cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Experimental observation, theoretical models, and biomechanical inference in the study of mandibular form.

Experimental studies and mathematical models are disparate approaches for inferring the stress and strain environment in mammalian jaws. Experimental designs offer accurate, although limited, characterization of biomechanical behavior, while mathematical approaches (finite element modeling in particular) offer unparalleled precision in depiction of strain magnitudes, directions, and gradients throughout the mandible. Because the empirical (experimental) and theoretical (mathematical) perspectives differ in their initial assumptions and their proximate goals, the two methods can yield divergent conclusions about how masticatory stresses are distributed in the dentary. These different sources of inference may, therefore, tangibly influence subsequent biological interpretation. In vitro observation of bone strain in primate mandibles under controlled loading conditions offers a test of finite element model predictions. Two issues which have been addressed by both finite element models and experimental approaches are: (1) the distribution of torsional shear strains in anthropoid jaws and (2) the dissipation of bite forces in the human alveolar process. Not surprisingly, the experimental data and mathematical models agree on some issues, but on others exhibit discordance. Achieving congruence between these methods is critical if the nature of the relationship of masticatory stress to mandibular form is to be intelligently assessed. A case study of functional/mechanical significance of gnathic morphology in the hominid genus Paranthropus offers insight into the potential benefit of combining theoretical and experimental approaches. Certain finite element analyses claim to have identified a biomechanical problem unrecognized in previous comparative work, which, in essence, is that the enlarged transverse dimensions of the postcanine corpus may have a less important role in resisting torsional stresses than previously thought. Experimental data have identified subperiosteal cortical thinning as a culprit in diminishing the role of cross-sectional geometry in conditioning the strain environment. These observations raise questions concerning the biomechanical significance of mandibular form in early hominids, fueling persistent arguments over whether gnathic morphology can be related to dietary specialization in the "robust" australopithecines. Nonmechanical explanations (e.g., tooth size or body size) for Paranthropus mandibular dimensions, however, are not compelling as competing hypotheses. Both theoretical and experimental models are in need of refinement before it is possible to conclude that the jaws of the "robust" australopithecines are not functionally linked to elevated masticatory loads.
Invited Commentary: Air Pollution and Health—What Can We Learn from a Hierarchical Approach?

Received for publication June 27, 2001, and accepted for publication August 15, 2001. Abbreviations: NMMAPS, National Morbidity, Mortality, and Air Pollution Study; PM 10 , particulate matter ≤ 10 μm in diameter. From the Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room E4138, Baltimore, MD 21205 (e-mail: fdominic@jhsph.edu). (Reprint requests to Dr. Francesca Dominici at this address). The potential for air pollution to cause excess deaths at high concentrations was established in the mid-20th century by a series of air pollution “disasters” in the United States and Europe (1–3) that caused striking increases in mortality. By the early 1990’s, time-series studies, each conducted at a single location (4–7), showed that air pollution levels, even at much lower concentrations, were associated with increased rates of mortality and morbidity in cities in the United States, Europe, and other developed regions. At present, although these relative rates are small (an increase in mortality or morbidity of a few percentage points over a realistic exposure range), the burden of disease attributable to air pollution may be substantial, considering the very large populations exposed to air pollution and the large numbers of persons to whom the relative rates of mortality or morbidity apply. In the past, critics of single-site studies questioned the validity of the data used and the statistical techniques applied to them. The critics noted inconsistencies in findings among studies and even in the same city upon independent reanalysis (5, 6). They questioned the choice of particular cities and asked whether models had been selected that gave estimates of effect that were biased upwards. These criticisms have since been addressed by the use of multisite studies (8, 9) in which site-specific data on air pollution and health are assembled under a common framework. Hierarchical models, which combine information across locations, have provided a statistical approach for analyzing multisite studies (10). The work by Hwang and Chan (11), published in this issue of the Journal, is one of the latest contributions on this topic. Their study illustrates the utility of using hierarchical models to analyze data on the relation between air pollution concentrations and clinic visits for treatment of lower respiratory tract illness. Hwang and Chan analyzed such data (as well as data on temperature and dew point levels) for 50 sites in Taiwan in 1998. Here I discuss the advantages of using hierarchical models to analyze multisite time-series data on air pollution and health, provide perspective on the results of Hwang and Chan (11), and address the problem of publication bias in meta-analyses.
Mutagenesis of Thr-286 in monomeric Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II eliminates Ca2+/calmodulin-independent activity.

