cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation for the efficacy and safety of the crosser catheter as a CTO crossing device and a flossing device

The Crosser catheter is a unique device that facilitates antegrade intraluminal recanalization by high-frequency vibration energy and cavitation. We used this device not only as a chronic total occlusion (CTO) crossing device, but also as a flossing device in stenotic lesions and we also evaluated the efficacy of this device when used with both the “Crosser preceding” and the “Guidewire preceding” in CTOs. Complications related to this device were investigated, too. We retrospectively analyzed a total of 90 consecutive patients with peripheral artery disease in the femoropopliteal artery and below-the-knee artery (BTA). Primary technical success was defined as the successful delivery of this device into the distal true lumen. Secondary technical success was defined as successful revascularization. The safety endpoints were events of angiographic complications, including the occurrence of detachment of the metal tip from the shaft, slow flow, dissections, and perforations. Overall primary technical success rate was 93.3% and the secondary technical success rate was 96.7%. Detachment and slow flow occurred 14.4 and 4.4%, respectively, with no occurrences of either dissection or perforation. A predictor of detachment was Proposed Peripheral Arterial Calcium Scoring System (PACSS) grade 4 (OR 14.6; CI 1.26–168.5; P = 0.032). The Crosser catheter is useful not only as a CTO crossing device used with both the “Crosser preceding” and the “Guidewire preceding”, but also as a flossing device in stenotic lesions. But we have to pay attention to complications related to the Crosser.
Could Objective Tests Be Used to Measure Fatigue in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Abstract Context Assessment of cancer-related fatigue is currently based on patient-reported outcomes. We asked whether objective assessments, such as muscle strength and nutritional markers, can be used as surrogate measures of cancer-related fatigue. Objective We examined the association among three fatigue scales, muscle strength, and nutritional markers in patients with advanced cancer. Methods In this prospective study, we enrolled hospitalized cancer patients who had been seen in palliative care consultation at MD Anderson Cancer Center. We assessed fatigue using three fatigue scales—the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30)—and determined their association with objective assessments, including handgrip strength, maximal inspiratory pressure, lean body mass, phase angle, and albumin. Spearman's correlation test was used to assess associations. Results Among 222 patients, the mean age was 55 years; 59% were women. The median overall survival was 106 days. The total BFI score had weak association with handgrip strength (ρ = −0.18, P = 0.007) and no association with the remaining objective measures. ESAS fatigue and EORTC fatigue showed similar findings. Total BFI had moderate-to-strong association with ESAS (ρ = 0.54, P Conclusion Our study showed that subjective assessment of fatigue based on patient-reported outcomes correlates only weakly with muscle strength and nutritional markers; thus, patient-reported outcomes remain the gold standard for fatigue assessment.
Comparative omega-3 fatty acid enrichment of egg yolks from first-cycle laying hens fed flaxseed oil or ground flaxseed.

When laying hen diets are enriched with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to generate value-added eggs for human consumption markets, concentrations of alpha-linolenic (ALA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) in the yolk can reach 250 mg/50 g whole egg. Flaxseed, a rich source of ALA, is commonly used for omega-3 enrichment; however, the impact of dietary flaxseed source (extracted oil vs. milled seed) on fatty acid transfer to egg yolk in laying hens is unknown. Therefore, transfer of ALA, EPA, and DHA into egg yolk from extracted flaxseed oil or milled flaxseed was evaluated in Hy-Line W-36 laying hens over an 8-week feeding period (25 to 33 wk old). Hens (n = 132) were randomly housed with 3 birds/cage (4 replicates/treatment) for each of the 11 treatment groups. Diets were isocaloric and consisted of a control diet, 5 flaxseed oil diets (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or 5.0% flaxseed oil), and 5 milled flaxseed diets (calculated flaxseed oil concentration from milled flaxseed 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0%). Increasing dietary concentrations of flaxseed oil and milled flaxseed resulted in increased ALA, EPA, and DHA concentration in egg yolk, and fatty acid deposition from flaxseed oil was 2 times greater compared to milled flaxseed when fed at the same dietary inclusions (P < 0.01). Egg yolk EPA and DHA concentrations were not different due to oil or milled source (P = 0.21); however, increasing dietary inclusion rates of flaxseed oil from either source increased yolk EPA and DHA (P < 0.01). Hens fed either flaxseed oil or milled flaxseed resulted in reduced BW change as dietary concentrations increased (P = 0.02). Feed efficiency increased as flaxseed oil increased in concentration, while feeding milled flaxseed decreased feed efficiency (P = 0.01). Analysis of the nitrogen corrected apparent metabolizable energy of flaxseed oil resulted in 7,488 kcal/kg on an as-fed basis. Dietary flaxseed oil improved feed efficiency and increased ALA deposition into yolk compared to a milled source, demonstrating flaxseed oil to be a viable alternative for ALA egg enrichment.
Collaborative Synchronization Mechanism in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

