cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Scheduling Operating Rooms with Elective and Emergency Surgeries

The issue of allocating capacity to accommodate emergent surgery cases while scheduling elective patients has major policy implications for Level-1 trauma centers including most large academic medical centers. This is because operating rooms (ORs) are the greatest source of revenues for hospitals, while also being the largest cost centers. However, scheduling ORs, especially at level-1 trauma hospitals, is challenging due to significant uncertainty in the arrivals of patients requiring emergent surgery. When scheduling surgeries, hospitals face a trade-off between the need to be responsive to emergency cases and the need to conduct scheduled elective surgeries as planned. We develop a model that allocates the OR capacity to elective patients so that the emergency patients who arrive randomly can be accommodated without incurring any excessive delays. The objective is to develop a framework for aggregate weekly schedules and generate detailed daily schedules that minimize a weighted sum of the ORs’ operating time, idle time, and overtime. Optimization procedures are developed to devise effective block schedules while a rescheduling procedure schedules elective patients who are affected by an emergency arrival. Initially, the procedures are based on deterministic surgery times for the elective patients and then they are extended to stochastic surgery times. We illustrate our methodology on specialized ORs for trauma cases related to neurosurgery. We show that for a given arrival rate of emergency patients, the total expected cost is convex in the weekly load of the elective surgeries scheduled. Numerical experiments are devised to obtain the total expected cost curves for various arrival rates of emergency patients. Using these cost curves the optimal capacity allocation of ORs to elective patients can be determined as a function of the arrival rate of emergency patients.
Fascism’s missionary ideology and the autocratic wave of the interwar years

ABSTRACTBecause fascism embodied a missionary creed, it exemplifies the ideology-driven cooperation and diffusion among autocratic regimes that the Introduction to this special issue discussed. The messianic promise that forceful charismatic leadership sustained by fervent mass support would guarantee domestic order and restore national grandeur was attractive to innumerable citizens, important political elites, and even to prominent intellectuals across the globe. Consequently, fascism exuded strong, wide-ranging contagion and demonstration effects. Moreover, Mussolini and Hitler actively promoted the new credo and sought support for their expansionary tendencies.
Three-Factor Versus Four-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for the Emergent Management of Warfarin-Associated Intracranial Hemorrhage

Four-factor prothrombin complex concentrates (PCC) produce a more rapid and complete INR correction compared with 3-factor PCC in patients receiving warfarin. It is unknown if this improves clinical outcomes in the setting of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). This multicenter, retrospective cohort study included patients presenting with warfarin-associated ICH reversed with either 4- or 3-factor PCC. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were 30-day mortality, discharge location, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital-free days, INR reversal, and thromboembolic (TE) events at 90 days. Each was analyzed using regression analysis. Continuous and binary outcomes were analyzed using linear and logistic regression, respectively, while ordinal regression was used for discharge location. Of the 103 patients, 63 received 4-factor PCC. Median age was 79 years [interquartile intervals(IQI 73–84)], median presenting INR was 2.7 (2.2–3.3), and presenting ICH was intraparenchymal in 51% of patients. In-hospital and 30-day mortality were 25 and 35%, respectively. In-hospital mortality was greater among those who received 4-factor PCC, yet was not statistically significant (OR 2.2, 95% CI 0.59–9.4, p = 0.26), as having Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤8 explained most of the difference (OR 48, 95% CI 14–219, p <0.001). The effect of 4-factor PCC was not statistically significant in any of the secondary analyses. Crude rates of TE events were higher in the 4-factor PCC group (19 vs. 10%), though not significantly. In-hospital mortality was not improved with the use of 4- versus 3-factor PCC in the emergent reversal of warfarin-associated ICH. Secondary clinical outcomes were similarly nonsignificant.
Reducing responding of retarded persons by DRO schedules following a history of low-rate responding: A comparison of ascending interval sizes.

In order to assess the reductive effects of stimuli associated with different initial DRO values in a program with increasing DRO intervals, a two-phase experiment was conducted in a laboratory setting. In the first phase, subjects responded under a four-ply DRL multiple schedule. In the second phase, they responded under a different multiple schedule [mult (DRO1) (DRO2) (DRO3) (DRL)] in which the initial values of the three Dro components were 1, 12, and 20 sec. Upon criterion responding, values were increased along a series of 1, 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, 42, 56, and 72 sec. Results of Phase 2 indicated that (a) there were fewer total responses in the DRO1 component than in the other components for all subjects, and fewer responses in the DRO2 than in the DRO3 component for two subjects; (b) the reductive effects of the Dro components transferred to the Drl component; (c) response rates tended to increase initially when the Dro interval was increased for a component; (d) the order of efficiency in establishing schedule control was DRO1 DRO2-DRO3; and (e) a prior history on Dro schedules with small values may have resulted in reduced responding under Dro schedules with higher values. Results were, discussed in terms of factors which can affect the success of Dro schedules in reducing responding.
Potential Avenues for Exercise to Activate Episodic Memory-Related Pathways: A Narrative Review

