cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of heart disease in the neonate and fetus.

Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography has had a major impact on the diagnostic and therapeutic management of the newborn infant and fetus with a cardiovascular disorder. This article illustrates the use of the ultrasound techniques in the diagnosis of heart disease in the acyanotic newborn infant with a left-to- right shunt or ventricular outflow obstruction and the cyanotic infant with increased or decreased pulmonary vascularity. In addition, echocardiography has proven invaluable in the in utero diagnosis of cardiovascular abnormalities (structural or rhythm disturbances). This article also reviews the indications for and technical aspects of the fetal echocardiographic examination.
AMMONIUM NITRATE BLASTING AGENTS

I have read with interest the article by Jack Martin and Thomas O. Hall on ammonium nitrate blasting agents in seismic work (GEOPHYSICS, v. 24, p. 155–163).
Landscape into Myth: Theocritus' Bucolic Poetry

‘I no longer look upon Theocritus as a romantic writer,’ wrote Lady Montagu to Alexander Pope; ‘he has only given a plain image of the way of life amongst the peasants of his country … I don't doubt, had he been born a Briton, but his Idylliums had been filled with descriptions of thrashing and churning.’ Thanks to greater sophistication about the nature of pastoral and a better knowledge of Hellenistic poetry we have probably left behind forever the notion of Theocritus as the conveyor of a ‘plain image’ of rustic life. The alternative is not, of course, the ‘romantic’ Theocritus, but a poet of consummate literary artistry, wit, and irony. Besides the critical commonplace of rustic realism the other stumbling block to a satisfactory appreciation of Theocritus has been the inevitable comparison with Virgil. Critics who have viewed Theocritus through lenses adjusted to Virgil have tended to emphasize the emotional complexity, inwardness, and seriousness of the Latin poet over against the outward-facing playfulness and lightness of the Greek. Theocritus certainly lacks the tension between historical reality and poetry which gives the Eclogues their special depth and poignancy; but he has a seriousness of a different sort. The simplicity and trivial realism which are sometimes attributed to the bucolic Idylls are in fact themselves part of the poetic fiction and often stand in deliberate self-contradiction with mythical elements in the form and structure of the work.
MOSAIC-A Model for Computer-Supported Collaborative Work

The proliferation of personal and medium-sized computers, the widespread availability of data communication networks, and the need to support cooperative work among geographically dispersed individuals have motivated the recent development of distributed information-management environments (DIME). In this paper, we explore the functions and structure of DIMEs, describe the MOSAIC reference model for computer-supported collaborative work, and present an example of a prototype DIME designed to support collaborative decision making among individuals in distributed command-and-control environments.
Estimating vegetation biomass and cover across large plots in shrub and grass dominated drylands using terrestrial lidar and machine learning

Abstract Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has been shown to enable an efficient, precise, and non-destructive inventory of vegetation structure at ranges up to hundreds of meters. We developed a method that leverages TLS collections with machine learning techniques to model and map canopy cover and biomass of several classes of short-stature vegetation across large plots. We collected high-definition TLS scans of 26 1-ha plots in desert grasslands and big sagebrush shrublands in southwest Idaho, USA. We used the Random Forests machine learning algorithm to develop decision tree models predicting the biomass and canopy cover of several vegetation classes from statistical descriptors of the aboveground heights of TLS points. Manual measurements of vegetation characteristics collected within each plot served as training and validation data. Models based on five or fewer TLS descriptors of vegetation heights were developed to predict the canopy cover fraction of shrubs (R2 = 0.77, RMSE = 7%), annual grasses (R2 = 0.70, RMSE = 21%), perennial grasses (R2 = 0.36, RMSE = 12%), forbs (R2 = 0.52, RMSE = 6%), bare earth or litter (R2 = 0.49, RMSE = 19%), and the biomass of shrubs (R2 = 0.71, RMSE = 175 g) and herbaceous vegetation (R2 = 0.61, RMSE = 99 g) (all values reported are out-of-bag). Our models explained much of the variability between predictions and manual measurements, and yet we expect that future applications could produce even better results by reducing some of the methodological sources of error that we encountered. Our work demonstrates how TLS can be used efficiently to extend manual measurement of vegetation characteristics from small to large plots in grasslands and shrublands, with potential application to other similarly structured ecosystems. Our method shows that vegetation structural characteristics can be modeled without classifying and delineating individual plants, a challenging and time-consuming step common in previous methods applying TLS to vegetation inventory. Improving application of TLS to studies of shrub-steppe ecosystems will serve immediate management needs by enhancing vegetation inventories, environmental modeling studies, and the ability to train broader datasets collected from air and space.
What Do Tweens Think about Fashion Apparel Brands?An Exploration of Tween’s Perceptions about Brand Personality

