major emphasis on those systems where drug release proceeds by kinetics that are close to zero order, or on research currently underway directed towards that objective.
Stereoselective Synthesis of Diverse Lactones through a Cascade Reaction of Rhodium Carbenoids with Ketoacids.

A convergent cascade approach for the stereoselective synthesis of diverse lactones is described. The Rh2(TFA)4-catalyzed cascade reaction proceeds via a carboxylic acid O–H insertion/aldol cyclization with high chemo-, regio-, and diastereoselectivity. The cascade reaction provides quick access to highly functionalized γ-butyro- and δ-valerolactones from readily accessible ketoacid and diazo synthons. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, a thermally induced oxy-Cope ring-expansion strategy has been incorporated in the cascade sequence to access medium-sized lactones, which can undergo a serendipitous rearrangement to form spiro-lactones through an intramolecular aldol/trans-lactonization sequence. The reaction has proven to be general, with a range of ketoacids and diazo carbonyls to provide functionalized lactones of varying ring sizes.
Decisional conflict among breast cancer patients considering contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.

Abstract Objectives The study’s goals were to characterize decisional conflict and preparedness for making the decision about having CPM among breast cancer patients considering CPM who do not carry cancer-predisposing mutation and to evaluate correlates of decisional conflict and preparedness. Methods 93 women considering CPM completed a survey of decisional conflict and preparedness for the CPM decision, knowledge, perceived risk, self-efficacy, reasons for CPM, input from others and discussion with the doctor about CPM, and cancer worry. Results Between 8% and 27% of women endorsed elevated decisional conflict. Most women were satisfied with preparatory information that they were provided. Knowledge was low. Top reasons for choosing CPM were the desire for peace of mind, lowering the chance of another breast cancer, and improving survival. Conclusions Decisional conflict is elevated in a subset of patients considering CPM. A more well-informed decision may be fostered by a comprehensive discussion about CPM with the patient’s clinician, fostering self-efficacy in managing cancer worry, and helping patients understand their motivations for CPM. Practice implications Clinicians working with breast cancer patients considering CPM should discuss the CPM decision, foster self-efficacy in managing cancer worry, and help patients understand their motivations for the surgery.
Deep Neural Networks for Object Enumeration

Estimating object count from images is a difficult problem that has a wide range of applications. In this work, we examine the object counting problem for images from the Amazon Bin Images Dataset. This task is riddled with many challenges, including occasional low image quality, object occlusions, and diversity in objects. This work explores a deep-learning approach using a CNN architecture for this object counting problem. Our solution combines end-to-end training on ResNet with test time augmentation, achieving promising results for this difficult task.
Polymer nucleation under high-driving force, long-chain conditions: Heat release and the separation of time scales.

This study reveals important features of polymer crystal formation at high-driving forces in entangled polymer melts based on simulations of polyethylene. First and in contrast to small-molecule crystallization, the heat released during polymer crystallization does not appreciably influence structural details of early-stage, crystalline clusters (crystal nuclei). Second, early-stage polymer crystallization (crystal nucleation) can occur without substantial chain-level relaxation and conformational changes. This study’s results indicate that local structures and environments guide crystal nucleation in entangled polymer melts under high-driving force conditions. Given that such conditions are often used to process polyethylene, local structures and the separation of time scales associated with crystallization and chain-level processes are anticipated to be of substantial importance to processing strategies. This study highlights new research directions for understanding polymer crystallization.
Assessing the Role of Intermolecular Interactions in a Perylene-Based Nanowire Using First-Principles Many-Body Perturbation Theory.

We present a first-principles many-body perturbation theory study of the role of intermolecular coupling in the optoelectronic properties of a one-dimensional (1D) π-stacked nanowire composed of pe...
Controversies in the Management of Functional Constipation in Children

Functional constipation (FC) in children is a common health problem with reported worldwide prevalence rates up to 32.2%. The majority of children with constipation respond to oral laxative treatment. After 5 years of intensive treatment, however, approximately 50% of children remain symptomatic. To discuss the evidence for new treatments in these children, including pre- and probiotics, pelvic physiotherapy, prucalopride, sacral nerve stimulation, and surgery, and to highlight the controversies surrounding them. Pre- and probiotics and prucalopride are not effective in the treatment of childhood constipation. Pelvic physiotherapy and sacral nerve stimulation are promising treatment options but larger trials are needed. Surgery for pediatric constipation is the treatment of last resort. Large, well-designed placebo-controlled trials with proper outcome measures, as suggested by the Rome foundation pediatric subcommittee on clinical trials, are necessary to provide more insight regarding the efficacy of new treatments in childhood constipation.
What is dark matter

