cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Loss of White Matter Microstructural Integrity Is Associated with Adverse Neurological Outcome in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (S28.003)

Objective: To study the microstructure of long range connections and its relation to neurological phenotype in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) Background TSC is a genetic neurocutaneous syndrome in which cognitive and social-behavioral outcomes for patients vary widely in an unpredictable manner. The cause of adverse neurological outcome remains unclear. We investigated the hypothesis that disordered white matter and abnormal neural connectivity are associated with adverse neurological outcome. Design/Methods: Structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging was carried out in 40 subjects with TSC (age range 0.5 – 25 years, mean age 7.2 and median age 5 years), 12 of whom had autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and in 29 age-matched controls. Tractography of the corpus callosum was used to define a 3-dimensional volume of interest. Regional averages of four diffusion scalar parameters of the callosal projections were calculated for each subject. These were the average fractional anisotropy (AFA) and average mean, radial and axial diffusivity (AMD, ARD, AAD). Results: Subjects with TSC had significantly lower AFA and higher AMD, ARD and AAD values compared to controls. Subjects with TSC and ASD had significantly lower AFA values compared to those without ASD, and compared to controls. TSC subjects without ASD had similar AFA values compared to controls. Conclusions: Diffusion tensor scalar parameters provided measures of properties of the three-dimensional callosal projections. In TSC, changes in these parameters may reflect microstructural changes in myelination, axonal integrity, or extracellular environment. Alterations in white matter microstructural properties were associated with TSC and larger changes were associated with TSC and ASD, thus establishing a relationship between altered white matter microstructural integrity and brain function. Disclosure: Dr. Peters has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sahin has received personal compensation for activities with Novartis as a consultant. Dr. Sahin has received research support from Novartis. Dr. Vogel-Farley has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jeste has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nelson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gregas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Prabhu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Scherrer has nothing to disclose. Dr. Warfield has nothing to disclose.
Effect of weave parameters on thermal expansion coefficient of 4D in-plane C/C composites

The thermal expansion properties of the 4D in-plane C/C composites were predicted by combined FEM and the energy method.The validity of the prediction method is proved by comparing the prediction values with the experiment results.The effects of the changing of weave space and the diameter of fiber bundles on the thermal expansion properties of this material were predicted.The result shows that the thermal expansion coefficient(CTE) of 4D in-plane C/C composite decreases with the increase of weave space.Moreover,with the increasing diameter,the thermal expansion coefficient in axial direction decreases,while the coefficient in radical direction increases.
Research on the New Acoustic Emission Location of the Leak Points of Pressure Pipelines

An acoustic emission signal could occur when pressure pipelines were leaking.A new method of(using) the attenuation characteristics and energy accumulation of the acoustic emission signal to locate precisely the leak points of pressure pipelines was proposed based on the law of acoustic pressure abiding by the index attenuation when the signal was transmitting,an accurately locating experiment was made by using multi-channel acoustic emission instrument with plastic pipelines as medium and the signals induced with a piezoelectric sender as analog leakage signals,the result shows that the method was feasible and precise.
Comparison of Escherichia coli O157:H7 enrichment in spiked produce samples.

Two strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were spiked into six varieties of produce at approximately 0.5 CFU g -1 . Samples were enriched by using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method and by using an experimental method incorporating acid shock. Target colonies were detectable on selective agars after 30 of 48 analyses with BAM enrichment and 48 of 48 analyses with acid enrichment. Real-time PCR screening of 24-h enrichment broths revealed the presence of the diagnostic stx 1 or stx 2 genes after 27 of 48 analyses with BAM enrichment and 42 of 48 analyses with acid enrichment. The efficiency of the enrichment varied with strain and type of produce spiked but overall was better with the experimental enrichment method. Modifications of both the acid enrichment and BAM enrichment methods also were tested. The acid method with a modified incubation temperature consistently yielded high rates of recovery (>10 8 CFU ml -1 ), with no instances in which target cells could not be detected. Modification of the BAM procedure did not reproducibly improve enrichment efficiency.
The general nature of biosphere-atmosphere fluxes