The synchronization problem of the wireless transmission in real-time visual surveillance applications was addressed. The distributed architecture of wireless multimedia sensor networks was adopted to obtain the key frames from multi-views synchronously, which has low computational cost and memory requirements. A good strategy for distributed computing was designed to assign tasks to specific smart devices. The main contribution of this architecture was a combination of wireless sensor networks and visual sensors. Image coordinates of detected objects are encapsulated in wireless data transmission. To track 3D localization in compute vision, the collaborative synchronization mechanism was presented to realize the synchronization of the key frames and asynchronization of the packet transmission from multi-views. The received data were divided into groups by the real-time clustering algorithm for 3D localization. Experimental results showed the proposed architecture can implement reliable and efficient indoor monitoring.
Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Coeducational and Same-Sex Physical Education

The prevalence of obesity and sedentary behaviors among children and adolescents is increasing at an alarming rate. The obesity epidemic is reaching proportions never seen across our nation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine middle school students’ perceptions of coeducational and same-sex physical education classes. The study consisted of 3 girls and 3 boys 12-13 years old. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant to gain an understanding of their perceptions of physical education (P.E.) classes that were coeducational and same-sex in nature. The results indicated that middle school students shared a variety of perceptions concerning class structure, regardless of gender. Two of the three girls preferred coeducation P.E. versus same-sex P.E., boys felt they tried harder in same-sex P.E., girls were more embarrassed to make mistakes in coeducational P.E. class, and boys felt they learned more physical education content in same-sex P.E. In conclusion, it seems logical for schools to offer physical education experiences that are both coeducational and same-sex. Students agreed that both coeducational and same-sex physical education had pros and cons, and the interests of students were not met in just one class structure. The ultimate goal of any school curriculum should be student learning in an environment that is safe and positive for the students.
A decentralized adaptive control architecture for large-scale active-passive modular systems

Decentralized control of large-scale active-passive modular systems is considered. These systems consist of physically interconnected and generally heterogeneous modules, where local control signals can be only applied to a subset of these modules (i.e., active modules) and the rest are not subject to any control signals (i.e., passive modules). Using a set-theoretic adaptive control approach predicated on restricted potential functions, we design decentralized command following control architectures for each active module such that they can effectively perform their tasks with strict performance guarantees in the presence of unknown physical interconnections between modules and module-level system uncertainties. The efficacy of the proposed framework is demonstrated in an illustrative numerical example.
Spacetime Couplings and Affine Algebras

In this talk I wish to outline some issues of reinterpretation and philosophy that have arisen in recent study of string theory. Specifically I shall try to illustrate some of the limited understanding of the relation between worldsheet and spacetime symmetries that has developed in the last couple of years by considering relations between induced spacetime gauge and gravitational couplings for arbitrary (closed) string theories. Since an extensive review literature of strings has developed since 1984, I will make no attempt here to provide either an exhaustive list of references (a compendium of references may be found in [1], and a recent “progress” report may be found in [2]) or a detailed theoretical introduction to the theory. Instead I intend here no more than an idiosyncratic and rather wordy complement to the standard presentation.
Optimal Consumption and Equilibrium Prices with Portfolio Constraints and Stochastic Income

Abstract This paper examines the intertemporal optimal consumption and investment problem in the presence of a stochastic endowment and constraints on the portfolio choices. Short-sale and borrowing constraints, as well as incomplete markets, can be modeled as special cases of the class of constraints we consider. Existence of optimal policies is established under fairly general assumptions on the security price coefficients and the individual's utility function. This result is obtained by using martingale techniques to reformulate the individual's dynamic optimization problem as an equivalent static one. An explicit characterization of equilibrium risk premia in the presence of portfolio constraints is also provided. In the unconstrained case, this characterization reduces to Consumption-based Capital Asset Pricing Model.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: G11, G12, C61, D52, D91.
The Relationship between Modern Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and Development in Africa

Abstract This study explores the link between the consumption of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and development in Africa. It operationalizes development in terms of the human development index (HDI) and includes as utility services, the mobile phone, fixed phone, broadband internet and wireless internet. The data on utility services came from the online database of the International Telecommunication Union; while those on the HDI originated in the UN Development Programme. The results from logarithmically transformed bivariate (r2 between 0.50 and 0.60) and multiple regression analyses (R2 = 0.72) confirmed the hypothesized positive link between ICT and development.
Top-Down Neural Attention by Excitation Backprop

