cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prognostic model based on JAK2, CALR and MPL mutation status and age predicts the survival outcome of patients with primary myelofibrosis

Background: The median survival of patients with primary myelofibrosis (PMF) is 5 to 7 years after diagnosis. In the majority of patients with PMF somatic mutations were detected either in Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2; in 60% of patients), Calreticulin (CALR; in 25% of patients) or MPL (in 5% of patients) genes. Neither mutation was detected 5% to 10% of PMF patients. Patients with mutated JAK2 are known to have a more aggressive disease compared to patients with mutated CALR. However patients with mutated JAK2 and high allele burden have a favorable outcome compared to patients with a low mutated JAK2 burden. Aim: To develop a model that uses genetic information to predict survival outcome of patients with PMF. Patients and Methods: Bone marrow samples were collected from 344 patients with PMF that were followed at MD Anderson Cancer Center between 2000 and 2013 (157 months). All samples were screened for JAK2 and for mutations in CALR. Patients who did not have a mutation in either gene were also screened for mutations in MPL. Results: In 226 patients (66%) JAK2 was detected and in 43 (13%) CALR was mutated. Of the 75 patients who did not have JAK2 or CALR mutations, 16 (21%) had mutated MPL. In 59 patients (17%), none of those mutations was detected. In the 226 patients who harbored the JAK2 mutation, a cut-point of 50% dichotomized patients into those with a high JAK2 burden and a favorable overall survival (OS; median OS: 80 months) and those with a low JAK2 burden and an adverse OS (median OS: 50 months). Age (above 65 years) and mutation status (low JAK2 burden or triple-negative) were independent risk factors. Patients with a favorable mutation status and age below 65 had a median survival of 126 months (n 1⁄4 82). Patients with either one risk factor, age above 65 (n 1⁄4 88) or adverse mutation status (n 1⁄4 87) had intermediate survival expectancy. The two risk factors were additive and patients age > 65 years and adverse mutation status (n 1⁄4 87) had a median survival of 35 months. Conclusions: Age and mutation status are independent predictors of survival in patients with PMF and stratify patients into 4 groups of equal size with very different survival outcome. 703 Mutational Profiling of JAK2V617F vs. CALR mutated Primary Myelofibrosis Fabio Santos, Renato Puga, Bianca Lisboa, Welbert Pereira, Mariana Miyagi, Evelyn Mata, Tarcila Datoguia, Isabel Bello, Michelli Diniz, Sandra Nakashima, Guilherme Perini, Ricardo Helman, Nelson Hamerschlak, Paulo Campregher Hematology/Oncology, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein
Pb and Sr concentrations and isotopic compositions in prehistoric North American teeth: A methodological study

Abstract We present Pb and Sr isotopic compositions and elemental concentrations for dentin and enamel from 28 human teeth from 10 locations in the southwestern United States. These teeth represent Native American communities that were functioning between 300 BCE and 1200 CE. We wished to assess whether Pb isotopic data can extend the interpretations made from Sr isotopic data alone, and to determine the analytical requirements for doing Sr and Pb analyses from single samples. Pb concentrations in our samples are between 0.06 and 48 ppm, with Sr concentrations between 10 and 3300 ppm. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr compositions lie between 0.708 and 0.712. Pb isotopic compositions are more variable, with 206 Pb/ 204 Pb ranging between 17.9 and 21.7. Isotopic compositions and elemental concentrations for both Sr and Pb can be determined on samples smaller than 1 mg, but there is real heterogeneity between samples of this size. Neither concentrations nor isotopic compositions are reproducible to within analytical uncertainty in replicate aliquots from individual teeth. We cannot determine whether this variability is an in-vivo or a diagenetic effect. Combined Pb and Sr isotopic data discriminate most locations, and the inclusion of Pb data provides a stronger basis for archeological interpretations. Our data suggest that Pb is more susceptible to post-mortem exchange than Sr. Background isotopic data are needed to characterize Pb and Sr sources in the study areas. Pb concentration data for enamel samples indicate a blood Pb load of 0.1–0.2 μg Pb/dL for preindustrial Native Americans.
Boron carboxylate catalysis of homoallylboration.

Boron tris(trifluoroacetate) is identified as the first effective catalyst for the homoallyl- and homocrotylboration of aldehydes by cyclopropylcarbinylboronates. NMR spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations of key intermediates and transition states both suggest that a ligand-exchange mechanism, akin to our previously reported PhBCl2-promoted homoallylations, is operative. Our experimental and theoretical results also suggest that the catalytic activity of boron tris(trifluoroacetate) might originate from more facile catalytic turnover of the trifluoroacetate ligands (in agreement with DFT calculations) or from a lower propensity for formation of off-pathway reservoir intermediates (as observed by 1H NMR). This work shows that carboxylates are viable catalytic ligands for homoallyl- and homocrotylations of carbonyl compounds and opens the door to the development of catalytic asymmetric versions of this transformation.
Controlling the Surface Environment of Heterogeneous Catalysts Using Self-Assembled Monolayers

