cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Syndicated Leveraged Loans During and After the Crisis and the Role of the Shadow Banking System

In an article published in this journal in 1998, Nobel laureate Merton Miller argued that one of the best weapons available to national economies in their defense against the macroeconomic effects of banking crises is the availability of non-bank financial institutions and products�or what we now refer to as the �shadow banking system.� Although Miller may have exaggerated the independence of bank- and market-based sources of financing, the author argues that events during and after the recent crisis have shown Miller's claims about the importance of non-bank investors in the provision of credit to be fundamentally correct. Critics of securitization and the shadow banking system tend to focus on the subprime mortgage story in which the sudden re-pricing of credit risk and the resulting disappearance of investment demand for ABCP, private-label mortgage-related ABS, and ABS CDOs created unexpected and significant downward price pressure on those asset types. But the leveraged loan market tells a very different story. In contrast to the near complete disappearance of private mortgage securitizations, the extraordinary recovery of the U.S. syndicated leveraged loan market demonstrates that the relation between commercial and shadow banking has proved to be a highly productive and resilient one�and very much a two-way street. When leveraged loans and CLOs experienced problems from 2007 through 2009 due primarily to the widespread liquidity and credit market disruptions that affected essentially all structured credit products, institutional investors in leveraged loans disappeared and the leveraged loan primary market imploded. But when institutional participants recognized the value of the underlying asset�corporate loans�and regained confidence in shadow-banking products, leveraged lending by banks recovered quickly and dramatically. This outcome is viewed as vindicating Professor Miller's statement about the benefits of shadow markets and securitization� namely, the role of non-bank investors in diversifying the risk of credit creation while at the same time improving the price discovery process in different markets. The recent history of the U.S. leveraged loan market demonstrates that shadow banking system participants play a critical role in meeting the total demand for such loans, and that the ebbs and flows from institutional leveraged loan markets are strongly connected with the health and integrity of the underlying leveraged bank loan market.
A Compact Optical See-Through Head-Worn Display with Occlusion Support

We are proposing a novel optical see-through head- worn display that is capable of mutual occlusions. Mutual occlusion is an attribute of an augmented reality display where real objects can occlude virtual objects and virtual objects can occlude real objects. For a user to achieve the perception of indifference between the real and the virtual images superimposed on the real environment, mutual occlusion is a strongly desired attribute for certain applications. This paper presents a breakthrough in display hardware from a mobility (i.e. compactness), resolution, and a switching speed based criteria. Specifically, we focus on the research that is related to virtual objects being able to occlude real objects. The core of the system is a spatial light modulator (SLM) and polarization-based optics which allow us to block or pass certain parts of a scene which is viewed through the head-worn display. An objective lens images the scene onto the SLM and the modulated image is mapped back to the original scene via an eyepiece. We are combining computer generated imagery with the modulated version of the scene to form the final image a user would see.
The high-fat-fed lean Zucker rat: a spontaneous isocaloric model of fat-induced insulin resistance associated with muscle GSK-3 overactivity

High-fat feeding (HFF) is a well-accepted model for nutritionally-induced insulin resistance. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the metabolic responses of female lean Zucker rats prov...
Retention and multilineage expression of human hematopoietic stem cells in human-sheep chimeras

We have taken advantage of the permissive environment of the early gestational age fetus to engraft human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) into preimmune fetal lambs. The resulting chimeras exhibit long-term multilineage engraftment of human cells in the bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB). Long-term multilineage reconstitution of second generation recipients by human cells isolated from chimeric sheep BM indicates that the engraftment in this model involved long-term repopulating human HSC. The model appears to be sensitive enough to detect relatively small numbers of transplanted HSC from pre- and postnatal human sources. Finally, transplantation of mature T lymphocyte-containing cells from a variety of sources results in lethal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), analogous to clinical BM transplantation, suggesting that, at least in some respects, the model is biologically relevant. The human-sheep model is promising and may have important advantages over murine models for the in vivo study of normal and abnormal hematopoiesis and as a potential assay system for human HSC.
A Coarse Desktop Method for Evaluating Transmission of Vibration through Textile Layers

This paper describes a cheap, readily-available method for assessment of and experimentation with the impact of multiple and varied textile layers on the propagation of vibratory stimulus for vibrotactile display, through the use of a common optical mouse. The method includes a calibration phase that uses a grid of known dimensions to map pointer movements on the screen to physical movements of the mouse. An example trial is described using five layers of cotton knit fabric, in which the impact of successive layers on the vibration transmitted through the set of layers is illustrated.
Isolated Toll-like Receptor Transmembrane Domains Are Capable of Oligomerization