Memory function plays an important role in activities of daily living, and consequently, quality and quantity of life. In this narrative review, we discuss the anatomical components of episodic memory, including the structure of the hippocampus and the routes of communication to and from this structure. We also highlight cellular traces of memory, such as the engram cell and pathway. To provide etiological insight, the biological mechanisms of episodic memory are discussed, including factors subserving memory encoding (e.g., cognitive attention, neuroelectrical indices), consolidation (i.e., synaptic and brain systems level), and retrieval (e.g., availability of cues, context-dependent, state-dependent, and cognitive processing). Central to this manuscript, we highlight how exercise may influence each of these aforementioned parameters (e.g., exercise-induced hippocampal growth, synaptic plasticity, and cue retrieval) and then discuss the implications of these findings to enhance and preserve memory function. Collectively, this narrative review briefly summarizes potential mechanisms of episodic memory, and how exercise may activate these mechanistic pathways.
Beta-secretase inhibitors in phase I and phase II clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACTIntroduction: BACE 1 is a protease that cleaves the transmembrane amyloid precursor protein and generates amyloid-β peptides that accumulate in AD brains. No known mutations are identified in the gene encoding BACE1 in AD. However, enzyme levels are elevated in AD and a single residue mutation in amyloid precursor protein protects against protein cleavage by BACE1, suggesting BACE involvement in disease pathogenesis. Drugs that can inhibit BACE1 would theoretically prevent Aβ accumulation and halt AD onset and progression.Areas covered: This review discusses clinical developments of BACE1 inhibitors and focuses on what is learned about these inhibitors as a potential treatment.Expert opinion: BACE1 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy to improve cognition in AD has been challening. Brain-penetrant BACE1 inhibitors have been developed and clinical trials are underway, both safety and efficacy are questionable. Several clinical trials suggest that BACE1 inhibition and other immunotherapies to reduce...
Combustion chemistry of iso-octane/ethanol blends: Effects on ignition and reaction pathways

Abstract This work presents new experimental data on the ignition of iso-octane and ethanol fuel blends, including measurements of pollutant species and precursors, using the University of Michigan Rapid Compression Facility (UM RCF). Ignition delay times were determined from pressure–time histories of ignition experiments for stoichiometric mixtures of iso-octane, ethanol, and 5, 11, 26, 50 and 67% by volume iso-octane and ethanol blends with air. A range of temperatures (900–1080 K) were studied at a pressure of 10 atm. Speciation experiments were performed for pure iso-octane (E0), pure ethanol (E100) and a 50% by volume blend of the two fuels (E50) at 10 atm and ∼930 K. Fast-gas sampling, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to identify and quantify 14 stable intermediate species formed during the ignition delay periods for the three fuels. The measurements of eight stable intermediates: iso-butene (i-C4H8, 2-methyl-1-propene), propene (C3H6), ethanal (CH3CHO), ethene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6), methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) were considered in detail and were used to describe reaction pathways important during iso-octane and ethanol ignition and how they were altered for iso-octane/ethanol blends. Simulations were carried out using a detailed reaction mechanism for gasoline surrogates available in the literature and the agreement with the ignition and speciation experiments was generally excellent (within the experimental uncertainty and expected computational uncertainty) for ignition delay times and for the species time-histories, with a few small discrepancies. The results indicate the reaction pathways of iso-octane and ethanol in the blend develop in parallel with a shared radical pool with no significant fuel-to-fuel interactions.
Mapping of ACE Gene to Pig Chromosome 12 (Brief Report)

Abstract. In humans, the Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE) gene is located on the q arm of chromosome 17. It contains 16 exons and 15 introns. The deletion (D) allele of the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene has been shown to be associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease (TANIQUCHI et al., 2001) and hypertension (MORSHED et al., 2002), whereas the insertion (I) allele has been found to be associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (ELKINS et al., 2004). Furthermore, a study (LUFT, 1999) associated ACE with longevity. Our hypothesis is that these same genes or regulatory pathways are also important for sow productive life. The objective of this study was to determine the chromosomal location of ACE in the pig by linkage and RH mapping.
Pathway Analysis of Gene Expression in Murine Fetal and Adult Wounds.

Objective: In early gestation, fetal wounds heal without fibrosis in a process resembling regeneration. Elucidating this remarkable mechanism can result in tremendous benefits to prevent scarring. ...
Structural characterization of a highly-potent V3-glycan broadly neutralizing antibody bound to natively-glycosylated HIV-1 envelope.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) isolated from HIV-1-infected individuals inform HIV-1 vaccine design efforts. Developing bNAbs with increased efficacy requires understanding how antibodies interact with the native oligomannose and complex-type N-glycan shield that hides most protein epitopes on HIV-1 envelope (Env). Here we present crystal structures, including a 3.8-A X-ray free electron laser dataset, of natively glycosylated Env trimers complexed with BG18, the most potent V3/N332_(gp120) glycan-targeting bNAb reported to date. Our structures show conserved contacts mediated by common D gene-encoded residues with the N332_(gp120) glycan and the gp120 GDIR peptide motif, but a distinct Env-binding orientation relative to PGT121/10-1074 bNAbs. BG18’s binding orientation provides additional contacts with N392_(gp120) and N386_(gp120) glycans near the V3-loop base and engages protein components of the V1-loop. The BG18-natively-glycosylated Env structures facilitate understanding of bNAb–glycan interactions critical for using V3/N332_(gp120) bNAbs therapeutically and targeting their epitope for immunogen design.
Amended Topdressing for Aerification Recovery