Abstract We have examined the role of Thr-286 autophosphorylation in the autoregulation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we have substituted alanine or serine for Thr-286, or isoleucine for Arg-283, in the 50-kDa subunit of the kinase and expressed each protein in bacteria. Activation and autophosphorylation of all four enzymes were stringently dependent on Ca2+/calmodulin, indicating that neither Arg-283 nor Thr-286 is an absolute requirement for the pseudosubstrate inhibition of the enzyme. Autophosphorylation of the Ile-283 or Ala-286 enzyme generated little, if any, Ca2+/calmodulin-independent kinase activity, unlike the parent (Thr-286) or Ser-286 enzyme. The enzymes expressed in bacteria are predominantly monomeric, indicating that the generation of Ca2+/calmodulin-independent activity does not require the cooperative interactions of subunits normally present in the brain holoenzyme.
Buying higher welfare poultry products? Profiling Flemish consumers who do and do not

A substantial number of studies has already investigated differences within the consumer market with regard to attitudes and perceptions in relation to farm animal welfare. Likewise, several studies focused on the gap that exists between positive attitudes and reported consumption or purchase intentions for sustainable food products in general and higher welfare products more specific, and on the factors influencing this attitude-behavior gap. Little or no studies, however, have started from reported pro-welfare behavior to distinguish between consumer groups and to explore the motivations of the respective behavior. With this study, we aim to group consumers according to their reported buying frequency of higher welfare eggs and higher welfare chicken meat. Similarities and dissimilarities between these groups are mapped in terms of individual characteristics, product attribute importance, perceived consumer effectiveness, perception of higher welfare products, and attitude toward a welfare label. The research methodology applied was a quantitative study with cross-sectional consumer survey data collected in Flanders in spring 2007 (n = 469). Pro-welfare behavior was unevenly distributed across different consumer segments, despite a general interest and concern for bird welfare. A consistent choice for standard (no welfare premium) poultry products was related to strong perceived price and availability barriers, to a low importance attached to ethical issues as product attributes, and to a low perceived consumer effectiveness. A consistent choice for products with higher welfare standards to the contrast associated with a high importance attached to ethical issues; a low effect of price and availability perception; a strong association of higher welfare products with product attributes like health, taste, and quality; and a high perceived consumer effectiveness. The identification of market segments with common characteristics is essential for positioning higher welfare products and developing effective communication strategies. Finally, a welfare label emerged as an appropriate communication vehicle for consumers who engage in pro-welfare behavior and who experienced the label as a solution to lower the search costs for higher welfare products.
Reviving Managed Care With Health Savings Accounts

Although health savings accounts (HSAs) and managed care are often seen as antithetical, they can be integrated in fruitful ways. Moreover, combining these approaches would serve policy objectives by clarifying the payment responsibilities of patients, health plans, and premium payers, thus altering important perceptions about health care decision making. The availability in HSAs of funds that patients can use to pay for services not covered under insurance contracts should help to relegitimize the predetermination of benefits and enable the public and the legal system to take a more benign view of corporate health plans as agents of their subscribers.
Suicide and the Media: The New York Times's Presentation of Front‐Page Suicide Stories Between 1910 and 1920

Between 1913 and 1914 The New York Times presented a record number of front-page suicide stories. This study is concerned with analyzing a range of factors that might have contributed to this hyper coverage. Employing a time-series model, and examining monthly coverage of suicide stories between 1910 and 1920, the authors found that hyper coverage was not caused by increased suicide in the city or nation but was generated by a dynamic combination of institutional and human factors. Further analysis of New York Times editorials suggests support for the thesis that the editor acted as a moral entrepreneur. The paper's editorials were concerned with suicide as a threat to urban civilization, a common moral theme during the "progressive era." A similar analysis for the depression era, 1929-1939, showed no hyper coverage, and again found that the level of coverage was unrelated to actual suicide figures in the city and nation. The study concludes that suicide is a private event that is usually not examined by The New York Times on the front page and that media coverage of suicide is unrelated to the incidence of suicide in the real world.
Cores and Peripheries Interaction Patterns in Asia

This analysis seeks to determine the nature of interaction patterns among various Asian countries, and between them and three nonregional actors (the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR). The results indicate that military and cultural exchange patterns provide the strongest support for the feudal interaction model, while diplomatic exchange patterns tend to contradict it. A trend of defeudalization seemed to have set in for diplomatic interactions during the 1970s. On the other hand, economic and communications interactions have apparently moved in the opposite direction. Thus, data for different dimensions of international relations reveal different degrees and trends of feudal interaction. Moreover, they show important differences in the positions of various putative core states and in the scope of their spheres of influence. The existence of status incongruity and fluctuating domains for these countries encourages further study to explore the possibility of conflict among them.
VARIATION IN THE TENDERNESS OF BEEF STRIP LOINS AND IMPROVEMENT IN TENDERNESS BY USE OF HYDRODYNAMIC PRESSURE PROCESSING (HDP)

