cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
"Awareness, Interest, and Preferences of Primary Care Providers in Using Point-of-Care Cancer Screening Technology"

Well-developed point-of-care (POC) cancer screening tools have the potential to provide better cancer care to patients in both developed and developing countries. However, new medical technology will not be adopted by medical providers unless it addresses a population’s existing needs and end-users’ preferences. The goals of our study were to assess primary care providers’ level of awareness, interest, and preferences in using POC cancer screening technology in their practice and to provide guidelines to biomedical engineers for future POC technology development. A total of 350 primary care providers completed a one-time self-administered online survey, which took approximately 10 minutes to complete. A $50 Amazon gift card was given as an honorarium for the first 100 respondents to encourage participation. The description of POC cancer screening technology was provided in the beginning of the survey to ensure all participants had a basic understanding of what constitutes POC technology. More than half of the participants (57%) stated that they heard of the term “POC technology” for the first time when they took the survey. However, almost all of the participants (97%) stated they were either “very interested” (68%) or “somewhat interested” (29%) in using POC cancer screening technology in their practice. Demographic characteristics such as the length of being in the practice of medicine, the percentage of patients on Medicaid, and the average number of patients per day were not shown to be associated with the level of interest in using POC. These data show that there is a great interest in POC cancer screening technology utilization among this population of primary care providers and vast room for future investigations to further understand the interest and preferences in using POC cancer technology in practice. Ensuring that the benefits of new technology outweigh the costs will maximize the likelihood it will be used by medical providers and patients.
Physiological Effects of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons on Avian Species

The persistent organochlorines have been shown to effect a number of enzyme systems in mammals and birds. Many of these effects are found only at high concentrations, and it is proposed here to concentrate on those effects which have or may have relevance to existing environmental levels.
Procedural Experience and Confidence Among Graduating Medical Students.

Objective Bedside procedures are a vital component of patient care—particularly for surgeons. Anecdotal evidence and previous studies from individual institutions reveal a lack of exposure to these interventions in medical school. Our objective was to ascertain medical students' experience and confidence in performing bedside procedures. Design Our study included a multi-institutional, anonymous, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant electronic survey. Using a 4-point Likert scale, students were asked how many times they had performed each of 18 common bedside procedures and their anticipated confidence in completing it independently. Statistical analysis included student t test, Chi-square test, analysis of means, linear regression, and Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Participants In total, participants included 2260 4th year medical students at 17 allopathic medical schools. Results Overall, 644 students replied (28.5% response rate). Most respondents had never placed an arterial line (71%), central venous line (81%), chest tube (89%), intraosseous line (95%), injected a joint (63%), or had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (50%), a lumbar puncture (57%), paracentesis (66%), or thoracentesis (92%). Venipuncture, suturing, and Foley catheter placement were the only procedures which greater than 50% of students had performed more than 5 times. Significant correlation was observed ( r = 0.7) between experience and confidence, with men being reported significantly higher experience and confidence than women (p α = 0.003); students entering emergency medicine and surgery reported significantly higher confidence levels ( α = 0.003). Conclusion The largest survey of its kind, the present study demonstrates that medical students are underexposed to essential bedside procedures and feel uncomfortable performing them—a trend that has worsened over 25 years. Students entering surgical specialties have significantly higher levels of confidence, although a corresponding difference in experience was not observed.
The Application of Polarized Infrared Radiation to Problems in Molecular Structure

Abstract The infrared spectra of rubber and of both forms of gutta-percha have been investigated between 5 and 15 µ under various conditions. When rubber and gutta-percha are each in the amorphous state, their infrared spectra are closely similar, although not identical; in the crystalline state, marked differences occur between the spectra of these three forms of polyisoprene. Using polarized radiation, the dichroic ratios of bands which can be assigned with certainty are in general qualitative agreement with the crystalline structures proposed by Bunn. The spectrum of rubber crystallized by freezing has been examined at low temperatures, and it is shown that apparent intensity changes occur in certain absorption bands on crystallization. The importance of this effect in using infrared methods to estimate the degree of crystallinity produced in rubber by stretching is emphasized. Assignments of a few of the main bands are discussed, but no attempt is made to give a complete interpretation of the spectra.
Multiple Purpose Power Plant Capacity

Aspects of economic operation of hydroelectric portion of multiple purpose projects of Bureau of Reclamation; hydroelectric plants are required to produce saleable power from head available without detriment to other purposes of project; revenue from hydroelectric power often represents payout of entire project; turbine capability at design of turbine depends on irrigation demands of project.
Metabolic response after isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in arteriosclerotic breeder vs nonarteriosclerotic virgin intact and gonadectomized male rats.

