cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Children and bioethics: uses and abuses of the best-interests standard.

Un modele ethique a ete etabli afin de respecter les interets des enfants et informer les parents et les cliniciens sur le choix d'un traitement des enfants malades, equilibrer les avantages et les inconvenients et selectionner le traitement le plus approprie a l'enfant
Circumventing Social Desirability Response Bias in Personal Interview Surveys

SYNOPTIC ABSTRACTSocial desirability is a major source of bias and non-response in personal interview surveys involving sensitive questions. Bogus pipeline is a technique recommended by psychologists to circumvent the problem of social desirability response bias. Although the technique has been shown to be useful in some cases, it is not portable and cannot be taken from door-to-door. Moreover, some psychologists have questioned its effectiveness. Another technique used by psychologists is the randomized response technique. The paper recommends the use of a “partial” randomization response technique and compares its effectiveness with the “full” randomization technique and the bogus pipeline technique by using survey results involving female students under the age of thirty from introductory statistics and psychology courses.
Individual Differences in Animal Stress Models: Considering Resilience, Vulnerability, and the Amygdala in Mediating the Effects of Stress and Conditioned Fear on Sleep.

Study objectives To examine the REM sleep response to stress and fearful memories as a potential marker of stress resilience and vulnerability and to assess the role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in mediating the effects of fear memory on sleep. Methods Outbred Wistar rats were surgically implanted with electrodes for recording EEG and EMG and with bilateral guide cannulae directed at the BLA. Data loggers were placed intraperitoneally to record core body temperature. After recovery from surgery, the rats received shock training (ST: 20 footshocks, 0.8 mA, 0.5-s duration, 60-s interstimulus interval) and afterwards received microinjections of the GABAA agonist muscimol (MUS; 1.0 μM) to inactivate BLA or microinjections of vehicle (VEH) alone. Subsequently, the rats were separated into 4 groups (VEH-vulnerable (VEH-Vul; n = 14), VEH-resilient (VEH-Res; n = 13), MUS-vulnerable (MUS-Vul; n = 8), and MUS-resilient (MUS-Res; n = 11) based on whether or not REM was decreased, compared to baseline, during the first 4 h following ST. We then compared sleep, freezing, and the stress response (stress-induced hyperthermia, SIH) across groups to determine the effects of ST and fearful context re-exposure alone (CTX). Results REM was significantly reduced on the ST day in both VEH-Vul and MUS-Vul rats; however, post-ST MUS blocked the reduction in REM on the CTX day in the MUS-Vul group. The VEH-Res and MUS-Res rats showed similar levels of REM on both ST and CTX days. The effects of post-ST inactivation of BLA on freezing and SIH were minimal. Conclusions Outbred Wistar rats can show significant individual differences in the effects of stress on REM that are mediated by BLA. These differences in REM can be independent of behavioral fear and the peripheral stress response, and may be an important biomarker of stress resilience and vulnerability.
A PERSPECTIVE ON TURBULENCE MODELING

In this paper, we speculate on the usage of turbulence models over the next 10 or 20 years. To this end, some insights are gained by reflecting on the developments over the last 25 years, since the introduction of the k-e turbulence model (Jones et al., 1972).
Conclusion: Toward a New Social Contract

In the final chapter of Understanding Popular Science, Peter Broks proposes that we move the locus of discussion from science per se to sciencein-society. Communicating Popular Science can be seen, in many ways, as an extended proof-of-concept for Broks’ proposal, an attempt to articulate what a shift to his ‘third generation model’ (p. 143) of popular science—i.e., CUSP (Critical Understanding of Science in Public)—looks like in action. It has also sought to integrate a perspective often left out of critiques of popular science writing, that of popular science writers themselves.
Introduction to membrane technology

Since 1960, membrane technology has transformed from laboratory development to proven industrial applications. Continuing advances in development of new membranes with better thermal, chemical, and improved transport properties have led to many new possible applications. Membranes are used extensively for desalination, potable water production, treating industrial effluents, water reclamation, and reuse. Development of newer membrane modules and operating procedures in recent years has provided a key stimulus for the growth of the membrane industry such as submerged membrane filtration for treating municipal water. Besides water treatment, membranes are used in the manufacture of food and pharmaceutical products, production of base chemicals, energy conversion devices such as fuel cells, and in medical devices such as haemodialysis, blood oxygenators, and controlled drug delivery products. Membrane-separation processes are being increasingly integrated with conventional technologies as hybrid membrane systems to reduce energy consumption and minimise environmental impact. Overall, the market for membranes and membrane systems grew from $4.4 billion in 2000 to more $10 billion in 2010, and the market for water treatment equipment could exceed $10.4 billion in 2014, with one-third for desalination.
Cells must express components of the planar cell polarity system and extracellular matrix to support cytonemes