The stubborn no-show of the stuff that makes up most of the universe means it may be far stranger than we imagined.
Particlelike Phonon Propagation Dominates Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity in Crystalline Tl 3 VSe 4

We investigate the microscopic mechanisms of ultralow lattice thermal conductivity (${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$) in ${\mathrm{Tl}}_{3}{\mathrm{VSe}}_{4}$ by combining a first principles density functional theory based framework of anharmonic lattice dynamics with the Peierls-Boltzmann transport equation for phonons. We include contributions of the three- and four-phonon scattering processes to the phonon lifetimes as well as the temperature dependent anharmonic renormalization of phonon energies arising from an unusually strong quartic anharmonicity in ${\mathrm{Tl}}_{3}{\mathrm{VSe}}_{4}$. In contrast to a recent report by Mukhopadhyay et al. [Science 360, 1455 (2018)] which suggested that a significant contribution to ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$ arises from random walks among uncorrelated oscillators, we show that particlelike propagation of phonon excitations can successfully explain the experimentally observed ultralow ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$. Our findings are further supported by explicit calculations of the off-diagonal terms of the heat current operator, which are found to be small and indicate that wavelike tunneling of heat carrying vibrations is of minor importance. Our results (i) resolve the discrepancy between the theoretical and experimental ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$, (ii) offer new insights into the minimum ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$ achievable in ${\mathrm{Tl}}_{3}{\mathrm{VSe}}_{4}$, and (iii) highlight the importance of high order anharmonicity in low-${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$ systems. The methodology demonstrated here may be used to resolve the discrepancies between the experimentally measured and the theoretically calculated ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$ in skutterides and perovskites, as well as to understand the glasslike ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{l}$ in complex crystals with strong anharmonicity, leading towards the goal of rational design of new materials.
“Saberes em Diálogo”, um programa de formação continuada em rede: Universidade e educação básica

This study analyzes the actions and principles that emerged in the development of a continuing education project in a municipal school network, in light of the decolonial perspective, as a possibility of thinking about the processes from a geoepistemic place. This movement presupposes evidencing the processing of constructions and formative experiences from the perspective of teachers, exercising other ways of producing meanings, forms of understanding and knowledge. In the dialogue between universities, through collaboration with a postgraduate program in education and basic education, the main principles that lead to develop a proposal of in-service training built with the network. Based on the syntheses produced, it is evident the role of educators as teacher-intellectuals, in the production of pedagogical knowledge proper to the field of professional activity, in the creation of a privileged space of knowledge sharing and knowledge production, as well as recognizing an essentially collaborative movement among teachers, ensuring membership by voluntary adherence to the proposal.
Language in Education: Forward to Fundamentals

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the issue of imperatives for change, that is, the change in the current university settings, and the change in schooling in general. Linguists and educators should work together and change together. Only then can research on language be relevant to the situations faced by schools. Some linguists wished to treat the vernacular as only superficially different and formally derivative from standard English, for reasons having to do in part with convenient simplicity of a grammatical model. The relation between varieties and uses of English, on the one hand, and being black, on the other, is complex and only beginning to be adequately known. The issue and language most prominent at present, both politically and socially, is bilingual education for Spanish/English speaking children. The situations of Black Americans, Native Americans, Spanish-speaking Americans are salient but not unique. The internal structures of language and the structures of use to which languages are shaped alike show two fundamental complementary general kinds of function of meaning at work.
Global Assessment Use and Practices in Applied Behavior Analysis: Surveying the Field

Abstract Background Assessment plays a significant role in the development of effective programming for individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of this study was to determine assessment use, training experiences, and reasons for instrument selection among those who practice in applied behavior analysis (ABA). Method A questionnaire was administered online and sent via email by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to all of its members. Responses were collected from 1,428 individuals who primarily practice in applied behavior analysis. Results Of the 1,428 respondents, the Verbal-Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) was the most widely used instrument (76%). The majority of respondents (71%) were trained to conduct the assessments by their direct supervisors. Additionally, the available research literature was the primary reason participants selected specific instruments (58%). Although research was reportedly important to users, limited psychometric research exists on the instruments. Conclusion This study is the first of its kind in widely collecting data on the current assessment practices, training, and education. The results can be used to inform practice and, more important, future research related to quality of assessments used in ABA and how behavior analysis professionals are training to use them.
The Impact of Fasting on Major Metabolic Pathways of Macronutrients and Pharmacokinetics Steps of Drugs