The atmosphere and its manifold changes have held fascination for men and women ever since human beings have trod this Earth. Its study played an integral role in the evolution of natural philosophy from which all of our present sciences have sprung. F. Sherwood Rowland, Nobel Prize Banquet Speech, 1995 It is widely believed that the abundance of the principal gases N 2 and O 2 is determined by equilibrium chemistry. One of the larger problems in the atmospheric sciences is that of reconciling that belief with the uncomfortable fact that these same gases are cycled by the Biosphere with a geometric mean residence time in thousands of years. James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis (1974) Sherwood Rowland’s comment at the banquet held to honor receipt, along with Paul Crutzen and Mario Molina, of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, places the atmosphere at the center of some of the most influential scientific discoveries to have been made during human history. Within Rowland’s comment we can recognize Thales of Miletus who in the sixth century BC struggled to understand the different states of water and the process of evaporation, Lavoisier in the late eighteenth century discerning the exchange of oxygen between organisms and the atmosphere, and Arrhenius in the early part of the twentieth century calculating the relation between the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere and the earth’s surface temperature. The importance of the atmosphere in the history of natural philosophy is clearly underscored by these seminal studies. Within all of these studies, however, is the undeniable influence of the earth’s surface and in particular the earth’s biosphere, on the chemical composition and dynamics of the atmosphere. The two are linked in a type of “co-dependency” in which processes and change can only be understood through studies that include both biotic and abiotic systems. The requisite nature of the nexus between the biotic and abiotic domains of the earth system is recognizable, albeit in extreme form, in the controversial concept of “Gaian homeostasis” laid out by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in 1974. While we (the authors) do not, in its entirety, endorse the tenets of a Gaian earth, we do recognize the value of this concept in defining the biosphere and atmosphere as coupled and interdependent systems. It is this interdependency, and the processes that maintain it, that will be the focus of this book.
Developing a Template for Organizational Knowledge Management

Organizational knowledge is an invaluable resource for business intelligence. However in practice it has not been easy to capture organizational knowledge and to apply it intelligently in future events. Based upon previous research within the field, we have identified the elicitation and codification of context as an area of research which could be highly beneficial to enhancing the application of a knowledge management system within an organization. Context, from a knowledge management system standpoint, provides a shared background that allows users to have a better idea of why a decision was made and increases the chances of an intelligent decision being made in the future. In this work, we propose a template which creates a uniform method to elicit and codify tacit knowledge from organizational players, within its context.
Understanding RNA-Chromatin Interactions Using Chromatin Isolation by RNA Purification (ChIRP)

ChIRP is a novel and easy-to-use technique for studying long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-chromatin interactions. RNA and chromatin are cross-linked in vivo using formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde, and purified using biotinylated antisense oligonucleotides that hybridize to the target RNA. Co-precipitated DNA is then purified and analyzed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) or high-throughput sequencing.
Automated Middleware QoS Configuration Techniques using Model Transformations

This paper provides following three contributions to the study of developing and applying model driven engineering (MDE) techniques to quality of service (QoS) configuration of distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) systems. First, we describe the challenges associated with mapping domain-level QoS policies of DRE systems to middleware configuration space. Second, we discuss a domain specific modeling language (DSML) to capture QoS requirements of DRE system at a higher level of abstraction, simplifying the system QoS specification process. Third, we describe model transformations to automate the mapping of domain-specific QoS requirements.Our results indicate that our approach provides significant benefits in terms of productivity, scalability, reusability and automation of middleware QoS mapping compared to traditional QoS configuration techniques for publish/subscribe-based DRE systems.
An Important Role for Rac1 in Glycoprotein Ib-IX Induced Platelet Activation,

Abstract 3250 The platelet receptor for von Willebrand factor, the glycoprotein Ib-IX (GPIb-IX) complex, not only plays a critical role in mediating platelet adhesion at sites of vascular injury, but also transmits signals leading to platelet activation. GPIb-IX mediated activation of the ligand binding function of integrin αIIbβ3 is required for stable platelet adhesion under high shear rate conditions. Previous studies have suggested that ligand occupancy of GPIb-IX leads to activation of the Src family kinase Lyn, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, cGMP-dependent protein kinase, and the MAPK and ITAM signaling pathways. However, it remains unclear how the PI3K/Akt pathway is activated during GPIb-IX dependent signal transduction. Using platelet-specific conditional Rac1 −/− mice and the Rac1 specific inhibitor NSC23766 (NSC), we examined the role of Rac1 in GPIb-IX induced platelet activation. Platelet-specific conditional Rac1 −/− mice were generated by crossing Pf4-Cre transgenic mice with mice containing the Rac1 conditional allele. Rac1 −/− mouse platelets had a defect in VWF/botrocetin induced aggregation, TXA2 synthesis, and ATP secretion. Rac1 −/− mouse platelets were also defective in stable adhesion to VWF under shear stress and in spreading on immobilized VWF, as compared to WT. The defects observed in Rac1 −/− mouse platelets were recapitulated in human platelets treated with the Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766. Importantly, we show that ligand binding to GPIb-IX induced Rac1 activation, which was abolished in Lyn −/− mouse platelets. We also show that Rac1 −/− (or NSC-treated) platelets have a defect in GPIb-IX induced Akt and P38 MAPK activation. Altogether, this study reveals that Rac1 plays an important role in GPIb-IX dependent platelet activation and stable adhesion to VWF under shear stress. Rac1 is activated downstream of Lyn and is important for GPIb-IX and Lyn-dependent activation of Akt and MAPK signaling pathways. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Psychiatric Emergencies in Oncology