Male, nonarteriosclerotic (virgin) intact and castrated, Sprague-Dawley rats and male, arteriosclerotic (breeder) rats were subjected to an acute and massive myocardial infarct, by treating them with two large, subcutaneous doses of isoproterenol, spaced 24 hr apart. Serum insulin and glucose rose abruptly after the first injection of isoproterenol, but not after the second injection. Free fatty acids rose, most markedly, in the intact, nonarteriosclerotic rats, less in the arteriosclerotic breeders, and least in the castrates. These changes in free fatty acids coincided with numerical survival, i.e., greatest number of survivors in castrates. The castrated males also manifested the least amount of congestive heart failure and showed the greatest capacity to affect myocardial repair. It is suggested that reduced androgen levels may have an ameliorative effect on the usual pathogenesis of isoproterenol-induced myocardial infarction in rats.
Where's the Learning in Service-Learning?

Please accept the enclosed book as a gift for your professional library. It deserves a place on the bookshelf of all college and university educators. I know you have long been concerned with fostering positive community relations, in addition to focusing on our academic goal. Ample empirical evidence supports that the relationship between town and gown can be anchored around learning; service-learning provides the bridge. Vanderbilt University professors Eyler and Giles provide a rich comprehensive study of serviceleaning, the most progressive pedagogical strategy of the past decade. By triangulating qualitative and quantitative data in two awesome research projects, sponsored by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and the Corporation for National Service (CNS), they conclude that service-learning (SL) works. Concerned about critics and the relative marginalization of SL in academe, they courageously title their book Where's the Learning in Service-Learning ? to address detractors and focus on the mission of learning. Their book follows other recent and important publications addressing SL in higher education (Jacoby and Associates 1996). Let me summarize the book's most important features for you. Where's the Learning is well developed. There are seven resource sections, including a list of the 45 colleges and universities participating in the study, socio-demographic information about the sample, survey instruments, interview guides, and statistical tables. It contains a fairly extensive reference section. Where's the Learning anchors SL in the pragmatist tradition of John Dewey, discusses its significance, links SL to contemporary social problems, and frames this vital pedagogy in the context of learning outcomes. Chapter two reports their first set of findings on student SL with student personal and interpersonal development. Results reveal that SL participants increase in tolerance of others, appreciate people from diverse backgrounds, develop greater leadership and communication skills, enhance their self efficacy, and value a helping profession more compared to their non-SL participant peers. For me, the sociologist, a pedagogy that consistently reduces negative stereotypes and honors diversity demands attention. Note the discussion of closer
The dimensional model of driver demand: visual-manual tasks

Many metrics have been used in an attempt to predict the effects of secondary tasks on driving behavior. Such metrics often give rise to seemingly paradoxical results, with one metric suggesting increased demand and another metric suggesting decreased demand for the same task. For example, for some tasks, drivers maintain their lane well yet detect events relatively poorly. For other tasks, drivers maintain their lane relatively poorly yet detect events relatively well. These seeming paradoxes are not time-accuracy trade-offs or experimental artifacts, because for other tasks, drivers do both well. The paradoxes are resolved if driver demand is modeled in two orthogonal dimensions rather than a single "driver workload" dimension. Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to the published data from four simulator, track, and open road studies of visual-manual secondary task effects on driving. PCA reduced the task metrics to two underlying orthogonal components (hereafter, dimensions) which were consistent across studies, herein designated as physical and cognitive demand. Physical demand is associated with lateral and longitudinal driver performance (lane crossings, standard deviation of lateral position and speed), with correlated surrogate metrics of task time, step count, total glance time, number of glances, and subjective workload. Cognitive demand is associated with event detection (RT and miss rate), with correlated surrogate metrics of mean single glance time, long single glances, speed reduction, and task errors. The Dimensional Model of Driver Demand allows for a common simplified understanding of all these measures of visual-manual secondary task effects on driver performance. Language: en
Computing Bounded Path Decompositions in Logspace.

We present a logspace algorithm to compute path decompositions of bounded pathwidth graphs, thus settling its complexity. Prior to our work, the best known upper bound to compute such decompositions was linear time [Bod96, BK96]. We also show that deciding if the pathwidth of a graph is at most a given constant is L-complete. Besides being of fundamental interest, our results represent an important step to gain a better understanding of the complexity of Graph Isomorphism of bounded pathwidth graphs.
Decentralized Coordination of a Building Manager and an Electric Vehicle Aggregator

The ability to control commercial buildings and electric vehicles (EVs) is a promising source of demand flexibility. In some cases, buildings and EVs share common infrastructure (e.g., a transformer) or interact with each other to accomplish a goal (e.g., reduce local peak demand). In such cases, the building and EV demand scheduling problems are effectively a single demand scheduling problem. Ideally, it would be solved as a single optimization problem. However, doing so might not be possible due to a number of concerns (e.g., data privacy). This paper proposes the use of a mixed-integer adaptation of the Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition to solve the building-EV demand scheduling problem in a decentralized fashion. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated in three case studies, where the building and EV problems are coupled by either: 1) demand limits; 2) a peak demand charge; or 3) an itemized billing tariff. Results show that the optimal solution can be reached while sharing a minimal amount of information. Furthermore, we show that the proposed methodology is scalable.
IN SITU DETECTION OF CHLORINE DIOXIDE (ClO2) IN THE RADIOLYSIS OF PERCHLORATES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STABILITY OF ORGANICS ON MARS