In this review, we have investigated how fasting promotes an adaptive cross-talk between different hormones and metabolic pathways to supply and meet the body's daily energy demands. We highlight in biochemical terms and mechanisms how fasting impacts four metabolic pathways-glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, amino acid oxidation, and fatty acid β-oxidation-that are actively engaged in the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. Fasting results in reduced insulin secretion and increased glucagon and epinephrine release to prevent or stimulate metabolic reaction(s). Fasting stimulates glycogenolysis, amino acid and glucose oxidation, aminotransferase reactions in skeletal muscle, and promotes gluconeogenesis and urea production in the liver. In addition, fasting promotes gene expression of lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle, the synthesis of ketone bodies in the liver, and intracellular hormone-sensitive lipase activity in adipose tissue. Furthermore, the impact of fasting on reducing cellular damage by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species is discussed. Lastly, we briefly describe the impact of fasting on the four steps of pharmacokinetics-the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of a few select drugs-with an emphasis on the elimination of drugs related to the cytochrome-P450 family of enzymes.
Standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in 18F-FDG PET/CT is correlated with the total number of main oncogenic anomalies in cancer patients.

Cancer diagnosis and therapy is quickly moving from the traditional histology-based approaches to genomic stratification, providing a huge opportunity for radiogenomics, associating imaging feature...
P79 Exploring the Dietary Behaviors and Perceptions of African Immigrants: A Qualitative Study of Nigerian and Congolese Immigrants

Background Studies examining the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases in African immigrants show that they are healthier on arrival to the U.S., but develop worse risk profiles closer to that of the general population when they live 10 years or longer in the country. This change has been attributed to dietary acculturation. Objective To explore contextual factors associated with changes in dietary behaviors of recent immigrant families from Nigeria and Congo. Study Design, Setting, Participants Five online focus group interviews were conducted with recent Nigerian and Congolese immigrant adults (n = 20; Female = 19, Male = 1). Three focus groups were conducted in English and 2 were conducted in French. Most of participants (70%, n = 14) completed the voluntary demographics survey. On average, participants were 42 years old and had 4 children. Educationally, most had at least a bachelor's degree (72%). Participants were recruited from churches with large population of African immigrants and through leaders of the immigrant communities from the Midwest. Participants discussed dietary practices for their families, including the challenges of maintaining a healthy diet after immigration to the U.S. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Preliminary findings from the ongoing thematic analysis are reported. Results Participants had high level of awareness of the influence of healthy food choices on risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. The majority had the perception of “American food” as unhealthy, characterizing them as containing a high amount of sugar and salt. All participants preferred and mostly consumed foods they were familiar with before migration, including traditional African meals. Participants had several misconceptions regarding the nutritional value of certain food products. They reported that their school-age kids preferred Americanized over the traditional African meals. Participants and community leaders demonstrated high level of interest in receiving educational resources to make healthier food choices. Conclusion The findings will help to develop culturally tailored interventions to reduce diet-related risks associated with cardiometabolic diseases.
An active learning framework improves tumor variant interpretation

For precision medicine to reach its full potential for treatment of cancer and other diseases, protein variant effect prediction tools are needed that characterize variants of unknown significance (VUS) in a patient9s genome with respect to their likelihood to influence treatment response and outcomes. However, the performance of most variant prediction tools is limited by the difficulty of acquiring sufficient training and validation data. To overcome these limitations, we applied an iterative active learning approach starting from available biochemical, evolutionary, and functional annotations. The potential of active learning to improve variant interpretation was first demonstrated by applying it to synthetic and deep mutational scanning (DMS) datasets for four cancer-relevant proteins. We then probed its utility to guide interpretation and functional validation of tumor VUS in a potential biomarker for cancer therapy sensitivity, the nucleotide excision repair (NER) protein Xeroderma Pigmentosum Complementation Group A (XPA). A quantitative high-throughput cell-based NER activity assay, fluorescence-based multiplex flow-cytometric host cell reactivation (FM-HCR), was used to validate XPA VUS selected by the active learning strategy. In all cases, selecting VUS for validation by active learning yielded an improvement in performance over traditional learning. These analyses suggest that active learning is well-suited to significantly improve interpretation of VUS and cancer patient genomes.
Reclaiming Queerness: Self, Identity, and the Research Process