ConspectusRationally designing and producing suitable catalysts to promote specific reaction pathways remains a major objective in heterogeneous catalysis. One approach involves using traditional catalytic materials modified with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to create a more favorable surface environment for specific product formation. A major advantage of SAM-based modifiers is their tendency to form consistent, highly ordered assembly structures on metal surfaces. In addition, both the attachment chemistry and tail structures can easily be tuned to facilitate specific interactions between reactants and the catalyst. In this Account, we summarize our recent modification approaches for tuning monolayer structure to improve catalytic performance for hydrogenation reactions on palladium and platinum catalysts. Each approach serves to direct selectivity by tuning a particular aspect of the system including the availability of specific active sites (active-site selection), intermolecular interactions betw...
Development of a friendly, self-teaching, interactive statistical package for analysis of clinical research data. The BRIGHT STAT-PACK.

We have developed a new statistical analysis package for use by the clinical investigator, the clinician, and the laboratory researcher. This package attempts to implement the following philosophy: (1) The programs should be essentially self-teachaing, friendly, and forgiving; (2) the grograms should educate the user regarding the underlying theory, assumptions, and interpretation of the statistical methods involved; (3) the programs should automatically test relevant assumptions and warn the user when these assumptions appear to have been violated; (4) the programs should make recommendations about the availability of alternative statistical methods and automatically perform such analyses when indicated; (5) the programs should interpret the results; and (6) the programs should mimic, insofar as possible, the logic used in a routine, elementary statistical consultation. Several programs have been developed, extensively tested, and used.
Emerin inhibits Lmo7 binding to the Pax3 and MyoD promoters and expression of myoblast proliferation genes

X-linked Emery–Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (X-EDMD) is caused by mutations in the inner nuclear membrane protein emerin. Previous studies have shown that emerin binds to and inhibits the activity of LIM domain only 7 (Lmo7), a transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes implicated in X-EDMD. Here, we analyzed Lmo7 function in C2C12 myoblast differentiation and its regulation by emerin. We found that Lmo7 was required for proper myoblast differentiation. Lmo7-downregulated myoblasts exhibited reduced expression of Pax3, Pax7, Myf5 and MyoD, whereas overexpression of GFP–Lmo7 increased the expression of MyoD and Myf5. Upon myotube formation, Lmo7 shuttled from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, concomitant with reduced expression of MyoD, Pax3 and Myf5. Importantly, we show that Lmo7 bound the Pax3, MyoD and Myf5 promoters both in C2C12 myoblasts and in vitro. Because emerin inhibited Lmo7 activity, we tested whether emerin competed with the MyoD promoter for binding to Lmo7 or whether emerin sequestered promoter-bound Lmo7 to the nuclear periphery. Supporting the competition model, emerin binding to Lmo7 inhibited Lmo7 binding to and activation of the MyoD and Pax3 promoters. These findings support the hypothesis that the functional interaction between emerin and Lmo7 is crucial for temporally regulating the expression of key myogenic differentiation genes.
Visualization framework for colonoscopy videos

We present a visualization framework for annotating and comparing colonoscopy videos, where these annotations can then be used for semi-automatic report generation at the end of the procedure. Currently, there are approximately 14 million colonoscopies performed every year in the US. In this work, we create a visualization tool to deal with the deluge of colonoscopy videos in a more effective way. We present an interactive visualization framework for the annotation and tagging of colonoscopy videos in an easy and intuitive way. These annotations and tags can later be used for report generation for electronic medical records and for comparison at an individual as well as group level. We also present important use cases and medical expert feedback for our visualization framework.
Matrix infrared spectra and density functional calculations of transition metal hydrides and dihydrogen complexes.

Metal hydrides are of considerable importance in chemical synthesis as intermediates in catalytic hydrogenation reactions. Transition metal atoms react with dihydrogen to produce metal dihydrides or dihydrogen complexes and these may be trapped in solid matrix samples for infrared spectroscopic study. The MH2 or M(H2) molecules so formed react further to form higher MH4, (H2)MH2, or M(H2)2, and MH6, (H2)2MH2, or M(H2)3 hydrides or complexes depending on the metal. In this critical review these transition metal and dihydrogen reaction products are surveyed for Groups 3 though 12 and the contrasting behaviour in Groups 6 and 10 is discussed. Minimum energy structures and vibrational frequencies predicted by Density Functional Theory agree with the experimental results, strongly supporting the identification of novel binary transition metal hydride species, which the matrix-isolation method is well-suited to investigate. 104 references are cited.
1,8-Pyrenylene-ethynylene macrocycles.

