cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assumptions Behind the Linear Regression Model

In a previous note, “Introduction to Least-Squares Modeling” (UVA-QA-0500), we have seen how least squares can be used to fit the simple linear model to historical data. The resulting model can then be used to forecast the next occurrence of Y, the dependent variable, for a given value of X, the independent variable. This use of least squares to fit a forecasting model requires no assumptions. It can be applied to almost any situation, and a reasonable forecast results. At this level of analysis, least-squares modeling is equivalent simply to fitting a straight line through a cloud of points and interpolating or extrapolating for a new value of Y for a given X using the fitted line. Excerpt UVA-QA-0271 ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THE LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL In a previous note, “Introduction to Least-Squares Modeling” (UVA-QA-0500), we have seen how least squares can be used to fit the simple linear model to historical data. The resulting model can then be used to forecast the next occurrence of Y, the dependent variable, for a given value of X, the independent variable. This use of least squares to fit a forecasting model requires no assumptions. It can be applied to almost any situation, and a reasonable forecast results. At this level of analysis, least-squares modeling is equivalent simply to fitting a straight line through a cloud of points and interpolating or extrapolating for a new value of Y for a given X using the fitted line. Although we need not make any assumptions to use this procedure, we leave an important question unanswered: How close can we expect the new Y to be to our forecast? Without some additional assumptions, we have no way of making a probability statement about the new Y. In many practical business situations, such a probability statement is an essential element in the decision-making process. There is a procedure for measuring the uncertainty associated with a least-squares forecast that will produce a complete probability distribution for a new Y. This procedure brings real value and legitimacy to the regression-modeling and forecasting process, changing it from a simple process—one step above graph paper and a ruler—to one that intelligently combines managerial judgment and statistical theory to produce believable point and interval forecasts. That's the good news. The inevitable bad news is that in order to make probability statements about a new Y using a least-squares regression model, a variety of assumptions must be made. In other words, probability statements made using linear regression theory are true only if certain assumptions hold. You can thus see the importance of (1) understanding these assumptions, (2) knowing how to check their validity, (3) understanding the consequences of an incorrect assumption, and (4) knowing what can be done if the assumptions do not hold. This note addresses each of these four points for the four general assumptions behind linear regression. The model must be checked for (1) linearity (2) independence (3) homoskedasticity and (4) normality. . . .
Fabrication of resonator–quantum well infrared photodetector focal plane array by inductively coupled plasma etching

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching has distinct advantages over reactive ion etching in that the etching rates are considerably higher, the uniformity is much better, and the sidewalls of the etched material are highly anisotropic due to the higher plasma density and lower operating pressure. Therefore, ICP etching is a promising process for pattern transfer required during microelectronic and optoelectronic fabrication. Resonator-quantum well infrared photodetectors (R-QWIPs) are the next generation of QWIP detectors that use resonances to increase the quantum efficiency (QE). To fabricate R-QWIP focal plane arrays (FPAs), two optimized ICP etching processes are developed. Using these etching techniques, we have fabricated R-QWIP FPAs of several different formats and pixel sizes with the required dimensions and completely removed the substrates of the FPAs. Their QE spectra were tested to be 30 to 40%. The operability and spectral non- uniformity of the FPA is ∼99.5 and 3%, respectively. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI. (DOI: 10
New Isomorphic Fluorescent Nucleosides and Nucleotides as Biophysical Tools

Nucleic acids experience a variety of perturbations while performing their essential everyday functions. These may include strand cleavage and ligation, local conformational changes, base damage, modification and flipping, as well as structural and environmental perturbations that are induced upon protein and low MW ligand binding. Isomorphic fluorescent nucleoside analogs, which can serve as faithful sorrugates and are sensitive to their local environment, are powerful probes for investigating nucleic acids structure, dynamics, recognition and damage. The lecture will present the design, synthesis and photophysical properties of new fluorescent isomorphic nucleoside analogs as well as their utilization for the fabrication of “real-time” fluorescence-based discovery and biophysical assays, focusing on RNA-related processes.
Framework for transforming departmental culture to support educational innovation

This paper provides a research-based framework for promoting institutional change in higher education. To date, most educational change efforts have focused on relatively narrow subsets of the university system (e.g., faculty teaching practices or administrative policies) and have been largely driven by implicit change logics; both of these features have limited the success of such efforts at achieving sustained, systemic change. Drawing from the literature on organizational and cultural change, our framework encourages change agents to coordinate their activities across three key levels of the university and to ground their activities in the various change perspectives that emerge from that literature. We use examples from a change project that we have been carrying out at a large research university to illustrate how our framework can be used as a basis for planning and implementing holistic change.
Effect of age on activities of urea cycle enzymes in the bovine.

