cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The association between dehydroepiandosterone and frailty in older men and women

Objectives: to evaluate the association between dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA) and physical frailty in older adults. Design: cross-sectional analysis of baseline information from three separate studies in healthy older men, women and residents of assisted living. Setting: academic health centre in greater Hartford, CT, USA. Participants: eight hundred and ninety-eight adults residing in the community or assisted living facility. Measurements: participants had measurement of frailty (weight loss, grip strength, sense of exhaustion, walking speed and physical activity) and serum DHEAS levels. Results: overall, 6% of the individuals in the study were classified as frail, 58% intermediate frail and 35% were not frail. In the bivariate analysis, there were differences between categories of frailty across age, gender and by DHEAS levels. In an ordinal logistic regression model, with frailty as a dependent measure, we found that age, DHEAS and interactions of age and BMI and DHEAS and BMI were predictive of more frailty characteristics. Conclusion: we found an association between frailty and DHEAS levels. Whether the association is due to similar conditions resulting in lower DHEA levels and more susceptibility to frailty or whether lower DHEA levels have an impact on increasing frailty cannot be addressed by cross-sectional analysis. Gender did not impact the association between DHEAS and frailty, but obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) attenuated the association between higher DHEA levels and lower frailty status.
Phase III Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial of Black Cohosh in the Management of Hot Flashes: NCCTG Trial N01CC1

Purpose Hot flashes can cause significant morbidity in postmenopausal women undergoing or finished with breast cancer treatment. Black cohosh has been used to treat hot flashes, but definitive clinical data about efficacy have been equivocal. Methods A double-blind, randomized, cross-over clinical trial with two 4-week periods, was used to study the efficacy of black cohosh (1 capsule, Cimicifuga racemosa 20 mg BID) for the treatment of hot flashes in women. Participants kept a daily hot flash diary during a baseline week and then during two 4-week crossover treatment periods. Hot flash scores were measured by assigning points (1 to 4 for mild to very severe) to each hot flash based on severity and then adding the points for a given time period.
Safety first: A two-stage algorithm for LTL games

In the game theoretic approach to the synthesis of reactive systems, specifications are often given as a conjunction of linear time properties. An implementation can be obtained from a winning strategy derived from a suitable generalized parity game in which each property produces a parity acceptance condition. Safety and persistence properties usually make up the majority of the specification. We show how this can be exploited to play the game in two stages and substantially speed up synthesis without sacrificing generality and conciseness of specification.
The Economic Puzzle of Oskar Schindler: Amenity Potential and Rational Choice

ABSTRACT The popular film Schindler's List is a cinematic portrayal of Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who rescued more than a thousand of his Jewish workers during the Holocaust. While the film has generated much debate over the character's motivations, the historical Oskar Schindler can be viewed as an economic actor who made several choices. Examined together, these various choices make an excellent case for amenity potential, a concept from the work of Harold Demsetz which explains how one's control over a firm's resources gives one opportunities to use those resources for whatever purposes one sees fit, subject to legal and market constraints. Applying amenity potential to the economic puzzle of Schindler's choices reveals how and why he was able to make various choices which followed the letter of the law in Nazi Society, while violating its spirit.
Isolating the mnemonic component in spatial delayed response: a controlled PET 15O-labeled water regional cerebral blood flow study in normal humans.

In this study we attempted to elucidate the neural network involved in maintaining spatial information over short delays by means of the PET 15O-labeled water method for measuring regional cerebral blood flow. To isolate the mnemonic component of delayed response processing we designed a control task isomorphic to the experimental task (in which the subject remembered the location of four targets in an array over a 7 s delay) and controlled for spatial encoding. Fourteen normal subjects participated in the study. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) data were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping, a data-driven approach which canvasses the whole brain for significantly activated pixels in the experimental vis-a-vis the control task, and a hypothesis driven region of interest approach involving comparisons of control and experimental conditions using normalized rCBF data. We found convergent evidence for a spatially distinct but functionally related network in which dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and extrastriate occipital cortex were activated by the experimental task vis-a-vis the control task, as well as evidence for superior parietal and supplementary motor area cortical activation. These findings suggest that anterior components of the network may be involved in mnemonic rehearsal functions, while posterior components may store critical perceptual attributes of the memoranda.
Conditional moments for coordinates of stable vectors

An arbitrary symmetric α-stable (SαS) random vector has exactly the law of a normal random vector whose covariance is itself random and possesses the appropriate (α/2)-stable law (LePage, 1980). This fact is exploited in connection with the problem of prediction for SαS random vectors. The (α/2)-stable measure on covariances can be treated as an a-priori measure on nuisance parameters. It is found that the conditional expectation of one stable r.v. given another can (unexpectedly) be a.s. finite even for α≤1. This leads to predictors which take the form of a weighted average of predictors that would be used for the normal case. Such weighted averages are taken over the space of the covariances, according to an a-posteriori measure obtained by conditioning on the observations.
Solution of the Machine Loading Problem with Binary Variables

