cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exploring the effect of video used to enhance the retrospective verbal protocol analysis: A multiple case study

This study was a multiple case study used to explore how video enhanced the use of the retrospective verbal protocol analysis (RVPA) within the cognitive task analysis (CTA). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from phenomenological and structured interviews taken from six commercial driver's license driver trainers performing truck driver road tests during a RVPA. The mixed-methods data collected were used to answer the research question, which asked how the video improved the quality, time, and cost of performing a CTA. Additionally the content collected was used to create curriculum designed to increase hiring managers' skill when performing road tests. The research suggests that video improved the quality to perform a CTA, but did not improve the time and cost to complete the CTA. Although time and cost experienced no improvement in terms of savings to the stakeholder, the findings when presented to the stakeholder provided a discussion for how acquisition of the high-quality content outweighs time and cost when examining the return on investment. Therefore, taking the time and expending resources to acquire extensive content from experts through use of video as a reflective tool within a CTA during a job analysis can represent a significant return on investment to the organization. The return on investment might encourage stakeholders to approve time and resources necessary to create a training course improving hiring managers' skill when performing road tests.
A gaming interface using body gestures for collaborative navigation

We designed a collaborative navigation interface in which one user (the controller) guides a second, remote user (the navigator) through a 3D game environment. Both sides of the interface use commercially available gaming hardware. The controller uses full-body gestures to send navigation cues to the navigator, who travels through the environment using typical 3D gaming controls. In an exploratory study, all participants completed the game scenario, and they viewed the system as usable and fun overall, although the limited communication provided by the system was somewhat of a hindrance to collaboration. Navigators, who were led to believe they were being guided by an intelligent system, did not guess that guidance was provided by another human, and felt that an "intelligent system" would typically be more consistent than a human being.
Immunochemical studies on disulfide bonding in the photochemical apparatus of Rhodospirillum rubrum.

Abstract An immunochemical study has been made of chromatophores of Rhodospirillum rubrum and of fragments obtained from these cell particles by sonic irradiation and chemical treatment. Serologically univalent material is released from chromatophores by chemical scission of disulfide bonds. The data indicate that chromatophore antigens are inserted into the structure as a repeating matrix of antigenic sites spaced with the determinant groups placed between each pair of disulfides. Evidence for the reversibility of antigen scission and information about the nature of the chromatophore subunits are presented.
Tepimans, Yumans, and other Hohokam

The Proto-Tepiman speech community - that is, the community that spoke the language ancestral to all the contemporary Tepiman languages - can be located at the northern end of the present-day Tepiman range, perhaps as far north and west as the Gila-Colorado confluence, and probably within the Hohokam region, during the Hohokam time period in the first millennium A.D. Evidence for the northern location of Proto-Tepiman includes, first, attestation of language contact with Proto-River Yuman, including data from phonology, syntax, and lexicon. This evidence suggests that the Hohokam were a multi-ethnic community; we present evidence that by the fourteenth century this multi-ethnic system probably included speakers of Zuni. Second, the greatest internal diversity in Tepiman is among the northernmost varieties. Third, we can reconstruct a word meaning saguaro cactus, a plant not found south of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, for Proto-Tepiman. While the linguistic evidence strongly suggests the involvement of the Proto-Tepiman speech community in the Hohokam system, the evidence provided by contemporary Upper Piman languages (Akimel O'odham [Pima] and Tohono O'odham [Papago]) neither confirms nor excludes the involvement of speakers of these languages in the core Hohokam complex in the late prehistoric period.
Waiting for the revolution: The use of microcomputers by social scientists

A longitudinal analysis of one academic unit is employed to assess whether the “microcomputer revolution” has affected the work of academic social scientists. In the four years since all social scientists in the multidisciplinary unit received microcomputers, average use has increased steadily to twenty-four hours per week. There is remarkable consistency in the relative distribution of uses over time, with word-processing applications and research uses remaining dominant. The social scientists report that microcomputer use has moderately increased the quantity and especially enhanced the quality of their research and that the impacts of microcomputing on their interpersonal work environments have been very positive. The data in this analysis reveal clearly that, contrary to the rather hyperbolic claims and excited projections from some social scientists, microcomputers have had benign and incremental impacts on existing patterns of work and have not transformed the nature of social scientists’ work.
Elimination of Resonance in Finite-Width Conductor-Backed Coplanar Waveguides

This paper presents experimental results for the transmission characteristics of seveal finite-width multilayered conductor-backed coplanar waveguides(FW-CBCPW). It is found that the resonance in the transmission of FW-CBCPW is caused by the energy leakage from the dominant CPW mode. Two multilayered structures are shown to be effective in eliminating the resonance. They are feasible and practical in uniplanar MMIC circuit design due to their planar nature.
Linear high-boost fusion of Stokes vector imagery for effective discrimination and recognition of real targets in the presence of multiple identical decoys

