cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Randomized trial of a hospice video educational tool for patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers

BACKGROUND Patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers have substantial misperceptions regarding hospice, which contributes to its underuse. METHODS The authors conducted a single-site randomized trial of a video educational tool versus a verbal description of hospice in 150 hospitalized patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers. Patients without a caregiver were eligible. Intervention participants (75 patients and 18 caregivers) viewed a 6-minute video depicting hospice. Control participants (75 patients and 26 caregivers) received a verbal description identical to the video narrative. The primary outcome was patient preference for hospice. Secondary outcomes included patient and/or caregiver knowledge and perceptions of hospice, and hospice use. RESULTS Between February 2017 and January 2019, approximately 55.7% of eligible patients (150 of 269 eligible patients) and 44 caregivers were enrolled. After the intervention, there was no difference noted with regard to patients' preferences for hospice (86.7% vs 82.7%; P = .651). Patients in the video group reported greater knowledge regarding hospice (9.0 vs 8.4; P = .049) and were less likely to endorse that hospice is only about death (6.7% vs 21.6%; P = .010). Among deceased patients, those assigned to the intervention were more likely to have used hospice (85.2% vs 63.6%; P = .01) and to have had a longer hospice length of stay (median, 12 days vs 3 days; P < .001). After the intervention, caregivers assigned to view the video were more likely to prefer hospice for their loved ones (94.4% vs 65.4%; P = .031), reported greater knowledge concerning hospice (9.7% vs 8.0%; P = .001), and were less likely to endorse that hospice is only about death (0.0% vs 23.1%; P = .066). CONCLUSIONS A hospice video did not significantly impact patients' preferences for hospice care. Patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers who were assigned to view the video were more informed regarding hospice and reported more favorable perceptions of hospice. Patients were more likely to use hospice and to have a longer hospice length of stay.
Across diagnoses, naming errors reflect the location of damage

Aphasia is a devastating but common consequence of brain injury.1,2 One of the most prevalent long-term problems for these patients, impaired naming, is typically studied in stroke survivors and individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). However, other etiologies also lead to language deficits, including brain tumor, traumatic brain injury, infection, and a myriad of neurodegenerative disorders beyond PPA.3 Converging evidence from the different etiologies demonstrates that it is often the location of the brain damage, rather than the cause, that leads to specific impairments.4–6
The impacts of mergers, capacity expansion and adoptions on animal shelter performance: A queuing analysis

Abstract According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), approximately 23% of the animals that enter shelters each year are euthanized. Many animal shelters strive to reduce euthanization and the stray animal population through capacity expansion, adoption increasing programs, and mergers. In this paper, we define, compare and perform sensitivity analysis of performance metrics for animal shelter involving loss queues. We ultimately provide recommendations for animal shelters on the most efficient investments, and analyze the effects of mergers and capacity expansion on various performance metrics. We represent animal shelters by utilizing loss queues with and without reneging and perform sensitivity analysis by calculating the asymptotic expansion of the performance metrics for various cases. We find that the euthanization in traditional shelters is not monotonically decreasing with increases in the demand for animals. A counterintuitive result shows that increasing the capacity in a traditional shelter (or merging two traditional shelters together) does not necessarily decrease the number of animals euthanized. Our results related to the performance metrics Erlang loss queues can be utilized for any type of queuing system with involuntary departures.
Mindfulness in Marriage

Over time, marriages and partner relationships are susceptible to drift and disconnection, where partners take their relationship and each other for granted. As life becomes increasingly busy and complicated, it is easy to lose the spark and interest that you felt in the honeymoon stage of the relationship. Mindfulness—directed toward the relationship and toward your partner—can reinvigorate intimacy, excitement, and a sense of value in the relationship. Mindfulness in marriage can be practically applied by appreciating unique aspects of your partner: finding something new that you appreciate about them and letting them know. Noticing new things about your partner and asking them about their experiences increase intimacy. Mindfulness can help you access core values to help you respond to relationship problems. Finally, developing enjoyable connecting rituals lets you and your partner reliably check in with each other, avoiding the relationship drift and disconnection that often develop over time in relationships.
Eyes Wide Shut: How Ignorance of the Common Interest Doctrine can Compromise Informed Consent

Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything except temptation."' Many clients may agree. They may be tempted to jump into a common interest arrangement with strange bedfellows to gain the advantages that information-sharing provides. Attorneys, nonetheless, must make sure that when they jump, their clients do so with both eyes open.
Design of a High-level Teleoperation Interface Resilient to the Effects of Unreliable Robot Autonomy