A concise, highly regioselective synthesis of 1,8-dibromo-4,5-dialkoxypyrenes has been developed and exploited in the synthesis of some 1,8-pyrenylene−ethynylene macrocycles. The 1H NMR data and NICS calculations indicate that there is little or no macrocyclic ring current. Concentration-dependent UV−visible studies indicate no aggregation at low concentration, but 8b forms dimers with voids suitable for intercalation of small molecules in the solid state.
Antifolate resistance in a HeLa cell line associated with impaired transport independent of the reduced folate carrier

3301 Prior studies from this laboratory documented the prevalence of methotrexate (MTX) transport activity with a low-pH optimum in a variety of human solid tumor cell lines (Clinical Cancer Research, 2004, 10: 718). In HeLa cells, derived from human cervical cancer, this low pH activity has high affinity (Kt=45 nM) for pemetrexed (PMX) and is RFC-independent, since it is not diminished in an RFC-null subline (R5) (Clinical Cancer Research, 2004, 10: 6256). R5 cells also have residual transport activity, with high specificity for PMX, at neutral pH (Cancer Research, 2004, 64: 3313). The current study addresses whether this low pH folate transport activity can be down-regulated under antifolate pressure and the consequence of this down-regulation on the activity of antifolates. An R5 subline, R1, was selected under MTX selective pressure in a medium with a modestly reduced pH (pH 6.9). In R1 cells influx of MTX, PMX and folic acid at pH 5.5 was markedly and equally decreased as compared to R5 cells. PMX influx at pH 7.4 in R1 cells was also markedly reduced while MTX influx at this pH was decreased to a lesser extent. When MTX was removed from the growth medium there was a slow return of transport activity in R1 cells, and when MTX was added back, there was loss of transport at both pHs within eight weeks. PMX influx in R5 cells at both acidic and neutral pH was increased by preloading cells with 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (trans-stimulation), consistent with a process mediated by a facilitative carrier. In R1 cells there was marked decrease in accumulation of PMX, MTX, and folic acid at both pHs as compared to R5 cells. At both pHs R1 cells were more resistant than R5 cells to antifolates, which require a facilitative process to gain entry into cells, although the extent of resistance was different for different antifolates (PMX>MTX>tomudex). These data demonstrate that (i) RFC-independent transport in HeLa cells at low and neutral pH contribute to antifolate activity, in particular, to PMX activity, and can be diminished by antifolate selective pressure and, (ii) the loss of these activities results in marked resistance to PMX, an agent for which there is little or no loss of activity when transport mediated by RFC is abolished. These observations suggest that transport activity in RFC-null HeLa R5 cells at neutral and low pH may reflect the same carrier-mediated process. This study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, CA-82621, along with a grant from the Eli Lilly Company.
Dynamic CT Scanning of Spinal Column Trauma

Dynamic sequential computed tomographic scanning with automatic table incrementation uses low milliampere-second technique to eliminate tube cooling delays between scanning slices and, thus, markedly shortens examination times. A total of 25 patients with spinal column trauma involving 28 levels were studied with dynamic scans and retrospectively reviewed. Dynamic studies were considerably faster than conventional spine examinations and yielded reliable diagnoses. Bone disruption and subluxation was accurately evaluated, and the use of intrathecal metrizamide in low doses allowed direct visualization of spinal cord or radicular compromise. Multiplanar image reformation was aided by the dynamic incrementation technique, since motion between slices (and the resulting misregistration artifact on image reformation) was minimized. A phantom was devised to test spatial resolution of computed tomography for objects 1–3 mm in size and disclosed minimal differences for dynamic and conventional computed tomographic techniques in resolving medium-to-high–contrast objects.
Popular Referendum and Electoral Accountability

This paper studies how citizen-initiated referenda affect the decision-making of elected representatives. In the absence of direct democracy, elected officials who do not share the preferences of voters may enact their preferred policies even at the cost of decreasing the likelihood of reelection. Direct democracy diminishes the policy benefits of doing that, as voters may now overturn some of the policy decisions. Hence, elected officials are induced to implement the policies preferred by the voters not only on those issues that are subject to a possible citizen-initiated referendum, but also on those that are not. This result holds even when the voters’ information about their true interests is limited. Moreover, whereas in a representative democracy, being more informed may undermine voters’ ability to control public officials, the possibility of citizen-initiated referenda means that additional information improves voter control, including on issues that may be outside the direct democracy domain.
The Arabidopsis Auxin Receptor F-box proteins AFB4 and AFB5 Are Required for Response to the Synthetic Auxin Picloram

The plant hormone auxin is perceived by a family of F-box proteins called the TIR1/AFBs. Phylogenetic studies reveal that these proteins fall into four clades in flowering plants called TIR1, AFB2, AFB4, and AFB6. Genetic studies indicate that members of the TIR1 and AFB2 groups act as positive regulators of auxin signaling by promoting the degradation of the Aux/IAA transcriptional repressors. In this report, we demonstrate that both AFB4 and AFB5 also function as auxin receptors based on in vitro assays. We also provide genetic evidence that AFB4 and AFB5 are targets of the picloram family of auxinic herbicides in addition to indole-3-acetic acid. In contrast to previous studies we find that null afb4 alleles do not exhibit obvious defects in seedling morphology or auxin hypersensitivity. We conclude that AFB4 and AFB5 act in a similar fashion to other members of the family but exhibit a distinct auxin specificity.
Creation and evolution of the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (NASPE).

The NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PACING AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY (NASPE) was founded in 1979 because of a long felt need to provide an organization and a forum to serve a discipline many felt to be underserved by existing professional organizations, journals, andmajor national meetings in North America. To the founding group this seemed an egregious omission, inconsistent with the growing importance of pacing in the therapy of cardiac arrhythmias. An organizationwas needed to encourage research and clinical accomplishment and its presentation to colleagues in medicine and the allied sciences. The new society was intended to provide a forum where industry, a major element of the creative process of, would be able to present and discuss its ongoing research and accomplishment in scientific rather than solely commercial terms and before some research achievements were ready for commercialization. This new organization was also to represent the medical pacing community to regulators and to reimbursement institutions and other professional organizations. Among other perceived deficiencies was the absence of a unified medical voice in 1976 when the Medical Device Amendment to the Food and Drug Act was proposed. The existing Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) could not speak for the medical community or for the industrial community as a whole.1 Initial discussions began early in 1979 between Drs. Michael Bilitch, J. Warren Harthorne, Dryden Morse, Victor Parsonnet, and this author, based in part on the success of the Boston Pacemaker ClubwhichHarthorne had founded in 1973. It was soon recognized that the idea of such an organization was powerful and the more it was discussed, the more its logic propelled the effort with Harthorne providing written proposals and immense organizational effort. On April 12, 1979 Harthorne circulated an outline of his proposal for organizing a national cardiac pacing society. He posed the questions of whether the proposed society should be independent of existing national cardiologic societies and
Certifying Equality With Limited Interaction

The equality problem is usually one's first encounter with communication complexity and is one of the most fundamental problems in the field. Although its deterministic and randomized communication complexity were settled decades ago, we find several new things to say about the problem by focusing on three subtle aspects. The first is to consider the expected communication cost (at a worst-case input) for a protocol that uses limited interaction--i.e., a bounded number of rounds of communication--and whose error probability is zero or close to it. The second is to treat the false negative error rate separately from the false positive error rate. The third is to consider the information cost of such protocols. We obtain asymptotically optimal rounds-versus-cost tradeoffs for equality: both expected communication complexity and information complexity scale as $$\Theta ({{\mathrm{ilog}}}^{r-1} n)$$ź(ilogr-1n), where r is the number of rounds and $${{\mathrm{ilog}}}^k n = \log \log \cdots \log n$$ilogkn=loglogźlogn, with k logs. These bounds hold even when the false negative rate approaches 1. For the case of zero-error communication cost, we obtain essentially matching bounds, up to a tiny additive constant. We also provide some applications. As an application of our information cost bounds, we obtain new bounded-round randomized lower bounds for the Intersection problem, in which there are two players who hold subsets $$S,T \subseteq [n]$$S,T⊆[n]. In many realistic scenarios, the sizes of S and T are significantly smaller than n, so we impose the constraint that $$|S|, |T| \le k$$|S|,|T|≤k. We study the minimum number of bits the parties need to communicate in order to compute the entire intersection set $$S \cap T$$SźT, using r rounds. We show that any r-round protocol has information cost (and thus communication cost) $$\Omega (k {{\mathrm{ilog}}}^r k)$$Ω(kilogrk) bits. We also give an O(r)-round protocol achieving $$O(k{{\mathrm{ilog}}}^r k)$$O(kilogrk) bits, which for $$r = \log ^* k$$r=logźk gives a protocol with O(k) bits of communication. This is in contrast to other basic problems such as computing the union or symmetric difference, for which $$\Omega (k\log (n/k))$$Ω(klog(n/k)) bits of communication is required for any number of rounds.
MOF-253-Pd(OAc)2: a recyclable MOF for transition-metal catalysis in water

We report palladium(II)-functionalized MOF-253 (MOF-253-Pd(OAc)2) as a recyclable catalyst to form all-carbon quaternary centers via conjugate additions of arylboronic acids to β,β-disubstituted enones in aqueous media. We demonstrate MOF-253-Pd(OAc)2 can be reused 8 times to form ketone products in yields above 75% while maintaining its crystallinity. Additions of a range of stereoelectronically diverse arylboronic acids to a variety of β,β-disubstituted enones catalyzed by MOF-253-Pd(OAc)2 occur in modest-to-high yields (34–95%).
Duchenne muscular dystrophy: normal ATP turnover in cultured cells.