Recently, the use of imaging polarimetry has received considerable attention for use in automatic target recognition (ATR) applications. In military remote sensing applications, there is a great demand for sensors that are capable of discriminating between real targets and decoys. Accurate discrimination of decoys from real targets is a challenging task and often requires the fusion of various sensor modalities that operate simultaneously. In this paper, we use a simple linear fusion technique known as the high-boost fusion method for effective discrimination of real targets in the presence of multiple decoys. The HBF assigns more weight to the polarization-based imagery in forming the final fused image that is used for detection. We have captured both intensity and polarization-based imagery from an experimental laboratory arrangement containing a mixture of sand/dirt, rocks, vegetation, and other objects for the purpose of simulating scenery that would be acquired in a remote sensing military application. A target object and three decoys that are identical in physical appearance (shape, surface structure and color) and different in material composition have also been placed in the scene. We use the wavelet-filter joint transform correlation (WFJTC) technique to perform detection between input scenery and the target object. Our results show that use of the HBF method increases the correlation performance metrics associated with the WFJTC-based detection process when compared to using either the traditional intensity or polarization-based images.
Identification of decision rules in a human-controlled system: vehicles at a traffic intersection

The rules that govern decision making in systems controlled by humans are often simple to describe. However, deriving these rules from the actions of a group can be very difficult, making human behavior hard to predict. We develop an algorithm to determine the rules implemented by drivers at a traffic intersection by observing the trajectories of their cars. We apply such algorithm to a traffic intersection scenario reproduced in the Caltech multi-vehicle lab, with human subjects remotely driving kinematic robots. The results obtained on these data suggest that this kind of human behavior is to some extent predictable on our data set, and different subjects implement similar rules.
Asymmetric male and female genetic histories among native Americans from eastern North America

Previous studies have investigated the human population history of eastern North America by examining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation among Native Americans, but these studies could only reconstruct maternal population history. To evaluate similarities and differences in the maternal and paternal population histories of this region, we obtained DNA samples from 605 individuals, representing 16 indigenous populations. After amplifying the amelogenin locus to identify males, we genotyped 8 binary polymorphisms and 10 microsatellites in the male-specific region of the Y chromosome. This analysis identified 6 haplogroups and 175 haplotypes. We found that sociocultural factors have played a more important role than language or geography in shaping the patterns of Y chromosome variation in eastern North America. Comparisons with previous mtDNA studies of the same samples demonstrate that male and female demographic histories differ substantially in this region. Postmarital residence patterns have strongly influenced genetic structure, with patrilocal and matrilocal populations showing different patterns of male and female gene flow. European contact also had a significant but sex-specific impact due to a high level of male-mediated European admixture. Finally, this study addresses long-standing questions about the history of Iroquoian populations by suggesting that the ancestral Iroquoian population lived in southeastern North America.
Calcium and phosphorus regulatory hormones and risk of incident symptomatic kidney stones.

Background and objectives Calcium and phosphorus regulatory hormones may contribute to the pathogenesis of calcium nephrolithiasis. However, there has been no prospective study to date of plasma hormone levels and risk of kidney stones. This study aimed to examine independent associations between plasma levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25[OH] 2 D), 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), parathyroid hormone, calcium, phosphate, and creatinine and the subsequent risk of incident kidney stones. Design, setting, participants, & measurements This study was a prospective, nested case-control study of men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who were free of diagnosed nephrolithiasis at blood draw. During 12 years of follow-up, 356 men developed an incident symptomatic kidney stone. Using risk set sampling, controls were selected in a 2:1 ratio ( n =712 controls) and matched for age, race, and year, month, and time of day of blood collection. Results Baseline plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calcium, phosphate, and creatinine were similar in cases and controls. Mean 1,25(OH) 2 D and median FGF23 levels were higher in cases than controls but differences were small and statistically nonsignificant (45.7 versus 44.2 pg/ml, P =0.07 for 1,25[OH] 2 D; 47.6 versus 45.1 pg/ml, P =0.08 for FGF23). However, after adjusting for body mass index, diet, plasma factors, and other covariates, the odds ratios of incident symptomatic kidney stones in the highest compared with lowest quartiles were 1.73 (95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 2.71; P for trend 0.01) for 1,25(OH) 2 D and 1.45 (95% confidence interval, 0.96 to 2.19; P for trend 0.03) for FGF23. There were no significant associations between other plasma factors and kidney stone risk. Conclusions Higher plasma 1,25(OH) 2 D, even in ranges considered normal, is independently associated with higher risk of symptomatic kidney stones. Although of borderline statistical significance, these findings also suggest that higher FGF23 may be associated with risk.
Phrasal Analysis of Long Noun Sequences