Core aerification is an effective cultivation practice utilized by most golf courses for thatch management and soil compaction reduction. Timely recovery of aerification cultural practices is an important management consideration for golf course superintendents. Quick recovery periods are preferred by course owners/greens committees to reduce loss of revenue and by golfers/members to reduce loss of fall playing time. Filling aerification holes and sand topdressing after aerification can speed recovery, but it is often still days before the playing surface is returned to optimal condition. Because the many benefits of core aeration outweigh the disruption of playing conditions, cultural practice improvements to decrease recovery time are necessary.
Strategic information revelation in collaborative design

Abstract Confidentiality preservation is of high concern in collaboration, which may involve the flow of sensitive information between collaborators. This concern is a potential barrier to forming collaborations that may otherwise enhance each collaborator’s individual contribution, and raises the need to study the trade-off between value gain and confidentiality loss from information exchange. In this paper, we analyze this trade-off by considering different revelation strategies in a collaborative design scenario. We propose a framework that provides a guideline for designers to evaluate their respective revelation strategies and thus make better decisions when choosing a particular revelation strategy in a design iteration. This framework utilizes concepts from Bayesian updating and quantifies the confidentiality lost and value gained for a particular revelation, providing a mathematical abstraction of the collaborative design process as a sequence of information revelation decisions. We illustrate the use of our proposed framework in an automobile suspension design scenario, and show the changes in performance (Alice’s and Bob’s objective function responses) and confidentiality (KL divergence) for each.
Independent relationship of changes in death rates with changes in US presidential voting

The outcome of the 2016 presidential election is commonly attributed to socioeconomic and ethnic/racial issues, but health issues, including “deaths of despair,” may also have contributed. To assess whether changes in age-adjusted death rates were independently associated with changes in presidential election voting in 2016 vs. 2008. We used publicly available data in each of 3112 US counties to correlate changes in a county’s presidential voting in 2016 compared with 2008 with recent changes in its age-adjusted death rate, after controlling for population and rural-urban status, median age, race/ethnicity, income, education, unemployment rate, and health insurance rate. Cross-sectional analysis of county-specific data. All 3112 US counties. The independent correlation of a county’s change in age-adjusted death rate between 2000 and 2015 with its net percentage Republican gain or loss in the presidential election of 2016 vs. 2008. In 2016, President Trump increased the Republican presidential vote percentage in 83.8% of counties compared with Senator McCain in 2008. Counties with an increased Republican vote percentage in 2016 vs. 2008 had a 15% higher 2015 age-adjusted death rate than counties with an increased Democratic vote percentage. Since 2000, overall death rates declined by less than half as much, and death rates from drugs, alcohol, and suicide increased 2.5 times as much in counties with Republican gains compared with counties with Democratic gains. In multivariable analyses, Republican net presidential gain in 2016 vs. 2008 was independently correlated with slower reductions in a county’s age-adjusted death rate. Although correlation cannot infer causality, modest reductions in death rates might theoretically have shifted Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin to Secretary Clinton. Less of a reduction in age-adjusted death rates was an independent correlate of an increased Republican percentage vote in 2016 vs. 2008. Death rates may be markers of dissatisfactions and fears that influenced the 2016 Presidential election outcomes.
A Binary Classification of Cardiovascular Abnormality Using Time-Frequency Features of Cardio-mechanical Signals

This paper introduces a novel method of binary classification of cardiovascular abnormality using the time-frequency features of cardio-mechanical signals, namely seismocardiography (SCG) and gyrocardiography (GCG) signals. A digital signal processing framework is proposed which utilizes decision tree and support vector machine methods with features generated by continuous wavelet transform. Experimental measurements were collected from twelve patients with cardiovascular diseases as well as twelve healthy subjects to evaluate the proposed method. Results reveal an overall accuracy of more than 94% with the best performance achieved from SVM classifiers with GCG training features. This suggests that the proposed solution could be a promising method for classifying cardiovascular abnormalities.
Polymer-metal layered structures for improved energy storage density