We examined ATP metabolism in cultured muscle cells and fibroblasts from patients with Duchenne dystrophy. ATP and ADP levels were the same in cultured-cells from normal subjects and patients and there was no difference in ATP synthesis or degradation. Although there was a significant decrease in radioactively labelled ATP after incubation with deoxyglucose in Duchenne muscle cells, there was no difference in ATP concentration or ADP metabolism.
Control of memory, active perception, and action in minecraft

In this paper, we introduce a new set of reinforcement learning (RL) tasks in Minecraft (a flexible 3D world). We then use these tasks to systematically compare and contrast existing deep reinforcement learning (DRL) architectures with our new memory-based DRL architectures. These tasks are designed to emphasize, in a controllable manner, issues that pose challenges for RL methods including partial observability (due to first-person visual observations), delayed rewards, high-dimensional visual observations, and the need to use active perception in a correct manner so as to perform well in the tasks. While these tasks are conceptually simple to describe, by virtue of having all of these challenges simultaneously they are difficult for current DRL architectures. Additionally, we evaluate the generalization performance of the architectures on environments not used during training. The experimental results show that our new architectures generalize to unseen environments better than existing DRL architectures.
Size as a Parameter to Stabilize New Phases: Rock Salt Phases of PbmSb2nSem+3n

A series of PbmSb2nSem+3n nanocrystals (m = 2, 4, 6 and 8; n = 1) are demonstrated that exist only as a distinct phase on the nanoscale. The nanocrystals aggregates are new compounds adopting the cubic NaCl-type structure. These materials form aggregates comprised of nanocrystallites that are attached at a preferred orientation. Elemental compositions were studied using the complementary techniques of scanning transmission electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. The new ternary nanocrystal aggregates are moderately monodisperse and exhibit well-defined band gap energies in the mid-IR region. The PbmSb2nSem+3n nanomaterials behave as homogeneous solid solutions with lattice parameter trending as a function of Sb incorporation at room temperature and tend to phase separate into PbSe and Sb2Se3 at 400 °C.
The Antitrust Contributions of Roger Blair

Roger Blair has made a significant impact on the fields of antitrust law and economics. Roger’s scholarship can be divided into a number of themes: intellectual property and innovation, health care, vertical restraints (including franchising), goals of antitrust, buyer power, economic evidence and expertise, remedies, sports, efficiencies, and private enforcement of antitrust. This essay surveys his work and a special issue of the Antitrust Bulletin devoted to Blair's writing.
Enhancing the prospects for palliative care at the end of life: A statewide educational demonstration project to improve advance care planning.

Objective Although patients want to participate in discussions and decisions about their end-of-life care, studies show that providers frequently fail to invite them to explore advanced care preferences or goals for living. The purpose of our demonstration project was to provide education and coaching to individuals, health providers, and organizations across the state of Indiana intended to facilitate these conversations, documenting and honoring individuals' life goals and preferences for care during the final stages of life. Method Education and training engaged community members as well as healthcare providers to: (1) improve participant comfort and facility discussing end-of-life issues; (2) improve knowledge of healthcare choices, including palliative and hospice care; and (3) prepare all participants to explore and document personal values, life goals, and priorities as well as goals of care. Results Between January of 2013 and June of 2015, the team educated close to 5,000 participants. Participants' ratings of the quality and perceived usefulness of the educational events ranged from 4 to 5 (using a 5-point scale, with 5 = most effective). Participant comments were overwhelmingly favorable and indicated an intention to put the advance care planning resources, communication skills, knowledge of palliative and hospice care, and personal renewal techniques into practice. Significance of results Participant motivation to foster advance care planning, discussions of palliative care, and end-of-life conversations was facilitated by the reframing of these conversations as identifying goals of care and priorities for living well during an important stage of life. Successful strategies included helping providers and patients to adopt a broader meaning for "sustaining hope" (not for cure, but for engaging in highly valued activities), developing provider communication skills and comfort in initiating potentially difficult discussions, engaging a new community health workforce who will develop trusting relationships with patients in home-based services, and fostering self-awareness and self-care among palliative care providers.
Tracking regional and global teleconnections recorded by western North American speleothem records

Abstract Speleothem proxy records are useful for interrogating past climates in the low and mid-latitudes given their ability to provide continuous, high-resolution, and long-lived records that can be dated with high precision. Several speleothem oxygen isotope records from western North America have recently been developed that highlight the importance of this archive in documenting past changes in atmospheric circulation. Taken individually, these records hint at teleconnections between western North American hydroclimate and climate changes in the high northern latitudes and tropics. However, there has been no systematic investigation of global climate teleconnections to this region that draws upon the body of North American speleothem records as a whole. Here we review the dominant controls on precipitation oxygen isotopes across the region, and conduct statistical comparisons and network visualizations of high-resolution speleothem oxygen isotope records from western North America to investigate the regional response to pronounced climate changes of the last deglaciation and to determine the pattern of global teleconnections to this region. We find that most western North American speleothem oxygen isotope records demonstrate a robust and consistent response to the events of the last deglaciation, despite differing controls on the oxygen isotope ratio of precipitation across the region. One record that receives a strong influence from the Gulf of Mexico exhibits a contrasting pattern in oxygen isotopes relative to most of the other records, which are dominated by westerly storms generated in the Pacific. During the studied interval, major shifts in Western North American speleothem records appear broadly synchronous at least within the uncertainty of age models. We also find strong statistical linkages between western North American speleothem records and speleothem records of Asian monsoon variability and other records from regions directly influenced by movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, demonstrating that nearly synchronous changes in atmospheric circulation measurably altered precipitation dynamics in these regions during the last deglaciation. Further multi-proxy investigations are needed to determine how such changes in atmospheric circulation recorded by speleothem oxygen isotope ratios influenced precipitation amounts in drought-prone western North America.
Metabolic screening in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome is largely underutilized among obstetrician-gynecologists