Eighteen Hereford cows averaging 429.6 +/- 14.5 kg in weight, ranging from 3.33 to 12.12 years of age and consuming 18.2 kg corn silage/animal/day were used to observe the effect of age on activities of the liver enzymes of urea synthesis. Liver samples were taken by aspiration biopsy and homogenized in water for enzyme assay. Plasma urea-nitrogen of all cows averaged 4.20 mg per 100 ml. The enzymes measured were: carbamyl phosphate synthetase (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), argininosuccinate synthetase (AS), argininosuccinase (AL) and arginase (A). Mean enzyme activities of the cows were: CPS 1.57, OTC 44.4, AS 0.61, AL 1.05 and A 203.9 mum product/mg protein/hr. Regression coefficients (b) of enzyme activity (units) on age (years) were 0.021 +/- .018, 0.713 +/- .379, 0.016 +/- .016, 0.032 +/- .014 and 6.73 +/- 5.09 units for the five enzymes, respectively. Age (3.3 to 12.1 years) did not significantly (P less than .05) affect activities of the urea cycle enzymes (per mg protein, per g liver or per W-75 kg/hr) or plasma urea-nitrogen levels in the adult Hereford female at the level of dietary protein fed in this study.
Social Inclusion Predicts Lower Blood Glucose and Low-Density Lipoproteins in Healthy Adults

Loneliness has been shown to have direct effects on one's personal well-being. Specifically, a greater feeling of loneliness is associated with negative mental health outcomes, negative health behaviors, and an increased likelihood of premature mortality. Using the neuroendocrine hypothesis, we expected social inclusion to predict decreases in both blood glucose levels and low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and increases in high-density lipoproteins (HDLs). Fifty-two healthy adults provided self-report data for social inclusion and blood samples for hematological tests. Results indicated that higher social inclusion predicted lower levels of blood glucose and LDL, but had no effect on HDL. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Implementation of quality and risk management strategies in wound care trials

Background: Systematic analysis of risk factors in multiple wound care clinical trials was performed to develop proactive risk mitigation strategies and improve the quality of trials conducted. Methods: This internal, single center internal quality control (QC) audit of eight recently completed prospective, randomized wound care clinical trials assessed the rate of serious adverse events (SAEs) and compared two wound indications: diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) and venous leg ulcers (VLU). Additionally, adherence to study protocol and compliance with current regulatory requirements was examined based on the rate of protocol deviations over time. Results: A comparison of SAE occurrences between DFU and VLU studies showed twice as many SAEs per subject in the DFU studies as compared to the VLU studies. The most common categories were infections, both of the wound and of other anatomic locations. The onboarding of new study coordinators and multiple coordinators working independently on one trial over time consistently showed an increase in the number of deviations per active subject, particularly immediately following the date of hire. The most common categories for deviations were out-of-window visits and missed study procedures. Conclusions: Assessment of potential issues in prospective wound care studies can lead to earlier mitigation of risks, quality improvement in data obtained and increased efficiency of studies conducted in this field. Effective training and retention of research coordinators can reduce the number of deviations, and an understanding of the frequency and types of adverse events can provide an expectation for those conducting trials in a particular indication.
3-D understanding of electron microscopy images of nano bio objects by computing generative mechanical models

Cryo electron microscopy records essentially projection images of each of many instances of a nano bio object. This data allows reconstruction of a stochastic model of the object, i.e., the mean and covariance functions of the electron scattering intensity of the object. Understanding the covariance function, which characterizes the heterogeneity of the instances of the object, is challenging because the covariance function is not wide-sense stationary but instead depends separately on the two three-dimensional positions. This paper describes a method, qualitatively motivated by fluctuation-dissipation theory, for estimating a spring-and-mass mechanical model of the object. Then, from the model, a wide range of properties of the object can be understood, such as normal modes of vibration.
The Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health: Establishing international processes for state reporting to an independent monitoring body

The United Nations recently launched a US $40 billion Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals related to improving the health of women and children. To create state accountability for this bold five-year effort, the World Health Organization has convened a Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health to recommend international institutional arrangements conducive to realizing this commitment. With the commission set to deliver its final report in May 2011, this Perspective raises key issues to assist in its rapidly evolving efforts, analyzing the importance of independent monitoring bodies as a means to ensure state reporting, oversight, and accountability.
Constructing the information ground of the campus disability center

Abstract Higher education institutions are required to provide academic accommodations to students who need them. These services are typically available at campus disability centers, where disability counselors work with students to facilitate accommodations. Interviews were conducted to examine the health information behaviors of 17 disability counselors at two university disability centers by applying Fisher, Durrance, and Hinton's (2004) information grounds theory. Analysis of the interviews was performed to: 1) explore the information ground of the disability center, 2) better understand the ways in which health information is sought and used, and 3) consider the alternate ways in which health information is used by disability counselors. The perspectives of disability counselors' health information-seeking also point to ways in which information grounds theory can be applied to university staff who play a similar role in the lives of students at higher education institutions.
The betrayal: the 1919 World Series and the birth of modern baseball

