cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Micromanipulation Techniques for Cloning

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses primarily on the mechanics and practical details associated with nuclear transfer experiments. As with various technical procedures, around 75% of the success of cloning experiments is attributed to good manipulation tools. Although there are several commercial sources of micromanipulation tools, most skilled and experienced people still prefer to make their own. The two largest suppliers for pre-made micromanipulation tools are Cook Veterinary Products USA and Humagen Fertility Diagnostics Inc. However, once mastered, custom toolmaking does not take too much time and allows the investigator to tailor the tools on the spot for various experimental situations. Micromanipulation pipettes are fashioned from thin-walled glass capillaries, and some investigators use various types of glass for holding and enucleation pipettes. Equipment required to make micromanipulation tools consists of a pipette puller, microforge, pipette grinder, diamond-tip pencil, and gas burner. A pipette puller is used to provide finely drawn pipettes from capillary glass, and a microforge is used to finish and polish the tips of holding and nuclear transfer pipettes. A pipette grinder is used for making beveled tips optimally, and it should offer a variable speed, a nonbumpy grinding surface, and a way of dispensing water over the surface. A diamond-tip pencil is used for making precise cuts in glass capillaries and for making embryo-moving pipettes, and a gas source with a fine flame is used for putting bends into micromanipulation pipettes.
Das ‚richtige‘ Marketing-Verständnis

Wie schon im einleitenden Teil dargelegt, ist unwirksames IT-Marketing meist zunachst das Problem eines falschen Marketing-Verstandnisses. Daher ist es auch fur dieses Buch unabdingbar, zuerst ein tieferes (richtiges) Marketing-Verstandnis aufzubauen, bevor es in den spateren Teilen und Abschnitten um die Frage des ‚Marketing-Handelns‘ geht.
La indústria publicitària a l’Era Digital: reptes, oportunitats i perspectives de futur. Converses amb professionals (EUA)

L'atencio dels consumidors esta mes dividida que mai i com a consequencia d'aqeusta divisio el seu valor a arribat a valors sense precedents. Internet ha canviat la manera en que En comuniquem, la manera en que En divertim, la manera en que vivim... aixi, tant la industria de l'entreteniment com la de la publicitat s'han vist forcades a redefinir la seva relacio i els seus vincles amb les audiencies. Aquest ha afegit pressio en el mode en que operen ja que estan intentant adaptar-se a un escenari que es caracteritza per la seva imprevisibilitat. Utilitzant dades extretes de 13 entrevistes semi-estructurades i en profunditat, aquest working paper analitza la transformacio de la industria publicitaria en l'entorn digital. La base son les experiencies de professionals en actiu i la seva visio sobre els canvis en el model de negoci, la relacio amb els consumidors, metriques, estructura de les organitzacions i la integracio de les estrategies digitals i tradicionals.
The Ability of Patient-Symptom Questionnaires to Differentiate PVFMD From Asthma

Summary Objectives Goals of the current study were to (1) conduct initial validation of a new Paradoxical Vocal Fold Movement Disorder Screening Questionnaire (PVFMD-SQ); (2) determine if symptom-based questionnaires can discriminate between patients with confirmed PVFMD and those with diagnosed uncontrolled asthma without clinical suspicion for PVFMD; and (3) determine if a new questionnaire with diagnostic specificity could be created from a combination of significant items on previously validated questionnaires. Methods This is a prospective, case-controlled study of patients with PVFMD only and asthma only, who completed five questionnaires: Dyspnea Index, Reflux Symptom Index, Voice Handicap Index-10, Sino-Nasal Questionnaire, and PVFMD-SQ. Factor analysis was completed on the new PVFMD-SQ, and the discrimination ability of selected factors was assessed by receiver operating characteristics curve. The factor with the greatest discriminatory ability was selected to create one diagnostic questionnaire, and scores for each participant were calculated to estimate how well the factor correlated with a PVFMD or asthma diagnosis. Mean scores on all questionnaires were compared to test their discriminatory ability. Results Patients with PVFMD showed greater voice handicap and reflux symptoms than patients with asthma. A 15-item one-factor questionnaire was developed from the original PVFMD-SQ, with a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 73% for diagnosing asthma versus PVFMD. The combined questionnaires resulted in four factors, none of which showed discriminatory ability between PVFMD and asthma. Conclusion This study represents the first time that a patient symptom-based screening tool has shown diagnostic sensitivity to differentiate PVFMD from asthma in a cohort of symptomatic patients.
Recovery of Campylobacter jejuni from Fresh and Frozen Meat and Poultry Collected at Slaughter.