We aim to model the top-down attention of a convolutional neural network (CNN) classifier for generating task-specific attention maps. Inspired by a top-down human visual attention model, we propose a new backpropagation scheme, called Excitation Backprop, to pass along top-down signals downwards in the network hierarchy via a probabilistic Winner-Take-All process. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of contrastive attention to make the top-down attention maps more discriminative. We show a theoretic connection between the proposed contrastive attention formulation and the Class Activation Map computation. Efficient implementation of Excitation Backprop for common neural network layers is also presented. In experiments, we visualize the evidence of a model’s classification decision by computing the proposed top-down attention maps. For quantitative evaluation, we report the accuracy of our method in weakly supervised localization tasks on the MS COCO, PASCAL VOC07 and ImageNet datasets. The usefulness of our method is further validated in the text-to-region association task. On the Flickr30k Entities dataset, we achieve promising performance in phrase localization by leveraging the top-down attention of a CNN model that has been trained on weakly labeled web images. Finally, we demonstrate applications of our method in model interpretation and data annotation assistance for facial expression analysis and medical imaging tasks.
Overview on Lymphatic Filariasis in South Asia

Parasitic diseases are responsible for major health problems in developing and underdeveloped countries of tropical and subtropical regions. Among helminth parasitic infections, filariasis, ascariasis and hookworm infections contribute significantly to the global burden of infectious disease. Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a neglected tropical disease and remains the second leading cause of permanent and long-term disability after mental illness [1]. Lymphatic filariasis also known as elephantiasis is a mosquito-borne disease of tropics and subtropics. LF is transmitted by a variety of mosquito species across the world and infection usually occurs in early childhood but typically takes a long time to manifest in the form of clinical disease but mostly remains asymptomatic in the vast majority of infected individuals. When the worms enter into the lymphatic system, the worms induce major alterations, which leads to lymph fluid accumulation and causes disfiguring swelling of limbs and genitals known as elephantiasis. LF disease is not fatal, but it causes deformity and disability and is the second leading parasitic causes of disability with DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) and a major impact on socioeconomic development [2].
Interview and Report Writing

The interview is a critical component of the psychological assessment of a child. In addition to the standard unstructured interview conducted when first meeting new clients, several structured interviews have been developed for use with children and their parents/caregivers. This chapter is designed to introduce and familiarize the reader with techniques appropriate and effective for use during interviews when a child is the identified client, as well as to provide examples of several interviews commonly used in the assessment of children and adolescents. Specifically, we review key components of the first interview, provide information on unstructured and structured interviews, and discuss how to select interview procedures. In addition, we offer considerations in using interview procedures with children who have disabilities as well as other factors related to the use of interviews, such as language dominance. Finally, we close with an overview of report writing. Throughout the chapter, we highlight changes to existing assessments resulting from the recent transition to DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edn. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Publishing).
What are adolescents showing the world about their health risk behaviors on MySpace

Context MySpace is a popular social networking Web site where users create individual Web profiles. Little data are available about what types of health risk behaviors adolescents display on MySpace profiles. There are potential risks and intervention opportunities associated with posting such information on a public Web site. Objective To examine publicly available 16- and 17-year-old MySpace Web profiles and determine the prevalence of personal risk behavior descriptions and identifiable information. Design Cross-sectional observational study using content analysis of Web profiles. Setting www.MySpace.com. Patients In order to target frequently visited adolescent Web profiles, we sequentially selected 142 publicly available Web profiles of 16 and 17 year olds from the class of 2008 MySpace group. Interventions None. Main outcome measures Prevalence of displayed health risk behaviors pertaining to substance use or sexual behavior, prevalence of personally identifying information, date of last log-in to Web profile. Results Of Web profiles, 47% contained risk behavior information: Twenty-one percent described sexual activity; 25% described alcohol use; 9% described cigarette use; and 6% described drug use. 97.2% Contained personally identifying information: Seventy-four percent included an identifiable picture; 75% included subjects' first names or surnames; and 78% included subjects' hometowns. Eighty-six percent of users had visited their own profiles within 24 hours. Conclusions Most 16- and 17-year-old MySpace profiles include identifiable information, are frequently accessed by owners, and half include personal risk behavior information. Further study is needed to assess the risks associated with displaying personal information and to evaluate the use of social networking sites for health behavior interventions targeting at-risk teens.
Responsiveness of the activity measure for post-acute care (AM-PAC) from discharge from inpatient stroke rehabilitation to six month follow-up

Introduction/Background Functional stroke scales must detect significant change over time, but defining “significant” is difficult. The activity measure for post-acute care (AM-PAC) measures activity limitations in 3 domains: basic mobility (BM), daily activity (DA), and applied cognitive (AC). This study assesses the ability of the AM-PAC to detect change from inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) discharge (DC) to an outpatient setting 6 months (6 M) later. Material and method We analyzed data from a observational database for stroke patients treated at our academic IRF. We assessed AM-PAC domains at IRF DC and again by phone 6 M later. Change between DC and 6 M was calculated by: – standardized response mean (SRM, 0–0.4–0.6 = moderate effect); – proportion achieving the minimal clinically important difference (MCID, estimated as 0.5SD of baseline scores after Norman et al., 2003) with our data; – the published, mixed population minimal detectable change (MDC). Results Of 273 patients at DC, 139 (51%) had both AM-PAC scores and were included. Those included were not demographically different but were better on physical and cognitive measures at IRF admission. The mean age = 67.1 ± 14.8 y, NIHSS = 7.9 ± 7.5, discharge FIM = 84.1 ± 19.1, FIM Gain = 20.2 ± 10.6, and rehabilitation length of stay = 14.8 ± 7.6d. The mean DC/6 M scores for BM were 51.7 ± 11.2/56.0 + 12.1, DA = 44.4 ± 9.9/49.2 + 14.5 and AC = 40.0 ± 9.8/44.7 + 9.2. Change metrics for the 3 AM-PAC domains are given in Table 1 . Conclusion Between 40%–50% of stroke patients were classified as “significantly” improved, depending on measure, suggesting the AM-PAC is able to capture “real life” change. The sample experienced change at the lower end of “moderate improvement” by SRM. Estimated MCID and the MDC were similar for DA and AC, not BM. Further research should explore factors, which predict functional success or failure.
Why Do Accountable Care Organizations Leave The Medicare Shared Savings Program

