cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunosuppressant-Driven De Novo Malignant Neoplasms after Solid-Organ Transplant:

Solid-organ transplant recipients are at a 3- to 5-fold increased risk of a de novo malignant neoplasm developing compared with the general population. The most frequently developed virus-associated malignant neoplasms are Kaposi sarcoma (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], 208.0), nonmelanoma skin cancer (SIR, 28.6), and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder, primarily non-Hodgkin lymphoma (SIR, 8.1). Immunosuppressive agents such as corticosteroids, antimetabolites, calcineurin inhibitors, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors play a key role in either causing or preventing this complication. It is hypothesized that some of these regimens can impair cancer surveillance, facilitate the action of oncogenic viruses, and promote direct oncogenic activity. Evolving research has shown promising dual antitumor and immunosuppressive properties of the mTOR inhibitor class. The effective management of posttransplant neoplasms most likely involves the use of these medications among other preven...
Non-Boussinesq effects and further development in a model of upper tropospheric frontogenesis

In previous papers, upper tropospheric frontogenesis has been exhibited in a model in which a horizontal deformation field acts on a temperature distribution in a Boussinesq two fluid system. The basic approximation made is that the flow along the incipient front is geostrophic. This approximation allows the reduction of the problem to that of solving a non-linear second order partial differential equation. Here this equation is solved by a slightly different technique. Non-Boussinesq effects are included and are shown to produce a strengthening of the upper-tropospheric front and its associated jet stream. Further deformation is allowed and the development of a more realistic front described.
Mechanisms that improve referential access

Gernsbacher, M.A., 1989. Mechanisms that improve referential access. Cognition 32: 99-156. Two mechanisms, suppression and enhancement, are proposed to improve referential access. Enhancement improves the accessibility of previously mentioned concepts by increasing or boosting their activation; suppression improves concepts' accessibility by decreasing or dampening the activation of other concepts. Presumably, these mechanisms are triggered by the informational content of anaphors. Six experiments investigated this proposal by manipulating whether an anaphoric reference was made with a very explicit, repeated name anaphor or a less explicit pronoun. Subjects read sentences that introduced two participants in their first clauses, for example, "Ann predicted that Pam would lose the track ~ace," and the sentences referred to one of the two participants in their secona clauses, "but Pare/she came in first very easily." While subjects read each sentence, the activation level of the two participants was measured by a probe verification task. The first two experiments demonstrated that explicit, repeated name anaphors immediately trigger the enhancement of their own antecedents and immediately trigger the suppression of other (nonantecedent) participants. The third experiment demonstrated that less explicit, pronoun anaphors also trigger the suppression of other nonantecedents, but they do so less quickly-even when, as in the fourth experiment, the semantic information io identify their antecedents occurs prior to the pronouns (e.g., "Ann predicted that Pam would lose the track race. But after winning the race, she ... "). The fifth experiment demonstrated that more explicit pronouns -pronouns that match the gender of only one participant-trigger suppression more powerfully. A final experiment demonstrated that it is not only
Promoting Thiol Expression Increases the Durability of Antitumor T-cell Functions

Ex vivo–expanded CD8 þ T cells used for adoptive immunotherapy generally acquire an effector memorylike phenotype (TEM cells). With regard to therapeutic applications, two undesired features of this phenotype in vivo are limited persistence and reduced antitumor efficacy, relative to CD8 þ T cells with a central memory-like phenotype (TCM cells). Furthermore, there is incomplete knowledge about all the differences between TEM and TCM cells that may influence tumor treatment outcomes. Given that TCM cells survive relatively longer in oxidative tumor microenvironments, we investigated the hypothesis that TCM cells possess relatively greater antioxidative capacity than TEM cells. Here, we report that TCM cells exhibit a relative increase compared with TEM cells in the expression of cell surface thiols, a key target of cellular redox controls, along with other antioxidant molecules. Increased expression of redox regulators in TCM cells inversely correlated with the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, proliferative capacity, and glycolytic enzyme levels. Notably, T-cell receptor–transduced T cells pretreated with thiol donors, such as N-acetyl cysteine or rapamycin, upregulated thiol levels and antioxidant genes. A comparison of antitumor CD8 þ T-cell populations on the basis of surface thiol expression showed that thiol-high cells persisted longer in vivo and exerted superior tumor control. Our results suggest that higher levels of reduced cell surface thiols are a key characteristic of T cells that can control tumor growth and that profiling this biomarker may have benefits to adoptive T-cell immunotherapy protocols. Cancer Res; 74(21); 6036–47. � 2014 AACR.
Near-field optical spectroscopy with 20 nm spatial resolution

