cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On Recovery of Sparse Signals in Compressed DNA Microarrays

Currently, DNA micro arrays comprising tens of thousands of probe spots are employed to test entire genomes in a single experiment. Typically, each microarray spot contains a large number of copies of a single probe, and hence collects only a single data point. This is a wasteful use of the sensing resources in comparative DNA microarray experiments, where a test sample is measured relative to a reference sample. Since only a small fraction of the total number of genes represented by the two samples is differentially expressed, a large fraction of a microarray does not provide any useful information. To this end, in this paper we consider an alternative microarray design wherein each spot is a composite of several different probes, and the total number of spots is potentially much smaller than the number of genes being tested. Fewer spots directly translates to significantly lower costs due to cheaper array manufacturing, simpler image acquisition and processing, and smaller amount of genomic material needed for experiments. To recover signals from compressed microarray measurements, we leverage ideas from compressive sampling. Experimental verification of the proposed methodology is presented.
Identifying Novel Transcriptional and Epigenetic Features of Nuclear Lamina-associated Genes

Because a large portion of the mammalian genome is associated with the nuclear lamina (NL), it is interesting to study how native genes resided there are transcribed and regulated. In this study, we report unique transcriptional and epigenetic features of nearly 3,500 NL-associated genes (NL genes). Promoter regions of active NL genes are often excluded from NL-association, suggesting that NL-promoter interactions may repress transcription. Active NL genes with higher RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruitment levels tend to display Pol II promoter-proximal pausing, while Pol II recruitment and Pol II pausing are not correlated among non-NL genes. At the genome-wide scale, NL-association and H3K27me3 distinguishes two large gene classes with low transcriptional activities. Notably, NL-association is anti-correlated with both transcription and active histone mark levels among genes not significantly enriched with H3K9me3 or H3K27me3, suggesting that NL-association may represent a novel gene repression pathway. Interestingly, an NL gene subgroup is not significantly enriched with H3K9me3 or H3K27me3 and is transcribed at higher levels than the rest of NL genes. Furthermore, we identified distal enhancers associated with active NL genes and reported their epigenetic features.
“Green to be seen” and “brown to keep down”: Visibility moderates the effect of identity on pro-environmental behavior

Abstract Social identities predict pro-environmental behavior, but the strength may depend on whether the behavior is visible to others. When an environmentalist considers a pro-environmental behavior such as carrying reusable grocery bags, being observed by others may motivate signaling the valued group membership and may increase behavior (“green to be seen”). When an anti-environmentalist considers a pro-environmental behavior that signals an unwanted social identity, being observed may lead to less behavior (“brown to keep down”). United States residents completed three correlational surveys (total N = 1126) of identity, visibility, and self-reported behavior frequency using the Recurring Pro-environmental Behavior Scale. Three multilevel studies revealed that environmentalist identity predicted pro-environmental behavior more strongly for high-visibility behaviors, controlling for confounds at the person level (attitudes, political identity) and the behavior level (difficulty, effectiveness). This research helps uncover the key social identities and contextual factors that lead individuals to embrace or reject pro-environmental behaviors.
Mechanical properties of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni modified titanium trialuminides

To increase gas turbine efficiency, new high-temperature-resistant and lightweight materials are needed. Titanium trialuminides are an interesting option, but they are currently too brittle at room temperature to be used as turbine blades. Brittleness of TiAl3 can be reduced by alloying with several transition metal elements. The effect of ternary additions of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, or Ni at various stoichiometries (3 to 9 at.%) to the intermetallic TiAl3 is studied by metallography, X-ray diffraction and three-point-bend testing. These methods indicate that the 6 at.% Cr or Co additions give the highest flexural strength with only a small trade-off in failure strain when compared to the 9 at.% additions of chromium and manganese.
Shape-Shifting Patchy Particles

A facile method to synthesize shape-shifting patchy particles on the colloidal scale is described. The design is based on the solvent-induced shifting of the patch shape between concave and convex features. The initial concave patchy particles were synthesized in a water suspension by a swelling-induced buckling process. Upon exposure to different solvents, the patches were tuned reversibly to be either concave or convex. These particles can be assembled into chained, branched, zigzag, and cyclic colloidal superstructures in a highly site-specific manner by surface–liquid capillary bridging. The biphasic nature of the particles also enables site-selective surface functionalization.
Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes Mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the most common cause of death in T2D. Yet, <50% of U.S. adults with T2D meet recommended guidelines for CVD prevention. The burden of T2D is increasing: by 2050, approximately 1 in 3 U.S. individuals may have T2D, and patients with T2D will comprise an increasingly large proportion of the CVD population. The authors believe it is imperative that we expand the use of therapies proven to reduce CVD risk in patients with T2D. The authors summarize evidence and guidelines for lifestyle (exercise, nutrition, and weight management) and CVD risk factor (blood pressure, cholesterol and blood lipids, glycemic control, and the use of aspirin) management for the prevention of CVD among patients with T2D. The authors believe appropriate lifestyle and CVD risk factor management has the potential to significantly reduce the burden of CVD among patients with T2D.
Developing “Allostatic Leaders”: A Psychobiosocial Perspective