Approximately 800 fresh and frozen meat and poultry samples collected at the point of slaughter were analyzed for Campylobacter jejuni . C. jejuni and C. coli isolates were never discriminated. Isolation levels of C. jejuni from fresh tissues were 5-fold higher (12.1%) than those from frozen tissues (2.3%). The prevalence of C. jejuni in fresh tissues was also higher when results were compared by animal species rather than by individual tissues.
Use of Multiphoton Intravital Imaging and a Multiscale Computational Model of Thrombus Development to Study the Role of FVII in Thrombogenesis

Using 2-photon intravital microscopy we have generated high resolution, near real-time 3-dimensional images of a developing thrombus. Following Titanium - Sapphire laser-induced injuries in mouse mesenteric vessels, the developing thrombus was monitored by collecting stacks of confocal images through the developing thrombus. Data were collected in 3 channels for fluorescently labeled platelets, fibrinogen and 70,000 MW dextran. By including fluorescently labeled dextran in the blood we were able to monitor flow (plasma) and not labeled cells (leukocytes and erythrocytes) forming black silhouettes in the plasma. Since each 3-D reconstruction involves a series of scans, we were able to generate approximately 2–3 reconstructions per minute. Thus, the system sacrifices temporal resolution for high resolution structural information revealing the changing, heterogeneous sub-domain structure of the developing thrombus. The imaging system has been used to study the consequences of FVII-deficiency. Following injury, of the luminal surface of the vessel, a thin layer of platelets and fibrin accumulated at the injury site. Unlike injuries in wild-type mice where the thrombus continues to grow, the injuries in FVII deficient mice failed to grow as a result of frequent embolization from the developing structure. Interestingly, in a model of ferric chloride induced injury of the carotid artery, thrombi in FVII deficient mice form large structures capable of reducing flow although, unlike wild type mice, the FVII deficient animals fail to form stable occlusive clots. In parallel with the modified experimental vascular injury model, we have begun development of a computational model of thrombus development. The modeling framework consists of a stochastic and discrete Cellular Potts Model (CPM) to describe platelet and cellular interactions and continuous submodels to describe hydrodynamic and biochemical reactions. Our multiscale model includes the vessel wall, platelets (in resting and activated states), blood cells, coagulation reactions, fibrin formation, and hydrodynamic parameters as components. By comparing the in vivo experimental results with those of simulations varying the concentration of FVII we are able to refine and validate the computational model of thrombogenesis.
Using topography to aid smart phones geolocation

Global positioning system (GPS) on smart phones is often either unavailable or inaccurate in urban and natural canyons, indoors, and in forests. Hence it is augmented by use of other available radio frequency (RF) signals, such as WiFi with radio frequency identification and cellular, using their received signal strength, time difference of arrival and even angle of arrival. A novel methodology developed by our group has shown that using local magnetic field intensity mapping based on interval analysis performs better at geolocation than RF based augmentation where GPS is not accessible. In this article, we have extended the algorithms and developed using topographical maps-maps of local gravitational inclination vector to augment geolocation. Sensor measurements on the smart phones are used to construct the topographic maps and aid smart phone’s geolocation through our novel algorithms. Experimental results show the potential of our algorithms on uneven outdoors terrain.
Improving Blood Pressure Management and Disease Severity Documentation in Patients With Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Objective To ensure prime blood pressure management and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) score documentation within 6 hours of arrival and/or before any intervention in patients admitted to Mayo Clinic Hospital with acute ICH.
What Do YouTube Videos Say About Public Education

In this study, YouTube videos concerning public education were identified and evaluated. The researcher typed the term public education into the YouTube search bar and then analyzed the first 60 vi...
Regular Composite Resource Partition in Open Systems

In open systems, no global scheduler has knowledge of the complete resource requirements from all the applications. Each application has its own task group and can generate tasks on demand at run time. Regularity-based Resource Partition (RRP) model is an effective strategy to hierarchically allocate resource in such environments. However, when applying the RRP model to multi-resource environments, end-to-end tasks could experience unexpected delay and miss the deadlines. The tasks might arrive at non-resource-slice boundaries because the resource slice sizes of different physical resource may vary in such non-uniform environments. This paper extends the RRP model to non-uniform multi-resource open systems. It introduces a novel composite resource partition abstraction, identifies the feasible conditions for hierarchical regular composite resource partitioning and proposes an acyclic regular composite resource partition scheduling (ARCRPS) algorithm. Simulation results show that compared with the state-of-the-art approach, ARCRPS improves the acceptance ratio by 20% and 25% in uniform and non-uniform multi-resource environments, respectively. A multi-resource scheduling framework jointly considering the CPU and network resources is also designed and implemented to evaluate the feasibility of this theoretical model in practice.
Fourier series solution for inverse design of aerodynamic shapes

Publisher Summary Aerodynamic shape inverse design methods have a goal of determining the proper shape of an aerodynamic body that will generate the desired (target) pressure distribution on the surface of such a body. There are many methods that are capable of such inverse determination of domain size and shape. Most of these methods require the development of new complex mathematical formulations, and the accompanying new software. Therefore, inverse shape design methods that require minimum software development, and which can accept any existing reliable flow-field analysis computer code, unmodified as an interchangeable large subroutine, are highly desirable. A new formulation based on the Fourier series has been developed for the inverse design of aerodynamic shapes, subject to a specified surface pressure distribution. The method is analytical, and can be used in conjunction with any available flow-field analysis code without a need for modification of such a code. The new method was found to converge quickly, and at a similar rate for both symmetric and asymmetric aerodynamic shapes and with either a potential flow solver, an Euler flow solver, or a Navier‑Stokes flow solver.
Expanding the Team