When preparing advertisements directed towards consumers, it is imperative to know who the target market is and how they view specific brands. When targeting Generation Z tweens, it is crucial to understand who they are as consumers and what they look for in the products they purchase. The Generation Z segment can be described who was born from 1998 and will continue to be born until approximately 2018 (Brock, Ulrich, & Connell, 2010). The word “tween” is a recent term defining the age gap between childhood and adolescence, ranging from ages 8 to 13 (Brock et al., 2010).
Effect of Budesonide Added to Large-Volume, Low-pressure Saline Sinus Irrigation for Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Recent studies suggest that budesonide added to saline nasal lavage can be an effective treatment for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Objective To evaluate the incremental effect of adding budesonide to large-volume, low-pressure saline sinus irrigation. Design, Setting, and Participants This double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial was conducted at a quaternary care academic medical center between January 1, 2016, and February 16, 2017. A total of 80 adult patients with CRS were enrolled; 74 completed baseline assessments; and 61 remained in the trial to complete all analyses. Data analysis was conducted from March 2017 to August 2017. Interventions All study participants were provided with a sinus rinse kit including saline and identical-appearing capsules that contained either budesonide (treatment group) or lactose (control group). Patients were instructed to dissolve the capsules in the saline and use the resulting solution to irrigate both nasal cavities, using half the solution for each cavity, once daily for 30 days. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome measure was the change in Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores, pretreatment to posttreatment, in the budesonide group compared with the control group. Secondary outcome measures included patient-reported response to treatment, as measured with a modification of the Clinical Global Impressions scale, and endoscopic examination scored by the Lund-Kennedy grading system. Results Of the 74 participants who completed baseline assessments (37 in each study arm), mean (SD) age, 51 (14.7) years, 50 (68%) were women. Of the 61 who remained in the trial to complete all analyses, 29 were randomized to budesonide treatment, and 32 to saline alone. The average change in SNOT-22 scores was 20.7 points for those in the budesonide group and 13.6 points for those in the control group, for a mean difference of 7 points in favor of the budesonide group (95% CI, −2 to 16). A total of 23 participants (79%) in the budesonide group experienced a clinically meaningful reduction in their SNOT-22 scores compared with 19 (59%) in the control group, for a difference of 20% (95% CI, −2.5% to 42.5%). The average change in endoscopic scores was 3.4 points for the budesonide group and 2.7 points for the control group. There were no related adverse events. Conclusions and Relevance This study shows that budesonide in saline nasal lavage results in clinically meaningful benefits beyond the benefits of saline alone for patients with CRS. Given the imprecision in the treatment effect, further research is warranted to define the true effect of budesonide in saline nasal lavage. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT02696850
The Crystal Structures of Argon and Its Alloys

Solid argon is stable in the face-centered cubic structure at all temperatures, but it is found that it can also crystallize in a metastable form with hexagonal close-packed structure.1 Plastic deformation introduces many stacking faults, particularly in the hcp phase, and eventually reduces samples to faulted fcc structure. Small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, or CO stabilize the hcp phase at temperatures near the melting point.
Invariance of Physical Systems Under Rotations

Before going further with our study of angular momentum, it will be advantageous to study the general behavior of physical systems under rotations in our 3-D space. If a state vector which describes the state of a physical system is specified by ❘ψ〉, the state vector for the rotated system will be specified by ❘ψrot.〉 = R❘ψ〉. (We use the subscript, rot., in place of a prime, which is often used for the rotated state, because primes are also often used on quantum labels.) The operator, R, is the operator that rotates the system. Recall from the theory of translation operators, two possible points of view exist for such operators: (1) The active point of view, in which R is used to rotate the system. (2) The passive point of view, in which the system is left unchanged and R is used to rotate the coordinate system (in the opposite sense) to view the system from a rotated reference frame. We shall use the active point of view in this chapter. The operator R is a linear, unitary operator:
RF CURRENT DRIVE IN TOKAMAK PARAMETRICALLY TURBULENT PLASMAS

In this paper a general theory of RF current drive in tokamak plasmas due to the parametric excitations of plasma modes is developed. Both lower-hybrid and electron-cyclotron frequency regions are considered. It is assumed that the characteristic quasilinear time t QL ~ V 2 f /D ( V f - phase velocity of a high-frequency parametrically excited wave and D quasilinear diffusion coefficient) is much longer than the characteristic time of nonlinear parametric saturation t NL ~ 1/ V 0 ( v a - anomalous collision frequency). Accordingly, the dominant role in saturation of the growing electric field in the resonance region is played by parametric processes. Here, cascade processes are taken as the saturation mechanism of the parametrically excited plasma. It is shown that the asymmetry of parametric turbulence levels of the excited high-frequency plasma modes coupled with the ion-sound waves results in the production of the toroidal current formed by suprathermal electrons which is directed opposite to the ohmic toroidal current.
The Role of 5-HT1A Receptors in Development and Adult Plasticity of the Serotonergic System

Astroglial cells play important roles in determining brain structure and function throughout life; the astrocyte must be able to change its function in order to play the appropriate age-dependent role. One such role is the production of neuronal growth factors. During development, the astrocyte may produce and release large amounts of growth factors, while in mature states, the astrocytes may produce and release very low levels, just enough to aid in synaptic turnover. In responding to a lesion of the neuron, the astrocyte may again greatly increase its growth factor output.
Identification and characterization of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli.

