cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Molecular Concentration and Brightness from Fluorescence Fluctuation Data with an Electron Multiplied CCD Camera

We demonstrate the calculation of particle brightness and concentration from fluorescence-fluctuation photon-counting statistics using an electron-multiplied charge-coupled device (EMCCD) camera. This technique provides a concentration-independent measure of particle brightness in dynamic systems. The high sensitivity and highly parallel detection of EMCCD cameras allow for imaging of dynamic particle brightness, providing the capability to follow aggregation reactions in real time. A critical factor of the EMCCD camera is the presence of nonlinearity at high intensities. These nonlinearities arise due to limited capacity of the CCD well and to the analog-to-digital converter maximum range. However, we show that the specific camera we used (with a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter) has sufficient dynamic range for most microscopy applications. In addition, we explore the importance of camera timing behavior as it is affected by the vertical frame transfer speed of the camera. Although the camera has microsecond exposure time for illumination of a few pixels, the exposure time increased to milliseconds for full-field illumination. Finally, we demonstrate the ability of the technique to follow concentration changes and measure single-molecule brightness in real time in living cells.
Distribution of the Coenzyme M Pathway of Epoxide Metabolism among Ethene- and Vinyl Chloride-Degrading Mycobacterium Strains

An epoxyalkane:coenzyme M (CoM) transferase (EaCoMT) enzyme was recently found to be active in the aerobic vinyl chloride (VC) and ethene assimilation pathways of Mycobacterium strain JS60. In the present study, EaCoMT activity and genes were investigated in 10 different mycobacteria isolated on VC or ethene from diverse environmental samples. In all cases, epoxyethane metabolism in cell extracts was dependent on CoM, with average specific activities of EaCoMT between 380 and 2,910 nmol/min/mg of protein. PCR with primers based on conserved regions of EaCoMT genes from Mycobacterium strain JS60 and the propene oxidizers Xanthobacter strain Py2 and Rhodococcus strain B-276 yielded fragments (834 bp) of EaCoMT genes from all of the VC- and ethene-assimilating isolates. The Mycobacterium EaCoMT genes form a distinct cluster and are more closely related to the EaCoMT of Rhodococcus strain B-276 than that of Xanthobacter strain Py2. The incongruence of the EaCoMT and 16S rRNA gene trees and the fact that isolates from geographically distant locations possessed almost identical EaCoMT genes suggest that lateral transfer of EaCoMT among the Mycobacterium strains has occurred. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed large linear plasmids (110 to 330 kb) in all of the VC-degrading strains. In Southern blotting experiments, the strain JS60 EaCoMT gene hybridized to many of the plasmids. The CoM-mediated pathway of epoxide metabolism appears to be universal in alkene-assimilating mycobacteria, possibly because of plasmid-mediated lateral gene transfer.
The Failure of Popular Counter-Revolution in Risorgimento Italy: the Case of the Centurions, 1831–1847

In contrast to the innumerable studies of the revolutionary movement in risorgimento Italy, the popular counter-revolutionary movement has received scant attention from historians. Reasons for this neglect are not hard to find: distaste for what is perceived as a retrograde movement on behalf of a deservedly lost cause reinforces the normal tendency of historians to concentrate on the ‘winners’ rather than the ‘losers’ who by their very nature seem of less significance. That the Italian popular counter-revolution, was among the losers of history is undeniable: it did not succeed in its own time, nor did it contribute to any of the great progressive movements that transformed European society over the next century. Nonetheless, this neglect seems unjustified. To ignore a movement that had the support of a sizeable part of the Italian people – indeed, greater support at times than the risorgimento itself, which few historians would deny was the work of a small elite – can only result in a very distorted picture of nineteenth-century Italy. Moreover, to understand the development of a complex historical event such as the risorgimento, it is not sufficient to study only the winners, for the nature and weaknesses of the losers may also have played a major role in determining the outcome. This raises a fundamental question concerning the Italian counter-revolution: enjoying as it did wide popular support, why did it accomplish so little? It had its moments of triumph, but in general its record was unimpressive. Why did not this reservoir of popular support give conservatives the upper hand and abort the risorgimento? Why, in particular, did conservative governments make so little use of this apparently potent ally?
A conceptual framework for optimization and distributed intelligence

This paper presents a construct called the counting matrix as a framework for qualitative analysis of issues related to optimal strategy determination and distributed decision-making. The framework explains the No Free Lunch Theorems (NFLT) of optimization and their implications. It also leads to new results on distributed problem solving.
Design and analysis of nonlinear digital controllers-based two-level hierarchy for electric utility industry