Shear force (SF) in 71C broiled steaks was compared along the length of beef strip loins (LM) and between medial and lateral (M&L) portions of individual steaks. A high degree of variation in SF (mean range of 3 kg) existed within individual steaks along the length of the LM. No difference in SF was observed between M&L sections of individual 2.54 cm steaks along the LM. Hydrodynamic pressure (HDP) treatment was employed on the LM to determine if variation in SF could be reduced. HDP treatment led to both a decrease in variation and an improvement in tenderness for both the M&L portions of the steak (within steak) and along the entire LM (within LM). These data show inconsistency in tenderness both along the LM and within each LM steak of control steaks. Furthermore, these data suggest that HDP can increase tenderness and reduce tenderness variation.
Spectral Discrimination of Breast Pathologies in Situ Using Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging

Nationally, 25% to 50% of patients undergoing lumpectomy for local management of breast cancer require a secondary excision because of the persistence of residual tumor. Intraoperative assessment of specimen margins by frozen-section analysis is not widely adopted in breast-conserving surgery. Here, a new approach to wide-field optical imaging of breast pathology in situ was tested to determine whether the system could accurately discriminate cancer from benign tissues before routine pathological processing. Spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) was used to quantify near-infrared (NIR) optical parameters at the surface of 47 lumpectomy tissue specimens. Spatial frequency and wavelength-dependent reflectance spectra were parameterized with matched simulations of light transport. Spectral images were co-registered to histopathology in adjacent, stained sections of the tissue, cut in the geometry imaged in situ. A supervised classifier and feature-selection algorithm were implemented to automate discrimination of breast pathologies and to rank the contribution of each parameter to a diagnosis. Spectral parameters distinguished all pathology subtypes with 82% accuracy and benign (fibrocystic disease, fibroadenoma) from malignant (DCIS, invasive cancer, and partially treated invasive cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy) pathologies with 88% accuracy, high specificity (93%), and reasonable sensitivity (79%). Although spectral absorption and scattering features were essential components of the discriminant classifier, scattering exhibited lower variance and contributed most to tissue-type separation. The scattering slope was sensitive to stromal and epithelial distributions measured with quantitative immunohistochemistry. SFDI is a new quantitative imaging technique that renders a specific tissue-type diagnosis. Its combination of planar sampling and frequency-dependent depth sensing is clinically pragmatic and appropriate for breast surgical-margin assessment. This study is the first to apply SFDI to pathology discrimination in surgical breast tissues. It represents an important step toward imaging surgical specimens immediately ex vivo to reduce the high rate of secondary excisions associated with breast lumpectomy procedures.
Seismology in the United States - - A Retrospect

Twenty years ago the total number of seismographic stations in the United States was only a fraction of those we have today. There was not a single first-class station in continental United States. Even the number of second-class stations was very small. Nearly all the stations were third-class from every point of view-equipment, time-service, and personnel. Even among these many were comparatively inactive; some were not even operating. The Government stations in those days were divided into three groups. To the first group belonged those stations which were under the administration of the Weather Bureau. This was the Bureau officially responsible for seismology in the United States. It published station bulletins in the Monthly Weather Review. The principal stations in this group were Washington, D.C, Northfield, Vermont, and the cooperative station at the University of Chicago. Secondly, there was the station at Balboa Heights under the Canal Zone administration. The third group was maintained by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey as an incidental activity and was particularly helpful in the interpretation of magnetograph-records. The stations belonging to this group were located at Cheltenham, Tucson, Sitka, Honolulu, and Vieques (near Puerto Rico). Their equipment consisted for the most part of very low-sensitivity horizontal pendulums of the Bosch type.
Mechanical Properties of Vapor−Liquid−Solid Synthesized Silicon Nanowires

The Young’s modulus and fracture strength of silicon nanowires with diameters between 15 and 60 nm and lengths between 1.5 and 4.3 μm were measured. The nanowires, grown by the vapor−liquid−solid process, were subjected to tensile tests in situ inside a scanning electron microscope. The Young’s modulus decreased while the fracture strength increased up to 12.2 GPa, as the nanowire diameter decreased. The fracture strength also increased with the decrease of the side surface area; the increase rate for the chemically synthesized silicon nanowires was found to be much higher than that for the microfabricated silicon thin films. Repeated loading and unloading during tensile tests demonstrated that the nanowires are linear elastic until fracture without appreciable plasticity.
An automated approach to quantifying functional interactions by mining large-scale product specification data