Noun phrases consisting of a sequence of nouns (sometimes referred to as nominal compounds) pose considerable difficulty for language analyzers but are common in many technical domains. The problems are compounded when some of the nouns in the sequence are ambiguously also verbs. The phrasal approach to language analysis, as implemented in PHRAN (PHRasal ANalyzer), has been extended to handle the recognition and partial analysis of such constructions. The phrasal analysis of a noun sequence is performed to an extent sufficient for continued analysis of the sentence in which it appears. PHRAN is currently being used as part of the SPAN (SPecification ANalysis) natural language interface to the USC Advanced Design AutoMation system (ADAM) (Granacki et al, 1985). PHRAN-SPAN is an interface for entering and interpreting digital system specifications, in which long noun sequences occur often. The extensions to PHRAN's knowledge base to recognize these constructs are described, along with the algorithm used to detect and resolve ambiguities which arise in the noun sequences.
Impact of heatsink attach loading on FCBGA package thermal performance

Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array (FCBGA) packages are prevalent in wide range of electronics applications including gaming consoles, mobile gadgets, telecommunications etc. The microelectronics industry is actively shifting towards smaller node sizes (32 nm, 28 nm etc.) and integrating multiple functionalities onto the die. This in turn increases the die power levels and more importantly drastically increases the die heat-flux densities. External heatsinks are typically needed in order to support high thermal power dissipation.
DIET AND TISSUE GROWTH : IV. THE RATE OF COMPENSATORY RENAL ENLARGEMENT AFTER UNILATERAL NEPHRECTOMY IN THE WHITE RAT.

The rate of compensatory enlargement of the remaining kidney after unilateral nephrectomy has been studied in adult rats fed diets containing various concentrations of protein. A curve of enlargement on "standard" food (18 per cent casein) shows a rapid initial increase with subsequent slower rise to the 120th day. There is no significant difference between the value at 120 days (44 per cent) and that at 150 days (48 per cent). A similar series with diets containing increasing concentrations of protein but with a constant time interval (21 days) after nephrectomy shows an increase in the degree of enlargement directly proportional to the protein content of the food. The values vary from 24 per cent with the 18 per cent casein ration to 77 per cent with the 90 per cent casein diet. A third series shows the enlargement on "high protein" food (85 per cent casein). The values vary from 49 per cent at 3 days to 121 per cent at 150 days. There is no significant difference between the value at 120 days (123 per cent) and that at 150 days (121 per cent). Determinations of total solids on the experimental kidneys show that the recorded enlargement involves mainly an actual tissue increase.
Environment modifies the testosterone levels of a female bird and its eggs

Past studies have shown that the yolk of the canary (Serinus canaria) egg contains maternal testosterone, that its concentrations increase in the subsequently formed eggs of a clutch, and that testosterone influences development. The present study investigated 1) if the testosterone levels vary in the female during yolk formation; 2) how such putative variations may be related to the concentrations of maternal testosterone in the yolk; and 3) if environmental factors, such as day length, can modify the testosterone levels in the mother and her eggs. Maternal testosterone levels, measured in the females' feces, increased during yolk formation and egg laying, and decreased during incubation. This pattern was modified by day length. In a photoperiod of 12 h of light and 12 h of darkness (12L 12D), female testosterone levels decreased after the last egg of the clutch was laid while in a photoperiod of 16L 8D, they decreased after the first egg was laid. These different patterns were reflected in the testosterone concentrations in the egg yolk. Further, the eggs of subsequent clutches that were produced under a naturally changing photoperiod differed significantly in their testosterone concentrations. Finally, the doses of testosterone in the yolk of individual eggs were positively correlated with the concentrations of testosterone in the female during the yolk phase of each egg. I conclude that here we have a mechanism which communicates environmental conditions from the mother to the offspring, and that this mechanism serves to optimize reproduction and/or modify offspring traits. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Cardiovascular adverse reactions associated with Guarana: is there a causal effect?

Herbal supplements have been used as adjuncts to medical therapy for many years by various cultures. Many consumers believe that because herbal supplements are natural products, they are somewhat s...
Improved oxygenation after discontinuing neuromuscular blockade