Many leader types have been described and are useful. Because so many leader types have been identified, they may be interpreted as competing with each other rather than as complementary or alternative types that depend on individual leaders, the groups that are being led, or the situations in which leadership occurs. This chapter suggests that it is valuable to identify a leader type that can serve as an umbrella term and concept to capture principles relevant to all types of effective leadership. The identification of an overarching, effective leader type is based on a psychobiosocial perspective that draws from field theory in the social sciences and from the stress literature. Based on these literatures, the term “allostatic leader” is offered to describe an ideal leader who responds, adapts, learns, and changes with experience to become even more effective in subsequent situations. Consequently, a clear operational and holistic definition can best focus leader education and development programs to optimally grow effective leaders.
An Infant with Worsening Rash.

A 3-month-old boy presented with 2 weeks of a worsening rash that started around his mouth. His mother suspected irritation from his pacifier, but the rash continued to spread, prompting a visit to an urgent care center. He was diagnosed with impetigo, and he received oral amoxicillin and topical mupirocin to little effect. He had been afebrile from the start, without any symptoms of upper respiratory infection, respiratory distress, hair loss, vomiting, or diarrhea. He breast-fed well from his adoptive mother since shortly after birth (she was nursing 1 of her biological children at the same time), and the mother had no dietary restrictions. There were no similar rashes in his adoptive siblings. After failing to respond to antibiotic therapy, the boy was sent to a dermatologist, who performed a punch biopsy. When the pathology results became available, the patient's family was directed to bring him to the emergency department. As depicted in Fig. 1, the physical examination revealed numerous erythematous and heme-crusted plaques with “flaky paint” scale on …
Abstract 16858: Autopsy-Defined Causes of Sudden Death in Heart Failure With Preserved vs. Reduced Ejection Fraction in the San Francisco POstmortem Systematic InvesTigation of Sudden Cardiac Death (POST SCD) Study

Introduction: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) rates are higher in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) than those with preserved EF (HFpEF), but prior studies have inferred causes of SCD from EMS records or death certificates. As ICDs only rescue from sudden arrhythmic death (SAD), it is critical to exclude non-arrhythmic causes in HF patients. We sought to determine autopsy-defined SADs in subjects with HF in a prospective comprehensive postmortem study of SCD in San Francisco (SF) County. Methods: From 2/2011 to 3/2014, all incident World Health Organization (WHO)-defined SCDs ages 18-90 were autopsied via active surveillance of consecutive out of hospital deaths in the SF POstmortem Systematic InvesTigation of Sudden Cardiac Death (POST SCD) Study. Subjects were identified to have HFpEF or HFrEF by premortem cardiac imaging and/or clinical report as part of usual care. SADs were adjudicated by a multidisciplinary committee and had no extra-cardiac cause of death or acute HF. We defined occult HF as cardiomyopathy and pulmonary edema on autopsy but no known HF premortem. Results: We autopsied 525 WHO-defined SCDs in SF over 37 months. Complete medical records were collected in 94%: 83 subjects (16%) had known HF (25 HFpEF, 58 HFrEF) and 16 (3%) had occult HF. For 61 patients (73%) with echo, mean EF for HFpEF v. HFrEF was 64% v. 36% (p Conclusions: In a comprehensive postmortem study of all incident SCDs in a metro area, 1 in 5 had clinical or occult HF. Autopsy-defined SAD accounted for three-quarters of HFrEF SCDs but less than half of HFpEF SCDs. Only HFrEF was independently associated with SAD.
How to Build a Student-Centered Research Culture for the Benefit of Undergraduate Students: (Abstract Only)

There has been a dramatic increase in computer science undergraduate research activity at colleges and universities in recent years. However, developing a research culture that is explicitly designed to empower undergraduates (student-centered research) requires different models and objectives than those traditionally employed at more research-oriented universities. The goal of this BOF is to explore what effective techniques are employed by other primarily undergraduate institutions to build a culture of research that benefits undergraduate students. Some of the key issues covered in this BOF will be: defining student-centered research and its impact (How does student-centered research differ from traditional research? What secondary effects in the classroom and community might undergraduate research have?), redefining success metrics in student-centered research (How can we capture impact beyond publications and grants? How can we define measures that align with student impact?), exploring issues of accessibility and participation (How might student-centered research change models of student selection? How might it change faculty's scope and focus of research?), and structural mechanisms to empower student-centered research (Given constraints on time and/or resources, how can faculty enable undergraduate research?). Through this BOF, we also plan to build a sustainable community of interested academics leaders (using private Google+ or Facebook group) interested to share and collaborate on future undergraduate research efforts.
Dynamic imaging with sialography combined with sialendoscopy to manage a foreign body in Stensen's duct.