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as the first line of defense against bacterial and viral pathogens by initiating critical defense signals upon dimer activation. The contribution of the transmembrane domain in the dimerization and signaling process has heretofore been overlooked in favor of the extracellular and intracellular domains. As mounting evidence suggests that the transmembrane domain is a critical region in several protein families, we hypothesized that this was also the case for Toll-like receptors. Using a combined biochemical and biophysical approach, we investigated the ability of isolated Toll-like receptor transmembrane domains to interact independently of extracellular domain dimerization. Our results showed that the transmembrane domains had a preference for the native dimer partners in bacterial membranes for the entire receptor family. All TLR transmembrane domains showed strong homotypic interaction potential. The TLR2 transmembrane domain demonstrated strong heterotypic interactions in bacterial membranes with its known interaction partners, TLR1 and TLR6, as well as with a proposed interaction partner, TLR10, but not with TLR4, TLR5, or unrelated transmembrane receptors providing evidence for the specificity of TLR2 transmembrane domain interactions. Peptides for the transmembrane domains of TLR1, TLR2, and TLR6 were synthesized to further study this subfamily of receptors. These peptides validated the heterotypic interactions seen in bacterial membranes and demonstrated that the TLR2 transmembrane domain had moderately strong interactions with both TLR1 and TLR6. Combined, these results suggest a role for the transmembrane domain in Toll-like receptor oligomerization and as such, may be a novel target for further investigation of new therapeutic treatments of Toll-like receptor mediated diseases.
The Src-cortactin pathway is required for clustering of E-selectin and ICAM-1 in endothelial cells

SPECIFIC AIMSAdhesion molecule clustering on the cellular surface is an important step in mediating firm adhesion by regulating the formation of a signaling complex on the cytoplasmic side of the p...
Measuring Gold Thickness on Printed Circuit Boards for Control of Production Plating Processes

Beta-backscatter is used to control the thickness of gold plate at a Tektronix, Inc., captive circuit board shop. Gold is deposited from deep tanks on an intermediate deposit of nickel. Routine calibration and standardization procedures resulted in discrepancies of up to 40 percent between beta-backscatter measurements and measurements of cross sections using an optical microscope. Investigation revealed significant differences due to variations in gold density, copper and nickel thickness, and in calibration and measurement procedures. A system of beta-backscatter measurements was implemented which reduced the average discrepancy between beta-backscatter and metallographic values to less than 15 percent. In addition to assuring greater product reliability, an estimated 20 percent savings in gold costs was achieved. The investigations are summarized, the new system and its implementation are described, and current system costs are presented.
Late-binding: how to lose fewer packets during handoff

Current networking stacks were designed for a single wired network interface. Today, it is common for a mobile device connect to many networks that come and go, and whose rates are constantly changing. Current network stacks behave poorly in this environment because they commit an outgoing packet to a particular interface too early, making it hard to back out when network conditions change. By default, Linux will drop over 1,000 packets when a mobile client associates to a new WiFi network. In this paper, we introduce the concept of "late-binding" packets to their outgoing interfaces. Prior to the binding point different flows are kept separate, to prevent unnecessarily delaying latency-sensitive traffic. After the binding point buffers are minimized---in our design, down to just two packets---to minimize loss when network conditions change. We designed and implemented a late-binding Linux networking stack that empirically demonstrates the value of our proposition in minimizing delay of latency-sensitive packets and packet loss when networks come and go.
Use of Herbal Products and Potential Interactions in Patients With Cardiovascular Diseases

More than 15 million people in the U.S. consume herbal remedies or high-dose vitamins. The number of visits to providers of complementary and alternative medicine exceeds those to primary care physicians, for annual out-of-pocket costs of $30 billion. Use of herbal products forms the bulk of treatments, particularly by elderly people who also consume multiple prescription medications for comorbid conditions, which increases the risk of adverse herb-drug-disease interactions. Despite the paucity of scientific evidence supporting the safety or efficacy of herbal products, their widespread promotion in the popular media and the unsubstantiated health care claims about their efficacy drive consumer demand. In this review, we highlight commonly used herbs and their interactions with cardiovascular drugs. We also discuss health-related issues of herbal products and suggest ways to improve their safety to better protect the public from untoward effects.
Fibrin deposition accelerates neurovascular damage and neuroinflammation in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