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome have substantially higher rates of insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome when compared with women without the disease. Given the high prevalence of these comorbidities, guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Endocrine Society recommend that all women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergo screening for impaired glucose tolerance and dyslipidemia with a 2 hour 75 g oral glucose tolerance test and fasting lipid profile upon diagnosis and also undergo repeat screening every 2-5 years and every 2 years, respectively. Although a hemoglobin A1C and/or fasting glucose are widely used screening tests for diabetes, both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Endocrine Society preferentially recommend the 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test in women with polycystic ovary syndrome as a superior indicator of impaired glucose tolerance/diabetes mellitus. However, we found that gynecologists underutilize current recommendations for metabolic screening in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. In an online survey study targeting American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists fellows and junior fellows, 22.3% of respondents would not order any screening test at the initial visit for at least 50% of their patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. The most common tests used to screen for impaired glucose tolerance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome were hemoglobin A1C (51.0%) and fasting glucose (42.7%). Whereas 54.1% would order a fasting lipid profile in at least 50% of their polycystic ovary syndrome patients, only 7% of respondents order a 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test. We therefore call for increased efforts to encourage obstetrician-gynecologists to address metabolic abnormalities in their patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. Such efforts should include education of physicians early in their careers, at the medical student and resident level. Efforts should also include implementation of continuing medical education activities, both locally and at the national level, to improve understanding of the metabolic implications of polycystic ovary syndrome. Electronic medical record systems should be utilized to generate prompts for appropriate screening tests in patients with a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Because obstetrician-gynecologists may be the only physicians seen by many polycystic ovary syndrome patients, particularly those in their young reproductive years, such interventions could effectively promote optimal preventative health care and early diagnosis of metabolic comorbidities in these at-risk women.
Nonlinear resonances and multi-stability in simple neural circuits

This article describes a numerical procedure designed to tune the parameters of periodically driven dynamical systems to a state in which they exhibit rich dynamical behavior. This is achieved by maximizing the diversity of subharmonic solutions available to the system within a range of the parameters that define the driving. The procedure is applied to a problem of interest in computational neuroscience: a circuit composed of two interacting populations of neurons under external periodic forcing. Depending on the parameters that define the circuit, such as the weights of the connections between the populations, the response of the circuit to the driving can be strikingly rich and diverse. The procedure is employed to find circuits that, when driven by external input, exhibit multiple stable patterns of periodic activity organized in complex tuning diagrams and signatures of low dimensional chaos.
Word Adjacency Graph Modeling: Separating Signal From Noise in Big Data

There is a need to develop methods to analyze Big Data to inform patient-centered interventions for better health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a method to explore Big Data to describe salient health concerns of people with epilepsy. Specifically, we used Word Adjacency Graph modeling to explore a data set containing 1.9 billion anonymous text queries submitted to the ChaCha question and answer service to (a) detect clusters of epilepsy-related topics, and (b) visualize the range of epilepsy-related topics and their mutual proximity to uncover the breadth and depth of particular topics and groups of users. Applied to a large, complex data set, this method successfully identified clusters of epilepsy-related topics while allowing for separation of potentially non-relevant topics. The method can be used to identify patient-driven research questions from large social media data sets and results can inform the development of patient-centered interventions.
Noise Filtering and Prediction in Biological Signaling Networks

Information transmission in biological signaling circuits has often been described using the metaphor of a noise filter. Cellular systems need accurate real-time data about their environmental conditions, but the biochemical reaction networks that propagate, amplify, and process signals work with noisy representations of that data. Biology must implement strategies that not only filter the noise but also predict the current state of the environment based on information delayed due to the finite speed of chemical signaling. The idea of a biochemical noise filter is actually more than just a metaphor: we describe recent work that has made an explicit mathematical connection between signaling fidelity in cellular circuits and the classic theories of optimal noise filtering and prediction that began with Wiener, Kolmogorov, Shannon, and Bode. This theoretical framework provides a versatile tool, allowing us to derive analytical bounds on the maximum mutual information between the environmental signal and the real-time estimate constructed by the system. It helps us understand how the structure of a biological network, and the response times of its components, influences the accuracy of that estimate. The theory also provides insights into how evolution may have tuned enzyme kinetic parameters and populations to optimize information transfer.
The “valley sign” in small and diminutive adenomas: prevalence, interobserver agreement, and validation as an adenoma marker