This paper suggests a control strategy of coordinating multiple dynamic-braking units during the transients ensuing major disturbances. The control strategy considered in this study is a two-level hierarchy. The proposed two-level structure results from the decomposition of the overall problem into parallel subproblems. This allows the retention of the closed-loop controls associated with each subsystem, which together constitute the lower level (Level I). The central coordinating controller forms the upper level (Level II). The coordination of the local controllers by the central controller accounts for nonlinear terms and interconnections and yields the global optimization of the overall system transient performance. The local controllers are not dependent on one another and are robust to any changes in the network configuration, due to the feedback or closed-loop control formulation inherent in the proposed strategy. To ensure physical realizability of the local controllers, the input was restricted to locally measurable signals. The methodology was implemented in a prototype software program, which was tested on a single machine connected to a very large network approximated by an infinite bus, and then on the IEEE four-generator test system. These studies considered fault-clearing times greater than the critical, assuring an unstable condition. The well-damped optimal state and control trajectories illustrate the successful solution of the problem, indicating that the technique is a valuable tool dealing with transient control problems for large-scale systems.
Relationships of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 expression to clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer.

Nuclear matrix proteins (NMPs) are important diagnostic and prognostic markers in various human cancers. The hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 protein, a key NMP, resides in the nuclear matrix and is involved in the human TREX complex, which is required for regulation of transcription elongation, pre-RNA splicing, and mRNA export of a subset of human genes. Depletion of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 decreases growth rates in multiple cancer cell lines, and the expression levels of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 are strongly associated with tumor size and aggressiveness of several human cancers. Little is known about the expression of this protein in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its association with patients’ clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis. We evaluated hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 expression in 133 NSCLC patients by immunohistochemistry of tissue microarrays using paraffin-embedded tumor tissue and we confirmed the tissue staining by Western blot analysis. The prognostic significance of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 expression in tumor tissue was assessed by the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Expression of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 was found in 51% of patients, and was more prevalent in males than females (59% vs 43%, p = 0.07) and in blacks than whites (91% vs 48%, p = 0.009). In survival analysis, hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 expression appeared to be weakly associated with elevated risk of death among patients with stage I tumors (RR = 1.53, 95% CI = 0.85-2.77, p = 0.16), squamous cell carcinomas (RR = 1.75, 95% CI = 0.73-4.21, p = 0.21), and family histories of lung cancer (RR = 1.55, 95% CI = 0.81-2.97, p=0.18), although none of these associations was statistically significant. Thus elevated expression of hHpr1/p84/Thoc1 is common in NSCLC and may have prognostic significance in subgroups of patients. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to elucidate the role of this critical nuclear matrix protein in NSCLC prognosis.
Activation of the PKC Pathway Stimulates Ovarian Cancer Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Expression of MMP7 and MMP10

Postmenopausal women are at a higher risk of ovarian cancer due, in part, to increased levels of gonadotropins such as luteinizing hormone (LH). Gonadotropins and other stimuli are capable of activating two pathways, PKA and PKC, that are altered in ovarian cancer. To determine the role of LH on ovarian cancer, we explored the effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an LH mimic, and an activator of the PKC pathway, phorbol-12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), on ovarian cancer cell-cycle kinetics and apoptosis in Ovcar3 cells. PMA treatment increased cells in the S phase of the cell cycle and initially increased apoptosis after 4 h before diminishing apoptosis after 8 h. Treatment of ovarian cancer cells with hCG had no effect on these parameters. The PKC pathway is known to differentially regulate matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression. Results showed that ovarian cancer cells treated with PMA increased MMP7 and MMP10 mRNA levels after 8 h of treatment, and expression remained high after 12 h before decreasing at 24 h. The mRNA expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (BSG), an activator of MMPs, was unaffected by PMA. Due to the role that MMPs play in migration, we investigated the effect of PMA activation of MMPs on ovarian cancer cell migration. The use of the MMP inhibitor GM6001 blocked the increased migratory effects of PMA on ovarian cancer cells. Together, these studies show that activating the PKC pathway causes significant changes in cell cycle kinetics and selective expression of MMPs that are involved in enhancing ovarian cancer cell proliferation and migration.
Flux Development Region in Submerged Jets

Solutions are obtained for flux distribution close to submerged turbulent jet outlets. All solutions use tabulated probability functions or exponential functions. A comparison is made with momentum flux data for axisymmetric jets and a plane-symmetric jet in a coplanar flow, and agreement is shown to be good. A generalized Reichardt hypothesis is employed to obtain Gaussian distributions for the flux of mass, heat and momentum and permits superposition of elementary solutions. The analysis is presented for plane and axisymmetric flows. An adjustment to the origin of the data matches axial flux data with the mathematical model and defines a spreading coefficient, leading to a complete definition of the flux distribution. The solutions are in the form of a distorted chi-square distribution, and two distorted normal distributions. A simple solution beyond the potential core uses the axial distribution of flux to obtain the radial distribution directly. The analysis shows promise of providing straightforward solutions for free turbulent flows involving complex boundary conditions.
Frontiers and Archaeology