Objective: To evaluate the effects of prolonged neuromuscular blockade (NMB) on oxygenation and duration of mechanical ventilation in children with respiratory failure. Design: Retrospective case control study. Setting: The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary university hospital. Patients: All children (n=68) in the PICU ventilated for pulmonary parenchymal disease for 3 days or longer over a 412 year period. Interventions: None. Measurements and results: Diagnoses, pediatric risk of mortality scoring, indications for, and duration of, mechanical ventilation and neuromuscular blockade, and blood gas data with corresponding ventilator parameters were extracted from the medical records. Twenty-eight patients received NMB at the initiation of mechanical ventilation and this was continued for 72 h or longer. Cessation of NMB was associated with a significant improvement in ventilator parameters and oxygenation index. The subset of children with respiratory syncytial virus disease (RSV) receiving prolonged NMB had longer ventilator courses compared to those in whom NMB was not used, despite similar demographics, severity of illness and oxygenation impairment. Conclusions: Stopping NMB is associated with a rapid improvement in oxygenation and prolonged use of NMB in children with RSV is associated with a protracted ventilatory course. Definition: Oxygenation index (OI)*: Mean Airway Pressure ×FiO2×100/PaO2 * Higher scores represent deterioration in oxygenation
An Empirical Analysis of U.S. Dollar-Trading Newcits

The present article uses a sample of 66 U.S. dollar-trading undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) to find that the risk-adjusted performance of some strategies (i.e., equity long-biased, FOF, fixed income and sector specific) outperformed the corresponding traditional hedge fund indices over the January 2006 to March 2010 period. However, with the exception of the fixed-income strategy, all other strategies produced a volatility that was higher than that of the index. The funds of funds (FOF) classification had a risk similar to that of the index. More worryingly, during the crisis it appears that some strategies (i.e., emerging markets and equity long/short) delivered a lower risk-adjusted performance than that of their benchmarks. Further evidence shows that sector-specific strategies produced stronger risk-adjusted returns than their benchmarks albeit at a higher cost of volatility. Overall, the fixed income and FOF newcits delivered superior risk-adjusted performance at a lower or comparable risk to that of similar traditional hedge funds.
Evaluation of silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesives for transdermal drug delivery [II] effect of penetrant lipophilicitv

AbstractAn adhesive polymer drug dispersion-type transdermal drug delivery (a-TDD) system, consisting of a single drug-loaded adhesive polymer layer sandwitched between a drug-impermeable backing membrane and a detachable release liner, was developed from two silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesive polymers for the controlled administration of drugs. The effect of variation in penetrant lipophilicity, using a series of testosterone derivatives with an increasing number of methyl groups in the steroid skeleton, on the release kinetics from the a-TDD system and skin permeation rate profiles was investigated. Absence of a methyl group at the 19th position of testosterone increased the flexibility of the steroid molecule and thus yeilded higher diffusivity and greater skin permeation rate. Addition of esters at the 17 s-position resulted in a reduction in diffusivity with an increase in the alkyl chain length of the ester. These esters were found to be bioconverted to testosterone during permeation through...
Cloning, overexpression and purification of the terminase proteins gp16 and gp17 of bacteriophage T4: Construction of a defined in-vitro DNA packaging system using purified terminase proteins

Abstract Terminases of double-stranded DNA bacteriophages are required for packaging and generation of terminii in replicated concatemeric DNA molecules. Genetic evidence suggests that these functions in phage T4 are carried out by the products of genes 16 and 17. We cloned these T4 genes into a heat-inducible cI repressor-lambda PL promoter vector system, and overexpressed them in Escherichia coli. We developed an in-vitro DNA packaging system, which, consistent with the genetic data, shows an absolute requirement for the terminase proteins. The overexpressed terminase proteins gp16 and gp17 appear to form a specific complex and an ATP binding site is present in the gp17 molecule. We purified the terminase proteins either as individual gp16 or gp17 proteins, or as a gp16–gp17 complex. The gp16 function of the terminase complex is dispensable for packaging mature DNA, whereas gp17 is essential for packaging DNA under any condition tested. We constructed a defined in-vitro DNA packaging system with the purified terminase proteins, purified proheads and a DNA-free phage completion gene products extract. All the components of this system can be stored at −90 °C without loss of packaging activity. The terminase proteins, therefore, may serve as useful reagents for mechanistic studies on DNA packaging, as well as to develop T4 as a packaging-cloning vector.
Fellows Committee Actions

In addition to its activities in selecting Fellows, over the past two years the Committee of Fellows has undertaken an in-depth review of the entire Union honors program. This review has resulted in significant changes and in recommendations for further changes. The review included revisiting recommendations of earlier studies, polling of prior medal committee chairs, examining the honors programs of comparable societies, compiling the Fellow selection procedures of the Sections, and generating statistical material from membership data.
Follicular cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: an under-recognized neoplasm arising from hair appendage structures