Cerebrovascular dysfunction contributes to the pathology and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanisms are not completely understood. Using transgenic mouse models of AD (TgCRND8, PDAPP, and Tg2576), we evaluated blood–brain barrier damage and the role of fibrin and fibrinolysis in the progression of amyloid-β pathology. These mouse models showed age-dependent fibrin deposition coincident with areas of blood–brain barrier permeability as demonstrated by Evans blue extravasation. Three lines of evidence suggest that fibrin contributes to the pathology. First, AD mice with only one functional plasminogen gene, and therefore with reduced fibrinolysis, have increased neurovascular damage relative to AD mice. Conversely, AD mice with only one functional fibrinogen gene have decreased blood–brain barrier damage. Second, treatment of AD mice with the plasmin inhibitor tranexamic acid aggravated pathology, whereas removal of fibrinogen from the circulation of AD mice with ancrod treatment attenuated measures of neuroinflammation and vascular pathology. Third, pretreatment with ancrod reduced the increased pathology from plasmin inhibition. These results suggest that fibrin is a mediator of inflammation and may impede the reparative process for neurovascular damage in AD. Fibrin and the mechanisms involved in its accumulation and clearance may present novel therapeutic targets in slowing the progression of AD.
Determination of minimum sample size and discriminatory expression patterns in microarray data.

Motivation: Transcriptional profiling using microarrays can reveal important information about cellular and tissue expression phenotypes, but these measurements are costly and time consuming. Additionally, tissue sample availability poses further constraints on the number of arrays that can be analyzed in connection with a particular disease or state of interest. It is therefore important to provide a method for the determination of the minimum number of microarrays required to separate, with statistical reliability, distinct disease states or other physiological differences. Results: Power analysis was applied to estimate the minimum sample size required for two-class and multi-class discrimination. The power analysis algorithm calculates the appropriate sample size for discrimination of phenotypic subtypes in a reduced dimensional space obtained by Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA). This approach was tested by applying the algorithm to existing data sets for estimation of the minimum sample size required for drawing certain conclusions on multi-class distinction with statistical reliability. It was confirmed that when the minimum number of samples estimated from power analysis is used, group means in the FDA discrimination space are statistically different.
Parasite-mediated competition in Anolis lizards

On many small Caribbean islands, two species of Anolis lizard coexist, but the two are typically very different in body size. The two Anolis of St. Maarten, however, are exceptional because they are similar in size and are known to be strongly competitive. One species, A. gingivinus, appears the stronger competitor and occurs throughout the island; the other, A. wattsi, is found only in the central hills. The malarial parasite Plasmodium azurophilum very rarely infects A. wattsi, but in some locations is very common in A. gingivinus. Wherever malaria infects A. gingivinus, A. wattsi is present, but wherever malaria is absent, only A. gingivinus occurs. This pattern of coincidence of malaria and coexistence of both Anolis is observed over distances of only a few hundred meters. The parasite infects both red and white blood cells of A. gingivinus and causes important pathology: immature erthrocytes increase in abundance, blood hemoglobin decreases, monocytes and neutrophils increase, and infected white cells are less likely to produce acid phosphatase. These results argue that malaria mediates competition between the two species and determines the present distribution of the lizards on St. Maarten. This kind of parasite-mediated competition could be common if susceptibility to parasitic infection varies among competitors. The distribution of malaria in the Anolis of Caribbean islands suggests this parasite can play an important role in Anolis community ecology.
A Versatile Digital Controller Algorithm Incorporating a State Observer and State Feedback

A digital controller algorithm is developed which forces a single-input single-output plant, defined by its transfer function, to respond according to a specified model transfer function. The algorithm is implemented by two difference equations and incorporates a state variable observer and state variable feedback control. The procedure used is sometimes referred to as a model reference feedback control system.
Scaling Laws for Large Momentum Transfer Processes

Dimensional scaling laws are developed as an approach to understanding the energy dependence of high-energy scattering processes at fixed center-of-mass angle. Given a reasonable assumption on the short-distance behavior of bound states, and the absence of an internal mass scale, we show that at large s and t, dσ/dt(A B→C D)∼s-n+2f(t/s); n is the total number of fields in A, B, C, and D which carry a finite fraction of the momentum. A similar scaling law is obtained for large-p⊥ inclusive scattering. When the quark model is used to specify n, we find good agreement with experiments. For instance, this accounts naturally for the (q2)-2 asymptotic behavior of the proton form factor. We examine in detail the field-theoretic foundations of the scaling laws and the assumption which needs to be made about the short-distance and infrared behavior of a bound state.
Social Ecological Context of Conversing

The purpose of this article is to provide some groundwork about ecological social psychology as a starting point for researchers tackling neglected issues of language ecologically. I review basic principles of the ecological approach to perceiving and acting and discuss how the ecological approach has been applied beyond solo actors in an ecological niche to multiple actors acting in a niche explicitly conceptualized as social. In the last decade, researchers were inspired by tool-use research and solo action-based research on affordances (e.g., stair climbing) to take an affordance-based approach to understanding cooperation in a more embodied approach than was previously used in social psychology. Beginning at least a decade prior to that, researchers were inspired to wonder whether the dynamics of the coordinative structures of a solo actor's body movements, spontaneously emerging when different limbs engaged in rhythmic movement, might cross the bodily divide to yield similar collective dynamics when ...
Explanation of low critical currents in flat, bulk versus meandering, thin-film [001] tilt bicrystal grain boundaries in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7

