cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Uses of Public Corporations and Public Enterprises

Part of the redesign of the institutional architecture of government which took place after World War II was the creation of a structure of government corporations at the national level and public enterprises at the local government level. This development was in part a recognition of the fact that the existing standard administrative structures were weak and needed rapid reinforcement, but there was also a deliberate sense that such standard bureaucracies were not necessarily the best instruments for the execution of certain public purposes where operational efficiency was a major concern. At the same time, few could predict the exceedingly rapid growth and enormous success of Japanese industry and commerce, and public corporations were seen as a necessary way for government to forge ahead in areas where the private sector, for various reasons, was not expected to develop adequately.
Introduction: The Twilight Realms of Consciousness

Romanticism has a philosophical basis which must be understood if we are to read its works intelligently. We shall examine the indispensable elements of this world view and their relations in the following chapters, but we may begin by stressing the Romantic passion for unity, a lively unity within a rich diversity. A potential unity of purpose, for example, of literature, philosophy, science, religion and mythology provided a motive and energy for much Romantic speculation and aspiration. The celebration of imagination and symbol as synthesising powers capable of reconciling oppositions and producing continually novel combinations may be understood in relation to this powerful drive towards comprehensiveness, Coleridge’s multeity in unity. A preoccupation with unity seems to be connected with a preference for idealism. Romantic systems of thought were also, therefore, dominated by a persistent and pervasive strain of idealism and an elitist psychology which emphasised the self-consciousness of exceptional men, who were also thought to be capable of drawing from profound layers of unconscious thought.
Laser-directed “bubble-pen” for nanoparticle patterning

We develop a new technique — bubble-pen lithography — to pattern colloidal particles on the plasmonic substrate in arbitrary architecture using optically controlled microbubbles.
Effect of a Long-Term Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on Cognitive Function: Action for Health in Diabetes Study

Objectives To assess whether randomization to 10 years of lifestyle intervention to induce and maintain weight loss improves cognitive function. Design Randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting Data obtained as part of the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) trial (NCT00017953) and Look AHEAD Continuation study (U01 DK057136-15). Participants Overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 45 to 76 (N = 3,751). Intervention Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) for weight loss through reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity compared with a control condition of diabetes support and education (DSE). Measurements Certified examiners who were masked to intervention assignment administered a standard battery of cognitive function tests (Modified Mini-Mental State Examination, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Digit Symbol Coding, Trail-Making Test, Modified Stroop Color-Word Test) to participants 10 to 13 years after enrollment. Results Assignment to lifestyle intervention was not associated with significantly different overall (P = .10) or domain-specific (all P > .10) cognitive function than assignment to diabetes support and education. Results were fairly consistent across prespecified groups, but there was some evidence of trends for differential intervention effects showing modest harm in ILI in participants with greater body mass index and in individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease. Cognitive function was not associated with changes in weight or fitness (all P > .05). Conclusion A long-term behavioral weight loss intervention for overweight and obese adults with diabetes mellitus was not associated with cognitive benefit. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00017953.
Adjuvant radiotherapy is not supported in patients with verrucous carcinoma of the oral cavity.

Objective To analyze the impact of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) on overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with verrucous carcinoma (VC) as compared to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity. Study Design Cross-sectional population analysis. Methods Cases of nonmetastatic VC/SCC of the oral cavity were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (1988–2013). Kaplan-Meier survivals, stratified according to T stage, were compared between VC and SCC for treatment with or without adjuvant RT. Results A total of 18,819 VC/SCC cases were identified. There were 581 (3.1%) VC (mean age 69.6 years, 48.9% female) versus 18,238 (97.0%) SCC (mean age, 65.3, 37.1% female) patients. Verrucous carcinoma patients receiving surgery alone (N = 539) demonstrated a trend toward improved OS versus VC patients receiving surgery and RT (N = 40) (117.0 vs. 71.4 months, respectively, P = 0.119). There was a statistically significant improvement in DSS in VC patients receiving surgery alone (217.2 vs. 110.9 months, P = 0.05). Verrucous carcinoma patients treated with adjuvant RT demonstrated a trend toward a worse OS (71.4 vs. 93.0 months, P = 0.992) and DSS (110.9 vs. 162.3 months, P = 0.275) compared to SCC treated with adjuvant RT, suggesting a different biology and radiosensitivity between VC and SCC. Conclusion Verrucous carcinoma treated with adjuvant RT had a worse OS and DSS compared to both VC treated with surgery alone and SCC treated with surgery and adjuvant RT. Consideration should be given to surgical re-section rather than adjuvant RT in patients with positive margins or local recurrence. Level of Evidence 2C. Laryngoscope, 127:1334–1338, 2017
An Insider/Outsider In México