Drosophila dorsal air sac development depends on Decapentaplegic (Dpp) and Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) proteins produced by the wing imaginal disc and transported by cytonemes to the air sac primordium (ASP). Dpp and FGF signaling in the ASP was dependent on components of the planar cell polarity (PCP) system in the disc, and neither Dpp- nor FGF-receiving cytonemes extended over mutant disc cells that lacked them. ASP cytonemes normally navigate through extracellular matrix (ECM) composed of collagen, laminin, Dally and Dally-like (Dlp) proteins that are stratified in layers over the disc cells. However, ECM over PCP mutant cells had reduced levels of laminin, Dally and Dlp, and whereas Dpp-receiving ASP cytonemes navigated in the Dally layer and required Dally (but not Dlp), FGF-receiving ASP cytonemes navigated in the Dlp layer, requiring Dlp (but not Dally). These findings suggest that cytonemes interact directly and specifically with proteins in the stratified ECM.
Riptide: Jump-Starting Back-Office Connections in Cloud Systems

Large-scale cloud networks are constantly driven by the need for improved performance in communication between datacenters. Indeed, such back-office communication makes up a large fraction of traffic in many cloud environments. This communication often occurs frequently, carrying control messages, coordination and load balancing information, and customer data. However, ensuring such inter-datacenter traffic is delivered efficiently requires optimizing connections over large physical distances, which is non-trivial. Worse still, many large cloud networks are subject to complex configuration and administrative restrictions, limiting the types of solutions that can be implemented. In this paper, we propose improving the efficiency of datacenter to datacenter communication by learning the congestion level of links in between. We then use this knowledge to inform new connections made between the relevant datacenters, allowing us to eliminate the overhead associated with traditional slow-start processes in new connections. We further present Riptide, a tool which implements this approach. We present the design and implementation details of Riptide, showing that it can be easily executed on modern Linux servers deployed in the real world. We further demonstrate that it successfully reduces total transfer times in a production global-scale content delivery network (CDN), providing up to a 30% decrease in tail latency. We further show that Riptide is simple to deploy and easy to maintain within a complex existing network.
Promoting serotonergic neurotransmission to enhance sociability

I social interaction is the most prominent and drug treatment-resistant of core autism symptoms. Clinical findings and rodent studies demonstrate serotonin transmission is often disrupted in the socially-deficient brain. For example, dietary or pharmacological depletion of the 5-HT precursor tryptophan (TRP) worsens behavioral symptoms of autism in patients and impairs social interactions in mice, while TRP supplementation improved sociability in some mouse models of autistic symptoms. Also drugs such as buspirone, pargyline and vortioxetine that mimic some postsynaptic effects of serotonin are able to enhance murine social behavior within a limited dose range or time frame. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs) Prozac (fluoxetine) enhances sociability in mice. Unfortunately, however, it only does so for limited subpopulations of patients with autism. This could be because SSRI efficacy is diminished if 5-HT transporter (SERT) function is compromised by common and rare gene polymorphisms. Aside from SERT, auxilliary transporters of 5-HT in the brain include organic cation transporters (OCTs) and the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT) collectively known as “uptake 2”. Uptake 2 transporters remove serotonin from extracellular fluid with greater capacity but lower affinity than SERT. Our hypothesis is that if uptake 2 is blocked, impaired social behavior may improve in a broader population of individuals with autism than presently benefit from SSRI treatments. This hypothesis was tested in two socially impaired mouse models, the BTBR T+tf/J strain and SERT knockout mice. We found that blockade of uptake 2 transporters by systemically-administered pseudoisocyanine decynium-22 promoted social behavior in these mice.
Fears and Misperceptions of the Ebola Response System during the 2014-2015 Outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Background Future infectious disease epidemics are likely to disproportionately affect countries with weak health systems, exacerbating global vulnerability. To decrease the severity of epidemics in these settings, lessons can be drawn from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. There is a dearth of literature on public perceptions of the public health response system that required citizens to report and treat Ebola cases. Epidemiological reports suggested that there were delays in diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of our study was to explore the barriers preventing Sierra Leoneans from trusting and using the Ebola response system during the height of the outbreak. Methods Using an experienced ethnographer, we conducted 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews in public spaces in Ebola-affected areas. Participants were at least age 18, spoke Krio, and reported no contact in the recent 21 days with an Ebola-infected person. We used inductive coding and noted emergent themes. Findings Most participants feared that calling the national hotline for someone they believed had Ebola would result in that person’s death. Many stated that if they developed a fever they would assume it was not Ebola and self-medicate. Some thought the chlorine sprayed by ambulance workers was toxic. Although most knew there was a laboratory test for Ebola, some erroneously assumed the ubiquitous thermometers were the test and most did not understand the need to re-test in the presence of Ebola symptoms. Conclusion Fears and misperceptions, related to lack of trust in the response system, may have delayed care-seeking during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. Protocols for future outbreak responses should incorporate dynamic, qualitative research to understand and address people’s perceptions. Strategies that enhance trust in the response system, such as community mobilization, may be particularly effective.
Metal-organic frameworks: Evolved oxygen evolution catalysts

