cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rates and equilibria in the reaction system Br + i‐C4H10 ⇌ HBr + t‐C4H9. The heat of formation of the t‐butyl radical

The very low pressure reactor (VLPR) technique has been used to measure the bimolecular rate constant of the title reaction at 300 K. The rate constant is given by log k1 (1/mol s) = (11.6 ± 0.4) − (5.9 ± 0.6)/θ the equilibrium constant has also been measured at the same temperature and is given by K1 = (5.6 ± 1) × 10−3 and hence log k−1 (1/mol s) = 9.5 ± 0.1. The results show that the reaction Br + tC4H9 HBr + iC4H8 is unimportant under the present experimental conditions. Assigning the entropy of t-butyl radical to be 74 ± 2 eu which is in the possible range, the value of K1 gives ΔH (t-butyl) = 9.1 ± 0.6 kcal/mol−1. This yields for the bond dissociation, DH° (t-butyl-H) = 93.4 ± 0.6 kcal/mol. Both of these values are found to be in good agreement with recent VLPP studies.
Testing Static Equilibrium for Legged Robots

Consider a legged robot at fixed foot placements. Where can the robot move its center of mass (CM) while remaining in static equilibrium? If the terrain is flat, the CM must lie above the convex hull of the robot's feet. If the terrain is not flat, this often-used approximation can be arbitrarily bad. Instead, the CM must lie above the projection of a nonlinear convex set that is defined by the properties of each foot placement. This paper presents an algorithm to compute the shape of this projection and gives a tight bound on the algorithm's running time. It also presents a method of amortizing the cost of this computation when it is only necessary to test static equilibrium at particular CM positions--that is, when it is only necessary to test the membership of points in the projection of a convex set rather than find its shape.
Whole-genome DNA array analysis of the response of Borrelia burgdorferi to a bactericidal monoclonal antibody.

Identification and characterization of genes that contribute to infection with Borrelia burgdorferi and, of those, genes that are targets of host responses is important for understanding the pathogenesis of Lyme disease. The complement-independent bactericidal monoclonal antibody (MAb) CB2 recognizes a carboxy-terminal, hydrophilic epitope of the outer surface protein B (OspB). CB2 kills B. burgdorferi by an unknown bactericidal mechanism. Upon binding of CB2 to OspB, differentially expressed gene products may be responsible for, or associated with, the death of the organism. A time course of the response of B. burgdorferi to CB2 was completed to analyze the differential gene expression in the bacteria over a period of visual morphological changes. Bacteria were treated with a sublethal concentration in which spirochetes were visibly distressed by the antibody but not lysed. Preliminary whole-genome DNA arrays at various time points within 1 h of incubation of B. burgdorferi with the antibody showed that most significant changes occurred at 25 min. Circular plasmid 32 (cp32)-encoded genes were active in this period of time, including the blyA homologs, phage holin system genes. DNA array data show that three blyA homologs were upregulated significantly, ≥2 standard deviations from the mean of the log ratios, and a P value of ≤0.01. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis verified blyA and blyB upregulation over an 18- to 35-min time course. The hypothesis to test is whether the killing mechanism of CB2 is through uncontrolled expression of the blyA and blyB phage holin system.
Predation on Walleye Eggs by Fish on Reefs in Western Lake Erie

We examined diets of fishes from gillnet and egg pump collections conducted on reefs in western Lake Erie during walleye (Sander vitreus) egg incubation periods from 1994–1999 and 2004 to assess incidence of walleye eggs in fish diets. We collected no potential egg predators in samples taken in 1994 but from 1995–1999 and in 2004 we caught 22 different species of fish on reefs in addition to spawning walleye. In most years, white perch (Morone americana) stomachs contained more walleye eggs than any other species on the reefs averaging 253 eggs per stomach. We also found lower numbers of walleye eggs in the stomachs of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus; 53 eggs/stomach), johnny darter (Etheostoma nigrum; 2 eggs/stomach), logperch (Percina caprodes; 10 eggs/stomach), quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus; 184 eggs/stomach), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris; 3 eggs/stomach), round goby (Neogobius melanostomus; 4 eggs/stomach), sculpin (Cottidae; 21 eggs/stomach), silver chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana; 3 eggs/stomach), spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius; 14 eggs/stomach), trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus; 30 eggs/stomach), white sucker (Catastomus commersonii; 20 eggs/stomach), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens; 181 eggs/stomach). Similar to other studies of predation on walleye eggs, our results indicate that prolonged incubation periods increase the potential for egg loss due to predation.
Two Bence Jones proteins of different immunologic types in the same patient with multiple myeloma.