High-level control is generally preferred for the control of complex robot platforms and by users inexperienced with robot teleoperation. However, high-level teleoperation interfaces can be less effective if the robot autonomy is not reliable. To address this problem, it is important to understand how the users’ preference of teleoperation interface may vary with the reliability of the robot autonomy, and understand what design features ameliorate the frustration and effort caused by unreliable autonomy.This paper proposes a graphical user interface for high-level robot control. The framework of the interface enables teleoperators to control a robot at the action level, and incorporates a simple but effective design that enables teleoperators to recover from task failure in a number of ways. We conducted a user study (N = 25) to compare the performance and user experience when using the proposed high-level interface to a low-level interface (i.e., gamepad) for robot low-level control, on a representative manipulation task. We also investigated if the high-level teleoperation interface remains effective if the reliability of robot autonomy decreases. Our results show that a high-level interface able to handle the most frequent errors is resilient to the effects of unreliable robot autonomy. Although the total task completion time increased as the robot autonomy becomes unreliable, the users’ perception of workload and task performance are not affected. Through the user study, we also reveal the desirable interface features.
Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

Histone modification and DNA methylation are critical events that determine gene expression. Histone deacetylases (HDAC) render several critical genes transcriptionally inactive by conferring a “hyperwound” configuration. HDAC inhibition leads to unwinding of the DNA and makes it available to the transcriptional machinery for expression of a number of regulatory genes.1 Because cancer is characterized by several abnormal genetic marks, HDAC inhibitors have emerged as novel agents for the treatment of cancer. By affecting a number of important genes, HDAC inhibitors cause cell cycle arrest, induce cell differentiation, reverse cell transformation, and restrain tumor growth. In addition to the effect on gene transcription, HDAC inhibitors also act directly at the protein level to alter a number of important cellular functions. A number of HDAC inhibitors are currently under development. Vorinostat, a hydroxamic acid derivative, is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. A number of presentations at the Targeted Therapies Meeting in Santa Monica 2011 focused on recent developments and promising new treatment strategies with HDAC inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Tofacitinib for refractory ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid.

Abstract Purpose To report the successful use of tofacitinib in the treatment of refractory ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP). Observations Two patients with ocular MMP presented with refractory disease after failure of multiple therapies. Treatment with tofacitinib led to durable control of conjunctival inflammation within 8 weeks and no apparent progression of sub-conjunctival fibrosis. One patient maintained absence of apparent disease activity over 16 months of follow-up. Cessation of tofacitinib in the other patient led to disease relapse which was reversed by re-initiation of therapy. Conclusions and importance Small molecule inhibitors of Janus kinases, such as tofacitinib, may offer an effective treatment option for refractory ocular MMP.
Federalism and pandemic policies: variety as the spice of life.

In the ordinary course of life, choices vary with age and other factors because one's opportunities vary with one's circumstances. Thus, investments in and expenditures on healthcare (and most other things) vary with age and a variety of other factors, including whether one lives in a rural area, suburb, or central city, health risks, risk aversion, and beliefs about the nature of a good life. Because assessment of the effects of illnesses vary with the same factors, the conclusions reached about best private and governmental health policies also tend to vary. This implies that conformity to "ideal" pandemic policies is more likely to be generated by a federal or polycentric system of policy making than a unitary system, especially ones that are constrained by a generality principle.
Is SUVmax in baseline PET/CT scans of patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) associated with a complete pathologic response in mastectomy tissue after neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

124 Objectives In patients with IBC, better prognosis is seen in patients (pts) with complete pathologic response (pCR) in mastectomy tissue after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) compared to pts with residual disease. The objectives were to determine if baseline SUVmax of primary or locally metastatic lymph nodes (LN) predicts pCR following NAC and to determine if there is a difference in SUVmax between primary tumor and locally metastatic LN at baseline. Methods This is an IRB-approved retrospective study of 28 pts with clinicopathologic confirmation of IBC and baseline FDG-PET/CT. The SUVmax of primary IBC tumor, locally metastatic LN (ipsilateral axillary, subpectoral and supraclavicular LN) and distant metastases were determined. A pCR or residual disease at mastectomy was determined from pathology reports. Mean SUVmax of primary IBC tumor and local LN metastases were compared between patients with pCR versus residual disease using a Mann Whitney U test. Mean SUVmax of primary IBC tumor and local LN metastases were also compared. Results 11 pts had pCR and 17 had residual disease. Baseline SUVmax of primary IBC tumor was not significantly different between pts with pCR (median 10.6, range 2-29.3) vs. residual disease (6.4, 2.5-13.6, p=0.35). There was also no significant difference between baseline SUVmax of locally metastatic LN between pts with pCR (9.0, 3.3-27.9) vs. residual disease (6.1, 2.0-16.2, p=0.13). The mean SUVmax of primary tumor (6.4, 2.0-29.3) vs. locally metastatic LN (6.5, 2.0-27.9) was also not statistically different (p = 0.90). Conclusions SUVmax of primary tumor and locally metastatic LN on baseline PET/CT in patients with IBC is not predictive of pCR after NAC. No difference in SUVmax was seen between primary IBC tumor and locally metastatic LN. Further analyses with changes in SUVmax after NAC are ongoing as early response on PET may be more predictive of pCR than baseline PET in IBC.
Examining the Influence of Power Distance on Psychological Safety Within Healthcare Teams