ABSTRACTThe authors of this work hypothesise that the semantic relationship between modules' functional descriptions is correlated with the functional interaction between the modules. A deeper comprehension of the functional interactions between modules enables designers to integrate complex systems during the early stages of the product design process. Existing approaches that measure functional interactions between modules rely on the manual provision of designers' expert analyses, which may be time consuming and costly. The increased quantity and complexity of products in the twenty-first century further exacerbates these challenges. This work proposes an approach to automatically quantify the functional interactions between modules, based on their textual technical descriptions. Compared with manual analyses by design experts who use traditional design structure matrix approaches, the text-mining-driven methodology discovers similar functional interactions, while maintaining comparable accuracies. The...
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Based Flame Control and Diagnostics

Abstract : Summary: Control of atmospheric pressure flames with pulsed microwave energy. High efficiency coupling (50%), Small percentage of flame power (3% to 10%), Flame speed enhancement (20%), Extension of lean limit (factor of two), Distributed ignition. Development of new diagnostics, Quantitative Temperature images with Filtered Rayleigh Scattering, Measurement of NO and radicals with Radar REMPI, Imaging velocity and temperature profiles with FLEET.
Prospective, Randomized Trial of THAM Therapy in Severe Brain Injury: Preliminary Results

We have previously reported a salutary effect of tromethamine (THAM) in a laboratory model of head injury using cats. Tromethamine therapy resulted in improved survival and reduced intracranial pressure (ICP) when compared to control animals. The putative mechanism for this action was neutralization of intracellular hydrogen ion. Multiple studies of traumatic brain injury have demonstrated an associated CSF lactic acidosis. Presumably this lactic acid had originated in the neural parenchyma and “percolated” into the ventricular system via the cerebral extracellular space. The CSF lactate then becomes a “marker” for certain intracellular events. By neutralizing excess hydrogen ion within tissue, the “internal milieu” of the parenchyma would be more effective at self repair and resistant to progressive edema. Other mechanisms are possible such as a shift in ionized calcium changes in other cellular enzymatic processes, change in vascular reactivity related to change in intracellular pH at the level of the cerebral smooth muscle wall and/or neutralization of other compounds which may be produced but unmeasured.
Auto-generation technology of meteorological isoline based on ArcObjects and its application

Isolines is important to analysis meteorological data for it enables users to grasp the overall characteristics and regularity of meteorological elements in study area.Auto-generation function of meteorological isoline was realized by interpolation,gridding and contour tracking based on ArcObjiects components provided by ESRI,which was encapsulated in a COM component by ATL technology.According to meteorological data from automatic weather station(more than 200 stations) in Tianjin,the component function was tested.The results indicate that this component could be called by client program.The relevant isoline could be generated.Furthermore,the component is free from the constraints of the version and development language of client program,which is fit for the corresponding system of meteorological department based on WebGIS.
Multiparametric evaluation of flow cytometric synthesis phase fraction determination in dual-labelled breast carcinomas.

Multiparametric, two-color DNA and cell cycle analyses were performed on 112 consecutive mechanically dissociated, ethanol-fixed breast carcinomas using a dual-label method with monoclonal antibodies (CAM 5.2) to cytokeratin (CK) and leukocyte common antigen (LCA) with propidium iodide (PI) staining. There was marked intertumoral variation of CK-positive (range, 3-87%; mean, 40%) and LCA-positive (range, 1-28%; mean, 6.5%) events in DNA histograms. Approximately 70% of DNA aneuploid cells were CK positive. CAM 5.2-stained (avidin-biotin technique) Cytospin preparations correlated with flow cytometric (FCM) detection of CK-positive cells in 15/21 (71%) cases. In each discrepant case, FCM detected greater numbers of CK-positive cells. Cytospin controls of tumor suspensions revealed that cytoplasmic loss was the major cause of decreased CK staining. Synthesis phase fraction (SPF) calculation from CK-gated histograms resulted in kinetic indices (mean ungated, 12.3%, vs. mean CK-gated, 16.8%; P less than .01) with improved statistical correlations with tumor grade and estrogen receptor (ER) status. Differences between ungated vs. CK-gated SPF were greatest in cases having less than 20% CK-positive events (P less than .05). Cases with lower CK staining events generally had higher SPF and were more often high grade (below median CK staining, 61% high grade, vs. above median CK staining, 31% high grade) and ER-negative (below median CK staining, 55% ER negative, vs. above median CK staining, 12% ER negative).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The ħ → 0 Limit of QED

Covariant perturbation theory solutions of quantum electrodynamics indicate that charged particles interact through the Feynman photon propagator, DF. The difficulty of establishing the classical-correspondence limit for QED interactions exists because these DF propagators propagate interactions into the past and future; these interactions have no obvious connection with the classical physics of particles interacting via retarded Lienard-Wiechert potentials.
Coding for BPSK SFH/SSMA Communications over Fading Channels

The preformance of asynchronous slow-frequency-hopped (SFH) spread-spectrum multiple-access (SSMA) communications over nonselective fading channels is examined. Binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK) modulation with coherent demodulation is employed. Bounds and approximations on the average bit error probability are first obtained for uncoded systems. Then the performance of various error-control coding schemes such as convolutional codes and Reed-Solomon codes with and without channel monitoring is compared. It is shown that error-control coding, in particular the use of Reed-Solomon codes, neutralizes channel fading and increases the multiple-access capability of SFH/SSMA systems.
Using the Cultural Formulation Interview to Build Culturally Sensitive Services.