Mycobacterium paratuberculosis is the causative agent of Johne's disease, a chronic enteritis in ruminants, and it has also been isolated and identified from patients with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease. The control of Johne's disease has been hampered by the lack of a reliable diagnostic test because of the large degree of antigenic cross-reactivity between mycobacterial and non-mycobacterial species. To help identify specific antigen(s) or epitope(s), anM. paratuberculosis expression library was screened with antibodies and DNA probes. In total, 54 clones were randomly picked, purified, and characterized by DNA probes and monoclonal antibodies with known specificity to individual mycobacterial antigens. Four clones carrying the heat shock protein 65K-, two representing the secreted protein 32K-, three representing the 21K-, and 20 clones representing the specific insertion element ofM. paratuberculosis (IS900)-encoding genes and their gene products were identified and characterized. Well-defined recombinant antigens and/or epitopes representingM. paratuberculosis may facilitate the development of specific diagnostic tests and the investigation of their role in these chronic diseases.
Zeta Functions of Elliptic Cone Operators

This paper is an overview of aspects of the singularities of the zeta function, equivalently, of the small time asymptotics of the trace of the heat semigroup, of elliptic cone operators. It begins with a brief description of classical results for regular differential operators on smooth manifolds, and includes a concise introduction to the theory of cone differential operators. The later sections describe recent joint work of the author with J. Gil and T. Krainer on the existence of the resolvent of elliptic cone operators and the structure of its asymptotic behavior as the modulus of the spectral parameter tends to infinity within a sector in C on which natural ray conditions on the symbol of the operator are assumed. These ideas are illustrated with examples.
Anodic Dissolution of Metals—Anomalous Valence

When metals are dissolved anodically in aqueous and nonaqueous media, the weight of metal dissolved is sometimes greater than that calculated from Faraday’s law assuming normal oxidation states. Among several metals of industrial importance, Al, Be, Cd, Fe, Pb, Mg, Ti, and Zn exhibit this phenomenon. The usual implication is that these metals dissolve as ions with an ionic valence or oxidation number less than normal, e.g., Mg+, Be+, etc.
Comparative study of conventional maturity proxies with the methyldiamondoid ratio: Examples from West Texas, the Middle East, and northern South America

Abstract Diamondoids are a class of cage-like hydrocarbons that are structurally similar to small pieces of diamonds. Their formation from polycyclic precursors parallels their dynamic stability. Diamondoids occur naturally in virtually every oil and condensate as well as in source-rock extracts. Their ubiquitous nature in oils and extracts of any thermal maturity level, along with their proven stability with increasing maturity, makes them useful as thermal maturity proxies past peak oil window and in the identification of mixtures of low- and high-maturity fluids. Two relationships in particular, methyldiamantane index (or MDI) and 3- + 4-methyldiamantane concentration vs. Stigmastane [5α, 14α, 17α(H)-24-ethylcholestane 20R C29 sterane] concentration, are repeatedly used to establish thermal maturity relationships between oils and between oils and extracts and to identify mixtures of fluids with different thermal maturities. The present comparative study shows how methyldiamantane proxies from West Texas oils and extracts (sourced from the Woodford Shale) and in oil samples from northern South America (Colombia) and the Middle East show overall a very good agreement with classic maturity proxies, such as Tmax values from Rock-Eval pyrolysis and vitrinite reflectance (Vro). However, caution is advised when using methyldiamondoid-derived proxies in the presence of drilling additives and contaminants (e.g., oil-based mud or OBM) and of oils and extracts that have experienced biodegradation. The latter is probably a highly unrecognized issue when using methyldiamondoids, which can result in erroneous interpretations of thermal maturity and mixing. Based on the results of this study we recommend the necessity of a holistic, multi-proxy approach, based on the integration of geochemical screening, organic petrography, and molecular geochemistry techniques as the best possible solution when dealing with such geochemical conundrums.
Modulations of the Diurnal Cycle of Coastal Rainfall over South China Caused by the Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation

AbstractThe influence of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) on the diurnal cycle of coastal rainfall over south China during the mei-yu (heavy rainfall) season is investigated usin...
Watch your distance: a study of laser fiber working distance on fragmentation when altering pulse width or modulation (Conference Presentation)