Cultivating good teamwork practices within healthcare teams is important for providing effective patient care and preventing adverse health outcomes. Psychological safety is one factor which is ins...
Metrics and Mechanics of Human Limbs

Replacing human limbs with artificial copies requires a thorough understanding of the properties and functions of the human musculoskeletal system. The designer needs tools for measuring human anatomy and function. This chapter covers common anatomical landmarks on the human skeleton and shows the common axes used to describe the body features, both in static and dynamic conditions. The development of advanced imaging technologies for anthropomorphic and dynamic measurements is highlighted. A pendulum model of the leg is introduced.
Combined multiagent chemotherapy and radiotherapy is associated with prolonged overall survival in patients with non-operatively managed stage II-III pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Abstract Background Most patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) do not undergo surgical resection. The role of radiotherapy (RT) in non-operatively managed localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma is unclear. Methods The National Cancer Database (2010–2016) was queried for patients with clinical stage II-III PDAC treated with multiagent systemic chemotherapy (CT) +/− RT but not surgery. Factors associated with the receipt of RT and overall survival were compared after adjusting for patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Results A total of 14,921 patients were included, of whom 9279 received CT and 5382 received CT + RT. Patients treated with CT + RT were more likely to be younger (65vs66yrs), treated at non-academic facilities (48.8%vs46.7%), have private insurance (40.3%vs36.5%), and have clinical T4 tumors (53.6%vs48.7%). Most patients who were treated with RT received external beam radiotherapy (89.3%), and the median dose was 5,000 cGy. Median time to start of RT was 129 days. CT + RT was associated with longer overall survival (15.9vs11.8mos,p Conclusions In patients with non-operatively managed localized pancreatic adenocarcinoma, combined radiotherapy and multiagent systemic chemotherapy is associated with improved overall survival compared to chemotherapy alone.
Source-to-Target Automatic Rotating Estimation (STARE) – a publicly-available, blood-free quantification approach for PET tracers with irreversible kinetics: Theoretical framework and validation for [18F]FDG

ABSTRACT Introduction Full quantification of positron emission tomography (PET) data requires an input function. This generally means arterial blood sampling, which is invasive, labor-intensive and burdensome. There is no current, standardized method to fully quantify PET radiotracers with irreversible kinetics in the absence of blood data. Here, we present Source-to-Target Automatic Rotating Estimation (STARE), a novel, data-driven approach to quantify the net influx rate (Ki) of irreversible PET radiotracers, that requires only individual-level PET data and no blood data. We validate STARE with [18F]FDG PET and assess its performance using simulations. Methods STARE builds upon a source-to-target tissue model, where the tracer time activity curves (TACs) in multiple “target” regions are expressed at once as a function of a “source” region, based on the two-tissue irreversible compartment model, and separates target region Ki from source Ki by fitting the source-to-target model across all target regions simultaneously. To ensure identifiability, data-driven, subject-specific anchoring is used in the STARE minimization, which takes advantage of the PET signal in a vasculature cluster in the FOV that is automatically extracted and partial volume-corrected. To avoid the need for any a priori determination of a single source region, each of the considered regions acts in turn as the source, and a final Ki is estimated in each region by averaging the estimates obtained in each source rotation. Results In a large dataset of [18F]FDG human scans (N=69), STARE Ki estimates were in good agreement with corresponding arterial blood-based estimates (regression slope=0.88, r=0.80), and were precisely estimated, as assessed by comparing STARE Ki estimates across several runs of the algorithm (coefficient of variation across runs=6.74 ± 2.48%). In simulations, STARE Ki estimates were largely robust to factors that influence the individualized anchoring used within its algorithm. Conclusion Through simulations and application to [18F]FDG PET data, feasibility is demonstrated for STARE blood-free, data-driven quantification of Ki. Future work will include applying STARE to PET data obtained with a portable PET camera and to other irreversible radiotracers.
Nicotine Dependence and Tobacco Use Disorder Treatment

This chapter discusses treatments for tobacco use disorder, nicotine addiction, and smoking cessation. Though tobacco use and smoking rates have decreased globally, there are still millions of people worldwide who are current users. Most tobacco in the United States is consumed via smoking, but recently vaping and electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have become more popular methods among teenagers and young adults. Regardless of method, nicotine is the main active ingredient found in many of these products. Treatments available for tobacco use disorder include both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. Currently, nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, and varenicline are the FDA-approved medications used for nicotine addiction. This chapter will utilize different clinical cases to highlight the differences in effectiveness, side effects, and contraindications that should be considered when prescribing one treatment over another.
Assessing radio immunotherapy of disseminated lymphomas with non-invasive in vivo bioluminescence