Polymer-based dielectrics with high energy storage density (ESD) are a topic of great interest for several electrical applications involving energy storage such as ultra-capacitors for power delivery, space applications and flexible electronics. The state-of-the-art approach for achieving high ESD is mixing high permittivity ceramic materials in a polymer matrix, which increases the permittivity of the composite. In this paper we propose and experimentally demonstrate a new approach for improving ESD by increasing the breakdown strength of the polymer, or polymer composite, dielectric. Our approach is based on making stacked thin layers of alternating polymer and metal layers, which improves the breakdown strength without affecting the total capacitance. The layered structures have been characterized by impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and AC breakdown tests. Results show significantly higher breakdown strength for the layered structure compared to single-layer polymer dielectric of the same thickness.
Morphological transformation of gold nanoparticles on graphene oxide: effects of capping ligands and surface interactions

This article presents the influence of capping ligand and surface interaction types on the coarsening or reshaping behavior of surface-immobilized gold nanoparticles with different core size and shape. The morphological transformation of gold nanoparticles and nanorods on graphene oxide upon heating at temperatures ranging from 50 to 200 °C was investigated. The aggregation and coarsening behaviors of spherical nanoparticles on graphene oxide were slightly affected by the core size of nanoparticles (~ 1, 3, and 10 nm). The comparison of two different surface ligands revealed that glutathione ligands provide much better protection than cetyltrimethylammonium bromide ligands against the morphological transformation of nanoparticles. In addition, the evaluation of surface binding interactions indicated that the attachment of nanoparticles and nanorods onto graphene oxide with additional thiol functional groups could improve the immobilization of particles and therefore decelerate coarsening and reshaping of nanoparticle and nanorods.
Electrochemical Characterization of Magnetite with Agarose-Stabilized Powder Disk Electrodes and Potentiometric Methods

The mixed and variable valence of iron in magnetite (Fe(III)tet[Fe(II),Fe(III)]octO42–) give this mineral unique properties that make it an important participant in redox reactions in environmental...
Design a Vegetative Filter Strips Length Using VFSMOD_W Model for Reducing Sediments and Pesticides

الخلاصة شرائح الغطاء النباتي (VFS) هي أداة مفيدة تستخدم للحد من الرواسب والمبيدات الحشرية الداخلة إلى مجرى مائي كنهر او بحيرة . تصمم الـVFS قرب المجاري المائية وبموازاة خطوط جريان الماء فتساعد على خفض حجم الجريان السطحي بوساطة عملية الترشيح. من جهة اخرى، الخصائص الفيزيائية الطبيعية كطول الشريحة مثلا ليست حاليا محددة على أساس النمذجة التنبؤية لأداء VFS.لهذا كان من الضروري دراسة هذه الخصائص وإيجاد علاقة بين طول الشريحة والنسب المئوية للرواسب والمبيدات المنخفضة. تم فحص عدة أطوال 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12 وكذلك 13 متر لمساحة طولها 25 متر و عرضها 50 متر لتربة طينية غرينية في مدينة Stillwater في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية تستقبل hrs 2عاصفة مطرية لفترة رجوع كل خمس سنوات . تم أيضا فحص نوعين من الكربون العضوي ذي قابلية حركة عالية والآخر ذي قابلية حركة قليلة بهدف الحصول على نسبة انخفاض مقدارها 85% من المبيدات و 95% من الرواسب الواردة الى المجرى المائي. لوحظ وجود علاقة جيدة بين طول الVFS ومقدار المبيدات المنخفضة لطول 13 مترا كما تبين ان لطول شريحة الـ VFS أثرا كبيرا على نسبة الرواسب والمبيدات المنخفضة .
Toward a Framework for Classifying Teachers’ Use of Assessment Data:

Research consistently has found teachers’ use of assessment data for instructional purposes challenging and inconsistent. To support teachers’ use of data, we need to develop shared knowledge about...
Classical simulation of quantum circuits using fewer Gaussian eliminations

A compelling way to quantify the separation between classical and quantum computing is to determine how many $T$-gate magic states, $t$, a classical computer must simulate to calculate the probability of a universal quantum circuit's output. Unfortunately, efforts to determine the minimum number of stabilizer state inner products necessary to decompose $T$-gate magic states (${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{t}$) have proven intractable past $t=7$. By using a phase space formalism based on Wootters' discrete Weyl operator basis over a finite field, we develop an algebraic approach to determining ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{t}$ for single-Pauli measurements. This allows us to extend the bounds on ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{t}$ to $t=14$ for qutrits, effectively increasing the space searched by $g{10}^{{10}^{4}}$. Our results show that by using such phase space methods it is possible to validate noisy intermediate-scale quantum circuits of larger size than previously thought possible.
Customer Satisfaction With Communications Services in the US: Room for Improvement

The study of customer satisfaction and service quality is relatively new. Some of the landmark studies guiding investigations today were published only in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Given the room for improvement in customer satisfaction with communications services, how can the FCC incorporate these more sophisticated perspectives on customers into our regulatory and policy work? Improving customer satisfaction broadly is it itself an important element of the public interest. Further, higher levels of customer satisfaction are likely to improve communications services’ contribution to the country’s overall production. This paper will review the literature, highlighting several points. 1. An overview of customer metrics from the study of marketing 2. An introduction to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the most widely used measure of customer satisfaction. 3. The empirical link between a firm’s growing market share and declining customer satisfaction. 4. A discussion of SERVQUAL the most widely used instrument to measure service quality. 5. The positive link between customer satisfaction and a firm’s financial performance 6. The positive link between customer satisfaction and a firm’s stock price 7. Ideas on future work
Preserve, Promote, or Attack? GNN Explanation via Topology Perturbation.

