cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms of in vitro resistance to dihydroartemisinin in Plasmodium falciparum.

Summary The recent reports of artemisinin (ART) resistance in the Thai–Cambodian border area raise a serious concern on the long-term efficacy of ARTs. To elucidate the resistance mechanisms, we performed in vitro selection with dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and obtained two parasite clones from Dd2 with more than 25-fold decrease in susceptibility to DHA. The DHA-resistant clones were more tolerant of stressful growth conditions and more resistant to several commonly used antimalarial drugs than Dd2. The result is worrisome as many of the drugs are currently used as ART partners in malaria control. This study showed that the DHA resistance is not limited to ring stage, but also occurred in trophozoites and schizonts. Microarray and biochemical analyses revealed pfmdr1 amplification, elevation of the antioxidant defence network, and increased expression of many chaperones in the DHA-resistant parasites. Without drug pressure, the DHA-resistant parasites reverted to sensitivity in approximately 8 weeks, accompanied by de-amplification of pfmdr1 and reduced antioxidant activities. The parallel decrease and increase in pfmdr1 copy number and antioxidant activity and the up and down of DHA sensitivity strongly suggest that pfmdr1 and antioxidant defence play a role in in vitro resistance to DHA, providing potential molecular markers for ART resistance.
Comparison of weights for meta-analysis of r and d under realistic conditions.

We compared unit, sample size, and inverse variance weighting procedures for estimating the overall mean and random-effects variance component (REVC) in random-effects meta-analysis under realistic conditions for both r and d. Root mean square error and average absolute error of estimation were used to compare weighting schemes via Monte-Carlo simulation. For r, unit weights worked surprisingly well, and sample size weights worked best overall. For d, unit weights worked poorly, and inverse variance weights worked best overall. Discussion focuses on the meta-analyst’s choice of weights, possible explanations for the differences across types of effect size, and implications for meta-analytic inferences in organizational research.
Public Accounting Firm Characteristics: Their Importance To Students And Discussion By Recruiters

This was a survey-based study of the importance that students attach to various employer qualities and the extent that public accounting recruiters discuss such qualities. Attitudinal differences among students with different academic credentials and differences in the structure of recruiting interviews by various sized public accounting firms were the focus of the study. The data were collected from 106 accounting students and 63 recruiters. Before the beginning of the fall campus interviewing period, students rated the importance of 36 employer characteristics and recruiters reported to what extent they discussed the characteristics during the recruiting process. In general, no differences were noted among students of varying academic credentials. Significant differences, however, were noted in the level of discussion by recruiters from firms of varying size. The extent that recruiters from the various sized firms discussed the characteristics was compared with the student perceived importance. The extent that the national firm recruiters discussed the characteristics most closely matched the student importance ratings, and the discussion by the local firm recruiters least matched the student ratings.
Pit Initiation at Single Sulfide Inclusions in Stainless Steel: II. Detection of Local pH, Sulfide, and Thiosulfate

Small wires of W, Ag, and Pt were placed within an electrochemical microcell above single sulfide inclusions to detect the pH, sulfide, and thiosulfate, respectively. In chloride-free electrolytes the onset of sulfide dissolution was accompanied by a decrease in pH of 0.5 units to 4.2, a value that is not low enough to initiate active metal dissolution. In chloride-containing electrolytes, metastable pitting events were found to cause rapid temporary periods during which the pH decreased to values as low as zero. However, the results suggest that sustained pH decreases occur only with onset of stable pitting. Sulfide species were only detected during chemical dissolution in a pH 2 electrolyte at the rest potential and not as a result of anodic dissolution at neutral pH. A Pt wire along with an iodide/triiodide couple was used to detect thiosulfate as a result of anodic dissolution. The results support the mechanism of electrochemical dissolution of sulfide inclusions to produce thiosulfate at neutral pH.
Genetic Control and Intersite Influences on the Immune Response to Sperm Whale Myoglobin

Determination of the precise antigenic structure of sperm-whale myoglobin (Mb) has enabled us to focus our attention on the molecular and cellular factors that control and regulate the immune responses to the protein antigen. Our studies have shown that the immune responses to sperm-whale Mb are controlled by genes in the I region of the major histocompatibility complex (H-2) of mice. More importantly, the responses to the synthetic antigenic sites are each under separate genetic control. The recognition of the antigenic sites by antibodies is independent of the immunized species and of the time the antisera are obtained after the initial immunization (from nine days up to a year). The same sites are recognized by antisera raised in rabbit, goat, pig, cat, chicken and outbred and inbred mice. The same sites recognized by mouse B-cells are also recognized by mouse T-cells. No meaningful genetic control of antibody affinity was observed. Autoimmune antibody and T-lymphocyte proliferative responses were readily generated by immunizing an animal with self-Mb. With mouse Mb, the autoimmune T-lymphocyte response was under genetic control and mapped with the I-A and the H-2D end of the H-2 gene complex. In other recent studies we have shown, using several Mb variants, that the binding capacity of an antigenic site is fully accounted for by substitutions in the antigenic sites (actual contact residues) and in residues close (within 7.A) to the sites (i.e. environmental residues). The overall response to Mb is regulated by inter-site influences which can either be of a cooperative (help) nature or of a suppressive nature. Finally, genetic control of the responses to individual antigenic sites on a protein is not only determined by the genetic constitution of the host but also by the chemical properties of the individual sites. The H-2 subregions mapping the responses to given antigenic sites can also recognize other sites, which were previously unrecognizable in a homologous protein, if the chemical properties of these sites are suitably altered.
Treating elevated LDL cholesterol in patients with low short-term risk: Decision making at the limits of EBM