Introduction: The Moses technology for the Ho:YAG laser introduces a pulse-shape modulation that optimizes energy delivery through water. The aim of this study was to assess fiber tip to stone working distance on fragmentation incorporating a variety of pulse modes. Methods: Experiments were conducted with a 3D positioner, a 30 mm flat BegoStone, and a 230 µm fiber utilizing short pulse (SP), long pulse (LP), Moses Contact (MC), and Moses Distance (MD) modes. Ablation crater volume was measured by 3D confocal microscopy, after a single pulse (1.0J) with the fiber tip positioned at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 mm from the stone. Fragmentation efficiency (1Jx10Hz) was assessed with the fiber tip at 0 and 1 mm distance, programmed to fragment the stone over 3 minutes. Fragmentation was defined as difference in stone mass before and after each experiment. Results: For all tested pulse modes, ablation crater volume and fragmentation were greatest when the fiber tip was in contact with the stone. Ablation declined as the working distance increased with no ablation occurring at 3 mm. At 1 mm distance, ablation volume using MD mode was significantly higher when compared to SP, LP and MC (p<0.05). Compared to all modes tested, MD resulted in 28% and 39% greater fragmentation at both 0 and 1 mm working distance, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: Holmium laser lithotripsy is significantly affected by fiber working distance. At 0 and 1 mm distance, MD had the greatest fragmentation efficiency suggesting this mode may have advantages during ureteroscopy.
Lactates and Local Knowledge — A Parable of Teamwork

Lactates and Local Knowledge Our patient looked bad, and his labs looked worse. We’d never seen such a high lactate level. What was going on? The diagnosis would soon emerge, along with a lesson: t...
Public Knowledge, Private Ignorance, and an Analytic of Knowledge Organization

Patrick Wilson’s writings have proven to be the foundation for much of our thinking about the organization of documents and their subtle connection to power structures that govern their construction and use. His examinations of public versus private knowledge, for example, expand how we understand individual and social epistemology within the field. In his writings, however, Wilson speaks as an idealist, generally glossing over the problem of how technologies mediate and impact the relationship between people, on the one hand, and the circulation and constitution of knowledge, on the other. He did not analyze how knowledge organization structures (KO) could be effective for some people or some forms of knowledge, and ineffective for others, nor did he analyze similarly the constitutive components of KO as they relate to the differential effects on the use of knowledge. We posit that pluralistic modes of understanding KO are a fruitful way forward for the discipline. This paper conceptualizes how we can build on Wilson’s critical conversations about epistemology in the domain of KO from three specific angles: KO as pluralized space, a political economy of KO, and KO and political pragmatics.
Soft tissue tumor diagnosis: A three prong approach utilizing pattern analysis, immunocytochemistry, and molecular diagnostics

Tissue diagnosis of a soft tissue neoplasm is of paramount importance for the development of an appropriate treatment plan. Biopsy technique including approach and biopsy method is important to the success of diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Histologic and cytologic diagnoses are difficult and complicated by the large number of soft tissue lesions described, distinctly different biopotential for morphologically similar lesions, often small biopsy specimen size, and the generally limited experience many pathologists have in the diagnosis of soft tissue neoplasms. While utilized less frequently than core-needle biopsies, fine-needle aspiration is a valuable initial approach for the classification of soft tissue neoplasms. The combination of pattern based morphologic analysis, immunohistochemistry, and molecular diagnostics represents a utilitarian and generally successful approach for the diagnosis of soft tissue lesions.
Identifying Heterogeneous Infrastructure Interdependencies through Multiverse Simulation

When an infrastructure system responds to a disruption, its adaptive behavior can be described by the interactions between elements. These interdependencies are heterogeneous, multi-domain, and span temporal scales. Coupled with infrequent and limited historical data, it is challenging to identify and model key interdependencies. To address this, we propose a novel modeling methodology and iterative simulation approach. Starting with discrete event simulation and simulation graph models, we introduce dependency networks (DN), counterfactual event graphs (CEG), and multiverse simulation. Dependency networks link discrete events and model states to specific infrastructure elements. Counterfactual event graphs expand discrete events to multiple possible outcomes. Multiverse simulation considers each event outcome by duplicating and diverging the simulation into multiple timelines. Through iterative multiverse simulation and focused validation by stakeholders, the model is revised to identify and incorporate interdependencies that impact the system's post-disruption performance. This approach provides a framework for new modeling techniques and implementation in future case studies.
Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) as a key regulator of cachexia induced by platinum-based chemotherapy.

e24162Background: Platinum-based drug use in cancer treatment is restricted by dose-limiting side effects, including nausea/emesis, anorexia and weight loss that reduce patient quality of life and ...
In vitro Studies of Transendothelial Migration for Biological and Drug Discovery