1498 Objectives: To determine, the effect of radio labeled and un-labeled antibody in a mouse Lymphoma model of widely disseminated minimal residual tumor. We present an animal model by which we can follow tumor growth at a very early, visually-undetectable, stage of tumor growth using non-invasive optical imaging. Methods: One million cells/mouse of luciferase-transfected Raji Lymphoma cells using Lentivirus vector were injected i.v. to female CB-17 SCID mice. We serially monitored the bioluminescence intensity of the mice for 40 minutes after luciferine i.p injection using the Xenogen IVIS imaging system. We classified animals into three subgroups; 1) NT: non-treatment (n=11), 2) IT: Immunotherapy (Rituximab: total 200μg/mouse) (n=6) and 3) RIT: radio-immunotherapy (131I-Tositumomab: total 150μCi and 200μg/mouse) (n=6). Antibodies were injected i.p at 17 and 21 days after tumor injection, and bioluminescent signal were measured every other day up to 60 days after tumor injection. Results: Treatment effect was determined by the total 40 minute area under curve (AUC) of photon intensity, tumor signal doubling time in the whole body (day) after treatment, and overall survival rate. Animals were humanely euthanized at the time point of appearance of hind-leg paralysis. Some animals also died without hind-leg paralysis in the RIT animals, likely due to radio-toxicity. There was a significant difference in total AUC signal at day 27 between NT and RIT (p
Treatment of Cryptosporidium: What We Know, Gaps, and the Way Forward

Cryptosporidiosis is increasingly recognized as an important global health concern. While initially reported in immunocompromised such as AIDS patients, cryptosporidiosis has now been documented as a major cause of childhood diarrhea and an important factor in childhood malnutrition. Currently, nitazoxanide is the only proven anti-parasitic treatment for Cryptosporidium infections. However, it is not effective in severely immunocompromised patients and there is limited data in infants. Immune reconstitution or decreased immunosuppression is critical to therapy in AIDS and transplant patients. This limitation of treatment options presents a major public health challenge given the important burden of disease. Repurposing of drugs developed for other indications and development of inhibitors for novel targets offer hope for improved therapies, but none have advanced to clinical studies.
In Search of Respect: “Goin Legit”: Disrespect and Resistance at Work

I really wanna work legal. Primo Everyone in Ray's network – including Ray himself – has had extensive experience working honestly. Most entered the legal labor market at exceptionally young ages. By the time they were twelve, they were bagging and delivering groceries at the supermarket for tips, stocking beer off the books in local bodegas, or running errands. Before reaching twenty-one years of age, however, virtually none had fulfilled their early childhood dreams of finding stable, well-paid legal work. The problem is structural, as outlined briefly in Chapter 2: From the 1950s through the 1980s second-generation inner-city Puerto Ricans were trapped in the most vulnerable niche of a factory-based economy that was rapidly being replaced by service industries. Between 1950 and 1990, the proportion of factory jobs in New York City decreased approximately threefold at the same time that service sector jobs doubled. The Department of City Planning calculates that over 800,000 industrial jobs were lost from the 1960s through the early 1990s, while the total number of jobs of all categories remained more or less constant at 3.5 million. Economists and sociologists have documented statistically that the restructuring of the U.S. economy around service jobs has resulted in unemployment, income reduction, weaker unions, and dramatic erosions in worker's benefits at the entry level. Few scholars, however, have noted the cultural dislocations of the new service economy. These cultural clashes have been most pronounced in the office-work service jobs that have multiplied because of the dramatic expansion of the finance, real estate, and insurance (FIRE) sector in New York City.
Balancing Necessity and Fallibilism: Charles Sanders Peirce on the Status of Mathematics and its Intersection with the Inquiry into Nature

An interest in Charles Sanders Peirce and pragmatist thought in general emerged in the United States in the middle of last century to exert a powerful influ- ence on a generation of American philosophers educated in the 1940s and 1950s, including Abner Shimony, whose thought is the occasion for this paper. Those threads in Peirce's work related to developing a scientifically informed worldview and metaphysics were the natural influences on Abner and this paper will begin by briefly reviewing a number of these threads and their influences in his writings. This sets the scene for the main project of the paper, an earlier historical project on a related aspect of Peirce's thought—his understanding of mathematics and its place in the description of nature. Mathematics was a foundational discipline for Peirce, one with qualities of necessity and certainty, features that stand in interesting con- trast and tension to Peirce's view of an evolving nature which is governed by chance and our knowledge of which is always fallible and thus open to revision. Exploring these issues reveals deep background beliefs structuring Peirce's thought. The paper concludes in the contemporary realm with the speculation that due to the scientific developments of the 20th century, aspects of Peirce's work that formed a vision for
Microbial transformation of esters of chlorinated carboxylic acids.

