cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Early Experience and the Developmental Programming of Oxytocin and Vasopressin

This chapter describes how early hormonal experience might influence the offspring. Because of the complexity associated with the birth process, the experimental approaches described focus on direct treatments given to offspring during the immediate postnatal period. Initial investigations have centered around the effects of early experiences on social behaviors and neuroendocrine processes that are known to be, in later life, peptide dependent or strongly influenced by oxytocin (OT) or arginine vasopressin (AVP), a related neuropeptide. Studies subject involve prairie voles, a highly social rodent species in which OT and AVP have been shown to be of particular importance to behavior and physiology. The OT system has exceptional plasticity and may be affected by a variety of developmental factors. OT neurons in adult rats have been described as “immature.” These neurons have the capacity to change shape and form new synapses, in part through changes in the glia that normally separate neurons. Both OT and AVP may directly or indirectly influence cellular growth, death or motility, inflammation, or differentiation. The potential to remodel the nervous system, especially in early life, offers another process through which OT or AVP may have effects on physiology and behavior. The OTR is also susceptible to epigenetic regulation, for example, by silencing genes via methylation. The capacity of genes that code for receptors to be silenced or otherwise modified in early life may be particularly relevant to understanding the long-lasting consequences of early experiences, whether originating as behavioral or hormonal experiences.
Late Merge as Lowering Movement in Minimalist Grammars

Minimalist grammars can be specified in terms of their derivation tree languages and a mapping from derivations to derived trees, each of which is definable in monadic second-order logic (MSO). It has been shown that the linguistically motivated operation Late Merge can push either component past the threshold of MSO-definability. However, Late Merge as used in the syntactic literature can be elegantly recast in terms of Lowering movement within the framework of Movement-generalized Minimalist grammars. As the latter are MSO-definable, the linguistically relevant fragment of Late Merge is too.
Impacts of classifying New York City students as overweight.

US schools increasingly report body mass index (BMI) to students and their parents in annual fitness “report cards.” We obtained 3,592,026 BMI reports for New York City public school students for 2007–2012. We focus on female students whose BMI puts them close to their age-specific cutoff for categorization as overweight. Overweight students are notified that their BMI “falls outside a healthy weight” and they should review their BMI with a health care provider. Using a regression discontinuity design, we compare those classified as overweight but near to the overweight cutoff to those whose BMI narrowly earned them a “healthy” BMI grouping. We find that overweight categorization generates small impacts on girls’ subsequent BMI and weight. Whereas presumably an intent of BMI report cards was to slow BMI growth among heavier students, BMIs and weights did not decline relative to healthy peers when assessed the following academic year. Our results speak to the discrete categorization as overweight for girls with BMIs near the overweight cutoff, not to the overall effect of BMI reporting in New York City.
“ … donne erano: e donne sarebbero”: Il corpo femminile come catalizzatore delle strutture narrative e delle scelte linguistiche nel Pasticciaccio

In Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana di Carlo Emilio Gadda, il corpo femminile – smembrato ed esaminato per dettagli; ridotto alla dimensione brutalmente sessuale o emanante invece una bellezza ineffabile; costruito per contrasti e inesprimibile se non attraverso la citazione – funziona come una grande metafora del mondo e, di conseguenza, della lingua che di esso da conto perseguendone non la spiegazione, bensi solo l’apparire. Il saggio sviluppa pertanto l’ipotesi che la sperimentazione linguistica del Pasticciaccio, cosi come la sua costruzione rizomatica e digressiva, venga catalizzata attraverso la rappresentazione dei profili femminili, a sua volta legata a tematiche psicologiche e sociali. Correlativo oggettivo della confusione, della molteplicita e dell’indicibilita del reale, la donna diviene cioe, per transfert letterario, microcosmo riflettente delle strutture del romanzo e delle sue caleidoscopiche scelte verbali.
Lexical and phonological variation in Russian prepositions

Phonological rules can be variable in two ways: they can apply to a subset of the lexicon (lexical variation), or apply optionally, with a probability that depends on the phonological environment (stochastic variation). These two types of variation are occasionally seen as mutually exclusive. We show that the vowel–zero alternation in Russian prepositions ([s trudom] ‘with difficulty’ vs. [sə stinoj] ‘with the wall’) exhibits both types of variation. In two corpus studies and a nonce-word experiment, we document novel stochastic factors that influence the alternation: similarity avoidance, stress position and sonority profile. These constraints interact additively, lending support to a weighted-constraints analysis. In addition to phonologically determined stochastic variation, we find significant lexical variation: phonologically similar nouns differ in the rate at which they condition the alternation in the prepositions. We analyse this pattern by augmenting the weighted-constraints approach with lexical scaling factors.
Spatial Clustering Analysis of Water Main Break Events

In this paper, we consider drinking water pipe breakage as a process in space and aim to identify patterns that can subsequently be used to improve the understanding and modeling of the breakage process. For instance, patterns obtained by spatial clustering algorithms might indicate spatial correlation or lead to the identification of good predictors of breakage within clusters. More specifically, our goal is to assess the efficacy of applying spatial clustering methods to the exploratory analysis of water distribution pipe breakage. This study indicates that the DBSCAN algorithm, which is a density based clustering method, when adapted to consider network shortest path distances, is suitable for identifying spatial clusters of breaks, based on the density of the spatial distribution of break events. An analysis of the limitations created by the subjective nature of parameter choice, and the potential usefulness of the clustering results, is provided along with future work directions.
The Cutaneous Porphyrias

The porphyrias are a group of disorders caused by defects in the biosynthesis of haem. Their relevance to the skin arises from the phototoxic properties of the accumulated porphyrins.
Diagnosing hemolytic disease of the newborn.