Prior works on formalizing explanations of a graph neural network (GNN) focus on a single use case - to preserve the prediction results through identifying important edges and nodes. In this paper, we develop a multi-purpose interpretation framework by acquiring a mask that indicates topology perturbations of the input graphs. We pack the framework into an interactive visualization system (GNNViz) which can fulfill multiple purposes: Preserve,Promote, or Attack GNN's predictions. We illustrate our approach's novelty and effectiveness with three case studies: First, GNNViz can assist non expert users to easily explore the relationship between graph topology and GNN's decision (Preserve), or to manipulate the prediction (Promote or Attack) for an image classification task on MS-COCO; Second, on the Pokec social network dataset, our framework can uncover unfairness and demographic biases; Lastly, it compares with state-of-the-art GNN explainer baseline on a synthetic dataset.
Metabolic function in aging retina and retinal pigment epithelium remains robust despite vision loss

Abstract Purpose Characterize how metabolic function in the murine retina and retinal pigment epithelium-choroid-sclera (eyecup) complex is impacted by natural aging. Methods We examined scotopic and photopic visual function of young (3-6 months) and aged (23-26 months) C57Bl/6J mice using electroretinograms (ERGs). Metabolic changes in retina and eyecup explants were characterized by measuring uptake and usage of U-13C-glucose or U-13C-glutamine at different timepoints by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), measuring oxygen consumption rate (OCR) using a perifusion apparatus, and determining ATP levels with a bioluminescence assay. Results Scotopic and photopic ERG responses declined in aged mice. Glucose metabolism, glutamine metabolism, OCR, and ATP pools in retinal explants were mostly unaffected by the age of the mouse. In eyecups, glutamine usage in the Krebs Cycle decreased while glucose metabolism, OCR, and ATP pools remained stable. Conclusions The ex vivo approach in our study to examine aging glucose and glutamine metabolism in retina and RPE showed negligible impact of age on retina and an impairment of glutamine anaplerosis in eyecups. The surprising metabolic stability of these tissues ex vivo suggests age-related metabolic alterations in these tissues may not be intrinsic. Future experiments should focus on determining whether external factors including nutrient supply, oxygen availability, or other structural changes influence ocular metabolism in vivo.
SARS-CoV-2 targets glial cells in human cortical organoids.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have manifested a variety of neurological complications, and there is still much to reveal regarding the neurotropism of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Human stem cell-derived brain organoids offer a valuable in vitro approach to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain. Here we used human embryonic stem cell-derived cortical organoids to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 could infect brain tissue in vitro and found that cortical organoids could be infected at low viral titers and within 6 h. Importantly, we show that glial cells and cells of the choroid plexus were preferentially targeted in our model, but not neurons. Interestingly, we also found expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells; however, viral replication and cell death involving DNA fragmentation does not occur. We believe that our model is a tractable platform to study the cellular effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in brain tissue.
Conductive and injectable hyaluronic acid/gelatin/gold nanorod hydrogels for enhanced surgical translation and bioprinting.

There is growing evidence indicating the need to combine the rehabilitation and regenerative medicine fields to maximize functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI), but there are limited methods to synergistically combine the fields. Conductive biomaterials may enable synergistic combination of biomaterials with electric stimula-tion (ES), which may enable direct ES of neurons to enhance axon regeneration and reorganization for better functional recovery; however, there are three major chal-lenges in developing conductive biomaterials: (1) low conductivity of conductive composites, (2) many conductive components are cytotoxic, and (3) many conductive biomaterials are pre-formed scaffolds and are not injectable. Pre-formed, non-injectable scaffolds may hinder clinical translation in a surgical context for the most common contusion-type of SCI. Alternatively, an injectable biomaterial, inspired by lessons from bioinks in the bioprinting field, may be more translational for contusion SCIs. Therefore, in the current study, a conductive hydrogel was developed by incor-porating high aspect ratio citrate-gold nanorods (GNRs) into a hyaluronic acid and gelatin hydrogel. To fabricate nontoxic citrate-GNRs, a robust synthesis for high aspect ratio GNRs was combined with an indirect ligand exchange to exchange a cytotoxic surfactant for nontoxic citrate. For enhanced surgical placement, the hydro-gel precursor solution (i.e., before crosslinking) was paste-like, injectable/bioprintable, and fast-crosslinking (i.e., 4 min). Finally, the crosslinked hydrogel supported the adhesion/viability of seeded rat neural stem cells in vitro. The current study devel-oped and characterized a GNR conductive hydrogel/bioink that provided a refinable and translational platform for future synergistic combination with ES to improve functional recovery after SCI.
Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream, by Suzanne Mettler