In summary, two Bence Jones proteins, one of type K and the other of type L immunologic specificity, and a serum myeloma protein of type L were demonstrated in the same patient with multiple myeloma. It is probable that, in this instance, dissemination from at least two clones of plasma cells has occurred.
Thermodynamics of interaction between carbohydrates and unilamellar dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine membranes

The purpose of this study was to examine the direct effect of sucrose and sucralose on the main phase transition of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes with differential scanning calorimetry, for use as potential cryopreservatives for cells. Because cells are typically treated directly with cryopreservatives and not thermally cycled to erase thermal history, we have focused on the impact that these sugars have on the main phase transition during the first heating and cooling cycles. The incorporation of sucrose appears to have very little effect on the phase behavior of DPPC liposomes except a broadening of the main phase transition. In contrast, sucralose leads to a drop in the transition peak temperature from 41.5 to 39.6 °C when there is 50 mol% sucralose present. Further increases in sucralose concentration result in the peak transition temperature gradually increasing again to 41.1 °C at 87 mol% sugar. This change is accompanied by decrease in the width of the transition, during heating, as well as increased hysteresis. This phenomenon may be due to a kosmotropic effect resulting in partial dehydration and interdigitation of the bilayer as the sucralose concentration is increased. These findings indicate that sucralose may be useful for the cryopreservation of cell membranes.
Extreme and non-tidal events in the Chesapeake Bay high frequency radar surface currents record

The lower Chesapeake Bay high frequency radar (HFR) surface currents record now spans more than eight years from April 2007 to present day. In that time, the surface circulation has been observed during the passage of severe storms and other significant non-tidal events including those associated with periods of sustained high winds, high volume river discharge and complete reversals of tidal current direction. Tides are the dominant forcing mechanism for currents in the area; however, this paper focuses on the frequency and characterization of events representing the largest deviations from tidal flow. The data record is scrutinized during the passage of significant named storms including Ida (2009), Earl (2010), Irene (2011), Sandy (2012) and Arthur (2014). Storm events can disrupt data flow in observational networks for various reasons. Equipment may suffer damage and the power supply to equipment may be interrupted. Radar station outages and surface current map data quality are evaluated when storms passed through the area. For completely different reasons related to the complexity of the physical forcings, extreme events often present challenges for numerical modeling. An anticipated benefit of this study is that insights gained by describing the important non-tidal episodes may serve as a starting point for future work in analyzing the performance of numerical models and improving predictive capabilities for these events.
Modeling Check-in Preferences with Multidimensional Knowledge: A Minimax Entropy Approach

We propose a single unified minimax entropy approach for user preference modeling with multidimensional knowledge. Our approach provides a discriminative learning protocol which is able to simultaneously a) leverage explicit human knowledge, which are encoded as explicit features, and b) model the more ambiguous hidden intent, which are encoded as latent features. A latent feature can be carved by any parametric form, which allows it to accommodate arbitrary underlying assumptions. We present our approach in the scenario of check-in preference learning and demonstrate it is capable of modeling user preference in an optimized manner. Check-in preference is a fundamental component of Point-of-Interest (POI) prediction and recommendation. A user's check-in can be affected at multiple dimensions, such as the particular time, popularity of the place, his/her category and geographic preference, etc. With the geographic preferences modeled as latent features and the rest as explicit features, our approach provides an in-depth understanding of users' time-varying preferences over different POIs, as well as a reasonable representation of the hidden geographic clusters in a joint manner. Experimental results based on the task of POI prediction/recommendation with two real-world check-in datasets demonstrate that our approach can accurately model the check-in preferences and significantly outperforms the state-of-art models.
Every woman's fear: stories of rape and Dutch identity in the Golden Age

This article briefly explores the ways in which literate members of the Dutch Republic deployed depictions of sexual violence in order to stimulate specific forms of Dutch national, religious, and social identification during the first half of the seventeenth century. Understanding the centrality of the discourse of rape in the nascent Dutch Republic reveals the ways in which power was expressed in bodily terms. By means of their depictions of rape, patriarchs asserted control not only over women, but also over poorer men and minors; literary elites declared Dutch superiority over the Spanish; and Dutch Catholics and Protestants challenged each other’s views of the ideal constitution of the new Dutch social body.
The Combined Landscape of Denisovan and Neanderthal Ancestry in Present-Day Humans