Psychiatric emergencies in oncology patients are basically no different from psychiatric emergencies in other medical settings. While some types of emergencies may be more common in oncology, expertise gained in handling psychiatric emergencies in any medical setting will be pertinent to handling such emergencies in oncology.
Explicit Determination in $$\mathbb {R} ^{N}$$RN of $$(N-1)$$(N-1) -Dimensional Area Minimizing Surfaces with Arbitrary Boundaries

Let $$N\ge 3$$ be an integer and B be a smooth, compact, oriented, $$(N-2)$$-dimensional boundary in $$\mathbb {R} ^{N}$$. In 1960, Federer and Fleming (Ann Math 72:458–520, 1960) proved that there is an $$(N-1)$$-dimensional integral current spanning surface of least area. The proof was by compactness methods and non-constructive. Thus, it is a question of long standing whether there is a numerical algorithm that will closely approximate the area-minimizing surface. The principal result of this paper is an algorithm that solves this problem—with the proviso that since one cannot guarantee the uniqueness of the area-minimizing surface with a particular given boundary, one must be willing to alter the boundary slightly, but by no more than a small amount that can be limited in advance. Our algorithm is currently theoretical rather than practical. Specifically, given a neighborhood U around B in $$\mathbb {R} ^{N}$$ and a tolerance $$\epsilon >0$$, we prove that one can explicitly compute in finite time an $$(N-1)$$-dimensional integral current T with the following approximation requirements:
On-chip unstable resonator cavity GaSb-based quantum well lasers

The focused ion beam milling tool was used to convert a GaSb-based broad area gain-guided quantum well laser device with a standard Fabry-Perot cavity into one with an unstable resonator cavity. A cylindrical mirror was formed at the back facet of the broad area device emitting near 2 μm. Compared to the Fabry-Perot cavity device, where the coherency of the beam is severely disrupted by filamentation, the unstable resonator cavity device exhibits an ∼2× diffraction limited beam. The relatively small penalty in slope efficiency demonstrates that a much higher brightness can be reached in this class of broad area devices.
From Isolation to Inclusion: Learning of the Experiences of Chinese International Students in U.S.

I examined the experiences of Chinese international students in higher education and inquire about American domestic students' perspectives on the trend of increasing numbers of Chinese international students in their institutions. In this paper, I also aim to provide suggestions on encouraging multiculturalism and inclusive academic settings within higher education.
Effect of maze experience on dominance hierarchies

Submissive rat Ss, defined in terms of the dominance tube, were taught various mazes independent of the more dominant Ss of their groups. After being run in the mazes with the naive Ss, the groups were retested in the dominance tube. The results indicated a significant change from test to retest in the groups subjected to the learning tasks, while two control groups remained stable.
Making and Unmaking Nations: War, Leadership and Genocide in Modern Africa

Scott Straus’s Making and Unmaking Nations is a remarkable contribution to the study of genocide and political violence in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. The questions motivating this book are well...
Carrier Aggregation for Phased-Array Analog Beamforming with Beam Squint

To aggregate or not to aggregate, that is the question. Analog beamforming with phased arrays is a promising technique for 5G wireless communication in millimeter wave bands. However, beam squint degrades the performance of analog beamforming for wideband systems with a large number of antennas, because the array response varies with frequency. In this paper, we show that carrier aggregation for phased-array analog beamforming should take beam squint into consideration. Specifically, we study the optimal beam alignment to maximize channel capacity, and demonstrate that, with sufficient band separation, focusing on only one band outperforms carrier aggregation. Approximations are developed for a system with two bands to determine the critical values of system parameters like band separation, angle of arrival, and signal-to-noise ratio beyond which it is preferable not to aggregate.
Stable Gradient Descent

Given a finite training set, the goal of many machine learning tasks is to learn a model that has small population risk. Gradient descent (GD) for empirical risk minimization (ERM) and stochastic gradient descent (SGD) are two popular methods for achieving this goal. In practice, the stopping criterion for GD is not clear and it often runs excessively many iterations which may lead to overfitting, while SGD suffers from high variance. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose a Stable Gradient Descent algorithm (StGD) based on adaptive data analysis and differential privacy. StGD provides an upper bound of iterations and the theoretical analysis shows high-probability convergence to the population risk minimizer under suitable conditions. Experimental results illustrate the superiority of the proposed algorithms.
Track Structure, Chromosome Geometry and Chromosome Aberrations