Magnesium perchlorate hexahydrate (Mg(ClO4)2 6H2O) samples were exposed to energetic electrons to investigate the products of the decomposition of perchlorates in the Martian soil and to infer their role in the degradation of organics on Mars. The samples were monitored online and in situ via infrared spectroscopy as well as electron impact (EI-QMS) and reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with single photon ionization (PI-ReTOF-MS). Our study reveals that besides chlorates () and molecular oxygen (O2), the chlorine dioxide radical (ClO2) was observed online and in situ for the first time as a radiolysis product of solid perchlorates. Chlorine dioxide, which is used on Earth as a strong oxidizing agent in water disinfection and bleaching, represents a proficient oxidizer—potentially more powerful than molecular oxygen—to explain the lack of abundant organics in the Martian soil.
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Regulates Hepatic Bile Acid Metabolism in Mice

Background & Aims Cholestasis promotes endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver, however, the effect of ER stress on hepatic bile acid metabolism is unknown. We aim to determine the effect of ER stress on hepatic bile acid synthesis and transport in mice. Methods ER stress was induced pharmacologically in C57BL/6J mice and human hepatoma (HepG2) cells. The hepatic expression of genes controlling bile acid synthesis and transport was determined. To measure the activity of the primary bile acid synthetic pathway, the concentration of 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-1 was measured in plasma. Results Induction of ER stress in mice and HepG2 cells rapidly suppressed the hepatic expression of the primary bile acid synthetic enzyme, cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase. Plasma levels of 7α-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-1 were reduced in mice subjected to ER stress, indicating impaired bile acid synthesis. Induction of ER stress in mice and HepG2 cells increased expression of the bile salt export pump (adenosine triphosphate binding cassette [ Abc ] b11 ) and a bile salt efflux pump ( Abcc3 ). The observed regulation of Cyp7a1 , Abcb11 , and Abcc3 occurred in the absence of hepatic inflammatory cytokine activation and was not dependent on activation of hepatic small heterodimer partner or intestinal fibroblast growth factor 15. Consistent with suppressed bile acid synthesis and enhanced bile acid export from hepatocytes, prolonged ER stress decreased the hepatic bile acid content in mice. Conclusions Induction of ER stress in mice suppresses bile acid synthesis and enhances bile acid removal from hepatocytes independently of established bile acid regulatory pathways. These data show a novel function of the ER stress response in regulating bile acid metabolism.
Completed and Ongoing Trials in Robotic Colorectal Surgery

The minimally invasive revolution for colorectal disease that started in 1990 was scrutinized and studied, culminating in randomized trials comparing the laparoscopic approach to open surgery. These studies demonstrated that oncologic outcomes were equivalent for colon cancer and that other relevant outcomes including hospital length of stay (LOS), recovery time, and cosmesis were improved with the minimally invasive approach [1–5]. These laparoscopic advantages have not been universally replicated for rectal cancer with respect to oncologic margins and hospital LOS [2, 6].
Direct Inhibition of Fas Activation by CD74.

Abstract Abstract 3770 Poster Board III-706 Hematopoietic cancers are commonly resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis that contributes to their resistance to chemotherapy and reversing Fas resistance has become a primary interest in treating chemotherapy-resistant hematopoietic cancers. Wide expression of Fas receptor yet the limited extent of Fas-mediated apoptosis in tissues suggest a strict regulation of Fas signaling. A recently identified tissue-specific modulator of Fas-mediated apoptosis is hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor HGFR/Met. HGFR/Met binds Fas and inhibits Fas signaling at an immediate early step. However, upon binding of ligand HGF to HGFR/Met, Fas is released and Fas signaling is restored. We hypothesized that hematopoietic cancers may express similar inhibitors of Fas, that can be targeted to resensitize cancer cells to Fas and thus also to therapy. We screen lymphoma cells for for such inhibitors. B cell lymphoma-derived BJAB cells and primary patient samples were incubated with Fas agonistic antibody. Upon removal of antibody excess, cell lysates were immuno-depleted of CH-11 antibody-bound and thus activated Fas. The remaining supernatant was then precipitated a second time with anti-Fas antibody B-10 that binds to the intracellular region of Fas. Protein bands present in B-10 precipitates and absent in CH-11 precipitates were excised from silver-stained gel and analyzed by mass-spectroscopy. CD74, also termed the invariant chain of MHC II and known to mediate pro-survival signaling as a receptor for macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), was found to exclusively associate with activation-resistant Fas. Intriguingly, CD74 is known to be overexpressed in 80% to 95% of hematopoietic cancers and also in some solid tumors. Using RNA interference we showed that CD74 negative cells are more sensitive to Fas-mediated apoptosis and that CD74 overexpression confers resistance to Fas both in vitro and in mouse tissues. Incubation of cells with peptides or anti-CD74 antibody LL1 disrupts the CD74-Fas inhibitory complex and sensitizes CD74-positive cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Analysis at the molecular level revealed that CD74 interferes with the immediate early steps in Fas signaling – binding of agonistic CH-11 antibody and subsequent clustering of Fas receptor. We anticipate that specific disruption of the CD74-Fas interaction by CD74-derived peptides or anti-CD74 antibodies will sensitize cancer cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis. This approach represents a novel strategy for modulation of cell surface death receptors to produce effective treatments for CD74-positive cancers. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Hybridizing Law: A Policy for Hybridization Under the Endangered Species Act