Catalysing the oxygen evolution reaction is central to electrochemical energy conversion technologies such as electrolysis, but the high cost of state-of-the-art precious metal oxide electrocatalysts hinders commercialization. Now, thin sheets of a metal–organic framework are shown to provide a high-performing, cheaper alternative.
A Deformable High Resolution Anatomic Reference for Pet Activation Studies

Presently available anatomic atlases provide useful coordinate systems such as the ubiquitous Talairach system but are sorely lacking in both spatial resolution and completeness. An appropriately sampled anatomic specimen can provide the additional detail necessary to accurately localize activation sites as well as provide other structural perspectives such as chemoarchitecture. As part of the International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM), whose goal it is to develop a probabilistic reference system for the human brain, we collected serial section postmortem anatomic data from several whole human head and brain specimens using a cryosectioning technique. Tissue imaged so that voxel resolution was 200 microns or better at full color (24 bits/pixel. The collected data sets were used in one of several ways as an anatomic reference for functional studies. First, on an individual basis as a traditional, n=1 structural atlas with unprecedented spatial resolution and complete coverage of the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. The dataset can be registered to a functional dataset using either anatomic landmarks or an automatic approach. Second, several of these high resolution datasets were placed within the Talairach system and used to produce a probabilistic representation. This approach represents anatomy within a coordinate system as a probability. Coordinate locations are assigned a confidence limit to describe the likelihood that a given location belongs to an anatomic structure based upon the population of specimens. These data produce an anatomic reference that is digital, high in spatial and densitometric resolution, 3D, comprehensive and, in combination, probabilistic. The superior resolution makes it possible to delineate structures impossible to visualize in other structural modalities. These data are an important and necessary part of the comprehensive structural and functional analyses that focus on the mapping of the human brain.
Clinical applications of dynamic CT angiography for intracranial lesions

Dynamic CT angiography (dCTA) augments traditional CTA with temporal resolution and has been demonstrated to influence operative planning in skull base surgery. Three hundred twenty-five dynamic CTA cases from a single institution were reviewed for indication of study, findings, and comparison to other modalities of imaging. The most frequent application of dCTA was pre-operative surgical planning (59.4%); resection of skull base tumors represented the majority of these pre-operative studies (93.3%). It was also used to evaluate new neurological symptoms (20.9%). Of these, the most common symptoms prompting a dCTA study included headache (22.1%) and visual field deficit (11.8%). The most commonly visualized vascular lesions were partial (22.9%) and complete vascular occlusions (9.0%). Dynamic CTA has also been useful in post-operative imaging for vascular malformations (9.5%) and tumors (2.5%). Finally, dCTA was employed to evaluate ambiguous abnormal findings observed on other imaging modalities (7.7%). Cerebral dCTA ruled out inconclusive abnormal vascular findings visualized on other imaging modalities (64.0%) more frequently than it confirmed them (32.0%), and was inconclusive in a singular case (4.0%). Cerebral dCTA is an evolving new technology with a diverse spectrum of potential applications. In addition to its role in guiding pre-operative planning for skull base surgical cases, dynamic CTA offers excellent spatial and temporal resolution for assessment of vascular lesions.
Aegis: An Interference-Negligible RF Sensing Shield

Researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of detecting human motion behind the wall with radio frequency (RF) sensing techniques. With these techniques, an eavesdropper can monitor people's behavior from outside of the room without the need to access the room. This introduces a severe privacy-leakage issue. To address this issue, we propose Aegis, an interference-negligible RF sensing shield that i) incapacitates the RF sensing of eavesdroppers that work at any unknown locations outside of the protected area; ii) has minimum interference to the ongoing WiFi communication; and iii) preserves authorized RF sensing inside the private region. Our extensive evaluation shows that when Aegis is activated, it i) has a negligible impact on the legitimate sensing system; ii) effectively prevents the illegitimate sensing system from sensing human motions. Moreover, the ongoing data communication throughput is even increased.
Methods for Study of Carbohydrate Metabolism

This chapter will consider issues involved in the study of carbohydrate metabolism and of diabetes mellitus and its complications. As will become apparent from this introductory section, the study of carbohydrate metabolism and of diabetes mellitus are important considerations for investigators interested in cardiovascular behavioral medicine.
Mathematical Models of Retailer Inventory Systems: A Review

Retail inventory management is an important and challenging research area. Based on performance measures such as turns per year, the efficiency with which retailers manage their inventory lags well behind other sectors, such as manufacturing. However, retail inventory management must deal with unique problems and complexities. By the nature of their business, major retailers hold stock at many geographically dispersed locations at anywhere from several hundred to thousands of stores for the typical retailing chain. Retailers are also faced with the problem of managing an extremely large number of line items; several hundred thousand SKUs (stock keeping units) is not uncommon. Until recently, demand rates at the store level have been reported only in aggregate form, and often with considerable delay and inaccuracy. This made it nearly impossible for retailers to accurately determine the inventory position of an SKU at a store, let alone estimate the probability distribution of weekly demand or the service level experienced by customers on individual items.
Surgical Palliation for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: For Now, Just Keep Doing What You Do Best.