In this paper the machine loading problem, i.e. the problem of the optimal assignment of n jobs to m machines of limited capacities, is considered with the further constraint that each job has to be performed using one machine only. The problem may be formulated as an integer 0,1 LP problem, for which an implicit enumeration method of solution is suggested. This method draws advantage from: i) a proposed heuristic solution, to have a good initial “ceiling” (often the optimal solution itself!), ii) an “a priori” criterium to widely reduce the set of solutions to be inspected, iii) a special method to get bounding functions and branching criteria. A wide computational experience allows a good insight into the method.
Carotid artery stenting before cardiac surgery a promising path down a muddy road

Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly —Francis Bacon ([1][1]) The management of synchronous carotid disease and coronary or valvular disease requiring surgical repair has been a constant challenge to clinicians for decades and for a variety of
Abstract 465: Deciphering the Genetic Regulation of ADAMTS7, a Novel Locus for Coronary Artery Disease

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified an association between the ADAMTS7 locus and coronary artery disease (CAD) in humans. While ADAMTS7 is proposed to play a role in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration and neointimal formation, the molecular regulation of human ADAMTS7 gene expression has not yet been explored. We assessed ADAMTS7 expression levels in primary mouse aortic smooth muscle cells (mAoSMC) as well as primary human coronary and human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (hCASMC, hPASMC) in response to treatment with various stimulatory agents. No differences in ADAMTS7 expression were observed upon treatment with PDGF, angiotensin II, and nicotine in any of the cell lines tested. However, TNFα upregulated ADAMTS7 by 4-fold in mAoSMC but not in human VSMCs while H2O2 upregulated ADAMTS7 by 4-fold in hCASMC but not mAoSMCs. No agents modulated expression in hPASMC. Basal levels of ADAMTS7 varied among different VSMC lines; hCASMC had 2-fold greater levels of ADAM...
Calcium intake of adolescents and young adults.

The contribution of milk and its products to the dietary intake of calcium is calculated for men and women college students, Figures are also analyzed and compared with measures of bone density to determine whether correlations are close enough to use this measure as a criterion of long-time, self-chosen intakes of dietary calcium.
Differential pathologic complete response rates after neoadjuvant chemotherapy among molecular subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer.

1005 Background: By gene profiling, Lehmann et al. (J Clin Invest 121:2750-2767, 2011) reported that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) can be classified into 6 clusters—basal-like 1 (BL1), basal...
Crack in Los Angeles: Crisis, militarization, and black response to the late twentieth-century war on drugs

In the winter of 1985 the Los Angeles Police Department (lapd) unveiled a signature new weapon in the city’s drug war. With Chief Daryl F. Gates copiloting, the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (swat) used a fourteen-foot battering ram attached to an “armored vehicle” to break into a house in Pacoima. After tearing a “gaping hole” in one of the outside walls of the house, police found two women and three children inside, eating ice cream. swat uncovered negligible quantities of illicit drugs, and the district attorney subsequently declined to prosecute. In the days following the raid, black clergy and the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp) organized a protest rally in a local church. “We don’t need new weapons to be tried out on us,” Rev. Jeffrey Joseph exclaimed. “Of all the methods that there are to arrest a person, they used a brand new toy.” Not all members of the African American community agreed, however. City councilman David Cunningham, who represented South Los Angeles, praised Gates’s actions. “Go right ahead, Chief. You do whatever you can to get rid of these rock houses. They’re going to destroy the black community if you don’t.”1 These divergent responses embody the core contradiction produced by crack cocaine and the war on drugs for African American communities of Los Angeles in the 1980s. On the one hand, these locations faced an unprecedented scale in the militarization of policing, arrests, and incarceration, but on the other, many people—drawn especially from the ranks of the middle class—saw crack use, distribution, and intracommunity violence as comparable if not greater threats. To address this sense of urgency, the activist-scholar Clarence Lusane used the term drug crisis to differentiate it from the state-sponsored and moral panic–driven discourse of the “crack epidemic.” Lusane’s formulation is valuable not only for its discussion of crack’s impact on communities of color in Los Angeles but also for assisting historians in excavating how the state mobilized and appropriated a
Introduction to the 50th anniversary special issue on psychotherapy outcome: a return to the beginning