Cholesterol and statins are among the most extensively researched topics in clinical medicine, but controversy continues to rage over how to interpret this vast and growing body of evidence and translate it into better clinical care for patients. In 2013, after a 9-year hiatus, guidelines for treatment of high cholesterol were updated by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.1 The new guidelines shifted treatment recommendations in several important ways, perhaps the most important of which was to recommend that statin primary prevention treatment decisions be made nearly entirely on the basis of a patient's overall risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease instead of accounting for the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) level (unless LDL is extremely elevated). This increasing emphasis on risk-based statin prescribing strikingly demotes LDL levels in importance compared with previous guidelines, shifts prescribing towards older men who are at higher average short-term risk,2 and has elicited controversy.3 In this issue of EBM , Sauser and colleagues review the evidence for LDL-lowering treatment of persons with an elevated level of LDL cholesterol but relatively low short-term (10-year) cardiovascular risk.4 The basic rationale for the ‘early LDL treatment hypothesis’ is that high-LDL cholesterol causes cumulative damage to coronary arteries (in the form of atherosclerosis) even during young adulthood when risk of cardiovascular events is low, and that early LDL-lowering could reduce that damage accumulation and thereby reduce coronary heart disease risk in the long term more than waiting to treat LDL cholesterol until later in life when event risk becomes higher. To assess the evidence for this early LDL treatment hypothesis, the authors conducted an extensive review of randomised controlled trials of LDL-lowering and patient outcomes and …
The Emerging Crisis of College Student Suicide: Law and Policy Responses to Serious Forms of Self-Inflicted Injury

The number-one student risk factor in the minds of most college administrators now is alcohol use, and to a certain extent, the use of other drugs. Alcohol has been a risk factor in a number of prominent student deaths, including the untimely death of Scott Krueger at MIT. Alcohol is heavily associated with secondary risks, such as sexual assault and student riots over changes in alcohol policies. High-risk alcohol use is also a major factor in self-inflicted injury. The Authors anticipate that in the near term, however, attention paid to suicide and other serious forms of self-inflicted injury will continue to increase and that these concerns may begin to gain prominence. The American legal system has been reluctant to hold institutions liable for suicide or self-inflicted injury. Traditionally, an individual who committed suicide was thought to be the sole proximate cause of injury; therefore, other entities were not responsible for the suicide. These traditional legal rules translated into substantial protection for colleges and institutions of higher education with respect to suicide and self-inflicted injury. Such legal protection has created the reality that many institutions have not placed high priority on these issues. The Authors describe various factors that could begin to erode legal protections of colleges regarding student suicide. Many of these factors are already evident in the case law and in noncollege cases. The Authors offer a law-and-policy vision of appropriate college responses to student suicide and self-inflicted injury based in large measure on the facilitator model first put forth by Professors Bickel and Lake in their book, The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University: Who Assumes the Risks of College Life? The Authors recognize that universities are not in a position to place the general student population in custodial control sufficient to prevent suicide. A need to do so would undermine the very nature of the academy. Colleges cannot be bystanders, however, to this major social issue, which promises to become a major form of risk to manage in college communities. The college of the future will strive to create a reasonably safe learning environment supportive of individuals with mental-health issues and will be prepared to take reasonable steps to protect the physical safety of those and other individuals.
Addressing inherited predisposition for breast cancer in transplant recipients

Consideration of prophylactic mastectomy surgery following transplantation requires complex medical decision-making, and bias against elective surgery exists because of concern for post-operative complications. Prevention of cancer in transplant recipients is of utmost importance, given the risks of treating malignancy in an immunosuppressed patient. We present a patient case and review of the literature to support a thorough pre-transplantation evaluation of family history and consideration of prophylactic interventions to safeguard the quality of life of transplant recipients. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;113:605-608. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Revisiting CO2 Reduction with NaBH4 under Aprotic Conditions: Synthesis and Characterization of Sodium Triformatoborohydride

