cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Knowing who to trust and what to believe in the presence of conflicting information

The Information Age has created an increasing abundance of data and has, thanks to the rise of the Internet, made that knowledge instantly available to humans and computers alike. This is not without caveats, however, as though we may read a document, ask an expert, or locate a fact nearly effortlessly, we lack a ready means to determine whether we should actually believe them. We seek to address this problem with a computational trust system capable of substituting for the user's informed, subjective judgement, with the understanding that truth is not objective and instead depends upon one's prior knowledge and beliefs, a philosophical point with deep practical implications. First, however, we must consider the even more basic question of how the trustworthiness of an information source can be expressed: measuring the trustworthiness of a person, document, or publisher as the mere percentage of true claims it makes can be extraordinarily misleading at worst, and uninformative at best. Instead of providing simple accuracy, we instead provide a comprehensive set of trust metrics, calculating the source's truthfulness, completeness, and bias, providing the user with our trust judgement in a way that is both understandable and actionable. We then consider the trust algorithm itself, starting with the baseline of determining the truth by taking a simple vote that assumes all information sources are equally trustworthy, and quickly move on to fact-finders , iterative algorithms capable of estimating the trustworthiness of the source in addition to the believability of the claims, and proceed to incorporate increasing amounts of information and declarative prior knowledge into the fact-finder's trust decision via the Generalized and Constrained Fact-Finding frameworks while still maintaining the relative simplicity and tractability of standard fact-finders.
Design and Fabrication of a Six Degree-of-Freedom Open Source Hand

Currently, most externally powered prostheses are controlled using electromyography (or EMG), which is the measure of the electrical signals that are produced when voluntary muscle is contracted. One of the major problems is that there are a limited number of muscular control sites that can be used, which limits the complexity of the hands that are controllable. Many upper-limb prosthetics researchers are searching for methods to simply and effectively control complex prosthetic hands, and a significant number of these researchers have utilized virtual hands and other simulations to perform testing of these control algorithms (oftentimes on able bodied subjects). Thus, these control techniques remain firmly planted in the virtual realm, and the authors postulate that the development of a physical hand would help to validate results obtained through use of virtual hands and could help establish whether or not a given control scheme is realistically applicable for use by amputees. The development of such a hand would be beneficial for researchers in the field. A six degree-of-freedom hand was developed with such a purpose in mind, and two of the major goals of the project were that the hand be inexpensive and open source. The hand design is being shared on www.opensourcehand.wordpress.com .
Evolution of Design of Machines

What is necessary for a culture to produce new machines and technology? A recent book claimed one should study the thinking of Leonardo da Vinci to find the seven principles of genius and creativity. The premise of this and similar self-help books is that the secret of creativity is in the individual. Yet historical evidence convincingly shows that a set of societal conditions must be met to create and produce a new technology and that such conditions existed in Leonardo’s time. Some of these conditions include the following: (i) The society must have a tradition of building machines; (ii) there must exist a cadre of artisans and craftspeople with technical skills; (iii) there must exist a supply of capital to invest in new technology; (iv) there must exist in the society a spirit of progress, that humankind is meant to improve and change its environment; (v) finally there must exist individuals with a vision and motivation to change the status quo.
Barriers to Civil Academic Work Environments: Experiences of Academic Faculty Leaders

Faculty-to-faculty incivility negatively affects not only the victim of the uncivil behavior but also the nursing program as a whole. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of academic nurse administrators who have dealt with incivility among and between faculty members. An interpretative approach was used to uncover themes, and suggestions are made for managing faculty-to-faculty incivility.
Mechanistic Approach to Predict the Combined Effects of Additives and Surface Templates on Calcium Carbonate Mineralization

The biomineralization of calcium carbonate is masterfully directed by organic macromolecules present in many organisms. In this biomimetic study, absorbance measurements accompanied by microscopy and infrared spectroscopy are used to evaluate the superposed effect of organic additives and surface chemistries on the kinetics of surface-directed nucleation and growth of calcium carbonate. Polyelectrolyte films with carboxylic and/or amine groups serve as the organic template for mineralization, and amino acids and monosaccharides as the selected solution additives. A grain-boundary kinetics model describes surface precipitation of calcium carbonate to provide a mechanistic insight into the precipitation pathway via two parameters, the near-surface supersaturation and the crystal number density. While an organic matrix rich in ternary amines strongly promotes vaterite nucleation, the selected carboxylic-enriched polyelectrolyte film significantly stabilizes ACC in the near-surface region, while it equally pr...
The Demand for Addressed Admail and Complementary Products in Canada