Although traditionally characterized by a host of diverse criteria, frontier is defined here as a transitional area, a zone of mixture and interaction, where societies meet in active competition. Recent archaeological studies have attempted to develop models of frontier adaptation, but most are incomplete because of their failure to consider the interrelationships of both intrusive and indigenous cultures. The archaeological implications of our framework of frontier dynamics can be illustrated by changes in Euro—American and Indian settlement-subsistence patterns, economics, and material culture which occurred during the European colonization of eastern North America. Frontier research also helps to bridge the boundary between prehistoric and historic archaeology, two aspects of a disciplinary continuum.
Localization of light in one-dimensional disordered photonic crystals: Statistics of resonant transmission in the band gap region

The possibility of Anderson localization of light in disordered media has been intriguing the optics community for several decades. Experimental verification of the localization phenomenon, however, turns out to be quite elusive [1]. One difficulty is a weak scattering of electromagnetic waves at both low and high frequencies. Another significant obstacle is the presence of absorption, which mimics the exponential reduction of transmission with increasing sample size, characteristic for localization, and always casts doubts on experimental claims that such a decrease is due to localization. [1] A way around the first of these difficulties was proposed by S. John [2], who suggested that by distorting randomly an originally periodic photonic structure, one can facilitate the localization of light at frequencies close to the band boundaries of the initial periodic structure. Moreover, disorder introduced in an originally periodic structure can give rise to localized states of light inside the band gaps of the initial spectrum. These states would be analogous to Lifshitz tail states in semiconductors. A method to circumvent the absorption related problems was suggested in Ref. [3], where it was proposed to measure statistical characteristics of transmitted light in order to observe the transition to localized states.
Sodium D-Line Laser Pumped by Photodissociation of Na-Xe Pairs

We report lasing on the D1 and D2 lines of sodium by photoexcitation of Na-Xe collision pairs.
A Nobel Prize in Mathematics

(1995). A Nobel Prize in Mathematics. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 102, No. 10, pp. 888-892.
NEOTROPICAL ASCOMYCETES 2. HYPSOSTROMA, A NEW GENUS FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND VENEZUELA

Two species are described in a new ascomycete genus, Hypsostroma, H. saxicola from the Dominican Republic and H. caimitalensis from Venezuela. The genus is distinguished by large, superficial ascomata clustered on a subiculum, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses and very long-stalked asci arranged in a basal fascicle in the centrum, and multiseptate, disarticulating ascospores. The species are illustrated and their affinities to other taxa are discussed. The genus has relationships in the Melanommatales. A key to loculoascomycete genera having pigmented ascospores with a germ slit is provided.
Design principles in commons science: A response to “Ostrom, Hardin and the commons” (Araral)

Within the literature on common-pool resource management, one of the primary methodologies used is the meta-analysis of case studies, due to the difficulties of otherwise producing large-n datasets that span multiple systems. In this paper we respond to a critique of a previous meta-analysis that we have conducted, in which we evaluated Elinor Ostrom’s institutional design principles. Within our response we correct what we perceive to be factual errors contained in this critique, but more importantly we try to use this opportunity to re-evaluate our own work and expand this evaluation to the seminal work of Elinor Ostrom and the research program on common-pool resource management. We find that the original critique highlighted several important points, primarily the challenge of unpacking complex variable relationships and the conflation of diverse outcomes, and we discuss how these are challenges for the larger commons field. We conclude with some comments on how to move forward to confront these challenges.
On Feasibility of AIDS Intervention Among Migrant Workers Through Village Doctors From the Origins

Objective To explore the AIDS intervention mode for migrant workers through village doctors from the origins,and provide evidence for the development and implementation of the related policies about migrant workers AIDS prevention and treatment.Methods Totally 117 migrant workers in Chaijin village of YiLong County were selected by quota sampling,and were conducted 3 months' AIDS intervention by 17 local village doctors through telephone,note,letter,etc.The AIDS related knowledge,attitude and behaviors of the migrant workers before and after intervention were compared,village doctors' opinions for the work was collected by interview,and evaluate the feasibility of this programme.Results The awareness rate of AIDS related knowledge increased from 48.7% to 95.1%(P0.01).The proportion of migrant worker's sexual behavior with non-spouse decreased from 41.0% to 23.2%(P0.01).All of the village doctors and migrant workers participated agree the mode of AIDS intervention for migrant workers by telephone,note and letter.Conclusion The mode of propaganda and behavior intervention of AIDS for migrant workers by telephone and note through village doctors from the origins is feasible and effective,can be accepted by both sides of intervention.
Developmental Parenting Home Visiting to Prevent Violence: Monitoring and Evaluating

