cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hematoma Segmentation Using Dilated Convolutional Neural Network

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global health challenge. Accurate and fast automatic detection of hematoma in the brain is essential for TBI diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we developed a fully automated system to detect and segment hematoma regions in head Computed Tomography (CT) images of patients with acute TBI. We adapted the structure of a fully convolutional network by introducing dilated convolution and removing down-sampling and up-sampling layers. Skip layers are also used to combine low-level features and high-level features. By integrating the information from different scales without losing spatial resolution, the network can perform more accurate segmentation. Our final hematoma segmentations achieved the Dice, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.62, 0.81, and 0.96, respectively, which outperformed the results from previous methods.
Transition of care: a growing concern in adult patients born with colorectal anomalies

Traditionally, the care of children and adults has been arbitrarily separated into pediatric and adult medicine and surgery. Despite progress in pediatric surgical techniques, patients born with congenital anomalies still suffer from significant functional sequelae, which persist into adulthood. We aim to describe some of the most common problems experienced by adult patients with congenital colorectal malformations. Following IRB approval, we performed a retrospective database review of all adult patients who were treated by our group from 1983 until 2017. We identified 88 cases. 51 patients had ARM, 18 cloacas, 9 presacral masses, 3 HD, 2 spina bifida and 5 with other diagnoses (3 vaginal anomalies, 1 cloacal exstrophy, 1 obstructed seminal vesical). The specific problems addressed were: complications from previous operations (41), rectal prolapse (25), fecal incontinence (11), gynecologic concerns (12), urologic concerns (6), and recurrent recto urogenital fistula (3). We performed 83 surgical interventions, including 13 rectal prolapse repair, 13 continent appendicostomies, 44 PSARP or redo PSARP, 11 resections of presacral masses, 11 vaginoplasties, 2 examinations under anesthesia, and 2 Mitrofanoff procedures. Five patients were treated medically (bowel management program, obstetric, urologic evaluation). There is a growing need to better prepare adult providers to assume the care of patients born with congenital colorectal disease as these patients transition to adulthood. A collaboration between specialized pediatric referral centers with adult colorectal surgeons, urologists and gynecologists is a potential pathway for the adequate transition of care.
21 st Century Diversity, Educational Equity, and Transformative Change

This chapter serves as an introduction to the book, Rethinking 21st Diversity in Teacher Preparation, K-12 Education, and School Policy: Theory, Research, and Practice. In engaging with diversity, the authors of this book lend a fresh perspective to how we understand diversity in K-12 contexts by considering not just what diversity means but also how it matters, where, for whom, and to what effects. The authors comprise a diverse intellectual and global mix of education faculty, school leaders, policy researchers and K-12 teachers. How the authors identify, articulate, and respond to diversity from distinct theoretical orientations, research methodologies, and teaching philosophies is also a response to the age-old debates: What is the purpose of public schools? Who is being served by public schools? Whose knowledge counts? Who defines what knowledge counts and for whom? Where does K-12 diversity fit into these conversations and debates? How do we prepare teachers for teaching K-12 diversity? The authors’ response to these questions is timely and offer diverse perspectives on how to rethink teaching and learning aimed at educational equity and equal opportunity for all students.
Coupon Targeting Competition in Privacy Sensitive Market

The problem of coupon targeting competition between two retailers who sell the same product in a privacy sensitive market is considered. In particular, consumers purchasing decisions are influenced by product prices as well as prior privacy violations by retailers. A Hotelling line model is utilized to investigate the coupon targeting competition between the retailers. Within this framework, privacy sensitivity is modeled using a Markov chain, wherein consumers switch back and forth probabilistically between a privacy alerted state and privacy non-alerted state depending on whether or not they receive targeted coupons from a retailer. The competition between these two retailers at each segment of Hotelling line is modeled by a stochastic nonzero-sum game. In every segment of the Hotelling line, stationary equilibrium strategies of retailers that provide optimal discounted return over an infinite horizon is studied. It is demonstrated that in contrast to a price sensitive market, when privacy is a factor, consumers with weak brand loyalty can be driven away from the popular retailer because of a targeted coupon from that retailer.
The $600 Billion Increase in the U.S. Trade Deficit Since 1980 Has Led to the Loss of Three Million U.S. Manufacturing Jobs

