cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation and Treatment of Infertility in Spinal Cord Injured Men Through Rectal Probe Electroejaculation

AbstractA total of 18 men older than 29 years with spinal cord injury was for fertility potential with testing of semen obtained by rectal probe electroejaculation. After fertility testing, including sperm penetration assay, semen cryopreservation and sperm antibody status, 6 of the 18 men proceeded with their partners to use rectal probe electroejaculation in efforts to conceive. Sperm was obtained in 16 of 18 cases. Average ejaculate total sperm count (306 million) was good but motility (22%) was poor. Adequate sperm retrieval after processing yielded a normal sperm penetration assay in 4 of 16 cases (25%) in which sperm were obtained. Favorable semen cryopreservation (greater than 33% of pre-freeze motility noted after thaw) was present in 5 of 16 cases (31%). Live births were achieved in 2 of 6 couples attempting conception. Despite the typically poor sperm motility noted in electroejaculates, rectal probe electroejaculation can result in pregnancies from couples involving spinal cord injured men. The...
Food for thought: Altitude versus normal brain function

This paper presents a general overview of the implementation of cognitive skills in the normal human brain as viewed from a modern functional brain imaging perspective. It is hoped that information of this type will assist eventually in developing a more informed neurobiological basis for the understanding of the cognitive impairments that occur all too frequently during sojourns to extreme altitude.
Biogenesis of the Peribacteroid Membrane in Root Nodules: Roles of Dynamev and Phosphatidyl-Inositol 3-Kinase

Rhizobia in the infected cells of root nodules are compartmentalized inside a membrane, peribacteroid membrane (PBM), where they are differentiated into bacteroids and begin fixing nitrogen. Since bacteria are never free inside the plant cell during symbiosis, the PBM serves as an interface between the two organisms and its integrity is vital for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. As bacteria are released from the infection thread they are endocytosed by the plasma membrane of the host and this membrane proliferates to enclose bacteria individually or in a group to eight per envelope. This necessitates a tight coordination of PBM biogenesis with the bacterial cell division and the number of bacteroids per envelope reflects when cell division ceases following endocytosis. This event is determined by the host. Although derived from the plasma membrane (PM), the PBM undergoes significant chandes and becomes a mosaic membrane having properties in common with the vacuolar and the PM (Verma, 1992). Thus, vesicular traffic in root nodules must be unique to direct appropriate PBM nodulins and the peribacteroid fluid proteins to their proper sites. The plant genetics data (Tikhonovich et al., 1995) is consistent with this interpretation. The mechanism controlling PBM biogenesis and proliferation is poorly understood. Recent studies on plant and bacterial genetics have shed some lights on biogenesis of this compartment and suggest that both bacteria and the host plant control the synthesis of PBM and its effectiveness in symbiosis.
Abstract 958: Anti-GD2 chimeric antigen receptor T cells as a potent immunotherapy regimen in xenograft models of histone 3 K27M mutant diffuse midline glioma

Histone 3 K27M mutated diffuse midline glioma (H3K27M DMG) is a universally fatal pediatric brain tumor. Despite improved understanding of the molecular origins of this disease, translations to improvement in clinical outcomes have yet to materialize. To date, there has been little target exploration for immunotherapy applications in H3K27M DMG. Here we report substantial preclinical efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-bearing T cells targeting the disialoganglioside GD2 in patient-derived orthotopic xenograft models of H3K27M DMG. GD2 is highly and uniformly expressed in patient-derived H3K27M DMG cultures, and in vitro assays demonstrate substantial target-dependent cytokine generation and target cell killing. Two H3 WT pediatric high-grade gliomas (HGG) cultures do not express significant levels of GD2, and the H3K27M mutation is associated with increased synthesis of ganglioside pathway synthesis enzymes, suggesting expression of the GD2 antigen is driven by H3K27M-induced transcriptional dysregulation. Single-dose systemic administration of GD2-4-1BBz-CAR T cells in multiple orthotopic xenograft models of H3K27M DMG achieves potent and lasting antitumor efficacy within a 4-week period of administration compared to a CD19-4-1BBz-CAR T cell control cohort. In brainstem xenografts, GD2-CAR T cell therapy cleared established tumor as measured by in vivo bioluminescence imaging and follow-up histology, and significantly prolonged survival. Using a fluorescently-labeled GD2-CAR, we demonstrate tumoricidal GD2-CAR T cells infiltrating the brain parenchyma and sparing of local neurons during tumor clearing. Treatment-associated neuroinflammation in brainstem xenografts is accompanied by transient ventriculomegaly due to swelling of the targeted tumors, which is accompanied by transient weight loss followed by full recovery. Similar swelling in thalamic xenograft models is lethal in a significant fraction of animals, presumably due to uncal herniation. These results demonstrate potent antitumor effects of GD2-directed CAR T cells in H3K27M DMG, and suggest an important role for neuroanatomic site in neurotoxicity associated with CAR T cell therapy. If these results are predictive of human response, GD2-directed CAR T cell therapy in the setting of careful clinical management could have a transformative impact upon H3K27M DMG outcomes. Citation Format: Christopher W. Mount, Robbie Majzner, Shree Sundaresh, Evan P. Arnold, Meena Kadapakkam, Samuel Haile, Louai Labanieh, Pamelyn Woo, Skyler P. Rietberg, Hannes Vogel, Michelle Monje, Crystal L. Mackall. Anti-GD2 chimeric antigen receptor T cells as a potent immunotherapy regimen in xenograft models of histone 3 K27M mutant diffuse midline glioma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 958.
Early diagnosis of periodontal disease needs less treatment and prevents tooth loss

Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory condition and major cause of tooth loss Aim The aim of this study was to measure the number of teeth lost among a random sample of individuals receiving periodontal treatment and maintained for long term follow up at a university faculty practice Materials and methods One hundred subjects who had received periodontal treatment and had been on recall for three or six months for at least five years up to twenty years participated in this study Subjects had at least twenty teeth The same periodontist treated all patients Treatment was scaling and root planing for mild periodontitis or scaling and root planing plus surgery for moderate to advanced periodontitis then all patients were on recall every three months or six months Results Twenty two men had tooth loss compared to women who lost their teeth This was not significant p The difference between patients who had scaling and root planing versus scaling and root planing with surgery was significant p but the recall interval was not significant p After adjusting for age gender and recall treatment was still statistically significant Conclusion Early diagnosis of periodontal disease could be treated by scaling and root planing with patients losing fewer teeth than treating patients with moderate to advanced periodontal disease who required surgery Patient s knowledge of periodontal disease early diagnosis with periodontal maintenance prevents the progression of the periodontal disease
fMRI Stroop and behavioral treatment for cocaine-dependence: Preliminary findings in methadone-maintained individuals.

Abstract Background Although behavioral treatment for cocaine use disorders is common, the use of cognitive neuroscience methods to investigate these treatments' mechanisms of action remains limited. Cognitive control (e.g., as measured by the Stroop task) has been proposed to be central to cocaine-use disorders, including treatment response. Methods Participants were methadone-maintained, cocaine-dependent individuals who were participating in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of 8 weeks of treatment for cocaine-use disorder and randomized to outpatient treatment as usual (TAU) or computer-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT) plus TAU. Participants completed fMRI Color-Word Stroop task at beginning-of-treatment (N = 19) and post-treatment (N = 10). Analyses assessed correlations between beginning-of-treatment Stroop effect with methadone dose or within-treatment cocaine abstinence, change in Stroop-effect at post- versus beginning-of-treatment, and correlations between ‘change in Stroop effect’ with methadone dose or within-treatment cocaine abstinence. Results Higher methadone dose was associated with higher beginning-of-treatment Stroop-related activity in the declive, culmen, and lingual gyrus. Stroop-related activity was reduced at post-treatment relative to beginning-of-treatment in the medial frontal gyrus/cingulate gyrus and thalamus/midbrain/culmen. Greater reduction in Stroop-related activity was associated with better within-treatment abstinence. Conclusions Diminished Stroop-related activity following treatment may be consistent with improved efficiency of cognitive-control-related activity. Although preliminary, this study is the first to demonstrate a relationship between better treatment outcomes (lower cocaine use during treatment) and greater reduction in Stroop-related activity at post- versus beginning-of-treatment in cocaine users. These findings extend prior work.
Laguerre–Gauss and Hermite–Gauss soft X-ray states generated using diffractive optics

Light’s capacity to carry angular momentum is integral to our knowledge of physics and ability to probe matter. In addition to spin, photons can occupy free-space orbital angular momentum eigenstates1,2. Visible light orbital angular momentum is used in quantum information experiments, super-resolution microscopy, optical tweezers and angular momentum transfer to atoms in optical lattices3,4. Soft X-ray orbital angular momentum applications, slowed by the lack of suitable optics and the rarity of coherent X-ray sources, could enable the direct alteration of atomic states through orbital angular momentum exchange, and methods to study the electronic properties of quantum materials. We have made soft X-ray diffractive optics that generate single Laguerre–Gauss modes, observed carrying up to 30ħ angular momentum per photon, or their superpositions. We also present Hermite–Gauss diffractive optics and a soft X-ray orbital angular momentum analyser. These tools could enable both the manipulation and finer characterization of topologically complex electronic matter, such as magnetic skyrmions. Robust methods for creating and analysing soft X-ray modes, with as much as 30ħ angular momentum per photon, are demonstrated.
Cervical epidural hematoma following interlaminar epidural steroid injection via the contralateral oblique view in patient taking omega-3 fatty acids.