In 1919, the heavily-favoured Chicago White Sox lost the World Series championship to the Cincinnati Reds, five games to three. It was a defeat that left a lot of baseball fans scratching their hea...
Understanding Alliance Portfolios Using Visual Analytics

In an increasingly global and competitive business landscape, firms must collaborate and partner with others to ensure survival, growth, and innovation. Understanding the evolutionary composition of a firm’s relationship portfolio and the underlying formation strategy is a difficult task given the multidimensional, temporal, and geospatial nature of the data. In collaboration with senior executives, we iteratively determine core design requirements and then design and implement an interactive visualization system that enables decision makers to gain both systemic (macro) and detailed (micro) insights into a firm’s alliance activities and discover patterns of multidimensional relationship formation. Our system provides both sequential and temporal representation modes, a rich set of additive cross-linked filters, the ability to stack multiple alliance portfolios, and a dynamically updated activity state model visualization to inform decision makers of past and likely future relationship moves. We illustrate our tool with examples of alliance activities of firms listed on the S8P 500. A controlled experiment and real-world evaluation with practitioners and researchers reveals significant evidence of the value of our visual analytic tool. Our design study contributes to design science by addressing a known problem (i.e., alliance portfolio analysis) with a novel solution (interactive, pixel-based multivariate visualization) and to the rapidly emerging area of data-driven visual decision support in corporate strategy contexts. We conclude with implications and future research opportunities.
Susceptibility of ePTFE vascular grafts and bioengineered human acellular vessels to infection.

Abstract Background Synthetic expanded polytetrafluorethylene (ePTFE) grafts are routinely used for vascular repair and reconstruction but prone to sustained bacterial infections. Investigational bioengineered human acellular vessels (HAVs) have shown clinical success and may confer lower susceptibility to infection. Here we directly compared the susceptibility of ePTFE grafts and HAV to bacterial contamination in a preclinical model of infection. Materials and methods Sections (1 cm2) of ePTFE (n = 42) or HAV (n = 42) were inserted within bilateral subcutaneous pockets on the dorsum of rats and inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus (107 CFU/0.25 mL) or Escherichia coli (108 CFU/0.25 mL) before wound closure. Two weeks later, the implant sites were scored for abscess formation and explanted materials were halved for quantification of microbial recovery and histological analyses. Results The ePTFE implants had significantly higher abscess formation scores for both S. aureus and E. coli inoculations compared to that of HAV. In addition, significantly more bacteria were recovered from explanted ePTFE compared to HAV. Gram staining of explanted tissue sections revealed interstitial bacterial contamination within ePTFE, whereas no bacteria were identified in HAV tissue sections. Numerous CD45+ leukocytes, predominantly neutrophils, were found surrounding the ePTFE implants but minimal intact neutrophils were observed within the ePTFE matrix. The host cells surrounding and infiltrating the HAV explants were primarily nonleukocytes (CD45−). Conclusions In an established animal model of infection, HAV was significantly less susceptible to bacterial colonization and abscess formation than ePTFE. The preclinical findings presented in this manuscript, combined with previously published clinical observations, suggest that bioengineered HAV may exhibit low rates of infection.
Integrating IP and NDN through an extensible IP-NDN gateway

Named Data Networks (NDN) is an emerging data centric networking paradigm that provides an efficient and resilient communication model. To facilitate experimentation and integration of NDN, we introduce a general purpose/extensible IP-to-NDN gateway. The gateway enables applications modeled after the IP client-server model to operate seamlessly through an NDN cloud. These applications can then gain the benefits of NDN without having to be recoded or redesigned. We focus our demonstration on applications operating in challenged network environments (e.g. military tactical networks). We integrate Cursor-on-Target (CoT) [1], a message router used for situational awareness, as well as XMPP Overlay (XOP) [3], a decentralized chat application, into an NDN cloud. We show the ease of integration and the benefits these applications gain from NDN under severely disrupted network conditions.
Batch images compression algorithm based on the common features

Medical images take up huge data space and have slow transmission speed. Medical images have high cost of transmission and take up width channel. Image compression can speed up the transmission of medical images and save up the cost of transmission. They make doctors' diagnosis convenient. The ratio of compression sensing is very slow and the error of the reconstructed images is great. In this study we propose a compressed sensing algorithm based on common features. We use 10 Computed Tomography(CT) images of thoracic cavity and 2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) images of heart to proof the result. According to the results, the algorithm is effective in compression and reconstruction. The algorithm has 6.4% improvement in peak signal-to-noise ratio, 100% improvement in compression ratio and the average error has reduced. Accordingly, the algorithm based on common characteristic have more advantages in compression and reconstruction.
Surgical management of a nasal AVM in a pediatric patient: A case report.