Two groups of compounds were selected for microbial transformation studies. In the first group were carboxylic acid esters having a fixed aromatic moiety and an increasing length of the alkyl component. Ethyl esters of chlorine-substituted carboxylic acids were in the second group. Microorganisms from environmental waters and a pure culture of Pseudomonas putida U were used. The bacterial populations were monitored by plate counts, and disappearance of the parent compound was followed by gas-liquid chromatography as a function of time. The products of microbial hydrolysis were the respective carboxylic acids. Octanol-water partition coefficients (Kow) for the compounds were measured. These values spanned three orders of magnitude, whereas microbial transformation rate constants (kb) varied only 50-fold. The microbial rate constants of the carboxylic acid esters with a fixed aromatic moiety increased with an increasing length of alkyl substituents. The regression coefficient for the linear relationships between log kb and log Kow was high for group 1 compounds, indicating that these parameters correlated well. The regression coefficient for the linear relationships for group 2 compounds, however, was low, indicating that these parameters correlated poorly.
Advantage beyond founding: The strategic use of technologies

Abstract We explore the interrelationship between efforts to build technology portfolios and form alliances, and the link between these technology-based strategic actions and product innovations rate in new firms. Our analysis of secondary data from 67 computer and telecommunications firms reveals significant positive relationship between technology portfolio worth and rate of alliance formation. We also find a significant positive relationship between rate of alliance formation and product innovation rate, but only a moderate relationship between technology portfolio worth and product innovation rate. Our findings suggest that new firms building valuable technology portfolios exhibit a superior capacity for forming alliances. And those forming alliances at a high rate are more likely to be frequent product innovators.
Supporting User-Defined Granularities in a Spatiotemporal Conceptual Model

Granularities are integral to spatial and temporal data. A large number of applications require storage of facts along with their temporal and spatial context, which needs to be expressed in terms of appropriate granularities. For many real-world applications, a single granularity in the database is insufficient. In order to support any type of spatial or temporal reasoning, the semantics related to granularities needs to be embedded in the database. Specifying granularities related to facts is an important part of conceptual database design because under-specifying the granularity can restrict an application, affect the relative ordering of events and impact the topological relationships. Closely related to granularities is indeterminacy, i.e., an occurrence time or location associated with a fact that is not known exactly. In this paper, we present an ontology for spatial granularities that is a natural analog of temporal granularities. We propose an upward-compatible, annotation-based spatiotemporal conceptual model that can comprehensively capture the semantics related to spatial and temporal granularities, and indeterminacy without requiring new spatiotemporal constructs. We specify the formal semantics of this spatiotemporal conceptual model via translation to a conventional conceptual model. To underscore the practical focus of our approach, we describe an on-going case study. We apply our approach to a hydrogeologic application at the United States Geologic Survey and demonstrate that our proposed granularity-based spatiotemporal conceptual model is straightforward to use and is comprehensive.
Optimum Design Parameters for Hypergolic Reciprocating Engines-A Mathematical Solution

The cycle equations for hypergolic reciprocating engines are derived from basic thermodynamic principles. The calculus of variations is applied in order to obtain optimum design parameters using the criterion of a minimum specific expendables consumption. A numerical scheme is used to solve a resulting set of nonlinear equations and calculated results are presented. The results indicate that the optimum design parameters depend strongly on the pressure ratio and weakly on the ratio of specific heats of the working fluid. The optimum value of the specific expendables consumption is related to the pressure ratio in a hyperbolic fashion. Provided that the design point is in the neighborhood of the optimum point, nonoptimum designs will not suffer severely in performance.
While no one was Looking

The U.S. government said it would never use commercial reactors to produce weapon material. Guess what?
Experimental investigation of bidensity slurries on an incline

We investigate the dynamics of bidensity slurries on an incline. The particle-fluid mixture consists of two species of negatively buoyant particles that have roughly the same size but significantly variant densities. This mismatch in particle densities induces or prevents settling depending on the relative amount of heavy to light particles, leading to complex regimes also found in the monodisperse case. In addition, when settling effects dominate within the thin film, we observe the phase separation down the incline between the particles and the liquid, as well as between two particle types.
Genotype effects on plant regeneration in callus and suspension cultures of Avena