Summary Background Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with no demonstrable point of epidermal origin is problematic as it raises consideration of metastatic SCC histologically. There are rare case reports and series of SCC arising from the wall of hair follicle structures. Such lesions have been termed follicular SCC (FSCC). Objectives To investigate the clinicopathological features of FSCC. Methods We prospectively collected cases of follicular SCC over a 5-year period. Follicular SCC is defined as a cutaneous SCC deriving from a pre-existing hair follicle structure. Lesions were considered to represent ‘hybrid’ SCCs if an interfollicular epidermal origin was also demonstrated; SCCs with > 50% of the origin from interfollicular epidermis were excluded. Histological features and clinical information were evaluated. Results We identified 61 cases of follicular SCC arising in 60 patients from a database of 5212 cutaneous SCCs encountered over the same time period by the same authors. There were 49 pure follicular SCCs and 12 hybrid lesions. The male to female ratio was 44 : 16; the mean age was 74 years (range 44–93). Follicular SCC represents 1·2% of all primary SCCs. Biopsies of such lesions, if the appendage structure of origin is not represented, are histologically indistinguishable from metastatic SCC. Conclusions Recognition of this under-reported form of SCC is essential if an inappropriate diagnosis of metastatic SCC, with potentially harmful and inappropriate therapy and investigation, is to be avoided.
The Chemoreceptor Dimer Is the Unit of Conformational Coupling and Transmembrane Signaling

Transmembrane chemoreceptors are central components in bacterial chemotaxis. Receptors couple ligand binding and adaptational modification to receptor conformation in processes that create transmembrane signaling. Homodimers, the fundamental receptor structural units, associate in trimers and localize in patches of thousands. To what degree do conformational coupling and transmembrane signaling require higher-order interactions among dimers? To what degree are they altered by such interactions? To what degree are they inherent features of homodimers? We addressed these questions using nanodiscs to create membrane environments in which receptor dimers had few or no potential interaction partners. Receptors with many, few, or no interaction partners were tested for conformational changes and transmembrane signaling in response to ligand occupancy and adaptational modification. Conformation was assayed by measuring initial rates of receptor methylation, a parameter independent of receptor-receptor interactions. Coupling of ligand occupancy and adaptational modification to receptor conformation and thus to transmembrane signaling occurred with essentially the same sensitivity and magnitude in isolated dimers as for dimers with many neighbors. Thus, we conclude that the chemoreceptor dimer is the fundamental unit of conformational coupling and transmembrane signaling. This implies that in signaling complexes, coupling and transmembrane signaling occur through individual dimers and that changes between dimers in a receptor trimer or among trimer-based signaling complexes are subsequent steps in signaling.
Description and Classification—The Cornerstones of Pathokinesiological Research

Historically, the body of knowledge in most science-based disciplines has been developed by initially focusing investigative efforts on observing and describing phenomena of interest.1–3 Subsequent to the initial observation and description, refinements were suggested and, eventually, consensus was achieved regarding specific observations. Finally, the observed phenomena were arranged according to systematic rules into classes or groups. I believe we should adopt this model, which has been effective in other disciplines, and commit ourselves to the objectives of observing, describing, and classifying pathokinesiological phenomena that exist in the patients we serve. Our efforts then should provide us with a clinically relevant body of knowledge and substance from which theories regarding treatment can evolve. FUNDAMENTAL TASKS In the process of describing and classifying disorders of movement, we will need to establish rigorous methods of investigation and experimentation that will enable us to define our observations unquestionably.…
Modeling Human Plan Recognition Using Bayesian Theory of Mind

The human brain is the most powerful plan-recognition system we know. Central to the brain’s remarkable plan-recognition capacity is a theory of mind (ToM): our intuitive conception of other agents’ mental states—chiefly, beliefs and desires—and how they cause behavior. We present a Bayesian framework for ToM-based plan recognition, expressing generative models of belief- and desire-dependent planning in terms of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs), and reconstructing an agent’s joint belief state and reward function using Bayesian inference, conditioned on observations of the agent’s behavior in the context of its environment. We show that the framework predicts human judgments with surprising accuracy, and substantially better than alternative accounts. We propose that “reverse engineering” human ToM by quantitatively evaluating the performance of computational cognitive models against data from human behavioral experiments provides a promising avenue for building plan recognition systems.
Lactobacillus crispatus inhibits growth of Gardnerella vaginalis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on a porcine vaginal mucosa model