Article, see p 2246 In 2010, Ohye and colleagues1 published the results of a prospective, randomized trial comparing the effect of the type of shunt used to establish controlled pulmonary blood flow. This report compared the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (BTS) with a small right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit or shunt (RVPA) on outcomes in neonates requiring the life-saving Norwood palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Known as the SVR trial (Single Ventricle Reconstruction), this is the only prospective, randomized study undertaken to date to directly compare different surgical strategies in the treatment of complex congenital heart disease. The hopes were high for this trial: while surgeons continued to debate the superiority of using a BTS or an RVPA shunt (largely based on single-institution retrospective reports), the promise of a prospective comparison study in definitively determining the best operation to perform was exciting and offered hope for clarification of surgical strategy. As this important cohort of children grows up, new insights are being sequentially revealed (or at least reinforced) about the complex realities of the lives of children (and thereby their families) with HLHS. Unfortunately, as Newburger and colleagues2 have nicely documented in this latest follow-up analysis published in this issue of Circulation , the question of which operation (or specifically which source of pulmonary blood flow), either the BTS or RVPA shunt, confers optimum outcomes remains elusive or, to be more …
Temperature acclimation and adaptation of enzyme physiology in Neurospora discreta

Abstract Fungal metabolic rates could increase under climate warming but may be counteracted by mechanisms of physiological acclimation and evolutionary adaptation. We hypothesized that Vmax and Km parameters of Neurospora discreta extracellular enzymes would acclimate to warmer temperatures through compensatory mechanisms. We also predicted that evolution under warmer temperatures would alter enzyme parameters and fungal respiration through adaptive mechanisms. In contrast to these predictions, growth at higher temperature (22 °C versus 16 °C) increased the temperature-corrected Vmax of three enzymes. The carbon substrate used for fungal growth (lignin versus sucrose) had a much greater impact on enzyme Vmax than temperature. Following experimental evolution, the enzymatic parameters of Neurospora strains did not adapt to higher temperatures as hypothesized; rather, enzyme Vmax values were unaffected, and respiration rates increased. Together, these results suggest that physiological and evolutionary mechanisms are unlikely to counteract soil carbon losses driven by saprotrophic fungi under climate warming.
Language of Kin Relations and Relationlessness

Language has long been at the center of kinship studies, where there has been a tendency to see the role of language in terms of nomenclature for labeling preexisting relations. Linguistic anthropo...
Compound Semiconductors and Crystal Growth Techniques

A key component in semiconductor microtechnology is the production and quality control of the basic semiconductor materials from which devices and integrated circuits are made. These semiconductor materials are usually composed of single crystals of high perfection and high purity.
Field Inspection of PV Modules: Quantification of EVA Browning Level Using an Image Processing Tool

PV plant inspections are important to identify and quantitatively determine the impacts of various visual defects on module performance. One of the dominant visual defects is EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) (encapsulant) browning, which affects the light transmittance and thus output of PV modules. The present study deals with development of an image processing tool to quantify the browning and which is then used to quantify the short circuit current (Isc) of the browned modules without disconnecting the modules from their arrays. This MATLAB tool removes human subjectivity, accurately quantifies browning level, predicts Isc, and reduces time required for field inspection.
Shared illness appraisal and self-efficacy among adults with type 1 diabetes.

We examined the interaction between shared illness appraisal and self-efficacy among couples in which one partner was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (n = 199). We hypothesized that the relation bet...
A Feedback-Based Regularized Primal-Dual Gradient Method for Time-Varying Nonconvex Optimization

This paper considers time-varying nonconvex optimization problems, utilized to model optimal operational trajectories of systems governed by possibly nonlinear physical or logical models. Algorithms for tracking a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker point are synthesized, based on a regularized primal-dual gradient method. In particular, the paper proposes a feedback-based primal-dual gradient algorithm, where analytical models for system state or constraints are replaced with actual measurements. When cost and constraint functions are twice continuously differentiable, conditions for the proposed algorithms to have bounded tracking error are derived, and a discussion of their practical implications is provided. Illustrative numerical simulations are presented for an application in power systems.
A Study of Digital Science Fiction Prototyping in an Elementary School Setting