This article explores some of the challenges and benefits of doing a dissertation with participants from a population to which I belong and on a topic some consider controversial, that of gay and lesbian educators. I describe the homophobia I experienced and how that homophobia affected my choice of topic, the research process, and my job prospects. Each step of this research journey presented me with a variety of delicate decisions. I discuss my thought processes in resolving these dilemmas and some of the practical solutions I used to address a variety of difficulties. Although written specifically about doing research with gay and lesbian teachers, many of the lessons I learned throughout this process can be applied to a range of research situations. For example, many researchers share cultural backgrounds with their participants. This presents both the opportunity to establish rapport with participants quickly but also the danger of the researcher reading his or her own experiences into the data. I describe some of the ways I addressed this issue as well as others commonly faced by those doing dissertations. I conclude that doing a dissertation on a topic I feel passionately about sustained me throughout the dissertation process.
Glycophorin He(Sta) of the human red blood cell membrane is encoded by a complex hybrid gene resulting from two recombinational events

A complex glycophorin (GP) variant of the human red blood cell membrane exhibiting both He and Sta antigens was characterized at the molecular level. Restriction mapping identified two novel Msp I fragments derived from the 5′ and 3′ portions of the GPHe(Sta) gene, respectively. Genomic DNA, including exons II-V and their splice junctions, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and the nucleotide sequences were determined. Comparison with the GPA and GPB sequences showed the presence in GPHe(Sta) of multiple recombinational breakpoints. In the 5′ region of the variant gene, a sequence covering a portion of exon II to intron 2 had been transferred from GPA to GPB, resulting in a B-A-B hybrid structure. Such a gene conversion-like event introduced a number of templated and untemplated nucleotide replacements and was the direct cause for the expression of the He antigen. In the 3′ region of the variant gene, an unequal crossover from GPB to GPA took place in the third intron at a recombination site apparently identical to that observed in the B-A hybrid GPSta type A gene. These results indicated that GPHe(Sta) occurs as a B-A-B-A hybrid gene, most likely originating from a two-step mechanism of homologous recombination. Transcript analysis showed the maturation from the GPHe(Sta) pre-mRNA of two shortened mRNAs of which the exon III-deleted species encodes both the He and Sta antigens.
Those who can, do and they teach too: faculty clinical productivity and teaching.

Objective: Academic emergency physicians (EPs) often feel that the demands of clinical productivity, income generation, and patient satisfaction conflict with educational objectives. The objective of this study was to explore whether the quality of faculty bedside teaching of residents correlated with high clinical productivity, measured by relative value units (RVUs). We also explored the strategies of high-performing faculty for optimal RVU generation and teaching performance.
Contemporary Archival Appraisal Methods and Preservation Decision-Making

Archival administrators are beginning the search for administrative tools that rationalize difficult preservation priority decision-making processes. Some are suggesting that the new appraisal literature be evaluated for its application to preservation selection. This article reviews the literature covering archival appraisal's role in the process of selection for preservation in archives, and addresses recent efforts to create archival preservation assessment and selection tools. It also provides overviews of some modern appraisal models which are intended for collections and preservation archivists who are working with selection-for-preservation issues. The author suggests that archivists need to concern themselves less with implementing preservation selection tools. They must concentrate first on understanding the values that make archival records significant, and then rationalize their preservation selection decision-making processes. Then, and only then, should the decisions' hierarchy and flow be in...
The effects of timing jitter on the performance of impulse radio

Impulse radio is a promising ultra-wideband technique for tactical military communications. Key features of time-hopping impulse radio are the very narrow pulses used to convey information. Analysis of such time-hopping schemes under a variety of assumptions have been reported in the literature. However, none of these studies to date consider the effects of timing jitter on time-hopping in a UWB setting. In this paper we consider the effects of timing jitter on the performance of binary and 4-ary UWB communications. We find that the performance of impulse radio is very sensitive to timing jitter, at least in part due to the very narrow pulses. We also find that for our detection performance criteria, the 4-ary PPM system outperforms binary offset PPM at all jitter levels in thermal and pulse noise. However, the benefit of 4-ary PPM relative to the offset binary case is diminished with increased timing jitter at these same levels.
Production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by monocytes and large granular lymphocytes stimulated with Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare : activation of bactericidal activity by GM-CSF