Clinical research studies fail because of loss of interest of the investigators, financial losses during the study, and the complexity of trials today. Financial well-being of a site depends on enrolling and retaining enough research subjects. This can be facilitated by adding staff and dividing the labor of the research office in different specialties. The research team starts with a principal investigator and a clinical research coordinator. As a team achieves success, personnel can be added in the following areas: front desk, data entry, recruiting, financial management, site manager, and regulatory. Finally, the site may grow by adding subinvestigators and/or satellite offices.
TCT-203 Incidence and Clinical Impact of Device Related Thrombus after Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion; A Meta-Analysis

Device related thrombus (DRT) is a known complication of percutaneous left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). However, data on the incidence of DRT and its impact on clinical outcomes are limited. We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of randomized and observational studies reporting
Toward Advanced Indoor Mobility Models Through Location-Centric Analysis: Spatio-Temporal Density Dynamics

Building's density, as its number of nodes at a specific period, is a significant parameter that affects mobile and smart applications performances and evaluations. Consequently, the buildings' temporal density predictions and their nodes spatial distribution modeling have to follow real-world scenarios to provide a realistic evaluation. However, there is lack of real-world building-level density studies that examine these aspects thoroughly. As a result, this work is a data-driven study that investigates the temporal density predictability and spatial density distributions of more than 100 real buildings with ten different categories, over 150 days across three semesters. The study covers the buildings nodes' temporal modeling and predictions, and their spatial distributions in the building. Seasonal predictive models are utilized to predict hour-by-hour density for a variable length of consequent periods using training data with different lengths. The models include Seasonal Naive, Holt-Winters' seasonal additive, TBATS, and ARIMA-seasonal. The results show that the Seasonal Naive model is often selected as the best predictive model when training phase covers a shorter period. For example, Seasonal Naive predicted with the least error in 73%, 63% and 57% of cases in summer, spring, and fall respectively when using only one week to predict its consecutive five weeks with mean normalized error 25% on average. However, when using five weeks of data to predict the sixth week, the TBATS model predicted with the least error in 60%, 54% and 43% of cases in fall, spring and summer respectively with mean absolute error 19% on average. When investigating the spatial density distributions, power law, log-logistic and lognormal distributions are usually selected as the first best-fit distributions for 82%, 65%, 62% of buildings in the summer, spring and fall respectively.
An Eulerian–Lagrangian–Lagrangian method for solving thin moving rigid body immersed in the fluid

Abstract It is convention in computational mechanics to use Eulerian grids for fluids and Lagrangian grids for solids. In this paper, a novel method called ELL using both Lagrangian and Eulerian grids for fluids is presented in a carefully designed manner to handle complex fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems with moving thin rigid body. The key idea is to use a small portion of the fluid to wrap the thin body. This wrapping fluid is described in Lagrangian coordinate, the same way the solid is described. They are treated as one “composite solid” thus the immersed domain method (IDM) can be implemented. In this way, the moving interface boundary conditions can be explicitly imposed with the help of the unified Lagrangian grids in the interaction zone. The initial fluid domain can still be treated as usual Eulerian grids based on IDM theory by introducing a fictitious fluid. The FSI interface can be accurately modeled since the wrapping fluid and the solid are always attached together. This effectively solves the major “blur interface” problem in the conventional immersed boundary method (IBM). To demonstrate this ELL idea, a number of benchmark examples have been studied in comparison with the results in the open literature. Finally, a 2D flapping wing is simulated to show the potential of ELL in engineering application. It is observed that ELL method proves to be good in performance.
Architecture and Economics for Grid Operation 3.0

This monograph presents a possible research agenda for analytics and control of a deep decarbonized electric grid with pervasive data, interactive consumers, and power electronics interfaces. It focuses on new lines of investigation that are driven by new technological, economical, and policy factors. Conventional monitoring and control of the power grid heavily depends upon the physical principles of the underlying engineering systems. There is however increasing complexity of the physical models compounded by a lack of precise knowledge of their parameters, as well as new uncertainties arising from behavioral, economic, and environmental aspects. On the other hand there is increasing availability of sensory data in the engineering and economic operations and it becomes attractive to leverage such data to model, monitor, analyze, and potentially close control loops over data. The increasing deployment of large numbers of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) provides the potential for providing timely and actionable information about the transmission system. Chapter 2 examines a framework for drastically reducing the dimensionality of the high volume streaming data, while preserving its salient features for purposes such as event detection, classification and visualization, and potentially even to close the loop around the data. Driven by the deepening penetration of renewable energy resources at both transmission and distribution levels, there is an increasing need for utilizing power electronics interfaces as intelligent devices to benefit the overall grid. Chapter 3 offers a conceptual design and concrete examples of a qualitatively different power grid stabilization mechanism in the context of networked microgrids. Another major paradigm change in the operation of the grid is that demand will have to be engaged much more to balance the partially variable renewable energy supply, which in turn requires greater understanding of human behavior to economic variables such as price. Chapter 4 presents a possible formulation to model the behavior of individual consumers in future grid operations. Chapter 5 presents a proposed solution to the problem of detecting attacks on the sensor measurements in the grid, which has become a greater concern with increasing reliance on sensor data transported over communication networks, with both sensors and networks liable to malicious cyber-attacks. The goal of this monograph is to design clean, affordable, reliable, secure, and efficient electricity services. and to expand the horizon of the state of the research in the electric energy systems, at a critical time that is seeing the emergence of Grid 3.0. It is by no means complete and aims to stimulate research by next generation researchers.
Catalysis by Metal Organic Frameworks: Perspective and Suggestions for Future Research