This paper will focus on a new approach to teaching that integrates digital literacy and science fiction into elementary school settings. The approach combines elements of constructivist teaching methods, Science Fiction Prototyping (SFP), the exquisite corpse model and social media to engage young learners. This paper includes background information gathered from previous literature on the effects of constructivist approaches and new technological advances within classroom environments and then analyzes the effects of a new platform called MySciFiStory.com that hopes to combine these approaches to benefit elementary students and educators.
Fighting Fire with Fire: Development of Intranasal Nalmefene to Treat Synthetic Opioid Overdose

The dramatic rise in overdose deaths linked to synthetic opioids (e.g., fentanyl, carfentanil) may require more potent, longer-duration opiate antagonists than naloxone. Both the high affinity of nalmefene at μ opiate receptors and its long half-life led us to examine the feasibility of developing an intranasal (IN) formulation as a rescue medication that could be especially useful in treating synthetic opioid overdose. In this study, the pharmacokinetic properties of IN nalmefene were compared with an intramuscular (i.m.) injection in a cohort of healthy volunteers. Nalmefene was absorbed slowly following IN administration, with a median time to reach Cmax (Tmax) of 2 hours. Addition of the absorption enhancer dodecyl maltoside (Intravail, Neurelis, Inc., Encinitas, CA) reduced Tmax to 0.25 hour and increased Cmax by ∼2.2-fold. The pharmacokinetic properties of IN nalmefene (3 mg) formulated with dodecyl maltoside has characteristics consistent with an effective rescue medication: its onset of action is comparable to an i.m. injection of nalmefene (1.5 mg) previously approved to treat opioid overdose. Furthermore, the Cmax following IN administration was ∼3-fold higher than following i.m. dosing, comparable to previously reported plasma concentrations of nalmefene observed 5 minutes following a 1-mg i.v. dose. The high affinity, very rapid onset, and long half-life (>7 hours) of IN nalmefene present distinct advantages as a rescue medication, particularly against longer-lived synthetic opioids.
Low-frequency X-ray timing with Gaussian processes and reverberation in the radio-loud AGN 3C 120

A framework is developed to perform Fourier-domain timing analysis on X-ray light curves with gaps, employing Gaussian processes to model the probability distribution underlying the observed time series from which continuous samples can be drawn. A technique is developed to measure X-ray reverberation from the inner regions of accretion discs around black holes in the low frequency components of the variability, on timescales longer than can be probed employing standard Fourier techniques. This enables X-ray reverberation experiments to be performed using data from satellites in low-Earth orbit such as NICER, NuSTAR and the proposed X-ray timing mission STROBE-X, and enables long timescale reverberation around higher mass AGN to be measured by combining multiple observations. Gaussian processes are applied to observations of the broad line radio galaxy 3C120 spanning two orbits with XMM-Newton to measure the relative time lags of successive X-ray energy bands. The lag-energy spectrum between 5E-6 and 3E-5Hz, estimated using Gaussian processes, reveals X-ray reverberation from the inner accretion disc for the first time in this radio-loud AGN. Time lags in the relativistically broadened iron K line are significantly detected. The core of the line lags behind the continuum by (3800 +/- 1500)s, suggesting a scale height of the corona of (13 +/- 8)rg above the disc. The ability to compare the structure of coronae in radio loud AGN to their radio quiet counterparts will yield important insight into the mechanisms by which black holes are able to launch jets.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and associated vitamin D levels in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (P5.6-043)

Objective: To contrast vitamin D25-OH levels among MTHFR C677T genotypes in children with ADHD. Background: Vitamin D deficiency in ADHD patients has been well documented in the literature, but there is no consensus as to the explanation for this association. There has also been conflicting evidence regarding the association between MTHFR C677T gene status and ADHD. Given recent reports of a correlation between low MTHFR C677T prevalence and regions with high ultraviolet radiation (UVR), we sought to examine MTHFR status and vitamin D25-OH levels, which themselves are directly influenced by UVR exposure. Design/Methods: Serum vitamin D25-OH levels and MTHFR C677T genotype (wild type (CC), heterozygous (CT), and homozygous (TT) polymorphisms) were determined for 50 children with ADHD. ANOVA was used to contrast vitamin D25-OH levels among MTHFR C677T genotypes. Results: Serum vitamin D25-OH differed significantly among the three genotypes [F2,42 = 5.02; p=0.01; n= (CC 18; CT 21; TT 11)]. The CC variant had lower vitamin D levels than the TT variant, and the CT variant had intermediate levels that did not differ from the other two genotypes. Conclusions: Existing literature does not suggest a genetic predilection for vitamin D deficiency in children with ADHD. However, an interaction between folate and vitamin D levels regulated by UVR intensity as a mechanism that preserves both nutrients has been suggested. The TT variant of MTHFR is thermolabile and unable to process folic acid efficiently at high UVR exposure, which is typically necessary for vitamin D formation. As such, individuals with MTHFR TT may manufacture and/or maintain vitamin D more efficiently due to their genetic need to avoid prolonged UVR exposure. Hence, vitamin D levels may be higher at baseline in children with MTHFR TT status. In either case, our findings suggest a possible yet unelucidated interaction between MTHFR C677T status and vitamin D and children with ADHD. Disclosure: Dr. Silverstein has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pecor has nothing to disclose. Dr. Junger has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kornitzer has nothing to disclose.
Differences in PD-L1-Expressing Macrophages and Immune Microenvironment in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors.