For centuries, hybridization was a poorly understood evolutionary process thought to be a threat to endangered species. With the advent of genomic technologies, many of those prevailing views are starting to change. Hybridization has become recognized as a key evolutionary process vital for the formation and continued persistence of many species today. However, our current legal system of protection for endangered populations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) fails to take many of the modern nuances of evolutionary biology into consideration. Despite calls for a defined, explicit “hybrid policy” since the early 1990’s, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have failed to remedy this problem, instead choosing to apply a case-by-case approach with no guidance or overarching policy. With the advent of these new technologies, many of the species we are currently protecting could technically be unsuitable for protection based on a rigid interpretation of the ESA. To continue to meet the goal of the ESA, a defined hybrid policy - such as the one presented here - must be adopted. Such a policy must take into consideration both the twin aims of protecting genetic lineages and protecting ecosystems, all while moving away from a rigid view of taxonomy. In a time of political uncertainty regarding the fate of the ESA and other key environmental litigation, adopting a policy that clarifies this source of legal murkiness, allowing all sides to come to the same table for discussion, is more vital than ever.
The Timed Up and Go Test as a Measure of Frailty in Urologic Practice

Objective To evaluate the prevalence of frailty, a known predictor of poor outcomes, among patients presenting to an academic nononcologic urology practice and to examine whether frailty differs among patients who did and did not undergo urologic surgery. Methods The Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), a parsimonious measure of frailty, was administered to patients ages ≥65. The TUGT, demographic data, urologic diagnoses, and procedural history were abstracted from the medical record into a prospective database. TUGT times were categorized as nonfrail (≤10 seconds), prefrail (11-14 seconds), and frail (≥15 seconds). These times were evaluated across age and urologic diagnoses and compared between patients who did and did not undergo urologic surgery using chi-square and t tests. Results The TUGT was recorded for 78.9% of patient visits from December 2015 to May 2016. For 1089 patients, average age was 73.3 ± 6.3 years; average TUGT time was 11.6 ± 6.0 seconds; 30.0% were categorized as prefrail and 15.2% as frail. TUGT times increased with age, with 56.9% of patients age 86 and over categorized as frail. Times varied across diagnoses (highest average TUGT was 14.3 ± 11.9 seconds for patients with urinary tract infections); however, no difference existed between patients who did and did not undergo surgery (P = .94). Conclusion Among our population, prefrailty and frailty were common, TUGT times increased with age and varied by urologic diagnosis, but did not differ between patients who did and did not undergo urologic surgery, presenting an opportunity to consider frailty in preoperative surgical decision making.
Outcome After Radiation Therapy for Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Is Dependent on Site of Involvement.

Purpose To characterize the efficacy and safety of radiation therapy in a contemporary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) cohort and to explore whether there are sites at higher risk for local recurrence. Patients and Methods Between 1995 and 2015 we identified 39 consecutive LCH patients who were treated primarily with radiation therapy. Patients were staged by single/multisystem involvement and established risk organ criteria. In 46 irradiated lesions, clinical and radiologic responses were evaluated at multiple time points after radiation therapy. Patient demographics, treatment, and local failure were compared by site of lesion. Results Median age at radiation therapy was 35 years (range, 1.5-67 years). Twelve patients had multisystem involvement, and of those, 5 patients had disease in organs considered to be high risk. The following sites were irradiated: bone (31), brain (6), skin (3), lymph node (3), thyroid (2), and nasopharynx (1). Median dose was 11.4 Gy (range, 7.5-50.4 Gy). At a median follow-up of 45 months (range, 6-199 months), local recurrence or progression was noted in 5 of 46 lesions (11%). There were no local failures of the 31 bone lesions evaluated, whereas the 3-year freedom from local failure in the 15 non-bone lesions was 63% (95% confidence interval 32-83%; P=.0008). Local failures occurred in 2 of 3 skin lesions, in 2 of 6 brain lesions, and 1 of 3 lymph node lesions. Deaths were recorded in 5 of 39 patients (13%), all of whom were adults with multisystem disease. Conclusion Radiation therapy is a safe and effective measure for providing local control of LCH involving the bone. Whereas bone lesions are well controlled with low doses of radiation, disease in other tissues, such as the skin and brain, may require higher doses of radiation or additional treatment modalities.
Miscellaneous Issues in Retiming