The ability of accountable care organizations (ACOs) to continue reducing costs and improving quality depends on understanding what affects their survival. We examined such factors for survival in ...
A comprehensive dataset for the accelerated development and benchmarking of solar forecasting methods

We describe and release a comprehensive solar irradiance, imaging, and forecasting dataset. Our goal with this release is to provide standardized solar and meteorological datasets to the research community for the accelerated development and benchmarking of forecasting methods. The data consist of three years (2014–2016) of quality-controlled, 1-min resolution global horizontal irradiance and direct normal irradiance ground measurements in California. In addition, we provide overlapping data from commonly used exogenous variables, including sky images, satellite imagery, and Numerical Weather Prediction forecasts. We also include sample codes of baseline models for benchmarking of more elaborated models.We describe and release a comprehensive solar irradiance, imaging, and forecasting dataset. Our goal with this release is to provide standardized solar and meteorological datasets to the research community for the accelerated development and benchmarking of forecasting methods. The data consist of three years (2014–2016) of quality-controlled, 1-min resolution global horizontal irradiance and direct normal irradiance ground measurements in California. In addition, we provide overlapping data from commonly used exogenous variables, including sky images, satellite imagery, and Numerical Weather Prediction forecasts. We also include sample codes of baseline models for benchmarking of more elaborated models.
Distress level and daily functioning problems attributed to firearm victimization: sociodemographic-specific responses.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of firearm involvement during violent victimization on the level of distress experienced and daily functioning within sociodemographic subgroups. Methods We used cross-sectional data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (n = 5698) and Targeted Maximum Likelihood Estimation. Sociodemographic subgroups were defined by age, race, sex, and socioeconomic position. Outcomes included experiencing the victimization as severely distressing and problems in the workplace or at school, or with peers or family. Results Among people victimized with a firearm, nearly 40% experienced the victimization as severely distressing and 28% reported daily functioning problems as a result of the victimization, compared with 25% and 27% of those victimized without a firearm. In most of the subgroups examined, a greater proportion of people described the event as severely distressing when a firearm was involved in the victimization, ranging up to 19 percentage points higher among women and among black respondents (95% CI for women = 10%–28%; for blacks = 6%–31%). Conclusions Our findings suggest an almost universal negative response to firearm involvement during a violent victimization as compared with violent victimizations involving other or no weapons. These findings highlight the need for efforts by medical and mental health practitioners to address the potential sequelae of experiencing severe distress during a firearm victimization.
In Plain Sight: Online TV Interfaces as Branding:

Industrial discourses surrounding subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are deeply embedded in the rhetoric of viewer choice and control. However, these discourses are often misleading, with...
A Non-Invasive Analysis of Seed Vigor by Infrared Thermography

This paper establishes robust regression models for fast and efficient estimation of seed vigor based on high-resolution infrared thermography. High seed quality is of great significance for agricultural and silvicultural purposes, and seed vigor is a crucial agent of seed quality. In this study, we used the non-invasive technology of infrared thermal imaging to analyze seed vigor of Ulmus pumila L. and Oryza sativa L. Temperatures of young age and aged seeds during thermal decay were monitored over time. We found that the thermal decay dynamics of U. pumila seeds were highly differential among seeds with differential vigor. Furthermore, a regression model was developed to estimate seed vigor based on its thermal decay dynamics. Similarly, a close relationship was also found between thermal decay processes and seed vigor in O. sativa. These results suggest that infrared thermography can be widely applied in non-invasive examination of seed vigor and allows fast and efficient seed screening for agricultural and silvicultural purposes in the future.
Investigating Culturally-Contextualized Making with the Navajo Nation: Broadening the Normative Making Mentality

While the Maker Movement has grown over the past couple of decades, the normative understanding of what making is and who are recognized as makers has been largely defined by a limited perspective....
Anti-HCMV activity by an irreversible p97 inhibitor LC-1310