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have drawn wide attention as potential catalysts, offering high densities of catalytic sites in high-area porous solids, some with stabilities at high temperatures. The field is at an early stage, characterized by numerous discoveries and novel demonstrations of catalytic properties associated with the crystalline structures of MOFs, but applications of MOFs as catalysts are still lacking. In this perspective we summarize advantages and limitations of MOFs as catalysts and fundamental issues to be addressed about their potential applications. MOF framework compositions and pore structures can strongly influence catalytic performance, allowing, for example, shape-selective and bifunctional catalysis, but research is needed to quantify reaction/transport processes in MOFs, identify catalytic sites, and determine intrinsic catalytic reaction rates. Progress is hindered by the lack of understanding of the heterogeneity of MOFs, with catalytic sites sometimes being in structures...
Age-Appropriate Pediatric Sports Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and Their Psychometric Properties: A Systematic Review:

Background:Phenomena including early sport specialization and year-round training and competition have contributed to an increase in pediatric sports injuries. There has been a concomitant increase...
Ribociclib Plus Trastuzumab in Advanced HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Results of a Phase 1b/2 Trial.

Abstract Background Signaling through the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) pathway can mediate therapeutic resistance in HER2-positive breast cancer. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that CDK4/6 inhibitors can resensitize resistant HER2-positive breast cancer to anti-HER2 therapies. Patients and Methods We conducted a phase 1b/2 study of ribociclib (400 mg per day on a continuous schedule) plus trastuzumab (6 mg/kg every 3 weeks) in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and trastuzumab emtansine. There were no restrictions on the number of prior therapy lines. Primary objective was clinical benefit rate at 24 weeks, and secondary objectives included safety, objective response, rate and progression-free survival. The study was enrolled at ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT02657343 . Results From March 2016 to March 2017, 13 patients were enrolled. One patient was found to have HER2-negative disease and did not receive treatment. Median number of prior lines in the metastatic setting was 5 (range, 0-14); 67% had hormone receptor–positive disease. No dose-limiting toxicities were observed during the safety run-in phase, and ribociclib was thus dosed at 400 mg per day continuously for the expansion cohort. Grade 3 adverse events were observed in 4 patients (33.3%) and included neutropenia (n = 2) as well as fatigue and pain in 1 patient each. No grade 4/5 adverse events or QTc prolongation were observed. One patient (8.3%) experienced stable disease > 24 weeks; no objective responses were observed, and median progression-free survival was 1.33 months (95% confidence interval, 0.92-2.57). Conclusion Continuous low-dose ribociclib (400 mg) plus trastuzumab is safe, with no new safety concerns. The limited activity observed in this study suggests that further study of CDK4/6 inhibitor/anti-HER2 combinations should focus on a less pretreated population.
The cerebral circulation and cerebrovascular disease I: Anatomy

In this paper, which is the first in a three-part series that reviews cerebrovascular anatomy, pathogenesis, and stroke, we lay the anatomical foundation for the rest of the series. Beginning with its origin in the branches of the aorta, we start by describing the arterial system. This system is partitioned into two major divisions (anterior and posterior circulations) that differ significantly in features and pathogenic potential. The systems, and the major branches that comprise them, are described. Description of the arterial system proceeds to the point of the fulfillment of its function. This function, the exchange of gases and nutrients with the cerebral parenchyma, is the subject of a subsequent section on the microcirculation and blood-brain barrier. Finally, the cerebral venous system, which is composed of cerebral veins and dural venous sinuses, is described. Thus, an anatomical context is supplied for the discussion of cerebrovascular disease pathogenesis provided by our second paper.
Abstract P130: Renal Endothelin-1 Contributes to Salt Sensitivity in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats Under High-Fat Conditions

Decreased renal medullary endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been attributed to salt sensitive (SS) hypertension. Diet induced obesity is associated with SS, but the role of ET-1 is not clear. Our overarching...
Influence of sociodemographic variables on weight loss outcomes up to 3-years following primary bariatric surgery.