Thin-film and bulk [001] tilt, bicrystal grain boundaries in ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ exhibit a strong dependence of critical current density on misorientation angle. What is particularly difficult to understand is its thirty times lower magnitude in bulk grain boundaries which are microscopically more perfect, i.e., flatter, minimally faceted, and free of impurity phases. A plausible explanation, based on differences of the pinning of Josephson vortices in these grain boundary types, is proposed here.
Identifying the Atomic-Level Effects of Metal Composition on the Structure and Catalytic Activity of Peptide-Templated Materials

Bioinspired approaches for the formation of metallic nanomaterials have been extensively employed for a diverse range of applications including diagnostics and catalysis. These materials can often be used under sustainable conditions; however, it is challenging to control the material size, morphology, and composition simultaneously. Here we have employed the R5 peptide, which forms a 3D scaffold to direct the size and linear shape of bimetallic PdAu nanomaterials for catalysis. The materials were prepared at varying Pd:Au ratios to probe optimal compositions to achieve maximal catalytic efficiency. These materials were extensively characterized at the atomic level using transmission electron microscopy, extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and atomic pair distribution function analysis derived from high-energy X-ray diffraction patterns to provide highly resolved structural information. The results confirmed PdAu alloy formation, but also demonstrated that significant surface structural disorder was present. The catalytic activity of the materials was studied for olefin hydrogenation, which demonstrated enhanced reactivity from the bimetallic structures. These results present a pathway to the bioinspired production of multimetallic materials with enhanced properties, which can be assessed via a suite of characterization methods to fully ascertain structure/function relationships.
Color appearance modeling in augmented reality

Augmented Reality (AR) technology enables humans to mix synthetic objects and colors with real scenes. Applications that can benefit from AR include education, entertainment, design and medical applications (Van Krevelen and Poelman, 2010). Over the years, most of the attempts in AR area have been focused on fundamental problems in designing an efficient AR system. Although much progress has been made in the hardware and software areas, researchers are still tackling problems in registration, occlusion, tracking, focus, etc.
Contextualizing Afghan refugee views of depression through narratives of trauma, resettlement stress, and coping

This qualitative study explored how Afghan refugees conceptualize frames of mind that may reflect depression in general and as it relates to trauma they experienced. We performed in-depth interviews with 18 Afghans residing in the San Diego area. Views regarding the causes, symptoms, and perceived treatments of depression were gathered through free-listing techniques, and supplemented with narratives relating to pre- and post-resettlement stressors and coping mechanisms. Data were analyzed with standard qualitative content analysis methods. Items endorsed with relation to depression causality included pre-migration war traumas, notably separation from family, and post-migration stressors including status dissonance and cultural conflicts that ranged from linguistic challenges to intergenerational problems. Depressive symptoms were viewed as highly debilitating, and included changes in temperament, altered cognitions, avoidance and dissociative behaviors, and somatic complaints. Relief was sought through family reunification and community support, reliance on prayer, and the academic success of their children in the US. The findings underscore the need for practitioners to take into account situational stressors, cultural aspects of mourning and symptomatology, and existing coping mechanisms in developing interventions that are based on refugees' articulated needs.
An adaptive deep learning approach for PPG-based identification

Wearable biosensors have become increasingly popular in healthcare due to their capabilities for low cost and long term biosignal monitoring. This paper presents a novel two-stage technique to offer biometric identification using these biosensors through Deep Belief Networks and Restricted Boltzman Machines. Our identification approach improves robustness in current monitoring procedures within clinical, e-health and fitness environments using Photoplethysmography (PPG) signals through deep learning classification models. The approach is tested on TROIKA dataset using 10-fold cross validation and achieved an accuracy of 96.1%.
High-beta analytic equilibria in circular, elliptical, and D-shaped large aspect ratio axisymmetric configurations with poloidal and toroidal flows