A near-field optical method is introduced that makes use of the strongly enhanced electric field close to a sharply pointed metal tip under laser illumination. The tip is held a few nanometers above the sample surface so that a highly localized interaction between the enhanced field and the sample is achieved. The method has been successfully combined with vibrational spectroscopy by making use of the well-known effect of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). We mapped out the vibrational modes of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with a resolution better than 20 nm. The technique has great potential for becoming a routine tool for the chemical analysis of surfaces at high spatial resolution.
An experimental investigation of the effects of subcooling and velocity on boiling of freon-113

Boiling heat transfer correlations were obtained for the maximum and minimum heat fluxes. Relationships among q min /q max , Weber number, and liquid Jakob number were obtained. Compelling evidence was found to indicate that significant cooling of the wake and/or the forward stagnation line can be caused by large-scale liquid-solid contacts while other parts of the surface experienced film boiling with little or no contact in the transition-film boiling regime. A criterion for large-scale liquid-solid contacts was developed. Another purpose of this study was to investigate whether a stable transition of boiling exists, i.e., if the ratio of the minimum and maximum heat fluxes approaches unity as liquid subcooling and velocity are increased. Extensive data using Freon-113 were taken, covering a wide range of fluid velocities (1.5 to 6.9 m/s) and liquid subcooling (29 to 100°C) at pressures ranging from 122 to 509 kPa. Cylindrical electric resistance heaters of two diameters, 6.35 mm and 4.29 mm, and made of Hastelloy-C and titanium, respectively, were used. The maximum q min /q max achievable with the apparatus was 0.9.
Nature and functions of autoantibodies

Although autoantibodies occur in healthy individuals, pathogenic autoantibodies are the key etiologic agent in many autoimmune diseases in humans, most notably lupus erythematosus. In this Review the authors explore how these autoantibodies become pathogenic, what accounts for their specificity, how they cause disease and whether they have a clinical role as biomarkers of disease. Antibodies that react with self-molecules occur in healthy individuals and are referred to as natural antibodies or autoantibodies. Natural autoantibodies are mainly IgM, are encoded by unmutated V(D)J genes and display a moderate affinity for self-antigens. They provide a first line of defense against infections, probably serve housekeeping functions and contribute to the homeostasis of the immune system. By contrast, high-affinity, somatically mutated IgG autoantibodies reflect a pathologic process whereby homeostatic pathways related to cell clearance, antigen-receptor signaling or cell effector functions are disturbed. In some autoimmune disorders, autoantibodies might be present before disease onset, show remarkable specificity and serve as biomarkers providing an opportunity for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. In organ-specific autoimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis or pemphigus, autoantibodies directly bind to and injure target organs. In systemic autoimmune diseases, autoantibodies react with free molecules, such as phospholipids, as well as cell surface and nucleoprotein antigens, forming pathogenic antigen–antibody (immune) complexes. These autoantibodies injure tissues and organs through engagement of FcγR activation of complement as well as internalization and activation of Toll-like receptors. Activation of intracellular Toll-like receptors in plasmacytoid dendritic cells leads to the production of type I interferon, whereas engagement of intracellular Toll-like receptors on antigen-presenting cells stimulates cell activation and the production of other inflammatory cytokines. Thus, immune complexes might perpetuate a positive feedback loop amplifying inflammatory responses.
Reaction of Maleic Anhydride with cis-Isolated Unsaturated Fatty Acid Esters

The structures of maleic anhydride adducts of essentially pure oleic, linoleic and linolenic methyl esters have been determined. The cleavage of the methyl oleate adduct yields a product with a succinyl structure, with or without shift of the double bond; four isomeric structures are possible. The first adduct of maleic anhydride with methyl linoleate is a succinyl derivative followed by a shift into the conjugated isomer with which the second maleic anhydride reacts via a 1–4 Diels Alder addition to yield a second adduct having a cyclohexene structure. The first two moles of maleic anhydride add to methyl linolenate to form di-succinyl derivatives followed by a shift into conjugated diene and triene. The third maleic anhydride adds via a 1–4 addition to yield a disuccinyl and one 1–4 adduct. A number of isomers are possible for the linoleate and linolenate adduct.
Oscillometry complements spirometry in evaluation of subjects following toxic inhalation.

The World Trade Center (WTC) destruction released dust and fumes into the environment. Although many community members developed respiratory symptoms, screening spirometry was usually normal. We hypothesised that forced oscillation testing would identify functional abnormalities undetected by spirometry and that symptom severity would relate to magnitude of abnormalities measured by oscillometry. A symptomatic cohort (n=848) from the Bellevue Hospital WTC Environmental Health Center was evaluated and compared to an asymptomatic cohort (n=475) from the New York City Department of Health WTC Health Registry. Spirometry and oscillometry were performed. Oscillometry measurements included resistance (R5) and frequency dependence of resistance (R5−20). Spirometry was normal for the majority of subjects (73.2% symptomatic versus 87.6% asymptomatic, p<0.0001). In subjects with normal spirometry, R5 and R5−20 were higher in symptomatic versus asymptomatic subjects (median (interquartile range) R5 0.436 (0.206) versus 0.314 (0.129) kPa·L −1 ·s −1 , p<0.001; R5−20 0.075 (0.085) versus 0.004 (0.042) kPa·L −1 ·s −1 , p<0.0001). In symptomatic subjects, R5 and R5−20 increased with increasing severity and frequency of wheeze (p<0.05). Measurement of R5-20 correlated with the presence and severity of symptoms even when spirometry was within normal limits. These findings are in accord with small airway abnormalities as a potential explanation of the respiratory symptoms.
Traces of Power: Europe’s Impact on the Political Organization of the Globe