Our group has previously demonstrated that low socioeconomic status (SES) independently predicts ≤ 25th percentile weight-loss following bariatric surgery (BS). Given that sociodemographic metrics can be separated into income, education, and race, we sought to investigate how each metric independently impacted weight loss following BS. Patients from a single academic institution who underwent bariatric surgery from 2014 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were stratified by income (low/high), education (≤ high school/ ≥ college), and race (black/white) then compared using univariate analysis. Variables significant on univariate analyses were subsequently used for a greedy 1:3 propensity score match with a caliper of 0.2. After matching, groups were balanced on demographics, social/medical/psychological history, and surgery type. Percent excess body weight loss for each post-operative time point was compared using appropriate univariate analyses. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 571 patients were included. Unmatched race analysis demonstrated black patients were significantly younger (p = 0.05), single (p < 0.0001), in a lower income bracket (p < 0.0001), and experienced less weight loss at 2- (p = 0.01), 6- (p = 0.007), 12- (p = 0.008) and 24- (p = 0.007) months post-op. After matching, black patients continued to experience less weight loss at 2- (p = 0.01) and 6- (p = 0.03) months, which trended at 1 year (p = 0.06). Initial income analysis demonstrated patients in the low-income group (LIG) were more likely to be black (p < 0.0001), have ≤ high school education (p = 0.004), a higher preoperative BMI (p = 0.008), and lower postoperative weight loss at 2- (p = 0.001), 6- (p = 0.01), and 12- (p = 0.04) months after surgery. After matching, no differences were observed up to 3-years post-op. Analysis of education demonstrated no effect on weight loss in both unmatched and matched analyses. Unmatched analysis demonstrated that low income and race impact short-term weight loss after BS. After matching, however, race, not socioeconomic status, predicted weight loss outcomes up to 1-year.
Treatment Trends and Cost Associated With Peyronie's Disease.

Abstract Introduction Providers may use several treatment options for patients with Peyronie's disease; however, it is unclear whether practice patterns have evolved over recent years and if this has impacted cost. Aims To investigate trends in the treatment of Peyronie's disease over time and the associated costs using a national, commercial insurance claims database. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using claims from the Truven MarketScan database from 2007 to 2018 for men with Peyronie's disease. Cost was estimated as either the sum of prescription oral or injectable treatment costs or as the single net cost associated with the operative procedure. Main Outcome Measures Frequency of use of various treatments for Peyronie's disease and associated costs were assessed as trends over the timeline by year. Results The estimated annual incidence of Peyronie's disease in this population rose from 61 to 77 per 100,000 patients over the included years, and the percent annual treatment rate rose from 17.8% to 26.2%. Colchicine was the most commonly prescribed oral agent in 2007 used in 22% of treated individuals; by 2018, pentoxifylline was the most common prescribed oral agent used in 33%. In 2007, 11% of treated patients received intralesional verapamil; however, by 2018, 24% received injectable collagenase, whereas Conclusions Diagnosis and treatment of Peyronie's disease is increasing over time. Pentoxifylline has become the most common oral prescription, whereas injectable collagenase has become most common injection. The mean cost associated with Peyronie's disease treatment increased more than 5 times from 2007 to 2018 corresponding with Federal Drug Administration's approval of injectable collagenase. Loftus CJ, Rajanahally S, Holt SK, et al. Treatment Trends and Cost Associated With Peyronie's Disease. Sex Med 2020;8:673–678.
Interprofessional Education: Reaching Health Professionals With an Interactive Professional Virtual/Online Event on Advocacy and Policy.

Competencies in health policy and advocacy should be developed by all health professionals to effectively advance their professions but also effectively collaborate in interprofessional teams to improve public health. However, the COVID-19 epidemic presents a challenge to reaching students of health professions through face-to-face offerings. To meet this need, the University of South Florida College of Public Health developed asynchronous and synchronous online health policy and advocacy modules delivered to an interprofessional group of students pursuing health careers. After learning policy and advocacy material individually through a self-paced online curriculum, faculty gathered the students for a synchronous online event where they formed collaborative groups. In interprofessional teams, students prepared and presented advocacy briefs that were critiqued by the faculty. Post-event evaluation results showed that most students strongly agreed that the interprofessional event was very effective, and they all would recommend the program to other students. Universities and colleges educating students of health professions can take advantage of the technologies employed to keep students safe in the COVID-19 pandemic and still reach students effectively with interprofessional health policy and advocacy content.
Cerenkov Raman Free Electron Lasers

A Cerenkov Raman laser consists of a relativistic electron beam, a dielectric resonator and a rippled magnetic field undulator. In may respects, the device is similar to the usual free electron laser which makes no use of a slow wave structure but it differs in a few important aspects.
The Living Legacy of W. McNeil Lowry: Vision and Voice: edited by Frank Kessel, Foreword by Darren Walker, New York, Peter Lang, 2020, 502 pp., $94.95, ISBN 978-1-4331-6965-6

This book is a compendium of texts written or delivered by W. McNeil “Mac” Lowry, former Vice President of the Ford Foundation and Director of its Program in Humanities and the Arts. The Humanities...
Variability in azithromycin practices among lung transplant providers in the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Community.