Regenerative potential of the calli of nineteen genotypes of Avena sativa, Avena nuda, Avena byzantina and one interspecific hybrid were compared over three successive cultures. Highly significant genotype and genotype × subculture interactions were observed. Among the highest plant regenerable genotypes were ‘Corbit’ (first subculture); ‘GAF/Park’ and ‘88Ab3073’ (second subculture); and ‘GAF/Park’ and ‘87Ab5932’ (third subculture). These genotypes regenerated on an average 10 to 17 plants each from a 200 mg callus mass after a 30 to 45 proliferation period. ‘GAF/Park’, a progeny of an interspecific cross, regenerated plants at a significantly higher level (11.85 plants/rep), followed by the similarly performing A. sativa (6.23 plants) and A. nuda (5.06 plants) genotypes, which were significantly higher than the A. byzantina genotypes (2.07 plants). Four genotypes were tested for their adaptability to suspension culture and plant regeneration potential by separating their cells and cell clusters into two sizes: larger and smaller than 3 mm. Larger clusters yielded plants for three genotypes ‘GAF/Park’, ‘88Ab3073’, and ‘Tibor’. The smaller clusters only regenerated plants for ‘GAF/Park’ and ‘88Ab3073’. From one gram of callus used to initiate suspensions of ‘GAF/Park’ and ‘88Ab3073’, 119.9 and 18.8 plants, respectively, were regenerated. The plants regenerated for various genotypes from agar-solidified or suspension culture experiments had normal growth and seed set. This study confirms high and sustained regenerative capabilities of ‘GAF/Park’, a restricted genotype due to the weedy Avena fatua genetic background and identifies alternative genotypes, especially 88Ab3073 for future tissue culture and transformation studies.
Fast likelihood computation using hierarchical Gaussian shortlists

We investigate the use of hierarchical Gaussian shortlists to speed up Gaussian likelihood computation. This approach is a combination of hierarchical Gaussian selection and standard Gaussian shortlists. First, all the Gaussians are clustered hierarchically. Then, for the Gaussians in each level of the hierarchy, shortlists are trained to reduce likelihood computation at the corresponding level. This approach enables a hierarchical coarse-to-fine control of the Gaussian likelihood computation. The proposed approach is evaluated in computing the high-dimensional posteriors for feature space Minimum Phone Error (fMPE) front end and also in Viterbi search. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed approach is superior to using only hierarchical Gaussian selection or standard Gaussian shortlists.
Fungal—bacterial interactions: a mixed bag of mingling microbes

Fungi and bacteria co-inhabit a wide variety of environments, from soils and food products to plants and mammals. Interactions between bacteria and fungi can have dramatic effects on the survival, colonization and pathogenesis of these organisms. There are instances where bacteria provide fungi with compounds that enhance the production of fungal virulence determinants. Other bacteria produce factors that are likely to inhibit pathogenesis by repressing fungal filamentation. Furthermore, mixed bacterial–fungal biofilms can have properties that are distinct from their single-species counterparts. Clinical studies, in combination with in vitro model systems, are necessary to understand how bacterial–fungal interactions impact human health.
Single-quantum-well grating-gated terahertz plasmon detectors

A grating-gated field-effect transistor fabricated from a single-quantum well in a high-mobility GaAs–AlGaAs heterostructure is shown to function as a continuously electrically tunable photodetector of terahertz radiation via excitation of resonant plasmon modes in the well. Different harmonics of the plasmon wave vector are mapped, showing different branches of the dispersion relation. As a function of temperature, the resonant response magnitude peaks at around 30K. Both photovoltaic and photoconductive responses have been observed under different incident power and bias conditions.
Isolation of a crotoxin-like protein from the venom of a South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus collilineatus).

Abstract 1. 1. A crotoxin-like protein was isolated from the venom of a South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus collilineatus. 2. 2. Many of its properties are similar to those of crotoxin, including its non-covalent heterodimeric structure, electrophoretic mobility on SDS PAGE, isoelectric focusing properties, toxicity in mice, immunological reactivity, multiple isoforms, phospholipase activity, peptide map, and instability on an anion-exchange column. 3. 3. Results indicate that “collilineatus toxin” is strongly homologous with crotoxin, found in the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, and all other characterized rattlesnake neurotoxins.
α2-Adrenoceptors inhibit the intracellular Ca2+ response to electrical stimulation in normal and injured sensory neurons, with increased inhibition of calcitonin gene-related peptide expressing neurons after injury