1. Tammy Annette Brantley[⇑][1] 1. was a senior clinical laboratory science student at Indiana University, Indianapolis at the time this paper was written 1. Address for correspondence: Tammy A Brantley, 3030 North 1000 West, Tipton, IN 46072. A Rh negative, pregnant female presented to a major medical center for possible Rh alloimmunization. This female had nine previous pregnancies, including three spontaneous abortions, four live births, and two fetal demises. Because of poor prenatal care, the immunization Rh immune globulin was administered to only the first two pregnancies. After much laboratory testing and treatment, this tenth pregnancy also ended in fetal demise. ETIOLOGY OF HDN Erythroblastosis fetalis, more commonly known as hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), is an immune response disorder. It is caused mostly in pregnancies with blood incompatibilities, such as ABO or Rh, with Rh being the most common. It occurs in approximately 10% of pregnancies.1 The fetal red blood cells (RBCs), contain an antigen such as A, B, or D that the mother's red blood cells do not have. For example, an Rh− woman who has no D antigen present on her RBCs is pregnant with an Rh+ fetus that does have the D antigen present on its RBCs. The four most common antibodies are anti-D, anti-c, anti-E, and anti-Kell, which is the highest significance clinically.2 In this case study, the antibody of concern is anti-D, which is associated with Rh incompatibility. This is determined by the mother's rising IDAT testing of anti-D antibodies. According to Dr Lopez-Plaza, only 17% of Rh− mothers will become immunized if exposed to fetal Rh+ cells.3 This often happens when the placenta breaks from the mother's uterus during delivery because fetal RBCs can enter maternal circulation. When the… ABBREVIATIONS: HDN = hemolytic disease of the newborn; IDAT = indirect anti-globulin test; IUFT = intrauterine fetal transfusion; PUBS = percutaneous umbilical blood sample; RBC = red blood cells. [1]: #corresp-1
CHAPTER 49 – Rare Bone Diseases

This chapter summarizes information concerning genetic as well as local and systemic factors involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of rare bone diseases where data from assays of biochemical markers of skeletal remodeling are accumulating. For such disorders, bone turnover assessed biochemically can shed light on the nature of the skeletal perturbation and help to design, evaluate, and monitor treatment. However, systemic or focal derangements in bone growth, modeling, and remodeling and cartilage formation and degradation can be occurring and lead to generalized or regional ostopenia (bone density below the normal) or increases in skeletal mass. Biochemical markers of skeletal formation or resorption provide summative values reflecting the impact of a global disturbance or a partly localized lesion. Hence, the type and extent of the pathologic process in individual patients merits consideration when interpreting results from such assays. This is best illustrated by the common focal skeletal disorder, Paget's bone disease.
BlinkFill: semi-supervised programming by example for syntactic string transformations

The recent Programming By Example (PBE) techniques such as FlashFill have shown great promise for enabling end-users to perform data transformation tasks using input-output examples. Since examples are inherently an under-specification, there are typically a large number of hypotheses conforming to the examples, and the PBE techniques suffer from scalability issues for finding the intended program amongst the large space.We present a semi-supervised learning technique to significantly reduce this ambiguity by using the logical information present in the input data to guide the synthesis algorithm. We develop a data structure InputDataGraph to succinctly represent a large set of logical patterns that are shared across the input data, and use this graph to efficiently learn substring expressions in a new PBE system BlinkFill. We evaluate BlinkFill on 207 real-world benchmarks and show that BlinkFill is significantly faster (on average 41x) and requires fewer input-output examples (1.27 vs 1.53) to learn the desired transformations in comparison to FlashFill.
OR51 Not all STR markers are created equal: Loss of heterozygosity renders informative markers to noninformative in chimerism testing