U.S. manufacturing employment has declined from a peak of nearly twenty million in 1979 to less than thirteen million in 2018. The U.S. trade deficit has increased by $600 billion, about 3 percent of U.S. GDP, since 1980. The first question analyzed in this paper is how much of the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs since 1980 can be attributed to the increase in the U.S. trade deficit? Economists and analysts agree that the changes in the trade balance of a country reflect changes in the relationship between its domestic saving and its investment and fiscal deficit. The conventional view is that the U.S. international investment position evolved from the world’s largest creditor in 1980 to the world’s largest debtor in 1990 because of the increase in U.S. profligacy, including the surge in the U.S. fiscal deficit because of the two supply-side-inspired tax cuts during the Reagan presidency and the increase in defense expenditures. The competing view is that the saving in many of the major U.S. trading partners has been large relative to the domestic investment spending, and that some of the excess savings have flowed to the United States, which has led to a higher price for the U.S. dollar and a larger U.S. trade deficit. It is difficult to identify a country that believes its trade and current account surpluses are too large. The U.S. trade balance is the mirror of the trade balances of all other countries as a group. The United States developed a trade deficit because China, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, and numerous other countries developed trade surpluses that at times were larger than 5 percent of their GDPs.
Reply to Kiley and Smits: Meeting Plan S's goal of maximizing access to research.

Thank you for recognizing the value that scholarly societies bring to the research ecosystem and the scientific enterprise as a whole—and for recognizing the importance of their financial viability (1). And thank you for clearly stating your goal for Plan S (2). A much simpler route toward achieving … [↵][1]1Email: naspresident{at}nas.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Clear Cell Variant of Solid Pseudopapillary Neoplasm of the Pancreas: A Report of a Rare Variant and Review of the Literature.

The clear cell variant of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (ccSPN) of the pancreas was first described in 2006. In this article, we report a case of this rare variant and review the few published rep...
Narcotic Consumption Following Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression: A Comparison Between Hospital and Ambulatory-Based Surgery Centers.

ABSTRACT Background: Several studies have compared outcomes between hospital-based centers (HBCs) and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) following minimally invasive lumbar decompression (MIS LD). However, the association between narcotic consumption and pain in the immediate postoperative period has not been well characterized. As such, this study aims to examine pain, narcotic consumption, and length of stay (LOS) among patients discharged on postoperative day 0 following a 1-level MIS LD between HBCs or ASCs. Methods: Patients who underwent a primary, 1-level MIS LD were retrospectively reviewed and stratified by operative location. Differences between groups in patient demographics were assessed using independent-sample t tests for continuous variables and χ2 analysis for categoric variables. The operative location and its effect on perioperative characteristics, inpatient pain scores, and narcotics consumption were analyzed using multivariate linear regression adjusted for significant patient characteristics. Results: There were 235 patients identified, of whom 90 and 145 underwent surgery at an HBC or ASC, respectively. The HBC cohort exhibited an increased comorbidity burden and had a greater percentage of privately insured patients. The HBC cohort recorded shorter operative time and greater total estimated blood loss. Patients in the HBC cohort experienced prolonged LOS, and consumed greater total oral morphine equivalents compared with the ASC cohort. No differences were observed in the remaining outcomes. Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that patients who underwent MIS LD at an ASC received fewer narcotics than patients treated at an HBC, which may contribute to shortened LOS. Additionally, there was no difference in patient-reported pain between cohorts despite the differences in narcotic use. As such, postoperative narcotics administration varied, indicating HBC patients perhaps required more narcotic pain medications to achieve the same pain scores that were sufficient enough to allow patient discharge, thus prolonging LOS. Level of Evidence: III
The Transition from Fetal to Postnatal Life: Normal and Abnormal Hearts

At no other time in life does the human cardiovascular system undergo changes as profound as those changes that occur at birth. The circulation switches from one that is in parallel to one that is in series, systemic afterload increases suddenly, and pulmonary afterload decreases. The fetal shunts – the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and the patent foramen ovale (PFO) – close. The infant with a cardiovascular anomaly dependent on the parallel circulation and the fetal shunts will not survive the transition to stable postnatal life without intervention. This chapter will first review the prenatal hemodynamics and flow patterns in the normal and abnormal fetal heart. Second, it will describe the circulatory changes accompanying birth and explain the consequences of the extrauterine life to the neonate with cardiac anomalies.
Mechanisms of change in female-specific and gender-neutral cognitive behavioral therapy for women with alcohol use disorder.

Objective In a randomized trial for women with alcohol use disorders (AUD), the efficacy of Female-Specific Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (FS-CBT) was compared with Gender-Neutral CBT (GN-CBT; Epstein et al., 2018). The current study examined whether putative mechanisms of change differed between treatment conditions, using a novel statistical approach. Both treatments were hypothesized to work by increasing use of alcohol-related coping skills (coping) and confidence to abstain from drinking (confidence), but FS-CBT additionally targeted female-salient mechanisms: anxiety, depression, sociotropy (i.e., overinvestment in others' opinion of oneself), autonomy, and social networks supportive of abstinence. Method Ninety-nine women with AUD (55 in GN-CBT, 44 in FS-CBT) completed self-report assessments at baseline and 0, 6, and 12 months posttreatment. Multilevel vector autoregression estimation was used to analyze associations between putative mechanisms of change, and network models of those associations were generated using network analysis. Results Across conditions, higher confidence and coping were directly associated with less drinking; autonomy was directly and indirectly associated with drinking. Additionally, network analysis indicated that although variation in depression was associated with change in other variables specifically for GN-CBT, sociotropy was associated with change specifically in FS-CBT. Conclusions Women receiving CBT-AUD changed their drinking through increased confidence to abstain and greater use of coping skills. Autonomy played a central role in behavior change across treatment conditions. Participants receiving treatment tailored to women also changed through decreases in sociotropy and increases in social support for abstinence. For women who received standard CBT, changes in depression were important to clinical improvement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
The phase-field approach to self-healable fracture of elastomers: A model accounting for fracture nucleation at large, with application to a class of conspicuous experiments