Then and now, Psychotherapy is a home to those interested in expanding the research base of how and why psychotherapy is effective. In preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our journal, we on the editorial board and Division 29 thought nothing could pay better homage to these issues than to reprint the seminal articles by Strupp and Eysenck on psychotherapy outcome from Volume 1. These reprinted articles will then be followed by papers from several of today's most prominent authors in psychotherapy process and outcome research who address the progress on these issues now, 50 years later, as well as provide important suggestions for how the field can move forward in future work. Again, this will be the first of several initiatives to celebrate this very special golden anniversary year!
Establishing the LaMnO3 Surface Phase Diagram in an Oxygen Environment: An ab Initio Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulation Study

We employ first principles methods to simulate the steady-state catalytic interaction of oxygen with the LaMnO3(001) surface under varying levels of oxidative environment. First, density-functional theory together with transition-state theory is used to obtain the energetics and activation barriers of the relevant elementary surface chemical processes. The results were subsequently fed into a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulation scheme to explicitly account for the correlations, fluctuations, and spatial distributions of the oxygen ad-atoms and ad-molecules at the surface of the catalyst under steady-state conditions. Adsorbate–adsorbate lateral interactions and influence of the local environment on the reaction kinetics were adequately taken into account to compute (p, T) surface phase diagrams under equilibrium and metastable situations. The kMC-based approach allows us to describe the kinetics-related effects such as the influence of the thermochemical history of the sample on the metastable regions of...
Dimensionally reduced heavy atom semiconductors as candidate materials for γ-ray detection: The case of Cs 2Hg 6S 7

We address the issue of decreasing band-gap with increasing atomic number, inherent in semiconducting materials, by introducing a concept we call dimensional reduction. The concept leads to semiconductor compounds containing high atomic number elements and simultaneously exhibiting a large band gap and high mass density suggesting that dimensional reduction can be successfully employed in developing new γ-ray detecting materials. As an example we discuss the compound Cs2Hg6S7 that exhibits a band-gap of 1.65eV and mobility-lifetime products comparable to those of optimized Cd0.9Zn0.1Te.
Combination predication model based on SVR and its application

Aimed at the problems that single-production prediction models of oilfield development have low generalization ability and poor accuracy for median or long term prediction, a combination predication model based on support vector regression (SVR) is presented. The model is built based on small samples and has powerful generalization ability, which combines the applicable conditions and advantages of different single-prediction models, and is applied to predict oilfield production perfectly that obtains just a few experimental data. The structure designing and algorithm implementing of a combination predication model based on SVR is given, and is applied to process the data of oilfield actual production, which obtained accurate predication results and verified the effectiveness of the model and method.
The Relationship Between the Childhood Autism Rating Scale: Second Edition and Clinical Diagnosis Utilizing the DSM-IV-TR and the DSM-5

The Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (CARS2; 2010) includes two rating scales; the CARS2-Standard Version (CARS2-ST) and the newly developed CARS2-High Functioning Version (CARS2-HF). To assess the diagnostic agreement between the CARS2 and DSM-IV-TR versus DSM-5 criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), clinicians at community based centers of the University of North Carolina TEACCH Autism Program rated participants seen for a diagnostic evaluation on symptoms of autism using both the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria and either the CARS2-HF or the CARS2-ST. Findings suggest that overall, the diagnostic agreement of the CARS2 remains high across DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria for autism.
A seed chalcid (Eurytoma squamosa Bugbee) parasitizes buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri Gray) seeds in a ponderosa pine forest of Arizona

Predispersal seed parasitism rates were quantified for buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri Gray) in 3 Arizona ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) forest units that had been thinned for ecological restoration objectives. The chalcidoid wasp Eurytoma squamosa Bugbee (Eurytomidae) was responsible for 35(percent) of total seed loss in a single year. These findings represent an expansion of the known range and host list for E. squamosa and increase our understanding of factors that may constrain regeneration of C. fendleri in Southwest ponderosa pine forests.
Quantitative iTRAQ Proteomics Revealed Possible Roles for Antioxidant Proteins in Sorghum Aluminum Tolerance

Aluminum (Al) toxicity inhibits root growth and limits crop yields on acid soils worldwide. However, quantitative information is scarce on protein expression profiles under Al stress in crops. In this study, we report on the identification of potential Al responsive proteins from root tips of Al sensitive BR007 and Al tolerant SC566 sorghum lines using a strategy employing iTRAQ and 2D-liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to MS/MS (2D-LC-MS/MS). A total of 771 and 329 unique proteins with abundance changes of > 1.5 or < 0.67 fold were identified in BR007 and SC566, respectively. Protein interaction and pathway analyses indicated that proteins involved in the antioxidant system were more abundant in the tolerant line than in the sensitive one after Al treatment, while opposite trends were observed for proteins involved in lignin biosynthesis. Higher levels of ROS accumulation in root tips of the sensitive line due to decreased activity of antioxidant enzymes could lead to higher lignin production and hyper-accumulation of toxic Al in cell walls. These results indicated that activities of peroxidases and the balance between production and consumption of ROS could be important for Al tolerance and lignin biosynthesis in sorghum.
Research priorities for a multi-center child abuse pediatrics network − CAPNET