Abstract Objective We describe sialography as a dynamic imaging modality useful in establishing the diagnosis and planning for treatment of a parotid gland ductal foreign body. Methods Chart and radiographic imaging review of a 75 year-old male who had obstructive sialadenitis symptoms two years after welding slag pierced the cheek skin and identified as a ‘piece of steel stuck in his cheek’. Results Sialography was used to demonstrate a foreign body adjacent to the parotid gland to indicate its presence as a mobile element within the ductal system associated with marked pre-obstructive duct dilation. Sialendoscopy was used to successfully remove the foreign body. Conclusions In selected cases, the management of obstructive sialadenitis can be improved with sialography in permitting dynamic imaging of salivary duct anatomy. Although ultrasound has evolved as a standard component of salivary gland assessment, sialography may complement imaging with ultrasound (or CT as in this case) to offer the highest acuity definition of the salivary ducts.
Betsy DeVos’s Education Reform Agenda: What Principals—and Their Publics—Need to Know:

Betsy DeVos, the new U.S. Secretary of Education, has a reform agenda to advance school choice. Her track record includes enabling charter school growth in Michigan at taxpayers’ expense with littl...
The Application of Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization to the Synthesis of Substituted Polyacetylenes

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization of substituted cyclooctatetraenes has been used to synthesize substituted polyacetylenes. The spacing between the side groups in the polymer allows the polymer to attain a conjugated conformation, while the twisting of the main chain induced by the substituents renders the polymer soluble. Poly(trimethylsilylcyclooctatetraene) has been used to make Schottky-type solar cells.
Nodule Characterization: Subsolid Nodules

Abstract In this review, we focus on the radiologic, clinical, and pathologic aspects primarily of solitary subsolid pulmonary nodules. Particular emphasis will be placed on the pathologic classification and correlative computed tomography (CT) features of adenocarcinoma of the lung. The capabilities of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-CT and histologic sampling techniques, including CT-guided biopsy, endoscopic-guided biopsy, and surgical resection, are discussed. Finally, recently proposed management guidelines by the Fleischner Society and the American College of Chest Physicians are reviewed.
Gendering in organizations: Lessons from the prison and other iron cages

Outside of criminology and the rare studies of total institutions in the organizational literature, the prison has held little interest for sociologists. Certainly, it has never been a topic of mainstream research on work and organizations. By choosing the prison as a case study for understanding the processes through which work and work organizations themselves are gendered, I have made a seemingly unconventional choice, one that places my research far afield of the traditional realm of organization studies. What I hope to demonstrate, however, is that the prison - a quite literal iron cage - has much to tell us about the dynamics of gender in cages of the more figurative Weberian variety.
Creating the ‘Girl Effect’: Including boys and men to promote girls’ land and asset ownership:

Empowering women and girls to gain access to resources is necessary to close the gender asset gap and reduce poverty. I bring together how the gender and development (GAD) approach conceptualizes t...
An assessment of the readability of online material related to fluoride

Community water fluoridation has been deemed one of the greatest public health achievements, yet it remains a controversial topic. As those who are concerned about the benefits and safety of community water fluoridation are likely to turn to the Internet to find information, it is important to know the ease with which a person can read popular materials online. The aim of this study was to assess the readability levels of pro- and anti-fluoride articles on the Internet. Using a highly-recommended readability site, the first 100 articles garnered from websites in a Google were analyzed for a multitude of scores on popular readability tests. Of the 100 articles analyzed, 71 were deemed to be pro-fluoride, and 29 were anti-fluoride. Anti-fluoride materials were more readable across all scores when compared to the pro-fluoride materials. It is critical for consumers to be aware of the credibility of the health information they are reading and to be educated on how to determine if a website or source is reliable, especially when information is conflicting. It is also critical that health associations and other websites devoted to public health promotion develop and provide more accessible health information in terms of readability.
Dynamics of Insulin Signaling in the Black-Legged Tick, Ixodes scapularis

Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) have been identified in several invertebrates, particularly insects, and work on these ILPs has revealed many roles including regulation of energy homeostasis, growth, development, and lifespan to name a few. However, information on arthropod ILPs outside of insects is sparse. Studies of Ixodid tick ILPs are particularly scarce, despite their importance as vectors of infectious agents, most notably Lyme disease. The recent publication of the genome of the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, has advanced opportunities to study this organism from a molecular standpoint, a resource sorely needed for an organism with challenging life history requirements for study in the laboratory, such as a long life cycle and obligate, prolonged, blood-feeding at each life stage. Through bioinformatics searches of the tick genome and other available I. scapularis databases, we identified four putative ILP sequences. Full-length sequences of these ILP transcripts were confirmed, and quantitative RT-PCR was used to examine expression levels of these ILPs in different life stages, feeding states, and adult tissues. This work serves as an initial characterization of ILP expression in ticks and provides the foundation for further exploration of the roles of ILPs in these important arthropod vectors.
An ethnographic decision model of the initiation of gabapentin misuse among prescription and/or illicit opioid (mis)user.