The joint role of radiation track structure and chromosome geometry in determining yields of chromosome aberrations is discussed. Ideally, the geometric models of chromosomes used for analyzing aberration yields should have the same degree of realism as track structure models. However, observed chromosome aberrations are produced by processes on comparatively large scales, e.g., misrepair involving two DSB located on different chromosomes or two DSB separated by millions of base pairs on one chromosome, and quantitative models for chromatin on such large scales have to date almost never been attempted. We survey some recent data on large-scale chromosome geometry, mainly results obtained with fluorescence in situ hybridization (“chromosome painting”) techniques. Using two chromosome models suggested by the data, we interpret the relative yields, at low and high LET, of inter-chromosomal aberrations compared to intra-chromosomal, inter-arm aberrations. The models consider each chromosome confined within its own “chromosome localization sphere,” either as a random cloud of points in one model or as a confined Gaussian polymer in the other. In agreement with other approaches, our results indicate that at any given time during the G 0/G l part of the cell cycle a chromosome is largely confined to a sub-volume comprising less than 10% of the volume of the cell nucleus. The possible significance of the ratio of inter-chromosomal aberrations to intra-chromosomal, inter-arm aberrations as an indicator of previous exposure to high LET radiation is outlined.
Clinical Guide to Classification of Dysphasic Syndromes

The preceding short examination for dysphasia can be used to provide a rough clinical guide to Classification of dysphasic syndromes. Formal language evaluation should be carried out to refine the initial impression. We emphasize that many patients with dysphasia do not have signs which can be easily or neatly categorized, regardless of the technical skill or years of experience of the examiner; in such cases a thoughtful description of the Observation is more helpful than an attempt to force the clinical findings to conform to a pre-conceived category.
Motivation and Contingency Management Treatments for Substance Use Disorders.

Contingency management (CM) is a highly efficacious psychosocial treatment for substance use disorders based on the principles of behavioral analysis. CM involves delivering a tangible positive reinforcer following objective evidence of submission of a drug-negative urine sample. Although CM interventions primarily involve applying extrinsic rewards, a patient’s intrinsic motivation to change substance use behavior may also be impacted by CM. This chapter provides an introduction to CM interventions for substance use disorders and examines the impact of CM on intrinsic motivation . It also addresses applications of this intervention to other conditions and patient populations.
Anticipating Loss: Healthcare for Older Patients and Their Family Caregivers

Caring for older family members is a normal, but often a stressful, part of the family life cycle. The so-called Geriatric Imperative (i.e., the increasing numbers of elders in all societies) will affect most physicians. By 2030, almost 20% of the U.S. population (70 million persons) will be more than 65 year old. By 2050, one quarter of those elders will be 85 years or more, about 5% of the U.S. population. Those more than 100 years old are now the fasting growing age group in the country and now number more than 50,000 (2, 3)! Working with people with long and interesting life histories offers the primary care clinician many rewards (4). It also often includes a special poignancy in the course of helping patients and their families resolve important issues before death.As adults live longer and increase in numbers, their reliance upon family members and caregivers grows. The need for a familyoriented approach, therefore, increases with the increasing needs and interdependence of the patient and family as it ages. Extending the length of an individual’s life extends the joys, the pains, and the responsibilities of family life. Three or four generations surviving in one family has become commonplace. Marriages last longer—more than half of the nation’s community-dwelling population older than 65 is married. For those older than 75, the large majority of men are married, whereas only 29% of women this age are married, primarily because their spouses have died earlier. Most elderly patients live with or rely on family members. Only 5% of all elders (more than 65 years old) are in a nursing home or other
Applying quality improvement principles to achieve healthy work organizations.

Article-at-a-Glance Background Health care has used total quality management (TQM)/quality improvement (QI) methods to improve quality of care and patient safety. Research on healthy work organizations (HWOs) shows that some of the same work organization factors that affect employee outcomes such as quality of life and safety can also affect organizational outcomes such as profits and performance. An HWO is an organization that has both financial success and a healthy workforce. For a health care organization to have financial success it must provide high-quality care with efficient use of scarce resources. To have a healthy workforce, the workplace must be safe, provide good ergonomic design, and provide working conditions that help to mitigate the stress of health care work. Integrating TQM/QI into the HWO paradigm If properly implemented and institutionalized, TQM/QI can serve as the mechanism by which to transform a health care organization into an HWO. To guide future research, a framework is proposed that links research on QI with research on HWOs in the belief that QI methods and interventions might be an effective means by which to create an HWO. Specific areas of research should focus on identifying the work organization, cultural, technological, and environmental factors that affect care processes; affect patient health, safety, and satisfaction; and indirectly affect patient health, safety, and satisfaction through their effects on staff and care process variables. Summary Integrating QI techniques within the paradigm of the HWO paradigm will make it possible to achieve greater improvements in the health of health care organizations and the populations they serve.
Association between progression of aortic valve calcification and coronary calcification: assessment by electron beam tomography.