Although child maltreatment medical research has benefited from several multi-center studies, the new specialty of child abuse pediatrics has not had a sustainable network capable of pursuing multiple, prospective, clinically-oriented studies. The Child Abuse Pediatrics Network (CAPNET) is a new multi-center research network dedicated to child maltreatment medical research. In order to establish a relevant, practical research agenda, we conducted a modified Delphi process to determine the topic areas with highest priority for such a network. Research questions were solicited from members of the Ray E. Helfer Society and study authors and were sorted into topic areas. These topic areas were rated for priority using iterative rounds of ratings and in-person meetings. The topics rated with the highest priority were missed diagnosis and selected/indicated prevention. This agenda can be used to target future multi-center child maltreatment medical research.
Developing Human Radiation Biodosimetry Models: Testing Cross-Species Conversion Approaches Using an Ex Vivo Model System

In the event of a large-scale radiation exposure, accurate and quick assessment of radiation dose received would be critical for triage and medical treatment of large numbers of potentially exposed individuals. Current methods of biodosimetry, such as the dicentric chromosome assay, are time consuming and require sophisticated equipment and highly trained personnel. Therefore, scalable biodosimetry approaches, including gene expression profiles in peripheral blood cells, are being investigated. Due to the limited availability of appropriate human samples, biodosimetry development has relied heavily on mouse models, which are not directly applicable to human response. Therefore, to explore the feasibility of using non-human primate (NHP) models to build and test a biodosimetry algorithm for use in humans, we irradiated ex vivo peripheral blood samples from both humans and rhesus macaques with doses of 0, 2, 5, 6 and 7 Gy, and compared the gene expression profiles 24 h later using Agilent human microarrays....
ROLE OF MOLECULAR MARKERS IN THYROID NODULE MANAGEMENT: THEN AND NOW.

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the evolution and clinical utility of molecular testing for thyroid nodules and cancer achieved over the last 2 decades. Methods: Scientific reports on thyroid cancer genetics and molecular diagnostics in thyroid nodules. Results: Over the last 2 decades, our understanding of the genetic mechanisms of thyroid cancer has dramatically expanded, such that most thyroid cancers now have known gene driver events. This knowledge provides the basis for establishing and further improving molecular tests for thyroid nodules and cancer and for the introduction of new entities such as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features. The progress with molecular tests for thyroid nodules started in the 1990s from demonstrating feasibility of detecting various molecular alterations in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) material collected from thyroid nodules. It was followed by the introduction of the first single-gene mutational markers, such as BRAF, and a small mutational panel into clinical practice in the mid 2000s. Currently, several more advanced molecular tests are available for clinical use. They are based on multiple molecular markers and have increasing impact on the clinical management of patients with thyroid nodules. Conclusion: The evolution of molecular tests for thyroid nodules followed the discovery of various diagnostic and prognostic molecular markers of thyroid cancer that can be applied to thyroid FNA samples to inform more individualized management of these patients. Abbreviations: FNA = fine-needle aspiration miRNA = micro RNA NGS = next-generation sequencing NIFTP = noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features NPV = negative predictive value PPV = positive predictive value PTC = papillary thyroid carcinoma RAI = radioactive iodine
Visual Sensory and Visual-Cognitive Function and Rate of Crash and Near-Crash Involvement Among Older Drivers Using Naturalistic Driving Data

Purpose An innovative methodology using naturalistic driving data was used to examine the association between visual sensory and visual-cognitive function and rates of future crash or near-crash involvement among older drivers. Methods The Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study was used for this prospective analysis. The sample consisted of N = 659 drivers aged ≥70 years and study participation lasted 1 or 2 years for most participants. Distance and near visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, peripheral vision, visual processing speed, and visuospatial skills were assessed at baseline. Crash and near-crash involvement were based on video recordings and vehicle sensors. Poisson regression models were used to generate crude and adjusted rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals, while accounting for person-miles of travel. Results After adjustment, severe impairment of the useful field of view (RR = 1.33) was associated with an increased rate of near-crash involvement. Crash, severe crash, and at-fault crash involvement were associated with impaired contrast sensitivity in the worse eye (RRs = 1.38, 1.54, and 1.44, respectively) and far peripheral field loss in both eyes (RRs = 1.74, 2.32, and 1.73, respectively). Conclusions Naturalistic driving data suggest that contrast sensitivity in the worse eye and far peripheral field loss in both eyes elevate the rates of crash involvement, and impaired visual processing speed elevates rates of near-crash involvement among older drivers. Naturalistic driving data may ultimately be critical for understanding the relationship between vision and driving safety.
Global geoscience maps from ASTER data