Inflammatory diseases and cancer metastases lack concrete pharmaceuticals for their effective treatment despite great strides in advancing our understanding of disease progression. One feature of these disease pathogeneses that remains to be fully explored, both biologically and pharmaceutically, is the passage of cancer and immune cells from the blood to the underlying tissue in the process of extravasation. Regardless of migratory cell type, all steps in extravasation involve molecular interactions that serve as a rich landscape of targets for pharmaceutical inhibition or promotion. Transendothelial migration (TEM), or the migration of the cell through the vascular endothelium, is a particularly promising area of interest as it constitutes the final and most involved step in the extravasation cascade. While in vivo models of cancer metastasis and inflammatory diseases have contributed to our current understanding of TEM, the knowledge surrounding this phenomenon would be significantly lacking without the use of in vitro platforms. In addition to the ease of use, low cost, and high controllability, in vitro platforms permit the use of human cell lines to represent certain features of disease pathology better, as seen in the clinic. These benefits over traditional pre-clinical models for efficacy and toxicity testing are especially important in the modern pursuit of novel drug candidates. Here, we review the cellular and molecular events involved in leukocyte and cancer cell extravasation, with a keen focus on TEM, as discovered by seminal and progressive in vitro platforms. In vitro studies of TEM, specifically, showcase the great experimental progress at the lab bench and highlight the historical success of in vitro platforms for biological discovery. This success shows the potential for applying these platforms for pharmaceutical compound screening. In addition to immune and cancer cell TEM, we discuss the promise of hepatocyte transplantation, a process in which systemically delivered hepatocytes must transmigrate across the liver sinusoidal endothelium to successfully engraft and restore liver function. Lastly, we concisely summarize the evolving field of porous membranes for the study of TEM.
Partial response or better at six months is prognostic of superior progression‐free survival in Waldenström macroglobulinaemia patients treated with ibrutinib

Ibrutinib is associated with durable responses in patients with Waldenstrom macroglobulinaemia (WM). We hypothesized that response depth is predictive of progression-free survival (PFS) in WM patients treated with ibrutinib. Using landmark analyses, we evaluated response depth in two cohorts of WM patients treated with ibrutinib monotherapy. The learning cohort was composed of 93 participants from two clinical trials, and the validation cohort of 190 consecutive patients treated off clinical trial. Rates of partial response (PR) or better at six months in learning and validation cohorts were 64% and 71% respectively (P = 0·29). In the learning cohort, three-year PFS rates for patients who attained PR or better at six months versus not were 81% and 57% respectively (P = 0·009). In the validation cohort, three-year PFS rates for patients who attained PR or better at six months versus not were 83% and 54% respectively (P = 0·008). In multivariate analyses, attaining PR or better at six months was associated with superior PFS in the learning [hazard ratio (HR) 0·38; P = 0·01] and validation cohorts (HR 0·18; P = 0·004). Attaining PR at six months on ibrutinib emerges as an intermediate outcome of interest and should be validated as surrogate for PFS in clinical trials evaluating Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors in WM.
The construct and concurrent validity of brief standing sway assessments in children with and without cerebral palsy.

Abstract Background Standing postural sway is often quantified from center of pressure trajectories. During assessments of longer durations, children may fidget, thus limiting the feasibility and validity of sway recordings. Research question Do postural sway sample durations less than 30 s maintain construct and concurrent validity? Methods In this case-control, observational study, we measured postural sway in 41 children (age 5–12 years, 23 typically developing (TD); 18 with spastic cerebral palsy (CP), 13 diplegic and 5 hemiplegic, 11 GMFCS level I and 7 level II) for 30-second eyes-opened and eyes-closed conditions. From a single recording, 5-second incremental durations of 5−30 s were considered in this analysis. We quantified anteroposterior, mediolateral, and transverse-plane sway using seven time-domain variables: root-mean-square error, total excursion, mean frequency, mean distance, sway area, and 95 % confidence circle and ellipse areas. Variables were calculated in eyes-opened and eyes-closed conditions, as well as the ratio of the two. Construct validity was evaluated by the persistence of large effect sizes (Glass’s Δ ≥ 0.80) between CP and TD participants at shorter durations than 30 s. Concurrent validity was evaluated by the correlations of shorter duration measures to the 30 s measure. Results Seven sway measures had large between-group effects (Glass’s Δ ≥ 1.02) for the 30 s measure that persisted (Glass’s Δ ≥ 0.81) at shorter durations (5−25 s) and also maintained concurrent validity (r ≥ 0.83). Six of these seven measures were taken in the eyes-closed condition, and all seven measures were in the mediolateral direction or transverse plane. Significance Our analysis suggests that sway durations less than 30 s can uphold construct and concurrent validity. These measures were primarily in the eyes-closed conditions and mediolateral direction. These results are a promising indicator that shorter-duration sway measures may be of utility when fidgeting prevents longer recordings.
Axisymmetry breaking, chaos, and symmetry recovery in bubble film thickness profiles due to evaporation-induced Marangoni flows

Understanding the dynamics of evaporating thin liquid films is of practical and fundamental interest. Practically, this understanding is crucial for tuning bubble stability, while fundamentally thin films are an excellent platform to study the characteristics of evaporation-driven two-dimensional (2D) flows. Here, we experimentally study, across a wide range of volatile species concentrations (c0), the spatial and temporal dynamics of film thickness profiles [h(r, θ, t)] over bubbles in binary liquid mixtures subjected to evaporation-induced Marangoni flows. Initially, we probe the spatial structure and show that the spatial symmetry of the film thickness profiles is non-monotonic functions of volatile species concentration with profiles being axisymmetric for both very low (∼1%) and very high (∼90%) concentrations. The temporal evolution of the film thickness fluctuations reveals a similar non-monotonic dependence between the species concentration and the spatial prevalence of fluctuation stochasticity. At a tested intermediate species concentration of 50%, we observe a complete breakdown in spatial symmetry and obtain film thickness fluctuations that are chaotic everywhere in space with spatially invariant fluctuation statistics and rapidly decaying spatial correlation. The observed non-monotonic behavior is a result of the system sensitivity to ambient perturbations scaling as Δγc0(1 − c0)/μ, where Δγ is the difference in equilibrium surface tension between the two species in the mixture and μ is the dynamic viscosity. These insights along with the reported experimental setup serve as an excellent platform to further investigate evaporation-driven 2D chaotic flows.
Persistent Obstructive Sleep Apnea Burden on Family Finances and Quality of Life.