Nerve injury resulting in chronic pain is associated with novel excitatory effects of norepinephrine on injured peripheral nerve terminals and their cell bodies, due to actions on alpha2-adrenoceptors. Paradoxically, alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists administered near peripheral terminals or their cell bodies results in analgesia, not pain. This study tested, using intracellular Ca2+ response to stimulation, the effects of alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists on injured sensory neurons and classified their neuronal phenotype. Dorsal root ganglion cells from normal and spinal nerve-ligated rats were dissociated and activated twice with electrical field stimulation, while measuring Fura-2 fluorescence. Cells were perfused between stimulations with vehicle or alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists alone or with antagonists. Cells were considered inhibited if the ratio of their peak Ca2+ response to the second stimulus divided by the first was less than the 2.5th percentile for vehicle controls. alpha2-, But not alpha1-adrenoceptor agonists inhibited the Ca2+ response in a concentration related fashion, and this inhibition was blocked by alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonists. Clonidine inhibited a similar percentage of cells in the normal and spinal nerve-ligated group. In both groups, the large majority of clonidine-inhibited cells stained for isolectin B4. Spinal nerve ligation resulted in a 4-10-fold increase in the percentage of clonidine inhibited cells which immunostained for calcitonin gene-related peptide. These data are consistent with the known inhibition of Ca2+ currents by alpha2-adrenoceptors and suggest that, at the level of intracellular Ca2+, the key determinant of neurotransmitter release, alpha2-adrenoceptors are inhibitory after nerve injury, not excitatory. There is a shift in phenotype of sensory neurons which are inhibited by clonidine after nerve injury, which may explain clonidine's increased potency in the treatment of neuropathic compared with acute pain.
Microarchitectural performance characterization of irregular GPU kernels

GPUs are increasingly being used to accelerate general-purpose applications, including applications with data-dependent, irregular memory access patterns and control flow. However, relatively little is known about the behavior of irregular GPU codes, and there has been minimal effort to quantify the ways in which they differ from regular GPGPU applications. We examine the behavior of a suite of optimized irregular CUDA applications on a cycle-accurate GPU simulator. We characterize the performance bottlenecks in each program and connect source code with microarchitectural characteristics. We also assess the impact of improvements in cache and DRAM bandwidth and latency and discuss the implications for GPU architecture design. We find that, while irregular graph codes exhibit significantly more underutilized execution cycles due to branch divergence, load imbalance, and synchronization overhead than regular programs, these factors contribute less to performance degradation than we expected. It appears that code optimizations are often able to effectively address these performance hurdles. Insufficient bandwidth and long memory latency are the biggest limiters of performance. Surprisingly, we find that applications with irregular memory access patterns are more sensitive to changes in L2 latency and bandwidth than DRAM latency and bandwidth.
The application of color Doppler technology to the study of fetal swallowing.

Objective: To investigate the mechanics of fetal swallowing using color Doppler technology. Methods: The fetal face and a profile were imaged sagittally in ten fetuses at 36–41 weeks' gestation. Color-flow Doppler signals were superimposed on each gray-scale image to assess the direction and location of amniotic fluid (AF) flow with respect to anatomic structures of the fetal upper gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts during the act of swallowing. Further analysis of fetal swallowing movements was performed by a review of the ultrasonography videotapes at a slow speed. Results: An initial stage of fetal swallowing was characterized by two to six sucking movements and the introduction of an AF bolus into the oral cavity. The soft palate superiorly and the tongue posteriorly and inferiorly obstructed the further flow of AF. The final stage of swallowing was characterized by low-frequency tongue movements, upward laryngeal and epiglottic movements, and narrowing of the lumen of the pharynx, directing the fluid bolus caudally. However, some AF was directed into the nasopharynx as well as the trachea. Conclusion: The swallowing pattern in the term fetus differs from that in the infant and adult, in that the oral and pharyngeal phases appear to be less completely developed.
Influence of temperature during the preceding growth period of lucerne on its regrowth at different temperatures

One-year-old lucerne (Medicago sativa L. cv. ‘Vernal’) plants were grown to first flower through three cuttings in three temperature regimes, H (33°C day/24°C night), W (27718°C) and C (21712°C), to ascertain the influence of temperature preceding defoliation on subsequent growth. At first and second harvests, some pots were retained in the same temperature regime and the remainder were moved to the other regimes. The following temperature treatments were selected: H in the first, second and third cuttings (H-H-H), H-W-C, H-C-W, W-H-C, W-W-W, W-C-H, C-H-W, C-W-H and C-C-C. Foliage from all plants was harvested at first flower, but only six replications of each temperature treatment were harvested destructively at the end of each growth cycle. When plants were retained at the same temperature for the three cycles, the mass of plant parts and total non-structural carbohydrate (TNC) percentage in roots at each harvest increased with a decrease in temperature. Herbage yields were not influenced greatly by the...
Violence and Serotonin: Influence of Impulse Control, Affect Regulation, and Social Functioning

There has been much interest in the role of serotonin in aggressive behavior during the past two decades, but no simple one-to-one causal relationship has been found between this biological variable and aggression. The influence of serotonin is best analyzed within a broader framework that includes consideration of its role in the inhibition of impulses, the regulation of emotions and social functioning, domains that are closely linked to aggression. Impulsivity and strong emotional states often accompany violent acts. Aggressive individuals are likely to experience general difficulties with impulse control and emotional regulation, and they show impaired social cognition and affiliation. Serotonergic dysfunction will influence aggression differently, depending on the individual's impulse control, emotional regulation, and social abilities. Yet, aggressive acts occur in a broader social context. As such, serotonergic function has an effect not only on the individual but also on the group dynamics, and it is in turn influenced by these dynamics. Whether aggression will occur when serotonin dysfunction is present will depend on individual differences as well as the overall social context.
Interventions to promote retention in substance abuse treatment