Movement required to “cross into” the Central Valley of Jalisco where I was introduced to and got to know fathers, mothers and children as I spent time with them in their homes, schools and other spaces I visited.
Visual Cortex in Humans

published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution’s administrator. All other uses, reproduction and distribution, including without limitation commercial reprints, selling or licensing copies or access, or posting on open internet sites, your personal or institution’s website or repository, are prohibited. For exceptions, permission may be sought for such use through Elsevier's permissions site at: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissionusematerial Wandell B A, Dumoulin S O and Brewer A A (2009) Visual Cortex in Humans. In: Squire LR (ed.) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, volume 10, pp. 251-257. Oxford: Academic Press.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF BOUNDED RATIONALITY USING DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS1

Dimensional analysis is a method used in the design and analysis of experiments in the physical and engineering sciences. When a functional relation between variables is hypothesized, dimensional analysis can be used to check the completeness of the relation and to reduce the number of experimental variables. The approach is extended to include dimensions pertaining to cognitive processes so that it can be used in the design of multi-person experiments. The proposed extension is demonstrated by applying it to a single decisionmaker experiment already completed; new results from that experiment are described. It is then applied to the design of a multi-person experiment.
Government career interests, perceptions of fit, and degree orientations: Exploring their relationship in public administration graduate programs

Scholars have long suggested that the degree orientations of public administration programs were related to the attitudes and behaviors of students, even though empirical research had failed to con...
Pathways and places associated with nonindigenous aquatic species introductions in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Propagule pressure (i.e., the frequency and abundance of introductions) is a common indicator of the likelihood of nonindigenous aquatic species (NAS) establishment success. Evaluating propagule pressure associated with multiple introduction pathways relative to present NAS distribution patterns may identify which pathway presents the greatest risk. Our objective was to develop and evaluate three geospatial metrics for the Laurentian Great Lakes as proxies of propagule pressure associated with three major introduction pathways: maritime commerce, organisms in trade, and water recreation. Logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted between NAS presence and introduction pathway intensity (e.g., number of vessel trips received by a port) for 23 NAS over a five-decade period (1970 - 2013). Notably, city population size was the best predictor of NAS presence, even for NAS introduced through ballast water discharge. Moreover, through time, city population size was an increasingly significant predictor of the presence of organisms in trade, signaling a change in both the types of organisms introduced and places where introductions are occurring. Nonetheless, all three metrics are reasonable proxies for propagule pressure and as such are applicable for risk assessment, monitoring, and control strategies.
Minimally-invasive non-surgical periodontal therapy.

Periodontitis is a complex disease that has both oral and systemic consequences. The treatment of periodontitis may be both surgical and non-surgical but, in recent years, there has been a shift towards managing disease non-surgically in preference to surgery. Fundamental to all types of therapy is the patient's role in disease control, in the form of self-performed plaque control, and it is important that the patient understands this. Non-surgical periodontal therapy has a long history and has traditionally been carried out using a variety of hand and powered instruments, the objective being root surface disinfection by the removal of plaque, calculus and contaminated root cementum. However, over the last 30 years or so, it has become apparent that calculus does not cause disease, cementum does not become significantly infected and bacteria and their toxins are only loosely adherent to the diseased root surface. This has led to the development of less invasive instrumentation principles which may be bett...
BREATHING | Breathing in the Newborn

The complex physiology of breathing in the newborn has important developmental and maturational aspects. Early in fetal life the respiratory system and controllers respond to intrauterine stimuli (PaCO2PaCO2, PaO2PaO2, and lung inflation). The complex network of control of breathing can be summarized into three basic components: (1) controllers, (2) effectors, and (3) sensors. At birth a multitude of inputs are responsible for initiation of rhythmic ventilation, and adaptation of the pulmonary circulation to extrauterine life. The normal physiology of breathing in the newborn is affected by posture, sleep state, and gestational age. Pathophysiological aspects of breathing in the newborn can be divided into: (1) fetal − pathologies that occur during fetal life and ultimately result in abnormal lung development, (2) immediate postnatal − events that occur primarily as a result of poor or abnormal transition to extrauterine life, and (3) neonatal − events occurring in the neonatal period that lead to intrinsic lung disease or deranged control of breathing such as apnea. This article emphasizes the general importance of understanding the influence of age, posture, sleep state, and maturation on breathing in the newborn, and provides a general overview of these. Paramount to the interpretation of normative and study data is the understanding of the influence of these factors.
Coexistence of functional and object-oriented paradigms

"Objects-first" is a popular teaching approach in CS1/2 courses, particularly those designed around the Java programming language. Recently, theory-based criticisms of this approach have been used at some noteworthy universities to justify delaying object orientation to second year courses in favor of functional-based introductory curricula, and even treating object orientation as an optional advanced topic. In this paper we present a case for adopting a co-existential approach between object-orientation and functional programming based on the view that development of "computational thinking" skills should be a fundamental goal of CS1/2 courses. Towards this end, a tight relationship between ML and Java is explored and examined by means of several illustrative examples.
Abstracts From the Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) and Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO).