The colonial and imperial activities of European powers have had profound and lasting impacts on the political organization of space throughout the world. This chapter provides an overview of those impacts. Colonizers encountered vastly different understandings of concepts such as distance, property, borders, and space as they spread throughout the world, and they sought to “normalize” pre-colonial geographies with those familiar to them. It is argued in this chapter that a crucial element of imperialism was the re-writing (or reterritorialization) of space to better suit both the economic and cultural aspirations of the colonial power as they wrested control over spatial relations from previous occupants. This objective was accomplished technocratically, by means of comprehensive mapping and surveying, as well as politically, and also by means of the imposition of new regimes of governing the allocation of land and resources. The lasting impacts of these policies are manifest in the contemporary political map of the world.
Response to Letter Regarding Article, "Monocyte Count and 30-Day Case Fatality in Intracerebral Hemorrhage".

We appreciate the letter from Hu et al1 on our recent publication.2 Our response addresses 2 points raised in their letter: (1) evidence that infiltrating neutrophils (not monocytes) play a role in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)–induced brain injury and (2) their multivariate logistic regression analysis of 321 patients with ICH, which found (contrary to our analysis) that higher total white blood cell and neutrophil counts, but not monocyte count, were independently associated with mortality. We agree that there is a preponderance of evidence that neutrophils are present in and around the hematoma after ICH. However, we note that neutrophils facilitate monocyte recruitment to the injury site, and recent experiments have found that monocytes were more numerous …
Is HFpEF one disease or many

About one-half of people with heart failure (HF) have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) [(1)][1]. There is no proven effective treatment that prolongs life for people with HFpEF. In addition to left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, afflicted patients display LV systolic
Understanding and Securing the LLP Shield in New York - Part One

Partners practicing in LLP firms should not assume that the LLP structure provides an impervious shield. Rather LLP partners, as well as those dealing with and suing LLPs, should understand the statutory protection and applicable case law. As discussed above, the liability shield provided by the limited liability partnership is not absolute and may be altered by agreements, such as guarantees signed by partners. In addition, practitioners should recognize that they risk vicarious liability if statutory requirements are not met. Part II of this article will discuss traps associated with practicing in LLP firms and steps that can be taken to help preserve the liability protection available under state law.
Natural or Free Convection

As opposed to a forced convection flow where external means are used to provide the flow, the free-convection flow field is a self-sustained flow driven by the presence of a temperature gradient.
Perspectives on system languages and abstraction

Barbara Liskov examines the evolution of abstractions, such as processes and software layers, to organize complex systems. Some abstractions are separate service processes invoked by RPC, others are overlaid on a user's process by monitors. Many have found their way into system programming languages. Communication is a major issue.
Easy Monotonic Policy Iteration

A key problem in reinforcement learning for control with general function approximators (such as deep neural networks and other nonlinear functions) is that, for many algorithms employed in practice, updates to the policy or $Q$-function may fail to improve performance---or worse, actually cause the policy performance to degrade. Prior work has addressed this for policy iteration by deriving tight policy improvement bounds; by optimizing the lower bound on policy improvement, a better policy is guaranteed. However, existing approaches suffer from bounds that are hard to optimize in practice because they include sup norm terms which cannot be efficiently estimated or differentiated. In this work, we derive a better policy improvement bound where the sup norm of the policy divergence has been replaced with an average divergence; this leads to an algorithm, Easy Monotonic Policy Iteration, that generates sequences of policies with guaranteed non-decreasing returns and is easy to implement in a sample-based framework.
Apollo Black-and-White Television Scan Converter

The communication system considerations of the Apollo space program limits the bandwidth available for TV signals to 0.5 MHz. Consequently, the Apollo black-and-white TV cameras operate at slow scan rates. The Command Module camera operates at ten frames/s and the Lunar Surveying camera produces one frame in 1.6 s. Both cameras are non-interlaced. The signals as received on the ground are not compatible with the standard broadcast rates, and scan conversion is required to convert to standard EIA format video signals suitable for transmission over commercial broadcast networks. The scan converter primarily consists of a kinescope which displays the slow-scan video, a vidicon camera which stores and converts the information to broadcast field and line rates, and a magnetic disc recorder which stores and repeatedly plays back the broadcast video. A detailed discussion of the various features and performance of the scan converter is presented, including incorporated image-enhancement techniques, pictures through the system, comments on actual performance and potential for improvement.
Reliability growth and demonstration: The Multi-Phase Reliability Growth Model (MPRGM)