Aim the polymorphism of short tandem repeats (STR) is utilized to monitor engraftment after bone marrow transplant. We describe in a patient, the calculated percentage of donor cells varies dependent on STR markers used. Methods 16 STR makers were amplified by ABI AmpFLSTR® identifiler kit. Informative markers were identified and used for engraftment monitoring. Results A 62 year old female with a history of acute myelogenous leukemia was transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells from an HLA identical sister (She had a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen). Analysis of STR on the donor and recipient identified 7 STR markers (D8S1179, D7S820, CSF1PO, D19S433, D16S539, FGA, TPOX) being informative. Successful engraftment was demonstrated by STR testing showing >99% donor cells at day 65 posttransplant. However, on day 217 posttransplant, a bone marrow biopsy showed relapse, and only 37.7% of donor cells were detected in bone marrow aspirate. The patient was treated with Vidaza and three donor lymphocyte infusions, after which she achieved remission as demonstrated by 99% donor cells. The percentage of donor lymphocytes remain >99% for nearly 2 years. On day 1028, the patient showed a drop in her platelet count and was suspected of relapse. STR testing on 5 markers (D8S1179, D7S820, D19S433, FGA, TPOX ) out of 7, showed 57% donor cells, while other two markers (CSF1PO, D16S539) showed 100% donor cells. These 7 STR markers all gave similar percentage of donor cells in the previous testing. CSF1PO and D16S539 are localized on chromosomes 5q33-34 and 16q24, respectively. We suspected these two STR markers were deleted due to loss of heterozygosity in the patient’ tumor cells. Karyotyping results confirmed loss of chromosome 5q, and abnormality in chromosome 6 in bone marrow aspirate. These results suggest CSF1PO, D16S539 should be excluded for chimerism analysis. The patient received another round of donor lymphocyte infusion to treat relapse. Conclusions STR markers used for chimerism testing should cover all chromosomes. All informative markers may be considered for chimerism analysis, and some markers may become noninformative due to loss of heterozygosity.
291 IMPACT OF A RURAL COMMUNITY-BASED ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE SAFETY CAMPAIGN.

Background All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are associated with substantial risk of injury for children. Despite legislative and other public health efforts, ATV use by children continues and serious injuries are common. We developed and implemented a community-based ATV injury prevention program targeting rural youth designed to improve awareness and change behavior. Methods Focus group input about effective safety themes was combined with data demonstrating injury risk factors to design the campaign. A variety of media and educational strategies were implemented in a high-risk county in rural Arkansas. Surveys documenting reported ATV safety behaviors were conducted in the local public schools prior to and after the campaign in the target county and also in a separate comparison high-risk county where no intervention was undertaken. Results A total of 1,950 survey responses were obtained from youth ages 9 to 18 years. ATV use in the previous year was reported in 1,533 (79%). Household exposure to ATVs among young children was commonly reported, with 220 (14%) reporting use by children ages 0 to 6 years, 697 (45%) reporting use by 7 to 12 year olds, and 797 (52%) reporting use by 13 to 15 year olds. Riding with passengers was reported by 1,267 youth (90.5%). Helmet use was reported in only 226 (15%), and only 825 (54%) wore any protective gear. Reports of ATV safety education and recollection of ATV safety information exposure increased in the intervention county compared with the comparison county. Protective equipment use was also somewhat increased in the intervention county (46% pre; 55% post) relative to the comparison (52% pre; 58% post). Other risk factors did not change in the short-term follow-up. Conclusions ATV use and high-risk behaviors were common in the population of both counties. Preliminary results indicate that the campaign was effective in reaching many of the target youth. Reported safety behavior in the intervention county was not changed in the short term; however, a trend toward increased use of protective equipment was found. Long-term efforts and novel approaches to ATV safety may be required to combat ATV injury.
Punctate radiation dermatitis of the foot and ankle caused by distal embolization of 90Y microspheres during liver directed therapy

A 41-year-old man with gastric adenocarcinoma presented with hepatic metastases. The metastases were refractory to systemic chemotherapy, so radioembolization with Y microspheres was performed. Because of stasis or saturation of the tumor with embolic particles, 79% of the microspheres were injected. At follow-up, the patient complained of "red bumps" that had developed on his right foot/ankle the day after the radioembolization. Because a portion of the dose was still in the catheter when withdrawn from the right femoral artery, the interventional radiologist used a Geiger counter to confirm radioactivity in the cutaneous lesions and thus the distal embolization of the microspheres.
Stereotactic body radiotherapy for unresected pancreatic cancer: A nationwide review