SUMMARY Some present-day humans derive up to 5% [1] of their ancestry from archaic Denisovans, an even larger proportion than the 2% from Neanderthals [2]. We developed methods that can disambiguate the locations of segments of Denisovan and Neanderthal ancestry in present-day humans and applied them to 257 high-coverage genomes from 120 diverse populations, among which were 20 individual Oceanians with high Denisovan ancestry [3]. In Oceanians, the average size of Denisovan fragments is larger than Neanderthal fragments, implying a more recent average date of Denisovan admixture in the history of these populations (p = 0.00004). We document more Denisovan ancestry in South Asia than is expected based on existing models of history, reflecting a previously undocumented mixture related to archaic humans (p = 0.0013). Denisovan ancestry, just like Neanderthal ancestry, has been deleterious on a modern human genetic background, as reflected by its depletion near genes. Finally, the reduction of both archaic ancestries is especially pronounced on chromosome X and near genes more highly expressed in testes than other tissues (p = 1.2 3 10 7 to 3.2 3 10 7 for Denisovan and2.2310 3 to2.9310 3 forNeanderthalancestry even after controlling for differences in level of selective constraint across gene classes). This suggests that reduced male fertility may be a general feature of mixtures of human populations diverged by >500,000 years.
Isolated epithelial cells from amphibian urinary bladder express functional gap junctional hemichannels

Exposure of the urinary bladder epithelium of Necturus maculosus (NUB) to protease and collagenase yields ∼50% isolated polarized cells. These cells express a membrane current slowly activated by d...
High Mass Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Architecture Assessment

As the nation sets its sight on returning humans to the Moon and going onward to Mars, landing high mass payloads ( 2 t) on the Mars surface becomes a critical technological need. Viking heritage technologies (e.g., 70 sphere-cone aeroshell, SLA-561V thermal protection system, and supersonic disk-gap-band parachutes) that have been the mainstay of the United States’ robotic Mars exploration program do not provide sucient capability to land such large payload masses. In this investigation, a parametric study of the Mars entry, descent, and landing design space has been conducted. Entry velocity, entry vehicle conguration, entry vehicle mass, and the approach to supersonic deceleration were varied. Particular focus is given to the entry vehicle shape and the supersonic deceleration technology trades. Slender bodied vehicles with a lift-to-drag ratio (L=D) of 0.68 are examined alongside blunt bodies with L=D = 0.30. Results demonstrated that while the increased L=D of a slender entry conguration allows for more favorable terminal descent staging conditions, the greater structural eciencies of blunt body systems along with the reduced acreage required for the thermal protection system aords an inherently lighter vehicle. The supersonic deceleration technology trade focuses on inatable aerodynamic decelerators (IAD) and supersonic retropropulsion, as supersonic parachute systems are shown to be excessively large for further consideration. While entry masses (the total mass at the top of the Mars atmosphere) between 20 and 100 t are considered, a maximum payload capability of 37.3 t results. Of particular note, as entry mass increases, the gain in payload mass diminishes. It is shown that blunt body vehicles provide sucient vertical L=D to decelerate all entry masses considered through the Mars atmosphere with adequate staging conditions for the propulsive terminal descent. A payload mass fraction penalty of approximately 0.3 exists for the use of slender bodied vehicles. Another observation of this investigation is that the increased aerothermal and aerodynamic loads induced from a direct entry trajectory (velocity 6.75 km/s) reduce the payload mass fraction by approximately 15% compared to entry from orbital velocity ( 4 km/s). It should be noted that while both IADs and supersonic retropropulsion were evaluated for each of the entry masses, congurations, and velocities, the IAD proved to be more mass-ecient in all instances. The sensitivity of these results to modeling assumptions was also examined. The payload mass of slender body vehicles was observed to be approximately four times more sensitive to modeling assumptions and uncertainty than blunt bodies.
Urban Structure and Household Victimization of the Elderly

This paper examines the relationships of several urban structural characteristics with the rate of household victimization of the elderly in twenty-six U.S. central cities. We find that inter-city variation in two types of household victimization (household burglary and larcency) is highly related to two factors: 1) population density, and 2) socioeconomic conditions. The implications of these findings for further research are discussed.
Development of Quality Assessment Techniques for Large Eddy Simulation of Propulsion and Power Systems in Complex Geometries