The AAA+ (ATPase associated with various cellular activities) protein p97, also called valosin-containing protein, is a hexameric ring ATPase and uses ATP hydrolysis to unfold or extract proteins from biological complexes. Many cellular processes are affected by p97 including ER-associated degradation, DNA damage response, cell signaling (NF-κB), cell cycle progression, autophagy, and others. Not surprisingly, with its role in many fundamental cellular processes, p97 function is important for the replication of many viruses. We tested irreversible p97-targeting compounds for their ability to inhibit the replication of multiple viruses compared to the known p97 inhibitors NMS-873 and CB-5083. Our results indicate that overall cellular toxicity for p97 compounds provides a challenge for antivirals targeting p97. However, we identified one compound with sub-micromolar activity against human cytomegalovirus and improved cell viability to provide evidence for the potential of irreversible p97 inhibitors as antivirals.
Education Faculty as Knowledge Brokers: Competing for Access to New York State Print Media and Policy Influence.

In an environment in which new policy entrepreneurs and networks are influencing policy and public opinion, many university faculty are increasingly seeking ways to mobilize knowledge beyond academic conferences and journals. Using New York state as a case, we searched Access World News to compare the level of media access of academics with other knowledge brokering organizations (KBOs; e.g. think tanks, teachers’ unions, advocacy organizations, etc.). Our data shows relatively low levels of access for academics and provides profiles of those academics with high levels of access and what we might learn from them. We provide a discussion of the strategies of those academics who are successful at accessing the media and how disinvestment by the state from higher education and current incentive systems make it more difficult for academics to engage in knowledge mobilization beyond universities.
Safety and efficacy of image-guided retrocalcaneal bursa corticosteroid injection for the treatment of retrocalcaneal bursitis

To determine the safety and efficacy of image-guided retrocalcaneal bursa corticosteroid injection for retrocalcaneal bursitis. After IRB approval, all fluoroscopically guided and ultrasound-guided retrocalcaneal bursa injections (2013–2019) were retrospectively evaluated. Pre-procedure US and radiographs were scored by 2 blinded radiologists in consensus for Achilles tendinosis and retrocalcaneal bursitis (0–3 scale), Achilles enthesopathy (present/absent), and Haglund deformity (present/absent). Pre- and post-procedure pain scores (0–10 scale) evaluated short-term response at 1–4 weeks: excellent (7–10 point decline), good (4–6 point decline), fair (1–3 point decline), or no response. Paired t-test determined significance of short-term improvement. Kaplan-Meier method analyzed time to progression to surgery or complication at 6-month minimum follow-up. Logistic regression analysis evaluated for association between demographic and imaging variables and negative outcome. Two hundred eighteen injections (181 female; mean 54.5 years) performed under ultrasonographic (157, 72%) or fluoroscopic (61, 28%) guidance were evaluated for complication and long-term outcomes. Injections with short-term follow-up (n = 62) yielded excellent or good response in 62.9% (p < 0.00001). Thirty patients (14%) had subsequent elective Achilles surgery. Bursal Doppler flow was associated with progression to surgery (p = 0.00042). No differences were identified in outcomes between US and fluoroscopic-guidance cohorts. Four Achilles ruptures (1.8%) were identified 15–59 days post-injection, each with immediately preceding acute injury. Image-guided retrocalcaneal bursa corticosteroid injection yields significant short-term decrease in pain score in majority (63%) of patients. Subsequent Achilles tendon rupture rate was 1.8%. Bursa Doppler flow was significantly correlated with progression to surgery and may represent a negative prognostic indicator.
Green Your Economy

The modern global economy has measurable negative impacts on sustainability—particularly on the environment and social equity—and many efforts are underway to try to make it more sustainable. A number of green businesses are emerging and existing businesses are trying to transform their operations to embrace sustainability through measurable initiatives. In addition, local and national governments are working to nudge businesses to advance green economic development within their regions through things like tax incentives for green businesses or direct investment of public dollars for green projects. Plus, the investment and finance world is taking a much stronger stance in providing green funds for investors and is taking ethical stances on the types of organizations and projects they will and will not fund. Simple, hard and/or expensive, and innovative and/or life-changing approaches to advancing a green economy are presented.
Hybrid Telepractice Delivery of Enhanced Milieu Teaching: Effects on Caregiver Implementation and Child Communication

Purpose This study investigated the effects of enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) on caregiver implementation of language support strategies and child communication skills using a hybrid telepractice s...
Accelerometer-Derived and Genetically Inferred Physical Activity and Human Disease