As part of the development of DSM-5, the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) was administered to 30 monolingual Spanish-speaking adults at one site of a 2012 feasibility study of the CFI. The authors identified salient themes in data collected through use of the CFI, with a focus on interventions that could lead to more culturally responsive mental health services. Findings suggest that establishing trust and focusing on the restoration of social ties while attending to the impact of stigma and patients’ pressing psychosocial needs are elements of culturally responsive services for Hispanic persons. Routine use of the CFI can help clinicians identify unique needs and preferences by understanding an individual within his or her cultural context.
Management of acute asthma exacerbations.

Purpose of reviewHerein, we review the current guidelines for the management of children with an acute asthma exacerbation. We focus on management in the emergency department, inpatient, and ICU settings.Recent findingsThe most recent statistics show that the prevalence of asthma during childhood ha
TCR stimulation strength is inversely associated with establishment of functional brain-resident memory CD8 T cells during persistent viral infection

Establishing functional tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells at sites of infection is a newfound objective of T cell vaccine design. To directly assess the impact of antigen stimulation strength on memory CD8 T cell formation and function during a persistent viral infection, we created a library of mouse polyomavirus (MuPyV) variants with substitutions in a subdominant CD8 T cell epitope that exhibit a broad range of efficiency in stimulating TCR transgenic CD8 T cells. By altering a subdominant epitope in a nonstructural viral protein and monitoring memory differentiation of donor monoclonal CD8 T cells in immunocompetent mice, we circumvented potentially confounding changes in viral infection levels, virus-associated inflammation, size of the immunodominant virus-specific CD8 T cell response, and shifts in TCR affinity that may accompany temporal recruitment of endogenous polyclonal cells. Using this strategy, we found that antigen stimulation strength was inversely associated with the function of memory CD8 T cells during a persistent viral infection. We further show that CD8 TRM cells recruited to the brain following systemic infection with viruses expressing epitopes with suboptimal stimulation strength respond more efficiently to challenge CNS infection with virus expressing cognate antigen. These data demonstrate that the strength of antigenic stimulation during recruitment of CD8 T cells influences the functional integrity of TRM cells in a persistent viral infection.
Performance simulation of optimized stock 2014 Ducati Panigale 899 for quarter mile drag racing

The primary objective of this research is to convert a stock motorcycle into a drag strip motorcycle and optimize it for best performance in terms of elapsed time in a quarter mile (1320 feet) drag strip. Stock 2014 Ducati Panigale 899 has been used as a reference motor cycle model. The motorcycle is modeled using several models such as engine model, drivetrain model, tire model, chassis model, throttle control model, and track model to simulate the operation, and to try and bring it close to real-time performance as possible. MATLAB software package is used for optimizing and simulating the motorcycle. First, stock motor cycle models are developed and simulated using the software package, to see the performance and elapsed time in a quarter mile drag strip. Further, optimized models are developed by varying the vehicle parameters to models to simulate and validate the real time performance. This paper gives an approach for optimizing a drag racer motor cycle model. Research is focused on improving the laps timing for quarter mile drag racing, and successfully achieved with the approach taken. A global application algorithm is generated for this research can also be used for the other motor cycle models for simulation, optimization, and validation for a quarter mile run.
Surgery vs. Medical Therapy for Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.

In women of reproductive age with chronic heavy menstrual bleeding, hysterectomy is the most effective treatment for controlling symptoms. Conservative surgery is more effective for controlling bleeding symptoms at one and two years than oral medications or the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, but by five years there is no difference.
Twelve tips for delivering successful interprofessional case conferences.