Abstract In a recent contribution, Kumar et al. (2018) have introduced a phase-field formulation and associated numerical implementation aimed at modeling the nucleation and propagation of fracture and healing in elastomers undergoing arbitrarily large quasistatic deformations, phenomena that have come into clear focus thanks to new experiments carried out at high spatiotemporal resolution (Poulain et al., 2017; 2018). With the object of explaining the nucleation of internal fracture observed in those experiments, Kumar et al. (2018) also provided a specific model within the general formulation that accounted for fracture nucleation at material points in the bulk that are subject to purely hydrostatic stress. The first of two objectives of this paper is to introduce a complete model within the general formulation that accounts for fracture nucleation at large, be it within the bulk (under arbitrary states of stress, not just hydrostatic), from large pre-existing cracks, small pre-existing cracks, or from smooth and non-smooth boundary points. The second objective is to showcase the capabilities of the proposed complete model by deploying it to simulate the nucleation and propagation of fracture in a class of conspicuous experiments, that of rubber bands subject to tensile loading. Specifically, 3D simulations are presented of very short, short, and long rubber bands under tension, which are representative of two famed experiments known to feature very different — and, for the cases of the very short and the short rubber bands, very complex — types of nucleation and propagation of fracture.
Predicting 2-year weight loss through temporally specific earlier losses, relevant behaviors, and their psychological correlates: Implications for behavioral treatment architectures.

Maintaining loss of weight beyond an initial 6-9 months remains problematic, with research indicating little recent progress. A poor understanding of how and when prior weight loss, behavioral changes, and psychosocial predictors are associated with long-term weight changes persists. To better-inform behavioral treatments for long-term success with weight loss, women with obesity (N = 86; Mage = 48.6 years) volunteered for research incorporating community-based weight-management treatments. They were assessed at months 6, 12, and 24 on theory-based psychosocial and behavioral factors, and over 24 months on weight. Considering the included times and temporal ranges, it was found that change in weight from month 6-24 was the strongest predictor of 24-month weight change, and physical activity and fruit/vegetable intake at month 24 best predicted that change in weight. Self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood at month 24 best predicted both physical activity and fruit/vegetable intake at month 24, with body satisfaction also a significant predictor of physical activity. From these data, mediation analyses found that the predictions of long-term weight loss by scores of self-regulation, self-efficacy, body satisfaction, and mood at month 24 were significantly mediated by fruit/vegetable intake and physical activity in separate equations. Findings indicated both psychosocial and behavioral targets, and timing for those targets, most indicative of long-term success with weight loss.
Hegemony Contests: Challenging the Notion of a Singular Canadian Hockey Nationalism

ABSTRACTSports media, athletes, and the public alike have framed Canadian professional men’s hockey as an important symbol of the nation as a whole, while scholars have devoted considerable energy ...
Health Literacy Gaps in Online Resources for Cirrhotic Patients.

Background: The average readability level in the USA is a sixth grade level and for patients with chronic disease it is lower. Cirrhosis is a prevalent chronic disease that requires complex knowledge and instructions to manage. No research has been done about the understandability of online educational content for cirrhotic patients. Patients can find online materials curated by both general health platforms and high-volume liver transplant centers, and thus these materials were analyzed. Methods: After determining exclusion criteria, the websites of the top 20 general health platform results and the websites of the top 20 high-volume hepatology centers were analyzed. Readability was assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (Audiovisual Materials) (PEMAT-A/V), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level tests, word counts, sentence counts, words per sentence, and time for an average sixth grader to read. Results: The mean grade level readabilities were 12.3 and 11.3 for the general resources and the transplant center resources, respectively. The online resources ranged from 9 to 389 sentences requiring an average of 9.8 min to read. The mean PEMAT-A/V scores were 70.05% for the general resources and 72.45% for the transplant center resources. There was a statistically significant difference in the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, sentence number, words per sentence, word count, and time for an average sixth grader to read the general resources and transplant center resources (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The online resources both from health platforms and hepatology centers available to patients with cirrhosis are too long and complex and underscore the need for simpler and shorter resources. J Curr Surg. 2020;10(1-2):1-6 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcs401
Hormesis and Ginseng: Ginseng Mixtures and Individual Constituents Commonly Display Hormesis Dose Responses, Especially for Neuroprotective Effects