Home-visiting programs that promote developmentally supportive parenting offer a promising means of preventing violence and aggression. A developmental parenting approach to home visiting can promote the kind of parenting that supports children’s positive early development and prevents childhood aggression. Home-visiting programs aiming to reduce aggression need to identify families at risk for violence and aggression, focus on key child and parenting outcomes to reduce this risk, and implement effective home-visiting practices to improve these outcomes. To monitor and evaluate the success of a home-visiting program, the ultimate outcomes to be tested are the developmental competence and behavior of the children, but several antecedent components should also be tested in order to examine the pathway from program to outcomes. These components, described in this chapter, include key environmental risk factors for poor development and aggressive behavior in young children, parenting behaviors that can support early development and thereby prevent aggression, and home-visiting practices that can be used to promote developmentally supportive parenting.
NEDD8 and HDACs: Promising cotargets in AML

In this issue of Blood, Zhou et al have identified synergistic in vitro and in vivo anti–acute myeloid leukemia (AML) activity of the lysine neddylation inhibitor pevonedistat and pan–histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor (pan-HDACI) belinostat and examine the mechanisms responsible for this synergistic activity.1
A Phase II Trial of a Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Panobinostat in Patients With Low-Grade Neuroendocrine Tumors

Lessons Learned Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors versus carcinoid tumors should be examined separately in clinical trials. Progression-free survival is more clinically relevant as the primary endpoint (rather than response rate) in phase II trials for low-grade neuroendocrine tumors. Background. The most common subtypes of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are pancreatic islet cell tumors and carcinoids, which represent only 2% of all gastrointestinal malignancies. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have already been shown to suppress tumor growth and induce apoptosis in various malignancies. In NET cells, HDAC inhibitors have resulted in increased Notch1 expression and subsequent inhibition of growth. We present here a phase II study of the novel HDAC inhibitor panobinostat in patients with low-grade NET.
THE CONTROL THEORETIC APPROACH TO THE ANALYSIS OF GLYCOLYTIC OSCILLATORS

Publisher Summary For the glycolytic pathway, based on the in vitro control character of the enzymes, there are a dozen mechanisms, corresponding to distinct control situations, which could account for the oscillatory dynamics. At this stage, the problem is no longer one of providing a basic understanding of biochemical oscillations, but the determination of the details that account for the oscillations in specific circumstances. The analysis and formulation of this aspect is not limited to oscillatory dynamics; the approach is just as applicable to the analysis of any dynamic response and the oscillatory kinetics provides just one example, though it is of particular interest at this time. This chapter presents the studies of the oscillating glycolytic system and discusses its utility as a basis for theoretical deductions, for the formulation of computer models and for the direct analysis of kinetic data for multi-enzyme systems in terms of the underlying properties of the individual reactions
Lisdexamfetamine Effects on Executive Activation and Neurochemistry in Menopausal Women with Executive Function Difficulties

Many women with no history of executive dysfunction report difficulties in this domain during the menopause transition. Lisdexamfetamine (LDX) has been suggested to be a safe and effective treatment option for these women. However, the mechanism by which LDX improves executive functioning in these women is not known. Here we investigated the effects of LDX on brain activation and neurochemistry, hypothesizing that LDX would be associated with increased activation and decreased glutamate in executive regions. Fourteen women underwent multimodal neuroimaging at 7T at three time points in this baseline-corrected, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Effects of LDX on symptom severity, blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) glutamate+glutamine (Glx) were measured using a clinician-administered questionnaire, fMRI during performance of a fractal n-back task, and 1H-MRS, respectively. The effect of treatment (LDX minus baseline vs placebo minus baseline) on these behavioral and neural markers of executive function was examined using repeated measures mixed effects models. LDX treatment was associated with decreased symptom severity, increased activation in the insula and DLPFC, and decreased DLPFC Glx. In addition, the magnitude of LDX-induced improvement in symptom severity predicted both direction and magnitude of LDX-induced change in insular and DLPFC activation. Moreover, symptom severity was positively correlated with Glx concentration in the left DLPFC at baseline. These findings provide novel evidence that the neural mechanisms by which LDX acts to improve self-reported executive functioning in healthy menopausal women with midlife onset of executive difficulties include modulation of insular and DLPFC recruitment as well as decrease in DLPFC Glx concentration.
Strain and dose infectivity of Vibrio parahaemolyticus: the causative agent of early mortality syndrome in shrimp