BACKGROUND The role of conventional radiotherapy in the management of pancreatic cancer has yet to be elucidated. Over the past decade, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has emerged as a novel therapeutic option in pancreatic cancer care. This study evaluated the survival impact of SBRT on patients with unresected pancreatic cancer. METHODS The National Cancer Data Base was queried for unresected patients who received chemotherapy for nonmetastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma between 2004 and 2012. Four treatment groups were identified: chemotherapy alone, chemotherapy combined with external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT), chemotherapy combined with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and chemotherapy combined with SBRT. Propensity score models predicting the odds of receiving SBRT were created to control for potential selection bias, and patients were matched by propensity scores. The survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS A total of 14,331 patients met the inclusion criteria. Chemotherapy alone was delivered to 5464 patients (38.1%); 6418 (44.8%), 322 (2.3%), and 2127 (14.8%) received chemotherapy along with EBRT, IMRT, and SBRT, respectively. The unadjusted median survival before matching was 9.9, 10.9, 12.0, and 13.9 months for patients treated with chemotherapy, EBRT, IMRT, and SBRT, respectively. In separate matched analyses, SBRT remained superior to chemotherapy alone (log-rank P < .0001) and EBRT (log-rank P = .0180). After matching, survival did not differ between patients receiving IMRT and patients receiving SBRT (log-rank P = .0492). CONCLUSIONS SBRT is associated with a significantly better outcome than chemotherapy alone or in conjunction with traditional EBRT. These results support the idea that SBRT is a promising treatment approach for patients with unresected pancreatic cancer. Cancer 2017;123:4158-4167. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
Who Can Deviate from the Party Line? Political Ideology Moderates Evaluation of Incongruent Policy Positions in Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Political polarization at the elite level is a major concern in many contemporary democracies, which is argued to alienate large swaths of the electorate and prevent meaningful social change from occurring, yet little is known about how individuals respond to political candidates who deviate from the party line and express policy positions incongruent with their party affiliations. This experiment examines the neural underpinnings of such evaluations using functional MRI (fMRI). During fMRI, participants completed an experimental task where they evaluated policy positions attributed to hypothetical political candidates. Each block of trials focused on one candidate (Democrat or Republican), but all participants saw two candidates from each party in a randomized order. On each trial, participants received information about whether the candidate supported or opposed a specific policy issue. These issue positions varied in terms of congruence between issue position and candidate party affiliation. We modeled neural activity as a function of incongruence and whether participants were viewing ingroup or outgroup party candidates. Results suggest that neural activity in brain regions previously implicated in both evaluative processing and work on ideological differences (insula and anterior cingulate cortex) differed as a function of the interaction between incongruence, candidate type (ingroup versus outgroup), and political ideology. More liberal participants showed greater activation to incongruent versus congruent trials in insula and ACC, primarily when viewing ingroup candidates. Implications for the study of democratic representation and linkages between citizens’ calls for social change and policy implementation are discussed.
Primary Care Providers' Use of a Child Psychiatry Telephone Support Program

Abstract Background The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) provides telephone support from mental health specialists to primary care providers (PCPs). Understanding PCPs' use may inform implementation of similar programs. We sought to examine PCPs' decision-making process to use or not use MCPAP when encountering mental health problems. Methods We analyzed data regarding calls from PCPs to MCPAP from October 1, 2010, to July 31, 2011, and interviewed 14 PCPs with frequent use (≥7 calls) and infrequent use (≤4 calls). PCPs were asked about recent patients with mental health problems, and they were asked to describe reasons for calling or not calling MCPAP. Frequent callers were asked what sustained use; infrequent callers were asked about alternative management strategies. Comparisons were made between these groups in qualitative analysis. Results PCPs (n = 993) made 6526 calls (mean = 6.6; median = 3). Factors influencing calling included: MCPAP's guidance is timely and tailored to individual scope of practice; MCPAP's ability to arrange therapy referrals exceeds PCPs' ability; providing a plan at point of care relieves anxious families; and MCPAP's assistance helps accommodate families' preference to keep mental health in primary care. Some infrequent callers had gained skills through MCPAP before 2010 and now called only for complex cases. Other reasons for infrequent calling: PCPs have other consultation sources, have fear of being asked to manage more than they are comfortable, or have misperceptions of MCPAP's offerings. Conclusions MCPAP enhanced PCPs' ability to deliver mental health care consistent with families' preferences. PCPs applied knowledge gained from calls to subsequent patients. Promoting MCPAP components through outreach and tailoring guidance to PCPs' scope of practice may entice greater use.
A Modified System for the Synthesis of Enantioenriched N-Arylamines through Copper-Catalyzed Hydroamination

Despite significant recent progress in copper-catalyzed enantioselective hydroamination chemistry, the synthesis of chiral N-arylamines, which are frequently found in natural products and pharmaceuticals, has not been realized. Initial experiments with N-arylhydroxylamine ester electrophiles were unsuccessful and, instead, their reduction in the presence of copper hydride (CuH) catalysts was observed. Herein, we report key modifications to our previously reported hydroamination methods that lead to broadly applicable conditions for the enantioselective net addition of secondary anilines across the double bond of styrenes, 1,1-disubstituted olefins, and terminal alkenes. NMR studies suggest that suppression of the undesired reduction pathway is the basis for the dramatic improvements in yield under the reported method.
Influence of gaseous atmosphere on electrochemical behavior of nickel alloys in LiCl-KCl-Na2SO4 at 700 °C

Abstract Electrochemical behavior of Ni alloys (Ni, β-NiAl, β-NiAl/Cr) was investigated in LiCl-KCl-Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte at 700 °C under three gaseous atmospheres (Ar, O 2 , O 2 -0.1%SO 2 ). In oxidizing atmospheres, Ni rapidly degraded due to instability of NiO, and alumina-rich scale on β-NiAl provided limited protection against hot corrosion (e.g., cracks in the scale under O 2 -0.1%SO 2 ); however, the addition of both Al and Cr resulted in enhanced corrosion resistance by forming a mixed-oxide (Al 2 O 3 -Cr 2 O 3 ) scale in oxidizing atmospheres. In hot corrosion processes of Ni alloys, the formation and stability of oxide scales in the molten salt were influenced by gaseous atmosphere and alloying elements.
Bank erosion in an Andean páramo river system: Implications for hydro-development and carbon dynamics in the neotropical Andes