The Multi-Phase Reliability Growth Model (MPRGM) has two key distinguishing features when compared with extant reliability growth models. Firstly, it accurately incorporates complex reliability growth test phases based on ‘design dates,’ allowing observed reliability characteristics to be attributable to specific points in reliability growth. The incorporation of ‘design dates’ allows complex, overlapping and dissimilar phases of reliability growth testing to be accurately incorporated into subsequent analysis. In contrast to the MPRGM, many existing models assume immediate implementation of design improvements (corrective actions or fixes) on discovering failure, or uniform application of ‘design delays’ in implementing reliability growth test phases. Secondly and perhaps most importantly, the MPRGM involves an ‘abstract time,’ 10, associated with preliminary design. This time implies that a system's reliability is ‘zero’ at the point where preliminary design commences and not the start of reliability growth testing. This overcomes the problem of many Power Law reliability growth models that imply a nonsensical mean time between failure of zero at the commencement of reliability growth. By overcoming these shortcomings, the MPRGM is equally applicable to reliability growth planning, tracking and projection. It also allows data from multiple reliability growth test phases to be aggregated in a way that provides assurance on demonstrated reliability growth, to the extent that it can be used in an acceptance testing framework.
Chloroquine and onchocerciasis.

My original elective proposal was to study the prevalence and nature of onchocerciasis or 'river blindness' along the Canande River in Esmeraldas province of Ecuador (Cooper, 1986). However, unknown to me, this study was completed and published before I arrived (Guderian et al, 1987). Fortunately, on arrival I was able to join the same group on a study of the efficacy of chloroquine in the control of onchocerciasis.
The physiologic treatment of nasal obstruction.

A combination of structural deformity and rhinitis is often responsible for nasal obstruction. Intranasal, intramucosal injections of long-acting corticosteroids have proved to be of great benefit in the treatment of chronic allergic, vasomotor, and hypertrophic rhinitis, and they are a useful adjunct to rhinoplastic surgery.
Comparative Policy Analysis: Introduction

Policy regimes are systematic approaches to policy formation made by sets of government or governance institutions that steer capitalist economies in different directions – different enough to matt...
Lifestyle Medicine and Chronic Pulmonary Disease

Lifestyle medicine plays an important role in the prevention and management of chronic pulmonary disease. Presently, medical treatment options available for chronic pulmonary diseases can improve respiratory symptoms and quality of life, but scientific evidence shows that attention to lifestyle medicine issues can further enhance the benefit of these therapies. This chapter will focus on four specific chronic pulmonary diseases: cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and interstitial lung disease. Relevant lifestyle interventions that can significantly improve quality of life in patients with these diseases are discussed.
Exploring Gender Biases with Virtual Patients for High Stakes Interpersonal Skills Training

The use of virtual characters in a variety of research areas is widespread. One such area is healthcare. The study presented in this paper leveraged virtual patients to examine whether virtual patients are more likely to be correctly diagnosed due to gender and skin tone. Medical students at the University of Florida College of Medicine interacted with six virtual patients across two sessions. The six virtual patients comprised various combinations of gender and skin tone. Each virtual patient presented with a different cranial nerve injury. The results indicate a significant difference in correct diagnosis according to patient gender for one of the cases. In that case, female patients were correctly diagnosed more frequently than their male counterpart. The description of that case required that the virtual patient present with a visible bruise on the forehead. We hypothesize the results obtained could be due to a transfer of a real world gender bias.
Do dark matter halos explain lensing peaks

We have investigated a recently proposed halo-based model, Camelus, for predicting weak-lensing peak counts, and compared its results over a collection of 162 cosmologies with those from N-body simulations. While counts from both models agree for peaks with $\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}g1$ (where $\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}$ is the ratio of the peak height to the r.m.s. shape noise), we find $\ensuremath{\approx}50%$ fewer counts for peaks near $\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}=0$ and significantly higher counts in the negative $\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}$ tail. Adding shape noise reduces the differences to within 20% for all cosmologies. We also found larger covariances that are more sensitive to cosmological parameters. As a result, credibility regions in the ${{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{m},{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{8}}$ are $\ensuremath{\approx}30%$ larger. Even though the credible contours are commensurate, each model draws its predictive power from different types of peaks. Low peaks, especially those with $2l\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}l3$, convey important cosmological information in N-body data, as shown in previous studies, but Camelus constrains cosmology almost exclusively from high significance peaks $(\mathcal{S}/\mathcal{N}g3)$. Our results confirm the importance of using a cosmology-dependent covariance with at least a 14% improvement in parameter constraints. We identified the covariance estimation as the main driver behind differences in inference, and suggest possible ways to make Camelus even more useful as a highly accurate peak count emulator.
Fee-Shifting and Shareholder Litigation