This paper demonstrates that ginseng mixtures and individual ginseng chemical constituents commonly induce hormetic dose responses in numerous biological models for endpoints of biomedical and clinical relevance, typically providing a mechanistic framework. The principal focus of ginseng hormesis-related research has been directed toward enhancing neuroprotection against conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases, stroke damage, as well as enhancing spinal cord and peripheral neuronal damage repair and reducing pain. Ginseng was also shown to reduce symptoms of diabetes, prevent cardiovascular system damage, protect the kidney from toxicities due to immune suppressant drugs, and prevent corneal damage, amongst other examples. These findings complement similar hormetic-based chemoprotective reports for other widely used dietary-type supplements such as curcumin, ginkgo biloba, and green tea. These findings, which provide further support for the generality of the hormetic dose response in the biomedical literature, have potentially important public health and clinical implications.
Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin and Fondaparinux Use in Pediatric Patients With Obesity:

Objective:The objective of this study is to comprehensively review the efficacy and safety data of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) and fondaparinux in pediatric patients with obesity.Data Sou...
Lactulose-induced pneumatosis intestinalis following colonoscopy: a case report.

Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) occurs when gas is discovered in the intestinal wall and is categorized into two types: primary PI which is idiopathic and mainly occurs in the colon, and secondary PI which occurs more often in the small bowel but has variable presentation and etiology. We report a case of a patient status post-orthotopic deceased liver transplantation complicated by a portal vein thrombus on chronic lactulose for portosystemic encephalopathy who presented due to pyelonephritis and persistent diarrhea. The patient underwent colonoscopy with random biopsies and subsequently developed acute sepsis with Escherichia coli bacteremia. The findings of PI were noted on computed tomography imaging obtained 5 days post-colonoscopy, due to persistent post-procedure abdominal pain. The patient was treated with discontinuation of lactulose, supportive care, and antibiotics for her bacteremia with resolution of her PI 3 days later. This suggests that a combination of factors may lead to the development of PI, and while some cases require emergent intervention including surgery, others may be treated conservatively. Awareness of risk factors that may precipitate PI and specific clinical predictors may help to both mitigate and manage PI appropriately.
Aromatase Deficiency in Women and Men: Would You Have Predicted the Phenotypes?

T HE PHYSIOLOGICAL roles of estrogens in women include the development of secondary sexual characteristics, follicular maturation, regulation of gonadotropin secretion for ovulation, preparation of tissues for progesterone response, maintenance of bone mass, regulation of lipoprotein synthesis, prevention of urogenital atrophy, and possibly regulation of insulin responsiveness (1). However, the important physiological roles of estrogens in men were largely unanticipated until recently, when estrogen was found to be necessary for fusion of epiphyses and prevention of bone loss (2,3). Estrogen deficiency manifested by sexual infantilism in a 46,Xx individual can be caused by an inherited enzymatic defect. Any of the ovarian steroidogenic enzymes can be affected, but the common feature is absent negative feedback inhibition of estrogen on pituitary gonadotropin secretion. The clinical manifestations are the consequences of both deficient synthesis of estrogen and excessive secretion of precursor steroids that are synthesized before the defective step. Aromatase catalyzes the final reaction of this pathway in the ovary and converts C,, steroids to estrogens (4). It is also expressed in the human placenta, testis, adipose tissue, and brain (4). MacDonald et aI. (5) demonstrated that in men, estrogens are formed primarily by aromatization of plasma precursors in extraglandular sites. It is currently believed that the adipose tissue is the primary site for estrogen production in men (6). There have been several recent reports in the world literature describing aromatase deficiency, following the first description in 1991 of a Japanese newborn girl with an aromatase P450 (P450arom) gene defect (7,8). Until then, aromatase deficiency had been considered incompatible with life, and this dogma may have undermined the efforts of investigators to entertain this diagnosis in suspected cases. It should be noted that Mango et
Functional Differentiation of Dorsal and Ventral Posterior Parietal Cortex of the Rat: Implications for Controlled and Stimulus-Driven Attention.