ObjectiveWe previously found that financial concerns negatively affect the quality of life of families of children with persistent obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after tonsillectomy. The goal is to ...
Adaptive Humanoid Robots for Pain Management in Children

Accurate pain assessment and management is particularly important in children exposed to prolonged or repeated acute pain including procedural pain because of elevated risk for adverse outcomes such as traumatic medical stress, intense pain response for subsequent pain and also developing chronic pain. Our current work in progress tries to help pain management in children through developing intelligent adaptive humanoid robots as a multi-modal non pharmacological intervention. Our current work increases the interactive capabilities of Nao humanoid robots by using the camera and microphone to assess pain and emotion in children undergoing procedural treatment through combining detection models for facial expression, voice quality, and adapt the robot's verbal and non-verbal interactive responses accordingly for optimal distraction through adaptive behavioral models. By combining two different methods of obtaining emotion predictive probabilities using facial expression and stress speech data, we predict an emotion label. This label is then used as an environment input to a reinforcement learning model with the robot as the agent to choose the best action out of a set of entertaining and distracting verbal and non-verbal actions to cheer up the child and distract them from the pain and fear of the medical procedure.
Cardiomyopathy mutations impact the actin-activated power stroke of human cardiac myosin.

Abstract Cardiac muscle contraction is driven by the molecular motor myosin, which uses the energy from ATP hydrolysis to generate a power stroke when interacting with actin filaments, although it is unclear how this mechanism is impaired by mutations in myosin that can lead to heart failure. We have applied a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) strategy to investigate structural changes in the lever arm domain of human β-cardiac myosin subfragment 1 (M2β-S1). We exchanged the human ventricular regulatory light chain labeled at a single cysteine (V105C) with Alexa 488 onto M2β-S1, which served as a donor for Cy3ATP bound to the active site. We monitored the FRET signal during the actin-activated product release steps using transient kinetic measurements. We propose that the fast phase measured with our FRET probes represents the macroscopic rate constant associated with actin-activated rotation of the lever arm during the power stroke in M2β-S1. Our results demonstrated M2β-S1 has a slower actin-activated power stroke compared with fast skeletal muscle myosin and myosin V. Measurements at different temperatures comparing the rate constants of the actin-activated power stroke and phosphate release are consistent with a model in which the power stroke occurs before phosphate release and the two steps are tightly coupled. We suggest that the actin-activated power stroke is highly reversible but followed by a highly irreversible phosphate release step in the absence of load and free phosphate. We demonstrated that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (R723G)- and dilated cardiomyopathy (F764L)-associated mutations both reduced actin activation of the power stroke in M2β-S1. We also demonstrate that both mutations alter in vitro actin gliding in the presence and absence of load. Thus, examining the structural kinetics of the power stroke in M2β-S1 has revealed critical mutation-associated defects in the myosin ATPase pathway, suggesting these measurements will be extremely important for establishing structure-based mechanisms of contractile dysfunction.
Spinal ligamentous injury in abusive head trauma: a pictorial review

There is growing evidence of spine injury in abusive head trauma (AHT). Historically, spine injury was considered rare in AHT because of a lack of attributable clinical symptoms or signs and a lack of advanced imaging. Increased use of MRI in AHT has been instrumental in helping identify evidence of ligamentous injuries of the spine. These findings can be difficult to identify on autopsy because of the size and location of the ligaments. Because spinal injury in AHT mostly involves ligamentous and soft tissues and only rarely involves bony fractures, more than 90% of the injury findings are missed on CT or radiography of the spine. Investigation of these findings and the injury patterns should lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of spinal injury. In this pictorial review, we describe the various manifestations of spinal ligamentous injury in AHT, as seen on MRI, in children younger than 48 months.
Amino acids as performance-controlling additives in carbonation-activated cementitious materials

Abstract This article presents an investigation on the application of amino acids to control the CaCO3 crystallization in carbonation cured wollastonite composites. It was observed that wollastonite carbonated without any amino acid formed calcite as the primary polymorph of CaCO3. In contrast, the use of amino acids as admixtures resulted in the formation of stable amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), vaterite, and aragonite during the carbonation of wollastonite. The carbonated composites produced with amino acids were observed to have a lower critical pore size, but a higher total porosity, compared to the control batch. Additionally, the utilization of amino acids was observed to increase the flexural strength and compressive strength of the composites up to 106% and 48%, respectively, compared to the control batch. Such performance enhancement of the carbonated composites in the presence of amino acids was attributed to the reduced critical pore size and the formation of organic-inorganic hybrid phases in the matrix.
Magnetoelectric Versus Inductive Power Delivery for Sub-mm Receivers