ABSTRACT Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) is the most important long-term complication after lung transplant (LTx), and clinical experience suggests significant variability in its management. We sought to capture azithromycin practices among LTx providers internationally. A survey was distributed via the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and completed by 103 respondents (15 countries). Azithromycin indications, timing, and dosing varied significantly, and 37 (36%) reported inconsistency even within their center. Thirty (29%) reported initiating azithromycin prophylactically (during initial transplant hospitalization). Of 73 others, only 10 (14%) reported waiting until CLAD diagnosis (with persistent ≥20% pulmonary function decline). Most initiated azithromycin after a CLAD risk-factor/event, including 59 (81%) for a persistent ≥10% decrement in FEV 1 , 32 (44%) for lymphocytic bronchiolitis, and 27 (37%) for bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophilia . Azithromycin prescribing patterns appear to vary significantly, and further study is needed to elucidate the optimal timing and indications for its initiation after LTx.
Primate communities are structured more by dispersal limitation than by niches.

Summary 1. A major goal in community ecology is to identify mechanisms that govern the assembly and maintenance of ecological communities. Current models of metacommunity dynamics differ chiefly in the relative emphasis placed on dispersal limitation and niche differentiation as causal mechanisms structuring ecological communities. Herein we investigate the relative roles of these two mechanisms in structuring primate communities in Africa, South America, Madagascar and Borneo. 2. We hypothesized that if dispersal limitation is important in structuring communities, then community similarity should depend on geographical proximity even after controlling for ecological similarity. Conversely, if communities are assembled primarily through niche processes, then community similarity should be determined by ecological similarity regardless of geographical proximity. 3. We performed Mantel and partial Mantel tests to investigate correlations among primate community similarity, ecological distance and geographical distance. Results showed significant and strongly negative relationships between diurnal primate community similarity and both ecological similarity and geographical distance in Madagascar, but significant and stronger negative relationships between community similarity and geographical distance in African, South American and Bornean metacommunities. 4. We conclude that dispersal limitation is an important determinant of primate community structure and may play a stronger role in shaping the structure of some terrestrial vertebrate communities than niche differentiation. These patterns are consistent with neutral theory. We recommend tests of functional equivalence to determine the extent to which neutral theory may explain primate community composition.
Transfer Learning via Advice Taking

The goal of transfer learning is to speed up learning in a new task by transferring knowledge from one or more related source tasks. We describe a transfer method in which a reinforcement learner analyzes its experience in the source task and learns rules to use as advice in the target task. The rules, which are learned via inductive logic programming, describe the conditions under which an action is successful in the source task. The advice-taking algorithm used in the target task allows a reinforcement learner to benefit from rules even if they are imperfect. A human-provided mapping describes the alignment between the source and target tasks, and may also include advice about the differences between them. Using three tasks in the RoboCup simulated soccer domain, we demonstrate that this transfer method can speed up reinforcement learning substantially.
The Enzymatic Carboxylation of Phosphoenolpyruvate IV. THE BINDING OF MANGANESE AND SUBSTRATES BY PHOSPHOENOLPYRUVATE CARBOXYKINASE AND PHOSPHOENOLPYRUVATE CARBOXYLASE

Abstract The binding of Mn2+ and substrates to phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase has been studied by four methods: equilibrium dialysis, gel filtration, electron paramagnetic resonance, and the proton relaxation rate of water (PRR). A binary enzyme-Mn2+ complex was detected by electron paramagnetic resonance and PRR. Binary enzyme-substrate complexes were detected for guanosine triphosphate and guanosine diphosphate by equilibrium dialysis and for inosine diphosphate by gel filtration. Ternary complexes containing enzyme, Mn2+, and substrate were detected for IDP by gel filtration and PRR, for phosphoenolpyruvate by equilibrium dialysis and PRR, and for inosine triphosphate and oxalacetate by PRR. Higher order complexes of the form eMn-sMn were detected for GDP and GTP by equilibrium dialysis. Phospholactate, an analogue of phosphoenolpyruvate, formed ternary complexes with enzyme and Mn2+ and a stable quaternary complex with enzyme, Mn2+, and IDP, as detected by PRR. Where comparable, the dissociation constants obtained by the various methods were in good agreement. The enzyme enhanced the effect of Mn2+ on the PRR of water (eb = 14.2), and this enhancement was reduced in the ternary complexes with phosphoenolpyruvate (et = 6.7) and with IDP (et = 10.4). Since the relaxation mechanism was the same for each of these complexes (measuring the rate of chemical exchange of water protons into the coordination sphere of Mn2+), the relative values of e are consistent with the formation of enzyme-metal-substrate bridge complexes. The related enzyme, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, gives similar results, forming a binary enzyme-Mn2+ complex (eb = 13.8) and a ternary complex with phosphoenolpyruvate (et ≤ 11.3). The Kd of the binary complex agrees with the activator constant for Mn2+ obtained kinetically. The complexes formed by both carboxylating enzymes are thus similar to those found previously for muscle pyruvate kinase and, therefore, suggest homologous mechanisms for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, and pyruvate kinase.
Intravenous alcohol as an obstetrical analgesia.