Rationale and objectives It has been demonstrated that aortic valve calcification (AVC) shares many similarities with coronary atherosclerosis, including risk factors and pathologic characteristics. We sought to examine the relationship of AVC to coronary artery calcification (CC), to assess whether similar risk factors affect the process in a similar way. Materials and methods The study included 620 asymptomatic persons (513 men and 107 women, mean age 59 years range [30–82]) who underwent two consecutive electron beam tomography (EBT) scans at least 1 year apart (mean 3.3 years). Calcification scores were obtained by summation of Agatston and volumetric scores. Stabilization of calcium was defined as no increase in score per year or positive percent change in score ≤1%/year. Progression was defined as a positive percent change in score >1%/year. Of 106 with AVC, 105 (99%) had CC. Sixty-five patients had an AVC >10 on initial scan, and 50 (77%) demonstrated progression on the follow-up scan. Of 394 participants with CC >10 on initial scan, follow-up scans showed CC stabilization in 64 (16.2%) and CC progression in 330 (83.8%). Patients with AVC were significantly older than those with only CC (64.5 versus 56.5 years, P Results We found no difference in the degree of change in the CC scores (by Agatston or volumetric methods) over time between men and women, or in any baseline cardiac risk factor (P > .05 for all measures). In 65 patients with both AVC and CC >10, there was a significant association between progression of AVC and CC (P = .047); the absolute rate of change of AVC was 24.5 ± 43.2 %/year, and CC was 28.0 ± 49.1 %/year. Conclusion Virtually all patients with AVC had CC, potentially explaining the coronary risk associated with AVC. There is substantially parallel development between rates of progression of EBT-assessed AVC and CC.
Descriptive analysis in ALK-positive non-squamous cell lung cancer.

e19136 Background: EML4-ALK fusion gene is prevalent in about 5% of lung adenocarcinomas. ALK-positive disease responds to targeted therapies. There is little data on the prevalence of ALK gene rea...
Effects of oversized tungsten on the primary damage behavior in Fe-W alloys

Abstract Tungsten (W) is proposed to replace molybdenum (Mo) as an alternative minor alloying element in iron (Fe) based ferritic alloys to reduce the activation time upon irradiation. Tungsten, which is about 10.5% larger in atomic radius or 34.8% larger in atomic volume than Fe, can induce both global volume expansion and local lattice distortion in the Fe matrix. To understand how oversized W influences the defect production behavior in Fe-based alloys, molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to study the primary damage in three systems at 300 K: (a) unstrained pure Fe, (b) Fe-5at.%W (Fe-5W) alloy, and (c) strained pure Fe with the same volume expansion as the Fe-5W. Compared to the unstrained pure Fe, both Fe-5W and strained pure Fe result in producing more Frenkel pairs at high irradiation energies, indicating that the global volume expansion may lead to enhanced defect production. Meanwhile, the damaged Fe-5W alloy contains many C15 Laves-phase-like interstitial clusters, while the interstitial clusters in the unstrained and strained pure Fe systems are mainly crowdion bundles or dislocation loops. The average size of vacancy clusters in the Fe-5W alloy is much smaller than its counterparts in the two pure Fe systems. The average size of interstitial clusters in the Fe-5W alloy is also smaller than those in the two pure Fe systems. These results indicate that the local lattice distortion induced by oversized W can significantly influence the morphologies and size distributions of defect structures. Finally, defect formation energies are calculated to interpret the different defect production behaviors in these systems.
The end of runaway: how gap opening limits the final masses of gas giants

Gas giants are thought to form by runaway accretion: an instability driven by the self-gravity of growing atmospheres that causes accretion rates to rise super-linearly with planet mass. Why runaway should stop at a Jupiter or any other mass is unknown. We consider the proposal that final masses are controlled by circumstellar disc gaps (cavities) opened by planetary gravitational torques. We develop a fully time-dependent theory of gap formation and couple it self-consistently to planetary growth rates. When gaps first open, planetary torques overwhelm viscous torques, and gas depletes as if it were inviscid. In low-viscosity discs, of the kind motivated by recent observations and theory, gaps stay predominantly in this inviscid phase and planet masses finalize at $M_{\rm final}/M_\star\sim(\Omega t_{\rm disc})^{0.07}(H/a)^{2.73}(G\rho_0/\Omega^2)^{1/3}$, with $M_\star$ the host stellar mass, $\Omega$ the planet's orbital angular velocity, $t_{\rm disc}$ the gas disc's lifetime, $H/a$ its aspect ratio, and $\rho_0$ its unperturbed density. This final mass is independent of the dimensionless viscosity $\alpha$ and applies to large orbital distances, typically beyond $\sim$10 AU, where disc scale heights exceed planet radii. It evaluates to a few Jupiter masses at 10-100 AU, increasing gradually with distance as gaps become harder to open.
Energy-efficient weak-barrier coverage with adaptive sensor rotation