Abstract Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a type of high-flow vascular malformation that are characterized by abnormal capillary communications between the arterial and venous systems. While they are most commonly located in the head and neck region, their appearance in the nose is considerably rare, resulting in a paucity of literature regarding the surgical management of these lesions. We present the case of a 13-year-old male with a 6.5 × 6 cm AVM of the nose with a history of frequent nosebleeds since early childhood, often requiring aggressive measures, such as silver nitrate cauterization for control. Use of nasal decongestants and aminocaproic acid provided only transient improvement. After determination of arterial supply, AVM was approached with a combination of preoperative selective embolization and surgical excision with subsequent forehead flap defect coverage. Due to the size and complexity of this AVM, extra precautions were taken to avoid severe intraoperative bleeding, and femoral sheaths were placed prior to excision. The patient tolerated the procedure well, and with subsequent debulking surgery and Laser Hair Removal achieved an acceptable cosmetic outcome.
Environmental Light and Age-Related Changes in Retinal Proteins

Light-induced photoreceptor-cell degeneration is now widely studied as an in vivo model of cellular injury, hereditary and age-related visual-cell dysfunction, and cellular death. Like other multifactorial tissue pathologies, retinal light damage involves a complex series of events modulated by environmental light history, genetic inheritance, age, and the nature of the light-exposure protocol (Noell et al., 1966; Noell and Albrecht, 1971; O’Steen et al., 1974; Williams and Howell, 1983; LaVail et al., 1987; Penn and Anderson, 1987; for reviews, see Organisciak and Winkler, 1994; Rapp, 1995). Although death of photoreceptor cells appears to involve both necrotic and apoptotic processes (Edward et al., 1991; Shahinfar et al., 1991; Organisciak et al., 1995; Reme et al., 1995; Abler et al., 1996), the mechanism of retinal light damage is still unknown. Cellular oxidation and adaptation have each been implicated as the underlying reason for retinal light damage.
Effects of post-layup ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate treatment on appearance and flexural properties of Douglas-fir glued laminated beams

Preservative treatments are required whenever glued-laminated beams are exposed outdoors. Treatments can be either water-based systems applied to individual laminations prior to lay-up or organic solvent borne systems applied after the beams are fabricated. Water-based systems are not recommended for post-treatment because of concerns over checking and the potential for reductions in flexural properties. There are no data on the effects of these treatments. The effects of ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate (ACZA) treatment on flexural properties, glueline shear, and visual appearance were investigated using Douglas-fir glued laminated beams. While treatment did result in the presence of drying checks on all of the beams, ACZA treatment followed by mild kiln drying did not produce any significant effects on modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, work to maximum load or glueline shear. The results indicate that treatment with waterborne preservatives affects the appearance of the beam but not its load bearing properties.
Endoscopic clips: past, present and future.

A form of the metal clip (also known as a ‘hemoclip’ or ‘endoclip’) for flexible endoscopes has now been available for more than 15 years (1), with early versions presented more than 30 years ago (2). Although uptake was initially slow, clips have made their way into standard gastrointestinal endoscopic practice for common indications, such as ulcer (3), Mallory-Weiss tear (4,5), diverticular bleeding (6,7), or bleeding or high-risk (8–10) polypectomy sites. They are also increasingly being used for uncommon indications, such as securing stents (11,12), feeding tubes (13) and other devices; marking of endoscopic lesions for x-ray or magnets (14,15); closing fistulas as presented in the article by Hameed et al (16) in this month’s Journal ( pages 217–219); and perforations (17), including sealing the luminal entry site in experimental natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) (18). The indication with the highest level of evidence at the present time is clearly ulcer hemostasis (3), but animal models and case series of other indications are rapidly accumulating. Dr Joseph Romagnuolo is an associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
World Bank Poetry

This well-known nursery rhyme had a different ending line until the middle of the eighteenth century, when the more palatable “one for the little boy who lives down the lane” substituted “none for the little boy who cries in the lane.” The text in all probability refers to a royal tax of six shillings imposed on wool in 1275, representing one-third of the wool income that henceforth needed to be paid to “the master” (the king).
Copas-like selection model to correct publication bias in systematic review of diagnostic test studies.

The accuracy of a diagnostic test, which is often quantified by a pair of measures such as sensitivity and specificity, is critical for medical decision making. Separate studies of an investigation...
Interleukin-24 (IL24) is suppressed by PAX3-FOXO1 and is a novel therapy for rhabdomyosarcoma

Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) patients have a poor prognosis, and this is primarily due to overexpression of the oncogenic fusion protein PAX3-FOXO1. Results of RNA-sequencing studies show that PAX3-FOXO1 represses expression of interleukin-24 (IL24), and these two genes are inversely expressed in patient tumors. PAX3-FOXO1 also regulates histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) in ARMS cells, and results of RNA interference studies confirmed that PAX3-FOXO1-mediated repression of IL24 is HDAC5-dependent. Knockdown of PAX3-FOXO1 decreases ARMS cell proliferation, survival, and migration, and we also observed similar responses in cells after overexpression of IL24, consistent with results reported for this tumor suppressor-like cytokine in other solid tumors. We also observed in double knockdown studies that the inhibition of ARMS cell proliferation, survival, and migration after knockdown of PAX3-FOXO1 was significantly (>75%) reversed by knockdown of IL24. Adenoviral-expressed IL24 was directly injected into ARMS tumors in athymic nude mice, and this resulted in decreased tumor growth and weight. Because adenoviral IL24 has already successfully undergone phase I in clinical trials, this represents an alternative approach (alone and/or combination) for treating ARMS patients who currently undergo cytotoxic drug therapies.
Teaching Trump: Student Recommendations to Ensure Safe Discussions in a Time of Polarized Political Divide

This article includes findings from a mixed method survey at a large, public midwestern university following the election of Donald J. Trump as the president of the United States. It examines stude...
Field Optimization for Scalar Metasurface Designs for Anomalous Plane- Wave Reflection

For impenetrable metasurfaces described by a scalar surface impedance, a field optimization technique is presented for anomalous plane-wave reflector applications. To the incident and reflected plane waves, a set of evanescent waves co-polarized with the propagating waves are introduced. The discrete evanescent waves are numerically optimized toward obtaining a passive and lossless surface characterization everywhere. Full-wave simulation of an example design characterized by an optimized reactive surface impedance predicts near-perfect anomalous reflection.
The Community of Inquiry Survey: An Assessment Instrument for Online Writing Courses

Abstract The Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey (Arbaugh et al., 2008) has been thoroughly validated as a measurement of the extent to which students engage in collaborative learning online. However, despite a strong alignment between composition pedagogy and the theory that grounds the survey, we have not yet employed the survey as an assessment instrument for online writing courses. This article shares the results of a study that delivered a modified version of the CoI Survey to four online sections of second-year composition at a four-year institution in the Mid-Atlantic. Despite the small sample size (n = 32), the findings indicate that the CoI Survey is a valid assessment instrument for the specific context of online writing courses. This article recommends that writing instructors and program administrators incorporate the CoI Survey into their assessment practices, and calls for further research on the ways in which writing courses function as communities of inquiry.
Single pair of Weyl fermions in the half-metallic semimetal EuC d 2 A s 2

Materials with the ideal case of a single pair of Weyl points (WPs) are highly desirable for elucidating the unique properties of Weyl fermions. $\mathrm{EuC}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{s}}_{2}$ is an antiferromagnetic topological insulator or Dirac semimetal depending on the different magnetic configurations. Using first-principles band-structure calculations, we show that inducing ferromagnetism in $\mathrm{EuC}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{s}}_{2}$ can generate a single pair of WPs from splitting the single pair of antiferromagnetic Dirac points due to its half-metallic nature. Analysis with a low-energy effective Hamiltonian shows that a single pair of WPs is obtained in $\mathrm{EuC}{\mathrm{d}}_{2}\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{s}}_{2}$ because the Dirac points are very close to the zone center and the ferromagnetic exchange splitting is large enough to push one pair of WPs to merge and annihilate at \ensuremath{\Gamma} while the other pair survives. Furthermore, we predict that alloying with Ba at the Eu site can stabilize the ferromagnetic configuration and generate a single pair of Weyl points without application of a magnetic field.
SWW Sequences and the Infinite Ergodic Random Walk

This article is concerned with demonstrating the power and simplicity of sww (special weakly wandering) sequences. We calculate an sww growth sequence for the infinite measure preserving random walk transformation. From this we obtain the first explicit eww (exhaustive weakly wandering) sequence for the transformation. The exhaustive property of the eww sequence is a “gift” from the sww sequence and requires no additional work. Indeed we know of no other method for finding explicit eww sequences for the random walk map or any other infinite ergodic transformation. The result follows from a detailed analysis of the proof of Theorem 3.3.12 in the book S.Eigen, A.Hajian, Y.Ito, V.Prasad, Weakly Wandering Sequences in Ergodic Theory (Springer, Tokyo, 2014) as applied to the random walk transformation from which an sww growth sequence is obtained.We explain the significance of sww sequences in the construction of eww sequences.
Promising Novel Treatment with Intravenous Bevacizumab for Refractory Gastrointestinal Bleeding from Angiodysplastic Lesions in Patients Supported with a Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device: A Pilot Study