A fee-shifting bylaw provision requires the plaintiff-shareholder to reimburse the litigation expenses of the defendant-corporation when the plaintiff is not successful in litigation. After the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that the provision is enforceable in 2014, a number of corporations adopted fee-shifting provisions, utilizing the directors’ right to amend bylaws without express shareholder approval. In 2015, the Delaware legislature responded by amending the Delaware General Corporation Law to prohibit fee-shifting. This paper argues that the optimal fee-shifting arrangement lies somewhere between the version adopted by the corporations and no fee-shifting mandated by the Delaware legislature. A more balanced fee-shifting provision will do better in achieving the goal of encouraging meritorious lawsuits and discouraging frivolous ones, especially with respect to direct shareholder lawsuits. For derivative lawsuits, a balanced fee-shifting rule will impose a higher threshold on the merits than the traditional, no-fee-shifting rule. The paper also examines the fee-shifting provisions that are used in commercial agreements, notably stock purchase agreements and bond indentures, that employ more balanced fee-shifting arrangements but with variation. The paper finally argues that, given that there is unlikely one fee-shifting provision that is optimal for all corporations and for all types of litigation, the courts should consider applying the “proper or equitable purpose” requirement more vigorously to maintain flexibility while prohibiting undue restriction on shareholders’ legitimate right to sue.
Abstract P082: Mitochondrial Gene Expression is Decreased in Renal Inner Medulla of Non-human Primates with Spontaneous Hypertension

Mitochondrial gene expression may influence renal function and consequently, long-term blood pressure control. The African Green Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus; AGM) exhibits heritable, spontaneous hypertension and thus is a translational model for the study of human essential hypertension. We hypothesized that renal mitochondrial gene expression in hypertensive AGMs is decreased and may contribute to renal mitochondrial dysfunction in specific kidney regions. AGMs were phenotyped as normotensive (NT, systolic blood pressure; SBP 140 mmHg) by forearm plethysmography. Gene expression was determined using qRT-PCR with RNA extracted from renal cortex, outer medulla (OM), inner medulla (IM), and liver of 18 HT (mean SBP 166±7 mmHg) and 18 NT (mean SBP 98±3 mmHg) animals. In renal cortical and OM tissue of HT vervets, COX 3 (Complex IV), Cyt B (Complex III), NADH4 (Complex I) and ATP8 (Complex V) expression were similar in NT and HT AGMs. In IM of HT AGMs, COX3, NADH4, ATP8, and CYTB were downregulated by 4.7-fold (p=0.007), 4-fold (p=0.002), 4.1-fold (p=0.006), and 3-fold (p=0.018), respectively. In the liver, COX 3 expression was decreased 1.9-fold (p=0.04), 1.6-fold for ATP8 (p=0.03), and 2.0-fold for CYTB (p=0.01). Expression of SDH (Complex II) and COX4 (Complex IV), nuclear encoded subunits of the OXPHOS chain, was also assessed. SDH expression was up-regulated 8-fold in renal OM (p=0.005) but unchanged in liver, IM, and cortex. COX4 expression however, was down-regulated in OM by 8-fold (p=0.05), in IM by 5-fold (p=0.011) but unchanged in cortex and liver. Gene expression of the mitochondrial transcription factor TFAM was downregulated by 4-fold in renal OM, and unchanged in renal cortex and liver. Citrate synthase activity showed no difference in mitochondrial number between NT and HT AGMs (p=0.73). We suggest that reduced expression of mitochondrially encoded OXPHOS subunits in the renal IM may contribute to the development of hypertension in the AGM. Mitochondrial gene down-regulation in the liver may be a consequence of the systemic hypertension. We conclude that altered mitochondrial gene expression may be a cellular response to increased oxidative stress in the renal inner medulla of HT AGM.
Economics and Mis-Mathematics

There are at least two different infinites: countable ones such as the Integers, the Rational Numbers, and the Algebraic Numbers, and non-countable ones, such as for the Real Number continuum. These latter are required for the Calculus, Game and Probability theory, the Theory of Vector Spaces, and so on. But under “methodological individualism”, all competitive transactions must be individually discriminable, hence countable. Thus, it is a mis-mathematics to cast them, as has been the practice, in the continuum and to perform, as economists do, unrestricted Real Number operations upon them. The chapter explores the limits imposed when the Real Numbers must in the general case be restricted to only instrumental use, and not, as now, as embodying substantial truth in Economics.
Consumer Health Information Services and Programs: Best Practices

One of the most important aspects of consumer health information services and programs is the emphasis on best practices. As a consumer health librarian, I am always looking for successful examples of services and programs that I can offer to the patients and families of my hospital. This book is an invaluable resource for consumer health librarians, especially those who are solo, as I am. I usually have to attend the Medical Library Association (MLA) annual meeting or solicit ideas from MEDLIB-L readers to find out about ideas that work.
Determinants of Adiposity Rebound Timing in Children.