Review of the book Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream by Suzanne Mettler.
Respiratory Acid-Base Disorders

Acid-base homeostasis is the result of a delicate balance between intake - ingestion and production - and excretion of acids and of bases. In humans, consuming an acid ash diet, intermediate metabolism results in the production of both volatile and fixed acids; the former is excreted by the respiratory system while the latter is eliminated by the kidneys. A striking disparity exists in the magnitude of the volatile acid load as compared to the fixed (non-volatile) acid load to be excreted; whereas in a resting subject about 20,000 mmol of carbonic acid are excreted through the lungs each day(l), fixed acid excretion by the kidneys is no more than 5O–8O mmol (2). This huge difference in the rate of production and excretion of carbon dioxide as compared to the metabolic acids explains, at least partially, the almost immediate clinically detectable derangement in acid- base balance that follows severe hypoventilation, whereas it takes days to alter the acid-base balance to a similar degree after cessation of renal function. In addition, the rate of production of the acid load is not uniform throughout the day, and significant variations may occur within minutes or hours. In circumtances during which the rate of production of acid, either volatile or fixed exceeds the rate of excretion, compensatory mechanisms are called into play. The immediate response is through buffering of the H+ by bicarbonate and/or the non-bicarbonate buffers (3); within minutes, in primary metabolic disorders, ‘respiratory compensation’ becomes evident (4, 5). Finally, in hours or days a renal response may reinforce the initial acid-base defense (2, 6, 7).
Ozone and Climate Change

Over the past 40 years, Southern Hemisphere circumpolar westerly winds have strengthened. In his Perspective, Karoly highlights the modeling study by Gillett and Thompson, who show that these observed Southern Hemisphere climate changes in spring and summer can be explained as a response to stratospheric ozone depletion over Antarctica. The observed strengthening of the circumpolar westerlies in winter is less likely to be the response to springtime Antarctic ozone depletion, but may be due in part to increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Understanding the different causes and practical impacts of these trends in Southern Hemisphere circulation is an important next step for climate researchers.
Improve myocardial T1 measurement in rats with a new regression model: Application to myocardial infarction and beyond

Purpose To improve myocardial and blood T1 measurements with a multi-variable T1 fitting model specifically modified for a segmented multi-shot FLASH sequence. Methods The proposed method was first evaluated in a series of phantoms simulating realistic tissues, and then in healthy rats (n = 8) and rats with acute myocardial infarction (MI) induced by coronary artery ligation (n = 8). Results By taking into account the saturation effect caused by sampling α-train pulses, and the longitudinal magnetization recovery between readouts, our model provided more accurate T1 estimate than the conventional three-parameter fit in phantoms under realistic gating procedures (error of −0.42 ± 1.73% versus −3.40 ± 1.46%, respectively, when using the measured inversion efficiency, β). The baseline myocardial T1 values in healthy rats was 1636.3 ± 23.4 ms at 7 Tesla. One day postligation, the T1 values in the remote and proximal myocardial areas were 1637.5 ± 62.6 ms and 1740.3 ± 70.5 ms, respectively. In rats with acute MI, regional differences in myocardial T1 values were observed both before and after the administration of gadolinium. Conclusion The proposed method has improved T1 estimate as validated in phantoms and could advance applications in rodents using quantitative myocardial T1 mapping. Magn Reson Med 72:737–748, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Electrochemical Measurements of Nitric Oxide in Biological Systems

The sections in this article are Introduction The Role of Nitric Oxide in Biological Systems NO Release in Biological Systems NO as a Regulator of the Cardiovascular System NO in the Nervous System NO as a Part of the Immune System Pathology of NO Release Electrochemical Methods for NO Detection Electrochemical Oxidation of NO Preparation of Porphyrinic Sensor Operation Modes Clark Probe for NO Detection Measurement of NO in Biological Systems Measurement of NO in a Single Cell In vitro Measurement of NO in Tissue In vivo Measurements of NO in the Kidney In vivo Measurements of NO in the Beating Heart Measurement of NO in the Brain In vitro Measurement with Clark Probe In vivo Measurement with Porphyrinic Sensor Measurements of NO in Human Beings
An adaptive attentive learning algorithm for single-layer neural networks