Abstract 1. 1. A series of 100 cases is presented in which intravenous alcohol was used alone and in combination with Demerol as an obstetrical analgesic. 2. 2. Seven and one-half per cent alcohol in 5 per cent glucose in distilled water combined with small amounts of Demerol is the method of choice. 3. 3. It would appear that this drug offers a safe and effective analgesic agent for both mother and child. 4. 4. Alcohol is of particular value in premature labors and cases of cardiac disease. 5. 5. Several disadvantages are pointed out. 6. 6. It would appear from trial and theory that the drug should be of much value in eclampsia. 7. 7. We feel that intravenous alcohol, as an analgesic agent, deserves a place in the armamentarium of drugs applicable to obstetrics.
SILS Total Colectomy and Proctocolectomy with Ileal Pouch-Anal Anastomosis (IPAA)

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) was introduced to further the enhanced outcomes of traditional laparoscopy. The safety and feasibility of SILS has been proven for benign and malignant colorectal disease. SILS is technically more demanding than multi-port laparoscopic surgery. However, SILS provides the potential for improved cosmesis, postoperative pain, and patient quality of life after total colectomy and total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.
Cranial MR Imaging in Neurofibromatosis

Cranial MR images of 53 patients with neurofibromatosis were reviewed to determine the nature, extent, and number of intracranial abnormalities present. All patients studied met tentative definitions established for the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis. Twenty-three were scanned for evaluation of known CNS or cranial nerve involvement; the remainder were neurologically asymptomatic patients without suspected lesions referred for screening. Single lesions were noted in 32 patients. Multiple lesions were identified in 14 patients. Seven had normal scans. In 23 patients small focal areas of increased signal on T2-weighted scans within the brain were thought to represent heterotopias. Eight patients had chiasma I gliomas and two had optic nerve gliomas. Nine patients had parenchymal gliomas, two had ischemic changes, and one had a colloid cyst. Extraaxial lesions included acoustic neuromas (five patients), meningiomas (four), trigeminal neurofibromas (one), and dysplasia of a sphenoid wing (two). Of the 30 asymptomatic patients referred for screening, lesions were found in 23. MR was found to be an excellent method of imaging known disease and of detecting lesions in asymptomatic patients. Because of the large number of asymptomatic lesions detected in this population, a screening MR study is recommended in patients with neurofibromatosis.
WISC-IV and WIAT-II Profiles in Children With High-Functioning Autism

Children with high-functioning autism earned above normal scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) Perceptual Reasoning and Verbal Comprehension Indexes and below normal scores on the Working Memory and Processing Speed Indexes and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) Written Expression. Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and reading and math scores were similar to the norm. Profiles were consistent with previous WISC-III research, except that the new WISC-IV motor-free visual reasoning subtests (Matrix Reasoning and Picture Concepts) were the highest of the nonverbal subtests. The WISC-IV may be an improvement over the WISC-III for children with high-functioning autism because it captures their visual reasoning strength, while identifying their attention, graphomotor, and processing speed weaknesses. FSIQ was the best single predictor of academic achievement.
Exploiting Wavelet-Domain Dependencies in Compressed Sensing

This paper presents a method for improving wavelet-based Compressed Sensing (CS) reconstruction algorithms by exploiting the dependencies among wavelet coefficients. During CS recovery, a simple measure of significance for each wavelet coefficient is calculated using a weighted sum of the (estimated) magnitudes of the wavelet coefficient, its highly correlated neighbors, and parent. This simple measure is incorporated into three CS recovery algorithms, Reweighted L1 minimization algorithms (RL1), Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS), and Iterative Hard Thresholding (IHT). Experimental results using one-dimensional signals and images illustrate that the proposed method (i) improves reconstruction quality for a given number of measurements, (ii) requires fewer measurements for a desired reconstruction quality, and (iii) significantly reduces reconstruction time.
Membrane‐potential‐sensitive dyes for optical monitoring of activity in Aplysia neurons

Two membrane-associated dyes (WW375 and NK2367) which change their absorption of light when the membrane potential changes have been studied using several preparations form Aplysia. Action potentials are easily observed in nerve trunks (from a number of axons), in bag cell clusters, in some of the larger single cells of the parietovisceral ganglion, and in the optic nerve. Physiological effects of the dyes on the circadian rhythm of activity in the eye are described.
Recycling and Redox Cycling of Phenolic Antioxidants