Objective Adiposity rebound (AR) or BMI (body mass index) rebound refers to the increase in BMI following the minimum BMI in early childhood. Early AR (before age 5) is predictive of adult obesity. To determine how 4 domains – demographics, maternal BMI, food security, and behavioral characteristics – may affect timing of AR. Study design A total of 248 children, ages 2.5-3.5 years, in Latino farmworker families in North Carolina were examined at baseline and every 3 months for 2 years. BMI was plotted serially for each child and the onset of BMI rebound was determined by visual inspection of the graphs. Given the ages of the children, all rebounds were detected before age 5 years and were deemed “early,” whereas other children were classified as “nonrebounders.” Classes were then compared in terms of the 4 domains with the use of bivariate analyses and linear mixed models. Results A total of 131 children demonstrated early rebound, 59 children were nonrebounders, and a further 35 had inconclusive data. Parents of early rebounders were less likely to have documentation permitting legal residence in the US. Mothers of early rebounders were on average 3 BMI units heavier. Sex, household food security, diet quality, caloric intake, and daily activity did not differ between classes. In multivariable analysis, female sex, limited maternal education, increased maternal BMI, and increased caloric intake were significant predictors of early rebound. Conclusion High maternal BMI was the strongest predictor of early BMI rebound, but increased caloric intake also was significant. Limiting excess calories could delay premature AR and lower the risk of future obesity.
Domestic political determinants of the onset of WTO disputes

Trade disputes are driven by domestic politics, and the onset of trade disputes are driven by changes in the leadership within states. We offer two stylized facts for explanation: Leader change leads to dispute onset, and the effect is greater in autocracies than in democracies. We develop a model that explains changes in trade policy and dispute onset induced by shifts in the sectors represented in government when leaders change. Democracies protect a wider set of industries at shallower levels than do autocracies. When leaders change in autocracies, new sectors enter the winning coalition, resulting in new deeper barriers that spark disputes. When leaders change in democracies, the change in the winning coalition is not as stark, and the depth of the shifts in trade barriers is not that large, resulting is a smaller effect on dispute initiation.
Clinical Features of Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma

The clinical features of pheochromocytoma are principally the result of catecholamine release from the tumor. As a consequence alarming, and occasionally spectacular, clinical presentations may occur. Hypertension is the most common manifestation of pheochromocytoma occurring in over 90% of patients. In about 10% the tumor is found during family screening or incidentally noted on imaging for another indication. The typical paroxysm or spell is the most characteristic manifestation, occurring in about 50% of patients. Headache, sweating, and palpitations are the most common symptoms noted during a paroxysm, but chest or abdominal pain is common as well. Although it is not necessary nor desirable to screen all hypertensive patients for pheochromocytoma, certain distinctive features warrant ruling out a chromaffin tumor: “spells,” new carbohydrate intolerance, orthostatic hypotension in the untreated state, malignant hypertension, recent onset hypertension, marked BP lability, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, adrenal mass on imaging, unanticipated swings in BP in response to drugs or instrumentation, and family history of syndromic pheochromocytoma. The trick is to think of it; once pheochromocytoma is considered, the diagnosis can be readily confirmed or excluded in almost all cases.
The Dragon Upstream: China’s Role in Lancang-Mekong Development

This chapter examines China’s development on the upstream half of the Lancang-Mekong river, including the perspectives on local, regional, national, and international development that inform and motivate the nature and magnitude of that development. The primary goals of the chapter are to explain China’s development approach to the Lancang-Mekong basin, Chinese development priorities for the upper half of the basin, and how those priorities are shaped and acted upon in China. I begin by describing the physical and human geographic characteristics of the Chinese half of the Lancang-Mekong Basin. Next, I lay out a series of problems or issues as perceived within China, and show that the corresponding solution to each problem wholly or partially justifies (from the Chinese development state’s perspective) the construction of major infrastructure projects in southwestern and western China, of which the Lancang hydroelectric cascade is a major component. Finally, I discuss decision-making structures and practices in China and how they shape China’s engagement with downstream neighbors regarding basin-wide development.
Bioeconomy and Transportation Infrastructure Impacts: A Case Study of Iowa’s Renewable Energy

The federal government is aggressively promoting biofuels as an answer to global climate change and dependence on imported energy sources. As a result, ethanol production in the United States (U.S.) grew at an annual rate of 32% between 2005 and 2008 spurred on by the U.S. Department of Energy’s goal of having 20% of U.S. transportation fuels to come from biological-based sources by 2030. This will require a dramatic increase in the present levels of ethanol and biodiesel production and distribution and have significant infrastructure implications as transportation of raw materials to the biorefineries and biofuel to markets will not only create additional transport demand but also competition and significant growth in other major freight categories. The present chapter first discusses the physical and fiscal impacts of biofuel plants and wind power industries. Then, using a sample of 24 counties in the north, west, and south part of Iowa, which were identified through a local agency survey as having a large number of diverse facilities, one-way panel data regression models are presented that estimate pavement condition and maintenance costs as a function of vehicle miles traveled, plant capacity and years of operation, corn and soybean production, and soil and environmental conditions.
Organic–inorganic metal halide hybrids beyond perovskites