The purpose of this chapter is to establish the relationships among addressed admail pricing, volume, and profitability in Canada. Addressed admail is advertising by mail that includes both short-long (small, flat mail such as business envelopes) and oversized (larger or irregularly shaped items) pieces. Canada Post Corporation (CPC) sets the pricing on its admail product. In order to determine the efficiency of a proposed price increase, this chapter addresses the elasticity of advertised admail and its resulting multiplier effects. A multiplier effect exists when product complementaries are present. In discerning the revenue and profit consequences of a proposed price increase on admail, the effects on related products such as letters, parcels, and so forth must be analyzed. For example, the demand for parcels and packages may change as a result of a change in admail if consumers purchase fewer products through the mail as a consequence of receiving fewer mail order catalogs.1
Conventional Analytical Methods to Assess Lipid Oxidation

Lipid oxidation is a major cause of the deterioration of quality in food. The accurate qualitative and quantitative assessment of lipid oxidation is important for quality assurance of food products. Lipid oxidation is a very complicated process involving numerous oxidation products. Therefore, numerous chemical and physical analytical methods have been developed to assess lipid oxidation. Despite tremendous efforts on understanding mechanisms of lipid oxidation, lipid oxidation is not completely understood, and it is almost impossible to accurately predict oxidation products under different oxidation conditions. Since there are many standard methods available, it is very important to use the right analytical method depending on the purpose of the analysis. In this chapter, most widely used conventional analytical methods to assess lipid oxidation and their problems and limitations are discussed.
Siting and sizing of distributed energy storage to mitigate voltage impact by solar PV in distribution systems

Abstract This work explores the allocation question of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in distribution systems for their voltage mitigation support in integrating high penetration solar photovoltaics (PV). A genetic algorithm (GA)-based bi-level optimization method is developed that reduces the voltage fluctuations caused by PV penetration through deploying BESS among permitted nodes of a distribution system while accounting for their capital, land-of-use and installation costs using a qualitative cost model. The optimization problem considers BESS capacity and installation points in the distribution system as decision variables. Each BESS operation is determined using a linear programming (LP) routine that minimizes the daily coincident peak demand. A comprehensive validation study is carried out through exhaustive enumeration with the IEEE 8500-Node test feeder showing that the proposed method results in consistent decisions that appear to be globally optimal. Further sensitivity studies are conducted to showcase the behavior of the method under varying sizing costs, siting costs and PV penetrations.
Faradaic Ion Concentration Polarization on a Paper Fluidic Platform.

We describe the design and characteristics of a paper-based analytical device for analyte concentration enrichment. The device, called a hybrid paper-based analytical device (hyPAD), uses faradaic electrochemistry to create an ion depletion zone (IDZ), and hence a local electric field, within a nitrocellulose flow channel. Charged analytes are concentrated near the IDZ when their electrophoretic and electroosmotic velocities balance. This process is called faradaic ion concentration polarization. The hyPAD is simple to construct and uses only low-cost materials. The hyPAD can be tuned for optimal performance by adjusting the applied voltage or changing the electrode design. Moreover, the throughput of hyPAD is 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional, micron-scale microfluidic devices. The hyPAD is able to concentrate a range of analytes, including small molecules, DNA, proteins, and nanoparticles, in the range of 200–500-fold within 5 min.
Polyploidization of Megakaryocyte Is Associated with the Proliferation Rate of Precursor Cell

Abstract 4802 Endomitosis, the uncoupling of DNA replication with cytokinesis, occurs during the maturation of megakaryocytes (MK) and leads to the MK polyploidization (4N to 128N DNA content). The mechanism that controls the ploidy in MKs is not well understood. We investigated the correlation of cell proliferation rate with MK ploidy in several differentiating megakaryoblastic cell lines. Meg-01, CHRF-288, and K562 cells were treated with a Src kinase inhibitor (3 μm Su6656) for 4 days and the ploidy was assessed by propidium iodide. Proliferation rate was determined by the doubling time of synchronized cells cultured in 10% serum. We found a significant correlation between ploidy and proliferation rate in these cell lines, with the K562 line having both the highest proliferation rate and the percentage of ploidy cells. We then differentiated the megakaryocyte cell line L8057 cells by thrombopoietin using various concentrations of serum (5%, 10%, and 20%) to control proliferation. The proliferation rate of L8057 cells varied with serum concentration and was also highly correlated the percentage of ploidy cells (23%, 32.8%, and 40.9% respectively). Thus, our data suggest that factors control the cell proliferation rate may contribute to the polyploidization of megakaryocyte. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Microstructures and Grain Refinement of Additive-Manufactured Ti-xW Alloys