The paramo of the Northern Andes provide critically important ecosystem services to the Northern Andean region in the form of water provisioning and carbon sequestration, both of which are a result of the paramo’s organic-rich soils. Little is known, however, about the hydro-geomorphic characteristics of the rivers that drain these ecosystems. With impending plans for widespread hydro-development and increasing implementation of carbon-sequestering compensation for ecosystem services programs in the region it is imperative that we develop a thorough understanding of the hydrogeomorphic role that rivers play in this unique ecosystem. The objective of this study was to quantify bank erosion along an Amazonian headwater stream draining a small, relatively undisturbed paramo catchment to gain a better understanding of the natural erosion regime and the resulting sediment contributions from this unique ecosystem. This study implemented a combination of field, laboratory, and Geographic Information Systems techniques to quantify bank erosion rates and determine a bank erosion sediment yield from the Ningar River, a small paramo catchment (22.7 km2) located in the eastern Andean cordillera of Ecuador. Results show that bank erosion rates range from 3.0 to ≥ 390.0 mm/yr, are highly episodic, and yield at least 487 tons of sediment annually to the Ningar River. These results imply that 1) paramo ecosystems substantially contribute to the sediment load of the Amazon River basin; 2) bank erosion is a potentially significant flux component of basin-scale carbon cycles in paramo ecosystems; and 3) hydrologic alteration campaigns (dam building) will likely critically alter these contributions and concomitantly disconnect a critical source of sediment and nutrients to downstream ecosystems.
Properties of a class of mean dependent on a parameter

Some properties of a new class of binary symmetric mean $M_{p} (a,b)$ which depends on two positive numbers a and b, as well as a positive parameter p, are investigated. The logarithmic mean and arithmetic mean are two members of this class. It is shown that, for all values of the parameter p, the set of p-dependent means $M_{p} (a,b)$ is bounded above by the mean $M_{\infty } (a,b)$ .
Effective Vortioxetine Dose Varies with Extent of Antidepressant Use Across Countries.

Objective One of the possible explanations for the antidepressant resistance is tolerance to the effect of increasing synaptic serotonin. Vortioxetine is thought to work through a combination of two pharmacological modes of action: serotonin reuptake inhibition and modification of serotonin receptor activity, in a dose-dependent manner. This mechanism of action allows for examination of the hypothesis that antidepressant non-response may be due to exposure to persistently elevated synaptic amine levels. Methods We hypothesized that lower doses of vortioxetine, which exclusively inhibit serotonin reuptake, would not be effective in the setting of prolonged exposure to antidepressants, but higher doses, which interact in various ways to multiple post-synaptic serotonin receptors, would be relatively more effective in the setting of prolonged, prestudy antidepressant exposure. We examined the relationship between Defined Daily Dose (DDD), which is a measure of the extent of antidepressant use in each country, and the minimal effective dose of vortioxetine. Principal observation There is a significant relationship between the DDD and effective vortioxetine dose (P = 0.035). Conclusions In countries with high antidepressant utilization, higher doses of vortioxetine were required, and obverse was true in countries with lower antidepressant utilization. These data support the hypothesis that tolerance to serotonin reuptake inhibition drives poor antidepressant response.
Correction to: Review of Transthyretin Silencers, Stabilizers, and Fibril Removal Agents in the Treatment of Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloid.

On page 2 of the original publication, in the section on TTR Silencers dosing of patisiran in the APOLLO study was stated as being given every 3 months; this is inaccurate as patisiran was dosed every 3 weeks in the APOLLO study.
Scripture and Ideology

Various movements through history have appealed to Scripture for authority. These have been called supersessionist, messianist, and/or zionist, but they continue to appeal to Scripture even after t...
Memory and Invention in Olga Lengyel’s Five Chimneys

Olga Lengyel’s Five Chimneys was one of the first Auschwitz memoirs to be published after the war, the English translation appearing in 1947. At the time virtually nothing was known about the death camp, so readers had few historical facts to help determine the accuracy of her narrative. Since then the work has been reprinted many times up to the present day, the text remaining unchanged. No contemporary reviewer challenged the authenticity of her account, and since then numerous scholars have cited her report without questioning the trustworthiness of the stories she tells about her various roles in the daily life of the camp. In fact, the memoir is so cluttered with false details and fantasy scenarios that, as this essay attempts to show, it can no longer be considered a reliable source of information about the Auschwitz death camp. Although Lengyel was trained as a nurse assistant by her surgeon husband before the war, she deliberately creates the impression that she was a doctor, and is named as such by several commentators. She so inflates the numbers of inmates gassed that one reviewer declared as many as fifteen million victims must have been murdered there. But her most egregious claim is that the gunpowder intended to blow up one of the crematoriums in the Sonderkommando revolt of October 1944 (it was actually burned down, not blown up) was supplied by Soviet partisans who buried it in gardens outside the camp. Other prisoners later dug it up and brought it to her, and as a member of the underground she says she was able to transfer it to the members of the Sonderkommando to support their uprising. Of course, none of this is true. One can only guess at her motives, which perhaps included a need to restore for herself a sense of agency in a situation where she had none, and thus to project to her readers an image of heroic resistance that never really existed.
Primary vs redo robotic pyeloplasty: A comparison of outcomes.