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) and the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO), “Signs of Progress in Women'...
Collaborative partnerships: writing in the engineering classroom (using undergraduate course assistants from the english department to improve the writing skills of engineering students)

Teaching effective communication skills to engineering students, especially first year students in large classes, can be a time-consuming, labor-intensive endeavor. This paper describes an instructional system that employs undergraduate course assistants (UCA's) from the liberal arts college, typically the English department, to promote effective written communication skills of freshman engineering students. The paper presents information from an interactive session held at FIE 2004 and a case study of a program that has been used successfully at our university and which can serve as a template to create a similar learning experience in other institutions. The key component of this system is the training program for the UCA's. It has been observed that, by incorporating the use of UCA's into the engineering classroom, especially in Freshman Programs, the written communication skills of engineering students can be improved without increasing the workload of the primary instructor
Toward data-enabled process optimization of deformable electronic polymer-based devices

The development of new material systems is often an exercise in multi-objective optimization with an insurmountable number of design variables. Experiments generally rely on Edisonian approaches that only focus on a small segment of the total design space. The rise of materials informatics approaches provides a new paradigm to advance materials development but requires accurate descriptions of complex experimental data that are often unstandardized and incomplete. The field of deformable polymer-based electronic devices is an example system requiring desirable electrical and mechanical properties. In this article, advancements in the fabrication of deformable devices are presented with emphasis on process-structure-property relationships of the active, conjugated semiconducting polymer layer. Progress on materials informatics applied to experimental systems is then presented. Holistic, systematic approaches that encompass all data in a uniform and standard format provide an opportunity to rapidly advance materials development.
Investigating the deformation mechanisms of a highly metastable high entropy alloy using in-situ neutron diffraction

Abstract The present study correlates the effect of enhanced metastability on both the well-understood γ-f.c.c. stacking fault energy (SFE) and deformation mechanisms in the e-h.c.p. phase of a metastable high entropy alloy (HEA). The SFE of a Fe40Mn20Cr15Co20Si5 alloy (CS-HEA) was experimentally determined to be ∼6.31 mJ m−2 using in-situ neutron diffraction. The relatively low-measured SFE of the CS-HEA results in a high fraction of the e-h.c.p. phase (58 %) triggering significant stress partitioning to e-h.c.p. and a marginal fraction of γ-f.c.c. → e-h.c.p. transformation (∼25 %). The e-h.c.p. phase accommodated a significant amount of strain marked by the large stress-induced decrease of c/a ratio (from ∼1.619 to 1.588), which was accompanied by activation of non-basal deformation modes, such as deformation twinning and pyramidal slip. Using in-situ neutron diffraction, we show by decreasing SFE and stabilization of large fractions of e-h.c.p., activation of non-basal deformation modes are responsible for high work hardenability in absence of significant γ-f.c.c. → e-h.c.p. transformation.
Mycosis fungoides: developments in incidence, treatment and survival