Background and Aims Classification schemes for differentiation of conventional colorectal adenomas from serrated lesions rely on patterns of blood vessels and pits. Morphologic features have not been validated as predictors of histology. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of the "valley sign" and validate it as a marker of conventional adenomas. Methods Three experts judged the prevalence of the valley sign in 301 consecutive small adenomas. Medical students were taught to recognize the valley and were tested on their recognition of the valley sign. Consecutive diminutive polyps were video-recorded and used to validate the association of the valley sign with conventional adenomas. Results The prevalence of the valley sign in 301 consecutive adenomas Conclusions The valley sign is insensitive but highly specific for conventional adenoma in diminutive polyps. It may enhance classification schemes for differentiation of adenomas from serrated lesions based on vessels and pits.
US Worker Co-Operatives and Their Spans of Management, Decision Making, and Governance: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract Much has been written over the years about worker co-operatives as an alternative to traditional forms of business organization and ownership. The literature has mostly covered the issues of whether worker co-ops are more productive, more profitable, have trouble with accessing capital and growing, and/or have a longer existence than traditional firms. This paper tries to fill some gaps in the literature by covering topics rarely if ever mentioned in writings on US worker co-ops by exploring their spans of management, their decision making with respect to investment and hiring/firing decisions, and their use of employees who are not also owners of the firm. The results from a recent survey are interesting from an organizational behavior or institutional perspective in that worker co-ops show themselves generally to be different from and yet in some ways similar to many of their traditional, capital-managed counterparts.
Perturbative Yang–Mills ground state in the temporal gauge

Second-order corrections to the perturbative ground state wave functional and vacuum energy of a Yang–Mills theory are calculated in the temporal gauge. Using dimensional regularization, the concepts of renormalization and a running coupling constant are motivated in a spatially gauge invariant way, before the introduction of a scalar product. After definition of a scalar product, it is shown that the renormalization constants of this approach are just those of the Axial gauge.
Menu-Based Pricing for Charging of Electric Vehicles With Vehicle-to-Grid Service

The paper considers a bidirectional power flow model of the electric vehicles (EVs) in a charging station. The EVs can inject energy by discharging via a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) service, which can enhance the profits of the charging station. However, frequent charging and discharging degrade battery life. We propose a menu-based pricing scheme, where the charging station selects a price for each arriving user (EV owner) for the amount of battery utilization, the total energy, and the time (deadline) that the EV will stay. The user can accept one of the menus or rejects all. The user reaches its decision based on the utilities. The charging utilizes its own limited renewable energy, and the conventional energy bought from the grid to serve the users. We show that there exists a prior-free pricing mechanism, which maximizes the ex-post social welfare for a myopic scenario. It selects a lower price for the menu containing a higher V2G service. However, the prior free pricing mechanism does not necessarily maximizes the expected profit. We show that the pricing strategy, which sets the price for a menu at a fixed value greater than the marginal cost of serving the menu, maximizes the expected profit for a wide class of utility functions. In the menu-based pricing, when the harvested renewable energy is small the users have higher incentives for the V2G service. We, numerically, show that the charging station's profit and the user's surplus both increase as V2G service is efficiently utilized by the pricing mechanism.
Inertial Chow rings of toric stacks

For any vector bundle V on a toric Deligne–Mumford stack $${\mathcal X}$$ the formalism of Edidin et al. (Ann K-theory 1(1):85–108, 2016) defines two inertial products $$\star _{V^{+}}$$ and $$\star _{V^{-}}$$ on the Chow group of the inertia stack. We give an explicit presentation for the integral $$\star _{V^+}$$ and $$\star _{V^-}$$ Chow rings, extending earlier work of Borisov et al. (J Am Math Soc 18(1):193–215, 2005) and Jiang and Tseng (Math Z 264(1):225–248, 2010) in the orbifold Chow ring case, which corresponds to $$V = 0$$ . We also describe an asymptotic product on the rational Chow group of the inertia stack obtained by letting the rank of the bundle V go to infinity.
On the Relation Between Identifiability, Differential Privacy, and Mutual-Information Privacy