An adaptive algorithm for supervised learning in single-layer neural networks is proposed. The algorithm is characterized by fast convergence and high learning accuracy. It also allows for attentive learning and control of the dynamics of single-layer neural networks. This learning algorithm is based on the Ho-Kashyap associative neural memory (ANM) recording algorithm and is suited for the learning and association of binary patterns. Simulation results for the algorithm are shown to be superior to those of the Widrow-Hoff (or least-mean-squares) adaptive learning algorithm. >
Screening for Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence in College Women: Missed Opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) are significant health issues for college women. Leading organizations and experts recommend screening for IPV/SV in health care settings, including college health centers. Given the prevalence and health risks associated with IPV/SV among college women, it is important to examine screening in this population. METHODS: A cross-sectional, web-based survey was administered to college women at two universities in the northeastern United States. The survey consisted of demographic questions, assessment of experiences with IPV/SV (lifetime and past 6 months), use of health care services with either a college health center or an off-campus provider, and assessment of health care setting screening practices. RESULTS: The sample included 615 college women (M = 21.5 years). Lifetime experiences of IPV/SV were reported by 222 women (36.1%). Approximately 8.1% of participants (n = 51) experienced IPV/SV in the past 6 months. Almost 63% (n = 238) reported not being asked about IPV/SV at their most recent off-campus health care visit. Nearly 90% (n = 237) reported not being asked about IPV/SV at their most recent visit to the college health center. CONCLUSIONS: Participants reported high rates of IPV/SV and low rates of violence screening at college health centers and off-campus settings. Routine provider screening for IPV/SV in health care settings can identify women at risk and can lead to interventions that reduce subsequent violence and improve health outcomes and referrals. Theory-based, culture-specific, multilevel interventions are needed to promote IPV/SV screening among college health providers. Language: en
Activation of nuclear factor kappa B and oncogene expression by 12(R)-hydroxyeicosatrienoic acid, an angiogenic factor in microvessel endothelial cells.

12(R)-Hydroxy-5,8,14(Z,Z,Z)-eicosatrienoic acid (12(R)-HETrE) is an arachidonic acid metabolite formed by the corneal epithelium of several species, porcine leukocytes, and human and rat epidermal cells. It is a potent, stereospecific proinflammatory and angiogenic factor and its synthesis is increased manyfold in inflamed tissues, e.g. cornea and skin. It is possible that the angiogenic activity of 12(R)-HETrE is due to a direct mitogenic effect on microvessel endothelial cells via yet to be elucidated cellular and molecular mechanisms. In the present study, we demonstrated the ability of 12(R)-HETrE to stimulate the growth of quiescent endothelial cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner with a maximal effect at 0.1 nM. This effect was highly stereospecific since its enantiomer, 12(S)-HETrE, had no effect within the same concentration range. Northern blot analysis and transient transfection experiments with chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs of oncogene promoter regions demonstrated significant increases over control (0.5% fetal calf serum) in c-myc-, c-jun, and c-fos mRNA levels and expression in cells treated with 0.1 nM 12(R)-HETrE. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay of nuclear protein extracts from cells treated with 12(R)-HETrE with specific radiolabeled oligonucleotides corresponding to known transcriptional binding sites, including AP-1, AP-2, SP1, TRE, NF kappa B, TFIID, OKT1, CREB, CTF/NF1, and GRE demonstrated a markedly rapid and specific increase in the binding activity of NF kappa B and to a lesser extent, AP-1. No significant increase was observed in the binding of other transcription factors assayed as compared to control (untreated) cells. Since the protooncogenes (c-fos, c-jun, and c-myc) are immediate early response genes that are implicated in the process of cell proliferation and differentiation, and activation of certain transcription factors, in particular NF kappa B, is associated with the immediate response of the cell to an injury, we propose that 12(R)HETrE's mitogenic and angiogenic activities are mediated, in part, via the activation of NF kappa B and expression of these protooncogenes.
Relação médico-doente: uma aliança nos cuidados de saúde

Introduction: The reasons that lead patients to seek health care, the value of symptoms, and their perception of problems depend on the personal history, cultural, socioeconomic and family context of the patient. Illness (the disease experience of the patient) and disease (the medical disease) are terms used to describe what the patient feels when he goes to the doctor and what he has when he returns home after the consultation. This case aims to highlight the importance of the presenting complaint and its exploration by the Family Physician. Case Description: A 56 year-old unemployed man came to his first consultation in four years because of a lesion on his forearm, which has been present for five years. He was not receiving medication, did not smoke, and had moderate alcohol consumption. There was one visit recorded in 2007 with a diagnosis of hypertension. The blood pressure at the current visit was found to be elevated. In addition, a vegetative tumor was noted on his forearm. The patient agreed to renew follow-up, to perform the necessary tests, and accepted a referral to the dermatology clinic. A squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed. The patient returned to clinic to obtain the results of his tests. A diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was suspected and confirmed. His blood pressure remained elevated and medication was prescribed. Comment: The family physician must try to understand why patients choose to consult or delay consultation. Is there a fear of being labeled as a sick person? Is the social network weak? This patient, who considered himself healthy, was labeled with a different disease at each visit. The family physician should manage expectations, explore them, discuss them and negotiate with the patient so that care is more effective and better accepted by patients. This can have implications for adherence to treatment and patient satisfaction with the consultation.
Map-Based multiple model tracking of a moving object