Wireless sensor networks have been widely used in environment, climate, animal monitoring, the medical field, and also for surveillance. In surveillance applications, when sensors are deployed randomly along a path in order to monitor boundaries of battlefields or country borders, gaps are usually unavoidable. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient distributed algorithm for weak-barrier coverage using event-based clustering and adaptive sensor rotation. We consider a wireless sensor network consisting of randomly deployed sensor nodes and directional border nodes deployed using a random line deployment model. When an event is detected, sensor nodes form one or more event-based clusters. Cluster heads are in charge with aggregating data from the clusters and sending them to the border nodes, which will adjust the orientation angle such that to monitor intruders crossing the barrier. We use simulations using WSNet and MatLab to analyze the performance of our algorithm and to compare it with other non-clustering gap-mending algorithms.
LIVER FUNCTION AND PROGNOSIS, AND INFLUENCE OF SACUBITRIL/VALSARTAN IN PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE WITH REDUCED EJECTION FRACTION

The prevalence of liver function test (LFT) abnormalities is common in patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, the impact of LFTs on the prognosis of HFrEF patients and the effect of sacubitril/valsartan on LFTs have not been studied. 8238 patients were
Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Among Children in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study: Clinical, Cognitive, and Brain Connectivity Correlates.

Abstract Background Childhood obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) are common and can be an early risk marker for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study provides a unique opportunity to characterize OCSs in a large normative sample of school-age children and to explore corticostriatal and task-control circuits implicated in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods The ABCD Study acquired data from 9- and 10-year-olds (N = 11,876). Linear mixed-effects models probed associations between OCSs (Child Behavior Checklist) and cognition (NIH Toolbox), brain structure (subcortical volume, cortical thickness), white matter (diffusion tensor imaging), and resting-state functional connectivity. Results OCS scores showed good psychometric properties and high prevalence, and they were related to familial/parental factors, including family conflict. Higher OCS scores related to better cognitive performance (β = .06, t9966.60 = 6.28, p Conclusions OCSs are common and may persist throughout childhood. Corticostriatal connectivity and attention network connectivity are likely mechanisms in the subclinical-to-clinical spectrum of OCSs. Understanding correlates and mechanisms of OCSs may elucidate their role in childhood psychiatric risk and suggest potential utility of neuroimaging, e.g., dorsal attention–default mode connectivity, for identifying children at increased risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
MALDI-ToF Protein Profiling as Potential Rapid Diagnostic Platform for COVID-19

More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic has been declared, the need still exists for accurate, rapid, inexpensive and non-invasive diagnostic methods that yield high specificity towards the current and newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 strains. Several studies have since established saliva as a more amenable specimen type in early detection and viral load quantitation as compared to the nasopharyngeal swabs. Considering the limitations and high demand for COVID-19 testing, we have employed MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry for the analysis of 60 gargle samples from human donors and compared the spectra with their respective RT-PCR results. Several standards including isolated human serum immunoglobulins and controls such as pre-COVID-19 saliva and heat inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus were simultaneously analyzed to provide a relative view of the saliva and viral proteome as they would appear in this works methodology. Five potential biomarker peaks were established that demonstrated high consistency with PCR positive samples. Overall, the agreement of these results with RT-PCR testing was no less than 90% for the studied cohort, which consisted of young and largely asymptomatic student athletes. Further investigation of the potential biomarker peaks is necessary, however, from a clinical standpoint, these results are promising for a rapid and inexpensive COVID-19 assay.
Quantifying Competitive Degradation Processes in Supported Nanocatalyst Systems

The stability of supported metal nanoparticles determines the activity and lifetime of heterogeneous catalysts. Catalysts can destabilize through several thermodynamic and kinetic pathways, and the competition between these mechanisms complicates efforts to quantify and predict the overall evolution of supported nanoparticles in reactive environments. Pairing in situ transmission electron microscopy with unsupervised machine learning, we quantify the destabilization of hundreds of supported Au nanoparticles in real-time to develop a model describing the observed particle evolution as a competition between evaporation and surface diffusion. Data mining of particle evolution statistics allows us to determine physically reasonable values for the model parameters, quantify the particle size at which the Gibbs-Thomson pressure accelerates the evaporation process, and explore how individual particle interactions deviate from the mean-field model. This approach can be applied to a wide range of supported nanoparticle systems, allowing quantitative insight into the mechanisms that control their evolution in reactive environments.
Energy Efficiency – A Particular Challenge for the Cellulose-based Products Industries

Wood-processing facilities, including pulp, paper, lumber, and engineered wood facilities, use large amounts of energy for such purposes as evaporative drying and the curing of adhesives. Much of that energy is already being supplied by the incineration of biomass, and there is opportunity to increase the proportion of renewable energy that is used. Specific changes can be made within such factories that allow them to come closer to what is thermodynamically possible in terms of avoiding the wastage of exergy, which can be defined as useful energy. Savings in exergy are often obtained by optimization of a network of heat exchangers within an integrated system. No steam should be allowed to leak to the atmosphere; rather the latent heat (due to phase transitions) and sensible heat (due to temperature changes) are recovered during the heating up of incoming air and water, ideally at a similar range of temperatures. Thus, by a combination of process integration and full utilization of cellulosic residues generated from the process, even bio-based industries can be made greener.
Using Radio to Increase Access to Health Information for People with Disabilities