The Grad-Shafranov-Bernoulli system of equations is a single fluid magnetohydrodynamical description of axisymmetric equilibria with mass flows. Using a variational perturbative approach [E. Hameiri, Phys. Plasmas 20, 024504 (2013)], analytic approximations for high-beta equilibria in circular, elliptical, and D-shaped cross sections in the high aspect ratio approximation are found, which include finite toroidal and poloidal flows. Assuming a polynomial dependence of the free functions on the poloidal flux, the equilibrium problem is reduced to an inhomogeneous Helmholtz partial differential equation (PDE) subject to homogeneous Dirichlet conditions. An application of the Green's function method leads to a closed form for the circular solution and to a series solution in terms of Mathieu functions for the elliptical case, which is valid for arbitrary elongations. To extend the elliptical solution to a D-shaped domain, a boundary perturbation in terms of the triangularity is used. A comparison with the cod...
Prognosis of infantile food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome in Japan

Background Although serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and the percentage of eosinophils in peripheral blood (Eo) are increased at onset in infants with food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES), the relationship of these laboratory findings to prognosis is presently unknown. Methods Correlation of serum CRP and Eo at onset with prognosis was analyzed in 32 patients with FPIES caused by cow's milk (CM). Results The rate of tolerance acquisition was 18.8%, 56.3%, 87.5%, and 96.9% at the ages of 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively. Serum CRP increased in 50% of subjects at onset (median, 0.21 mg/dL; range, 0.05). Conclusions Serum CRP is not only an indicator of the activity of intestinal inflammation, it is also a useful parameter of poor prognosis in FPIES. In contrast, eosinophilia at onset could be used as a marker of good prognosis, suggesting that it has some beneficial effects in the pathophysiology of FPIES.
Long-term effects of fuel treatments on aboveground biomass accumulation in ponderosa pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains

Abstract Fuel treatments in ponderosa pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains are commonly used to modify fire behavior, but it is unclear how different fuel treatments impact the subsequent production and distribution of aboveground biomass, especially in the long term. This research evaluated aboveground biomass responses 23 years after treatment in two silvicultural installations with different cutting and underburning prescriptions in western Montana. The thinning installation included control (no treatment), thin/no burn, thin/spring burn, and thin/fall burn treatments. The shelterwood installation included control, cut/no burn, cut/wet burn, and cut/dry burn treatments. Across all fuel treatments in both the thinning and shelterwood installations, tree biomass had recovered to pre-harvest levels by 2015, or 23 years post-treatment. In the thinning, total aboveground and live-tree biomass were greatest in the control, but did not differ among the three thinned fuel treatments. Forest floor biomass was lower in the two burned treatments relative to the two unburned treatments. Seedling, vegetation, stump, and snag biomass did not differ among the four treatments. In the shelterwood, total aboveground and live-tree biomass were both greater in the unburned treatments relative to the burned treatments. Forest floor and snag biomass also tended to be lower in the burned treatments. Seedling, vegetation, and stump biomass were similar across all treatments. This research shows that tree biomass in ponderosa pine stands subjected to common fuels treatments can recover to pre-harvest levels in less than 23 years, while still exhibiting reduced stand densities that promote forest restoration objectives. Burgeoning biomass at the seedling layer suggests that additional understory treatments are necessary in order to abate ladder fuel development and sustain resistance to high-severity wildfire.
Economic scheduling of a hybrid microgrid based on weather forecasts

Intermittency of renewable resources represents a major impediment that restricts their integration in microgrids. This paper presents an approach that can contribute to solve this issue by the prediction of near-term future renewable power production, mainly wind power and photovoltaic power, based on weather forecasts. After knowing the future renewable power production, the electric grid manager needs to find the optimal operating plan in order to efficiently integrate the predicted renewable production and to optimally operate other controllable components of the microgrid such as fuel-based generators, energy storage units and connectors to the commercial electric grid. We formulate this optimization problem as an integer linear program and exercise the model to study a number of practical issues surrounding microgrids.
CRT-500.04 Lower Wall Shear Stress and Clinical Risk Factors are Associated with Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Non-Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease

We hypothesized that wall shear stress (WSS) has incremental value over cardiovascular risk factors for predicting severe endothelial dysfunction (EDFx) in patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). WSS was calculated in each 0.5 mm thick coronary segment in 44 patients with CAD
Pulse-Compressor Grating-Alignment Tolerances for Varied Geometries and Bandwidths

The effects of pulse compressor grating misalignment on pulse duration and focusability are simulated in FRED and MATLAB to specify tolerances over a broad range of design parameters.
Newer Developments in Tissue Culture: Further Aid in the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism

The surge of progress in recent years in the recognition and characterization of human inborn errors of metabolism has far surpassed the most optimistic expectations of those of us who began working in this field as recently as 25 years ago. The magnitude of this change is illustrated by a comparison of the historical development of just two diseases. The classical inborn error of metabolism, alcaptonuria, was first described clinically over 300 years ago (LaDu, 1972). Some 250 years elapsed before the concept of the metabolic defect was first proposed. Sir Archibald Garrod formulated the gene-enzyme relationship with a defective gene giving rise to an inborn error of metabolism in his Croonian Lecture of 1908 which thereby establishes him as the scientific father of the society meeting here today. Fully another half-century elapsed before his hypothesis was proven by actual demonstration of a deficiency of the enzyme homogentisic acid oxidase in the liver of an affected patient (LaDu et al., 1958). By contrast only three years elapsed between the clinical description of the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome in 1964 (Lesch and Nyhan, 1964) and the demonstration of the deficient enzyme of purine metabolism responsible for this devastating neurological disease (Seegmiller et al., 1967).
Diagnoses and Dysfunction in Children at Risk

In Chapter 1 the major studies of offspring of parents with affective disorders were discussed and their general findings were noted. Across the various projects a generally dismal picture emerged: children of mothers and fathers with depression or manic depression were significantly more likely to have diagnoses and impairment than were children of normal parents. In this chapter the findings are reviewed in greater detail, with primary interest in the studies that employed direct interview methods and DSM III criteria. Such studies permit us to compare rates of disorder across studies, by different parental diagnoses.
Risk factors for postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease.

Abstract To identify potential risk factors that influence postoperative recurrence rates of Crohn's disease, the postoperative recurrence-free survival of 93 patients who underwent their first resections at The Mount Sinai Hospital between 1964 and 1973 has been examined. Features analyzed individually and jointly were age, sex, anatomic location, operative procedure, and preoperative disease duration. In patients with Crohn's colitis, recurrence rates appeared somewhat lower among 11 patients with ileostomy than among 5 patients with anastomosis. In the entire series, recurrence rates were lowest in patients with longest preoperative durations (p = 0.02). This same tendency was especially marked among the 68 patients without ileostomies (p = 0.005). Likewise, among the 38 patients with ileitis, the relative risk of recurrence was significantly lower for those with disease duration exceeding 10 yr (p = 0.01). Relative risk of recurrence in the entire series for patients with 2-yr duration was 1.5 compared with those who had 10-yr duration. This inverse association between preoperative disease duration and postoperative recurrence rate may reflect persisting differences between inherently more aggressive versus more indolent forms of Crohn's disease.
Differential Expression Gene Explorer (DrEdGE): A tool for generating interactive online data visualizations for exploration of quantitative transcript abundance datasets

Abstract As the scientific community becomes increasingly interested in data sharing, there is a growing need for tools that facilitate the querying of public data. Mining of RNA-seq datasets, for example, has value to many biomedical researchers, yet is often effectively inaccessible to non-genomicist experts, even when the raw data are available. Here we present DrEdGE (dredge.bio.unc.edu), a free Web-based tool that facilitates data sharing between genomicists and their colleagues. The DrEdGE software guides genomicists through easily creating interactive online data visualizations, which colleagues can then explore and query according to their own conditions to discover genes, samples, or patterns of interest. We demonstrate DrEdGE’s features with three example websites we generated from publicly available datasets—human neuronal tissue, mouse embryonic tissue, and a C. elegans embryonic series. DrEdGE increases the utility of large genomics datasets by removing the technical obstacles that prevent interested parties from exploring the data independently.
Direct Microbiological Conversion of Cellulosics to Ethanol

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews some of the published literature dealing with the direct microbiological conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol. At present, the programs in ethanol production focus mainly on the use of grain as the feedstock. Cellulosic biomasses have not yet been commercially exploited to any significant extent for alcohol production. Research and development activities in the use of these cellulosic residues for ethanol production have traditionally focused in the areas of pretreatment, saccharification, and fermentation. A simpler approach for the utilization of cellulosic biomass can also be envisioned; such a scheme is based on the existence of anaerobic microorganisms that possess cellulolytic enzymes able to degrade biomass producing soluble sugars. A direct microbiological degradation of biomass by cellulolytic microorganisms makes the direct fermentative production of alcohols or acids a possibility. This approach offers the advantage of effectively utilizing all of the fermentable carbohydrates in cellulosic biomass.
The Memory Palace: Exploring Visual-Spatial Paths for Strong, Memorable, Infrequent Authentication

Many accounts and devices require only infrequent authentication by an individual, and thus authentication secrets should be both secure and memorable without much reinforcement. Inspired by people's strong visual-spatial memory, we introduce a novel system to help address this problem: the Memory Palace. The Memory Palace encodes authentication secrets as paths through a 3D virtual labyrinth navigated in the first-person perspective. We ran two experiments to iteratively design and evaluate the Memory Palace. In the first, we found that visual-spatial secrets are most memorable if navigated in a 3D first-person perspective. In the second, we comparatively evaluated the Memory Palace against Android's 9-dot pattern lock along three dimensions: memorability after one week, resilience to shoulder surfing, and speed. We found that relative to 9-dot, complexity-controlled secrets in the Memory Palace were significantly more memorable after one week, were much harder to break through shoulder surfing, and were not significantly slower to enter.
Case Study on- “One team, two products, one ACE another Nano, one success and Another failure-Marketing strategic analysis”