In previous chapters, we have described techniques for minimum area and minimum period retiming, and have reviewed extensions of the idea to retiming control logic while maintaining the initial states. In this chapter, we will overview the application of gate-level retiming under other scenarios and other objective functions.
Characteristics and Detection of Damage and Fatigue Cracks

A simple, pragmatic approach to the detection of damage is outlined with a closer look at the detailed effects of individual cracks. The approach focuses on the frequency changes caused by damage and on determining the location, but not the severity, of the damage whether locally or globally. Laboratory application illustrates the detection of fatigue cracks in a simple structure. A second application looks at crack closure that may develop in fatigue and its potential influence on detection.
NMR Imaging: An Appraisal of the Present and the Future

Since its conception by Lauterbur in 1973 and independently by Mansfield and Grannell (1975), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging has grown rapidly to become a viable clinical imaging modality that is now the method of choice for many applications (Kressel 1985; Stark and Bradley 1988). NMR imaging (often referred to as magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) times have decreased dramatically from hours to milliseconds and resolutions have improved in certain cases from centimeters to microns. A dramatic range of information is available from the technique that sets it apart from all other imaging modalities in terms of its flexibility, and we are still on the growing curve in terms of NMR imaging techniques and applications. The drive behind this virtual explosion of techniques has been the noninvasive nature of NMR imaging and its implications with respect to the diagnostic study of the human body. Most NMR imaging concerns the observation and spatial mapping of the hydrogen nucleus (1H) in water, since water is the most abundant material in the human body and consequently 1H gives the most signal with respect to other resonant nuclei.
Fiber-Reinforced Syntactic Foams as a New Lightweight Structural Three-Phase Composite

The mechanical behavior of hybrid beams made of an isotropic core (syntactic foam) and a fiber reinforced plastic skin is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The beams are subjected to three point bending tests. The analytical approach developed is compared to the experimental evidence reported in this study and a very good agreement is found.
Database Application Developer Tools Using Static Analysis and Dynamic Profiling.

Database application developers use data access APIs such as ODBC, JDBC and ADO.NET to execute SQL queries. Although modern program analysis and code profilers are extensively used during application development, there is a significant gap in these technologies for database applications because these tools have little or no understanding of data access APIs or the database system. In our project at Microsoft Research, we have developed tools that: (a) Enhance traditional static analysis of programs by leveraging understanding of database APIs to help developers identify security, correctness and performance problems early in the application development lifecycle. (b) Extend the existing DBMS and application profiling infrastructure to enable correlation of application events with DBMS events. This allows profiling across application, data access and DBMS layers thereby enabling a rich class of analysis, tuning and profiling tasks that are otherwise not easily possible.
Poetry and Accounting: “What Is It You Plan to Do with Your One Wild and Precious Life?”

Studies indicate that written and verbal communication skills are increasingly necessary for success in the accounting profession. However, the traditional accounting instruction methods are intended for skills such as problem solving and quantitative analysis. Creative new learning activities are necessary to address the accounting profession’s need for communication that is both complete and concise. The essay begins with an example of poetic technique used in the professional practice of accounting, and then transitions to the use of several poetry-inspired learning activities in the accounting classroom. The examples include student experiences from both traditional and adult learners. The essay concludes that poetry-based learning activities can help students develop professionally and personally.
The predictable degree property and minimality in multidimensional convolutional coding

Abstract Convolutional codes inherit from polynomials a natural structure of a filtered module, which is a fundamental structure and therefore should be taken into account. Pursuing this idea, we define higher-dimensional analogs of the predictable degree property, Forney’s indices and overall constraint length; also, we address the important issue of minimality.
Postcopulatory Behavior in Libellula pulchella Drury (Odonata: Libellulidae) and Female Tactics for Avoiding Male Interference with Oviposition

Postcopulatory behavior was studied in Libellula pulchella, a North American dragonfly in which ovipositing females face frequent harassment by unpaired males seeking matings. Although males performed noncontact guarding of their mates after copulation, females received minimal protection since their guarders tended to leave on extended chases of other males when harassment was intense. Ovipositions by unguarded females were even more likely to be terminated by harassment and were disrupted sooner. Female tactics to minimize interference included rapid escape flights, repeated return visits to the water within short time periods, perching when severerly harassed, and proceeding with mating when clasped. Female use of multiple oviposition sites is discussed in the context of guarding effectiveness and mate recognition by males.
Effects of Observational Data Shortage on Accuracy of Global Solar Activity Forecast