The reduction of CO2 to formate using sodium borohydride was originally investigated in the 1950s. Despite this clue from the chemical literature, many recent publications describe catalytic CO2 hydroboration methods leading to formate or methoxide with more expensive and less reactive boranes such as pinacolborane. Herein we describe the uptake of 3 equiv of CO2 by NaBH4, along with full spectroscopic and crystallographic characterization of the resulting triformatoborohydride, Na[HB(OCHO)3]. Conducting the synthesis in acetonitrile under 300 psi of CO2 constitutes a new preparative procedure for generating Na[HB(OCHO)3]. This reaction does not require the presence of a strongly coordinating alkali metal cation, as evidenced by the analogous reactivity of [NEt4][BH4]. Even at 1 atm pressure and without using rigorously dry solvent, treatment of NaBH4 with CO2 and subsequent quenching gave formic acid (1.5 equiv based on B).
Drug discovery in focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis

Despite the high medical burden experienced by patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, the etiology of the condition remains largely unknown. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is highly heterogeneous in clinical and morphologic manifestations. While this presents challenges for the development of new treatments, research investments over the last 2 decades have yielded a surfeit of potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. The development of many of those ideas and concepts into new therapies, however, has been very disappointing. Here, we describe some of the factors that have potentially contributed to the poor translational performance from this research investment, including the confidence we ascribe to a target, the conduct of experimental studies, and the availability of selective reagents to test hypotheses. We will discuss the significance of genetic and systems traits as well as other methods for reducing bias. We will analyze the limitations of a successful drug development. We will use specific examples hoping that these will guide a consensus for investment and drive greater translational quality. We hope that this substrate will serve to exemplify the tremendous opportunity for intervention as well as facilitate greater collaborative effort between industry, academia, and private foundations in promoting appropriate validation of these targets. Only then will we have achieved our goal for curative therapies for this devastating disease.
Counseling LGBT Elders

Although little empirical information exists on what constitutes effective psychotherapy specifically for LGBT elders, gay affirmative treatment approaches are increasing among practicing clinicians. LGBT elders as a specific population have certain unique issues that should be considered by clinicians when providing psychotherapy and counseling. While not all issues pertain to every individual, concerns about coming out, internalized oppression, sexual minority stress, and stereotyping are issues that should be considered by clinicians when counseling LGBT elders. Having an understanding of these issues promotes culturally competent practice. Using a gay affirmative approach in counseling allows the clinician to utilize different theoretical psychotherapeutic approaches when working with LGBT elders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, person-centered therapy, and existential therapy lend themselves to effective counseling strategies when combined with a gay affirmative approach. Other theoretical approaches may also be equally effective with LGBT elders. Besides individual counseling, LGBT elders may benefit from group therapy, couples counseling, or pastoral counseling if indicated.
The Relationship Between Independent Innovation,Absorptive Capacity and Upgrade of Industrial Structure:An Empirical Study on Data of Guangxi from 1987 to 2010

By applying the VAR model,the authors carry out an empirical study on the relationship between independent innovation capacity,absorptive capacity and upgrade of industrial structure based on the time series data from 1987 to 2010.The result shows that a long-term and stable equilibrium relation among them.Independent innovation capacity and absorptive capacity is the Granger reason for Guangxi's upgrade of industrial structure.In the long term,both of them can prompt Guangxi's upgrade of industrial structure,especially independent innovation capacity.Therefore,the governments at all levels in Guangxi should take relevant measures to promote the capacity of independent innovation and absorption in industry.
The Role of Vanilloid Receptor 1 in Visceral Hyperalgesia in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Objective To evaluate the role of vanilloid receptor 1 in visceral hyperalgesia in adult rats induced by colon irritation during postnatal development.Method SD Rats were divided into irritable bowel syndrome group(Group P),negative control group(Group N),and VR1 positive neurons depriving group(Group D).Rats in group D received capsaicin(50 mg/kg,subcutaneously)on day-2 after birth.And the rats in group P and D were given colon irritation once a day for two weeks from day-8 after birth.Behavioral test of abdominal withdraw reflex(AWR)and electrophysiological recording of abdominal rectus abdominis electromyogram(EMG)were employed after colorectal distention(CRD)on day-49 after birth.Result The AWR scores and EMG counts were lower in group D(P 0.01,versus group P).Conclusion Vanilloid receptor 1 plays a role in visceral hyperalgesia in adult rats induced by colon irritation during postnatal development.
Optical Spectroscopy, Linear Polarization Theory

The degree of linear polarization of light arriving at a detector from a sample contains information on the anisotropy of molecular optical properties and the molecular orientation distribution. In this article, a general theoretical framework is outlined for extracting this information, equally useful for electronic and vibrational spectroscopy. It is then applied to processes that involve the interaction of one photon or two photons (successively, as in photoluminescence and photoinduced dichroism; or simultaneously as in two-photon absorption and Raman scattering) with an isotropic or partially aligned solution of molecules that interact with light one at a time. Uniaxial assemblies are emphasized (e.g. solutes in an electric field, in nematic liquid crystals, in stretched polymers, or in membranes, and solutes ‘photoselected’ with linearly polarized light.
High temperature selective sensing of hydrogen with MgO-modified SrMoO4 micro-fibers