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a 15-channel imaging instrument operating on NASA's Terra satellite. A joint project between the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, ASTER has been acquiring data for 15 years, since March 2000. The archive now contains over 3 million scenes. Researchers at Australia's CSIRO analyzed and mosaicked all of the data for the continent to produce 17 ASTER Geoscience Maps at 90 m resolution. These unique products are being used for mineral exploration, climatological studies, and environmental impacts. In 2017, similar geoscience maps will be created for the entire land surface of the Earth. They will be publicly available at no cost.
Ultrasonic Guiding and Steering of Light in Scattering Tissue

We present a novel technique for guiding and steering photons in multiply scattering brain tissue by using ultrasound waves to sculpt refractive index contrast profiles that define and control the trajectory of light within tissue.
Comparison of the Effect of Cycloplegia on Astigmatism Measurements in a Pediatric Amblyopic Population: A Prospective Study.

Purpose To study the effect of cycloplegia on astigmatism measurements in pediatric patients with amblyopia. Methods This was a prospective comparative clinical study. Participants 4 to 17 years old were recruited from the patient population at the Arkansas Children's Hospital eye clinic after informed consent was obtained. Autorefractor measurements were used to obtain values of refractive error in amblyopic and non-amblyopic patients before and after cycloplegia. The groups were subdivided into myopia and hyperopia and with and without underlying amblyopia. The refractive error was expressed as sphere, cylinder, axis of astigmatism, and spherical equivalent. The treatment effect was summarized as the mean difference (95% confidence interval) for each outcome. Results No statistically significant difference was found on the axis and power of astigmatism before and after cycloplegia in the patients with amblyopia (P = .28 and .99, respectively). Conclusions Non-cycloplegic autorefraction measurements may be considered safe for refining astigmatism power and axis in pediatric patients with amblyopia. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2018;55(5):293-298.].
Characterizing Employees’ Preferences for Incentives for Healthy Behaviors: Examples to Improve Interest in Wellness Programs:

Background. Many employers now incentivize employees to engage in wellness programs, yet few studies have examined differences in preferences for incentivizing participation in healthy behaviors an...
Somatotopic Connectivity or Species Recognition Connectivity

The vertebrate genome does not have enough DNA to specify independently all the connections in the nervous system. Large numbers of nerve cells must be hooked up by a single genetic specification. One task of neurophysiology is to find out what these genetic commands are. An approach is to look for regularities in the connections of large groups of cells. One of these regularities is somatotopic projection — neighbouring presynaptic cells connect with neighbouring postsynaptic cells. A different assumption, often held by spinal cord researchers, is that large numbers of nerve cells are grouped into different “species” (e.g. the motoneurones innervating a single muscle), and that all members of a species have similar connections.
Ensuring a 'Yes-Pets' Rule

For many people, their companion animal is their "life-line." Almost 65% of all US households have a companion animal. Moreover, it is well-documented that living with a companion animal is therapeutic. Unfortunately, obtaining housing that allows companion animals can be very difficult. It is common for rental leases to prohibit companion animals. Moreover, many mobile home parks, cooperatives, condominiums and homeowners associations are banning companion animals, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for people to benefit from the love of a companion animal. Last but not least, many homeless animals are needlessly destroyed because no-pet rules eliminate options for placing them. This short piece first discusses the federal legal protections for the disabled who require service animals and notes the difficulties the disabled have in utilizing and/or enforcing these laws. The article then discusses the need for reform more generally to provide protections for owners of pets in housing, citing California as the first jurisdiction to enact a law that prohibits no-pet clauses in condominium, home owners or mobile home park governing documents as of 2001.
One Size Does Not Fit All: EHR Clinical Summary Design Requirements for Nurses.