BACKGROUND Prior studies have demonstrated improved disease-specific survival of mycosis fungoides (MF) patients over the last 50 years. OBJECTIVE To analyse patterns of survival and incidence from 1973 to 2016 and determine whether apparent improvements in MF-specific survival are due to lead-time bias rather than improvements in treatment. METHODS We performed an analysis of 10 155 patients diagnosed with MF from 1973 to 2016 in the United States cancer registries of SEER-18. We also performed a literature review of papers including stage data for unselected populations of MF patients prior to 2000. RESULTS Incidence of MF increased from 3.0 per million person-years in the 1970s to 5.9 in the 2010s. For all cohorts, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (including MF) was the leading cause of death. Survival analysis demonstrated marked improvement in disease-specific and overall survival from the 1970s to 2010s. Based on systematic review of the literature, 32%-73% of patients diagnosed prior to 2000 were diagnosed with early-stage disease, as opposed to 81% of patients in the SEER 2000-2016 cohort (P < 0.035 for all cohorts). CONCLUSIONS Although there have been improvements in MF-related survival over the last 50 years, these may reflect improvements in our ability to diagnose early-stage disease rather than improved treatment.
A viral guide RNA delivery system for CRISPR-based transcriptional activation and heritable targeted DNA demethylation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract Plant RNA viruses are used as delivery vectors for their high level of accumulation and efficient spread during virus multiplication and movement. Utilizing this concept, several viral-based guide RNA delivery platforms for CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing have been developed. The CRISPR-Cas9 system has also been adapted for epigenome editing. While systems have been developed for CRISPR-Cas9 based gene activation or site-specific DNA demethylation, viral delivery of guide RNAs remains to be developed for these purposes. To address this gap we have developed a tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-based single guide RNA delivery system for epigenome editing in Arabidopsis thaliana. Because tRNA-like sequences have been shown to facilitate the cell-to-cell movement of RNAs in plants, we used the tRNA-guide RNA expression system to express guide RNAs from the viral genome to promote heritable epigenome editing. We demonstrate that the tRNA-gRNA system with TRV can be used for both transcriptional activation and targeted DNA demethylation in Arabidopsis. We achieved up to ~8% heritability of the induced demethylation phenotype in the progeny of virus inoculated plants. We did not detect the virus in the next generation, indicating effective clearance of the virus from plant tissues. Thus, TRV delivery, combined with a specific tRNA-gRNA architecture, provides for fast and effective epigenome editing. Author summary The discovery of CRISPR-CAS9 and its non-catalytic variants have provided enormous capacity for crop improvement and basic research by modifying the genome and the epigenome. The standard methods for delivering genome and epigenome editing reagents to plants consist of generating stable transgenic lines through tissue culture processes, which have several drawbacks including the need for plant regeneration and crossing. To overcome some of these challenges, plant virus-based platforms are being developed for genome editing. Although viruses have a limited cargo capacity, limiting the use of viruses to encode entire editing systems, guide RNAs have been successfully delivered to transgenic CAS9 expressing plants for genome editing. However, the use of viruses for CRISPR-based epigenome editing and transcriptional activation have not yet been explored. In this study we show that viral delivery of guide RNAs using a modified tobacco rattle virus can be used for transcriptional activation and heritable epigenome editing. This study advances the use of plant RNA viruses as delivery agents for epigenome editing.
Personality change during substance use disorder treatment is associated with improvements in abstinence self-efficacy post-treatment among U.S. military veterans.

Prior research suggests that personality traits change during substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. However, the extent to which changes in traits during SUD treatment are associated with subsequent improvements in treatment outcomes remains untested. Among U.S. military veterans (n = 200) enrolled in SUD residential treatment, we examined whether changes in the personality factors of positive emotionality (PEM), negative emotionality (NEM), and constraint (CON) during treatment were associated with subsequent changes in abstinence self-efficacy and SUD symptoms. We analyzed data at treatment entry, discharge, and 12-months post-discharge via univariate and bivariate latent change score models. During treatment, PEM, CON, and abstinence self-efficacy increased, while NEM decreased, on average. Changes in NEM and CON were largely sustained, whereas PEM and abstinence self-efficacy significantly decreased post-treatment. SUD symptoms decreased from pre- to post-treatment. In bivariate models, higher levels of NEM at baseline were associated with less improvement in both abstinence self-efficacy during treatment and SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment. Higher levels of CON at baseline were associated with greater improvement in SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment, and increases in CON during treatment were associated with greater retention of treatment gains in abstinence self-efficacy post-treatment. Greater improvements in CON during treatment were also associated with greater improvements in SUD symptoms pre- to post-treatment in unadjusted (p = 0.041) but not adjusted models (p = 0.089). Our findings suggest that personality changes marked by improvements in impulse control over the course of SUD treatment may be linked to subsequent improvements in treatment outcomes and may have value as a proximal treatment target among SUD patients during residential care.
NFL total quarter back rating (QBR) is not decreased following sport related concussion injury

Our hypothesis was that NFL quarterbacks, due to the high-risk nature of the position and social and financial pressures to return to play following SRC, return to play prematurely and, thus, their on-field performance suffers due to the nature of their injury. This study was a case–control study of a retrospective cohort of all NFL quarterbacks who were placed on the injury report for a concussion from 2006 to 2019. The data were compiled using publicly available information extracted from NFL transactions. Reportable injuries were based on the criteria that the injury necessitated a team physician referral or emergent care and resulted in scheduled team practice time being missed. Athletes injured in the pre-season or athletes who were injured and did not return to play during the regular were excluded from the study. There were 4 quarterbacks included in the study who suffered repeated concussions during separate seasons; repeated concussion in the same player was treated as two different data points. No quarterback included suffered multiple concussions within the same season. All active NFL quarterbacks injured during a regular season game were eligible for inclusion as age-matched controls. Quarterbacks included in the concussion injury cohort were excluded from the control group. The MEDCALC case–control matching procedure was used to randomly match cases and controls with a 1:1 allocation ratio, respectively, based on age (matching). There was no significant difference in age at injury, years in the NFL when injured, and weeks missed due to injury between the concussion and control groups. There was no statistically significant difference between average season QBR and weekly QBR for the first 6 weeks following return to play after an injury when comparing the concussion to control group. QBR in NFL quarterbacks’ did not decrease in the weeks returning from concussion when compared with age-matched control group. This finding was contrary to our hypothesis and suggests that a quarterback’s functional skill is not significantly affected by an SRC incident by the time he returns to play. Level III prognostic study, case–control study.
Does Online Training Work in Retail

Problem definition: How much, if at all, does training in product features increase a sales associate’s sales productivity? Academic/practical relevance: A knowledgeable retail sales associate (SA)...
Single-cell genome sequencing of protozoan parasites.