Diseases of shrimp have contributed to billions of dollars of economic loss in the aquaculture industry. Newly emerging strains of the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus produce a condition in shrimp called early mortality syndrome or acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease. Three different V. parahaemolyticus strains were evaluated for their respective pathogenicity on shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, when the bacterial strains were grown under various laboratory conditions prior to inoculating shrimp. For each trial, feed was inoculated with a known concentration of bacteria and then fed to the shrimp. The early mortality syndrome strain of V. parahaemolyticus was the most lethal resulting up to 100% mortality within 24 h after being introduced to shrimp via a single feeding. The other two strains of Vibrio, one isolated from the environment and the other from a human clinical case, resulted in 0% and 30% mortality within 96 h respectively. The concentration of the early mortality syndrome strain of V. parahaemolyticus that the shrimp were exposed to directly correlated with mortality rate, which allowed for lethal or sublethal short-term disease challenge assays to be established. Infiltration of haemocytes was also evident in the midgut caeca of shrimp infected with the early mortality syndrome strain of V. parahaemolyticus, which has not been previously reported.
HOW GROUP LENDING AFFECTS INNOVATION: EVIDENCE FROM ETHIOPIA

Microlending has become one of the primary interventions intended to alleviate poverty in the developing world. However, empirical results of the benefits of microlending have been disappointing. This article proposes the common microlending practice of group lending reduces the likelihood borrowers will engage in innovative activities, which has been demonstrated to be a key factor in improving borrower outcomes. The hypotheses proposed are tested with data collected from interviews with 340 microloan borrowers in Ethiopia. The findings are consistent with a weak sorting effect where innovative individuals are less likely to participate in group loans than individual loans, and a social pressure effect where innovative individuals taking group loans are pressured to behave less innovatively than their peers taking individual loans.
Developing Physician Migration Estimates for Workforce Models.

Objective To understand factors affecting specialty heterogeneity in physician migration. Data Sources/Study Setting Physicians in the 2009 American Medical Association Masterfile data were matched to those in the 2013 file. Office locations were geocoded in both years to one of 293 areas of the country. Estimated utilization, calculated for each specialty, was used as the primary predictor of migration. Physician characteristics (e.g., specialty, age, sex) were obtained from the 2009 file. Area characteristics and other factors influencing physician migration (e.g., rurality, presence of teaching hospital) were obtained from various sources. Study Design We modeled physician location decisions as a two-part process: First, the physician decides whether to move. Second, conditional on moving, a conditional logit model estimates the probability a physician moved to a particular area. Separate models were estimated by specialty and whether the physician was a resident. Principal Findings Results differed between specialties and according to whether the physician was a resident in 2009, indicating heterogeneity in responsiveness to policies. Physician migration was higher between geographically proximate states with higher utilization for that specialty. Conclusions Models can be used to estimate specialty-specific migration patterns for more accurate workforce modeling, including simulations to model the effect of policy changes.
Conditional adaptive Bayesian spectral analysis of nonstationary biomedical time series

Many studies of biomedical time series signals aim to measure the association between frequency-domain properties of time series and clinical and behavioral covariates. However, the time-varying dynamics of these associations are largely ignored due to a lack of methods that can assess the changing nature of the relationship through time. This article introduces a method for the simultaneous and automatic analysis of the association between the time-varying power spectrum and covariates, which we refer to as conditional adaptive Bayesian spectrum analysis (CABS). The procedure adaptively partitions the grid of time and covariate values into an unknown number of approximately stationary blocks and nonparametrically estimates local spectra within blocks through penalized splines. CABS is formulated in a fully Bayesian framework, in which the number and locations of partition points are random, and fit using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. Estimation and inference averaged over the distribution of partitions allows for the accurate analysis of spectra with both smooth and abrupt changes. The proposed methodology is used to analyze the association between the time-varying spectrum of heart rate variability and self-reported sleep quality in a study of older adults serving as the primary caregiver for their ill spouse.
Distraction of the Cranial Vault

Building on the early clinical use of distraction osteogenesis by Codivilla and Ilizarov for orthopedic limb deformities [1, 2], and its maxillofacial application by McCarthy for lengthening the mandible [3], distraction was first applied to the cranial vault in 1997 by Do Amaral and colleagues who reported their experience distracting the fronto-orbital region in seven elementary school-aged children with Apert or Crouzon syndrome, with satisfactory results [4]. The following year, Lauritzen described two cases in which cranial springs were used to achieve gradual and effective expansion of the posterior vault and a monobloc segment, respectively [5]. In 1998, Hirabayashi reported the first distraction-mediated fronto-orbital advancement (FOA) in an infant with Apert syndrome [6]. In 2002, Imai and associates described refinement of a cranial distraction protocol in 20 patients with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis [7].
Supporting the Basic Psychological Needs of Athletes with Intellectual Disabilities.