Research has established the pivotal role of cognitive artifacts to human information visualization, the reduction of memory load, and critical thinking. A long-standing nursing practice is the development of a personal cognitive artifact that summarizes the clinical condition and plan of care for the patient(s) in the care of the nurse. Distributed cognition establishes the importance of the role of cognitive artifacts to the cognition of each individual. A feature/function of electronic health record applications is to supply a real-time clinical overview of a patient’s clinical condition and care needs, which is often referenced as a patient clinical summary. Research regarding the requirements of electronic clinical summaries to support clinician cognition has not been reported to date. This paper reports the results of initial research to establish foundational principles for the development of EHR patient clinical summaries that support the cognition and critical thinking of the registered nurse.
An Approach For Net-Load Management To Reduce Intermittency And Smooth The Power Output On Distribution Feeders With High PV Penetration

This paper presents a novel ramp rate control and active power smoothing methodology for net-load profiles in large power distribution networks where high Photo Voltaic (PV) penetration levels exist. The novelty is to break large systems into virtual local net-load locations where energy storage systems (ESSs) technologies are installed to mitigate severity of the anticipated shape of system net-loads. The proposed methodology uses Fast Fourier signal Transformation (FFT) to generate reference curves that adequately fit ESS active and reactive power capabilities. Then, a least square minimization (LSM) technique is applied taking both ancillary applications into consideration as well as maintaining State of Charge (SoC) within limits for ESS to function efficiently throughout the day. The methodology is applied on a sample aggregated US power distribution system and a 8000 nodes US power grid using CYMEDist simulation platform. Results show significant level of net-load ramp rate reduction as well as smoothing of fast fluctuations due to both PV intermittency and load changes.
A computational model of feedback-mediated hematopoietic stem cell differentiation in vitro

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) play an important physiological role as regulators of all blood and immune cell populations, and are of clinical importance for bone marrow transplants. Regulating HSC biology in vitro for clinical applications requires improved understanding of biological inducers of HSC lineage specification. A significant challenge for controlled HSC expansion and differentiation is the complex network of molecular crosstalk between multiple bone marrow niche components influencing HSC biology. We describe a biology-driven computational approach to model cell kinetics in vitro to gain new insight regarding culture conditions and intercellular signaling networks. We further investigate the balance between self-renewal and differentiation that drives early and late hematopoietic progenitor populations. We demonstrate that changing the feedback driven by cell-secreted biomolecules alters lineage specification in early progenitor populations. Using a first order deterministic model, we are able to predict the impact of media change frequency on cell kinetics, as well as distinctions between primitive long-term HSCs and differentiated myeloid progenitors. Integrating the computational model and sensitivity analyses we identify critical culture parameters for regulating HSC proliferation and myeloid lineage specification. Our analysis suggests that accurately modeling the kinetics of hematopoietic sub-populations in vitro requires direct contributions from early progenitor differentiation along with the more traditionally considered intermediary oligopotent progenitors. While consistent with recent in vivo results, this work suggests the need to revise our perspective on HSC lineage engineering in vitro for expansion of discrete hematopoietic populations.
Time for evidence-based, standardized donor size matching for pediatric heart transplantation

Abstract Intro Accurately predicting cardiac size by other body parameters has long been problematic for pediatric cardiac transplantation to determine if a donor heart will serve a given waitlist candidate, yet hundreds of heart donors are turned down annually for size mismatch. Objectives We sought to describe how donor body weight parameters are currently utilized in cardiac transplantation and its impact on waitlist outcomes. Methods From the United Network for Organ Sharing database, pediatric ( Results Overall median DCW was 200% [IQR 159%-241%]. Patients with congenital heart disease had higher DCW than those with cardiomyopathy (223% vs 203%; p 0.05). Subgroup analysis of critically ill children showed a waitlist survival advantage in those listed with a DCW ≥200% (p Conclusion Despite significant practice variation in acceptable donor weight in pediatric heart transplantation, patients listed with variable DCW ratios had similar post-transplant survival. However, in critically ill patients, a higher DCW ratio was associated with greater waitlist survival. Better understanding of the importance of donor weight could reduce practice variability and improve organ utilization and waitlist outcomes for cardiac transplant candidates.
Environmental Problem Solving

Sometimes, the best solution for an environmental problem is obvious. Other times there may be no immediately apparent solution. More often, there are many possible solutions. In all cases, identifying, comparing, and assessing all possible options is necessary to determine where critical resources should be invested to solve environmental problems. Environmental professionals approach problems with an open mind, clearly identifying the challenge at hand and purposefully evaluating possible solutions. This chapter provides a framework for identifying, evaluating, and implementing potential solutions that can be used to guide any problem solving activity.
14 – Market Failures: Externalities

Publisher Summary Externalities exist whenever the costs or benefits of an economic decision do not fall to the individual making that decision. When some of the benefits of a decision accrue to third parties, it is said that external benefits have been created. When costs are imposed on third parties, it is called an external cost. The free market breaks down when externalities are present. If an external benefit is produced, then social benefits exceed the private benefits on which market decisions are made. The market would produce little benefit-yielding item. When external costs are present, a different problem appears. Social costs exceed the private costs on which the production decisions are made. The market produces many external cost-producing items. Government policies can be chosen to correct market failures and increase social welfare. External benefits can be encouraged with the use of subsidies to increase consumption. External costs can be reduced through taxation, which discourages production. Government regulations are more effective in accomplishing this reduction in external costs. A public good is an item that is shared by all. Government subsidies and government production of public goods can be used to increase social welfare.
Reduced Neural Excitability and Activation Contribute to Clinically Meaningful Weakness in Older Adults.