Physical activity is favorable to health but the relations with human disease and causal effects are poorly quantified. Previous studies have largely relied on self-reported estimates1-3 which are subject to recall bias, confounding, and reverse causality. Using wrist-worn accelerometer measurements from the UK Biobank, we tested associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) - both total MVPA minutes and whether MVPA was above a guideline-based threshold of [≥]150 minutes/week4-6 - and incidence of over 1,200 diseases. In 96,466 adults who wore accelerometers for one week (mean age 62{+/-}8 years), MVPA was associated with 401 (33%) tested diseases at a false discovery rate of 1% during a median of 6.2 years follow-up. Greater MVPA was overwhelmingly associated with reduced disease risk (98% of associations) with hazard ratios (HRs) ranging from 0.10-0.95 per standard deviation (SD) and associations spanning all 18 disease categories tested. A similar pattern of associations was observed when assessing the guideline-based threshold of [≥]150 MVPA minutes/week. We examined a polygenic risk score for MVPA as an instrumental variable for activity within a separate UK Biobank sample (N=392,058, mean age 57{+/-}8 years). Greater genetically inferred MVPA was associated with reduced risk of 182 (14%) incident diseases (HR range 0.74-0.97 per 1 SD), and included strong associations conferring reduced risks of obstructive bronchitis, peripheral vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and gastritis/duodenitis. Objective physical activity is broadly associated with lower disease incidence and many associations are consistent with a causal effect.
There is more to soft tissue sarcomas than just grade and size

Sarculator is better at predicting patients with sarcoma at the highest risk of death than current staging systems and should be used to determine appropriate patients for future studies.
Early life stress and latent trait cortisol in adolescent girls: a prospective examination.

Early life stress (ELS) may become embedded into an individual's stress physiology, changing their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis in an enduring, trait-like fashion. Cortisol is often utilized to investigate HPA-axis function. However, for "trait" cortisol to be a useful construct, it needs to be internally consistent within measurement occasions and show temporal stability of this reliability. These estimates of physiometrics are rarely tested with biological variables such as cortisol. Identifying reliable and stable individual differences in cortisol may be particularly important when examining questions related to the long-term impact of ELS on HPA-axis function. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to model latent trait cortisol (LTC) may be a useful statistical approach to capture trait-like indexes of HPA-axis functioning. CFA identifies commonalities among repeated cortisol samples to differentiate characteristic patterns (i.e. a trait) from day-to-day or state variation and measurement error. It is unclear whether LTC estimates are stable prospectively, or if ELS is prospectively associated with LTC. Therefore, we derived LTC factors for 84 adolescent girls (ages 10-17 years) using two-morning salivary cortisol samples, collected sequentially for three days at baseline and again at a one-year follow-up. LTC was internally consistent at both assessments and stable over one year. Greater exposure to ELS was associated with lower LTC over a one-year follow-up. Findings support LTC modeling as a useful strategy to estimate trait-like HPA-axis functioning and suggest that exposure to ELS is associated with lower trait-like cortisol.
An analysis of the UCF Optics Ph.D. curriculum

Graduate degrees specializing in optics have been offered at the University of Central Florida since 1987, with stand-alone Optics degrees being offered since 1998. In 2002, the Optics Ph.D. core was radically changed to allow students to take the PhD qualifying examination earlier in their studies, while still providing a broad and rigorous grounding in optics. This involved the creation of several new courses. We describe how this new system has worked over the first three years. We also discuss results of a study on how well typical admission criteria such as GRE exam results, grade point average, etc. predict student performance in our program.
The experience error and the perils of psychopsychology.

‘The stimuli were four similar yellow objects flashing on a white background’. These words might not raise eyebrows when read in a research paper, but they should, because they probably commit the experience error (EE), in which the structure of our percepts is attributed to the stimulus rather than to our perceptual system. These words are less a description of the physical stimulus than of how that stimulus appears to human observers. That is problematic because perception is often incomplete or illusory. When we commit the EE, we confuse the external, physical stimulus with a response, namely our perception of it. Thus, we may end up relating psychological responses to stimuli solely to our psychological descriptions of those stimuli. This in turn may transform psychophysics into ‘psychopsychology’ and thus inadvertently leave the physical world out of our explanation of perception; and it may potentially demote proper experiments to correlational studies that lack the capacity to support inferences about cause and effect. Identified long ago, the EE is nearly forgotten today. We aim to reintroduce, clarify, and illustrate the idea more clearly, as well as to suggest possible preventions or cures. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:509–517. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1302 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Conflict of interest: The author has declared no conflicts of interest for this article.
Coordinate expression of insulin-like growth factor system components by neurons and neuroglia during retinal and cerebellar development

The interactions of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) with the type I IGF receptor are modulated by a family of high-affinity IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). One of these, IGFBP2, demonstrates a striking spatiotemporal relationship with IGF-I during cerebellar and retinal development. IGF-I mRNA is transiently expressed in large projection neurons--cerebellar Purkinje and retinal ganglion cells--while IGFBP2 mRNA is selectively expressed by contiguous neuroglia--Bergmann glia in the cerebellum and Muller cells and astrocytes of the nerve fiber layer in the retina. IGF-I and IGFBP2 gene expression is not only neuroanatomically coordinated but also temporally synchronized, peaking together during the postnatal maturation of these structures. This pattern of IGF system expression suggests that IGFBP2 is closely related to IGF-I's action in the developing nervous system.
Using polynomial chaos to compute the influence of multiple random surfers in the PageRank model