Objectives To characterize the tumor microenvironment of testicular germ cell tumors (GCTs) using immunohistochemical markers. Methods Seventy-seven orchiectomies, including 36 nonmetastatic (NM) seminomas, 15 metastatic (M) seminomas, 13 nonmetastatic nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCTs), and 13 metastatic NSGCTs, were studied with PD-1, PD-L1, FOXP3, CD68, CD163, and mismatch repair (MMR) immunohistochemistry. FOXP3+ and PD-1+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) expressing CD68 and CD163 were enumerated. PDL-1 expression was evaluated on tumor cells and macrophages. Results GCTs primarily express PD-L1 on TAMs, except choriocarcinoma, where true tumor cell positivity was noted. Seminomas reveal increased intratumoral PD-L1+ TAMs compared with NSGCTs (P Conclusions Robust PD-L1+ TAMs are significantly expanded in seminomas compared with NSGCTs. Among all GCTs, only choriocarcinoma cells reveal true positivity for PD-L1. These findings expand the realm of potentially targeted treatments for GCTs.
Mechanical Circulatory Support in Patients with Cardiogenic Shock

To provide a contemporary concise overview of the currently available mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices and the emerging concepts in the management of cardiogenic shock (CS). New classification of CS has emerged and is hoped to allow a unified approach to research and clinical management of CS. A number of MCS devices have also become available for clinical use in the last 2 decades. Those devices have different hemodynamic targets, provide various levels of support, and are associated with specific requirements and potential complications. Data on the utility of MCS in CS remains conflicting with randomized trials showing no benefit of MCS, and observational data suggesting an incremental value for MCS over medical therapy. However, the early use and escalation of MCS in a standardized approach do appear to provide a remarkable improvement in short-term outcomes of patients with CS. MCS devices afforded lifesaving treatment for many patients with CS. However, optimal utilization of such devices requires familiarity with their clinical data, and technical characteristics, and mandates their integration in an algorithmic team-based approach to CS.
Off-label studies on ruxolitinib in dermatology: a review

Ruxolitinib is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor that is FDA-approved for the treatment of myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and acute graft-versus-host disease. Its use in treating various dermatologic diseases has been a topic of growing interest due to its favorable safety profile and targeted inhibition of several cytokines that perpetuate inflammatory skin conditions. The PubMed/MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched for literature on off-label uses of ruxolitinib in dermatology and ongoing trials studying its safety and efficacy. There is randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence for the successful use of ruxolitinib in treating alopecia, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, with ongoing RCTs for its use in vitiligo. Smaller studies have confirmed the success of ruxolitinib in treating conditions such as dermatomyositis and hypereosinophilic syndrome, among others. No serious adverse effects were reported with the use of ruxolitinib in dermatology, but further research is needed to determine its efficacy, delivery route, and optimal dosing for treating dermatologic conditions.
Impacts of the 2019 Strong IOD and Monsoon Events on Indian Ocean Sea Surface Salinity

The impact of the 2019 super positive Indian Ocean Dipole (PIOD) event, the strongest in the last four decades, which also co-occurred with an El Nino and a strong summer monsoon, on Indian Ocean sea surface salinity (SSS) is examined using the Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite measurements. Salt budget estimation suggests a predominant, nearly ocean-wide influence by surface freshwater flux and horizontal advective terms. Subsurface ocean influence on the salt budget occurs mainly in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean (SETIO). The PIOD event suppressed the influence of the El Nino, thereby causing anomalous high precipitation in western India, and leading to an unusual freshening in the southeastern Arabian Sea (AS), which is subsequently advected towards the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO). In the western Bay of Bengal (BoB), following the waning of monsoon-influenced precipitation in the fall, SSS becomes anomalously salty and traverses towards the AS against the flow of anomalous surface currents. During the peak of the summer monsoon in August–September and the peak of the PIOD event in September–November, SSS in the EIO exhibited tendency for freshening, mainly driven by westward advection of freshwater from the eastern BoB. Conversely, in the SETIO, there was tendency for salinification due to suppression of precipitation, enhanced upwelling of high subsurface salinity, and northward advection of salty water. During December to January of the following year, these salinity tendencies reversed, with salinification in the EIO and freshening in the SETIO.
Understanding Physical Activity Patterns Across the School Day in Urban Pre-Kindergarten and Elementary Schoolchildren.