Abstract Micro-fibers of Mg-doped SrMoO4 (SrMoO4/MgO) were synthesized using a two-step hydrothermal technique. The SrMoO4/MgO micro-fibers were used as the sensing material within a solid-state, resistive-type sensor architecture. The material showed selective detection of hydrogen (H2) up to 1000 °C with high sensor response and stability for the given concentrations. The maximum relative resistance change values (Rmax) for SrMoO4/MgO for 4000 ppm H2 in a N2 atmosphere (1% O2) were −31, −85, and −87.5 for 600, 800 and 1000 °C, respectively. At 1000 °C, and the same background atmosphere, the Rmax was only −2.5 and −12.5 to 4000 ppm CO and 2000 ppm SO2, respectively. Chemical characterization showed that the Mg was dissolved into the SrMoO4 structure, in addition to residual MgO precipitate found within the final SrMoO4 powder. The surface MgO was shown to affect the H2 adsorption and dissociation processes in addition to high selectivity for H2 in comparison to SO2 and CO, while the dissolved Mg contributed to the alteration of the electronic properties, where the Schottky barrier height, band gap, and work function were all lowered. These combined effects resulted in the favorable sensitivity and high selectivity to H2, and also contributed to the increased stability at the elevated sensing temperatures.
Invasive invertebrate predator, Bythotrephes longimanus, reverses trophic cascade in a north-temperate lake

Trophic cascades can determine the structure of aquatic food webs, a role often used to manage water quality in lakes. However, trophic cascades are subject to multiple interacting drivers of environmental change. For example, invasive species can dramatically alter food webs, though we know less about invasive species effects on managed trophic cascades. Here, we investigate the changing food web dynamics of Lake Mendota (Wisconsin, U.S.A.) over a 40-yr time period. Piscivore stocking (biomanipulation) beginning in 1988 coupled with a 1987 die-off of cisco (the dominant zooplanktivore) led to decreased zooplanktivory that cascaded to increases in the large-bodied herbivorous zooplankton Daphnia pulicaria and greater water clarity. In 2009, the invasive spiny water flea Bythotrephes longimanus was first detected in Lake Mendota and soon reached record densities. As a result of this invasive invertebrate predator, zooplanktivory increased to 47% of the earlier cisco period. Concomitant with the spiny water flea population explosion were declines in D. pulicaria and water clarity as both exhibited a strong negative relationship to zooplanktivory across the 40-yr time series. We argue that the trophic cascade of 1987–1988 created an environment of high food resources and low fish planktivory that promoted the proliferation of Bythotrephes as it functionally replaced cisco in Lake Mendota's food web. Our results highlight how a manipulated, eutrophic lake was vulnerable to adverse impacts by invasive species, calling attention to the importance of understanding interactions among drivers of environmental change.
Using an Intranet Portal, Uniform Accounting Charts and Activity Based Accounting to Assist Entrepreneural Nonprofit Program Management

The case study explores the accounting issue of operating a geographically dispersed organization by managing the main facets of its environmental programs via an intranet portal, uniform accounting charts and activity-based accounting. An overview of the portal structure is explained as are the challenges facing the implementation of the intranet, the portal and its design.
Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in Low and Middle Income Countries: Where Global AIDS is and Where it is Going

As of December 2007, UNAIDS estimated that the number of people living with HIV in 2007 was 33.2 million, including some 30.8 million adults, half of whom were women, and 2.5 million children under the age of 15 years (UNAIDS, 2007) (Figures 1.1–1.4). Of those infected with HIV, 2.5 million (including 420,000 children) were infected that year, and 2.1 million people died of AIDS and its complications, including 330,000 children. While these numbers are staggering, the estimate of the total number of people living with HIV worldwide was 16% lower than the UNAIDS estimate of a year earlier, in December 2006 (UNAIDS/WHO, 2006). What could account for such a marked revision in the world’s estimated HIV/AIDS figures? How much of this decline is an artifact of data collection and analysis, and how much represents a “real” decline in the global burden of HIV diseases? At its simplest, the answer to both sides of this question is “data”. The largest component of the downward revision was the more than halving of the estimates of the state of the epidemic in India, where a massive household survey that included anonymous HIV testing was conducted in over 100,000 households across the country. This study demonstrated that the oversampling of urban populations and of those at higher risk had likely skewed the estimate for Indian adults ot reproductive age too high. Because of India’s
Interest on reserves and Federal Reserve unwinding