Abstract Health information traditionally has been presented in oral and written formats by elders, teachers, mass media, and health care professionals. Today's telecommunications technology provides an ever-expanding wealth of health informational resources. However, some Americans with visual impairment and physical disabilities may have limited access to technology products and services. Others do not have adaptive devices to read for them. Until we breach the digital divide, community health educators can use radio broadcasts to provide current information about health to this audience.
The Political Power of Church

Many people call for the separation of church and politics. However, within the black community, the two cannot be separated. For this reason, my research looks at how African American congregants behave after hearing their pastors, and the church itself, preach conservative values on social issues, but yet, advance notions of voting for whoever is on the Democratic ticket, claiming the party of the left is the best way to advance the interests of the black community. This paradox is important because black churches are more than spiritual gathering places, they are power centers within the black community. For this reason, black churches have power – socially, economically, and politically. The political power of the church shows in the pulpit when pastors allow candidates to speak or advocate on behalf of a candidate or party. When looking at the structure of a black church, the public face of any black church is the pastor, and the pastor is seen as a cue-giver. With that said, this study is important because it has serious implications for the future of the Democratic Party. This is because scholar’s note African Americans are at a standstill between supporting a party which wants nothing to do with them and a party which takes them for granted. With pastors being cue-givers, they could become middle man to voters and candidates. This study is both qualitative and quantitative.
Chapter 4 Quinone sesquiterpenes: A challenge for the development of a new synthetic methodology

Publisher Summary This chapter details a synthesis of ilimaquinone that led to develop a new strategy and demonstrate further the synthetic applicability of the underexplored Barton's radical decarboxylation. It also discusses the way primary and secondary carbon radicals can react with quinines to form addition products in effective to excellent yields. This addition reaction is characterized by a well-chemoselectivity, taking place only at conjugated and unsubstituted double bonds, and regioselectivity, being influenced by the resonance effect of heteroatoms located on the quinone ring. The evaluation of the scope and limitations of this method allows devising and executing a unified synthesis of several quinone sesquiterpenes. A characteristic of this strategy is that the quinone unit is attached onto a fully functionalized decalin ring toward the end of the synthesis. As such, it is applicable to a parallel synthesis of these and related compounds and provides a new alternative to the previously known synthetic strategy for related molecules.
Greenhouse Gases and Emissions Trading

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have grown rapidly since the beginning of this century. Unless emissions are controlled, the world could face rapid climate changes, including an increase in temperature and shifts in weather patterns.
The Potential Value of a Front-to-Rear-End Collision Warning System Based on Factors of Driver Behavior, Visual Perception and Brake Reaction Time

The potential value of a front-to-rear-end collision warning system based on factors of driver behavior, visual perception and brake reaction time is examined in this paper.Twenty-four percent of all motor vehicle crashes involving two or more vehicles are front-to-rear-end collisions. These collisions demonstrate that several driver performance factors are common. The literature indicates that drivers use the relative size and the visual angle of the vehicle ahead when making judgments regarding depth. In addition, drivers often have difficulty gauging velocity differences and depth cues between themselves and the vehicle they are following. Finally, drivers often follow at distances that are closer than brake-reaction time permits for accident avoidance. It is apparent that the comfort level of close following behavior increases over time due to the rarity of consequences. Experience also teaches drivers that the vehicle in front does not suddenly slow down very often.On the basis of these driver behavi...
Molecular cloning of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase from the periimplantation porcine uterus by messenger ribonucleic acid differential display: temporal and conceptus-modulated gene expression

Using messenger RNA (mRNA) differential display, we isolated several putative differentially expressed complementary DNAs (cDNAs) from the periimplantation (days 11-12) endometrium of unilaterally pregnant pigs. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that one cDNA clone was 87% homologous to human spermidine/ spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) over a stretch of 201 bp and represents the porcine homologue of this cDNA. A second differentially expressed cDNA encoded the porcine equivalent of the human fragile X mental retardation gene (FMR1), whereas a third specified an open reading frame with significant homology to the Escherichia coli N-acetylglucosamine transfer protein. Because SSAT is the rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine metabolism and polyamines are required cytosolic components for cell growth and differentiation, we characterized the expression of the porcine SSAT gene as a potential marker for endometrial growth and/or differentiation during early pregnancy. Further, using the consensus sequenc...
Sugar crystallization in food products

A review of the recent literature on crystallization of the commercial sugars (fructose, glucose, lactose, and sucrose) is presented. Topics include: NUCLEATION--The formation of the crystalline phase from supersaturated solutions can occur by either a spontaneous or a forced nucleation mechanism. Recent work on the mechanisms, kinetics, and impact of both heterogeneous and secondary (contact) nucleation is discussed. GROWTH--Recent studies on the mechanisms and kinetics of crystal growth will be reviewed. This discussion includes work on the growth rate dispersion exhibited by these sugars. EFFECTS OF IMPURITIES AND ADDITIVES--The presence of impurities and additives (including mixed sugar systems) affects both the nucleation and growth steps. A discussion of the recent work in this area is included. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between these crystallization phenomena and the solution structure for comparison purposes.
Evaluation of two synthetic glucose probes for fluorescence-lifetime-based sensing.