This paper investigates the relation between three different notions of privacy: identifiability, differential privacy, and mutual-information privacy. Under a unified privacy-distortion framework, where the distortion is defined to be the expected Hamming distance between the input and output databases, we establish some fundamental connections between these three privacy notions. Given a maximum allowable distortion $D$ , we define the privacy-distortion functions $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ i}}^{*}(D)$ , $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ d}}^{*}(D)$ , and $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ m}}^{*}(D)$ to be the smallest (most private/best) identifiability level, differential privacy level, and mutual information between the input and the output, respectively. We characterize $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ i}}^{*}(D)$ and $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ d}}^{*}(D)$ , and prove that $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ i}}^{*}(D)-\epsilon _{X}\le \epsilon _{\mathrm{ d}}^{*}(D)\le \epsilon _{\mathrm{ i}}^{*}(D)$ for $D$ within certain range, where $\epsilon _{X}$ is a constant determined by the prior distribution of the original database $X$ , and diminishes to zero when $X$ is uniformly distributed. Furthermore, we show that $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ i}}^{*}(D)$ and $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ m}}^{*}(D)$ can be achieved by the same mechanism for $D$ within certain range, i.e., there is a mechanism that simultaneously minimizes the identifiability level and achieves the best mutual-information privacy. Based on these two connections, we prove that this mutual-information optimal mechanism satisfies $\epsilon $ -differential privacy with $\epsilon _{\mathrm{ d}}^{*}(D)\le \epsilon \le \epsilon _{\mathrm{ d}}^{*}(D)+2\epsilon _{X}$ . The results in this paper reveal some consistency between two worst case notions of privacy, namely, identifiability and differential privacy, and an average notion of privacy, mutual-information privacy.
Mathematical and Numerical Validation of the Simplified Spherical Harmonics Approach for Time-Dependent Anisotropic-Scattering Transport Problems in Homogeneous Media

In this work, we demonstrate theoretically and numerically the equivalence between the SPN and PN approximation for time-dependent problems in homogeneous media with anisotropic scattering. Our the...
Optimal Design of Experiments in the Presence of Interference

Abstract We formalize the optimal design of experiments when there is interference between units, that is, an individual’s outcome depends on the outcomes of others in her group. We focus on randomized saturation designs, two-stage experiments that first randomize treatment saturation of a group, then individual treatment assignment. We map the potential outcomes framework with partial interference to a regression model with clustered errors, calculate standard errors of randomized saturation designs, and derive analytical insights about the optimal design. We show that the power to detect average treatment effects declines precisely with the ability to identify novel treatment and spillover effects.
Cation Exchange of Organic Compounds on Montmorillonite in Organic Media

ABSTRACT Cation exchange of dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DMDO) ion for dimethylbenzyllaurylammonium (DMBL) ion previously reacted with centrifuged homoionic Na + bentonite has been demonstrated. The amount of DMBL ion removed from the clay was determined by ultraviolet spectroscopy. In order to shift the exchange equilibrium toward removal of the DMBL cation, a large excess of DMDO cation was required. At the limit of these experiments, it was found that 16 percent of the DMBL cation was exchanged.
A System Architecture for the Detection of Insider Attacks in Big Data Systems

In big data systems, the infrastructure is such that large amounts of data are hosted away from the users. In such a system information security is considered as a major challenge. From a customer perspective, one of the big risks in adopting big data systems is in trusting the provider who designs and owns the infrastructure from accessing user data. Yet there does not exist much in the literature on detection of insider attacks. In this work, we propose a new system architecture in which insider attacks can be detected by utilizing the replication of data on various nodes in the system. The proposed system uses a two-step attack detection algorithm and a secure communication protocol to analyze processes executing in the system. The first step involves the construction of control instruction sequences for each process in the system. The second step involves the matching of these instruction sequences among the replica nodes. Initial experiments on real-world hadoop and spark tests show that the proposed system needs to consider only 20 percent of the code to analyze a program and incurs 3.28 percent time overhead. The proposed security system can be implemented and built for any big data system due to its extrinsic workflow.
Learning Graphical Games from Behavioral Data: Sufficient and Necessary Conditions

In this paper we obtain sufficient and necessary conditions on the number of samples required for exact recovery of the pure-strategy Nash equilibria (PSNE) set of a graphical game from noisy observations of joint actions. We consider sparse linear influence games --- a parametric class of graphical games with linear payoffs, and represented by directed graphs of n nodes (players) and in-degree of at most k. We show that one can efficiently recover the PSNE set of a linear influence game with $O(k^2 \log n)$ samples, under very general observation models. On the other hand, we show that $\Omega(k \log n)$ samples are necessary for any procedure to recover the PSNE set from observations of joint actions.
Electronic Markets and Geographic Competition Among Small, Local Firms

We study the impact of electronic markets on small, boutique firms selling presence goods or services—goods or services that must be consumed at the selling firm’s location. These firms have recently begun to compete on electronic markets by selling goods and services through local daily deal sites, such as Groupon and LivingSocial. We extract publicly available activity and spatial information from Groupon, LivingSocial, Google Maps, and Flickr to construct a unique panel data set to study daily deals offered by restaurants and spa vendors in geographical clusters of concentration in 167 distinct cities. This data set allows us to examine the effect of location on the competition vendors face in electronic markets. We find that as vendors in a particular geographical cluster participate in electronic markets, local competition increases and other vendors in that cluster join the electronic market and deepen discounts in response. However, vendors in other clusters in the same city remain relatively unaff...