Purpose Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been implicated in gastrointestinal angiodysplasias (GIADs). Bevacizumab (Avastin) is a humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF and confers potent antiangiogenic properties. We sought to examine the safety and efficacy of intravenous bevacizumab in a small group of LVAD patients with refractory GI bleeding due to GIADs. Methods We conducted a pilot study between January, 2017 and March, 2018 at a large institution to examine the efficacy and safety of intravenous bevacizumab administration in patients supported with continuous flow LVAD who presented with refractory GIADs-related bleeding, defined as endoscopy-proven GIADs that failed both conventional medical and endoscopic therapies. We assessed response to therapy based on changes in number of GI bleeding hospitalizations, blood transfusions, and scoping procedures. Results Five LVAD patients (mean age 67 years, all male, all HeartMate II) with refractory GIADs-associated bleeding were treated with intravenous bevacizumab for a total of 8 cycles according to our institutional protocol. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) of follow up while on LVAD was 11.0 (2.6, 25.5) and 11.2 (10.2, 13.5) months pre and post bevacizumab initiation, respectively. Intravenous bevacizumab administration resulted in a remarkable decrease in the annual number of blood transfusions (45.8 [13.6, 133.8] vs. 6.0 [3.7, 12.2]), hospitalizations for GI bleeding (5.6 [3.1, 11.7] vs. 1.7 [0.40, 2.8]), and scoping interventions (10.6 [4.7, 41.7] vs. 2.3 [0, 5.1]) (Figure). All patients tolerated bevacizumab therapy without serious side effects. Conclusion Intravenous bevacizumab is an effective and safe treatment option for LVAD patients with refractory GI bleeding due to GIADs. Further studies are warranted to examine its long-term efficacy and safety in a large LVAD population.
Ideologies in the foreign language curriculum: insights from textbooks and instructor interviews

This study presents a critical discourse analysis of underlying language ideologies derived from L2 Spanish textbooks. Although previous research has tended to focus on ideologies contained in Spanish heritage language textbooks, in the present analysis, we expand this narrow scope by focusing on L2 Spanish textbooks, specifically Unidos, Identidades and Revistas. In addition, we conduct semi-structured interviews to gain insights into the beliefs and practices of language instructors who use the aforementioned books. Through this critical discourse analysis of the textbooks considered, we find a systematic globalization of language varieties (language variation is not made evident), stereotypes and the discussion of immigration issues from the point of view of dominant groups in society. Instructor views, on the contrary, reveal a deviation from the ideologies held in the textbooks and an awareness of the problematic nature of the suggestions provided. The results support the fact that unequal economic and social resources are clearly mirrored in these instructors’ notes of Spanish L2 textbooks. In light of this, the study offers pedagogical implications.
Non-fasting High-Density Lipoprotein Is Associated With White Matter Microstructure in Healthy Older Adults

A growing body of evidence indicates that biomarkers of cardiovascular risk may be related to cerebral health. However, little is known about the role that non-fasting lipoproteins play in assessing age-related declines in a cerebral biomarker sensitive to vascular compromise, white matter (WM) microstructure. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is atheroprotective and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a major atherogenic lipoprotein. This study explored the relationships between non-fasting levels of cholesterol and WM microstructure in healthy older adults. A voxelwise and region of interest approach was used to determine the relationship between cholesterol and fractional anisotropy (FA). Participants included 87 older adults between the ages of 59 and 77 (mean age = 65.5 years, SD = 3.9). Results indicated that higher HDL-C was associated with higher FA in diffuse regions of the brain when controlling for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). HDL-C was also positively associated with FA in the corpus callosum and fornix. No relationship was observed between LDL-C and FA. Findings suggest that a modifiable lifestyle variable associated with cardiovascular health may help to preserve cerebral WM.
Detecting and Characterizing Protein Self-Assembly In Vivo by Flow Cytometry

Protein self-assembly governs protein function and compartmentalizes cellular processes in space and time. Current methods to study it suffer from low-sensitivity, indirect read-outs, limited throughput, and/or population-level rather than single-cell resolution. We designed a flow cytometry-based single methodology that addresses all of these limitations: Distributed Amphifluoric FRET or DAmFRET. DAmFRET detects and quantifies protein self-assemblies by sensitized emission FRET in vivo, enables deployment across model systems-from yeast to human cells-and achieves sensitive, single-cell, high-throughput read-outs irrespective of protein localization or solubility.
“If I Was a ‘Real Man’”: The Role of Gender Stereotypes in the Recovery Process for Men Who Experience Sexual Victimization:

This research examines how men make sense of their experiences with sexual victimization. Through 19 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with men who experienced sexual victimization since turning...
Near-infrared intraoperative molecular imaging with conventional neurosurgical microscope can be improved with narrow band "boost" excitation.