Abstract Aims Gabapentin is used in the treatment of seizures and neuralgia, and it is prescribed off-label to treat substance use disorders and withdrawal symptoms. Recent research documents misuse of gabapentin, especially among prescription opioid misusers. The present study contributes to this literature by examining the initiation of gabapentin misuse. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with prescription and/or illicit opioid (mis)users who reported a history of gabapentin misuse (N = 62) and who did not (N = 29). During semi-structured interviews, respondents provided descriptions of the first time they misused gabapentin. An ethnographic decision model was constructed to illustrate the factors that influence the initiation decision. Results Multiple individual, social, and environmental factors influence the decision to initiate gabapentin misuse. Respondents described the initiation decision related to: a) wanting to feel a psychoactive high during times of limited access to one’s preferred drug because of institutional barriers (e.g., substance abuse treatment; jail; transitional living facility; N = 18); b) the desire to use multiple drugs, including for experimentation or to potentiate another substance (N = 18); and c) the need to self-treat withdrawal symptoms during periods of opioid nonuse or when opioids were unavailable (N = 16). Respondents also initiated gabapentin misuse to self-treat physical pain (N = 10). Conclusions Multiple approaches are needed to mitigate gabapentin misuse, including limiting availability in institutional settings and informal channels as well as addressing the needs of drug users who experience physical pain and withdrawal symptoms. Continued research is needed to examine therapeutic uses of gabapentin and behaviors related to misuse.
Preparing Small Business for Workforce 2000: A Pilot Study

This study examines the results of research designed to examine the relationship between the growing diversity of the American workforce and the personnel practices of small business. This paper accomplishes four goals: fl I ) highlights the implications of the Workforce 2000 findings for small business managers' personnel practices; 2) reports the methodology and results of telephone and in-depth face-to-face interviews to determine if current small business human resource practices in a mid-sized , midwestern American city are responsive to changes in the workforce; 3) clarifies the strategy and tactics small business managers should implement to adapt their personnel programs to the changing workforce environment ; and 4) serves as a pilot stud y for future research.
Augmenting Knowledge through Statistical, Goal-oriented Human-Robot Dialog

Some robots can interact with humans using natural language, and identify service requests through human-robot dialog. However, few robots are able to improve their language capabilities from this experience. In this paper, we develop a dialog agent for robots that is able to interpret user commands using a semantic parser, while asking clarification questions using a probabilistic dialog manager. This dialog agent is able to augment its knowledge base and improve its language capabilities by learning from dialog experiences, e.g., adding new entities and learning new ways of referring to existing entities. We have extensively evaluated our dialog system in simulation as well as with human participants through MTurk and real-robot platforms. We demonstrate that our dialog agent performs better in efficiency and accuracy in comparison to baseline learning agents. Demo video can be found at https://youtu.be/DFB3jbHBqYE
Gait asymmetry pattern following stroke determines acute response to locomotor task.

Abstract Background Given the prevalence of gait dysfunction following stroke, walking recovery is a primary goal of rehabilitation. However, current gait rehabilitation approaches fail to demonstrate consistent benefits. Gait asymmetry, prevalent among stroke survivors who regain the ability to walk, is associated with an increased energy cost of walking and is a significant predictor of falls post-stroke. Furthermore, differential patterns of gait asymmetry may respond differently to gait training parameters. Research question The purpose of this study was to determine whether differential responses to locomotor task condition occur on the basis of step length asymmetry pattern (Symmetrical, NPshort, Pshort) observed during overground walking. Methods Participants first walked overground at their self-selected walking speed. Overground data were compared against three task conditions all tested during treadmill walking: self-selected speed with 0% body weight support (TM); self-selected speed with 30 % body weight support (BWS); and fastest comfortable speed with 30 % body weight support and nonparetic leg guidance (GuidanceNP). Our primary metrics were: symmetry indices of step length, stride length, and single limb support duration. Results We identified differences in the response to locomotor task conditions for each step length asymmetry subgroup. GuidanceNP induced an acute spatial symmetry only in the NPshort group and temporal symmetry in the Symmetrical and Pshort groups. Importantly, we found the TM and BWS conditions were insufficient to impact either spatial or temporal gait symmetry. Significance Task conditions consistent with locomotor training do not produce uniform effects across subpatterns of gait asymmetry. We identified differential responses to locomotor task conditions between groups with distinct asymmetry patterns, suggesting these subgroups may require unique intervention strategies. Despite group differences in asymmetry characteristics, improvements in symmetry noted in each group were driven by changes in both the paretic and nonparetic limbs.
EPILEPTOGENESIS | Gene Expression in Immature and Mature Hippocampus After Status Epilepticus