Interprofessional case conferences (ICCs) offer an interactive, practical way to engage members of two or more health professions in discussions that involve learning and working together to improve patient care. Well-orchestrated ICCs provide opportunities to integrate interprofessional (IP) education into routine clinical practice. The authors provide 12 tips to support the conceptualization, planning, implementation, facilitation, evaluation, and sustainability of ICCs. They draw from extensive experience as IP educators and facilitators of ICCs and from literature on IP education, case-based learning, small-group facilitation, peer-assisted learning, and learner engagement – all of which offer insights into ICCs but have not been integrated and applied to this context.
Abstract 17179: Combined Doxycycline and Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid Slows Progression of Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis

Introduction: Transthyretin (TTR) cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is a progressive infiltrative cardiomyopathy with no specific therapy. In animals, doxycycline disrupts existing amyloid fibrils and may prevent fibrillogenesis. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a bile acid, prevents extracellular TTR monomer deposits, and the 2 drugs work synergistically in a mouse model of amyloidosis to decrease tissue amyloid. We sought to determine whether a combination of TUDCA and doxycycline could slow the progression of amyloid-associated LV dysfunction in patients with TTR cardiac amyloidosis. Methods: 17 patients with biopsy-proven TTR cardiac amyloidosis, mean age 71.3 yr (all men: 16 wild-type and 1 mutant TTR), received doxycycline 100 bid and TUDCA 250 mg tid for 12 months. The primary endpoint was change in longitudinal strain (LS) at 12 months, when compared to a group of 14 patients studied serially without therapy (mean age 72.4 yr, all men). All patients had echocardiograms performed on a GE Vivid machine, and analyzed by the same investigator. LS was measured from the apical 4-chamber view. Results: Doxycycline/TUDCA was well-tolerated. Mean baseline LS was no different between treatment group and untreated patients, and both groups showed deterioration of LS at 12 months. However, deterioration of LS was less in the treated group than controls (table). NTproBNP, a marker of disease was measured in the treatment group only, and rose slightly from a mean of 3108 pg/ml to 3669 pg/ml,(p Conclusion: 1. TTR cardiac amyloidosis is characterized by a consistent decrease in LV strain over a 1 year period, associated with a rise in NTproBNP. 2. Although doxycycline/TUDCA combination does not entirely halt progression of LV dysfunction, it appears to significantly slow the progression of disease and offers a well-tolerated therapy for disease modification.
The 22Rv1 prostate cancer cell line carries mixed genetic ancestry: Implications for prostate cancer health disparities research using pre‐clinical models

Background Understanding how biological factors contribute to prostate cancer (PCa) health disparities requires mechanistic functional analysis of specific genes or pathways in pre-clinical cellular and animal models of this malignancy. The 22Rv1 human prostatic carcinoma cell line was originally derived from the parental CWR22R cell line. Although 22Rv1 has been well characterized and used in numerous mechanistic studies, no racial identifier has ever been disclosed for this cell line. In accordance with the need for racial diversity in cancer biospecimens and recent guidelines by the NIH on authentication of key biological resources, we sought to determine the ancestry of 22RV1 and authenticate previously reported racial identifications for four other PCa cell lines. Methods We used 29 established Ancestry Informative Marker (AIM) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to conduct DNA ancestry analysis and assign ancestral proportions to a panel of five PCa cell lines that included 22Rv1, PC3, DU145, MDA-PCa-2b, and RC-77T/E. Results We found that 22Rv1 carries mixed genetic ancestry. The main ancestry proportions for this cell line were 0.41 West African (AFR) and 0.42 European (EUR). In addition, we verified the previously reported racial identifications for PC3 (0.73 EUR), DU145 (0.63 EUR), MDA-PCa-2b (0.73 AFR), and RC-77T/E (0.74 AFR) cell lines. Conclusions Considering the mortality disparities associated with PCa, which disproportionately affect African American men, there remains a burden on the scientific community to diversify the availability of biospecimens, including cell lines, for mechanistic studies on potential biological mediators of these disparities. This study is beneficial by identifying another PCa cell line that carries substantial AFR ancestry. This finding may also open the door to new perspectives on previously published studies using this cell line.
Long-term outcomes after near-infrared sentinel lymph node mapping in non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract Objective To report the first analysis of long-term outcomes using near-infrared (NIR) image-guided sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Retrospective analysis of patients with NSCLC enrolled in 2 prospective phase 1 NIR-guided SLN mapping trials, including an indocyanine green (ICG) dose-escalation trial, was performed. All patients underwent NIR imaging for SLN identification followed by multistation mediastinal lymph node sampling (MLNS) and pathologic assessment. Disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between patients with NIR+ SLN (SLN group) and those without (non-SLN group). Results SLN detection, recurrence, DFS, and OS were assessed in 42 patients with NSCLC who underwent intraoperative peritumoral ICG injection, NIR imaging, and MLNS. NIR+ SLNs were identified in 23 patients (SLN group), whereas SLNs were not identified in 19 patients enrolled before ICG dose and camera optimization (non-SLN group). Median follow-up was 44.5 months. Pathology from NIR+ SLNs was concordant with overall nodal status in all 23 patients. Sixteen patients with SLN were deemed pN0 and no recurrences were, whereas 4 of 15 pN0 non-SLN patients developed nodal or distant recurrent disease. Comparing SLN versus non-SLN pN0 patients, the probability of 5-year OS is 100% versus 70.0% (P = .062) and 5-year DFS is statistically significantly improved at 100% versus 66.1% (P = .036), respectively. Among the 11 pN+ patients, 7 were in the SLN group, with >40% showing metastases in the SLN alone. Conclusions Patients with pN0 SLNs showed favorable disease-free and overall survival. This preliminary review of NIR SLN mapping in NSCLC suggests that pN0 SLNs may better represent true N0 status. A larger clinical trial is planned to validate these findings.
The Development of Future Orientation is Associated with Faster Decline in Hopelessness during Adolescence