A subtheory of self-determination theory, basic needs theory (BNT), examines the ways in which social-environmental factors interact with athletes' physical and psychological wellness. When the three psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) identified in BNT are met in a sport setting, athletes' perceptions of well-being and motivation can be predicted to rise. Despite extensive research focused on the basic psychological needs of neurotypical athletes, little research has been conducted to investigate the role of sport participation in the self-concept and perceived competency of people with intellectual disabilities. In an effort to begin to fill this knowledge gap, this article presents an overview of the psychological needs identified in BNT, as well as suggestions for ways in which coaches of athletes with intellectual disabilities can support their athletes' feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness.
A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Unintended Prolonged Opioid Use

An urgent need exists to better understand the transition from short-term opioid use to unintended prolonged opioid use (UPOU). The purpose of this work is to propose a conceptual framework for understanding UPOU that posits the influence of 3 principal domains that include the characteristics of (1) individual patients, (2) the practice environment, and (3) opioid prescribers. Although no standardized method exists for developing a conceptual framework, the process often involves identifying corroborative evidence, leveraging expert opinion to identify factors for inclusion in the framework, and developing a graphic depiction of the relationships between the various factors and the clinical problem of interest. Key patient characteristics potentially associated with UPOU include (1) medical and mental health conditions; (2) pain etiology; (3) individual affective, behavioral, and neurophysiologic reactions to pain and opioids; and (4) sociodemographic factors. Also, UPOU could be influenced by structural and health care policy factors: (1) the practice environment, including the roles of prescribing clinicians, adoption of relevant practice guidelines, and clinician incentives or disincentives, and (2) the regulatory environment. Finally, characteristics inherent to clinicians that could influence prescribing practices include (1) training in pain management and opioid use; (2) personal attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs regarding the risks and benefits of opioids; and (3) professionalism. As the gatekeeper to opioid access, the behavior of prescribing clinicians directly mediates UPOU, with the 3 domains interacting to determine this behavior. This proposed conceptual framework could guide future research on the topic and allow plausible hypothesis-based interventions to reduce UPOU.
A production allocation framework for natural gas production systems

Abstract Production planning in upstream natural gas production systems is a unique challenge due to the multiproduct network, nonlinear pressure-flowrate relationships in the wells and the trunkline network, and production-sharing contracts (PSC) and operational rules. A nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model of the upstream production system including all the features described above is formulated and applied to a real-world case study in Malaysia. The model is solved with GAMS/BARON and a hierarchical multiobjective case study is presented.
Monitoring of Spine Surgery with Evoked Potentials

Several patterns of changes in SSEP and their correlation to postoperative neurologic function have been observed during surgery on the spine. Most of these changes are gradual in evolution, occurring in relation to distraction or other specific operative manipulations, and gradually resolve without neurologic sequelae. As these changes may develop gradually, it is thus important to continue monitoring until the patient is awake. These gradual changes in SSEP may also be caused by ischemia of the spinal cord or of peripheral nerves, as is observed during surgery on the thoracic or abdominal aorta. Less frequently, SSEP change abruptly, usually due to vascular injury, contusion of the spinal cord, or compression of the spinal cord by an epidural or subdural hematoma. When abrupt loss of SSEP occur, an attempt should be made to localize the site of injury using either epidural or direct spinal electrodes and to carefully inspect that site for the presence of hematomas or for other potentially reversible causes of spinal cord injury. Unfortunately, when the loss of SSEP is abrupt and nonreversible, postoperative paraplegia is likely to occur. When improvement in the SSEP occurs intraoperatively it is usually associated with improved neurological status postoperatively. However, a postoperative motor deficit can occur without an associated change in intraoperative SSEP. This can be caused by an anterior spinal artery syndrome or by direct injury to the ventral spinal cord, anterior horn cells, or nerve roots. Methods to monitor central and peripheral motor pathways are currently being developed. At present, the use of motor evoked potentials during surgery remains to be fully defined.
Modification of Oil–Water Interfaces by Surfactant-Stabilized Carbon Nanotubes

In this research, simulation results for using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to deliver surfactants to an oil–water interface are reported. Two different surfactants were considered, the anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the nonionic octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E8). The surfactants were first allowed to adsorb on the CNT surface in an aqueous environment. It was found that the capacities of SDS and C12E8 to adsorb on the CNT were 2.62 and 2.43 molecules/nm2, respectively. The electrostatic effect of the anionic surfactant and the steric effect of the nonionic surfactant negatively affected the adsorption process. On the oil–water interface, the surfactant molecules quickly desorbed from the CNT to distribute on the interface, leading to the reduction of the oil–water interfacial tension. At a low surfactant concentration, the CNT also remained on the interface, reducing further the interfacial tension. When the surfactant interfacial concentration reached the value corresponding to the bulk...
Evaluation of a Computerized Insulin Dosing Tool for the Treatment of Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

Purpose:Computerized insulin dosing tools (CIDT) have been shown to improve the care of critically ill patients with hyperglycemia. Application of a CIDT in addition to a diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA...
Family Stress Moderates Emotional and Behavioral Symptoms in a Child Partial Hospital Setting