Background and objectives We sought to describe a case of an epidural hematoma after a cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection (ILESI) performed using contralateral oblique view. We also discuss factors that could have placed this patient at increased risk, including concurrent use of omega-3 fatty acids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Case report A 74-year-old woman returned to the pain clinic, within 15 min of discharge, after an apparent uncomplicated cervical ILESI using the contralateral oblique technique with severe periscapular pain and muscle spasms. Cervical MRI showed a large epidural hematoma which was subsequently emergently evacuated. On postoperative examination, the patient had no neurologic deficits and full resolution of her painful symptoms. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of cervical epidural hematoma in which the contralateral oblique technique was used. Also, this is the second case in which the combination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and omega-3 fatty acids has been considered as a contributor to increased hematoma risk. This case underscores the risk of epidural hematoma using a novel fluoroscopic technique and the need for potential discontinuation of supplements like omega-3 fatty acids.
Clinical Trials: Not for the Poor and the Old

The oncology clinical trial enterprise relies on the voluntary participation of cancer patients. The percentage of adults with cancer enrolled in clinical trials is extremely small and primarily consists of White, insured patients who are less than 65 years of age. Low accrual causes delays and termination of many trials. Skewed study populations result in data that is not generalizable to poor and elderly patients. Inequitable access to oncology clinical trials harms current and future cancer patients. Correcting this inequity is a matter of patient safety and justice. This chapter will review participation rates, factors related to accrual, and potential areas for improvement.
Myeloid folliculin balances mTOR activation to maintain innate immunity homeostasis

The mTOR pathway is central to most cells. How mTOR is activated in macrophages and modulates macrophage physiology remain poorly understood. The tumor suppressor Folliculin (FLCN) is a GAP for RagC/D, a regulator of mTOR. We show here that LPS potently suppresses FLCN in macrophages, allowing nuclear translocation of the transcription factor TFE3, leading to lysosome biogenesis, cytokine production, and hypersensitivity to inflammatory signals. Nuclear TFE3 additionally activates a transcriptional RagD positive feedback loop that stimulates FLCN-independent canonical mTOR signaling to S6K and increases cellular proliferation. LPS thus simultaneously suppresses the TFE3 arm and activates the S6K arm of mTOR. In vivo, mice lacking myeloid FLCN reveal chronic macrophage activation, leading to profound histiocytic infiltration and tissue disruption, with hallmarks of human histiocytic syndromes like Erdheim-Chester Disease. Our data thus identify a critical FLCN-mTOR-TFE3 axis in myeloid cells, modulated by LPS, that balances mTOR activation and curbs innate immune responses.
V-domain Ig-containing suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA), a potentially targetable immune checkpoint molecule, is highly expressed in epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma.

V-domain Ig-containing suppressor of T-cell activation (VISTA) is an immune checkpoint gene that inhibits anti-tumor immune responses. Since most malignant pleural mesotheliomas do not respond to anti-programmed cell death(-ligand)1 (PD-(L)1)/cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) therapy and given the recent finding of The Cancer Genome Atlas Study that pleural mesothelioma displays the highest expression of VISTA among all cancers studied, we examined VISTA expression in a large pleural mesothelioma cohort. VISTA and PD-L1 immunohistochemistry were performed on tissue microarray of immunotherapy-naive pleural mesotheliomas (254 epithelioid, 24 biphasic and 41 sarcomatoid) and ten whole-tissue sections of benign pleura (VISTA only). Percentages of tumor and inflammatory cells with positive staining were assessed. Optimal prognostic cutoff percentages were determined using maximally selected rank statistics. Overall survival was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier methods and Cox proportional hazard analysis. All benign mesothelium expressed VISTA. Eighty-five percent of 319 and 38% of 304 mesotheliomas expressed VISTA and PD-L1 (88% and 33% of epithelioid, 90% and 43% of biphasic, and 42% and 75% of sarcomatoid), respectively. Median VISTA score was significantly higher in epithelioid (50%) (vs. biphasic [20%] and sarcomatoid [0]) (p < 0.001), while median PD-L1 score was significantly higher in sarcomatoid tumors (20%) (vs. biphasic and epithelioid [both 0%]) (p < 0.001). VISTA and PD-L1 were expressed in inflammatory cells in 94% (n = 317) and 24% (n = 303) of mesothelioma, respectively. Optimal prognostic cutoffs for VISTA and PD-L1 were 40% and 30%, respectively. On multivariable analysis, VISTA and PD-L1 expression in mesothelioma were associated with better and worse overall survival (p = 0.001 and p = 0.002), respectively, independent of histology. In a large cohort of mesothelioma, we report frequent expression of VISTA and infrequent expression of PD-L1 with favorable and unfavorable survival correlations, respectively. These findings may explain poor responses to anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy and suggest VISTA as a potential novel target in pleural mesothelioma.
Unilateral Access Is Safe and Facilitates Peripheral Bailout During Transfemoral-Approach Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the rate and trend of vascular complications when placing a second arterial sheath in the contralateral femoral artery during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) unilaterally versus bilaterally. Background Vascular complications occur in approximately 5% to 8% of TAVR procedures. Many operators place a second arterial sheath in the contralateral femoral artery to perform aortic root angiography. The authors surmised that placing the second sheath ipsilateral and distal to the delivery sheath would be an easier option with similar safety. Methods The Cleveland Clinic Aortic Valve Center TAVR database was accessed, and data for patients undergoing transfemoral TAVR (TF-TAVR) from January 2014 to December 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The primary outcome was the rate of peripheral vascular complications. Results A total of 1,208 patients who underwent TF-TAVR were included in this study. One thousand seven patients (83.36%) underwent bilateral femoral access, and 201 patients (16.64%) underwent TF-TAVR using a unilateral femoral approach. Over the study duration, use of the unilateral access approach trended upward significantly, reaching 43.7% of total cases in 2017. A gradual decline in access site–related vascular complications was observed, from 13.7% in 2014 to 7.4% in 2017. After propensity-score matching, peripheral vascular complications were similar between bilateral access and unilateral access (10.8% vs. 8.6%) (p = 0.543). Conclusions There was a significant decline in vascular complications from 2014 to 2017. Unilateral-access TF-TAVR provided similar safety compared with bilateral-access TF-TAVR and is a more accessible approach for managing access site–related complications and possibly achieving better patient satisfaction.
Clinical Experience of Automated SBRT Paraspinal and Other Metastatic Tumor Planning With Constrained Hierarchical Optimization.