The PageRank equation computes the importance of pages in a web graph relative to a single random surfer with a constant teleportation coefficient. To be globally relevant, the teleportation coefficient should account for the influence of all users. Therefore, we correct the PageRank formulation by modeling the teleportation coefficient as a random variable distributed according to user behavior. With this correction, the PageRank values themselves become random. We present two methods to quantify the uncertainty in the random PageRank: a Monte Carlo sampling algorithm and an algorithm based the truncated polynomial chaos expansion of the random quantities. With each of these methods, we compute the expectation and standard deviation of the PageRanks. Our statistical analysis shows that the standard deviation of the PageRanks are uncorrelated with the PageRank vector.
Missions to Comets and Asteroids

For the greater part of the history of space exploration, now only just forty years in extent, the small bodies in our Solar System have been relatively ignored. The focus of attention in planetary exploration has been on the nearest planets to Earth, Mars and Venus, and on the large, dominant planets of the Outer Solar System, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Even the smallest planets Mercury and Pluto have been relatively ignored. There has been only one mission to Mercury, Mariner 10 in 1973, a multiple flyby mission which imaged only one hemisphere of the small planet. Pluto has yet to be explored by spacecraft and will not be visited until more than 50 years have past since the dawn of the space age. The Pluto mission, now scheduled by NASA for launch in 2003 and flyby in 2011, will mark the end of the reconnaissance phase of exploring the planetary region of the Solar System.
Direct Binding and Regulation of RhoA Protein by Cyclic GMP-dependent Protein Kinase Iα

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) tone is regulated by the state of myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, which is in turn regulated by the balance between MLC kinase and MLC phosphatase (MLCP) activities. RhoA activates Rho kinase, which phosphorylates the regulatory subunit of MLC phosphatase, thereby inhibiting MLC phosphatase activity and increasing contraction and vascular tone. Nitric oxide is an important mediator of VSMC relaxation and vasodilation, which acts by increasing cyclic GMP (cGMP) levels in VSMC, thereby activating cGMP-dependent protein kinase Iα (PKGIα). PKGI is known to phosphorylate Rho kinase, preventing Rho-mediated inhibition of MLC phosphatase, promoting vasorelaxation, although the molecular mechanisms that mediate this are unclear. Here we identify RhoA as a target of activated PKGIα and show further that PKGIα binds directly to RhoA, inhibiting its activation and translocation. In protein pulldown and immunoprecipitation experiments, binding of RhoA and PKGIα was demonstrated via a direct interaction between the amino terminus of RhoA (residues 1–44), containing the switch I domain of RhoA, and the amino terminus of PKGIα (residues 1–59), which includes a leucine zipper heptad repeat motif. Affinity assays using cGMP-immobilized agarose showed that only activated PKGIα binds RhoA, and a leucine zipper mutant PKGIα was unable to bind RhoA even if activated. Furthermore, a catalytically inactive mutant of PKGIα bound RhoA but did not prevent RhoA activation and translocation. Collectively, these results support that RhoA is a PKGIα target and that direct binding of activated PKGIα to RhoA is central to cGMP-mediated inhibition of the VSMC Rho kinase contractile pathway.
A Review of Robert Clinton's "Taking Eden"

Robert CUnton's Taking Eden won the 1998 Katheryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry. Most poems in this book rich with impUcation seek, beyond the busy ness of day-to-day existence and sometimes within it, a realm of more au thentic experience. Poems of daylight awareness vie with poems of dark underconsciousness. Here and there fragments of primitive ritual, ancient Oedipal antagonism, and oddly compelling statements that don't quite make sense rise up to Ught. Over a third of the nineteen poems in Part I show us a father-son relation ship from the point of view of the son, a typically naive child, who views his parents with wonder and awe. The last four stanzas of "My Father" reveal this mythic inflation in the son's perception of his father:
CURRENT APPROACHES TO ORTHOGRAPHY INSTRUCTION FOR SPANISH HERITAGE LEARNERS: AN ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED TEXTBOOKS

As it is well known, heritage learners of Spanish have an advantage on oral production and aural comprehension over L2 learners. However, due to their lack of formal instruction in Spanish, their linguistic weaknesses lie on their literacy skills (reading and writing). In terms of writing skills, students mainly struggle with orthography issues (accentuation and spelling) and larger literacy skills (e.g. developing a thesis or organizing ideas). However, there is an important gap in the literature regarding orthographic acquisition since most of the research in the field on focus on form instruction has predominantly been on grammar acquisition (Anderson, 2008; Montrul and Bowles, 2008; Potowski, 2005, among others). In fact, despite the increasing amount of textbooks addressed to this student population with an emphasis on the writing process, to my knowledge there has not been a study on the current approaches of Spanish heritage learners’ textbooks for orthography instruction. After analyzing four popular textbooks for Spanish heritage, it can be deduced that the lack of research on this area perpetuates the maintenance of traditional non-communicative explicit instruction of orthography through drills after an explicit explanation of the rules of both accentuation and spelling but new textbooks shed some light towards the implementation of focus on form teaching techniques commonly used in the L2 classroom such as input-output activities.
An Infrared Study of the Dimerization of Caprolactam by Hydrogen Bonding