BACKGROUND Weakness is a risk factor for physical limitations and death in older adults (OAs). We sought to determine whether OAs with clinically meaningful leg extensor weakness exhibit differences in voluntary inactivation (VIA) and measures of corticospinal excitability when compared to young adults (YAs) and OAs without clinically meaningful weakness. We also sought to estimate the relative contribution of indices of neural excitability and thigh lean mass in explaining the between-subject variability in OAs leg extensor strength. METHODS In 66 OAs (75.1 ± 7.0 years) and 20 YAs (22.0 ± 1.9 years), we quantified leg extensor strength, thigh lean mass, VIA, and motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude and silent period (SP) duration. OAs were classified into weakness groups based on previously established strength/body weight (BW) cut points (Weak, Modestly Weak, or Not Weak). RESULTS The OAs had 63% less strength/BW when compared to YAs. Weak OAs exhibited higher levels of leg extensor VIA than Not Weak OAs (14.2 ± 7.5% vs 6.1 ± 7.5%). Weak OAs exhibited 24% longer SPs compared to Not Weak OAs, although this difference was insignificant (p = .06). The Weak OAs MEPs were half the amplitude of the Not Weak OAs. Regression analysis indicated that MEP amplitude, SP duration, and thigh lean mass explained ~62% of the variance in strength, with the neural excitability variables explaining ~33% of the variance and thigh lean mass explaining ~29%. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that neurotherapeutic interventions targeting excitability could be a viable approach to increase muscle strength in order to reduce the risk of physical impairments in late life.
Alterations in Metabolites Associated with Hypoxemia in Neonates and Infants with Congenital Heart Disease.

Objectives (1) To measure the global shift in the metabolome in hypoxemic versus non-hypoxemic infants with congenital heart disease; (2) To identify metabolites and metabolic pathways that are altered in hypoxemia. Study Design Analysis of serum samples obtained prior to cardiopulmonary bypass from 82 infants ≤120 days old with congenital heart disease requiring surgery at Children's Hospital Colorado. Infants were divided into groups based on pre-operative oxygen saturations: non-hypoxemic (>92%), mild hypoxemia (85-92%), and severe hypoxemia (<85%). Tandem mass spectrometry was used to analyze 165 targeted metabolites. Partial least squares discriminant analysis and t-tests were used to determine differences among metabolic profiles and individual metabolites respectively. Results The broad metabolic fingerprint of neonates or older infants did not vary by degree of hypoxemia. There were 12 individual metabolites that differed between hypoxemic and non-hypoxemic neonates, including lower methylmalonic acid (p = 2.44 × 10-4), glutamate (p = 0.001), and hypoxanthine (p = 0.003), and higher thymine (p = 8.67 × 10-4) and myo-inositol (p = 0.014) seen in hypoxemic neonates. Individual metabolites did not vary significantly between older infants with or without hypoxemia. Conclusions We did not find evidence supporting global metabolic changes associated with cyanotic congenital heart disease in neonates or older infants. However, specific metabolites did discriminate between hypoxemic and non-hypoxemic neonates. These include methylmalonic acid, as well as several metabolites known to change in hypoxia-reoxygenation states (hypoxanthine) and chronic hypoxemic states (glutamate, thymine, myo-inositol) and may represent specific metabolic changes triggered by hypoxemia among neonates with cyanotic congenital heart disease.
The Quest for Radical Islamism and the War on Terror in Indonesia

This chapter seeks to contextualize the quest for the political dominance within the Islamist movements and its impact on the narrative of the War on Terror in Indonesia. It defines radical Islamism as multifaceted responses to secular models of governance and to social and economic injustice by resorting to Islam as an ideological drive to support its political goals. As the motive for radical Islamism is to replace the existing political authority and to restore an Islamist sense of justice, it differs from the moderate forms of Islam as exemplified by the socio-religious organizations. First, this chapter will discuss the political sites of radical Islamism within the context of Indonesia. Second, it will examine common characteristics of radical Islamism. It will then discuss the theological roots of radical Islamism and how such views shape the way the Islamists relate to the state’s imposition of the Pancasila as the ideological foundation of the state. Finally, this chapter concludes by investigating how the War on Terror exacerbates the Islamists’ quest for the political Islam and how it fuels the rising discursive narrative of the Western conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.
‘Don’t File!’: Rehabilitating Unauthorized Practice of Law-Based Policies in the Credit Counseling Industry