Abstract Purpose We report on the clinical performance of a fully automated approach to treatment planning based on a Pareto optimal, constrained hierarchical optimization algorithm, named Expedited Constrained Hierarchical Optimization (ECHO). Methods and materials From April 2017 to October 2018, ECHO produced 640 treated plans for 523 patients who underwent stereotactic body radiation therapy (RT) for paraspinal and other metastatic tumors. A total of 182 plans were for 24 Gy in a single fraction, 387 plans were for 27 Gy in 3 fractions, and the remainder were for other prescriptions or fractionations. Of the plans, 84.5% were for paraspinal tumors, with 69, 302, and 170 in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbosacral spine, respectively. For each case, after contouring, a template plan using 9 intensity modulated RT fields based on disease site and tumor location was sent to ECHO through an application program interface plug-in from the treatment planning system. ECHO returned a plan that satisfied all critical structure hard constraints with optimal target volume coverage and the lowest achievable normal tissue doses. Upon ECHO completion, the planner received an e-mail indicating the plan was ready for review. The plan was accepted if all clinical criteria were met. Otherwise, a limited number of parameters could be adjusted for another ECHO run. Results The median planning target volume size was 84.3 cm3 (range, 6.9-633.2). The median time to produce 1 ECHO plan was 63.5 minutes (range, 11-340 minutes) and was largely dependent on the field sizes. Of the cases, 79.7% required 1 run to produce a clinically accepted plan, 13.3% required 1 additional run with minimal parameter adjustments, and 7.0% required ≥2 additional runs with significant parameter modifications. All plans met or bettered the institutional clinical criteria. Conclusions We successfully implemented automated stereotactic body RT paraspinal and other metastatic tumors planning. ECHO produced high-quality plans, improved planning efficiency and robustness, and enabled expedited treatment planning at our clinic.
Flux: Overcoming scheduling challenges for exascale workflows

Abstract Many emerging scientific workflows that target high-end HPC systems require complex interplay with the resource and job management software (RJMS). However, portable, efficient and easy-to-use scheduling and execution of these workflows is still an unsolved problem. We present Flux, a novel, hierarchical RJMS infrastructure that addresses the key scheduling challenges of modern workflows in a scalable, easy-to-use, and portable manner. At the heart of Flux lies its ability to be seamlessly nested within batch allocations created by other schedulers as well as itself. Once a hierarchy of Flux instances is created within each allocation, its consistent and rich set of well-defined APIs portably and efficiently support those workflows that can often feature non-traditional execution patterns such as requirements for complex co-scheduling, massive ensembles of small jobs and coordination among jobs in an ensemble. Our evaluation of Flux on some of the emerging workflow efforts at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory indicates that our approach can significantly address major workflow scheduling challenges: job throughput, co-scheduling, job coordination and communication and portability challenges. Further, our performance evaluation on both synthetic and real-world ensemble-based workflows suggest that our solution can improve the job throughput performance of these scientific workflows by a factor of 48.
AdS 3 /CFT 2 at higher genus