Most of the next-generation implantable medical devices that are targeting sub-mm scale form factors are entirely powered wirelessly. The most commonly used form of wireless power transfer for ultra-small receivers is inductive coupling and has been so for many decades. This might change with the advent of novel microfabricated magnetoelectric (ME) antennas which are showing great potential as high-frequency wireless powered receivers. In this paper, we compare these two wireless power delivery methods using receivers that operate at 2.52 GHz with a surface area of 0.043 mm2. Measurement results show that the maximum achievable power transfer of a ME antenna outperforms that of an on-silicon coil by approximately 7 times for a Tx-Rx distance of 2.16 and 3.3 times for a Tx-Rx distance of 0.76 cm.
Placental Transcriptome Adaptations to Maternal Nutrient Restriction in Sheep

Placental development is modified in response to maternal nutrient restriction (NR), resulting in a spectrum of fetal growth rates. Pregnant sheep carrying singleton fetuses and fed either 100% (n = 8) or 50% (NR; n = 28) of their National Research Council (NRC) recommended intake from days 35–135 of pregnancy were used to elucidate placentome transcriptome alterations at both day 70 and day 135. NR fetuses were further designated into upper (NR NonSGA; n = 7) and lower quartiles (NR SGA; n = 7) based on day 135 fetal weight. At day 70 of pregnancy, there were 22 genes dysregulated between NR SGA and 100% NRC placentomes, 27 genes between NR NonSGA and 100% NRC placentomes, and 22 genes between NR SGA and NR NonSGA placentomes. These genes mediated molecular functions such as MHC class II protein binding, signaling receptor binding, and cytokine activity. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed significant overrepresentation of genes for natural-killer-cell-mediated cytotoxicity in NR SGA compared to 100% NRC placentomes, and alterations in nutrient utilization pathways between NR SGA and NR NonSGA placentomes at day 70. Results identify novel factors associated with impaired function in SGA placentomes and potential for placentomes from NR NonSGA pregnancies to adapt to nutritional hardship.
Phase II Trial Investigating Definitive Radiation Therapy in Lieu of Systemic Therapy for Oligometastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background: The role of definitive radiation therapy (RT) in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is controversial. We prospectively tested the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of definitive RT to defer systemic therapy for patients with oligometastatic RCC. Methods: This single-arm phase 2 study (NCT03575611) enrolled patients with histologically confirmed RCC, ≤5 metastatic lesions, and ≤1 prior systemic therapy. Patients were treated with definitive RT to all lesions and maintained off systemic therapy. Additional rounds of RT were allowed to treat new sites of progression. The co-primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and feasibility. Criteria for initiating systemic therapy were progression in >3 lesions, toxicity, local progression, or patient/provider preference. Findings: Thirty patients were enrolled in July 2018–September 2020 (median follow-up time 17.5 months). All patients had clear cell histology and had undergone nephrectomy before enrollment. Nine patients (30%) had received one prior systemic therapy. All patients completed initial RT and 13 (43%) received a second round. Median PFS was 22·7 months (1-year PFS rate 64%). All patients were alive at last follow-up, and one local failure was observed. The 1-year systemic therapy–free survival was 82%, with 7 patients (23%) initiating systemic therapy at a median 8.1 months from enrollment. Adverse events were grade ≥2 in six patients and ≥3 in three patients. At first follow-up, no viable tumor cells were detected in 5 of 14 biopsy samples obtained after RT (36%). For patients in whom viable tumor was present, the Ki-67 labeling index was significantly reduced (P =0·0068). Interpretation: Sequential definitive RT is a feasible and effective strategy for patients with oligometastatic RCC seeking to defer systemic therapy. Clinical Trial Registration: This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT03575611. Funding: Grant support from the Anna Fuller Foundation, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and the National Cancer Center, National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672, PI P. Pisters). Declaration of Interest: PM has received honoraria for service on scientific advisory boards for Mirati Therapeutics, Bristol- Myers Squibb, and Exelixis; consulting for Axiom Healthcare Strategies; non-branded educational programs supported by Exelixis and Pfizer; and research funding for clinical trials from Takeda, Bristol- Myers Squibb, Mirati Therapeutics, Gateway for Cancer Research, and UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. INCOMPLETE Ethical Approval: This protocol underwent full approval by the Institutional Review Board at MD Anderson. All patients provided written informed consent to participate.
Flygenvectors: The spatial and temporal structure of neural activity across the fly brain