Organic–inorganic metal halide hybrids have emerged as new generation functional materials with exceptional structure and property tunability for a variety of applications. Besides the most investi...
Effective Scenario Selection for Preventive Stochastic Unit Commitment during Hurricanes

In 2017, four hurricanes made U.S. landfalls, leading to millions of customer outages. Our previous work shows that weather forecast can be used to estimate the failure of transmission lines during hurricanes; these failure estimations can be effectively used in stochastic optimizations and guide preventive operation to reduce outages. However, the large number of possible contingency scenarios, caused by hurricanes, makes preventive operation extremely computationally burdensome. The problem can be practically solved with only a small number of representative scenarios. Thus, the effectiveness of preventive operation would directly depend on the scenario selection process. This paper examines two scenario selection methods, which eliminate (a) the unlikely and (b) the inconsequential scenarios. Simulation studies were carried out on IEEE 118-bus system, mapped to the Texas transmission network, using Hurricane Harvey wind data. The paper sheds light on the effective selection of an appropriate number of scenarios with acceptable computational complexity.
Abstract # 3153 Microglial phagocytosis of newborn cells is induced by endocannabinoids and sculpts sex differences in social play

The amygdala is a sexually dimorphic brain region important for juvenile social play behavior. During neonatal development, the male amygdala contains fewer newborn cells than females. This sex difference inversely correlates to the expression of juvenile social play, a process we previously demonstrated to be the result of a higher developmental endocannabinoid (ECB) tone in the male amygdala. We now report that microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, are more phagocytic in the male amygdala during this postnatal window, suggesting a possible mechanism by which ECBs affect the number of newborn cells. Based on these data, we hypothesized that microglia control the number of newborn cells in the postnatal rat amygdala by phagoptosing (targeted phagocytosis of viable cells) newborn cells in an ECB-dependent manner. Administering testosterone or cannabinoid receptor agonists to female pups masculinized the number of phagocytic microglia and correspondingly decreased the number of newborn cells. Further analysis found that microglia engulf newborn cells, and in males, microglia phagocytose more newborn astrocytes. Inhibiting phagocytosis increased the number of newborn cells only in males, demonstrating that newborn cells can survive if phagocytic activity is prevented. Together, these data suggest that sex differences in the local environment of the developing amygdala instruct microglia to actively phagoptose newborn cells as a means to sculpt the later life architecture of the amygdala .
Retirement Preparation in Subjects of Working Age

The need to offer the elderly a better inclusion in society after retirement is felt at many different levels: by the old people themselves, in the health care services, in economic programmes and in a new ethical concept of old age (Scortegagna, 1991). Suffering, widely felt experienced by the elderly and expressed as a feeling of marginalization, is an evident sign of poor intervention on their behalf (Marcellini et al., 1989; Anderson and Weber, 1993).
Microbial enrichment and multiplexed microfiltration for accelerated detection of Salmonella in spinach

To attain Salmonella detection thresholds in spinach suspensions using enrichment media requires at least 24 hr. Separation and concentration of selected microorganisms via microfiltration and microfugation reduce time for sample preparation, especially when working with large volumes of vegetable suspensions. This facilitates accelerated detection of Salmonella in spinach suspensions, and may contribute to effectively monitoring this pathogen before it reaches the consumer. We report a microfiltration-based protocol for accelerated sample preparation to concentrate and recover ≤1 colony forming unit (CFU) Salmonella/g pathogen-free spinach. Store-bought samples of spinach and a spinach plant subjected to two environmental conditions (temperature and light exposure) during its production were tested. The overall procedure involves extraction with buffer, a short enrichment step, prefiltration using a nylon filter, crossflow hollow fiber microfiltration, and retentate centrifugation to bring microbial cells to detection levels. Based on 1 CFU Salmonella/g frozen spinach, and a Poisson distribution statistical analyses with 99% probability, we calculated that 3 hr of incubation, when followed by microfiltration, is sufficient to reach the 2 log concentration required for Salmonella detection within 7 hr. Longer enrichment times (5 hr or more) is needed for concentrations lower than 1 CFU Salmonella/g of ready to eat spinach. The recovered microbial cells were identified and confirmed as Salmonella using both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and plating methods. Different environmental conditions tested during production did not affect Salmonella viability; this demonstrated the broad adaptability of Salmonella and emphasized the need for methods that enable efficient monitoring of production for the presence of this pathogen.
Impact of Renal Dysfunction on Periprocedural Outcomes in Patients with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Undergoing Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