It is necessary to better understand the composition–processing–microstructure relationships that exist for materials produced by additive manufacturing. To this end, Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS™), a type of additive manufacturing, was used to produce a compositionally graded titanium binary model alloy system (Ti-xW specimen (0 ≤ x ≤ 30 wt pct), so that relationships could be made between composition, processing, and the prior beta grain size. Importantly, the thermophysical properties of the Ti-xW, specifically its supercooling parameter (P) and growth restriction factor (Q), are such that grain refinement is expected and was observed. The systematic, combinatorial study of this binary system provides an opportunity to assess the mechanisms by which grain refinement occurs in Ti-based alloys in general, and for additive manufacturing in particular. The operating mechanisms that govern the relationship between composition and grain size are interpreted using a model originally developed for aluminum and magnesium alloys and subsequently applied for titanium alloys. The prior beta grain factor observed and the interpretations of their correlations indicate that tungsten is a good grain refiner and such models are valid to explain the grain-refinement process. By extension, other binary elements or higher order alloy systems with similar thermophysical properties should exhibit similar grain refinement.
Structure–Activity Relationships Reveal Key Features of 8-Oxoguanine: A Mismatch Detection by the MutY Glycosylase

Base excision repair glycosylases locate and remove damaged bases in DNA with remarkable specificity. The MutY glycosylases, unusual for their excision of undamaged adenines mispaired to the oxidized base 8-oxoguanine (OG), must recognize both bases of the mispair in order to prevent promutagenic activity. Moreover, MutY must effectively find OG:A mismatches within the context of highly abundant and structurally similar T:A base pairs. Very little is known about the factors that initiate MutY’s interaction with the substrate when it first encounters an intrahelical OG:A mispair, or about the order of recognition checkpoints. Here, we used structure–activity relationships (SAR) to investigate the features that influence the in vitro measured parameters of mismatch affinity and adenine base excision efficiency by E. coli MutY. We also evaluated the impacts of the same substrate alterations on MutY-mediated repair in a cellular context. Our results show that MutY relies strongly on the presence of the OG bas...
Effects of Vacuolar H + -ATPase Inhibition on Activation of Cathepsin B and Cathepsin L Secreted from MDA-MB231 Breast Cancer Cells

Studies indicate secreted cathepsins are involved in metastasis. V-ATPases, which are necessary for activating intracellular cathepsins, also play a role in metastasis and are targeted to the plasma membrane of metastatic breast cancer cells. We are interested in a connection between cell surface V-ATPases, activation of secreted cathepsins and the metastatic phenotype of MDA-MB231 cells. We investigated whether V-ATPase inhibition would reduce the activity of secreted cathepsin B and cathepsin L. Using cell lysates and conditioned media, we measured cathepsin B and L activity within and outside of the cells. We found different forms of cathepsin B and L were secreted representing the pre-pro, pro and active forms of the proteases. Cathepsin B activity was higher than cathepsin L in conditioned media and in cell lysates. V-ATPase inhibition by concanamycin A decreased cathepsin B activity in conditioned media and significantly decreased cathepsin B activity in cell lysates. Cathepsin L activity showed a slight decrease in cell lysates. Changes in the activity of secreted and intracellular cathepsins following V-ATPase inhibition were supported by changes in the amounts of pro and active forms of cathepsin B in conditioned media and cathepsins B and L in cell lysates. Overall, our data shows that inactive forms of cathepsins B and L are secreted from the MB231 cells and V-ATPase activity is important for the activation of secreted cathepsin B. This indicates a connection between cell surface V-ATPases in metastatic breast cancer cells and the function of secreted cathepsin B.
CD3xPDL1 bi-specific T cell engager (BiTE) simultaneously activates T cells and NKT cells, kills PDL1 + tumor cells, and extends the survival of tumor-bearing humanized mice

// Lucas A. Horn 1,* , Nicholas G. Ciavattone 2,* , Ryan Atkinson 1 , Netsanet Woldergerima 1 , Julia Wolf 1 , Virginia K. Clements 1 , Pratima Sinha 1 , Munanchu Poudel 1 and Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg 1 1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA 2 Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA * These authors contributed equally to this project Correspondence to: Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg, email: // Keywords : tumor-induced immune suppression, checkpoint inhibitor blockade, T cell activation, solid tumors, cancer immunotherapy Received : April 21, 2017 Accepted : July 26, 2017 Published : August 03, 2017 Abstract Bi-specific T cell engagers (BiTEs) activate T cells through CD3 and target activated T cells to tumor-expressed antigens. BiTEs have shown therapeutic efficacy in patients with liquid tumors; however, they do not benefit all patients. Anti-tumor immunity is limited by Programmed Death 1 (PD1) pathway-mediated immune suppression, and patients who do not benefit from existing BiTES may be non-responders because their T cells are anergized via the PD1 pathway. We have designed a BiTE that activates and targets both T cells and NKT cells to PDL1 + cells. In vitro studies demonstrate that the CD3xPDL1 BiTE simultaneously binds to both CD3 and PDL1, and activates healthy donor CD4 + and CD8 + T cells and NKT cells that are specifically cytotoxic for PDL1 + tumor cells. Cancer patients’ PBMC are also activated and cytotoxic, despite the presence of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. The CD3xPDL1 BiTE significantly extends the survival time and maintains activated immune cell levels in humanized NSG mice reconstituted with human PBMC and carrying established human melanoma tumors. These studies suggest that the CD3xPDL1 BiTE may be efficacious for patients with PDL1 + solid tumors, in combination with other immunotherapies that do not specifically neutralize PD1 pathway-mediated immune suppression.
Group Psychotherapy in the 21st Century: A Second Look