Building a reliable forecast of solar activity is a long-standing problem that requires to accurately describe past and current global dynamics. However, synoptic observations of magnetic fields and subsurface flows became available relatively recently. In this paper, we present an investigation of effects of short observational data series on accuracy of solar cycle prediction. This analysis is performed using the annual sunspot number time-series applied to the Parker-Kleeorin-Ruzmaikin dynamo model and employing the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) data assimilation method. The testing of the cycle prediction accuracy is performed for the last six cycles (from Solar Cycle 19 to 24) by sequentially shortening the observational data series that are used for prediction of a target cycle, and evaluating the prediction accuracy according to specified criteria. According to the analysis, reliable activity predictions can be made using relatively short time-series of the sunspot number. It demonstrated that even two cycles of available observations allow us to obtain reasonable forecasts.
Vasovasostomy: kinetics and predictors of patency

Objective To assess the timing of patency and late failure (secondary azoospermia) after vasovasostomy (VV) using standardized kinetics definitions. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting University-affiliated hospital. Patient(s) Patients with obstructive azoospermia. Intervention(s) Vasovasostomy. Main Outcome Measure(s) Univariate and multivariate logistic regression assessed predictors of patency and late failure. Patency was defined as any sperm return to the ejaculate; and >2 million total motile sperm (TMS) in ejaculate. Late failure after VV was defined as azoospermia; or Result(s) 429 men underwent VV, with median follow up of 242 days. Mean time to patency was 3.25 months versus 5.29 months in the “any sperm” versus “>2 million TMS” groups. Finding sperm intraoperatively during VV significantly improved patency rates in multivariable analysis (odds ratio [OR] 4.22). This association was further boosted when sperm was found bilaterally (OR 6.70). Late failure rate (azoospermia) was 10.6% at mean time of 14.1 months and 23% for Conclusion(s) Vasovasostomy remains highly efficacious in treating obstructive azoospermia. Young patients, shorter obstructive intervals, and sperm identified intraoperatively predict improved outcomes. Clinicians can expect VV patency in 3 months and late failure within the first 2 years after surgery. However, patency rates, late failure rates, and kinetics vary by definition.
Bilateral Cochlear Implants Allow Listeners to Benefit from Visual Information When Talker Location is Varied.

Background Previous research has found that when the location of a talker was varied and an auditory prompt indicated the location of the talker, the addition of visual information produced a significant and large improvement in speech understanding for listeners with bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) but not with a unilateral CI. Presumably, the sound-source localization ability of the bilateral CI listeners allowed them to orient to the auditory prompt and benefit from visual information for the subsequent target sentence. Purpose The goal of this project was to assess the robustness of previous research by using a different test environment, a different CI, different test material, and a different response measure. Research Design Nine listeners fit with bilateral CIs were tested in a simulation of a crowded restaurant. Auditory–visual (AV) sentence material was presented from loudspeakers and video monitors at 0, +90, and −90 degrees. Each trial started with the presentation of an auditory alerting phrase from one of the three target loudspeakers followed by an AV target sentence from that loudspeaker/monitor. On each trial, the two nontarget monitors showed the speaker mouthing a different sentence. Sentences were presented in noise in four test conditions: one CI, one CI plus vision, bilateral CIs, and bilateral CIs plus vision. Results Mean percent words correct for the four test conditions were: one CI, 43%; bilateral CI, 60%; one CI plus vision, 52%; and bilateral CI plus vision, 84%. Visual information did not significantly improve performance in the single CI conditions but did improve performance in the bilateral CI conditions. The magnitude of improvement for two CIs versus one CI in the AV condition was approximately twice that for two CIs versus one CI in the auditory condition. Conclusions Our results are consistent with previous data showing the large value of bilateral implants in a complex AV listening environment. The results indicate that the value of bilateral CIs for speech understanding is significantly underestimated in standard, auditory-only, single-speaker, test environments.
Factors associated with ABCDE bundle adherence in critically ill adults requiring mechanical ventilation: An observational design

Abstract Objective To identify factors associated with the ABCDEF bundle ( A ssess, prevent, and manage pain, B oth, spontaneous awakening and breathing trials, C hoice of sedation/analgesia, D elirium assess, prevent and manage, E arly mobility/exercise and F amily engagement/empowerment) adherence, in critically ill patients during the first 96 hours of mechanical ventilation. Design Observational study using electronic health record data. Setting 15 intensive care units located in seven community hospitals in a western United States health system. Patients 977 adult patients who were on mechanical ventilation for greater than 24 hours and admitted to an intensive care unit over six months. Measurements and main results Multiple regression analysis was used to examine factors contributing to bundle adherence while adjusting for severity of illness, days on mechanical ventilation, hospital site and time elapsed. ABCDEF bundle adherence was higher in patients on mechanical ventilation for less than 48 hours (p = 0.01), who received continuous sedation for less than 24 hours (p Conclusions Our study identified potentially modifiable factors that could improve the team’s performance of the ABCDEF bundle in patients requiring mechanical ventilation.
Reducing ER Visits and Readmissions after Head and Neck Surgery Through a Phone-based Quality Improvement Program:

Objective:Evaluate the impact of a patient phone calls and virtual wound checks within 72 hours of discharge on reducing emergency room (ER) visits and readmissions.Methods:Single arm trial with co...
A team science approach to discover novel targets for infantile spasms (IS).