We continue our study of the worldsheet theory of superstrings on AdS3 × S3 × 𝕋4 in the tensionless limit [1]. We consider the theory on higher genus surfaces. We give evidence that the worldsheet correlators localise on certain worldsheets that cover the boundary of AdS3 holomorphically. This simplifies the string moduli space integral dramatically to a finite sum. This property shows that the higher genus corrections of the string worldsheet reproduce the structure of the 1/N corrections in the dual symmetric orbifold CFT SymN (𝕋4).
Abstract C042: Cultivating the gut microbiome by eating walnuts to slow cancer cachexia weight loss

Cancer disparities are associated with racial/ethnic minority groups. Due to socioeconomic status or geographical location, many of these groups consume low-quality diets that lack plant-derived foods. Diets lacking in fruits and vegetables are linked to tumor formation and progression. Once a tumor develops, more than 50% of cancer patients may experience cachexia, the involuntary loss of body weight that severely impacts cancer prognosis and therapy. Currently, no medical interventions can reverse cachexia, but alleviating this syndrome would lead to favorable outcomes during cancer treatment. Our lab focuses on diet as a potential therapy to slow the development of cachexia. Walnuts are known to slow tumor growth in genetically programmed mice. In a pilot study, walnuts were found to preserve weight during the tumor-bearing precachectic phase in rats. A possible area where the weight-preservative effects of walnuts may be observed is in the gut microbiome. Since our lab previously observed significant gut microbiota changes of the non-tumor-bearing rats on walnut diets, the aim of this investigation was to determine the impact of walnuts on the gut microbiome of tumor-bearing cachectic rats. We hypothesized that walnuts would significantly and favorably change the gut microbiome in cachectic tumor-bearing animals, providing a potential mechanism for the weight gain. To test our hypothesis, male Fischer 344 rats were placed on a walnut diet or control diet for three weeks. The control diet replaced the fat, protein, carbohydrate, and fiber contents of the walnut diet with corn oil, casein, corn starch, and alphacel fiber, respectively, allowing the presence of walnuts to be the only testing factor. The Ward colon carcinoma was then subcutaneously implanted on rats9 left hind flank. The rats were kept on the walnut and/or control diet as tumor-driven cachexia developed. Fecal matter was collected from the rats upon sacrifice, and 16srDNA was sequenced to elucidate specific microbial communities. Rats on the walnut diet had the greatest weight preservation. Changes in the gut microbiome via the consumption of walnuts were evident through measures of diversity, relative abundance, and metabolic pathways at the family level. Compared to the control diet, the walnut diets led to a greater diversity and separation of the gut microbial communities. Walnut diets also significantly altered the relative abundances of Prevotellaceae and Desulfovibrionaceae (p-value Citation Format: Hsiao-Man Chang. Cultivating the gut microbiome by eating walnuts to slow cancer cachexia weight loss [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C042.
A Witness Function Based Construction of Discriminative Models Using Hermite Polynomials

In machine learning, we are given a dataset of the form $\{(x_j,y_j)\}_{j=1}^M$, drawn as i.i.d. samples from an unknown probability distribution $\mu$; the marginal distribution for the $x_j$'s being $\mu^*$, and the marginals of the $k^{th}$ class $\mu_k^*(x)$ possibly overlapping. We address the problem of detecting, with a high degree of certainty, for which $x$ we have $\mu_k^*(x)>\mu_i^*(x)$ for all $i\neq k$. We propose that rather than using a positive kernel such as the Gaussian for estimation of these measures, using a non-positive kernel that preserves a large number of moments of these measures yields an optimal approximation. We use multi-variate Hermite polynomials for this purpose, and prove optimal and local approximation results in a supremum norm in a probabilistic sense. Together with a permutation test developed with the same kernel, we prove that the kernel estimator serves as a ``witness function'' in classification problems. Thus, if the value of this estimator at a point $x$ exceeds a certain threshold, then the point is reliably in a certain class. This approach can be used to modify pretrained algorithms, such as neural networks or nonlinear dimension reduction techniques, to identify in-class vs out-of-class regions for the purposes of generative models, classification uncertainty, or finding robust centroids. This fact is demonstrated in a number of real world data sets including MNIST, CIFAR10, Science News documents, and LaLonde data sets.
GlaucoMap – Distribution of Glaucoma Surgical Procedures in the United States