This issue of Group presents a second set of papers dedicated to the theme of “group psychotherapy in the 21st century.” Articles range from the cautionary to the bittersweet to the sublime. They draw lessons from history and cultivate prophetic allusions about the future. Papers represent the insular world of group psychotherapy, the challenge of collaboration with related fields, and the extension of practice to other settings. They cover the foundation matrix and socioeconomic context of group theory, practice and collegial support groups; current trends and future possibilities in group psychotherapy research; the challenges of training practitioners in a diversified field for an uncertain future; prevailing conditions within our field and where they might be leading (or misleading) us; and the evolution of collective consciousness and revelatory insights provided by mythic amplifications of group trends. Articles also address (in text and subtext) how we care for our group members and the modality that we practice, while we seek, sometimes passionately and other times desperately, to preserve our morale and legitimacy as professional practitioners. This second issue also examines harsh, encouraging and virtual realities of the post- and post-postmodern world and searches for better ways to cope with the changes we initiate and those thrust upon us. In conclusion, an emerging ethos of group psychotherapy collects insights from all these articles focused (in first and second looks) on “group psychotherapy in the 21st century.” The challenge of the future may be to gracefully preserve some balance between what we already know, what we must learn about ourselves and the groups of people we treat and what will be required of us as time goes on. Here is a preview of the articles in this second special issue of Group.
To Fight Burnout, Organize

To Fight Burnout, Organize There is a link between social determinants of patients’ health and physician burnout, but that association suggests a way forward. If individual powerlessness is the crux of this source of burnout, then organizing toward collective action should be part of the solution.
Psychiatric hospitalization characteristics associated with insurance type.

This study examines the relationship among types of insurance and characteristics of inpatient psychiatric treatment. Data include 46,998 adult psychiatric or substance abuse cases from all 1991–1992 Washington State discharges from short-stay general hospitals. Large and significant differences among payers exist in treatment characteristics, controlling for diagnosis and patient age. For example, length of stay is longest among commercial and Medicare payers. Emergency admissions are more common among public payers, and elective admissions are more common among private payers, including HMOs. Results are discussed in light of policy and administration issues that will arise as financing for mental health services comes under greater capitation.
Attitudes, Political: Authoritarianism and Tolerance

This article is a revision of the previous edition article S. Feldman, volume 2, pp. 970–972, © 2001, Elsevier Ltd., with revisions made by the Editor.
Modified diffusion synthetic acceleration algorithms

The diffusion synthetic acceleration (DSA) method is an iterative procedure for obtaining rapidly convergent numerical solutions of discrete ordinates problems. General P/sub L/ acceleration methods for L>1 are first considered to determine if DSA, which is equivalent to P/sub 1/ acceleration, is optimum. After determining that DSA appears to be the optimum P/sub L/ approach, it is then demonstrated that by also using standard techniques of matrix iterative acceleration, modest improvements can be made is DSA performance.
Differential Impact of Ultrafiltration and Diuretics on Urine Sodium Excretion in Acute Heart Failure: Insights from CARRESS-HF

Introduction By blocking Na resorption in the thick ascending limb of the nephron, loop diuretics (LD) mediate volume loss through natriuresis. In contrast, extracorporeal isotonic volume removal by ultrafiltration (UF) is not renally mediated. Whether these therapies have a differential effect on renal sodium excretion in acute heart failure (AHF) is unknown. Hypothesis Diuretic-mediated decongestion will be associated with more sodium excretion than UF mediated decongestion. Methods A per-protocol analysis of CARRESS-HF (N=188) was performed. Participants were included if they had spot urine Na measured in the core lab and either randomized to UF and had UF output collected without concomitant intravenous LD use, or if randomized to the LD-based pharmacological arm and had urine but not UF output collected. There were N=61, 55, and 51 participants meeting this criteria at baseline, 24 h and 96 h, respectively. Mixed effects modelling determined the association of treatment on serial parameters. Results There were N=20 in the UF arm (age 67y [59-82], 80% male, 55% NICM, Cr 2.1 mg/dL [1.7-2.4], Na 137 mmol/L [134-139]) and N=41 in the pharmacological arm (age 65y [59-76], 73% male, 54% NICM, Cr 2.4 mg/dL [1.9-2.7], Na 138 mmol/L [135-140]). UF was associated with more relative weight loss by 96 h (%*time, P-interaction=0.003), lower urine sodium concentration over time by 24 and 96 h (UNa*time, P-interaction Conclusions Ultrafiltration, without concomitant LD use, is associated with less urinary sodium excretion in comparison to LD-based pharmacological decongestion in AHF. Yet, UF was also associated with greater weight loss, which may be reflective of greater cumulative sodium removal via UF. These observations highlight the differential response to sodium renal handling from extracorporeal volume removal than from LDs.
Artificial Intelligence For Air Quality Control Systems: A Holistic Approach