Intraoperative visualization of brain tumors with near-infrared (NIR)-fluorescent dyes is an emerging method for tumor margin approximation but are limited by existing fluorescence detection platforms. We previously showed that a dedicated NIR imaging platform outperformed a state-of-the-art neurosurgical microscope in fluorescence signal characteristics. This study examined whether conventional neurosurgical microscope NIR signal could be improved with the addition of a narrow wavelength excitation source. Imaging was conducted with a broad-spectrum neurosurgical microscope and commercial near-infrared module. Addition of an 805-nm laser was used to “boost” NIR excitation of indocyanine green (ICG). In vitro quantification was performed on serial dilutions of ICG. Patients underwent tumor resection with delayed 24-h imaging of ICG infusion. NIR fluorescence of dura, cortex, or tumor was quantified from images prior to (pre-boost) and following added excitation with the laser (post-boost). Signal to background ratio (SBR) of pre- and post-boost was calculated as a readout of image enhancement. In vitro, excitation boost effected a 29% increase in mean SBR in six serial dilutions of ICG. Intraoperative boost was performed in 11 patients including meningioma, glioblastoma multiforme, and metastases. Increase in tumor fluorescence was pronounced under direct tumor visualization. Across all patients, boost excitation resulted in 35% mean improvement from pre-boost SBR (p < 0.001). Neurosurgical microscopes remain the preferred method of visualizing tumor during intracranial surgery. However, current modalities for NIR signal detection are suboptimal. We demonstrate that augmentation of a fluorescence microscope module with a focused excitation source is a simple mechanism of improving NIR tumor visualization. NCT03262636
Prevalence of Novel Candidate Sjögren Syndrome Autoantibodies in the Penn Sjögren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance Cohort.

Purpose:To evaluate the prevalence of novel candidate autoantibodies associated with Sjogren syndrome (SS) and their ability to identify those with SS among participants with dry eye enrolled in the Sjogren's International Collaborative Clinical Alliance (SICCA) study at the University of Pennsylvan
Coded Illumination and Multiplexing for Lensless Imaging

Mask-based lensless cameras offer an alternative option to conventional cameras. Compared to conventional cameras, lensless cameras can be extremely thin, flexible, and lightweight. Despite these advantages, the quality of images recovered from the lensless cameras is often poor because of the ill-conditioning of the underlying linear system. In this paper, we propose a new method to address the problem of illconditioning by combining coded illumination patterns with the mask-based lensless imaging. We assume that the object is illuminated with multiple binary patterns and the camera acquires a sequence of images for different illumination patterns. We propose a low-complexity, recursive algorithm that avoids storing all the images or creating a large system matrix. We present simulation results on standard test images under various extreme conditions and demonstrate that the quality of the image improves significantly with a small number of illumination patterns.
Cold plasma-activated hydrogen peroxide aerosol on populations of Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria innocua and quality changes of apple, tomato and cantaloupe during storage - A pilot scale study

Abstract The occurrence of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with fresh fruits and vegetables continues to be a major concern. Effective technologies that can be applied commercially are urgently needed. A pilot scale study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of ionized hydrogen peroxide (iHP) treatment for the inactivation of Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria innocua inoculated on apple and tomato smooth surfaces, tomato stem scars and cantaloupe rinds, and to evaluate changes in quality parameters during simulated shelf life study. iHP is the process of activating low concentration of aerosolized hydrogen peroxide with cold plasma. After treatments with 17.62 mL/m3 iHP in a large chamber (4.27 × 2.44 × 2.14 m), the inoculated bacteria were significantly reduced to a level below the detection limit (0.70 log CFU/piece) on the smooth surfaces of apples and tomatoes placed as a single layer in crates. Reductions of more than 3 log CFU/piece and approximately 1 log CFU/piece were obtained for cantaloupe rinds and tomato stem scars, respectively. When apples were placed in crates with multiple layers, 22% of fruits exhibited detectable Salmonella and 11% of fruits had detectable Listeria. Treated fruits from the pilot scale study were stored at 17 °C for 14 days and analyzed for quality every week. Results showed that iHP did not significantly affect appearance, color, texture, pH, soluble solids content, ascorbic acid, and antioxidants of the fresh produce items. The study demonstrates that the technology can be applied to fresh fruits to enhance microbial safety while maintaining quality. Challenges remain as to how to facilitate iHP exposure to all fruit surfaces in commercial settings.
Retinal Glial and Choroidal Vascular Pathology in Donors Clinically Diagnosed With Stargardt Disease.