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is important for visuospatial attention. The primate PPC shows functional differentiation such that dorsal areas are implicated in top-down, controlled attention, and ventral areas are implicated in bottom-up, stimulus-driven attention. Whether the rat PPC also shows such functional differentiation is unknown. Here, we address this open question using functional neuroanatomy and in vivo electrophysiology. Using conventional tract-tracing methods, we examined connectivity with other structures implicated in visuospatial attention including the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus (LPn) and the postrhinal cortex (POR). We showed that the LPn projects to the entire PPC, preferentially targeting more ventral areas. All parts of the PPC and POR are reciprocally connected with the strongest connections evident between ventral PPC and caudal POR. Next, we simultaneously recorded neuronal activity in dorsal and ventral PPC as rats performed a visuospatial attention (VSA ) task that engages in both bottom-up and top-down attention. Previously, we provided evidence that the dorsal PPC is engaged in multiple cognitive process including controlled attention (Yang et al. 2017). Here, we further showed that ventral PPC cells respond to stimulus onset more rapidly than dorsal PPC cells, providing evidence for a role in stimulus-driven, bottom-up attention.
Simulation of femtosecond laser induced electron excitation in a Multi-Layer Dielectric (MLD) grating

The pulse compression grating (PCG) is one of the most critical components of a high power chirped pulse amplification laser system to achieve the shortest pulse duration. Compared to metal gratings, a multi-layer dielectric (MLD) grating is a possible solution to improve the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of PCGs. Our previous work reported simulations of electron excitation dynamics in the interaction of MLD mirrors and femtosecond pulses (<100 fs). Here we present the study of the interaction of a MLD grating and a 50-fs pulse using a 2D dynamic simulation modeling both the E-field enhancement and transient material responses.
When curation becomes creation

Media platforms today benefit from: (1) discretion to organize content, (2) algorithms for curating user-posted content, and (3) absolution from liability. This favorable regulatory environment res...
Enteric nematodes and the path to up-regulation of type 2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13

Protective immunity against enteric parasitic nematodes is dependent on IL-4, IL-13 activation of their exclusive transcription factor STAT6. The precise pathways by which enteric parasitic nematodes are recognized by the host is unclear, but elimination of this important interaction in developed nations is thought to contribute to the dysregulated immune responses that are a characteristic of autoimmune diseases. Nematode-derived products are involved in evading host defenses to promote their life cycle leading to modulation of host immune responses. Host protective immunity has adapted to enteric parasitic nematode infection by elaboration of mucins, increasing intraluminal fluid to control access to the surface epithelium, increasing cell turnover to maintain an effective barrier to their invasion, initiating immune responses through activation of resident immune cells, and recruitment of additional immune cells to release immune mediators that help orchestrate these responses. Both the immune and functional outcomes depend largely on IL-4/IL-13 signaling through STAT6, with a dominant role for IL-13 working through the type 2 IL-4 receptor (IL-4R). The recent observation that enteric nematode infection prevents the onset of a number of experimental models of IBD, diabetes, and several extraintestinal autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis has generated considerable interest in the identification of worm/egg products involved in the generation and maintenance of Th2 cytokines that may mediate the beneficial effects of nematode infection in autoimmune and inflammatory pathologies.
Codeswitching and Stance: Issues in Interpretation

This article explores the long-standing problem of ascribing meaning to individual acts of codeswitching. Drawing on ethnographic data from bilingual classrooms in Corsica, I situate the analysis of codeswitching within the more general question of the interpretation of speaker stance, which is defined as speakers' positioning with regard to both the content and the form of their utterances. Close analysis of recorded classroom interaction focuses on the teacher's codeswitches, and documents the way she distributes Corsican and French across different classroom discourse functions. This analysis reveals how the teacher simultaneously strives for balance and parity between the two languages, while privileging Corsican as a language of discovery and learning. In addition, the analysis reveals how this relates to the social and political context of Corsican language learning. Finally, this data is used to make an argument for the necessity of an ethnographically grounded analysis of speaker intentions and st...
The Two-Dimensional Window Protocol

Abstract We develop a generalization of the window protocol where data messages are sent in independent streams. Each stream has its own window, but the window sizes of different streams can be changed at runtime under the restriction that their sum remains constant. This restriction is needed to establish an upper bound on the required resources for the protocol. Our development of this protocol is “gentle” as it is divided into three “easy” steps. First, a regular window protocol is presented and formally verified. Second, this window protocol is extended to allow multiple data streams with fixed window sizes. The extended protocol is verified by extending the verification of the window protocol in a straightforward manner. Third, the multiple stream protocol is modified to allow the window sizes of different streams to change at runtime. The modification is slight and verification of the resulting protocol is derived from the verification of the multiple stream protocol.
Entity reference resolution via spreading activation on RDF-Graphs

The use of natural language identifiers as reference for ontology elements—in addition to the URIs required by the Semantic Web standards—is of utmost importance because of their predominance in the human everyday life, i.e.speech or print media. Depending on the context, different names can be chosen for one and the same element, and the same element can be referenced by different names. Here homonymy and synonymy are the main cause of ambiguity in perceiving which concrete unique ontology element ought to be referenced by a specific natural language identifier describing an entity. We propose a novel method to resolve entity references under the aspect of ambiguity which explores only formal background knowledge represented in RDF graph structures. The key idea of our domain independent approach is to build an entity network with the most likely referenced ontology elements by constructing steiner graphs based on spreading activation. In addition to exploiting complex graph structures, we devise a new ranking technique that characterises the likelihood of entities in this network, i.e. interpretation contexts. Experiments in a highly polysemic domain show the ability of the algorithm to retrieve the correct ontology elements in almost all cases.
Expression of liver fatty acid binding protein alters growth and differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