Caprolactam, (CH2)5CONH, has been shown from its infrared spectrum to form a hydrogen-bonded dimer in carbon tetrachloride solution, which is presumed to be analogous to such dimers in carboxylic acids. The equilibrium constant, Keq, for the dissociation of the dimer (Keq = Cm2/Cd, where Cm and Cd are the respective molar concentrations of monomer and dimer in carbon tetrachloride) has been measured at 3°, 26°, 40°, and 55°C. and found to have values 0.00434, 0.00947, 0.0144 and 0.0209 mols/liter respectively. Cm was measured by means of the peak absorbance of the monomer band at 3430 cm−1, and Cd was determined from Cm and total concentration of caprolactam. From the temperature dependence of Keq, ΔH° for the dissociation was found to be 5.46 ± 0.2 k cals per mol of dimer and ΔS°, 8.98 ± 0.7 entropy units. The magnitude of ΔH° implies that the dimer is bonded by two N-H ··· O bonds of moderate strength (2.73 k cals, per bond). The bands associated with the bonded N-H stretching vibrations at 3088, 3217 and 3303 cm−1 did not change in relative intensity over a concentration range often fold, which was sufficient to change the dimer concentration by a factor of about twenty. It is concluded from this that all these bands belong to the same hydrogen-bonded species, which must be the dimer form the constancy of the ratio Cm2/Cd.
Flow visualization in floating zone crystal growth - a videotape movie

Flow visualization during floating zone crystal growth has been conducted for the first time. Floating zone growth of 6 mm diameter NaNO3 single crystals was carried out using a ring heater made of a thin Pt wire. The flow patterns in the melt were revealed by tracer particles illuminated by a thin laser light sheet, i.e., the laser light-cut technique. A color super-VHS videotape movie was made. Thermocapillary convection, forced convection and the shapes of both the growth and feed fronts were all clearly shown. The forced convection was induced by fast feed-rod rotation, crystal rotation and feed/crystal counterrotation. These results confirmed those predicted by computer simulation. A limited number of the videotape copies will be available upon request as the photographs shown in the present report are far less clear than the videotape itself.
Potential role of lipoxygenases in defense against insect herbivory

The potential role of the plant enzyme lipoxygenase in host resistance against the corn earwormHelicoverpa zea was examined. Lipoxygenase is present in most of the common host plants ofH. zea, with highest activity in the leguminous hosts such as soybean and redbean. Treatment of dietary proteins with linoleic acid and lipoxygenase significantly reduced the nutritive quality of soybean protein and soy foliar protein. Larval growth was reduced from 24 to 63% depending upon treatment. Feeding byH. zea on soybean plants caused damage-induced increases in foliar lipoxygenase and lipid peroxidation products. Larvae feeding on previously wounded plant tissue demonstrated decreased growth rates compared to larvae feeding on unwounded tissue. Midgut epithelium from larvae feeding on wounded tissues showed evidence of oxidative damage as indicated by significant increases in lipid peroxidation products and losses in free primary amines. The potential role of oxidative and nutritional stress as a plant defensive response to herbivory is discussed.
Vitamin K (menaquinone) biosynthesis in bacteria: purification and probable structure of an intermediate prior to o-succinylbenzoate.

Abstract The first aromatic intermediate in the menaquinone biosynthetic pathway is o -succinylbenzoate (OSB); it is formed from chorismate/isochorismate and 2-ketoglutarate. Cell-free extracts of menD + E. coli strains synthesize an intermediate, “X”, which is converted to OSB by extracts of menC + cells. “X” has been purified to near homogeneity by HPLC. On treatment with acid, it yields both OSB and succinylbenzene (SB). This and other data, suggest that “X” has the structure, 2-succinyl-6-hydroxy-2,4-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate (I).
Sulfa Use, Dihydropteroate Synthase Mutations, and Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia

A systematic review was conducted to examine the associations in Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) patients between dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) mutations and sulfa or sulfone (sulfa) prophylaxis and between DHPS mutations and sulfa treatment outcome. Selection criteria included study populations composed entirely of PCP patients and mutation or treatment outcome results for all patients, regardless of exposure status. Based on 13 studies, the risk of developing DHPS mutations is higher for PCP patients receiving sulfa prophylaxis than for PCP patients not receiving sulfa prophylaxis (p < 0.001). Results are too heterogeneous (p < 0.001) to warrant a single summary effect estimate. Estimated effects are weaker after 1996 and stronger in studies that included multiple isolates per patient. Five studies examined treatment outcome. The effect of DHPS mutations on treatment outcome has not been well studied, and the few studies that have been conducted are inconsistent even as to the presence or absence of an association.