Infantile spasms (IS) is a devastating epilepsy syndrome that typically begins in the first year of life. Symptoms consist of stereotypical spasms, developmental delay, and electroencephalogram (EEG) that may demonstrate Hypsarhythmia. Current therapeutic approaches are not always effective, and there is no reliable way to predict which patient will respond to therapy. Given this disorder's complexity and the potential impact of a disease-modifying approach, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) employed a "team science" approach to advance the understanding of IS pathology and explore therapeutic modalities that might lead to the development of new ways to potentially prevent spasms and Hypsarhythmia. This approach was a first-of-its-kind collaborative initiative in epilepsy. The IS initiative funded 8 investigative teams over the course of 1-3 years. Projects included the following: discovery on the basic biology of IS, discovery of novel therapeutic targets, cross-validation of targets, discovery of biomarkers, and prognosis and treatment of IS. The combined efforts of a strong investigative team led to numerous advances in understanding the neural pathways underlying IS, testing of small molecules in preclinical models of IS and generated preliminary data on potential biomarkers. Thus far, the initiative has resulted in over 19 publications and subsequent funding for several investigators. Investigators reported that the IS initiative generally affected their research positively due to its collaborative and iterative nature. It also provided a unique opportunity to mentor junior investigators with an interest in translational research. Learnings included the need for a dedicated project manager and more transparent and real-time communication with investigators. The CURE IS initiative represents a unique approach to fund scientific discoveries on epilepsy. It brought together an interdisciplinary group of investigators-who otherwise would not have collaborated-to find transformative therapies for IS. Learnings from this initiative are being utilized for subsequent initiatives at CURE.
Plasmalogen Biosynthesis by Anaerobic Bacteria: Identification of a Two-Gene Operon Responsible for Plasmalogen Production in Clostridium perfringens.

Plasmalogens are vinyl ether-containing lipids produced by mammals and bacteria. The aerobic biosynthetic pathway in eukaryotes and bacteria is known, but the anaerobic pathway has remained a mystery. Here, we describe a two-gene operon (plasmalogen synthase, pls) responsible for plasmalogen production in the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium perfringens. While aerobic plasmalogen biosynthesis involves an oxidative conversion of an ether to a vinyl ether, anaerobic plasmalogen biosynthesis uses the reductive conversion of an ester to an aldehyde equivalent. Heterologous expression of the C. perfringens pls operon in E. coli conferred the ability to produce plasmalogens. The pls operon is predicted to encode a multidomain complex similar to benzoyl-CoA reductase/hydroxylacyl-CoA dehydratase (BCR/HAD) enzymes. Versions of this operon can be found in a wide range of obligate and facultative anaerobic bacteria, including many human gut microbes.
How inflammaging diminishes adaptive immunity

Chambers et al. show that senescent skin cells in older adults provoke monocyte-dependent local inflammation in response to injury, which hampers T cell recall responses to viruses. Importantly, they further show that this phenomenon can be blocked pharmacologically to boost adaptive immunity.
Alzheimer's-like remodeling of neuronal ryanodine receptor in COVID-19

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 involves multiple organs including cardiovascular, pulmonary and central nervous system. Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 infection afflicts diverse organ systems remains challenging 1,2 . Particularly vexing has been the problem posed by persistent organ dysfunction known as "long COVID," which includes cognitive impairment 3 . Here we provide evidence linking SARS-CoV-2 infection to activation of TGF-s signaling and oxidative overload. One consequence is oxidation of the ryanodine receptor/calcium (Ca 2+ ) release channels (RyR) on the endo/sarcoplasmic (ER/SR) reticuli in heart, lung and brains of patients who succumbed to COVID-19. This depletes the channels of the stabilizing subunit calstabin2 causing them to leak Ca 2+ which can promote heart failure 4,5 , pulmonary insufficiency 6 and cognitive and behavioral defects 7-9 . Ex-vivo treatment of heart, lung, and brain tissues from COVID-19 patients using a Rycal drug (ARM210) 10 prevented calstabin2 loss and fixed the channel leak. Of particular interest is that neuropathological pathways activated downstream of leaky RyR2 channels in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients were activated in COVID-19 patients. Thus, leaky RyR2 Ca 2+ channels may play a role in COVID-19 pathophysiology and could be a therapeutic target for amelioration of some comorbidities associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A Field Guide to Social Security Distributional Analysis

A stylized example neatly and efficiently answers the question of how much Social Security benefits would change because a stylized worker’s situation is straightforward and does not require demographic or statistical knowledge to understand. However, it leaves other questions unanswered, such as how many people are like that worker and would anyone fall into poverty? To answer these types of questions, you need to use distributional analysis, which examines how something, such as income, benefits, or policy effects, is distributed across a group of people. This note describes the use of distributional analysis in Social Security policy discussions by analyzing the distributional effects of three real-life Social Security policy options.
USEVis: Visual analytics of attention-based neural embedding in information retrieval