Purpose To understand the distribution of trabeculectomies, glaucoma drainage implants (GDI) and micro-invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGS) performed in the United States through geospatial mapping. Methods We performed an observational cohort study to evaluate glaucoma surgeries in patients age ≥65. The most recently released data from Centers for Medicare Part B Carrier Summary Files were queried to determine the number of glaucoma surgeries performed per state during the year of 2017. We created choropleth maps, titled "GlaucoMap", to characterize the rates of various surgeries performed across the United States, defined as the number of procedures performed per 10,000 individuals. A chi-squared analysis was further used to evaluate differences in surgical preferences across geographic region. Standardized residuals (SR) were calculated to determine regional influences on surgical distribution. Results There were 174,788 glaucoma surgeries performed: 22,862 trabeculectomies (13.1%), 19,991 GDI (11.4%) and 131,935 (75.5%) MIGS. The Northeast had the highest trabeculectomy rate, GDI was highest in the Southeast and MIGS were highest in the Southwest. There was a statistically significant difference in proportional use of conventional surgeries versus MIGS across various regions in the United States (p < 0.0001). Given the high trabeculectomy and GDI rates and relatively low MIGS adoption in the Southeast, we observed a +7.03 SR for conventional surgeries and -4.01 SR for MIGS. The Southwest and Western states had the highest MIGS rate and contributed +3.29 and +3.24 SR toward disproportional MIGS preference, respectively. The preference for conventional surgeries in the Northeast (SR = +2.93) and MIGS in the Midwest (SR = +0.99) also contribute to the overall differences in glaucoma surgeries across the United States. Conclusion GlaucoMap is useful for visualizing the distribution of glaucoma surgeries in the United States. The heterogeneity in surgical preferences points to regional differences in glaucoma management.
The correlation of mean velocity measurements downstream of a swept backward-facing step

The effect of backward-facing step sweep angle on the mean turbulent velocity field has been measured at subsonic speeds. A single component hot-film anemometer was used in a wind tunnel to measure the velocity normal and parallel to three 1.27-cm-high, backward-facing steps with sweep angles of 0, 15, and 30 deg. A swept step flowfield provides a useful and special test case for modelers of three-dimensional turbulent flows. This is illustrated here by testing the ability of Coles' wall-wake model and the Baldwin-Lomax viscosity model's ability to describe the measured profiles
Statistical properties of spontaneous synchrotron radiation with arbitrary degree of coherence

In a storage ring, turn-to-turn fluctuations in the intensity of spontaneous synchrotron radiation occur due to two mechanisms. The first mechanism is the quantum uncertainty in the number of emitted photons. The second mechanism is the turn-to-turn variations in the relative positions of classical pointlike electrons in the bunch. We present a unified description of both effects in the framework of quantum optics. We derive an equation for the fluctuations for an arbitrary degree of coherence, which generalizes previously reported results for temporally incoherent radiation. We compare the predictions of our calculation with a previous experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory, where the latter mechanism was dominant and propose a new dedicated experiment in the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) at Fermilab, where the two mechanisms may have comparable contributions to the fluctuations. Finally, our calculation shows that the magnitude of the fluctuations is rather sensitive to the dimensions and the shape of the electron bunch, thereby indicating possible applications in beam instrumentation. In particular, the small vertical size of the flat beams in IOTA may be estimated via these fluctuations, whereas measurement by a conventional synchrotron radiation monitor is difficult due to the diffraction limit.
The role of wild-type tau in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies

Tau oligomers have recently emerged as the principal toxic species in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and tauopathies. Tau oligomers are spontaneously self-assembled soluble tau proteins that are formed prior to fibrils, and they have been shown to play a central role in neuronal cell death and in the induction of neurodegeneration in animal models. As the therapeutic paradigm shifts to targeting toxic tau oligomers, this suggests the focus to study tau oligomerization in species that are less susceptible to fibrillization. While truncated and mutation containing tau as well as the isolated repeat domains are particularly prone to fibrillization, the wild-type (WT) tau proteins have been shown to be resistant to fibril formation in the absence of aggregation inducers. In this review, we will summarize and discuss the toxicity of WT tau both in vitro and in vivo, as well as its involvement in tau oligomerization and cell-to-cell propagation of pathology. Understanding the role of WT tau will enable more effective biomarker development and therapeutic discovery for treatment of AD and tauopathies.
Diaphyseal Femoral Fractures in Cattle

Diaphyseal femoral fractures in cattle often are regarded as unsuitable for treatment. In the past 15 years, several surgical techniques have been described. The age, weight, fracture configuration, intended production use and economic value of the individual influence treatment options. Open reduction and internal fixation may be the treatment of choice in young, lightweight cattle. Medical treatment (stall rest and antiinflammatory drugs) may be an option for older cattle with selected fractures. We hypothesized that diaphyseal fractures in cattle can be successfully managed with proper case selection. The objectives of this study were to evaluate different surgical techniques, to evaluate the risk factors associated with the surgical repair and to evaluate the medical approaches in cases of femoral fractures.
How We Got Here: Producing Climate Inequity and Vulnerability to Urban Weather Extremes

This collected volume is intentionally future-oriented; it is authored by a team of interdisciplinary scientists and practitioners who collaborate to translate research findings into networked adaptive practices that we hope will protect urban communities against the impacts of extreme weather. While future-oriented, we cannot protect future generations against urban weather extremes without understanding the historical processes through which these existential and ethical crises came about. This chapter describes how economic and political institutions produced the climate crisis in ways that also constitute a humanitarian crisis, inscribing climate inequity into the urban built environment and institutions. It offers reflections on ways in which this history must be wrestled with in the context of equitable and resilient urban futures.
Current Working Draft for a Possible 2019 100&Change Application