The vaginal microbiota can impact the susceptibility of women to bacterial vaginosis (BV) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). BV is characterized by depletion of Lactobacillus spp., an overgrowth of anaerobes (often dominated by Gardnerella vaginalis) and a pH > 4.5. BV is associated with an increased risk of acquiring STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. While these associations have been identified, the molecular mechanism(s) driving the risk of infections are unknown. An ex vivo porcine vaginal mucosal model (PVM) was developed to explore the mechanistic role of Lactobacillus spp. in affecting colonization by G. vaginalis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The data presented here demonstrate that all organisms tested can colonize and grow on PVM to clinically relevant densities. Additionally, G. vaginalis and N. gonorrhoeae form biofilms on PVM. It was observed that lactic acid, acetic acid, and hydrochloric acid inhibit the growth of G. vaginalis on PVM in a pH-dependent manner. N. gonorrhoeae grows best in the presence of lactic acid at pH 5.5, but did not grow well at this pH in the presence of acetic acid. Finally, a clinical Lactobacillus crispatus isolate (24-9-7) produces lactic acid and inhibits growth of both G. vaginalis and N. gonorrhoeae on PVM. These data reveal differences in the effects of pH, various acids and L. crispatus on the growth of G. vaginalis and N. gonorrhoeae on a live vaginal mucosal surface. The PVM is a useful model for studying the interactions of commensal vaginal microbes with pathogens and the mechanisms of biofilm formation on the vaginal mucosa.
The future of cancer treatment: immunomodulation, CARs and combination immunotherapy

In the past decade, advances in the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and adoptive cellular therapy to treat cancer by modulating the immune response have led to unprecedented responses in patients with advanced-stage tumours that would otherwise have been fatal. To date, three immune-checkpoint-blocking mAbs have been approved in the USA for the treatment of patients with several types of cancer, and more patients will benefit from immunomodulatory mAb therapy in the months and years ahead. Concurrently, the adoptive transfer of genetically modified lymphocytes to treat patients with haematological malignancies has yielded dramatic results, and we anticipate that this approach will rapidly become the standard of care for an increasing number of patients. In this Review, we highlight the latest advances in immunotherapy and discuss the role that it will have in the future of cancer treatment, including settings for which testing combination strategies and 'armoured' CAR T cells are recommended.
Antidepressants Increase REM Sleep Muscle Tone in Patients with and without REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

STUDY OBJECTIVES REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is associated with antidepressant treatment, especially in younger patients; but quantitative REM sleep without atonia (RSWA) analyses of psychiatric RBD patients remain limited. We analyzed RSWA in adults receiving antidepressants, with and without RBD. DESIGN We comparatively analyzed visual, manual, and automated RSWA between RBD and control groups. RSWA metrics were compared between groups, and regression was used to explore associations with clinical variables. SETTING Tertiary-care sleep center. PARTICIPANTS Participants included traditional RBD without antidepressant treatment (n = 30, 15 Parkinson disease [PD-RBD] and 15 idiopathic); psychiatric RBD receiving antidepressants (n = 30); and adults without RBD, including antidepressant-treated psychiatric (n = 30), untreated psychiatric (n = 15), and OSA (n = 60) controls. INTERVENTIONS N/A. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS RSWA was highest in traditional and psychiatric RBD, intermediate in treated psychiatric controls, and lowest in untreated psychiatric and OSA controls (P < 0.01). RSWA distribution and type also differed between antidepressant-treated patients having higher values in anterior tibialis, and PD-RBD with higher submentalis and tonic RSWA. Psychiatric RBD had significantly younger age at onset than traditional RBD patients (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Antidepressant treatment was associated with elevated REM sleep without atonia (RSWA) even without REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), suggesting that antidepressants, not depression, promote RSWA. Differences in RSWA distribution and type were also seen, with higher anterior tibialis RSWA in antidepressant-treated patients and higher tonic RSWA in Parkinson disease-RBD patients, which could aid distinction between RBD subtypes. These findings suggest that antidepressants may mediate different RSWA mechanisms or, alternatively, that RSWA type and distribution evolve during progressive neurodegeneration. Further prospective RSWA analyses are necessary to clarify the relationships between antidepressant treatment, psychiatric disease, and RBD.
Professor Dewey Discusses Religion

THE publication of Professor Dewey's Gifford Lectures, under the title "The Quest for Certainty," ' affords a new opportunity for a study of the main emphases in the work of our leading American philosopher, and also for the clarification of the relations of his thought to the fundamental postulates of religion. A large part of the book is given over to an analysis of the conditions under which knowledge is attained. This paper will attempt a statement and criticism of the more important parts of the argument. Professor Dewey affirms at the outset that men have always wanted security and have tried to gain it by effecting changes in the world about them. Sometimes, he says, they attempted to propitiate environing powers. When that failed, they tried to change the world by first modifying the self and its attitudes. At other times they invented arts and through them directed natural processes toward humanly desirable ends. This meant transforming the world through overt, experimental, in its way scientific action. But from the time of the Greek philosophers on, men began to think of action as inferior to so-called 'pure thought.' The world of practice was considered uncertain, and overt action was supposed to involve risks from which thought was free. Only the strictly intellectual path was regarded as leading to certainty. The Greeks glorified the changeless and bequeathed to later philosophy the view that the task of knowledge was that of uncovering the antecedently real instead of grappling intelligently with practical problems as they might arise. Knowledge was also set up as a sort of measure of reality, and the real was supposed to be limited to that which existed antecedent to man's knowing and was revealed in it. Also, forms of experience other than those involved in knowing the antecedently real were discounted. Out of it all came the 'spec-
Adjusting conceptual pacts in three-party conversation.