Objectives: Compare two methods of improving retention in substance abuse treatment for persons with traumatic brain injury.Design: Randomized clinical trial with control group comparison.Interventions: Provision of a financial incentive and reduction of logistical barriers.Outcome measures: Treatment attendance, perceived therapeutic alliance, premature termination.Results: Provision of a financial incentive was highly effective for facilitating early attendance and appeared to promote eventual successful treatment completion. Reduction of logistical barriers did not significantly improve attendance or successful discharge. The hypothesized role of improved therapeutic alliance as a consequence of intervention and a mediator for preventing premature termination was not supported. However, results suggested that intervention, particularly financial incentives, promoted congruence between counsellor and client perceived therapeutic alliance.Conclusions: For clients with traumatic brain injuries, provision ...
The origin of post-injury neointimal cells in the rat balloon injury model

Aims The origin of post-injury neointimal cells is still a matter of debate. This study aims to determine the anatomic source of neointimal cells in one of the most important animal models for the study of vascular stenosis in response to injury, the rat balloon injury model. Methods and results Chimeric rats were generated by rescuing lethally irradiated animals with green fluorescent protein (GFP)+ bone marrow (BM) cells from transgenic rats. Neointimal formation was induced in the right iliac artery of these animals using a balloon angioplasty catheter. Injured and non-injured contra-lateral arteries were harvested at 7, 14, and 30 days post-surgery. BM-derived monocytes/macrophages (CD68+ GFP+) were abundant in the media and adventitia of injured vessels harvested at 7 days as determined by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. The number of GFP+ cells declined in the vascular wall with time. Post-injury neointimal cells were mostly GFP−/smooth muscle actin (SMA)+, which indicated that those cells originated in the recipient. Only a few neointimal cells seemed to come from circulating progenitors (GFP+ SMA+, 2.34% ± 1.61). The vascular origin of cells in the neointima was further confirmed by transplanting injured GFP arteries into wild-type recipients. In these grafts, 94.23 ± 0.44% of medial and 92.95 ± 19.34% of neointimal cells were GFP+ SMA+. Finally, we tested the capacity of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) to migrate through the vascular wall using a novel in vivo assay. As expected, VSMC migrated and populated the neointima only in response to injury. Conclusion Our results suggest that neointimal cells in the rat balloon injury model mostly derive from pre-existing vascular cells and that only a small population of those cells come from BM-derived progenitors.
Effects of mate familiarity on the courtship and reproductive success of the ring dove (Streptopelia risoria)

Abstract Sexually experienced male ring doves mated with former female mates exhibited lower levels of the bow-cooing display than did similarly experienced males paired with unfamiliar females. Pairs of unfamiliar animals were less successful in hatching eggs. However, there were no significant differences in the number of eggs laid, egg laying latency, or success of raising squabs.
Plant growth strategies are remodeled by spaceflight

Arabidopsis plants were grown on the International Space Station within specialized hardware that combined a plant growth habitat with a camera system that can capture images at regular intervals of growth. The Imaging hardware delivers telemetric data from the ISS, specifically images received in real-time from experiments on orbit, providing science without sample return. Comparable Ground Controls were grown in a sister unit that is maintained in the Orbital Environment Simulator at Kennedy Space Center. One of many types of biological data that can be analyzed in this fashion is root morphology. Arabidopsis seeds were geminated on orbit on nutrient gel Petri plates in a configuration that encouraged growth along the surface of the gel. Photos were taken every six hours for the 15 days of the experiment. In the absence of gravity, but the presence of directional light, spaceflight roots remained strongly negatively phototropic and grew in the opposite direction of the shoot growth; however, cultivars WS and Col-0 displayed two distinct, marked differences in their growth patterns. First, cultivar WS skewed strongly to the right on orbit, while cultivar Col-0 grew with little deviation away from the light source. Second, the Spaceflight environment also impacted the rate of growth in Arabidopsis. The size of the Flight plants (as measured by primary root and hypocotyl length) was uniformly smaller than comparably aged Ground Control plants in both cultivars. Skewing and waving, thought to be gravity dependent phenomena, occur in spaceflight plants. In the presence of an orienting light source, phenotypic trends in skewing are gravity independent, and the general patterns of directional root growth typified by a given genotype in unit gravity are recapitulated on orbit, although overall growth patterns on orbit are less uniform. Skewing appears independent of axial orientation on the ISS – suggesting that other tropisms (such as for oxygen and temperature) do not influence skewing. An aspect of the spaceflight environment also retards the rate of early Arabidopsis growth.