Summary Introduction Robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty (RALP) is a safe and efficacious option for repair of UPJO. We hypothesize that redo-RALP is technically more difficult but has comparable outcomes to primary RALP. Methods An IRB-approved single institutional registry was utilized to identify all patients undergoing primary or redo RALP from 2012 to 2019. Redo RALP consisted of pyeloplasty and ureterocalicostomy (RALUC). Peri-operative and post-operative details and outcomes were aggregated. Successful reconstruction was defined as resolution of symptoms, improved hydronephrosis and no need for additional procedures. Results From 399 patients who underwent UPJO repair at our center, a total of 306 with a median age of 4.9 years at surgery and a median follow-up of 18.5 months were included: 276 primary and 30 redo (21 RALP and 9 RALUC). Redo group had significantly longer procedure time and length of stay compared to the primary group. However, no significant difference was noted in the post-operative complications, need for additional endoscopic procedures or redo reconstruction, and success between the two groups. Multivariate analysis showed that when controlled for age, gender, 30-days post-operative complication and anatomy of obstruction, redo as compared to primary reconstruction did not have a significant effect on success. Discussion This study is the largest controlled cohort in the pediatric population comparing redo RALP with an established control group -primary RALP. This retrospective chart review possesses the biases innate to any retrospective study. The low number of re-operative cases as well as low rate of failure in redo RALP further complicates identification of statistically significant predictors of outcomes following redo RALP. Conclusion Redo RALP is an efficient and safe approach for reconstruction of recurrent UPJO, with low complication rate and high success rate, comparable to primary RALP.
New fragmented electro-active biofilm (FAB) reactor to increase anode surface area and performance of microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising sustainable future energy source with a renewable and abundant substrate. MFC critical drawbacks are anode surface area limitations and electrochemical loss. Recent studies recommend thick anode biofilm growth due to the synergetic effect between microbial communities. Engineering the anode surface area is the prospect of MFC. In this study, a microbial electrode jacket dish (MEJ-dish) was invented, first time to the authors’ knowledge, to support MFC anode biofilm growth. The MFC reactor with MEJ-dish was hypothesized to develop a variable biofilm thickens. This reactor is called a fragmented electro-active biofilm-microbial fuel cell (FAB-MFC). It was optimized for pH and MEJ-dish types and tested at a bench-scale. Fragmented (thick and thin) anode biofilms were observed in FAB-MFC but not in MFC. During the first five days and pH 7.5, maximum voltage (0.87 V) was recorded in MFC than FAB-MFC; however, when the age of the reactor increases, all the FAB-MFC gains momentum. It depends on the MEJ-dish type that determines the junction nature between the anode and MEJ-dish. At alkaline pH 8.5, the FAB-MFC generates a lower voltage relative to MFC. On the contrary, the COD removal was improved regardless of pH variation (6.5–8.5) and MEJ-dish type. The bench-scale studies support the optimization findings. Overall, the FAB improves the Coulombic efficiency by 7.4–9.6 % relative to MFC. It might be recommendable to use both FAB and non-FAB in a single MFC reactor to address the contradictory effect of increasing COD removal associated with the lower voltage at higher pH. This study showed the overall voltage generated was significantly higher in FAB-MFC than MFC within limited pH (6.5–7.5); relatively, COD removal was enhanced within a broader pH range (6.5–8.5). It supports the conclusion that FAB anode biofilms were vital for COD removal, and there might be a mutualism even though not participated in voltage generation. FAB could provide a new flexible technique to manage the anode surface area and biofilm thickness by adjusting the MEJ-dish size. Future studies may need to consider the number, size, and conductor MEJ-dish per electrode.
Association of donor hypertension and outcomes in orthotopic heart transplantation.