After having successfully launched the low cost Tata Ace truck in 2005, Tata Motors began development of an affordable car that would appeal to the many Indians who ride motorcycles. The purchase price of this no frills auto was brought down by dispensing with most nonessential features, reducing the amount of steel used in its construction, and relying on low cost Indian labour. The introduction of the Nano received much media attention due to its low price. Expectations created for the car during the run up to its production may have been out of proportion with its realized success. A 2008 study, by Indian rating agency CRISIL, thought the Nano would expand the nation's car market by 65%, but, as of late 2012, news reports have detailed the underwhelming response of the Indian consumer to the offering; sales in the first two fiscal years after the car's unveiling remained steady at about 70,000 units although Tata appears intent on maintaining a capacity to produce the car in much larger quantities, some 250,000 per year, should the need arise. It was anticipated that its 2009 debut would greatly affect the used car market, and prices did drop 25–30% prior to the launch. Sales of the Nano's nearest competitor, the Maruti 800 , fell by 20% immediately following the unveiling of the Nano. The surprising fact was that both products were launched by same launch head, t he case highlights the story of a success and a failure is truly inspiring to look into such a business model what can go wrong for companies as big as Tata, when they forget basis, which is about sustainability and profitability.
Pathogenic Germline DNA Repair Gene and HOXB13 Mutations in Men With Metastatic Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSEGermline mutations in DNA repair (DR) genes and susceptibility genes CDKN2A and HOXB13 have previously been associated with prostate cancer (PC) incidence and/or progression. However, the ro...
5 – Compulsive Hoarding

Publisher Summary Compulsive hoarding problems pose a challenge for many sectors of society, including public health, housing, elder services, and clinical and mental health providers. There are three major manifestations of hoarding, difficulty discarding, clutter, and acquisition. The hallmark of hoarding is inability to discard possessions, even those that would appear worthless. This behavior can look delusional because the patient insists on keeping something that would seem obviously worthless, such as rotten food, nail clippings, or other trash. The people who hoard assign greater instrumental, sentimental, and intrinsic value to almost everything they own, reflecting the beliefs they hold about these possessions. The current conceptual model incorporates biological and psychological vulnerabilities, cognitive processing problems, problematic beliefs, and both positive and negative emotional states. Treatment is delivered individually in the clinic, at home, and at locations where the client has trouble in controlling acquisitions. The cognitive and behavioral activities of therapy occur during attempts to sort, discard, or not acquire possessions. Much of the treatment relies on the therapists' and clients' design and completion of behavioral experiments. Treatment based on this model shows considerable promise in terms of improving the lives of individuals with this difficult condition.
3D fast low-angle shot (FLASH) technique for 3T contrast-enhanced brain MRI in the inpatient and emergency setting: comparison with 3D magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MPRAGE) technique

To retrospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of a 1-min contrast-enhanced 3D-FLASH pulse sequence for detecting intracranial enhancing lesions compared to standard contrast-enhanced 3D-MPRAGE pulse sequence. Contrast-enhanced 3D-FLASH (acquisition time 49 s) and contrast-enhanced 3D-MPRAGE (4 min 35 s) pulse sequences were performed consecutively in 110 inpatient/emergency department 3T MRI brain examinations and analyzed by two independent neuroradiologist readers. For each sequence, the readers recorded (1) number of enhancing intracranial lesions; (2) intracranial susceptibility artifact (presence or absence; mm depth of intracranial signal loss); and (3) motion artifact (none, mild, moderate, severe). Inter and intra-reader agreement and reader accuracy relative to a reference standard were determined, and sequence comparison with respect to susceptibility and motion artifacts was performed. There was substantial intra-reader, inter-sequence agreement [reader 1, κ = 0.70 (95% CI: [0.60, 0.81]); reader 2, κ = 0.70 (95% CI: [0.59, 0.82])] and substantial intra-sequence, inter-reader agreement [3D-MPRAGE assessment, κ = 0.76 (95% CI: [0.66, 0.86]); 3D-FLASH assessment, κ = 0.86 (95% CI: [0.77, 0.94]) for detection of intracranial enhancing lesions. For both readers, the diagnostic accuracy of 3D-FLASH and 3D-MPRAGE was similar (3D-MPRAGE: 86.4 and 88.1%; 3D-FLASH: 88.2 and 84.5%), with no inter-sequence diagnostic accuracy discordancy between the sequences for either reader. 3D-FLASH was associated with less susceptibility artifact (p < 0.001 both readers) and less motion artifact (p < 0.001 both readers). On 3T brain MRI in the inpatient and emergency department setting, 1-min 3D-FLASH pulse sequence achieved comparable diagnostic performance to 4.5 min 3D-MPRAGE pulse sequence for detecting enhancing intracranial lesions, with reduced susceptibility and motion artifacts.
Catastrophic Human Error in Assisted Reproductive Technologies: A Systematic Review