Effective therapy is currently limited for childhood epilepsy because little is known about the cellular and molecular changes caused by seizures in the developing brain. This situation is different for the adult epilepsies, where works on numerous animal models have led to important insights about underlying bases of the seizure condition. For example, kainic acid (KA)-induced seizures have been studied as an animal model for status epilepticus (SE) and temporal lobe epilepsy for more than three decades. KA injections in mature rats result in the development of spontaneous seizures and a distinctive pattern of neurodegeneration resembling hippocampal sclerosis in human patients. In younger rats, however, KA-induced SE does not cause spontaneous seizures or cell death. Indeed, the impact of seizures has been less well-studied in younger rats than in adult rats. Recently available microarray technology enables us to look at the complex molecular changes in a genome-wide survey. With this tool, we have investigated age-specific, time-dependent changes in gene expression after KA-induced seizures, and compared the brain transcriptomes in mature and immature rats. Understanding how differently the immature and mature nervous systems respond to seizures could ultimately lead to new interventions to prevent seizure-induced neuronal loss and/or subsequent cognitive dysfunction.
A GM-CSF-neuroantigen tolerogenic vaccine elicits inefficient antigen recognition events below the CD40L triggering threshold to expand CD4 + CD25 + FOXP3 + Tregs that inhibit experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

Tolerogenic vaccines represent antigen-specific interventions designed to re-establish self-tolerance and thereby alleviate autoimmune diseases, which collectively comprise over 100 chronic inflammatory diseases afflicting more than 20 million Americans. Tolerogenic vaccines comprised of single-chain GM-CSF-neuroantigen (GMCSF-NAg) fusion proteins were shown in previous studies to prevent and reverse disease in multiple rodent models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by a mechanism contingent upon the function of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). GMCSF-NAg vaccines inhibited EAE in both quiescent and inflammatory environments in association with low-efficiency T cell receptor (TCR) signaling events that elicited clonal expansion of immunosuppressive Tregs. This study focused on two vaccines, including GMCSF-MOG (myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35–55/MOG35–55) and GMCSF-NFM (neurofilament medium peptide 13–37/NFM13–37), that engaged the transgenic 2D2 TCR with either low or high efficiencies, respectively. 2D2 mice were crossed with FOXP3 IRES eGFP (FIG) mice to track Tregs and further crossed with Rag−/− mice to reduce pre-existing Treg populations. This study provided evidence that low and high efficiency TCR interactions were integrated via CD40L expression levels to control the Treg/Tcon balance. The high-efficiency GMCSF-NFM vaccine elicited memory Tcon responses in association with activation of the CD40L costimulatory system. Conversely, the low-efficiency GMCSF-MOG vaccine lacked adequate TCR signal strength to elicit CD40L expression and instead elicited Tregs by a mechanism that was impaired by a CD40 agonist. When combined, the low- and high-efficiency GMCSF-NAg vaccines resulted in a balanced outcome and elicited both Tregs and Tcon responses without the predominance of a dominant immunogenic Tcon response. Aside from Treg expansion in 2D2-FIG mice, GMCSF-MOG caused a sustained decrease in TCR-β, CD3, and CD62L expression and a sustained increase in CD44 expression in Tcon subsets. Subcutaneous administration of GMCSF-MOG without adjuvants inhibited EAE in wildtype mice, which had a replete Treg repertoire, but was pathogenic rather than tolerogenic in 2D2-FIG-Rag1−/− mice, which lacked pre-existing Tregs. This study provided evidence that the GMCSF-MOG vaccine elicited antigenic responses beneath the CD40L triggering threshold, which defined an antigenic niche that drove dominant expansion of tolerogenic myelin-specific Tregs that inhibited EAE.
Body Habitus Across the Lifespan and Risk of Pituitary Adenoma.