Despite considerable genetic variation within hosts, most parasite genome sequencing studies focus on bulk samples composed of millions of cells. Analysis of bulk samples is biased toward the dominant genotype, concealing cell-to-cell variation and rare variants. To tackle this, single-cell sequencing approaches have been developed and tailored to specific host–parasite systems. These are allowing the genetic diversity and kinship in complex parasite populations to be deciphered and for de novo genetic variation to be captured. Here, we outline the methodologies being used for single-cell sequencing of parasitic protozoans, such as Plasmodium and Leishmania spp., and how these tools are being applied to understand parasite biology.
Abstract 460: Novel breast cancer biomarker in liquid biopsies and its immune regulatory role

The discovery of a feasible and specific biomarkers is required for early detection of breast cancer. Breast cancer secretes microvesicles (MV) in large quantities to blood circulation to communicate with distant cells such as immune cells to support tumor growth and prepare the metastatic niche. Our recent studies detected a specific peptide from the a2 isoform vacuolar ATPase (a2NTD) as a component of the MV of breast cancer cells and not from MV of normal mammary epithelial cells. a2NTD expression positively correlates with the invasiveness of breast cancer cells, modulates immune cells, and promotes tumor growth, and metastasis. Detection of a2NTD in liquid biopsies and determination of its regulatory role will offer a feasible and specific biomarker for breast cancer. We revealed that a2NTD were highly expressed in exosomes isolated from plasma of breast cancer patients (BC-Ex) in comparison to isolated exosomes from normal donors (N-Ex). BC-Ex induces the gene expression and the secretion of cancer promoting factors from PBMCs such as IL-8, MCP-1, TNF-α and MMP-9 relative to vehicle control or N-Ex. Angiogenesis assay showed that secreted factors from BC-Ex treated PBMCs promote tube formation in HUVEC cell line. In addition, treatment of whole blood from healthy volunteers with MDA MB-231 MV or recombinant a2NTD drives the neutrophil transition from high density neutrophils (HDN) to Low density neutrophils (LDN). Flow cytometrical analysis showed that LDN possess the PMN-MDSCs markers CD11b+ CD15+ CD14- CD33- HLA-DR-. In addition, a2NTD treatment was associated with decreased internal staining of Arg-1 in neutrophils and the release of Arg-1 suggesting that a2NTD reprograms neutrophils to have immunosuppressive phenotype. Together, this data shows that a2NTD can be a potential predictor of the growth and metastasis of breast cancer. Citation Format: Safaa A. Ibrahim, Valerie Riehl, Kenneth D. Beaman. Novel breast cancer biomarker in liquid biopsies and its immune regulatory role [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 460.
Prediction of isometric handgrip force from graded event-related desynchronization of the sensorimotor rhythm.

Objective: Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) show promise as a direct line of communication between the brain and the outside world that could benefit those with impaired motor function. The commands available for BCI operation are often limited by the ability of the decoder to differentiate between the many distinct motor or cognitive tasks that can be visualized or attempted. Simple binary command signals (e.g. right hand at rest versus movement) are therefore used due to their ability to produce large observable differences in neural recordings. At the same time, frequent command switching can impose greater demands on the subject's focus and takes time to learn. Here, we attempt to decode the degree of effort in a specific movement task to produce a graded and more flexible command signal. Approach: Fourteen healthy human subjects (9 male, 5 female) responded to visual cues by squeezing a hand dynamometer to different levels of predetermined force, guided by continuous visual feedback, while the electroencephalogram (EEG) and grip force were monitored. Movement-related EEG features were extracted and modeled to predict exerted force. Main Results: We found that event-related desynchronization (ERD) of the 8–30 Hz mu-beta sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) of the EEG is separable for different degrees of motor effort. Upon four-fold cross-validation, linear classifiers were found to predict grip force from an ERD vector with mean accuracies across subjects of 53% and 55% for the dominant and non-dominant hand, respectively. ERD amplitude increased with target force but appeared to hit a trough that hinted at non-monotonic behavior. Significance: Our results suggest that modeling and interactive feedback based on the intended level of motor effort is feasible. The observed ERD trends suggest that different mechanisms may govern intermediate versus low and high degrees of motor effort. This may have utility in rehabilitative protocols for motor impairments.
Optimal Placement of Colectomy in the Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis: a Markov Model Analysis.