Treatment of monocytes with recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was shown to enhance their antimycobacterial activity in an in vitro assay. Furthermore, Mycobacterium avium-M. intracellulare was found to induce the production of this hemopoietic growth factor. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were fractionated by plastic adherence and Percoll density centrifugation, and each population of cells was stimulated with mycobacteria. GM-CSF was produced by both monocytes and large granular lymphocytes (LGL) but not T lymphocytes. The phenotype of the GM-CSF-producing LGL was found to be CD2+, CD16+, and HLA-DR+ but negative for T-cell and monocyte markers. Kinetic studies demonstrated that GM-CSF appeared in the supernatant fluids within 2 days of culture of either monocytes or LGL and continued to be produced up to 7 days of incubation. Northern (RNA) blot analysis of RNA from both cell types demonstrated the expression of GM-CSF message within 24 h of stimulation. From these studies, LGL and monocytes are capable of responding to M. avium-M. intracellulare by producing factors that augment normal immune functions, including the antibacterial capability of monocytes.
Avoiding Spurious Submovement Decompositions II: A Scattershot Algorithm

Evidence for the existence of discrete submovements underlying continuous human movement has motivated many attempts to “extract” them. Although they produce visually convincing results, all of the methodologies that have been employed are prone to produce spurious decompositions. In previous work, a branch-and-bound algorithm for submovement extraction, capable of global nonlinear minimization, and hence, capable of avoiding spurious decompositions, was presented [Rohrer and Hogan (Biol Cybern 39:190–199, 2003)]. Here, we present a scattershot-type global nonlinear minimization algorithm that requires approximately four orders of magnitude less time to compute. A sensitivity analysis reveals that the scattershot algorithm can reliably detect changes in submovement parameters over time, e.g., over the course of neuromotor recovery.
MiSAR: minimalistic synchronization accelerator with resource overflow management

While numerous hardware synchronization mechanisms have been proposed, they either no longer function or suffer great performance loss when their hardware resources are exceeded, or they add significant complexity and cost to handle such resource overflows. Additionally, prior hardware synchronization proposals focus on one type (barrier or lock) of synchronization, so several mechanisms are likely to be needed to support real applications, many of which use locks, barriers, and/or condition variables. This paper proposes MiSAR, a minimalistic synchronization accelerator (MSA) that supports all three commonly used types of synchronization (locks, barriers, and condition variables), and a novel overflow management unit (OMU) that dynamically manages its (very) limited hardware synchronization resources. The OMU allows safe and efficient dynamic transitions between using hardware (MSA) and software synchronization implementations. This allows the MSA's resources to be used only for currently-active synchronization operations, providing significant performance benefits even when the number of synchronization variables used in the program is much larger than the MSA's resources. Because it allows a safe transition between hardware and software synchronization, the OMU also facilitates thread suspend/resume, migration, and other thread-management activities. Finally, the MSA/OMU combination decouples the instruction set support (how the program invokes hardware-supported synchronization) from the actual implementation of the accelerator, allowing different accelerators (or even wholesale removal of the accelerator) in the future without changes to OMU-compatible application or system code. We show that, even with only 2 MSA entries in each tile, the MSA/OMU combination on average performs within 3% of ideal (zero-latency) synchronization, and achieves a speedup of 1.43X over the software (pthreads) implementation.
Spatial Zonation Limits Magnesite Dissolution in Porous Media