Recent environmental regulations introduced by the United States environmental protection agency such as the Mercury Air Toxics Standards and Hazardous Air Pollution Standards have challenged environmental particulate control equipment especially the electro-static precipitators to operate beyond their design specifications. The impact is exacerbated in power plants burning a wide range of low and high-ranking fossil fuels relying on co-benefits from upstream processes such as the selective catalytic reactor and boilers. To alleviate and mitigate the challenge, this manuscript presents the utilization of modern and novel algorithms in machine learning and artificial intelligence for improving the efficiency and performance of electrostatic precipitators reflecting a holistic approach by considering upstream processes as model parameters. In addition, the paper discusses input relevance algorithms for neural networks and random forests such as partial derivatives, input perturbation and GINI importance comparing their performance and applicability for our case study. Our approach comprises of applying random forests and neural network algorithms to an electrostatic precipitator extending the model to include upstream process parameters such as the selective catalytic reactor and the air heaters. To study variable importance differences and model generalization performance between our employed algorithms, we developed a statistical approach to compare features data distributions impact on input relevance.
Fortuitous Ion-Molecule Reaction Enables Enumeration of Metal-Hydrogen Bonds Present in Gaseous Ions.

Upon mass selection and ion activation under mass spectrometric conditions, gaseous formate adducts of many metal formates undergo decarboxylation and form product ions that bear metal-hydrogen bonds. Fortuitously, we noted that negative-ion spectra of several such formate adducts showed many peaks that could not be rationalized by the conventional fragmentation pathways attributed to the precursor ion. Subsequent experimentation proved that these enigmatic peaks are due to an ion-molecule reaction that takes place between traces of adventitious water vapor in the collision gas and the in situ formed product anions bearing metal-hydrogen bonds, generated by the fragmentation of the formate adducts. Results show that metal-hydrogen bonds of the group 2 elements are particularly susceptible to this reaction. For example, in the product-ion spectrum of [Sr(η2-O2CH)3]-, the peak at m/z 91 for SrH3 - was accompanied by three peaks at higher m/z ratios. These peaks, at m/z 107, 123, and 139, represented SrH2(OH)1 -, SrH1(OH)2 -, and Sr(OH)3 -, respectively. These satellite peaks, which were separated by 16 m/z units, were attributed to adducts formed due to the high affinity of gas-phase anions bearing metal-hydrogen bonds to water. Although undesired, these peaks are diagnostically useful to determine the number of metal-hydrogen bonds present in a precursor ion. Even though the peaks were less pronounced, analogous reactions were noted from the adducts of the group 1 elements as well. Moreover, Gibbs free energy values computed for the interaction of [H-Mg(η2-O2CH)2]- with water to form [HO-Mg(η2-OCOH)2]- and H2 indicated that this is an exergonic reaction.
Interlaminar damage detection through the understanding of direct current spreading in continuous fiber reinforced composites

Abstract In this article, we present the results from a study of flow of DC current in ceramic matrix and polymer matrix composite materials with different fiber layouts. We provide insight into the spread of DC current in a direction transverse to the primary direction of flow. A ladder network of resistors based model is proposed to understand the overall electrical behavior. A DC electrical simulation of the proposed model agrees well with the experimental data and can be used to estimate the out-of-plane resistivity of composite from the known value of in-plane resistivity. The nature of current spreading is proposed to be used in identifying the interlaminar or other sizable cracks existing in the bulk of the continuous fiber composite materials. The results presented can potentially contribute towards developing the method of direct current potential drop (DCPD) as a reliable technique for inspection in manufacturing of composite panels.
Multimedia Exhibition Design: Exploring Intersections Among Storytelling, Usability and User Experience on an Interactive Large Wall Screen

A research team engaged in a user experience and usability evaluation of a large wall screen display for multimedia exhibitions. This process included two concept tests and two task-based usability tests to understand how storytelling, usability and user experience intersect on a large wall screen presentation. This approach illuminated key requirements for designing for large wall screens that supports multimedia storytelling.
Homonegativity Experienced over the Life Course by Young Black Gay, Bisexual and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men (YB-GBMSM) Living with HIV in Atlanta, Georgia.