Hopelessness is implicated in multiple psychological disorders. Little is known, however, about the trajectory of hopelessness during adolescence or how emergent future orientation may influence its trajectory. Parallel process latent growth curve modelling tested whether (i) trajectories of future orientation and hopelessness and (ii) within-individual change in future orientation and hopelessness were related. The study was comprised of 472 adolescents [52% female, 47% Caucasian, 47% received free lunch] recruited at ages 12–13 who completed measures of future orientation and hopelessness at five annual assessments. The results indicate that a general decline in hopelessness across adolescence occurs quicker for those experiencing faster development of future orientation, when controlling for age, sex, low socio-economic status in addition to stressful life events in childhood and adolescence. Stressful childhood life events were associated with worse future orientation at baseline and negative life events experienced during adolescence were associated with both an increase in the trajectory of hopelessness as well as a decrease in the trajectory of future orientation. This study provides compelling evidence that the development of future orientation during adolescence is associated with a faster decline in hopelessness.
Case 9-2018: A 55-Year-Old Man with HIV Infection and a Mass on the Right Side of the Face

A Man with HIV Infection and a Facial Mass A 55-year-old man with HIV infection and a CD4+ T-cell count of 65 per cubic millimeter presented to the hospital 1 week after he started antiretroviral therapy because of a rapidly enlarging mass at the angle of the right mandible. A diagnostic procedure was performed.
When resident duty hours and patient care collide.

Limits on resident work hours help physicians to function at full capacity and ensure patient safety. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Combustion of fly-ash carbon: Part I. TG/DTA study of ignition temperature

Combustion experiments in air have been performed using TG/DTA analysis, which served for ignition temperature and kinetics data determination. Fly-ash carbon was treated with carbonates and hydroxides. The ignition temperature dependence on alkali metal salt concentration was investigated. Results showed that the ignition temperature decreased for treated samples. The activation energy of impregnated samples decreased. Qualitative comparison of modified and original samples showed that higher heat of combustion was achieved for impregnated samples.
Laws of Large Numbers and Sums of Independent Random Variables

This chapter deals with the behavior of sums of independent random variables and with averages of independent random variables. There are various results that say that averages of independent (and approximately independent) random variables are approximated by some population quantity such as the mean. Our goal is to understand these results in detail.
The Los Alamos High Field Magnet

A program of designing and testing continuously operating liquid hydrogen cooled electromagnets has been pursued at Los Alamos since January, 1955.
A VisualSfM based Rapid 3-D Modeling Framework using Swarm of UAVs

This paper presents an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm based rapid 3D modeling framework for objects of interest in unknown environments using Visual Structure from Motion (VisualSfM). The presented technology framework is driven by the goal to provide rapid and accurate situational awareness for mission planning in applications such as disaster control/recovery, search and rescue, industrial infrastructure monitoring, large inventory accounting, military asset movement and so on. Our approach to deliver the necessary and sufficient amount of information using a hierarchical swarm of UAVs. Processed information from UAV onboard sensors is synthesized into easy-to-interpret three dimensional (3D) contents for particular areas of interest. This paper presents the preliminary proof of concept experiments for the presented 3D modeling framework, tested with a heterogeneous swarm of UAVs of varying capabilities. The goal of the presented research and development effort is to deliver a rapid and enhanced surveillance/reconnaissance capability with selective 3D detailing and classification of only the areas of interest in the global map and not the entire map, thereby limiting the computational cost and cognitive load on human agents in the team.
Whither Holistic Student Development: It Matters More Today Than Ever

The things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them.Aristotle, Nicomachean EthicsEvery day it seems one or more pundits or policy makers extol job training as the primary purpose ...
A 3D Printed Cavity Backed 2⨯4 Slotted Waveguide Antenna Array