Abstract Neural attention-based encoders, which effectively attend sentence tokens to their associated context without being restricted by long-term distance or dependency, have demonstrated outstanding performance in embedding sentences into meaningful representations (embeddings). The Universal Sentence Encoder (USE) is one of the most well-recognized deep neural network (DNN) based solutions, which is facilitated with an attention-driven transformer architecture and has been pre-trained on a large number of sentences from the Internet. Besides the fact that USE has been widely used in many downstream applications, including information retrieval (IR), interpreting its complicated internal working mechanism remains challenging. In this work, we present a visual analytics solution towards addressing this challenge. Specifically, focused on semantics and syntactics (concepts and relations) that are critical to domain clinical IR, we designed and developed a visual analytics system, i.e., USEVis. The system investigates the power of USE in effectively extracting sentences’ semantics and syntactics through exploring and interpreting how linguistic properties are captured by attentions. Furthermore, by thoroughly examining and comparing the inherent patterns of these attentions, we are able to exploit attentions to retrieve sentences/documents that have similar semantics or are closely related to a given clinical problem in IR. By collaborating with domain experts, we demonstrate use cases with inspiring findings to validate the contribution of our work and the effectiveness of our system.
Impact of Cell Culture and Copper Dose on Gene Expression in Bovine Liver

The objectives of these experiments were to investigate (1) the relative abundance of transcripts for Cu-responsive genes in whole bovine liver vs. cultured hepatocytes and (2) the influence of Cu dose on the relative abundance of transcripts for Cu-responsive genes in cultured bovine hepatocytes. Experiment 1: Liver samples were obtained immediately post-mortem from one healthy Angus steer. Half of the tissue samples were placed in RNAlater solution; the remaining half was used to isolate hepatocytes. Experiment 2: A subset of cultured hepatocytes was incubated in media containing: 0 mg/L, 0.10 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 10.0 mg/L, and 100 mg/L Cu for 1 h. Transcripts analyzed were aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), apolipoprotein A-1 (APOA1), antioxidant 1 (ATOX1), ATPase copper transporting alpha (ATP7A), ATPase copper transporting beta (ATP7B), betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT), flavin reductase (BLVRB), carbonic anhydrase II (CA2), copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase (CCS), cytochrome c oxidase copper chaperone (COX17), Cu transporter 1 (CTR1), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLUD1), glutathione synthetase (GSS), protein disulfide isomerase A3 (PDIA3), and superoxide dismutase (Cu–Zn) (SOD1). Β-Actin (ACTB) was selected as the endogenous control in both experiments. Experiment 1: Whole liver had greater (P < 0.01) relative abundance of mRNA for APOA1, ATOX1, ATP7A, ATP7B, COX17, CTR1, ALDH2, BHMT, BLVRB, CA2, GLUD1, and GSS when compared with cultured hepatocytes. Experiment 2: Copper dose impacted all identified transcripts. These results indicate that the relative abundance of Cu-responsive transcripts is different in whole vs. cultured hepatocytes and that the relative abundance of Cu-responsive genes is dependent on Cu dose in cultured hepatocytes.
ER–Golgi Transport

Secretory and membrane proteins traffic from the ER to the Golgi via COPII-coated vesicles that form via the action of five conserved coat proteins. This process is further regulated to respond to cellular and environmental conditions that permit traffic of the large diversity in form and function of cargo molecules.
Regulation of prostaglandin synthesis by thyrotropin, insulin or insulin-like growth factor-I, and serum in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells.

The present report shows that thyrotropin (TSH) regulates all three steps involved in prostaglandin synthesis in FRTL-5 rat thyroid cells, i.e. arachidonic acid release from membrane phospholipids, cyclooxygenase (prostaglandin H synthase) action, and individual prostaglandin formation; however, its action at specific steps may require the presence of, or can be duplicated by, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and/or a serum factor. Thus, TSH releases free arachidonic acid from rat FRTL-5 thyroid cells whose phospholipid fraction is radiolabeled with [3H]arachidonic acid; this action involves a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein, is not cAMP mediated, and does not require insulin or 5% serum. To quantitate TSH effects on cyclooxygenase activity and on individual prostaglandin formation, a homogenate system and a rapid reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography procedure have been developed to measure cyclooxygenase metabolites. TSH increased cyclooxygenase activity in homogenates only if the cells were also exposed to insulin, IGF-I, and/or 5% calf serum; TSH alone had no apparent effect on the activity. Maximal activation, 4-fold over basal/micrograms of DNA, took 36 h to achieve and reflected, at least in part, an increase in cyclooxygenase gene expression. Like cyclooxygenase activity, induction of prostaglandin E2 production required 2 or more factors, i.e. TSH plus insulin/IGF-I or TSH plus insulin/IGF-I plus serum. Increased production of prostaglandin D2, could, however, be detected if cells were treated with TSH alone and the TSH activity could be duplicated by insulin, IGF-I, or calf serum alone.