Although expression of liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP) modulates cell growth, it is not known if L-FABP also alters cell morphology and differentiation. Therefore, pluripotent embryonic stem cells were transfected with cDNA encoding L-FABP and a series of clones expressing increasing levels of L-FABP were isolated. Untransfected ES cells, as well as ES cells transfected only with empty vector, spontaneously differentiated from rounded adipocyte-like to fibroblast-like morphology, concomitant with marked reduction in expression of stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA-1). These changes in morphology and expression of SSEA-1 were greatest in ES cell clones expressing L-FABP above a threshold level. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy revealed that L-FABP was primarily localized in a diffuse-cytosolic pattern along with a lesser degree of punctate L-FABP expression in the nucleus. Nuclear localization of L-FABP was preferentially increased in clones expressing higherlevels of L-FABP. In summary, L-FABP expression altered ES cell morphology and expression of SSEA-1. Taken together with the fact that L-FABP was detected in the nucleus, these data suggested that L-FABP may play a more direct, heretofore unknown, role in regulating ES cell differentiation by acting in the nucleus as well as cytoplasm.
Abstract 17086: Increase in Physical Fitness after an Intensive 12-Week Healthy Lifestyle Workplace Intervention is Associated with Improvement in Heart Rate Profile Independent of Weight Changes or Traditional Metabolic Risk Factors

Introduction: Several heart rate (HR) during exercise, such as heart rate recovery (HRR) and Chronotropic index (CI), have been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality. However, only a handful of studies have examined the effects of improving physical fitness on changes in HR profile. We assessed the effects of improving physical fitness on HR profile in a high risk population free from known CVD who were undergoing an intensive lifestyle intervention program. Methods: The study population included 204 participants of a lifestyle intervention program who had at least 2 metabolic risk factors at baseline. The program focused on improving nutrition, physical fitness and promotion of healthy lifestyle using a multi-disciplinary approach including one-on-one counseling and fitness training throughout the 12 week program with close supervision. Participants underwent exercise stress testing at baseline and at 12 weeks. Results: Over the 12 week period there was a significant increase in metabolic equivalents (([[Unable to Display Character: ∆]]METS) mean difference = 2.1 95%CI: 1.9, 2.4 p Conclusion: Improvement in HR profiles can be achieved in a high risk population through programs that focus on physical fitness even if there is no improvement in weight, and regardless of baseline cardiometabolic risk. Improvement in HR profiles, not just weight loss, should be included in criteria for measuring success of similar interventions.
Ionized Gas in Elliptical Galaxies

More than half of all nearby elliptical galaxies contain modest amounts (103 – 105 M⊙) of ionized gas. In bright elliptical galaxies this gas appears to lie in a rotating, kiloparsec-scale central disk, with a spectrum characteristic of non-thermal ionization. Low-luminosity ellipticals have a clumpy gas distribution and the gas in these galaxies is photoionized by young stars.
Delay-tolerant management using self-∗ properties and P2P technology

The introduction of self-* properties has been proven to be a feasible approach for the management demands of Delay-Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Among the properties of the self-* management vision, self-healing figures as a key property in improving the dependability of the managed infrastructures. An interesting possibility to materialize self-* support in delay tolerant management is through the employment of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology. In this paper, we introduce a P2P self-healing service tailored for delay-tolerant management. We implemented the proposed service using ManP2P-ng, an open source P2P-based network management system.
Emission-line objects near QSO absorbers. II : Analysis and implications of star-forming objects at moderate redshift

A sample of 37 candidate star-forming emission objects at z between 0.4 and 1.2 selected by Yanny et al. (1990) on the basis of narrow-band imaging are analyzed in the context of interpreting their emission as indicators of star formation at the redshift of the absorber. Results of long-slit spectroscopy verify that four of these candidate objects have emission flux at the wavelengths predicted. Two objects (0235 + 164 object C and 0119 - 046 object 70) were shown to be at the redshift of their respective absorbers by detection of two or more lines. The other two (0420 - 014 object 43 and 0119 - 046 object 15) are one-line redshifts, but the FWHMs of these two lines, 270 km/sec and 310 km/sec, respectively, are consistent with a nearly resolved forbidden O II emission-line doublet. 42 refs.
Human LilrB2 is a β-amyloid receptor and its murine homolog PirB regulates synaptic plasticity in an Alzheimer's model.