A slotted waveguide antenna array that is fabricated using electroplated 3D printed plastic is demonstrated. The waveguide antenna array is fabricated in three separate pieces and snapped together using a Lego-like process. The waveguide center feed is directly printed with the back cavity which simplifies the process and makes it robust. Measurement results show a 2⨯4 slot array in good agreement with simulation results. Measured return loss and gain at 7.7 GHz are −15 dB and 15.86 dBi, respectively. In this design, the waveguide is directly printed with the back cavity which simplifies the process and makes it robust.
The physiology of forager hydration and variation among harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) colonies in collective foraging behavior

Ants are abundant in desiccating environments despite their high surface area to volume ratios and exposure to harsh conditions outside the nest. Red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) colonies must spend water to obtain water: colonies lose water as workers forage outside the nest, and gain water metabolically through seeds collected in foraging trips. Here we present field experiments showing that hydrated P. barbatus foragers made more foraging trips than unhydrated nestmates. The positive effect of hydration on foraging activity is stronger as the risk of desiccation increases. Desiccation tests showed that foragers of colonies that reduce foraging in dry conditions are more sensitive to water loss, losing water and motor coordination more rapidly in desiccating conditions, than foragers of colonies that do not reduce foraging in dry conditions. Desiccation tolerance is also associated with colony reproductive success. Surprisingly, foragers that are more sensitive to water loss are from colonies more likely to produce offspring colonies. This could be because the foragers of these colonies conserve water with a more cautious response to desiccation risk. An ant’s hydration status may influence its response to the olfactory interactions that regulate its decision to leave the nest to forage. Thus variation among ant colonies in worker physiology and response to ambient conditions may contribute to ecologically significant differences among colonies in collective behavior.
Emerging roles for long noncoding RNAs in learning, memory and associated disorders

While protein-coding genes have been widely studied in learning and memory, the role of the non-coding genome has only recently been investigated. With advances in high throughput sequencing technologies and functional profiling methods, multiple long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been functionally and mechanistically linked with neurobiological processes related with learning and memory, as well disorders that lead to memory impairment. However, these macromolecules are still a subject of controversy and intense scrutiny regarding the proper criteria for determining their functionality and their evolution in the central nervous system. Recent studies have implicated multiple lncRNAs as critical regulators of gene expression in the central nervous system and mediate learning processes. In this review, we explore possible explanations for how lncRNAs are evolved in our central nervous system, discuss our current understanding of their involvement in learning and memory related disorders, and describe emerging tools for studying lncRNAs.
Effects of salinity and feeding on arm regeneration in the starfish Luidia clathrata (Say, 1825) (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)

The aim of this study was to determine: (1) salinity that maximizes arm regeneration in the starfish Luidia clathrata; and (2) if low food consumption or low salinity is the cause of the reduced ra...
Distinct kratom user populations across the United States: A regional analysis based on an online survey.

OBJECTIVE Kratom preparations have raised concerns of public health and safety in the United States. This paper analyzed the patterns and predictors of kratom use by four U.S. regions according to the U.S. Census. METHOD An anonymous cross-sectional online survey yielded 8,049 valid responses. The data were categorised by regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) and analyzed for the following predictors: age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, employment status, insurance coverage, education, and household income. RESULTS After adjusting for state population, the survey response rates were highest from Oregon, Idaho, and Florida. Kratom use was significantly lower for both prescription drug dependency and acute or chronic pain in the Northeast region than the rest of the country. Multiple logistic regression models found that gender, employment, and education were significant on the regional level. Higher education was associated with lower kratom use for an illicit drug dependency (p = .002) independent of region whereas men were less likely to use kratom for acute or chronic pain in the Northeast (p < .001) but more likely in the Midwest (p = .041). CONCLUSIONS The regional pattern of kratom use differed from opioid use data in both demographics and trend direction warranting further investigation.
Dangerous Sex: Gendered Sexual Bodies and Perceptions of STI Risk

Though previous work has explored how heterosexual and LGBTQ+ young adults make sexual decisions, research comparing these groups is still needed. Using interviews with 60 young adults (aged 22–32) with diverse gender and sexual identities in the USA, this paper investigates how constructions of gender contribute to perceptions of sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk. Across gender and sexual identities, young adults’ discussions of STI experiences, close calls, and fears draw heavily from binary gendered understandings of masculinized sexual bodies as dangerous and feminized sexual bodies as non-threatening. Yet aside from individuals’ gendered identities, gendered sexual bodies emerge as a construct in participants’ accounts that conflates gendered social traits with sex assigned at birth. Participants’ use of gendered sexual bodies to calculate sexual risk poses a potential challenge to larger efforts aimed at decoupling binary gendered norms and expectations from bodies since it helps naturalize associations between assigned sex and gendered characteristics. These findings have implications for theory but also for policy due to the extent to which understandings of gendered sexual bodies influence STI risk perceptions among young adults of varying gender and sexual identity categories.