Abstract We investigate how mineral spatial distribution in porous media affects their dissolution rates. Specifically, we measure the dissolution rate of magnesite interspersed in different patterns in packed columns of quartz sand where the magnesite concentration (v/v) was held constant. The largest difference was observed between a “Mixed column” containing uniformly distributed magnesite and a “One-zone column” containing magnesite packed into one cylindrical center zone aligned parallel to the main flow of acidic inlet fluid (flow-parallel One-zone column). The columns were flushed with acid water at a pH of 4.0 at flow velocities of 3.6 or 0.36 m/d. Breakthrough data show that the rate of magnesite dissolution is 1.6–2 times slower in the One-zone column compared to the Mixed column. This extent of rate limitation is much larger than what was observed in our previous work (14%) for a similar One-zone column where the magnesite was packed in a layer aligned perpendicular to flow (flow-transverse One-zone column). Two-dimensional reactive transport modeling with CrunchFlow revealed that ion activity product (IAP) and local dissolution rates at the grid block scale (0.1 cm) vary by orders of magnitude. Much of the central magnesite zone in the One-zone flow-parallel column is characterized by close or equal to equilibrium conditions with IAP/Keq > 0.1. Two important surface areas are defined to understand the observed rates: the effective surface area (Ae) reflects the magnesite that effectively dissolves under far from equilibrium conditions (IAP/Keq R MgCO 3 ,B (in units of mol/s) vary linearly with Ae and AI. Using Ae to normalize rates, we calculate a rate constant (10−9.56 mol/m2/s) that is very close to the value of 10−10.0 mol/m2/s under well-mixed conditions at the grid block scale. This implies that the laboratory-field rate discrepancy can potentially be caused by differences in the effective surface area. If we know the effective surface area of dissolution, we will be able to use the rate constant measured in laboratory systems to calculate field rates for some systems. In this work, approximately 60–70% of the Ae is at the magnesite–quartz interface. This implies that in some field systems where the detailed information that we have for our columns is not available, the effective mineral surface area may be approximated by the area of grains residing at the interface of reactive mineral zones. Although it has long been known that spatial heterogeneities play a significant role in determining physical processes such as flow and solute transport, our data are the first that systematically and experimentally quantifies the importance of mineral spatial distribution (chemical heterogeneity) on dissolution.
Image compression with embedded wavelet coding via vector quantization

In this research, we improve Shapiro's EZW algorithm by performing the vector quantization (VQ) of the wavelet transform coefficients. The proposed VQ scheme uses different vector dimensions for different wavelet subbands and also different codebook sizes so that more bits are assigned to those subbands that have more energy. Another feature is that the vector codebooks used are tree-structured to maintain the embedding property. Finally, the energy of these vectors is used as a prediction parameter between different scales to improve the performance. We investigate the performance of the proposed method together with the 7 - 9 tap bi-orthogonal wavelet basis, and look into ways to incorporate loseless compression techniques.
Effects of High-Pressure Processing on Immunoglobulin A and Lysozyme Activity in Human Milk

Banked human milk, processed using low-temperature/long-time or Holder pasteurization, inactivates pathogenic microorganisms but degrades important biochemical components. High-pressure processing kinetics favor inactivation of microorganisms with retention of biochemical activity and nutritional quality of foods. The effects of high-pressure processing (400 MPa) and low-temperature/long-time pasteurization (62.5°C, 30 minutes) on total immunoglobulin A and lysozyme activity in human milk were investigated. Indirect modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent and a Micrococcus lysodeikticus turbidimetric assay were performed to measure immunoglobulin A immunoactivity and lysozyme activity, respectively. Pressure-treated samples retained significantly higher (P < .05) levels of immunoglobulin A and lysozyme activity compared to samples treated with low-temperature/ long-time pasteurization. These data suggest that high-pressure processing is a potential alternative to thermal pasteurization of human milk that can...
Managing innovation in hospitals and health systems: Lessons from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners

Hospitals and other health systems increasingly must rely on innovation as they seek creative approaches for improving patient outcomes while simultaneously dealing with regulatory and cost constra...
Activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway by a novel protein kinase related to human germinal center kinase

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), or stress-activated protein kinase plays a crucial role in cellular responses stimulated by environmental stress and proinflammatory cytokines. However, the mechanisms that lead to the activation of the JNK pathway have not been elucidated. We have isolated a cDNA encoding a novel protein kinase that has significant sequence similarities to human germinal center kinase (GCK) and human hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1. The novel GCK-like kinase (GLK) has a nucleotide sequence that encodes an ORF of 885 amino acids with 11 kinase subdomains. Endogenous GLK could be activated by UV radiation and proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α. When transiently expressed in 293 cells, GLK specifically activated the JNK, but not the p42/44MAPK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase or p38 kinase signaling pathways. Interestingly, deletion of amino acids 353–835 in the putative C-terminal regulatory region, or mutation of Lys-35 in the putative ATP-binding domain, markedly reduced the ability of GLK to activate JNK. This result indicates that both kinase activity and the C-terminal region of GLK are required for maximal activation of JNK. Furthermore, GLK-induced JNK activation could be inhibited by a dominant-negative mutant of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 1 (MEKK1) or mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4/SAPK/ERK kinase 1 (SEK1), suggesting that GLK may function upstream of MEKK1 in the JNK signaling pathway.