CONTEXT No studies have examined the association between body habitus and incidence of pituitary adenoma. OBJECTIVE To determine if body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body somatotype, or height are associated with risk of pituitary adenoma. DESIGN Pooled analysis of 3 prospective cohort studies. SETTING Population-based study. PARTICIPANTS Participants of the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII), and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), totaling 284 946 American health professionals. EXPOSURES BMI, waist circumference, body somatotype, and height. OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported incident pituitary adenoma. Multivariable (MV)-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of pituitary adenoma were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS During 7 350 156 person-years of follow-up, 387 incident pituitary adenomas were reported. Comparing BMI of ≥30 to <25 kg/m2, higher adult BMI was associated with higher risk of pituitary adenoma (MV HR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.33-2.28), as was higher maximum adult BMI (MV HR = 1.76; 95% CI, 1.34-2.30), higher waist circumference (MV HR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.04-1.09 per inch), and higher BMI during early adulthood (at age 18 to 21, MV HR = 2.65; 95% CI, 1.56-4.49). Taller adult height was associated with pituitary adenoma (MV HR = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09 per inch). Overall findings were similar in women and men, although power was limited in men (n = 62 cases). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the association between adult BMI and pituitary adenoma extended to at least 14 years prior to diagnosis and that the results were not affected when analyses were restricted to participants with similar healthcare utilization. CONCLUSION Higher BMI and waist circumference, from early adulthood to the time of diagnosis, were associated with higher risk of pituitary adenoma.
Dysphagia in Head and Neck Cancers

Dysphagia, or difficulty in swallowing, is a common complication in the treatment of head and neck cancers. Symptoms of dysphagia may include coughing or choking during meals, aspiration or entrance of material into the airway, prolonged mealtimes, avoidance of problematic foods, and reduced oral intake resulting in dehydration and malnourishment. Therefore, dysphagia can have pervasive effects on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancers. This chapter discusses swallowing dysfunction related to oncologic treatments, assessment and management of dysphagia, and a multidisciplinary approach in the care of patients with head and neck cancers.
Regional lung metabolic profile in a piglet model of cardiopulmonary bypass with circulatory arrest

Acute lung injury is common following cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest for congenital heart surgery with the most severe injury in the dorsocaudal lung. Metabolomics offers promise in deducing mechanisms of disease states, providing risk stratification, and understanding therapeutic responses in regards to CPB/DHCA related organ injury. Using an infant porcine model, we sought to determine the individual and additive effects of CPB/DHCA and lung region on the metabolic fingerprint, metabolic pathways, and individual metabolites in lung tissue. Twenty-seven infant piglets were divided into two groups: mechanical ventilation + CPB/DHCA (n = 20) and mechanical ventilation only (n = 7). Lung tissue was obtained from dorsocaudal and ventral regions. Targeted analysis of 235 metabolites was performed using HPLC/MS–MS. Data was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), ANOVA, and pathway analysis. Profound metabolic differences were found in dorsocaudal compared to ventral lung zones by PCA and PLS-DA (R2 = 0.7; Q2 = 0.59; p < 0.0005). While overshadowed by the regional differences, some differences by exposure to CPB/DHCA were seen as well. Seventy-four metabolites differed among groups and pathway analysis revealed 20 differential metabolic pathways. Our results demonstrate significant metabolic disturbances between dorsocaudal and ventral lung regions during supine mechanical ventilation with or without CPB/DHCA. CPB/DHCA also leads to metabolic differences and may have additive effects to the regional disturbances. Most pathways driving this pathology are involved in energy metabolism and the metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, and reduction–oxidation pathways.
Personalized Recommendation System Design for an Online B2B Platform

We formulate the problem of designing a personalized recommendation system for an online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, propose a method to solve it, and evaluate results using a controlled pilot test. Our research is conducted in collaboration with IndiaMart, the dominant online B2B platform in India serving approximately 60 million buyer fi rms and 5 million seller fi rms in more than 50 million products and services. In this problem, buyers place requests for quotation (RFQs) to the platform, and the objective of the platform is to match the RFQs with suitable sellers with the highest likelihood of acceptance. Our problem entails two major challenges: (1) high-dimensional and sparse data regarding product category and spatial engagement, and (2) class imbalance because the volume of "accepted" records in historical clickstream data is significantly larger than that of "declined" records. We propose new variables motivated by the choice estimation literature to address high-dimensionality, and evaluate alternative approaches including the Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) and a new resampling approach, which we call Panel Data Augmentation Technique (PDATE), to counter class imbalance. Our method yields a significant improvement in out-of-sample predictive accuracy. A controlled pilot test conducted at IndiaMart shows that our method provides a consistent and significant improvement in the quality of recommendations sustained over time.
Xenic: SmartNIC-Accelerated Distributed Transactions

High-performance distributed transactions require efficient remote operations on database memory and protocol metadata. The high communication cost of this workload calls for hardware acceleration. Recent research has applied RDMA to this end, leveraging the network controller to manipulate host memory without consuming CPU cycles on the target server. However, the basic read/write RDMA primitives demand trade-offs in data structure and protocol design, limiting their benefits. SmartNICs are a flexible alternative for fast distributed transactions, adding programmable compute cores and on-board memory to the network interface. Applying measured performance characteristics, we design Xenic, a SmartNIC-optimized transaction processing system. Xenic applies an asynchronous, aggregated execution model to maximize network and core efficiency. Xenic's co-designed data store achieves low-overhead remote object accesses. Additionally, Xenic uses flexible, point-to-point communication patterns between SmartNICs to minimize transaction commit latency. We compare Xenic against prior RDMA- and RPC-based transaction systems with the TPC-C, Retwis, and Smallbank benchmarks. Our results for the three benchmarks show 2.42x, 2.07x, and 2.21x throughput improvement, 59%, 42%, and 22% latency reduction, while saving 2.3, 8.1, and 10.1 threads per server.
Abbreviated San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE-7) and Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index (JTWI).