The present study examined the impact of donor hypertension on recipient survival and offer acceptance practices in the United States. This was a retrospective study of all patients undergoing OHT from 1995 to 2019 using the United Network for Organ Sharing and Potential Transplant Recipient file databases. Hypertensive donors were stratified by Short (0-5 years) and Prolonged (> 5 years) hypertension. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze offer acceptance practices while Cox proportional-hazards models were used to compare mortality across groups. Of 38,338 heart transplants meeting study criteria, 5662 were procured from hypertensive donors (69% Short and 31% Prolonged). After adjustment, Prolonged donor hypertension was associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio, HR, 1.31, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.04-1.64), while recipients of Short donors experienced no decrement in post-transplant survival. Both Short and Prolonged hypertension were independently associated with decreased odds of offer acceptance (odds ratio, OR .92 95%CI: .88-.96 and OR .93 95%CI: .88-.99, respectively). While prolonged untreated hypertension in OHT donors is associated with a slight decrement in recipient survival, donors with ≤5 years of hypertension yielded similar outcomes. Donor hypertension was associated with reduced organ offer acceptance, highlighting a potential source of organ underutilization.
In the Clinical Setting of Non-Palpable/Non-Bulky Inguinal Nodes

In penile carcinoma, inguinal lymph node metastasis is a poor prognostic factor for survival outcomes. Management of patients in the clinical setting of non-palpable and non-bulky inguinal nodes (cN0) is challenging and can be controversial. While survival rates are notably improved with early inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND), this procedure is invasive and can be associated with significant postoperative morbidity. Thus, prophylactic ILND on all patients with penile cancer would imply overtreatment in most cases.
Countably Infinite Utilitarian Aggregation

We extend Harsanyi's (1955) utilitarianism theorem to an infinite-horizon multi-generation setting: Under some additional assumptions, the Pareto condition is equivalent to utilitarian aggregation and the utilitarian weights are unique. Our results facilitate analysis of the properties of utilitarian weights, such as the limiting behavior of utilitarian weights for distant future generations, and the comparative statics of utilitarian weights as the social discount factor or the social risk attitude changes. Among other findings, we show that a higher social discount rate is associated with a more unequal assignment of utilitarian weights across generations.
Mild Cognitive Impairment: Prodromal Alzheimer's Disease or Something Else?

The majority of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) studies use baseline and one follow-up measurement to determine the clinical course of the disorder. This report of MCI clinical course is based on the a statistical evaluation of multiple neurocognitive tests over a 60 month period in elderly normal and MCI cohorts. The data includes serial informant-based measures (Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR]) and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests analyzed by two different regression methods. Twenty-nine elderly participants entered the study as neurocognitively normal; 26 remained normal, 2 progressed to MCI, and 1 progressed to dementia. Eighty-three participants entered the study as multiple domain MCI cases; 10 became normal, 46 remained MCI, and 27 progressed to dementia. Three of the 27 demented died with full necropsies performed (one case was progressive supranuclear palsy and two confirmed Alzheimer's disease with severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)). Without serial measures, 1 in 8 MCI could be misclassified as "stable MCI" despite reverting to normal. The stable MCI cohorts did not benefit from practice effects though the normal subjects did. Applying Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis enabled prediction of the endpoint status of participants from baseline values with 78.6% accuracy. The fluctuating cognitive status of the multiple domain MCI cases implies a remitting pathologic process with elements of recovery consistent with a progressive microvasculopathy such as CAA.
An anatomical approach to teaching the clinical evaluation of musculoskeletal injuries to primary care providers (536.5)

A solid understanding of anatomy is essential for successful clinical evaluation of musculoskeletal injuries. However, reinforcement of basic anatomical knowledge is often not part of continuing medical education (CME) for providers in the primary care setting, a group that is often first to evaluate musculoskeletal injuries. To address this gap, two lectures, one on the knee and the other on the shoulder, were presented to primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and medical assistants at a university student health center for CME credit. In pre-lecture surveys the clinicians indicated that, on average, they were not confident to somewhat confident in their ability to evaluate knee and shoulder pain. A key feature of the lectures was their organization following the clinical examination process, with emphasis on palpation and testing of the underlying anatomy and differential diagnosis of common injuries. In post-lecture surveys the clinicians reported increased knowledge of anato...
WORKING WITH LOW SURVEY RESPONSE RATES: The Efficacy of Weighting Adjustments

National data show a continuing decline in the willingness of people to respond to surveys. This trend is troubling given the central role that survey research plays in collecting data for institutional research purposes. This paper examines the effectiveness of a weighting procedure described by Astin and Molm for adjusting survey results to correct for nonresponse bias. Using data from a Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) follow-up survey, the results indicate that the weighting procedure is highly effective at reducing nonresponse bias in univariate distributions. The effectiveness of the weighting procedure in adjusting correlation and regression analyses is less clear. This may be due in part to the observation that even when individual variables are noticeably biased, their relationships with each other tend not to be.
A monopolistic competition model of spatial agglomeration: Differentiated product approach

Abstract Although most existing models of spatial agglomeration rely on the concept of external economies, this paper demonstrates that pure market processes based on price interactions alone can generate spatial agglomeration of economic activities. To this end, a spatial version of the Chamberlinian monopolistic competition model is developed, in which a continuum of firms supply a continuum of differentiated goods to homogeneous households in a linear city. The monopolistic equilibria are compared with the first-best and second-best solutions.
Structural mechanism of Smad4 recognition by the nuclear oncoprotein Ski: insights on Ski-mediated repression of TGF-beta signaling.