Background Ischemic cardiomyopathy is associated with multiple comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and kidney disease. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and left ventricular systolic heart failure have a 2-year cumulative survival as low as 33%. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy and progression to ESRD in patients undergoing PCI. Hypothesis Patients with preoperative CKD undergoing elective revascularization with PCI for ischemic cardiomyopathy will have worse periprocedural outcomes. Methods Hospitalizations for systolic heart failure and PCI (and no acute myocardial infarction (MI)) were identified from the 2006-2014 National Inpatient Sample based on ICD-9 codes. Patients were categorized into normal renal function, preoperative CKD stages 1-4, or preoperative ESRD, and compared in terms of demographics, comorbidities, inpatient mortality, length of stay (LOS), and cost of care. Trends over time were determined using the Cochran Armitage and Cuzick tests. Multivariate models were constructed with logistic and linear regression (gamma function) using the NIS discharge weights and adjusted for age and comorbidities including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking, and family history of MI. Results Patients with ESRD were at increased odds of dying during the perioperative period compared to normal renal function (OR = 2.54; 95%-c.i.=2.17-2.98). In-hospital mortality was 1.1% in normal renal function vs. 2.84% in patients with ESRD. LOS increased over time for the normal function group (mean 5.1 days) (p 0.05). LOS was on average 1.1 days longer (0.9-1.3) in the CKD stage 1-4 and 2.6 days longer (2.3-3.0) in the ESRD group compared to normal renal function. Although total charges increased over the study period in the normal renal function and ESRD groups (p Conclusions Patients with ESRD and CKD stages 1-4 undergoing PCI for ischemic cardiomyopathy have greater in-hospital mortality, LOS, and total charges and carry a higher rate of post-procedural complications.
Efficient Population of the Verification Tradespace Using Bayesian Inference

This article presents a process to efficiently elicit belief models of verification strategies in the context of applying tradespace exploration to the design of verification strategies. The need for efficiency is at the core of tradespace exploration, where a large region of the solution space needs to be explored before anchoring to a specific solution or solution set. In conceptual design and systems architecture, solutions are modeled by leveraging independent models that are connected by an overarching model. In designing verification strategies, however, verification activities cannot be modeled independently of the overall strategy in which they are used. As a result, probabilities associated with the confidence generated by each verification activity, need to be elicited for each candidate verification strategy individually. This requires, in principle, to generate a specific model for each solution in the solution space, which may hamper efficiency. In this article, we show that Bayesian inference can be used to overcome this limitation. In particular, the proposed process in this article uses only one elicitation activity for an overarching verification strategy and then leverages Bayesian inference to determine automatically the probabilities of other verification strategies in the solution space.
Phospholipid Structure, Properties and Interactions

Amphipathic polar lipids play a key structural role in the organization of two important classes of lipid-protein assemblies (Fig. 1). First, these polar lipids provided the stabilizing lipid monolayer of the plasma lipoproteins (e.g. high density and low density lipoproteins) involved in lipid transport. Functional apoproteins embedded in the lipid monolayer regulate lipoprotein secretion from cells, act as co-factors for lipolytic enzymes, and are involved in binding of lipoproteins to membrane receptors (see below). In addition, polar lipids constitute the polar lipid bilayer compartment of the plasma (and organelle) membranes of cells. Again membrane proteins with specific functions (enzymes, transport proteins, receptors, etc.) are organized in the lipid bilayer in specific, asymmetric orientations. These two lipid matrices are comprised of glycerolipids (phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, etc.), sphingolipids (including sphingomyelin and glycosphingolipids), as well as cholesterol.
A Generative Approach Toward Precision Antimicrobial Peptide Design

Abstract As the emergence of bacterial resistance is outpacing the development of new antibiotics, we must find cost-effective and innovative approaches to discover new antibacterial therapeutics. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent one promising solution to fill this void, since they generally undergo faster development, display rapid onsets of killing, and most importantly, show lower risks of induced resistance. Despite prior success in AMP design with physics- and/or knowledge-based approaches, an efficient approach to precisely design peptides with high activity and selectivity is still lacking. Toward this goal, we have invented a novel approach which utilizes a generative model to predict AMP-like sequences, followed by molecular modeling to rank the candidates. Thus, we can identify peptides with desirable sequences, structures, and potential specific interactions with bacterial membranes. For the proof of concept, we curated a dataset that comprises 500,000 non-AMP peptide sequences and nearly 8,000 labeled AMP sequences to train the generative model. For 12 generated peptides that are cationic and likely helical, we assessed the membrane binding propensity via extensive all-atom molecular simulations. The top six peptides were promoted for synthesis, chemical characterizations, and antibacterial assays, showing various inhibition to bacterial growth. Three peptides were validated with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. In aggregate, the combination of AMP generator and sophisticated molecular modeling affords enhanced speed and accuracy in AMP design. Our approach and results demonstrate the viability of a generative approach to develop novel AMPs and to help contain the rise of antibiotic resistant microbes.