Abstract We evaluated two anthracene derivatives with covently attached boronic acid groups for fluorescence-lifetime-based sensing of glucose. These anthracene derivatives also contained alkyl amino groups, which quenched the anthracene emission by photo-induced electron transfer. Both anthracene derivatives displayed increased intensities and lifetime in the presence of glucose, as seen from the frequency-domain measurements. A fluorescence lifetime change from 9.8 to 12.4 and 5.7 to 11.8 ns is observed, after the addition of glucose, for the anthracene substituted with one and two boronic acid groups, respectively. This results in a change in the phase angle up to 15° and 30° and in the modulation up to 12 and 25% at 30 MHz for these compounds, respectively. Titration curves in the presence of BSA and micelles are also presented to show the potential interferences from biomolecules. Dissociation constants were evaluated for both compounds, and association with glucose was found to be reversible. Importantly, the apparent glucose binding constants are about 5- to 10-fold smaller with phase, modulation, or mean lifetime than with intensities measurements, shifting the glucose-sensitive range to physiological values. Combining these results and the use of a simple UV-LED as excitation source, the results show an interesting potential of these two compounds in the development of lifetime base devices using synthetic probes for glucose.
Finite foliations of open FRW universes and the point-like big bang

Abstract Every open FRW universe can be completely foliated by spacelike slices of finite volume, each intersecting every fundamental worldline. The volumes tend to zero in the past, suggesting a point-like big bang. Embedding diagrams confirm this. How finite slices can contain an infinite amount of matter is explained by time-reversed gravitational collapse.
Family-level coping in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: assessing the utility of a quantitative family interview

Objective To explore the viability of a quantitative family interview to describe family-level coping strategies used to deal with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA)-related stressors for early and late adolescents. Method A structured interview protocol with 30 adolescents with JRA and family members assessed ways JRA disrupts or changes family functioning. Emotional reactions, sequential phases of family response, and treatment adherence were discussed. Interviews were coded for family-level coping. To assess adjustment, family members completed the Youth Self Report and the Family Environment Scale. The pediatric rheumatologist provided medical information. Results The family interview produced both quantitative and qualitative data. Families reported multiple JRA-related stressors (mean 6.6). For many adolescents, treatment adherence was problematic. Families used all 3 types of coping strategies (appraisal-, problem-, and emotion-focused) to varying degrees. Problem-focused approaches were most commonly used and included seeking support (used by 73% of families), self-reliance (70%), and family coordination (70%) for dealing with specific problems, and seeking information about JRA (67%). Emotion-focused approaches, such as impulsive outbursts and diminished awareness of others' feelings, were associated with problematic adjustment. Few differences were found between the families of early and late adolescents. Conclusion The quantitative family interview has the potential to be a useful tool in documenting JRA-related stressors, family-level coping processes, and how family-level coping is associated with treatment adherence and psychosocial adjustment.
A microperfused incubator for tissue mimetic 3D cultures.

High density, three-dimensional (3D) cultures present physical similarities to in vivo tissue and are invaluable tools for pre-clinical therapeutic discoveries and development of tissue engineered constructs. Unfortunately, the use of dense cultures is hindered by intra-culture transport limits allowing just a few layer thick cultures for reproducible studies. In order to overcome diffusion limits in intra-culture nutrient and gas availability, a simple scalable microfluidic perfusion platform was developed and validated. A novel perfusion approach maintained laminar flow of nutrients through the culture to meet metabolic need, while removing depleted medium and catabolites. Velocity distributions and 3D flow patterns were measured using microscopic particle image velocimetry. The effectiveness of forced convection laminar perfusion was confirmed by culturing 700 µm thick neural-astrocytic (1:1) constructs at cell density approaching that of the brain (50,000 cells/mm3). At the optimized flow rate of the nutrient medium, the culture viability reached 90% through the full construct thickness at 2 days of perfusion while unperfused controls exhibited widespread cell death. The membrane aerated perfusion platform was integrated within a miniature, imaging accessible enclosure enabling temperature and gas control of the culture environment. Temperature measurements demonstrated fast feedback response to environmental changes resulting in the maintenance of the physiological temperature within 37 ± 0.2°C. Reproducible culturing of tissue equivalents within dynamically controlled environments will provide higher fidelity to in vivo function in an in vitro accessible format for cell-based assays and regenerative medicine.