BACKGROUND Treatment for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC) includes medical therapies such as immunosuppressive agents or surgical options such as colectomy. While prior studies have indicated a mortality benefit with elective surgery, the timing and effectiveness of colectomy in the UC treatment algorithm have not been assessed. We hypothesize that the ideal placement of colectomy occurs prior to the exhaustion of all medical therapies. METHODS We designed a Markov model to assess the ideal position of colectomy. The base case was a 50-year-old male with steroid-dependent moderate-to-severe UC without prior treatment with immunomodulator or biologic therapies. We developed 4 separate algorithms incorporating elective colectomy: (1) prior to biologics, (2) after infliximab monotherapy failure, (3) after infliximab and azathioprine combination therapy failure, and (4) after medically refractory to all medical therapies including vedolizumab. Transition probabilities were obtained from published literature. First-order Monte Carlo simulations of 100 trials of 100,000 individuals were used to calculate quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) estimates. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted for all variables. RESULTS Algorithm 3 (colectomy following combination therapy) was the preferred strategy with 1.864 QALYs (95% CI [1.863, 1.865]) over a 3-year period and the preferred strategy in the probabilistic sensitivity analysis 92.77% of the time. CONCLUSIONS This simulation suggests that early incorporation of colectomy for patients medically refractory to infliximab and azathioprine combination therapy may yield greater quality of life for patients with steroid-dependent UC. These findings suggest avenues for more patient-centered preference work and a combined medical-surgical approach to UC.
Anthelmintic treatment affects behavioural time allocation in a free-ranging ungulate

Social, ecological and environmental factors all influence how much time animals allocate to different behaviours. Here, we investigated whether parasites affect behavioural time allocation in a free-ranging ungulate that must apportion time to multiple competing activities crucial for maintenance, survival and reproduction. We examined how experimental removal of gastrointestinal and pulmonary nematodes influenced the relative amounts of time that female Grant's gazelle, Nanger granti, allocated to core behaviours including foraging, vigilance, moving and resting. The anthelmintic treatment reduced female parasite load for ∼120 days, and during this period, females relieved of their parasitic nematodes adjusted their daily time budgets. At the group level, parasite removal resulted in an increase in foraging time and a decrease in vigilance. This effect was also apparent at the individual level, where treated females allocated more time to foraging at the expense of vigilance. In addition to treatment, group size was a significant predictor of the relative time spent foraging versus vigilant, where females in larger groups allocated more time to foraging at the expense of vigilance. Our results suggest that parasites may induce changes in host behaviour that are of similar magnitude to some of the most commonly studied social drivers of behavioural time allocation.
The structure of bayes networks for visual recognition

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the efficiency of using Bayes networks to carry out model based vision calculations. Recognition proceeds by drawing up a network model from the object's geometric and functional description that predicts the appearance of an object. Then, this network is used to find the object within a photographic image. Many existing and proposed techniques for vision recognition resemble the uncertainty calculations of a Bayes net. In contrast, they lack a derivation from first principles and tend to rely on arbitrary parameters that are expected to avoid by a network model. The connectedness of the network depends on what independence considerations can be identified in the vision problem. Greater independence leads to easier calculations, at the expense of the net's expressiveness. Once this trade-off is made and the structure of the network is determined, it should be possible to tailor a solution technique for it. The chapter discusses the use of a network with multiply connected paths, drawing on both techniques of belief networks and influence diagrams. It discusses how one formulation of a multiply connected network can be solved.
Adaptation of multi-agent systems for power infrastructure defense

Summary form only given, as follows. The operating environment of power systems cannot be modeled and predicted precisely. In this research, the author has applied the multi-agent system technology for power infrastructure defense. Each agent in the system has adaptive learning capabilities so that they can adapt to the power system's vulnerability status. Each agent can update its control parameters or decisions through interactions with the actual power systems. Multiple agents in the system are able to cooperate with one another.
Drug and Alcohol Involvement in Railroad Accidents

Postaccident testing of railroad employees for drugs and alcohol was performed in 175 qualifying accidents or incidents (events) from April 1987 through March 1988. Initial tests for drugs were performed on urine, and for alcohol on blood. Presumptive positives were confirmed and quantitated using both blood and urine when available. In 42 of these events (24%), at least 1 employee tested positive (6.7% of 736 employees) for drugs or alcohol. A higher proportion of drug or alcohol-positive events, or both, 40 versus 21%, was found when a fatality was involved. In 11 of the 32 fully investigated drug or alcohol-positive events (involving 14 employees), the investigating agencies determined that substance use was determined to be a probable cause of, or a factor relating to, the accident. Cannabinoids, ethanol, cocaine, or multiple-drug use were found in 5, 3, 3, and 3 of those employees, respectively. Detectable drug and alcohol use occurs among railroad employees; occasionally it has resulted in accidents.
A thyrotrope-specific variant of Pit-1 transactivates the thyrotropin beta promoter.