Objective Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are complex processes with multiple and diverse opportunities for human error. Errors in ART are thought to be rare, but can have devastating consequences for patients and their offspring. The objectives of this article are to review known cases of human error in the ART laboratory and suggest preventative strategies. Methods We performed a systematic review of the literature in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines using PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they involved known cases of unintentional human error in the ART laboratory. Only full-text articles in English were included. References of the resulted studies were considered for inclusion. Results A total of 420 articles were screened and 37 articles were selected for inclusion. These largely included case reports and reviews in the medical and legal literature. Twenty-two adverse events due to human error in the ART laboratory were identified. Eight of these adverse events were the result of the insemination with the wrong sperm, 6 errors lead to the transfer of the wrong embryo, 3 lead to an error in preimplantation genetic testing, and 5 adverse events lead to the failure of gamete and embryo cryostorage. Conclusions Since the advent of ART, there have been reports of catastrophic events occurring secondary to human error in the laboratory to include incidents of unintended parentage, and have resulted in the loss of embryos and gametes through cryostorage failure. Proposed solutions include the stringent implementation and adherence to safety protocols, adequate laboratory staffing and training, and novel methods for specimen labeling and tracking. Of utmost importance is having knowledge of these errors and the ability to determine cause so that future events can be prevented.
Liberty: A Human Right, or a Citizen Right

Aliens do not have a constitutional right to come to this country, or to remain in this country, unless authorized by law. The subject of this paper is the right of aliens to liberty while their immigration status is being determined. By "liberty," I mean to the most basic meaning of freedom: physical freedom; freedom from government detention; freedom to avoid being locked up in a government prison cell. In the months following September 11, 2001, federal officials arrested hundreds, if not thousands, of residents of the United States. They were detained in connection with terrorism inquiries as well as other immigration violations, often for weeks, without being told of the charges against them. The numbers and identities of those detained remain unknown, guarded by secrecy imposed in the name of national security. The question is: how does the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause apply to aliens? If the Fifth Amendment Due Process clause applies to aliens who are in the United States, the legitimacy of the post-September detentions is highly questionable. As Professor David Cole observed, "discrimination against noncitizens remains one of the few group-based categories that many people still feel comfortable employing." But this comfort may be transitory. "Virtually every significant government security initiative implicating civil liberties . . . has originated in a measure targeted at noncitizens." The power of federal officers to hold aliens incommunicado can only be justified by war powers, insurrection or another danger or emergency. This power over foreigners in this country is virtually indistinguishable from the power these officers have over American citizens. Our respect for universal rights to liberty of aliens may be an indication of the respect we will show the rights of our citizens tomorrow.
Social Finance in the Anthropocene

Today, most social finance initiatives remain as small niches that are unable to alter the capitalist system’s destructive course. Governments remain blind to social finance as potential leverage for pursuing human and natural wellbeing. This chapter proposes a framework for financial innovation that focuses on fostering a regenerative economy. In the current “Anthropocene” era, human activity impacts the Earth’s geophysical processes. Most societal institutions stem from the previous Holocene period of relative stability and manage subsystems separately, ignoring the feedback among them. Finance, too, is approached as a sector pursuing its own growth, using people and planet as mere resources, and disregarding their actual needs. The escalating exploitation of Nature pushes the Earth toward an unstable state. Due to its extractive design, finance no longer functions as a means for human and natural wellbeing but is now the economic aim. In contrast, many indigenous peoples’ worldviews align their practices with the Earth. Nature and indigenous wisdom offer insights for shifting our cultural narratives, so we can redesign our socio-economic (including financial) practices and institutions. Ultimately, for finance to become sustainable, it must shift from a bank money monoculture to a diverse financial ecosystem. Resilient social finance initiatives are living labs where humans learn to reconnect with Nature and each other. Today, they are abundant yet lack the ascendency to impact the system. Innovations in policy and academia can offer leverage to strengthen their impact. These can include policies supporting Agenda 2030, legislation, education, research, and taxation.