The Ski family of nuclear oncoproteins represses TGF-β signaling through interactions with the Smad proteins. The crystal structure of the Smad4 binding domain of human c-Ski in complex with the MH2 domain of Smad4 reveals specific recognition of the Smad4 L3 loop region by a highly conserved interaction loop (I loop) from Ski. The Ski binding surface on Smad4 significantly overlaps with that required for binding of the R-Smads. Indeed, Ski disrupts the formation of a functional complex between the Co- and R-Smads, explaining how it could lead to repression of TGF-β, activin, and BMP responses. Intriguingly, the structure of the Ski fragment, stabilized by a bound zinc atom, resembles the SAND domain, in which the corresponding I loop is responsible for DNA binding.
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages . By John Aberth. New York and London: Routledge, 2001. Pp. xii, 304. $26.00.

Books on disasters will never go out of fashion, and overarching syntheses of the really major catastrophes of human history are a publisher's dream. John Aberth offers his own rather idiosyncratic synthesis of what is generally termed the “crisis” of the later Middle Ages. This was a period that included a major famine (1315–1322) and other significant, though somewhat more localized, shortages. There were seemingly interminable wars, the Hundred Years War being the most famous, in which the long intervals of truce, with unpaid troops harrying the land, were worse than the formal campaigns. And there was plague: first the Black Death of 1347–1351, and then revisitations of pestilence (plague, presumably, but other devastating diseases as well) in nearly every generation for the next three hundred years.
Jet Schemes and Singularities of W d r (C) Loci

Kempf proved that the theta divisor of a smooth projective curve C has rational singularities. In this paper we estimate the dimensions of the jet schemes of the theta divisor and show that all these schemes are irreducible. In particular, we recover Kempf's theorem in this way. For general projective smooth curves, our method also gives a formula for the log canonical threshold of the pair .
Mutations in the Conserved Glycine and Serine of the MutS ABC signature motif affect Nucleotide Exchange, Kinetics of sliding clamp release of mismatch and mismatch repair

The MutS protein controls genomic stability by coordinating recognition and repair of DNA mismatches with ATP utilization. The nature of this coordination is unclear. This study demonstrates the importance of a highly conserved flexible loop found in Escherichia coli MutS (residues 658-670) in DNA mismatch repair. This loop is speculated to be analogous to the ABC signature motif of drug transporters based on its proximity to the ATP catalytic site in crystal structures. Our studies show that amino acid residues G666 and S668 control MutS functions subsequent to mismatch recognition by MutS, i.e., nucleotide-mediated exchange and ATP-dependent dissociation from mismatch. G666V mutation affects mismatch-provoked ADP-ATP exchange and results in slower dissociation kinetics of MutS from the mismatch while S668A mutation affects stable clamp formation and dissociation kinetics but does not affect nucleotide exchange. Both mutants harbor defects in ATP hydrolysis and cause a significant mutator phenotype in vivo. The mutator effect of S668A is indistinguishable from that of a MutS-deficient background and is similar to that seen with G658A. Neither mutations affect protein stability or cause a dominant mutator effect. Together with our studies on G658, D661 and F670 [1], this study implicates the signature motif as a primary regulator of MutS function and suggests concerted action of the individual amino acid residues within this motif in mediating communication between the Walker and mismatch recognition domains.
Coded Wire Tag Retention in Ebonyshell Mussels Fusconaia ebena

Abstract Ebonyshell Fusconaia ebena (38–75 mm long) were collected from Kentucky Lake, Tennessee, and tagged in the hinge ligament with coded wire tags. Mussels were then suspended in pocket nets in an embayment of Kentucky Lake. After 2 years, the 50 tagged individuals were retrieved. Survival and tag retention were 100%. Eleven individuals were sacrificed and their tags were retrieved by making a longitudinal cut through the hinge ligament. Because coded wire tags are not visible externally, they are especially useful for detecting illegally harvested mussels.
Elastic pion-deuteron scattering in the resonance region as a three-body problem

We study elastic pion-deuteron scattering in the Δ(1236) energy region by means of the three-body Faddeev equations. We present a compact angular momentum reduction of the Faddeev integral equation for separable amplitudes, neglecting the nucleon spin, and solve the resulting coupled integral equations. We examine the dependence of the elastic scattering amplitude on the deuteron structure, on the pion-nucleon scattering amplitude, and on the various orders of multiple scattering. The differential cross section is very sensitive to multiple scattering effects at backward angles. We find that a number of conventional approximations do not well reproduce these multiple scattering effects in the resonance region.
In Honor of Paul Krugman: Winner of the John Bates Clark Medal

Paul Krugman is the winner of the 1991 John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to "that American economist under forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." I shall attempt to convey a flavor of Krugman's research contributions, grouped into some major themes: product diversity and monopolistically competitive trade; oligopoly and strategic trade policy; the dynamics of trade and exchange rates; and much more. Finally I discuss his brilliant popular book, The Age of Diminished Expectations (1991).