Effectiveness of phenolic antioxidants in protecting against oxidative stress depends on their reactivity towards reactive oxygen species and the reactivity of the antioxidant phenoxyl radicals towards critical biomolecules. Reduction of phenoxyl radicals by intracellular reductant (ascorbate, thiols) as well as by enzymes or intermediates of electron transport (e.g., in mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum) recycles phenolic antioxidants, thus enhancing antioxidant protection. Several cascades may be involved in physiologically relevant recycling of vitamin E from its phenoxyl radicals. The two major ones are dihydrolipoic acid-->(GSH)-->ascorbate, and enzymes of electron transport-->coenzyme Q. Importantly, phenoxyl radicals of vitamin E are not directly reduced by intracellular thiols. By contrast, a number of natural phenolic compounds that act as very effective scavengers of reactive oxygen species and organic radicals, may generate reactive secondary radicals of antioxidants. These secondary radicals react and modify critical intracellular targets (lipids, proteins, and DNA). As a result, the role of these phenolic compounds as biological antioxidants may be limited because of their ability to cause cyto- and genotoxic effects. Typical examples are some estrogens and phenolic drugs (e.g., the antitumor drug, etoposide) that can protect lipids but oxidize GSH and protein sulfhydryls. Moreover, phenoxyl radicals produced in the course of radical scavenging by some phenolic compounds (e.g., phenol) are capable of oxidizing both proteins and lipids. Hence, reactivity of phenoxyl radicals should be considered as a critical factor in the development of new antioxidant protectants.
Crystal structure of Fe(η6-C5H5BCMe3)2 a "problem structure"

The complex Fe(η6-C5H5CMe3)2 crystallizes in the centrosymmetric triclinic space group P1(Ci1; No. 2) with unit cell dimensions of a 8.770(1) A, b 8.878(1) A, c 11.991(1) A, α 107.56(1)°, β 90.85(1)°, γ 90.13(1)°, V 890.0(2) A3 and Z = 2. A full sphere of data was collected on a four-circle diffractometer. The structure was solved and refined to R 7.93% for all 3155 independent reflections and R 4.98% for those 2002 data with | F0 | > 6σ. | F0 |. The molecules lie on crystallographic inversion centers at 0, 0, 0 and 1/2, 0, 1/2; the crystallographic asymmetric unit therefore consists of two independent half molecules. The molecule centered at 0, 0, 0 (molecule “A”) is ordered and well-defined; that centered on 1/2, 0, 1/2 (molecule “B”)is probably disordered, as indicated by larger “thermal parameters” and a greater range of apparent interatomic distances. Discussion em phasizes the geometry of molecule A, which has precise Ci symmetry with Fe(1A)-B(1A) 2.297(4) A and Fe(1A)-C(ring) distances ranging from 2.057(6) A to 2.138(4) A.
Beyond the maths of biology: long-term spontaneous tumoral regression after sunitinib withdrawal.

A 65 year old man presented with asymptomatic relapse of renal cell carcinoma with distant metastasis following radical nephrectomyfor pT3 pNx kidney cancer 7 years ago. Sunitinib was commenced with partial response as best response by the 9 month. Patient subsequently developed RECISTdefined radiographic progressive disease with associated clinical deterioration. Sunitinib was stopped and best supportive measures implemented. However, the patient’s metastatic lesions began to regress and is currently maintaining good functional status and has near complete radiographic response, approximately 40 months since cessation of sunitinib. Literature review revealed only two other cases of disease regression upon cessation of anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Potential mechanisms arediscussed as well.
Helium and self-broadening in the first and second overtone bands of 12C16O

Abstract The pressure broadening coefficients for rotation-vibration lines of J states up to 22 in the 2-0 band and J states up to 20 in the 3-0 band of pure CO and HeCO mixtures were measured. The data were obtained at room temperature utilizing a Fourier transform spectrometer and various cells, including a 113-m White cell. These data exhibit little change with increasing vibrational level, and in the case of helium broadening, only slight J dependence.
Developmental defects of enamel in humans with hereditary epidermolysis bullosa

Developmental defects of enamel are often reported as a feature of the more severe forms of epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The purpose of this investigation was to determine the prevalence and character of enamel defects in each of the major hereditary EB types. Clinical evaluations were made on 237 individuals representing all of the major EB types and 58 unaffected individuals. All EB cases were categorized by phenotype, mode of inheritance and skin biopsy. The frequency of individuals having developmental enamel defects ranged from 8.6% in recessive dystrophic EB to 100% in junctional EB; 27.5% of the control population had these defects. Generalized hypoplasia characterized by either severe pitting and/or thin enamel was seen in all junctional EB cases but not in any other EB type. There was a tendency for the severe Herlitz form of junctional EB to have thin enamel while non-Herlitz junctional EB cases had less severe pitting and generally no reduction in enamel thickness. The prevalence of individuals with hypoplastic enamel bands was greater in the EB population (9.7%) than controls (1.9%). Thus individuals with simplex and dominant dystrophic EB typically have enamel defects that are similar in frequency and distribution to those of unaffected individuals. Developmental defects of enamel are a consistent feature of junctional EB, although the clinical expression is highly variable.