OBJECTIVES Wisdom is a personality trait comprising seven components: self-reflection, pro-social behaviors, emotional regulation, acceptance of diverse perspectives, decisiveness, social advising, and spirituality. Wisdom, a potentially modifiable trait, is strongly associated with well-being. We have published a validated 28-item San Diego Wisdom Scale, the SD-WISE-28. Brief scales are necessary for use in large population-based studies and in clinical practice. The present study aimed to create an abbreviated 7-item version of the SD-WISE. METHOD Participants included 2093 people, aged 20-82 years, recruited and surveyed through the online crowdsourcing platform Amazon Mechanical Turk. The participants' mean age was 46 years, with 55% women. Participants completed the SD-WISE-28 as well as validation scales for various positive and negative constructs. Psychometric analyses (factor analysis and item response theory) were used to select one item from each of the seven SD-WISE-28 subscales. RESULTS We selected a combination of items that produced acceptable unidimensional model fit and good reliability (ω = 0.74). Item statistics suggested that all seven items were strong indicators of wisdom, although the association was weakest for spirituality. Analyses indicated that the 28-item and 7-item SD-WISE are both very highly correlated (r = 0.92) and produce a nearly identical pattern of correlations with demographic and validity variables. CONCLUSION The SD-WISE-7, and its derived Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index (JTWI) score, balances reliability and brevity for research applications.
Formative Years as an Investigator of Hypothalamic-Pituitary Physiology

As I see it now, my interest in neuroendocrinology arose from two elements, the first being a general and intense curiosity in natural history and about how living things work and the second a specific concern with the mechanism by which stress causes illness. Both elements were well established by my early teens, the first by exposure to high school courses in biology and the second by my concern over my father’s angina, which clearly seemed related to life stress. These factors determined my choice of medicine as a career, sensitized me to the significance of the stress response, and established my outlook in experimental science as that of a physician looking for solutions to disease in disturbances of central nervous system function. In college, I learned of Cannon’s view of homeostasis, and of his formulation of the “fight or flight” description of the response to stress. I also became aware of voodoo death and other popularized psychosomatic phenomena. My first effort in neuroendocrine research logically followed this theme, for at Antioch College in 1943 I chose to repeat the original chemical synthesis of epinephrine as my junior year thesis project in organic chemistry. It was this early fascination with the mind-body problem that made me so susceptible to the neuroendocrine virus when I heard about Hans Selye and the general adaptation syndrome (Selye, 1946). Selye’s views were set forth in a lecture to the sophomore medical school class in 1945 by Dr. Irwin Levy, an instructor in neurology at Washington.
Use of Grass Shrimp in Toxicity Tests

The literature pertaining to the use of grass shrimp in toxicity testing is reviewed. Information on the life history, species differences, collection, culture, handling, effects of toxicants, standard methods for toxicity testing, and potential problems in experimental design is presented. Suggestions for future research are made.
A Turning Point Problem Arising in Connection with a Limiting Absorption Principle for Schrödinger Operators with Generalized Von Neumann—Wigner Potentials

In connection with our study of “A Limiting Absorption Principle for Schrodinger Operators with Generalized Von Neumann—Wigner Potentials” [7,8] we needed to solve a turning point problem for a family of ordinary differential equations. This family arose by separation of variables from the partial differential equation (−Δ+p0 − λ)f = 0, where Δ is the Laplacian, p0 is a spherically symmetric potential function given by definition (2.1) and λ > 0 is the spectral parameter. Following the notation of [7, 8] we parametrize this family by j= 0,1,2,.... It is a key feature of this family of differential equations that for each j the corresponding equation has at least one turning point and that as j tends to infinity so do the turning points. Hence our family of operators is similar to the one of Langer [6,9]. It is different from the one of Langer inasmuch as we do not need a uniform expansion for the solution which is normalized near zero. All that we need is a lower estimate for the absolute values of the solutions at a family of points σ(j) which satisfy the inequality of conclusion (2.15) of Theorem Theorem 2.1. Hence these points are to the left of the turning points. On account of these weaker conclusions, we can allow to add an oscillatory potential to the one of Langer.
Deformation Induced Microstructural Changes in Austenitic Stainless Steels