The Article extends beyond the current controversy surrounding the growing credit counseling industry and suggests that credit counselors' recommendations to consumers about the proper timing of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition constitute the unauthorized practice of law. In the past, credit counseling was generally limited to lawyers because of courts' and legislators' perceived inability of anyone other than an attorney to represent a debtor's financial interests objectively. Increasingly, legislators exempted non-profit credit counselors from such prohibitory statutes. The Article argues that unauthorized practice of law-based policies should be rehabilitated to provide a framework for regulating the credit counseling industry.
Platform for Incisionless, Focal, and Multisite Brain Interventions

ABSTRACT Precision healthcare treats disease at its source, maximizing treatment efficacy while minimizing side effects. Transcranial focused ultrasound brings this methodology to the human brain, delivering focal interventions to deep brain sites without the need for surgeries. Depending on stimulus duration, ultrasound modulates neural activity—which is useful for systematic diagnoses of disease sources—or induces plastic changes and so a durable reset of the sources. In addition, ultrasound can be applied to selectively deliver drugs into specific targets, thus increasing treatment efficacy while sparing other tissues and organs from potential side effects. The agents can be delivered either across an intact blood brain barrier (small drugs) or across a blood brain barrier that is transiently opened by ultrasound (large drugs, genes, stem cells). Clinical translation of these groundbreaking approaches requires a practical system that can deliver ultrasound into specific brain targets on command. We developed a platform with these features and validated its function in nonhuman primates. In particular, we used the platform to modulate two deep brain nuclei—the left and the right lateral geniculate nucleus–during visual choice behavior. We found that specific stimulation parameters reliably yet reversibly modulated the choice behavior. This platform is being used to systematically investigate the space of effective stimulation parameters for transient and durable neuromodulation in nonhuman primates. This noninvasive system can also be applied to subjects with neurological and psychiatric disorders, to modulate specific deep brain targets with the precision and flexibility not previously possible.
Overview of the epidemiological conditions of HIV among key populations in Africa.

Introduction Despite extraordinary progress in HIV treatment coverage and expanding access to HIV prevention services and that multiple African countries are on track in their efforts to reach 90-90-90 goals, the epidemic continues to persist, with prevalence and incidence rates too high in some parts of the continent to achieve epidemic control. While data sources are improving, and research studies on key populations in specific contexts have improved, work on understanding the HIV burdens and barriers to services for these populations remains sparse, uneven and absent altogether in multiple settings. More data have become available in the last several years, and data published in 2010 or more recently are reviewed here for each key population. This scoping review assesses the current epidemiology of HIV among key populations in Africa and the social and political environments that contribute to the epidemic, both of which suggest that without significant policy reform, these epidemics will likely continue. Results and discussion Across Africa, the HIV epidemic is most severe among key populations including women and men who sell or trade sex, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, transgender women who have sex with men and prisoners and detainees. These groups account for the majority of new infections in West and Central Africa, and an estimated 25% of new infections in East and Southern Africa, despite representing relatively small proportions of those populations. The HIV literature in Africa emphasizes that despite significant health needs, key populations experience barriers to accessing services within the healthcare and legal justice systems. Current shortcomings of surveillance systems in enumerating key populations impact the way funding mechanisms and resources are allocated and distributed. Adapting more equitable and epidemiologically sound frameworks will be necessary for current and future HIV programming investments. Conclusions Through this review, the available literature on HIV epidemiology among key populations in Africa brings to light a number of surveillance, programmatic and research gaps. For many communities, interventions targeting the health and security conditions continue to be minimal. Compelling evidence suggests that sweeping policy and programmatic changes are needed to effectively tackle the persistent HIV epidemic in Africa.
Developing Synthetic Spectroscopy Noise and Chemometric Database for Computational Classification

There has been little to no work in the area of spectroscopy noise in order to create data sets for analytical algorithms to be challenged on the ability to separate chemicals. We present a framework on how to build off of a sparse about of experimental data in order to expand your chemometric database and create realistic instrumentation noise. The combination of various interactions of chemicals combined with various random permutations of spectroscopy noises enables researchers to better capture and model the multitude of types of signals and variations that can be present within an experimental reading.
Gendered Labour in the Neo-Art House

This article excavates and analyzes women’s labor in the neo-art house industry. Focusing on the labor histories gleaned from interviews, I offer a reconceptualization of the art house industry post-digital exhibition transition; detail an initial schema of the challenges facing women-identified laborers in the industry, including gendered divisions of labor and financial precarity; and consider internal advocacy efforts some neo-art house workers have created to advance diversity and challenge sexual harassment, among other social justice issues.