Purpose:Despite recommendations that children accrue ≥60 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), numerous barriers may exist. We examined school-day MVPA patterns in lower-income ...
Accurate Cache and TLB Characterization Using hardware Counters

We have developed a set of microbenchmarks for accurately determining the structural characteristics of data cache memories and TLBs. These characteristics include cache size, cache line size, cache associativity, memory page size, number of data TLB entries, and data TLB associativity. Unlike previous microbenchmarks that used time-based measurements, our microbenchmarks use hardware event counts to more accurately and quickly determine these characteristics while requiring fewer limiting assumptions.
Purification and Properties of Two Types of Diphosphopyridine Nucleotide-linked Glycerol 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases from Chicken Breast Muscle and Chicken Liver

Purification and properties of diphosphopyridine nucleotide-linked glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenases from chicken breast muscle and liver
Chapter 4 Litigation

Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to survey the academic literature on the economics of litigation and to synthesize its main themes. The chapter begins by introducing the basic economic framework for studying litigation and out-of-court settlement. One set of issues addressed is positive (or descriptive) in nature. Under what conditions will someone decide to file suit? What determines how much is spent on a lawsuit? When do cases settle out of court? Important normative issues are also addressed. Are the litigation decisions made by private parties in the interest of society as a whole? Next, the chapter surveys some of the more active areas in the litigation literature. Topics include rules of evidence, loser-pays rules, appeals, contingent fees for attorneys, alternative dispute resolution, class actions, and plea bargaining.
Studies of the dimensionality, correlates, and meaning of measures of the maximizing tendency

This series of four studies was designed to clarify the underlying dimensionality and psychological well-being correlates of the major extant measures of the maximization tendency: the Maximization Scale (MS; Schwarz et al., 2002) and the Maximization Tendency Scale (MTS; Diab et al., 2008). Four studies using psychometric and factor analysis, item response theory (IRT), and an experimental manipulation all supported the following conclusions. The MS does measure three separate factors as postulated by its authors, but only two of them (alternative search and decisional difficulty) are correlated with each other and (negatively) with indices of well-being as postulated by the scale authors; high standards, the third factor, correlated strongly with the MTS, and both of these were strongly correlated with positive indices of well-being (optimism and happiness) and functioning (e.g., self-esteem and self-efficacy). The high standards subscale and MTS were related to analytical decision making style, while alternative search and decision difficulty were related to the regret-based decision making style and to procrastination. The IRT analysis indicated serious weaknesses in the measurement capabilities of existing scales, and the findings of the experimental study confirmed that alternative search and decision difficulty are related to the maximization tendency while high standards and MTS are not. Implications for further research and scale development are discussed.
Adolescent Sex Offenders

In the United States, law enforcement and judicial systems and mental health professionals continue to struggle to deal with the rise in the number of juvenile sex offenders. The consequences of sex offending are substantial for victims, society, perpetrators, and their families, involving significant human (emotional and physical suffering) and financial costs. Adolescent sexual offending is a complex phenomenon that cannot be easily explained. Many theories have been proposed to explain why some children and teens sexually abuse others. However, to date there is no empirically derived and tested model to explain what motivates adolescents to perpetrate sexual crimes. This chapter provides an overview of biological, individual, familial, social, and behavioral characteristics of adolescents who have sexually offended. This chapter also reviews common approaches to treating and preventing recurrent sexually aggressive behavior in juveniles.
Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth Since the Eighteenth Century

Part V. The Underlying Framework: 13. A minimal theory of social transfers 14. A guide to the tests Part VI. Accounting for Social Spending, Jobs and Growth: 15. Explaining the rise of mass public schooling 16. Explaining the rise of social transfers 17. What drove postwar social spending? 18. Social transfers hardly affected growth 19. Reconciling unemployment and growth in the OECD Appendices.
A Review of: “Nanofabrication Towards Biomedical Applications”

Over the last 10 to 15 years, the research on the nanomaterials and nanotechnology has caught immense attention of researchers all over the world. A significant portion of the nanotechnology resear...
Nanomatrices Are Cool

Several new techniques are currently being developed for probing isolated molecules at low temperatures, allowing the detailed properties of these molecules to be characterized with minimal environmental disturbance. In this Perspective, Scoles concentrates on nanomatrix spectroscopy, a particularly powerful new tool in which inert gas clusters or droplets are used to isolate and characterize molecules and complexes not accessible by other techniques. Three recent papers by Nauta and Miller and a paper by Weber use this technique to shed light on solvation and structural metastability.
The reproducible research movement in statistics

It is now widely recognized that the traditional published article is insufficient to permit verification of computational results. The emergence of powerful computational hardware combined with vast data collection and storage capabilities presents many novel opportunities for researchers. Unfortunately the standards for communication of published computational findings have evolved in ways that make verification and validation next to impossible and impede the ability of others to build on past research. A movement toward reproducible research – dissemination that includes sufficient experimental details such that results can be replicated by others in the field, i.e. the code and the data – has developed in many disciplines and research areas to address this shortcoming in research. In this paper I will present a jointly developed set of standards to guide the dissemination of reproducible research, and discuss changes originating outside academia that affect computational and empirical research dissemination including recent journal publication and federal agency dissemination requirements.
Abuse and Desire: A Case of Father-Daughter Incest