Partial hospitalization programs are an increasingly utilized, multidisciplinary treatment for children with social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Although previous work suggests these programs improve children’s mental health functioning, outcomes research has been limited. This study examines moderators of emotional and behavioral outcomes in children with serious mental illness, with particular focus on demographic (age, race, insurance type, and gender) and family (stressors and supports) factors. The study includes 287 children ages 7–13. Children completed standardized questionnaires at admission and discharge including the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 the Child Depression Inventory 2, and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders while caregivers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results indicate improvements in children’s anxiety, depressive symptoms, psychological adjustment, and emotional symptoms. Furthermore, children with private insurance reported significant decreases in depressive (p < 0.001) and emotional symptoms (p< 0.001) compared to children with state funded insurance. Females reported sharper decreases in depressive symptoms (p< 0.001) compared to males (p= 0.019). Finally, children in families with no stressors in the past month demonstrated sharper declines in depressive symptoms (p< 0.001) compared to children in families with one or more stressors in the past month (p= 0.001). Family support did not moderate these outcomes. This study suggests partial hospitalization programs may be effective in improving emotional and behavioral problems. This study suggests family stressors are important to consider and emphasize in treatment.
On the Ending of Buster Keaton's The General

Buster Keaton's “The General” is widely considered among the greatest film comedies of all time. Yet there continues to be dispute about how to interpret its ending. This essay critiques a recent a...
A neural circuit model for a contextual association task inspired by recommender systems

Behavioral data shows that humans and animals have the capacity to learn rules of associations applied to specific examples, and generalize these rules to a broad variety of contexts. This article focuses on neural circuit mechanisms to perform a context-dependent association task that requires linking sensory stimuli to behavioral responses and generalizing to multiple other symmetrical contexts. The model uses neural gating units that regulate the pattern of physiological connectivity within the circuit. These neural gating units can be used in a learning framework that performs low-rank matrix factorization analogous to recommender systems, allowing generalization with high accuracy to a wide range of additional symmetrical contexts. The neural gating units are trained with a biologically inspired framework involving traces of Hebbian modification that are updated based on the correct behavioral output of the network. This modeling demonstrates potential neural mechanisms for learning context-dependent association rules and for the change in selectivity of neurophysiological responses in the hippocampus. The proposed computational model is evaluated using simulations of the learning process and the application of the model to new stimuli. Further, human subject behavioral experiments were performed and the results validate the key observation of a low-rank synaptic matrix structure linking stimuli to responses.
SimdHT-Bench: Characterizing SIMD-Aware Hash Table Designs on Emerging CPU Architectures*

With the emergence of modern multi-core CPU architectures that support data parallelism via vectorization, several storage systems have been employing SIMD-based techniques to optimize data-parallel operations on in-memory structures like hash-tables. In this paper, we perform an in-depth characterization of the opportunities for incorporating AVX vectorization-based SIMD-aware designs for hash table lookups on emerging CPU architectures. We analyze the challenges and design dimensions involved in exploiting vectorization-based parallel key searching over cache-optimized non-SIMD hash tables. Based on this, we design a comprehensive micro-benchmark suite, SimdHT-Bench, that enables evaluating the performance and applicability of CPU SIMD-aware hash table designs for accelerating different read-intensive workloads. With SimdHT-Bench, we study five different use-case scenarios with varied workload patterns, on the latest Intel Skylake and Intel Cascade Lake multi-core CPU nodes. Further, to validate the applicability of SimdHT-Bench, we employ these performance studies to design a high-performance SIMD-aware RDMA-based in-memory key-value store to accelerate the Memcached ‘Multi-Get’ workload. We demonstrate that the SIMD-integrated designs can achieve up to 1.45x-2.04x improvement in server-side Get throughput and up to 34% improvement in end-to-end Multi-Get latencies over the state-of-the-art CPU-optimized non-SIMD MemC3 hash table design, on a high-performance compute cluster with Intel Skylake processors and InfiniBand EDR interconnects.
Post-Cardiac Transplant Lymphocytic Thyroiditis Secondary to Amiodarone Use in the Pre-Transplant Period