Abstract Thyrotropin (TSH) beta is a subunit of TSH, the expression of which is limited to the thyrotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland. Tissue-specific expression of the mouse TSH beta gene is conferred by sequences between -270 and -80 of the 5'-flanking region. We have investigated tissue-specific expression of the TSH beta promoter in two thyrotrope-derived cell types: 1) TtT-97 thyrotropic tumors, which express the endogenous TSH beta gene, and 2) an alpha-TSH cell line, which was generated from a thyrotropic tumor that has lost the ability to express the TSH beta gene. The pituitary-specific transcription factor Pit-1 is present in thyrotropes and interacts with three cis-acting elements in the functionally important region of the TSH beta promoter. Pit-1 protein is present in TtT-97 tumor cells but is absent from alpha-TSH cells. Reintroduction of Pit-1 into alpha-TSH cells by transient transfection does not restore TSH beta promoter activity. We have identified an alternately spliced variant of Pit-1, called Pit-1T, the mRNA and protein expression of which is limited to thyrotrope-derived cells. Pit-1T contains a 14-amino acid insert in the transactivation domain due to an alternate 3' splice acceptor site. Transiently transfected Pit-1T increases TSH beta promoter activity in TtT-97 thyrotropic tumor cells, whereas additional Pit-1 has no effect. The alpha-TSH cell line, which lacks all Pit-1 proteins, requires both isoforms in order to stimulate TSH beta promoter activity. These data suggest that Pit-1T is a thyrotrope-specific splice variant of Pit-1 that is required for TSH beta promoter stimulation; furthermore, both Pit-1 and Pit-1T are required for TSH beta promoter activity in thyrotrope cells.
Reduction of Cr (VI) by cysteine: significance in human lymphocytes and formation of DNA damage in reactions with variable reduction rates.

The induction of genotoxicity by Cr (VI) is dependent on its reductive activation inside the cell. Our recent studies have found that reduction of Cr (VI) by cysteine resulted in the formation of mutagenic Cr (III)iaDNA adducts in the absence of oxidative DNA damage. In this work, we examined the formation of oxidative and Cr (III)-dependent types of DNA damage under a broader range of Cr (VI) and cysteine concentrations and investigated a potential role of this reducer in intracellular metabolism of Cr (VI). Peripheral lymphocytes from unexposed humans had 7.8-fold excess of glutathione over cysteine, whereas lymphocytes from stainless steel welders contained only 3 times higher amount of glutathione (p _ 0.0009) which was entirety caused by the decrease in the concentration of glutathione. A strong correlation (r= 0.72) between the levels of both thiols was found in lymphocytes from controls. The number of DNAiaprotein crosslinks in lymphocytes from welders was 4.1 times higher than among controls, indicating the presence of Cr (VI)-dependent DNA damage. The average rate of Cr (VI) reduction by cysteine was approximately 5 times faster than that by glutathione. Higher reduction rate combined with the decrease in the intracellular concentration of glutathione should make cysteine a predominant Cr (VI)-reducing thiol in lymphocytes of welders. Analysis of the initial rates of Cr (VI) reduction by different concentrations of cysteine suggested the presence of one-and two-electron pathways, with one-electron mechanism dominating in the physiological range of concentrations. There was no detectable formation of DNA breaks or abasic sites under a broad range of Cr (VI) and cysteine concentrations, resulting in up to 68-fold differences in the rates of reduction and the production of as many as 3 Cr (III)--DNA adducts per 10 bp. The reactions with slow reduction rates (low concentrations of cysteine) led to the most extensive formation of Cr (III)-DNA adducts. In summary, these results further establish Cr (III)iaDNA adducts as the major form of DNA damage resulting from Cr (VI) metabolism by cysteine. The role of cysteine in reduction of Cr (VI) becomes more significant under conditions of occupational exposure to Cr (VI)-containing welding fumes. (Mol Cell Siochem222:107-118, 2001)
A pilot study of disparity vergence and near dissociated phoria in convergence insufficiency patients before vs. after vergence therapy.

PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between the near dissociated phoria and disparity vergence eye movements. Convergence insufficiency (CI) patients before vergence therapy were compared to: 1) the same patients after vergence therapy and 2) binocularly normal controls (BNC). METHODS: Sixteen subjects were studied--twelve BNC and four with CI. Measurements from the CI subjects were obtained before and after 18 hours of vergence eye movement therapy. The near dissociated phoria was measured using the flashed Maddox rod technique. Vergence responses were stimulated from 4° symmetrical disparity vergence step stimuli. The peak velocity of the vergence response and the magnitude of the fusion initiating component (FIC) from an independent component analysis were calculated. A linear regression analysis was conducted studying the vergence peak velocity as a function of the near dissociated phoria where the Pearson correlation coefficient was computed. RESULTS: Before vergence therapy, the average with one standard deviation FIC magnitude of convergence responses from CI subjects was 0.290.82 and significantly less than the FIC magnitude of 1.850.84 for BNC (p<0.02). A paired t-test reported that the FIC and near dissociated phoria before vergence therapy for CI subjects significantly increased to 1.490.57 (p<0.04) and became less exophoric to 3.5∆1.9 exo (p<0.02) after vergence therapy. A significant correlation (r=0.87; p<0.01) was observed between the near dissociated phoria and the vergence ratio of convergence peak velocity divided by divergence peak velocity. CONCLUSION: The results have clinical translational impact in understanding the mechanism by which vergence therapy may be changing the vergence system leading to a sustained reduction in visual symptoms.
The Plus Construction and Applications

Let G be a finite group. As we have seen, the classifying space BG has a very simple homotopy type as it is a K(G, 1). If G is perfect then H1(G; ℤ) = 0; suppose that we attach cells to BG to obtain a new, but simply-connected complex BG + with the same homology as before. Or equivalently so that the homotopy fiber of BG→BG + is acyclic, i. e. H i; (ℱ ℤ;) = 0 for all i > O. The new complex will depend on G (as BG does) but the higher homotopy groups π i(BG +) can be highly complicated invariants of G.
Densities of Vibrio vulnificus in the intestines of fish from the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Densities of Vibrio vulnificus in the intestinal contents of various finfish, oysters, and crabs and in sediment and waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast were determined by the most probable number procedure. Species were identified by enzyme immunoassay. During the winter, densities of V. vulnificus were low, and the organism was isolated more frequently from sheepshead fish than from sediment and seawater. From April to October, V. vulnificus densities were considerably higher (2 to 5 logs) in estuarine fish than in surrounding water, sediment, or nearby oysters and crustacea. Highest densities were found in the intestinal contents of certain bottom-feeding fish (10(8)/100 g), particularly those that consume mollusks and crustaceans. Densities of V. vulnificus in fish that feed primarily on plankton and other finfish were similar to those in oysters, sediment, and crabs (10(5)/100 g). V. vulnificus was found infrequently in offshore fish. The presence of high densities of V. vulnificus in the intestines of common estuarine fish may have both ecological (growth and transport) and public health (food and wound infections) implications.
Identifying brain dynamic network states via GIG-ICA: Application to schizophrenia, bipolar and schizoaffective disorders

There has been an increasing interest in brain dynamic functional networks revealed by resting-state fMRI data. We hypothesized that dynamic functional networks could offer important information for detecting subtle differences in symptom-related mental diseases. Schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BP), and schizoaffective disorder (SAD) have similar symptoms, and there is still controversy about the SAD category. In this paper, we applied a novel method, group information guided ICA (GIG-ICA), to extract functional connectivity states and their fluctuations from dynamic functional network. Using the proposed approach, we analyzed fMRI data of healthy controls, SZ patients, BP patients and two symptom-defined subsets of SAD patients. Results demonstrate that, measured by the dominant functional connectivity state, different groups have a similar pattern, while the two subsets of SAD patients were most correlated to each other, supporting SAD's status as an independent category. The significant difference in the dominant functional connectivity state among these disorders involved cerebellum-related functional connectivity.
An Integrated Approach to Empirical Bayesian Whole Genome Prediction Modeling

Computational efficiency is an increasing concern for whole genome prediction (WGP) based on denser genetic marker panels such that algorithms other than Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) warrant greater consideration, particularly for hierarchical models that flexibly confer either heavy-tailed (e.g., BayesA) or stochastic search and variable selection (SSVS) instead of Gaussian specifications on marker effect distributions. The expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is one attractive alternative; however, recently proposed hierarchical model implementations of EM have not addressed formal estimation of underlying hyperparameters even though their specifications are known to impact WGP accuracy. Furthermore, EM can be sensitive to starting values. We develop and explore the properties of an empirical Bayes strategy by conditioning EM implementations of BayesA or SSVS WGP models on marginal modal estimation of variance components and other key hyperparameters. These empirical Bayes implementations are compared against their MCMC counterparts for estimation of hyperparameters and WGP accuracy, both within the context of a simulation study and application to a loblolly pine dataset. In all cases, starting values were deemed to be important for EM-based estimates. Starting values based on MCMC posterior means were preferable, whereas those based on setting all marker effects equal to zero generally led to inferior performance. Nevertheless, a recently proposed regularization procedure was useful in alleviating the impact of starting values in the EM implementation of the SSVS model, as was modifying the expectation step in the BayesA model to be based on relative variances rather than on relative precisions.