Minority stress theory posits that homonegativity—whether experienced, anticipated, or internalized—adversely impacts health. We conducted qualitative interviews with 28 YB-GBMSM living with HIV to explore manifestations of homonegativity over the life course. Thematic analysis identified patterns in the ways that homonegativity was discussed at different points in participants’ lives. Stifling, and sometimes traumatic, familial and religious environments led to experienced homonegativity early in life. These experiences led to anticipated and internalized homonegativity, which in turn shaped sexual identity formation processes in adolescence and into young adulthood. Ultimately, many participants distanced themselves from home environments, seeking and often finding extrafamilial support. Most participants eventually reached self-acceptance of both their sexuality and HIV status. In conclusion, experienced, anticipated and internalized homonegativity were pervasive as YB-GBMSM navigated family and religious environments over the life course. Future interventions should work with youth, families, and churches to prevent these harmful experiences.
A new role for heat shock factor 27 in the pathophysiology of Clostridium difficile toxin B.

Clostridium difficile (CD) is a common pathogen that causes severe gastrointestinal inflammatory diarrhea in patients undergoing antibiotic therapy. We provide new evidence that heat shock protein ...
Expression of Functional Toll-Like Receptor 2 on Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Abstract Embryonic stem (ES) cells have the capacity to produce all cell types of the body. Understanding murine ES (mES) cell proliferation, survival, differentiation, and self renewal will enhance knowledge of developmental biology and essential use of ES cells. Recently, Toll Like Receptor (TLR) activation has been shown by others to play a role in influencing the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells. Previous studies have also shown that TLR activation prevents mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteocytes and plays a role in bone repair. We hypothesized that certain TLR's would be expressed on mES cells and that the ligands for these expressed TLR's would induce functional activity in the mESC's. Therefore, we wanted to determine if TLRs are expressed on mES cells and if so, are they functional. Three different mES cell lines (R1, CGR8, and E14) were used to determine if TLRs are expressed at the mRNA level using primers for murine TLR1-9 mRNA. We found that TLR's 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 were expressed at the mRNA level, but TLR's 4, 5, 7, and 8 were not. Based on the availability of antibodies to TLR's, and using flow cytometry, we found expression of TLR2 but not TLR 4 on the surface of all three mES cell lines. TLR ligands were used to treat mES cells in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) for an hour. Activation of TLR2 by its ligand Pam3Cys, a synthetic tri-acyl lipoprotein, on mES cells induced NF-κβ nuclear translocation when compared to ES cells not stimulated with TLR ligands. LPS, the ligand for TLR4 did not induce NF-κβ nuclear translocation on ES cells, consistent with lack of cell surface expression of TLR4 on mES cells. TLR expression and TLR ligand interaction were not associated with changes in the morphology of the mES cells or expression of Oct-4, SSEA-1, KLF-4, or Sox-2, markers for maintenance of the undifferentiated state of mES cells. This suggests that the cells remain in an undifferentiated state even after TLR activation by Pam3Cys in the presence of LIF. Thus our study has identified functionally active TLR2 on the surface of mES cells, information that may be of use to further defining a role for TLR's on ES cells, and for manipulation of other ES cell functions.
Adult Learning and Critical Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education

This chapter provides a philosophical understanding about the theory of knowledge and the role it plays in institutions of higher education in Western culture. Epistemic ideologies of Western tradition over-emphasize objectivism, individualism, and materialism. In turn, the tension between Western values and opposing worldviews may influence the probability of adult learning distortions, an uncritical interpretation about the world that appears to be incompatible with the experiences of adult learners. An unexamined approach to Western customs may limit holistic human development and transformative adult learning, prompting undesirable feelings in adult learners during their higher education experience. This chapter concludes with a description of critical contemplative pedagogy, offering practical implications to better serve holistic human development and transformative adult learning. Critical contemplative pedagogy may further conversations in the field given the extent to which adult learners are able to navigate growth aspects of the human development process may translate into the degree to which they will be able to transfer knowledge and skills for the betterment of the self, community, and democratic society as a whole.
A meta-analysis of clinical predictors for renal recovery and overall mortality in acute kidney injury requiring continuous renal replacement therapy.

Abstract Purpose To determine clinical predictors for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) discontinuation in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Materials and methods Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched. The protocol is registered on researchregistry.com (reviewregistry909). Our criteria included non-end-stage kidney disease adults who required CRRT for AKI. Renal recovery was defined by CRRT discontinuation. Risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I tool. Results We classified our analyses into renal recovery cohort and overall mortality cohort. All studies were observational. For renal recovery cohort, increasing urine output at time of CRRT discontinuation, elevated initial SOFA score and serum creatinine at CRRT initiation were predictive of renal recovery with OR 1.021 (95%CI = 1.011–1.031), 0.869 (95%CI = 0.811–0.932) and 0.995 (95%CI = 0.996–0.999), respectively. For overall mortality cohort, age and presence of sepsis were significantly associated with overall mortality with OR of 1.028 (95%CI = 1.008–1.048) and 2.160 (95%CI = 0.973–1.932), respectively. Conclusions Urine output at CRRT discontinuation, lower initial SOFA score, and lower serum creatinine levels at CRRT initiation were associated with higher likelihood of renal recovery. Increasing age and the presence of sepsis were associated with increased overall mortality from AKI on CRRT. However, there were limited data on co-morbidities which might preclude their inclusion in our analysis.
Treating tobacco dependence to aid re-employment among job-seekers: A randomized controlled trial.