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of reductions in the Federal Reserve’s asset portfolio on bank lending in the context of the Dutkowsky-VanHoose model of interest on reserves and regime shifts. Based upon relative magnitudes of structural resource cost parameters, we argue that retail lending becomes considerably less responsive to exogenous monetary base changes in the post-October 2008 regime of positive excess reserves and virtually zero wholesale lending. The model provides an explanation for the observed relationship between retail loans and the monetary base before and after October 2008. Our analysis indicates that the Fed can unwind its balance sheet with minimal disruption in retail lending, as long as it continues settings of the federal funds rate and the interest rate on reserves so that banks operate in the post-October 2008 regime. However, unwinding while returning to the pre-October 2008 regime of zero excess reserves and positive wholesale loans could lead to more adverse effects on retail lending.
Remembering and Imagining in Human Development: Fairness and Social Movements in Ireland

I have two goals in this chapter. First, I conceptualize remembering and imagining as dual processes of human development that can be thought of as being linked like an infinity symbol. There is a continuous looping from the past to the future, and back again, always converging in the present. The metaphor illustrates the continuous temporal interconnections between remembering and imagining and the impact these dual processes have on present thoughts, feelings, and actions. Second, I illustrate the ways moral appraisals in the present—specifically, how people judge what are, and are not, considered fair or unfair economic practices—are informed by remembering and imagining. I draw on ethnographic observations and interviews from a series of demonstrations in Ireland to illustrate these theoretical insights.
Long-term factorization in Heath–Jarrow–Morton models

The long-term factorization decomposes the stochastic discount factor (SDF) into discounting at the rate of return on the long bond and a martingale that defines a long-term forward measure. We establish sufficient conditions for existence of the long-term factorization in HJM models. A condition on the forward rate volatility ensures existence of the long bond volatility. This yields existence of the long bond and convergence of $T$ -forward measures to the long forward measure. It contrasts with the familiar risk-neutral factorization that decomposes the SDF into discounting at the short rate and a martingale defining the risk-neutral measure.
Improving Reading Fluency Skills for Secondary Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often have deficient reading skills that require intensive intervention. Effective intervention is comprehensive in nature, addressing individ...
Patient Satisfaction After Total Knee Replacement: A Systematic Review

The quality and state of satisfaction reporting after total knee replacement (TKR) is variable. The purposes of this systematic review were (1) to examine the available literature on patient satisfaction after TKR, (2) to evaluate the quality of available evidence, and (3) to identify predictors of patient satisfaction after TKR. A systematic review of the MEDLINE database was performed. The initial search yielded 1219 studies. The inclusion criteria were English language, clinical outcome study with primary outcome related to TKR for osteoarthritis, and patient-reported satisfaction included as an outcome measure. Studies were assessed for demographics, methodology for reporting satisfaction, and factors influencing satisfaction. Two hundred eight studies, including 95,560 patients who had undergone TKR, met all inclusion and exclusion criteria; 112 (53.8%) of these studies were published in the past 3 years. Satisfaction was most commonly measured using an ordinal scale. Twenty-seven studies (13%) used a validated satisfaction survey. Eighty-three percent of studies reported more than 80% satisfaction. The most commonly reported predictor of satisfaction was post-operative patient-reported functional outcome. Pre-operative anxiety/depression was the most common pre-operative predictor of dissatisfaction. There are numerous studies reporting patient satisfaction after TKR, and publication on the topic has been increasing over the past decade. However, the majority of studies represent lower levels of evidence and use heterogeneous methods for measuring satisfaction, and few studies use validated satisfaction instruments. In general, the majority of studies report satisfaction rates ranging from 80 to 100%, with post-operative functional outcome and relief of pain being paramount determinants for achieving satisfaction.
Pushing the Neutrino Frontier

The question of what comes after the results just shown immediately comes to mind. Accordingly, this chapter begins by reviewing the prospects for future v e appearance analyses. While those prospects are found to be very encouraging, we find that it is beneficial for the experiment to focus in the area of antineutrino physics after a second v e appearance analysis. The benefits of a small amount of dedicated antineutrino running are thus carefully explored at the end of this chapter.
Clinical observations of early and late normal tissue injury and tumor control in patients receiving fast neutron irradiation

Abstract The clinical experience of the first 211 patients treated at MANTA from October 1973 to May 1978 is described. Acute cutaneous, mucosal, gastrointestinal reactions and late effects including myelitis, damage to brain, bowel, soft tissue and mandibular necrosis are described. A review of tumor response data is also submitted.
Assessing the social determinants of health care costs for Medicaid‐enrolled adolescents in Washington State using administrative data

Objective The study used administrative data to identify the social determinants that have the greatest impact on Medicaid expenditures in adolescence. Data sources Data were compiled using the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Integrated Client Databases, which link data from state systems including Medicaid claims and social services receipt. Study design Medical system and behavioral health service costs of over 180 000 Medicaid-enrolled adolescents aged 12-17 were measured using integrated administrative data from Washington State. Social determinants of health, including child maltreatment and parent risk factors, were also measured. Two-stage regression models were used to identify factors associated with increased health care utilization and costs. Principal findings Regression models revealed that the factors most predictive of higher health care costs were child abuse, child neglect, and instability in out-of-home placements related to foster care. Other social determinants of health, such as parent risk factors, were not associated with health care costs. Child maltreatment and placement instability impacted health care costs primarily through large increases in behavioral health utilization and costs. Conclusions Prevention and early interventions for children and families to decrease child maltreatment and increase foster care placement stability could reduce overall health care costs.
Tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline inhibits autophagic flux and prevents tube formation in vascular endothelial cells.

Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant and an inhibitor of lysosomal acid sphingomyelinase (ASM). Amitriptyline is well known for its cardiovascular side effects and toxicity in psychiatric patients. However, the mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular side effects of amitriptyline remain largely undefined. This study aimed to determine the effects of amitriptyline on angiogenic capability of vascular endothelial cells in physiological settings and identify its mechanism of action. The ex vivo aortic ring angiogenesis and in vitro-cultured endothelial cell tube formation assay were used to assess the effects of amitriptyline on endothelial angiogenic capability. It was demonstrated that amitriptyline impaired the angiogenesis of aortic rings, which was similar to that found in aortic rings with haploinsufficiency of the ASM gene. In cultured mouse microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs), amitriptyline impaired the proliferation and tube formation under basal condition, which were accompanied by attenuated angiogenic signalling pathways such as endothelial nitric oxide synthase, Akt and Erk1/2 pathways. Mechanistically, amitriptyline inhibited autophagic flux without affecting autophagosome biogenesis at basal condition. ASM gene silencing or autophagy inhibition mimics the inhibitory effects of amitriptyline on endothelial cell proliferation and tube formation. Collectively, our data suggest that amitriptyline inhibits endothelial cell proliferation and angiogenesis via blockade of ASM-autophagic flux axis. It is implicated that the cardiovascular side effects of amitriptyline may be associated with its inhibitory action on physiological angiogenesis.
Effects of White Noise Excitation on Tristable Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters with Asymmetric Potential Wells

Vibration energy harvesters (VEH) convert the energy of ambient random vibrations to electrical power in applications including autonomous powering of small scale devices. Theoretically, a VEH is represented by a system of two coupled differential equations, one each for the mechanical degree of freedom and the electrical degree of freedom. The interaction between noise and nonlinearity (by design) in a VEH is yet to be fully explored. This is of potential interest in the emerging concept of VEH using nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) since stochastic effects assume greater significance in the smaller dynamical scales. Allied with the recent focus on tristable harvesters, we investigate several aspects of the influence of random excitation on harvested power. It is shown that the unique effects of white noise excitation when compared with deterministic excitation include: (1) increase in harvested power by up to 14.28 percent (2) the advantages of asymmetrically designed potentials being achieved at much lower excitation levels and (3) the threshold values for inter-well oscillations being altered in favor of higher harvested power. Together, the results indicate that the advantages of tristable harvesters are enhanced due to white noise excitation; a feature of potential significance in NEMS based harvesters.
Performative Rhetorics in Invisibility: Phoebe Philo's Undone Authorship

This inquiry analyses the rhetoric of intentionally unfinished fashion contained in the collections from Celine as designed by Phoebe Philo and explicates the implications of this approach to fashi...
AN ANACONDA CORONARY ARTERY: A RARE CASE OF A HYPERDOMINANT LEFT ANTERIOR DESCENDING ARTERY AND ABSENT RIGHT CORONARY ARTERY

Coronary artery anomalies are rare with an incidence of 0.3-1.0% in the general population. The posterior inferior septum being supplied by a hyperdominant left anterior descending artery (LAD) is extremely rare and sporadically reported. 41 year old female with history of hypertension and morbid
Towards Approximate Sphere Packing Solutions Using Distance Transformations and Dynamic Logic

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) treatment and surgical planning could involve approximating the affected region with spheres of unequal size. This quickly turns into an optimization problem of finding minimum number of unequal size spheres to cover a bounded region. Since this optimization problem is NP-Hard, search for approximate algorithms is of immense important specially to support such SRS treatment. Our goal is to provide fast computational tools using well known Distance Transformations (DTs) and rarely used Dynamic Logic (DL). These two techniques are on the opposite ends of solving the approximate sphere packing problem: DT is bottoms up and DL in top down. Our research is significant in the sense that DL has not been previously used towards developing a sphere packing algorithm. We plan to implement both techniques in 3D on volume data sets in future.
Relationship Between Historical Trends, Equipment Age, Maintenance, and Circuit Breaker Failure Rates

Circuit breakers are ubiquitous devices that vigilantly protect personnel, equipment, and critical functions. But circuit breakers fail—and how they fail matters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected and analyzed a database of equipment records over several decades. This article studies the details of that database to provide new insight to failure trends, showing that failure rates have varied historically, that failure rates change as a function of equipment age, and that failure rates respond to preventative maintenance activity, often counterintuitively. New figures show unpublished details that improve understanding and reveal limitations of previous circuit breaker statistics. These data challenge persistent assumptions of reliability-centered maintenance and reliability design.
Optimization of acoustically-driven ferromagnetic resonance devices