Soluble β-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers impair synaptic plasticity and cause synaptic loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We report that murine PirB (paired immunoglobulin-like receptor B) and its human ortholog LilrB2 (leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor B2), present in human brain, are receptors for Aβ oligomers, with nanomolar affinity. The first two extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig) domains of PirB and LilrB2 mediate this interaction, leading to enhanced cofilin signaling, also seen in human AD brains. In mice, the deleterious effect of Aβ oligomers on hippocampal long-term potentiation required PirB, and in a transgenic model of AD, PirB not only contributed to memory deficits present in adult mice, but also mediated loss of synaptic plasticity in juvenile visual cortex. These findings imply that LilrB2 contributes to human AD neuropathology and suggest therapeutic uses of blocking LilrB2 function.
In situ filtration of Anchusa officinalis culture in a cell-retention stirred tank bioreactor

The effect of agitation and aeration on filtration of Anchusa officinalis culture in a stirred tank bioreactor integrated with an internal filter unit was investigated. Increases in suction head of the pump that drove the filtration process were measured at impeller speeds of 100 and 200 rpm. Surprisingly, suction head attained at 200 rpm was about 40% higher than at 100 rpm. Direct observation of the cake deposition process in the reactor using a dilute cell suspension revealed that the filter cake formed at 100 rpm was thicker, but less compact. Aeration at 0.4 vvm was shown to have little effect on the filtration rate, since the bulk fluid flow was dominated by the impeller hydrodynamics. The initial flux can be recovered by filter backwashing with compressed air at a flow rate of 0.6 vvm for a duration of 5 minutes.
Group Judgment Accuracy: Reliability and Validity of Postdiscussion Confidence Judgments

Abstract The present study investigated the group judgment process, specifically the issue of whether individuals in a group setting are able to identify the most accurate group member under conditions of uncertainty. Individuals first estimated the answers to nine factual questions, then discussed the questions in a group until consensus was reached. Following the group discussion, individuals were asked to indicate which individual judgments (shared during the group discussion) they believed to be the most accurate for each of the nine judgment items. Despite the lack of forewarning that such assessments would be requested, these postdiscussion judgments of judgment accuracy (i.e., confidence judgments) had a high degree of reliability (i.e., consistency across group members) as well as validity (i.e., correct identification of the most accurate group member). These results, in conjunction with analyses of the group judgment data, provide evidence that individuals are able to identify the most accurate group member at a rate that far exceeds chance expectation. There is also indirect evidence indicating that group members may make these judgments as a normal part of the group judgment process.
Simulation technique for noise and timing jitter in electronic oscillators

Timing jitter is a concern in high frequency oscillators; the presence of timing jitter will degrade system performance in many high speed applications. In the first part of the paper, the authors have simulated the timing jitter due to CMOS device noise in a nine-stage CMOS differential ring oscillator, and a methodology to efficiently simulate timing jitter has been developed. Simulation results show that the variation of absolute jitter due to flicker noise has t-dependence while for white noise it has t/sup 0.5/-dependence; these are consistent with accepted theory. Two important parameters, cycle jitter and cycle-to-cycle jitter, used to describe jitter performance can be obtained from simulation. Simulation results are also compared with measurement results, and it is shown that simulation results are very close to measurement results. All these serve to verify the validity of this technique. In the second part of the paper, the authors have employed this methodology and investigated the timing jitter in silicon BJT/or SiGe HBT ECL ring oscillators, and they have shown that BJT/or SiGe HBT oscillators have lower jitter compared to their CMOS counterparts. The methodology described in the paper is also applicable to other types of clock generator and oscillators such as LC oscillators, as well as other kinds of noise source such as power supply and substrate noise.
Racial disparities in voice outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Background There is evidence that the outcomes of head and neck surgery may differ across racial and ethnic groups. Vocal changes related to the operation are an anticipated risk of thyroidectomy and parathyroidectomy. Race-specific voice outcomes after thyroid and parathyroid operations have not been reported. Therefore, our aim was to examine the potential disparity in voice outcomes between white and black patients after thyroid or parathyroid operations. Patients and Methods Eighty-seven patients (59 white and 28 black) were included in a prospective observational trial. Subjects were evaluated before operation, and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively using a comprehensive battery of functional voice assessments of voice characteristics. The association of race with voice outcomes over time was evaluated with generalized linear models. Results Aside from volume of pathologic specimen (black, 117.5 cm 3 vs white, 43.2 cm 3 ; P = .004), presence of multinodular goiter (black, 32.1% vs white, 6.8%; P = .004) or Hashimoto's thyroiditis (black, 3.6% vs white, 28.8%; P = .009), there were no differences between racial groups. Blacks were more likely than whites to have negative voice outcomes (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–6.2; P = .034] throughout the postoperative period, especially at 6 months (black, 25% vs white, 4%; P = .018). This finding was related principally to divergent scores on the voice-related quality-of-life scale, the Voice Handicap Index. Conclusion We observed greater rates of self-reported, negative voice outcomes among blacks than whites after thyroid or parathyroid operations. The precise mechanism for this disparity has not been described. The observed racial disparity in self-perceived voice impairment in this study merits further investigation.
Comparison of four similarity measures based on GO annotations for Gene Clustering