What are the spatial and temporal scales of brain-wide neuronal activity, and how do activities at different scales interact? We used SCAPE microscopy to image a large fraction of the central brain of adult Drosophila melanogaster with high spatiotemporal resolution while flies engaged in a variety of behaviors, including running, grooming and flailing. This revealed neural representations of behavior on multiple spatial and temporal scales. The activity of most neurons across the brain correlated (or, in some cases, anticorrelated) with running and flailing over timescales that ranged from seconds to almost a minute. Grooming elicited a much weaker global response. Although these behaviors accounted for a large fraction of neural activity, residual activity not directly correlated with behavior was high dimensional. Many dimensions of the residual activity reflect the activity of small clusters of spatially organized neurons that may correspond to genetically defined cell types. These clusters participate in the global dynamics, indicating that neural activity reflects a combination of local and broadly distributed components. This suggests that microcircuits with highly specified functions are provided with knowledge of the larger context in which they operate, conferring a useful balance of specificity and flexibility.
Birthright Citizenship on Trial: Elk v. Wilkins and United States v. Wong Kim Ark

In the summer of 2015, the majority of Republican candidates for President announced their opposition to birthright citizenship. The constitutional dimensions of that right revolve around two cases decided at the end of the nineteenth-century, Elk v. Wilkins (1884) and United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). The first held that an American Indian man born in the United States was not a citizen under the fourteenth amendment; the second, that a Chinese American man born in the United States was indeed a citizen under the amendment. This Article juxtaposes the history of these decisions. By showing the distinctive constitutional and political status of Native peoples, this history makes clear the unconstitutionality of efforts to limit birthright citizenship and the consistency of Elk with the egalitarian ideals of the Fourteenth Amendment. Further, by providing new facts about the litigants, lawyers, and communities in these cases, this history provide new perspectives on the meaning of citizenship and its role in judicial and administrative law. Although John Elk’s non-Native lawyers presented him as seeking to assimilate and abandon his tribe, Elk was part of a Winnebago community and likely sought only freedom from the federal government’s aggressive policies of land acquisition and domination. While Wong Kim Ark’s lawyers were products of an organized Chinese migrant community, Wong also likely sought citizenship less as a quest for full assimilation than as an effort to maintain his transnational family in the face of exclusionary immigration policies. Wong’s citizenship, however, permitted his Chinese-born son to migrate to the United States, be drafted into the Army in World War II, and make a career with the Merchant Marines. The histories also show the limits of judicial action, as Congress quickly undermined the effect of each opinion, and the divergent opinions both contributed to expanded administrative power. Together, these histories challenge idealized concepts of citizenship, freedom, and individual action that remain with us today, and provide a richer understanding of race, constitutional doctrine, and administrative structure in the United States..
Innate Direct Anticancer Effector Function of Human Immature Dendritic Cells. I. Involvement of an Apoptosis-Inducing Pathway

Dendritic cells (DCs) mediate cross-priming of tumor-specific T cells by acquiring tumor Ags from dead cancer cells. The process of cross-priming would be most economical and efficient if DCs also induce death of cancer cells. In this study, we demonstrate that normal human in vitro generated immature DCs consistently and efficiently induce apoptosis in cancer cell lines, freshly isolated noncultured cancer cells, and normal proliferating endothelial cells, but not in most normal cells. In addition, in vivo generated noncultured peripheral blood immature DCs mediate similar tumoricidal activity as their in vitro counterpart, indicating that this DC activity might be biologically relevant. In contrast to immature DCs, freshly isolated monocytes (myeloid DC precursors) and in vitro generated mature DCs are not cytotoxic or are less cytotoxic, respectively, suggesting that DC-mediated killing of cancer cells is developmentally regulated. Comparable cytotoxic activity is mediated by untreated DCs, paraformaldehyde-fixed DCs, and soluble products of DCs, and is destructible by proteases, indicating that both cell membrane-bound and secreted proteins mediate this DC function. Overall, our data demonstrate that human immature DCs are capable of inducing apoptosis in cancer cells and thus to both directly mediate anticancer activity and initiate processing of cellular tumor Ags.
Evidence for Random Distribution and Translational Movement of Cytochrome b5 in Endoplasmic Reticulum

Abstract Evidence is presented that electron transfer between different molecules of cytochrome b5 does not occur at an appreciable rate in microsomes. In view of this fact, the earlier observation that a large excess of functional amphipathic cytochrome b5 can be bound to microsomes suggests that cytochrome b5 and NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase are randomly distributed on the microsomal membrane. This model requires translational diffusion of these proteins within the membrane prior to interaction. The dependence of the rate of reduction of microsomal cytochrome b5 by NADH upon the concentration of cytochrome b5 and the effect of partial inactivation of microsomal NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase on the extent of cytochrome b5 reduction are both consistent with this model for the microsomal membrane. The evidence indicates that the interaction of the active sites of cytochrome b5 and reductase is not significantly altered by binding to the membrane and suggests that the hydrophilic portions of these proteins, although securely bound to the membrane by means of a hydrophobic peptide, may be capable of independent and significant motion in the aqueous phase.