This document is an early, evolving, draft of a possible submission to the 2019 MacArthur Foundation 100&Change competition A second document on the SSRN site is a copy, with a few corrections, of an application submitted in 2016 to that competition. Both documents are cited in “Innovation in educational and societal transformation: The MacArthur Foundation, Jesuit business schools, and the world,” Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, volume 6, #2, 2018, in press. Briefly, the applications and the JMGS article suggest how the commitment of a group of business schools to transform their teaching and research can create a global conversation that will, in turn, transform the global producing-distributing-consuming systems currently destroying the capacity of the planet to support our own and all other species. These two documents are posted here as part of an on-going action-research project seeking to contribute to those transformations.
ASTE1 cutting to block DNA end resection.

Cells rely on two main pathways to repair DNA lesions, homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining, and how they decide to use one machinery over the other is not clear. A recent study identifies ASTE1 as a regulator controlling pathway choice.
Prenatal chemical exposures and child language development

Abstract The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals, both manmade (insulating materials, flame retardants, pesticides) and naturally occurring (e.g., lead, mercury), may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. We focus primarily on a subset of more extensively studied chemicals—polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and methyl mercury—for which a reasonable body of literature on neurodevelopmental outcomes is available. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence for other chemicals including polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) and organophosphate pesticides. Very few studies have used specific assessments of language development and function. Therefore, we included discussion of aspects of cognitive development such as overall intellectual functioning and verbal abilities that rely on language, as well as aspects of cognition such as verbal and auditory working memory that are critical underpinnings of language development. A high percentage of prospective birth cohort studies of PCBs, lead, and mercury have reported exposure-related reductions in overall IQ and/or verbal IQ that persist into middle or late childhood. Given these findings, it is important that clinicians and researchers in communication sciences and disorders are aware of the potential for environmental chemicals to impact language development. Learning outcomes The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence that prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to certain chemicals may be associated with delays or impairments in language development. Readers will gain an understanding of the literature suggesting that early exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and mercury may be associated with decrements in cognitive domains that depend on language or are critical for language development. We also briefly summarize the smaller body of evidence regarding polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) and organophosphate pesticides. Very few studies of exposure to these chemicals have used specific assessments of language development; thus, further investigation is needed before changes in clinical practice can be suggested.
Sometimes Too Great a Notional: Measuring the 'Systemic Significance' of OTC Credit Derivatives

This article proposes several simple financial market reforms that can help regulators both identify systemically risky institutions and mitigate the systemic risk associated with derivative trading, especially trading in credit derivatives such as credit default swaps. The Federal Reserve (or other systemic risk regulator) should require that financial institutions publicly disclose detailed information on all credit derivatives in their portfolio - including counterparties and notional value - on a frequent basis. The notional value of credit derivatives provides a gauge of the maximum amount the derivative seller must pay the buyer if the underlying credit instrument defaults. Although the notional value is not a good indicator of a derivative’s market value (it is unlikely that each contract in the portfolio would have to be settled for the full notional amount), the notional value of all credit derivatives in an institution’s portfolio is a powerful indicator of the systemic risk posed by that institution’s investments because it is the maximum amount the institution could owe to (or be owed by) other institutions in an extreme event such as the 2008 credit freeze. The government should use this disclosure to identify which financial institutions are “systemically significant.” Any institution whose credit derivative portfolio has a notional value exceeding a certain threshold for a several days would be regulated for several years as a “Tier 1 Financial Holding Company” per the Administration’s proposal. Exchange-traded derivatives should not count in the notional value threshold for systemic significance, creating an incentive to move OTC contracts to exchanges.
Low cycle fatigue behavior of constraint connections

The influence of microstructure and material properties on reverse low-cycle fatigue performance has been investigated using small-scale test specimens with different constraint severities. The steel specimens were heat-treated to produce microstructures similar to the fusion line in welded steel moment resisting frames (SMRFs) with various yield strengths and toughness values. The reverse cyclic tests revealed that toughness has almost no influence on the cyclic performance if the steel is constraint. A performance enhancing material parameter, on the other hand, for mostly crack initiation controlled cyclic resistance, is high yield strength. High yield strength reduces the corresponding local strains at the notch tip, unless high nominal stresses cause an early ductile crack initiation, which results in poor cyclic resistance regardless of material properties and amount of constraint. While high toughness is still important to enhance the fracture strength in order to accommodate the maximum imposed stresses/strains in earthquake loading, high yield strength plays the key role in the general cyclic performance below this critical value. This in general applies to different structural steels as well as microstructural changes due to welding procedures in SMRFs. Material properties that are required to resist fracture are different from material properties that enhance cyclic performance of constraint connections.
In the Language of Pictures: How Copyright Law Fails to Adequately Account for Photography