Purpose Amiodarone is a commonly used anti-arrhythmic medication for atrial and ventricular arrhythmias in end-stage heart failure. Due to heavy iodine content, amiodarone is implicated in a variety of thyroid disorders, which could lead to adverse outcomes in cardiac transplant (CT) patients. Data on the development of post-CT lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) in patients with pre-CT amiodarone use is limited. We aimed to study the development of amiodarone-induced LT in CT patients in a tertiary care transplant center in the United States. Methods We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who underwent CT from 03/2010 to 10/2018 (N=137) at our center. 11 patients were excluded (10 = lack of pre-CT records, 1 = pre-transplant LT). The final cohort (N=126) was divided into two groups- those who developed post-CT LT vs. those who didn't. Baseline characteristics were compared between the groups, and predictors of post-CT LT were identified using regression modeling on Stata 15.0. Results Mean age of the cohort was 55.9 years, 80 % were men and 89 % were Caucasians. Incidence of post-CT LT was 10.3 % and mean time from transplant to the diagnosis of LT was 26.9 months. Patients who developed LT were similar in demographics as well as clinical characteristics but had significantly higher use of amiodarone (53.8 % vs 25.7 %, p=0.03), higher dose of amiodarone (343 mg vs 252 mg, p=0.049) and lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (10.9 % vs 16.6 %, p=0.03) before transplant (Table 1). On univariate regression analysis, use of amiodarone [OR (p) = 3.4 (0.04)], African-American race [OR (p) = 4.4 (0.05)] and lower LVEF [OR (p) = 0.89 (0.046)] predicted post-CT LT. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study examining the incidence of post-CT LT secondary to amiodarone use in the pre-transplant period. The incidence of LT in our study was 10.3 % and was associated with pre-transplant amiodarone use, underpinning the importance of recognizing this side effect of amiodarone in the post-CT period.
Teaching Undergraduate Software Engineering: Xcode Mobile App Development during Dedicated Lab Periods

The focus of this study is to explore the CS 4204 Software Engineering dedicated lab period accompanying traditional lectures. iPhone mobile app development took place using the industry standard Apple Xcode IDE and the Swift programming language in a Mac lab. Tutorials that built upon each other were assigned to students, leading to a culminating project. The labs were designed with the intent of helping students put software engineering theory into practice during mobile app development. Student perceptions and lab maintenance issues were discussed. Overall, faculty concluded that the added lab periods were beneficial for students.
From Pan to Homo sapiens : evolution from individual based to group based forms of social cognition

The evolution from pre-human primates to modern Homo sapiens is a complex one involving many domains, ranging from the material to the social to the cognitive, both at the individual and the community levels. This article focuses on a critical qualitative transition that took place during this evolution involving both the social and the cognitive domains. For the social domain, the transition is from the face-to-face forms of social interaction and organization that characterize the non-human primates that reached, with Pan, a hiatus due to the centripetal effects that highly individualized behavior has on a social system. The transition is to the relation-based forms of social organization that evolved in the hominins ancestral to Homo sapiens and are universal in human societies today. For the cognitive domain, this transition involves going from behavior responding mainly to phenomenal level sensory inputs to behavior formed in accordance with the concept of a relation, initially abstracted from behavior patterns, then extending the concept of a relation beyond abstraction from behavior patterns to the concept of a relation generated recursively through constructing the relation of a relation. This extension made possible the construction of systems of relations; initially genealogical systems of relations constructed culturally using the logic of recursion, and subsequently, the symbolic, computational systems of kin term relations referred to by anthropologists as kinship terminologies. The latter are “constructed realities” in the sense this term is used by cultural anthropologists. It follows that the evolution of relation-based systems of social interaction is not adequately accounted for through population model evolutionary accounts such as the Dual Inheritance Theory of human evolution since “constructed realities” constitute collectively and publicly shared cultural knowledge rather than the individually and privately possessed knowledge that is assumed in the population model framework for human evolution.
Exploring the Enacted Computing Curriculum in K-12 Schools in South Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

Efforts to bring computer science to all, particularly in primary and secondary schools, have been unfolding at rapid rates in countries designated as high income economies. Little is known, however, about efforts in middle and even less in low income nations, since the majority of computing education research focuses on high income nations. In this study, we provide context for computing education research in high, middle, and low income countries. We then provide background on K-12 computing education across four countries within one geographic region, South Asia, in which limited research on computing education exists. To gauge what types of enacted curriculum are taught in the classrooms, we modified an existing instrument (MEasuring TeacheR Enacted Curriculum (METRECC)) to meet the culture and current educational climate of these countries. Before trialing the METRECC South Asia instrument, we modified it based on our cultural knowledge of the countries, then acquired feedback from two professionals in South Asia and modified the instrument again based on their input. We then trialed this instrument across two countries. Based on the results and the face validity performed on the instrument, we consider METRECC South Asia to be ready for larger scale usage with recommendations for a broader study. In addition, we consider the role and importance of computing education research in low income countries in order to support the beliefs and values of the CS for All movement.
Real-world Drivers Behind Communication, Medication Adherence, and Shared Decision Making In Minority Adults with Asthma.

Background:Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the foundation of asthma management. However, ICS non-adherence is common. Black adults have lower ICS adherence than white adults, which likely contrib...
Patient-Specific Patch for an Intra-Atrial Rerouting Procedure Developed Through Surgical Simulation.

Background:In pediatric cardiac surgery, an application of three-dimensional (3D) modeling to develop custom-made prostheses is limited, and currently surgeons use their intraoperative visual estim...