Abstract Introduction U.S. reductions in smoking have not been experienced equally. Smoking prevalence is greater among persons of lower education, lower income, and unemployed. We evaluated whether a cessation intervention for job-seekers would result in significantly fewer cigarettes smoked per day and a greater likelihood of tobacco abstinence and re-employment, compared to the control condition at 6-months follow-up. Methods Unemployed, job-seekers who smoked daily were recruited from five employment development departments in the San Francisco Bay Area, October 2015 to February 2018. Intention to quit smoking was not required. Participants were randomized to a brief motivationally-tailored, computer-assisted counseling intervention or referred to a toll-free quitline. Midstudy, 8-weeks of combination nicotine replacement was added to the intervention. Expired carbon monoxide and cotinine testing verified abstinence. Data were analyzed fall 2019. Results Participants (N = 360; 70% men; 43% African American, 27% non-Hispanic Caucasian; 19% unhoused) averaged 12 cigarettes/day (SD = 6), 67% smoked within 30 min of wakening; 27% were in preparation stage to quit. During the 6-month study period, intervention participants were more likely to make a quit attempt (71% vs. 58%, p = .021) and reported significantly greater reduction in cigarettes/day than control participants (median reduction: 6.9 vs. 5.0, p = .038); however, bioconfirmed abstinence (3%) and re-employment (36%) did not differ by treatment group. Conclusions In a diverse sample with economic hardships, quit attempts and smoking reduction were greater in the intervention group; however, few achieved abstinence, and neither abstinence nor re-employment differed by condition. A priority group, further research is needed on smoking and re-employment.
Is blame warranted in applying justice

The belief that people convicted of crimes deserve punishment is commonplace. Yet the punitive conception of individual responsibility commonly associated with ‘just deserts’ exaggerates the moral ...
Measuring the global burden of chikungunya and Zika viruses: A systematic review

Throughout the last decade, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) infections have spread globally, causing a spectrum of disease that ranges from self-limited febrile illness to permanent severe disability, congenital anomalies, and early death. Nevertheless, estimates of their aggregate health impact are absent from the literature and are currently omitted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) reports. We systematically reviewed published literature and surveillance records to evaluate the global burden caused by CHIKV and ZIKV between 2010 and 2019, to calculate estimates of their disability-adjusted life year (DALY) impact. Extracted data on acute, chronic, and perinatal outcomes were used to create annualized DALY estimates, following techniques outlined in the GBD framework. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020192502). Of 7,877 studies identified, 916 were screened in detail, and 21 were selected for inclusion. Available data indicate that CHIKV and ZIKV caused the average yearly loss of over 106,000 and 44,000 DALYs, respectively, between 2010 and 2019. Both viruses caused substantially more burden in the Americas than in any other World Health Organization (WHO) region. This unequal distribution is likely due to a combination of limited active surveillance reporting in other regions and the lack of immunity that left the previously unexposed populations of the Americas susceptible to severe outbreaks during the last decade. Long-term rheumatic sequelae provided the largest DALY component for CHIKV, whereas congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) contributed most significantly for ZIKV. Acute symptoms and early mortality accounted for relatively less of the overall burden. Suboptimal reporting and inconsistent diagnostics limit precision when determining arbovirus incidence and frequency of complications. Despite these limitations, it is clear from our assessment that CHIKV and ZIKV represent a significant cause of morbidity that is not included in current disease burden reports. These results suggest that transmission-blocking strategies, including vector control and vaccine development, remain crucial priorities in reducing global disease burden through prevention of potentially devastating arboviral outbreaks.
Convergent coding of recent and remote fear memory in the basolateral amygdala