During conversation, partners develop representations of jointly known information--the common ground--and use this knowledge to guide subsequent linguistic exchanges. Extensive research on 2-party conversation has offered key insights into this process, in particular, its partner-specificity: Common ground that is shared with 1 partner is not always assumed to be shared with other partners. Conversation often involves multiple pairs of individuals who differ in common ground. Yet, little is known about common ground processes in multi-party conversation. Here, we take a 1st step toward understanding this problem by examining situations in which simple dyadic representations of common ground might cause difficulty--situations in which dialogue partners develop shared labels (entrained terms), and then a 3rd (naive) party joins the conversation. Experiment 1 examined unscripted, task-based conversation in which 2 partners entrained on terms. At test, speakers referenced game-pieces in a dialogue with their partner, or in a 3-party conversation including a new, naive listener. Speakers were sensitive to the 3rd party, using longer, disfluent expressions when additionally addressing the new partner. By contrast, analysis of listener eye-fixations did not suggest sensitivity. Experiment 2 provided a stronger test of sensitivity and revealed that listeners do cancel expectations for terms that had been entrained before when a 3rd, naive party joins the conversation. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying common ground, showing that rather than a unitary construct, common ground is flexibly adapted to the needs of a naive 3rd party.
Stacked Gold Nanorectangles with Higher Order Plasmonic Modes and Top-Down Plasmonic Coupling

We present stacked hollow nanostructures created using electron beam lithography (EBL) that act as optical scattering sites with a complex combination of local surface plasmon resonances and top-down electromagnetic hotspots due to the incorporation of the third dimension into their construction. These hollow rectangular gold nanotructures with gold caps show a significant red-shift in their main scattering peak as compared to the solid structures. Finite-difference time-domain modeling shows that the plasmonic response of these structures is dominated by higher order plasmonic modes and that the strength of these modes is shown to vary according to whether a cap is present. The higher order dipolar mode caused by the capped nanostructure results in manifold increase in the intensity of the electric field compared to the quadrupolar mode from a solid rectangle. This analysis provides important information on how complex plasmonic resonances respond to structural changes which will be useful in future stud...
Vascular complications of the patient undergoing intra-aortic balloon pumping.

Despite the numerous benefits derived from intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP), vascular complications continue to exist at alarming rates. Research points to female gender, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), diabetes, hypertension, prolonged pumping, catheter size and ankle arm index (AAI) less than 1.0 as indicators of increased patient risk. Limb ischemia, compartment syndrome, and thomboemboli constitute the bulk of peripheral vascular complications. Although balloon removal often restores normal limb circulation, invasive procedures such as embolectomy or femoral-femoral artery bypass surgery may be required. This paper reviews predisposing factors, outlines signs and symptoms, reviews the nursing process and patient/family education for patients with IABP related vascular complications.
Visual Acuity does not Moderate Effect Sizes of Higher-Level Cognitive Tasks

Background/Study Context: Declining visual capacities in older adults have been posited as a driving force behind adult age differences in higher-order cognitive functions (e.g., the “common cause” hypothesis of Lindenberger & Baltes, 1994, Psychology and Aging, 9, 339–355). McGowan, Patterson, and Jordan (2013, Experimental Aging Research, 39, 70–79) also found that a surprisingly large number of published cognitive aging studies failed to include adequate measures of visual acuity. However, a recent meta-analysis of three studies (La Fleur and Salthouse, 2014, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 1202–1208) failed to find evidence that visual acuity moderated or mediated age differences in higher-level cognitive processes. In order to provide a more extensive test of whether visual acuity moderates age differences in higher-level cognitive processes, we conducted a more extensive meta-analysis of topic.Methods: Using results from 456 studies, we calculated effect sizes for the main effect of age across fo...
346 RENOPROTECTIVE ACTIONS OF BONE MARROW-DERIVED MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS ARE A POTENTIAL NEW TREATMENT FOR ACUTE RENAL FAILURE.