Acoustically-driven ferromagnetic resonance (ADFMR) has recently emerged as a powerful scientific test-bed toward understanding complex interactions between phonons and magnons. In this technique, a traditional surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay-line filter interfaces with a ferromagnetic thin-film which can be driven into precession at the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequency by the SAWs. SAW filters are used extensively in industry, but in the context of ADFMR, their design considerations are largely absent from the literature. We produced a variety of ADFMR devices by systematically changing parameters including the material and the number of pairs of interdigital transducers, the ferromagnetic thin-film growth technique, and the presence or the absence of a capping layer on the ferromagnetic thin-film. We quantitatively compare results by adapting traditional ferromagnetic resonance techniques. This work describes the parameters relevant to the development and optimization of SAW-driven FMR.
White-light interferometry for early-stage metal oxide growth characterization

Oxidation of metals can provide a functional oxide film or an oxide layer that can lead to material degradation causing performance limiting concerns. Because of the technological and economic impacts of oxidation, understanding early-stage oxidation growth and its mechanisms is of high importance. Unfortunately, poor empirical data during early-stage oxidation has left our current understanding of oxidation incomplete and woefully inadequate. Measurement techniques previously used for oxidation kinetics characterization include microbalance, x-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. However, these techniques lack the necessary time-resolution or vertical resolution in addition to not providing any spatial data, which is essential to early-stage oxidation studies to understand both oxidation kinetics and mechanisms. A novel rapid and surface-sensitive data collection technique that provides three-dimensional spatial data of a growing oxide layer with sub-nanometer thickness resolution using white-light interferometry has been developed here. This technique will be the first technique capable of providing real-time spatial results of early-stage oxidation growth. The effectiveness of this characterization tool is shown by observing the early-stage oxidation kinetics and film cracking of uranium heated to 90 °C under 500 torr of pure O2. Initially a parabolic oxidation growth is observed. Once the oxide layer reaches ≈30 nm, the epitaxial stresses between the uranium substrate and oxide film layer causes localized cracking in addition to the observed transition of the parabolic growth rate to a linear growth rate. The results of the white-light interferometry are verified by glancing incidence x-ray diffraction.
Ornamentalism: by Anne Anlin Cheng. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, 224 pp., 91 illustrations, 29 in color, USD $29.95 (hardcover), ISBN 9780190604615

“Orientalism is a critique, ornamentalism is a theory of being.” So invokes Anne Cheng in her most recent monograph Ornamentalism in which she theorizes Asiatic femininity’s haunting presence in th...
Pleural Disease with Acute Symptoms

The images in this chapter show changes in the pleura and pleura space from different disease processes leading to gas collection, blood, infected fluid collection, primary pleural neoplasm and also from metastasis. Also shown other imaging findings to be recognized resulting from these lesions that helps clinical management.
Predictors of spontaneous lumbar curve correction in thoracic-only fusions: 3D analysis in AIS

To evaluate how 3D parameters of the instrumented thoracic spine relate to the uninstrumented lumbar spine following thoracic-only fusion (TOF) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and determine the factors predictive of lumbar correction. A multi-center retrospective review was conducted of AIS patients with Lenke 1–4 B or C curves undergoing fusion of their thoracic spine only with minimum 2-year follow-up and 3D spine reconstructions from biplanar radiography. Pre-operative to 2-year post-operative differences were evaluated. Pearson’s correlations were used to identify 3D coronal, sagittal and axial relationships at 2 years post-operative. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify variables most predictive of lumbar curve correction. Eighty-four AIS patients met inclusion (54 B modifiers, 30 C modifiers). Average pre-operative thoracic and lumbar curves were 54 ± 9° and 41 ± 7° and corrected to 19 ± 7° and 21 ± 7°, respectively. 3D T5-T12 thoracic kyphosis increased from 6 ± 13° to 26 ± 8°. Thoracic and lumbar apical rotation decreased from − 14 ± 6° to -5 ± 6° and 13 ± 5° to 11 ± 6°, respectively. Thoracic curve correction correlated with lumbar curve correction (r = 0.67, p = 0.001) and decreased LIV tilt correlated with smaller residual lumbar curve magnitude (r = 0.63, p < 0.001). Increasing 3D kyphosis of the instrumented segment correlated with increased percentage lumbar curve correction (r = 0.29, p = 0.009). Multivariate linear regression showed LIV tilt and thoracic curve magnitude as the most predictive variables of post-operative residual lumbar curve magnitude, and percent correction of the thoracic curve and change in 3D instrumented kyphosis as most predictive of percent correction of the lumbar curve. Analysis of 3D data highlights several considerations for AIS patients undergoing TOF. Maximizing thoracic curve correction, leveling the LIV, and to a lesser extent, restoring kyphosis in the instrumented segment are the factors most likely to result in greater correction of the instrumented lumbar curve following thoracic-only fusions in Lenke 1–4 B and C curves.
Dissociable Roles of Pallidal Neuron Subtypes in Regulating Motor Patterns.