Presentation d'une serie d'observations psychanalytiques sur des cures de jeunes femmes avec anamnese d'inceste pere-fille. D. B. Ehrenberg presente un cas de consentement mutuel; J. Cohler insiste, apres l'expose de trois cas de femmes ― ayant eu des rapports incestueux avec un pere ou un beau-pere ― sur les liens entre trauma sexuel infantile, troubles du developpement du moi aux phases pre-œdipienne et œdipienne et les articulations au niveau de la fantasmatique; G. Nachmani tente une typologie des protagonistes: peres, meres et filles dans la famille incestueuse
Intermediate Degrees Are Needed for the World to Be Cognizable: Towards a New Justification for Fuzzy Logic Ideas

Most traditional examples of fuzziness come from the analysis of commonsense reasoning. When we reason, we use words from natural language like “young”, “well”. In many practical situations, these words do not have a precise true-or-false meaning, they are fuzzy. One may therefore be left with an impression that fuzziness is a subjective characteristic, it is caused by the specific way our brains work. However, the fact that that we are the result of billions of years of successful adjusting-to-the-environment evolution makes us conclude that everything about us humans is not accidental. In particular, the way we reason is not accidental, this way must reflect some real-life phenomena – otherwise, this feature of our reasoning would have been useless and would not have been abandoned long ago. In other words, the fuzziness in our reasoning must have an objective explanation – in fuzziness of the real world. In this chapter, we first give examples of objective real-world fuzziness. After these example, we provide an explanation of this fuzziness – in terms of cognizability of the world.
Systemic lupus erythematosus

Like many of the rheumatic diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disease of unknown etiology. This alone makes prognostication in SLE difficult. In addition, the spectrum of systemic lupus is so wide that many observers consider it to be a syndrome comprising a group of diseases sharing common features, rather than one single entity. Clearly, some patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have a mild disease involving only skin and joints, while others have a life-threatening disease leading to multiple organ failure and death. How do we distinguish these subtypes of systemic lupus prospectively? What do we tell patients about their potential course? What should we follow as clinically relevant parameters that allow us to assess prognosis? This chapter will attempt to answer these questions.
Epigenetic profile of women with breast cancer exhibiting a proinflammatory phenotype

We recently reported that women with breast cancer who experienced childhood adversity exhibit more intense and persistent elevations in behavioral symptoms and circulating proinflammatory cytokines from diagnosis through early survivorship. Here we evaluated histone post translational modifications (PTMs) associated with this proinflammatory phenotype. Women with breast cancer completed psychological and childhood adversity measures, and provided blood for isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for immune and epigenetic analysis. We analyzed trajectories of outcomes, across diagnosis to 6-months post-cancer treatment, using hierarchical linear modeling. Findings revealed that greater exposure to childhood adversity was related to higher levels of perceived stress, depressive symptoms, fatigue and sleep disturbance; as well as, higher levels of circulating and PBMC produced IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Analysis of PTMs demonstrated intranuclear H3K9Ac associated with increased IL-6 production by CD14+, TNF-alpha by CD8+ and increased plasma TNF-alpha levels for CD56+ PBMC. H4K8Ac was associated with increased circulating and produced TNF-alpha for CD8 + PBMC. Further, exposure to neglect and abuse was related to histone modification, and these histone modifications were predictive of a greater proinflammatory response from cancer diagnosis through 6 months post-cancer treatment. In conclusion, women with breast cancer exposed to childhood adversity experience more behavioral symptoms and exhibit a proinflammatory phenotype, which related to histones H3K9Ac and H4K8Ac. Histone PTMs may underlie vulnerability for a proinflammatory phenotype in women with breast cancer.
Rethinking First Year English as First Year Writing Across the Curriculum

David Russell famously used the metaphor of ball handling in sports activities to demonstrate how composition courses oversimplify ideals of writing. "To try to teach students to improve their writing by taking a GWSI [General Writing Skills Instruction] course," Russell wrote, "is something like trying to teach people to improve their ping-pong, jacks, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, and so on by attending a course in general ball using" (58). As Douglas Downs and Elizabeth Wardle have also argued, thinking about writing as a general or basic skill often results in forms of writing-instruction that reifies features of writing, such as syntax, mechanics, and process. Downs and Wardle argue, "It is often assumed that ‘skills’ or moves such as taking a position, building arguments, developing paragraphs, and writing clear and forceful sentences are ‘general writing skills’ that transfer across all situations" (579). The reality, according to Downs and Wardle, is that even if some elements of writing are shared across disciplines, these elements "vary radically across disciplines, and therefore can only meaningfully be taught within a discipline" (579).