Microstructural changes that occur in metals and alloys as a result of plastic deformation, and at times leading to fracture, are presented. Since the number of alloys that can be considered are quite numerous, one system has been selected and discussed in some detail. The dislocation microstructure of the austenitic stainless steels, AISI 304 and 316, are presented for specimens tested in the tensile, creep, fatigue and time-dependent fatigue modes. Micro-structural changes characteristic of the plastic zone in the region of the tip of a fatigue crack is also presented. In addition, the density changes due to the deformation induced micro-cracking, and subsequent strain rate dependence, at grain boundaries are discussed.
PFASs in the General Population

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been manufactured since the 1950s for use as surface protectants for textiles and leather treatment, as protection additives in food packaging and paper products, and in firefighting foams. Some PFASs are persistent in the environment and in people, and can be transported to remote regions. The main pathways of exposure to PFASs in humans include diet, drinking water, and indoor dust, but predictors of PFASs exposures are not clearly understood. Since 2002, changes in manufacturing practices appear to have reduced exposure to some of these PFASs both in the environment and in people,‑ but exposure to PFASs is still widespread. We review relevant research published up to the first quarter of 2014 to understand the demographic, geographic, and temporal differences that contribute to general population exposures to PFASs around the world. We also present data on exposures to PFASs in some vulnerable population groups (e.g., pregnant women, infants, young children).
Developmental Outcomes of School-Age Children with Duarte Galactosemia: A Pilot Study

Duarte galactosemia (DG) is a mild allelic variant of classic galactosemia that results from partial impairment of galactose-1P uridylyltransferase (GALT). Although infants with DG are detected by newborn screening in some US states at close to 1/4,000 live births, most are discharged from follow-up very early in life and there is no consensus on whether these children are at increased risk for any of the long-term developmental delays seen in classic galactosemia. There is also no consensus on whether infants with DG benefit from dietary restriction of galactose. Reflecting the current uncertainty, some states choose to identify infants with DG by newborn screening and others do not. As a first step toward characterizing the developmental outcomes of school-age children with DG, we conducted a pilot study, testing 10 children with DG and 5 unaffected siblings from the same group of families. All children tested were between 6 and 11 years old. We used standardized direct assessments and parent-response surveys to collect information regarding cognition, communication, socio-emotional, adaptive behavior, and physical development for each child. Despite the small sample size, our data demonstrated some notable differences between cases and controls in socio-emotional development, in delayed recall, and in auditory processing speed. These results confirm that direct assessment of school-age children with DG can detect subtle but potentially problematic developmental deficits, and underscore the need for a larger study which has sufficient power to evaluate these outcomes while controlling for potentially confounding factors.
Potential Danger of Catheter Removal of Foreign Body

As frequently happens the day after an issue of Pediatrics arrived we admitted a patient with a problem that had been presented in the journal. This 7-month-old infant had been referred to the department of radiology for a skull series because of a lump on the skull–an incidental finding was the presence of coins in the esophagus. He had no swallowing difficulty but did cough in the prone position. In view of Pediatrics, 50:475, we considered use of the method, but elected to do it under direct vision as we did not know the duration of the ingestion.
Building causal graphs from statistical data in the presence of latent variables

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the building of causal graphs from statistical data in the presence of latent variables. The problem of inferring causal relations from statistical data in the absence of experiments arises repeatedly in many scientific disciplines, including sociology, economics, epidemiology, and psychology. In addition, the building of expert systems could be expedited if background knowledge elicited from experts could be supplemented with automated techniques using relevant statistics. The efficient algorithms for determining causal relationships between random variables from appropriate statistical data when there are no unmeasured or “latent” variables are discovered. Inferring causal relations when unmeasured variables are also acting is a much more difficult problem. In many cases, it is impossible to infer the structure among the latent variables from statistical relations among the measured variables. But the presence of latent variables can also make it difficult to infer the causal relations among the measured variables themselves. The chapter discusses the spurious causal dependencies, inducing paths and graphs, and partially oriented inducing path graphs.
The impact of technology on Ireland's economic growth and development: lessons for developing countries

The contribution of information technology (IT) to economic growth and development is seen as an important factor underlying the pace of development in many developing countries. While Asia's newly industrialized economies (NIEs) are often portrayed as models for economic growth, Ireland's recent economic performance has attracted considerable attention, earning it the label "Europe's Celtic Tiger". We adopt a framework of IT-led development to show how, despite having a weak indigenous IT sector, Ireland has succeeded in creating a world-class industry in computer hardware, software and services through a policy of "industrialization by invitation". We then abstract from Ireland's experiences with IT-led development to provide some general lessons for developing countries.
Multiple RNA-protein interactions in Drosophila dosage compensation

From worms to humans, recognizing and modifying a specific chromosome is essential for dosage compensation, the mechanism by which equal X-linked gene expression in males and females is achieved. Recent molecular genetic and biochemical studies have provided new insights into how regulatory factors in Drosophila are recruited and assembled on the X chromosome, leading to the essential hypertranscription of its genes.