Abstract Animals must learn to anticipate recently encountered threats as well as dangers experienced long ago. In both rodents and humans, the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is essential for the encoding and retrieval conditioned fear memories. Although the BLA is a putative storage site for aversive memory, recent evidence suggests that these memories undergo time-dependent reorganization and no longer require the BLA after the passage of time. To explore this question, we systematically examined the role for the BLA in recent and remote fear memory using optogenetic, electrophysiological, and calcium imaging methods in male and female Long-Evans rats. Critically, we used a behavioral design that permits within-subjects comparison of recent and remote memory at the same time point. We found that BLA c-Fos expression was similar after the retrieval of recent (1 day) or remote (2 weeks) fear memories. Extracellular recordings in awake, behaving animals revealed that the majority of BLA neurons encoded both recent and remote memories, suggesting substantial overlap in the allocation of temporally distinct events. Fiber photometric recordings of BLA principal neurons also revealed similar patterns of CS-evoked activity to recent and remote CSs. Consistent with these results, continuous or CS-specific optogenetic inhibition of BLA principal neurons impaired conditioned freezing to both recent and remote CSs. Collectively, these data reveal that single BLA neurons encode both recent and remote fear memories. This may underlie the broad generalization of fear memories across both space and time. Ultimately, these results provide robust evidence that the BLA is a long-term storage site for emotional memories.
PROGRESS IN ICRF HEATING TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGNS FOR FUTURE LARGE TOKAMAK HEATING SYSTEMS

The problem of advancing the technology of heating with the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) for successful application to ignited plasmas is being addressed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with the collaboration of several laboratories in the United States and Europe. The needs of experiments such as the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) have been evaluated and conceptual approaches identified. These concepts and their components are examined in the laboratory and applied to present-day machines. The status of this program is presented.
The Common Technical Document: the changing face of the New Drug Application

Drug approval is the goal of the long process of drug development. Once preclinical and clinical trial data have been collected, a New Drug Application must be submitted to the regulatory authority for approval. Although the requirements for this submission have similarities around the world, until now, the applications have been different. Regulatory authorities working under the umbrella of the International Conference on Harmonisation are hoping that the development of the Common Technical Document will soon harmonize the application procedure, and make this process simpler for applicants.
Network-Based Data Mining: Operations Research Techniques and Applications

We discuss concepts and applications arising in the area of network-based techniques in data mining. The approach of representing real-world data sets as large-scale graphs has become widely used during recent years. The purpose of this article is to briefly review the graph-theoretic and network optimization concepts that are important in the context of data mining and discuss the interpretation of these concepts in data mining problems from the operations research perspective. Keywords: data mining; operations research; graphs; networks; similarity measures; power-law model; connected components; cliques; cliques relaxations; chromatic number; combinatorial optimization
Toward Transformative Accountability: A Proposal for Rights-Based Approaches to Maternal Health in the MDGs and Beyond

Meaningful and equitable progress on reducing maternal mortality and meeting Millennium Development Goal 5 calls for the adoption of a human rights-based approach which emphasizes ‘accountability.’ This article focuses specifically on how to promote accountability for fulfilling the right to maternal health if we seek to transform the discourse of rights into practical health policy and programming tools that can affect development practice - and in turn to transform health systems to better meet women’s maternal health needs. After briefly discussing the concept and purpose of accountability in the context of fulfilling women’s rights to maternal health, the article then sets out a circle of accountability at the national level that includes: development and implementation of a national plan of action; budgetary analysis; monitoring and evaluation of programs based on appropriate indicators; and mechanisms for redress, as well as facility-level initiatives. In the final section the article addresses donor accountability.
Effects of channel blockers on reentrant arrhythmias: model study

The authors employ a bifurcation analysis approach to ascertain the effects of various classes of antiarrhythmic drugs and explain why some antiarrhythmic drugs could be proarrhythmic. This is done by constructing the bifurcation diagram between conduction velocity and ring size, which reveals a phase transition. At this phase transition, the infinite ring behavior breaks down, and reentry becomes unstable. Instability in reentry causes oscillations in action potential duration, cycle length, and conduction velocity, with interesting patterns whose period of oscillations depends on the ring site. The bifurcation diagram furthermore reveals that the channel blockers affects the phase transition point in different manners. This differential explains why some Na/sup +/ and Ca/sup 2+/ channel blockers are proarrhythmic while K/sup +/ channel blockers are not. The prediction from the bifurcation diagram is in agreement with experiments in canine atrial tricuspid ring in vitro. >
Utility of delayed surgical repair of neonatal brachial plexus palsy.

Object Neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) represents a significant health problem with potentially devastating consequences. The most common form of NBPP involves the upper trunk roots. Currently, primary surgical repair is performed if clinical improvement is lacking. There has been increasing interest in “early” surgical repair of NBPPs, occurring within 3–6 months of life. However, early treatment recommendations ignore spontaneous recovery in cases of Erb's palsy. This study was undertaken to evaluate the optimal timing of surgical repair in this group with respect to quality of life. Methods The authors formulated a decision analytical model to compare 4 treatment strategies (no repair or repair at 3, 6, or 12 months of life) for infants with persistent NBPPs. The model derives data from a critical review of published studies and projects health-related quality of life and quality-adjusted life years over a lifetime. Results When evaluating the quality of life of infants with NBPP, improved outcom...