Photography has bewildered humanity since its inception. At first, the public viewed it solely as science. Later, people deemed it "art," but only insofar as it was "pictorial" and imitated painting, drawing, and printmaking: in other words, photographs were art only if they looked un-photographic. Eventually, however, the art world rejected pictorialism in favor of "straight photography," an aesthetic that exploits the camera's distinctive qualities and, in particular, its realism. This is the aesthetic that prevails today. Unfortunately, pictorialism still influences copyright law. It adheres in the fact-expression dichotomy, which differentiates facts, which are free to all, from expression, which is not, and in the fair-use defense, which allows broader borrowing from "factual" works than from "creative" works. Courts applying these doctrines routinely deem straight photographs "factual" even though the artist made all of the same choices — about focal point, perspective, composition, and etc. — that would, otherwise, result in a finding of creativity. The problem is that straight photographs, by nature, appropriate visual facts, and courts have trouble distinguishing these facts from the photographer's depiction of them. Consequently, straight photographs, which are, by today's standards, highly expressive, receive less protection than pictorial photographs. This article suggests an alternative approach. First, it sets forth a "compositional-equivalence" test, which compares original and allegedly infringing works' fundamental design elements: if the designs are equivalent, the defendant has taken protected expression, not mere facts. Second, it delineates two categories of straight photographs that are susceptible to liberal copying, those that are "evidentiary" and those that contain "demonstrative expression." The former serve a truth-approximating function and the latter contain expression that has, itself, become a fact in controversy. Right now, the courts are simply using the wrong tools for the job; these tests would enable them to approach straight photographs in a more-principled, more-modern manner.
Germanium sulfide-based solid electrolytes for non-volatile memory

In the present work, the authors describe PMC memory devices based on Ag-Ge-S electrolytes. These have excellent temperature stability and are compatible with most BEOL processing in CMOS integrated circuits
The development of the Intersystem Model

A nursing model has been developed which guides curriculum development and nursing practice at Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing; the Intersystem Model. It is a model which focuses on the interaction between nurse and patient/client and requires that the nurse assess the knowledge base, the values and the behaviours that are brought to a specific patient situation by both the nurse and the patient/client. Using the system concepts of supra and subsystems, person can be defined as the individual, the family or the community. An intrasystem assessment of the biological, psychosocial and spiritual subsystems of the person is carried out, as well as an assessment of the developmental environment. The developmental environment consists of all the events, factors and influences which have made the person what he is at the time he enters a specific encounter requesting nursing action for an illness situation he is unable to resolve independently. Positive and negative variables are identified and a score on sense of coherence is assigned. Sense of coherence is a construct which includes three components: comprehensibility, meaningfulness and manageability. In using the model, each component is scored from low to high. Through a collaborative process, a joint plan of care is developed in order to increase the sense of coherence the patient/client experiences about the health problem and the plan is evaluated by rescoring on sense of coherence. An example of how the Intersystem Model has been used with a diabetic patient in the community is presented, as well as diagrams illustrating the way the nursing process is carried out in intersystem interaction.
Hume and Facts, Logic and Values: A Comment on Cord's Argument

. Steven B. Cord argues for a moral standard based ultimately on the obligation to treat things as what they are. However, this makes morally good behavior impossible for anyone who does not know what something is. Since ought implies can, a principle relied on by Cord in his derivation of natural rights from his ultimate premise, and since no human being is omniscient. Cord's argument is invalid. Further, it runs directly counter to intuitively based moral judgments about right action under conditions of uncertain knowledge.
Hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) is predictive of adverse events and overall survival in older allogeneic transplant recipients

Abstract Objectives Our goal was to evaluate the ability of the hematopoietic cell transplantation comorbidity index (HCT-CI) to predict outcomes after allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) within the context of an older patient population, where multiple comorbidities are common. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of SCT patients ≥ 50 years of age at our institution, identifying 59 patients with complete HCT-CI data collected prospectively. Results HCT-CI category distribution in our sample was disproportionate, with almost half of patients having scores ≥ 3. High HCT-CI score (≥ 3 vs Conclusions In our older patient cohort with a high incidence of multiple comorbidities, HCT-CI score ≥ 3 was significantly associated with OS, particularly in the subset of patients with a low disease relapse risk.
Relativistic Landau levels in a hyperspherical finite cavity

We consider a Dirac electron in the hyperspherical cavityS 3. A uniform magnetic field is applied, and the electron is given an arbitraryg-factor. By exploiting the symmetry properties of the hypersphere, we obtain closed-form expressions for the energy levels. This will allow the rigorous analysis of infrared behaviour. The correspondence between hyperspherical states and ordinary quantum numbers is discussed. We also show that the infinite-volume limit reduces to the proper result for ordinary flat space. In the presence of a magnetic field, however, the rate at which the limit is approached depends on theg-factor anomaly as well as on an auxiliary parameter which occurs in the hyperspherical Dirac equation.