Purpose The present study investigated retinal glia and choroidal vessels in flatmounts and sections from individuals with clinically diagnosed Stargardt disease (STGD). Methods Eyes from three donors clinically diagnosed with STGD were obtained through the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). Genetic testing was performed to determine the disease-causing mutations. Eyes were enucleated and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.5% glutaraldehyde. After imaging, retinas were dissected and immunostained for glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, and peanut agglutin. Following RPE removal, the choroid was immunostained with Ulex europaeus agglutinin lectin. For each choroid, the area of affected vasculature, percent vascular area, and choriocapillaris luminal diameters were measured. The retina from one donor was hemisected and cryopreserved or embedded in JB-4 for cross-section analysis. Results Genetic testing confirmed the STGD diagnosis in donor 1, whereas a mutation in peripherin 2 was identified in donor 3. Genetic testing was not successful on donor 2. Therefore, only donor 1 can definitively be classified as having STGD. All donors had areas of RPE atrophy within the macular region, which correlated with underlying choriocapillaris loss. In addition, Muller cells formed pre- and subretinal membranes. Subretinal gliotic membranes correlated almost identically with RPE and choriocapillaris loss. Conclusions Despite bearing different genetic mutations, all donors demonstrated choriocapillaris loss and Muller cell membranes correlating with RPE loss. Muller cell remodeling was most extensive in the donor with the peripherin mutation, whereas choriocapillaris loss was greatest in the confirmed STGD donor. This study emphasizes the importance of genetic testing when diagnosing macular disease.
Female-Star-Authorship across South Asia: Genres and controversy on Pakistani and Indian Screens

If women’s angry controversies with oppressive systems have been central to feminist consciousness-raising, expressions of systemic female indignation have tended to be marginalized or suppressed i...
How (not) to measure replication

The replicability crisis refers to the apparent failures to replicate both important and typical positive experimental claims in psychological science and biomedicine, failures which have gained increasing attention in the past decade. In order to provide evidence that there is a replicability crisis in the first place, scientists have developed various measures of replication that help quantify or “count” whether one study replicates another. In this nontechnical essay, I critically examine five types of replication measures used in the landmark article “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science” (Open Science Collaboration, Science, 349, ac4716, 2015) based on the following techniques: subjective assessment, null hypothesis significance testing, comparing effect sizes, comparing the original effect size with the replication confidence interval, and meta-analysis. The first four, I argue, remain unsatisfactory for a variety of conceptual or formal reasons, even taking into account various improvements. By contrast, at least one version of the meta-analytic measure does not suffer from these problems. It differs from the others in rejecting dichotomous conclusions, the assumption that one study replicates another or not simpliciter. I defend it from other recent criticisms, concluding however that it is not a panacea for all the multifarious problems that the crisis has highlighted.
Territorial Presence as the Ground For Claims: Some Reflections

"The author sets out to analyse some recent legal developments pertaining to the governance of irregular non-citizen immigrants in the United States. These developments bear on the project of theorising "immigrant justice" as resistance to the growing illiberalization of migration policy. In her view, the very existence of a class of people designated as irregular migrants within state polities presupposes that such polities maintain formal exclusionary border regimes and that in such regimes, some persons are predesignated as ineligible for entry. And even though those exclusion rules do not function to fully preclude entry and presence of such persons, states do not treat their arrival as an automatic basis for full membership either. Hence, irregular immigrants are territorially present in a state that purports to eschew that presence. The author then explores how the idea of “sanctuary” relates to the kinds of claims that both liberal humanitarians and immigrant justice advocates have been making over the last few years. These are claims which ground protection in what exponents cite as the overriding ethical significance of immigrants’ territorial presence – their already-hereness – as the basis for recognition and rights. In particular, the author makes the case that even though "sanctuary" provides a logic of safe harbour, it fails to end the predicament of constitutive based in border exclusionism. For her, the political, social, but also philosophical, struggle for the idea of border abolitionism requires a figurative sword that must go beyond sanctuary so that borders are not just mitigated, but radically deconstructed and even destroyed. The author takes this to be the vital imperative that confronts all legal and political theorists who must engage the normative challenge of rethinking arbitrary law-making in view of the new inequalities that a global political order grounded on sovereign borders produces."
Biosynthesis of heparan sulfate on beta-D-xylosides depends on aglycone structure.

We have reported that 3-estradiol-beta-D-xyloside primes heparan sulfate synthesis in Chinese hamster ovary cells and that the proportion of heparan sulfate made rises with increasing concentration of xyloside (Lugemwa, F.N. and Esko, J.D. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 6674-6677). Using estradiol as a guide, we varied the structure of the aglycone and showed that beta-D-xylosides containing two fused aromatic rings efficiently prime heparan sulfate. Thus, 2-naphthol-beta-D-xyloside primed heparan sulfate at low dose (
Acid-base physiology and pathophysiology.

Recent studies of proximal acidification have improved our knowledge of the control and mechanism of bicarbonate reabsorption. The exit step for bicarbonate in the proximal tubule was examined by Sasaki and Berry.1 Using the in vitro perfused rabbit proximal convoluted tubule, they suggested that bicarbonate leaves the cell through a mechanism other than Cl/HCO3 exchange. They found that removal of chloride from the bath had no effect on bicarbonate flux. The presence of barium, which depolarizes the basolateral membrane potential difference, caused a marked reduction in bicarbonate transport. Since chloride removal would profoundly decrease bicarbonate reabsorption were it mediated by a chloride/bicarbonate exchange, these workers concluded that bicarbonate exited the basolateral membrane not via an exchanger, but through a rheogenic mechanism.