In this paper we propose an approach for tracking a moving target using Rao-Blackwellised particle filters. Such filters represent posteriors over the target location by a mixture of Kalman filters, where each filter is conditioned on the discrete states of a particle filter. The discrete states represent the non-linear parts of the state estimation problem. In the context of target tracking, these are the non-linear motion of the observing platform and the different motion models for the target. Using this representation, we show how to reason about physical interactions between the observing platform and the tracked object, as well as between the tracked object and the environment. The approach is implemented on a four-legged AIBO robot and tested in the context of ball tracking in the RoboCup domain.
An efficient algorithm for mapping imaging data to 3D unstructured grids in computational biomechanics

Geometries for organ scale and multiscale simulations of organ function are now routinely derived from imaging data. However, medical images may also contain spatially heterogeneous information other than geometry that are relevant to such simulations either as initial conditions or in the form of model parameters. In this manuscript, we present an algorithm for the efficient and robust mapping of such data to imaging-based unstructured polyhedral grids in parallel. We then illustrate the application of our mapping algorithm to three different mapping problems: (i) the mapping of MRI diffusion tensor data to an unstructured ventricular grid; (ii) the mapping of serial cyrosection histology data to an unstructured mouse brain grid; and (iii) the mapping of computed tomography-derived volumetric strain data to an unstructured multiscale lung grid. Execution times and parallel performance are reported for each case.
The Story of Brown V. City of Oneonta: The Uncertain Meaning of Racially Discriminatory Policing Under the Equal Protection Clause

This article discusses the widely publicized case Brown v City of Oneonta, in which police officers attempted to apprehend a rape suspect described only as a young, black man by stopping and questioning every young black man in the area. The Second Circuit dismissed the equal protection claims filed by those innocent young men who were stopped and questioned. The Oneonta case raises genuinely difficult constitutional questions, and thereby illuminates the character of current equal protection doctrine.
NSQIP and urology outcomes.

Address correspondence to Dr. Harold A. Frazier II, Department of Urology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA NSQIP and urology outcomes Harold A. Frazier, II, MD Department of Urology, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA Referring to the article published on pp. 7537-7546 in this issue
Nutritional and Chemical Composition of By-Product Fractions Produced from Wet Reduction of Individual Red Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Heads and Viscera

There is growing interest for fishmeals and oils made from utilizing different fish by-products (heads, viscera, frames, etc.) that come directly from the commercial processing line. The major components of fish processing waste from salmon filleting operations are heads and viscera. In order to maximize the utilization of these individual by-products, the different fractions were evaluated. Analysis of essential amino acids in fishmeal showed significant differences in all essential amino acids except lysine. Differences were also noted in the levels of minerals, fatty acid methyl esters, biogenic amines, and fat soluble vitamins. The largest difference observed was in the level of retinol in the oil extracted from heads (8.9 ± 1.0 μg/g oil) and viscera (26.9 ± 3.8 μg/g oil). Head processing resulted in more lipids and cake, while the majority of viscera became stickwater. Results suggest that the fishmeal produced from different by-product parts can result in different nutritional values for feed or foo...
User interface affordances in a planning representation

This article shows how the concept of affordance in the user interface fits into a well-understood artificial intelligence (AI) model of acting in an environment. In this model AI planning research is used to interpret affordances in terms of the costs associated with the generation and execution of operators in a plan. This article motivates the approach with a brief survey of the affordance literature and its connections to the planning literature and then explores its implications through examples of common user interface mechanisms described in affordances terms. Despite its simplicity, the modeling approach ties together several different threads of practical and theoretical work on affordance into a single conceptual framework.
Assessing statistical standards for emerging industries. Applying OECD statistical codes to Italian biotech population lists

A common view among many academics and policy-makers is that biotech offers enormous opportunities for improving competitiveness and economic growth. For this reason, there is a growing need to set up appropriate policy to improve the adoption and diffusion of biotech innovation. Nevertheless, there are many interpretative problems about the identification of the biotech firm, owing to the uncertainty about the border of the sector itself. The main objective of this paper is to provide a contribution to better define biotech industry considering the pervasive nature of innovation in this sector. The paper provides an Italian data set survey and a new database consistent with OECD statistical standards. The paper includes both an evaluation of the degree of functionality of the OECD firm classification on our data and an information source survey for statistical indicators for the main policy areas.
Genetic relationships among strains of Xylella fastidiosa from RAPD-PCR data

Genetic relationships among 11 Xylella fastidiosa strains isolated from mulberry, almond, ragweed, grape, plum, elm, and citrus were determined by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Twenty-two 10-base primers amplified a total of 77 discrete polymorphic bands. Phenetic analysis based on a similarity matrix corresponded well with previous reports on X. fastidiosa RFLP-based similarity relationships, indicating that RAPD-PCR amplification products can be used as a reliable indicator of genetic distance in X. fastidiosa. Cladistic analysis suggests the existence of five groups of X. fastidiosa: the citrus group, the plum-elm group, the grape-ragweed group, the almond group, and the mulberry group.
RNA polymerase II transcription cycles

RNA polymerase II interacts with transcription factors to initiate the synthesis of mRNA. These interactions are cyclic, involving multiple RNA polymerase subunits and general transcription factors. Phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain may regulate these interactions.