Since acute renal failure (ARF) remains a common clinical syndrome with high mortality rates and limited treatment options, fundamentally new interventions are needed. We reported recently (Am J Physiol and Kidney Int 2005) that the infusion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is strikingly renoprotective in rats with severe ischemic ARF. Because essentially no transdifferentiation of small numbers of MSCs in the kidney was detected, we investigated alternative renoprotective mechanisms. We found striking down-regulation of proinflammatory TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ, and up-regulation of anti-inflammatory IL-10 and antiapoptotic Bcl-2, while leukocyte infiltration was similar. MSC treatment induced tubular up-regulation of bFGF and TGF-α. Renal artery and cortical blood flows were not different in MSC vs control animals. We next tested the effect of MSC conditioned medium (MSC-CM) on endothelial cells (ECs). MSC-CM acted mitogenically and inhibited apoptosis, a response also observed in tubular cells. Because growth factor (GF) expression by MSCs (express VEGF, HGF, and IGF-I, all act renoprotectively in ARF) is another potential mediator of renoprotection and since pO2 in the ischemic kidney is low, we found that VEGF expression in MSCs cultured at 5% pO2 was markedly upregulated. Our data show that the renoprotective actions of MSCs in ARF are mediated primarily through paracrine mechanisms. These elicit powerful anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and mitogenic responses in renal cells that together result from the intrarenal delivery of GFs by MSCs and from their induction in the kidney of additional protective growth factors. In conclusion, we posit that our data provide the basis for the development of an MSC-based therapy for clinical ARF.
Primary prevention of CVD: treating hypertension.

INTRODUCTION Hypertension (persistent diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher and systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or higher) affects 20% of the world's adult population, and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, end stage renal disease, and retinopathy. METHODS AND OUTCOMES We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of different antihypertensive drugs for people with hypertension? What are the effects of dietary modification for people with hypertension? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to March 2006 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). RESULTS We found 17 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions. CONCLUSIONS In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: a low-salt diet, antihypertensives, calcium supplements, fish-oil supplements, magnesium supplements, and potassium supplements.
Correlation of Human Bladder Tumor Histoculture Proliferation and Sensitivity to Mitomycin C with Tumor Pathobiology

This study examined the in vitro proliferation and mitomycin C (MMC) sensitivity of patient bladder tumors as a function of the tumor pathobiology. Surgical specimens of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were maintained as histocultures on collagen gels. The thymidine labeling index (LI) was determined by autoradiography and the labeling for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) by immunohistochemistry. There was a linear correlation between the thymidine LI and the PCNA LI, but the PCNA LI were quantitatively lower than the thymidine LI. The mean thymidine LI were 30.9, 32.4 and 51.5% for the grade I, II and III tumors, 33.6 and 56.3% for the superficial (Tis, Ta and T1) and invasive (T2-T4) tumors, and 28.9 and 50.9% for the diploid and aneuploid tumors. Analysis of variance indicates that these differences were statistically significant. These data indicate that the proliferation of tumor histocultures paralleled the tumor aggressiveness in vivo. The tumor sensitivity to MMC, measured by the inhibition of the thymidine LI of tumor cells, was studied in 31 tumors. At a 2 hour exposure, as is currently used in intravesical therapy, the MMC concentrations required for 50% inhibition of thymidine LI (IC50) showed a 120-fold intertumor variation (0.102 to 12.4 micrograms./ml.). The sensitivity to MMC inversely correlated with tumor aggressiveness. The IC50 increased with tumor LI (p < 0.05). The mean IC50 were 2.61 and 5.79 micrograms./ml. for superficial and invasive tumors (p < 0.05), 1.06, 3.05 and 4.49 micrograms./ml. for grade I, II and III tumors (p < 0.05), and 2.53 and 4.31 micrograms./ml. for diploid and aneuploid tumors (p = 0.14). These data indicate a large difference in sensitivity of human bladder tumors to MMC, with greater sensitivity for well-differentiated superficial tumors and lesser sensitivity for undifferentiated, invasive tumors.
Thin-film, high-density micro-electrocorticographic decoding of a human cortical gyrus

High-density electrocorticography (ECoG) arrays are promising interfaces for high-resolution neural recording from the cortical surface. Commercial options for high-density arrays are limited, and historically tradeoffs must be made between spatial coverage and electrode density. However, thin-film technology is a promising alternative for generating electrode arrays capable of large area coverage and high channel count, with resolution on the order of cortical columns in the functional surface unit of a human gyrus. Here, we evaluate the sensing performance of a high-density thin-film 128-electrode array designed specifically for recording the distributed neural activity of a single human cortical gyrus. We found robust field potential responses throughout the superior temporal gyrus evoked by speech sounds, and clear phonetic feature selectivity at the resolution of 2 mm inter-electrode distance. Decoding accuracy improved with increasing density of electrodes over all three patients tested. Thin-film ECoG has significant potential for high-density neural interface applications at the scale of a human gyrus.
Drawn to landscape: the pioneering work of J. B. Jackson

If the authors and editors of this vibrant, heartfelt, and either charmingly or disorientingly incohesive collection of tributes to J. B. Jackson want to inspire readers to hop on a motorcycle and ...