We have previously established that PV+ neurons and Npas1+ neurons are distinct neuron classes in the external globus pallidus (GPe): they have different topographical, electrophysiological, circuit, and functional properties. Aside from Foxp2+ neurons, which are a unique subclass within the Npas1+ class, we lack driver lines that effectively capture other GPe neuron subclasses. In this study, we examined the utility of Kcng4-Cre, Npr3-Cre, and Npy2r-Cre mouse lines (both males and females) for the delineation of GPe neuron subtypes. By using these novel driver lines, we have provided the most exhaustive investigation of electrophysiological studies of GPe neuron subtypes to date. Corroborating our prior studies, GPe neurons can be divided into two statistically distinct clusters that map onto PV+ and Npas1+ classes. By combining optogenetics and machine learning-based tracking, we showed that optogenetic perturbation of GPe neuron subtypes generated unique behavioral structures. Our findings further highlighted the dissociable roles of GPe neurons in regulating movement and anxiety-like behavior. We concluded that Npr3+ neurons and Kcng4+ neurons are distinct subclasses of Npas1+ neurons and PV+ neurons, respectively. Finally, by examining local collateral connectivity, we inferred the circuit mechanisms involved in the motor patterns observed with optogenetic perturbations. In summary, by identifying mouse lines that allow for manipulations of GPe neuron subtypes, we created new opportunities for interrogations of cellular and circuit substrates that can be important for motor function and dysfunction. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Within the basal ganglia, the external globus pallidus (GPe) has long been recognized for its involvement in motor control. However, we lacked an understanding of precisely how movement is controlled at the GPe level as a result of its cellular complexity. In this study, by using transgenic and cell-specific approaches, we showed that genetically-defined GPe neuron subtypes have distinct roles in regulating motor patterns. In addition, the in vivo contributions of these neuron subtypes are in part shaped by the local, inhibitory connections within the GPe. In sum, we have established the foundation for future investigations of motor function and disease pathophysiology.
Variations on Abstract Semantic Spaces

Semantic spaces represent the meanings of words and phrases as objects in space. Practical, implemented semantic spaces have a crucial role in current language technology. This chapter is about abstract semantic spaces, formalisms that, in one way or another, make use of the idea of meaning as a space. Abstract semantic spaces touch on several difficult problems: They are often applied to problems of word meaning in context. When used as word meaning characterizations, they prompt us to consider what kinds of inferences can be drawn from them, and why. And they raise the question of learning, in particular learning from both examples and explanations.
Positive predictive value and stroke workflow outcomes using automated vessel density (RAPID-CTA) in stroke patients: One year experience:

PurposeSeveral new techniques have emerged for detecting anterior circulation large vessel occlusion by quantifying relative vessel density including RAPID-CTA, potentially allowing for faster tria...
The Perception of Vaping Product-Associated Lung Injuries

Background: Vaping is a new form of smoking introduced and marketed as a safer and healthier alternative than traditional cigarettes. As more additives and flavors are added, the less is understood regarding long-term side effects, particularly in the respiratory system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the general population’s perception about vaping and its knowledge about vaping-related lung injuries. Methods: A survey consisting of 29 items was created using Google Forms and distributed via email and social media platforms to volunteer participants at least 18 years of age. Data collected included demographic information, use of vaping, and perceptions about vaping-related side effects. Descriptive statistics were used to report results. IRB approval was obtained. Results: Data was obtained from 309 participants. The majority of participants were female (n = 186; 60.2%), Hispanic/Latino (n = 170; 55.0%), between the ages of 25 to 39 years of age (n = 124; 40.1%), spoke primarily English (n = 193; 62.5%), worked in healthcare (n = 128; 41.4%), were married (n = 202; 65.4%), and had at least a bachelor’s degree (n = 115; 37.2%). Overall (76.7%) of participants reported never using tobacco or vaping products, and almost double of those who smoked or had smoked reported using tobacco products more than vaping products (11.0% and 5.8%, respectively). When asked if vaping can be used as a means to quitting smoking, 56.6% answered NO, only 14.2% answered YES, and 29.1% answered MAYBE. Among those who vaped (12.3%), only 5.2% believed it was a healthier option, and (22.0%) remained undecided that vaping could lead to negative health effects. Majority of participants believed that it is unsafe to use tobacco products and that vaping products are unsafe (98.7% and 97.4%, respectively). Most participants considered that vaping can cause lung disease (64.1%), but almost a third (31.7%) were undecided. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that a significant portion of participants evaluated poorly understood the adverse effects of vaping. Additional research in this area and public awareness may be necessary to change the overall perception of vaping and its effects on the pulmonary system.