Gene ontology (GO) has fast become a dependable source for determining gene functions, gene similarity, and gene clustering. Furthermore, using GO and gene annotation databases, with semantic similarity measures, is now more acceptable in bioinformatics as means for gene functional analysis. In this paper, we compare four semantic similarity measures to compute the similarity between genes using GO annotations within a gene clustering application. The similarity measures we examined in this study rely on different information sources and techniques in computing the similarity between genes. For example, we selected two measures that are based on information-content, one measure is based on ontology-structure, and the fourth measure is based on annotation terms within the GO hierarchy. In the evaluation, we used five gene datasets from yeast genome, and we analyzed the results based on various clustering metrics and criteria.
A Parametric Study of the Accuracy of Several Radiative Transport Solution Methods for a Set of 2-D Benchmark Problems

Several of the most popular deterministic radiation transport methods for heat transfer are compared. Relative solution error is compared as a function of optical thickness and scattering albedo. The test problems are chosen to represent a range of problem types. Problems with discontinuous boundary conditions are included to evaluate ‘ray effects’ for discrete ordinates solutions. A brief derivation and a statement of the governing equations for each method is included so that the details of the precise method used is clear. All solutions are generated using finite element discretization. Where applicable, any stabilization used is included in the statement of the governing equations.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Effects of ring strain on gas-phase rate constants. 2. OH radical reactions with cycloalkenes

Rate constants for the gas-phase reactions of NO3 radicals with a series of cycloalkenes have been determined at 298 ± 2 K, using a relative rate technique. Using an equilibrium constant for the NO2 + NO3 ⇄ N2O5 reactions of 3.4 × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1, the following rate constants (in units of 10−13 cm3 molecule−1 s−1) were obtained: cyclopentene, 4.52 ± 0.52; cycloheptene, 4.71 ± 0.56; bicyclo[2.2.1]-2-heptene, 2.41 ± 0.28; bicyclo[2.2.2]-2-octene, 1.41 ± 0.17; bicyclo[2.2.1]-2,5-heptadiene, 9.92 ± 1.13; and 1,3,5-cycloheptatriene, 12.6 ± 2.9. When combined with previous literature rate constants for cyclohexene and 1,4-cyclohexadiene, these data show that the rate constants for the nonconjugated cycloalkenes studied depend to a first approximation on the number of double bonds and the degree and configuration of substitution per double bond. No obvious effects of ring strain energy on these NO3 radical addition rate constants were observed. Our previous a priori predictive techniques for the alkenes and cycloalkenes can now be extended to strained cycloalkenes.
Overview of Lincoln Laboratory development of lasercom technologies for space

For over ten years, the Optical Communications Group at M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory has been investigating and developing the technologies required to make high to very high data rate optical intersatellite crosslinks a reality. Based on the design for the Laser Intersatellite Transmission Experiment (LITE) of the mid-1980's, an Engineering Model program has developed flight-qualified hardware and an integrated optical terminal. In parallel, technology extension work has concentrated on achieving higher data rate and higher power terminals in smaller, lighter packages.
New strategies for blood pressure control.

Educational objectives: (1) understand the evidence-based data regarding blood pressure (BP) control; (2) review the current short-fall in hypertension control efforts; (3) appreciate physicians' attitudes toward aggressive BP therapy; (4) review the newer clinical trial evidence in support of treatment to lower BP goals.
Kinetics of the reactions of chlorinated alkynes with atomic oxygen: The application of a new experimental technique

The kinetics of the reactions of oxygen atoms with acetylene and chlorinated acetylenes were investigated using a new experimental procedure which is described in detail. Both reactants were produced simultaneously in a tubular reactor coupled to a photoionization mass spectrometer by pulsed 193 nm laser photolysis. Sulfur dioxide was the O-atom source, and photolysis of halogenated olefins provided the appropriate alkyne. The decay of the alkyne was monitored in time-resolved experiments under pseudo first-order conditions (O atoms in large excess). The accuracy of the method is demonstrated with measurements of the O + C2H2 rate constant between 370 and 876 K. Rate constants of the O + 1-chloroprop-1-yne reaction were determined between 298 and 876 K and fit to an Arrhenius expression: 3.9×10−11 exp(−2.1 kcal mol−1/RT) cm3 molecule−1 s−1. An upper limit for the O + C2Cl2 rate constant at 823 K was also determined (1.6×10−13 cm3 molecule−1 s−1). The utility of the method for the study of the kinetics of other O-atom reactions with molecular reactants which can be produced by 193 nm photolysis of suitable precursors is discussed.