Large-eddy-simulation (LES) is quickly becoming a method of choice for studying complex thermo-physics in a wide range of propulsion and power systems. It provides a means to study coupled turbulent combustion and flow processes in parameter spaces that are unattainable using direct-numerical-simulation (DNS), with a degree of fidelity that can be far more accurate than conventional engineering methods such as the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approx- imation. However, development of predictive LES is complicated by the complex interdependence of different type of errors coming from numerical methods, algorithms, models and boundary con- ditions. On the other hand, control of accuracy has become a critical aspect in the development of predictive LES for design. The objective of this project is to create a framework of metrics aimed at quantifying the quality and accuracy of state-of-the-art LES in a manner that addresses the myriad of competing interdependencies. In a typical simulation cycle, only 20% of the computational time is actually usable. The rest is spent in case preparation, assessment, and validation, because of the lack of guidelines. This work increases confidence in the accuracy of a given solution while min- imizing the time obtaining the solution. The approach facilitates control of the tradeoffsmore » between cost, accuracy, and uncertainties as a function of fidelity and methods employed. The analysis is coupled with advanced Uncertainty Quantification techniques employed to estimate confidence in model predictions and calibrate model's parameters. This work has provided positive conse- quences on the accuracy of the results delivered by LES and will soon have a broad impact on research supported both by the DOE and elsewhere.« less
Study of antibiotic antibacterial activity in vitro of Hemophilus influenza isolated in chidren with CAP in Shenzhen area

Objective To study the antibacterial activity in vitro,enzyme-producing rates and age distribution of patients of Hemophilus influenza(Hi) to seven sorts of antibiotics in children with community-acquired pneumonia(CAP) in Shenzhen area.Methods Drug resistance information of 72 strains of Hi isolated in the sputum samples of the deep trachea of chidren with CAP to seven sorts of antibiotics were detected by using E-test methed,β-lactamase-producing rate was determined by Nitrocefin stick.Results β-lactamase-producing rate was 25%.Drug resistance rate of Hi to ampicillin was 22.22%,and zero to ceftriaxone,cefuroxime,cefaclor and ampicillin/sulbactam,2.78% to ofloxacin and azithromycin.MIC90 of ampicillin was 24 mg/L,and far higher than other antibiotics.Conclusions Both β-lactamase-producing rate of Hi and drug resistance rate of Hi to ampicillin are very high in Shenzhen area.Ampicillin,as a choice drug,is being severely challenged.Our study remind clinicians of reasonablely using antibiotics,in order to postpone the occurance of bacterial drug resistance.
INTEGRATED NUMERICAL SIMULATION TECHNIQUE OF AN AIRCRAFT WINDSHIELD AGAINST BIRD STRIKE

Identification of a birdbody constitutive model and its parameters,which is very difficult,is an important factor to affect the numerical simulation result of an aircraft windshield against bird strike.In order to improve the simulation accuracy,an integrated numerical simulation technique which can combine the model identification with the numerical simulation is proposed.It puts emphasis on formulating the optimization method to identify the birdgody constitutive model and its parameters and specifies the analysis procedure with an example.The new technique improves the coupled solving theory for the finite element numerical simulation of bird strike and provide a reference for study on aircraft structures against bird strike.
Plasma chitinase 3-like 1 is persistently elevated during first month after minimally invasive colorectal cancer resection

Plasma chitinase 3-like 1 is persistently elevated during first month after minimally invasive colorectal cancer resection
Evaluate correlation of duodenogastric reflux detected on Tc-99m mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy with gastroesophageal reflux disease: A retrospective study.

52 Objectives GERD is thought to result primarily from gastric acid reflux. Recent literature suggests that symptomatic GERD also occurs from duodenogastric reflux of bile acids. This has been termed alkaline variant GERD and appears to be more damaging to the esophagus and has a more symptomatic clinical course. We aim to evaluate whether the presence of duodenogastric reflux (DGR) seen on Tc-99m mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy (MHBS) correlates with presence of clinical GERD and whether degree of DGR seen correlates with clinical severity of GERD. Methods 300 Tc-99m MHBS exams conducted from January 2011-December 2014 were included in this study and were evaluated for presence of DGR. Patients’ chart were reviewed to identify for clinical diagnosis of GERD and the severity of GERD that was determined using clinical data points including endoscopic evaluation of GERD, oral medications for treatment of GERD and presence/absence Barrett’s esophagus, etc. Results 83 patients (45 females and 38 males) with mean age 47.9 (range: 13 - 93 years old) were identified to have evidence of DGR. Of these patients, 31.3% patients were diagnosed with cholecystitis and 7.2% patients were diagnosed with biliary colic. 25.3% patients had only clinical history of GERD and no additional significant history. Of the patients with clinical evidence of GERD, 42.9% patients had evidence of severe DGR, 38.1% had moderate DGR and 19% had mild DGR noted. 4.7% patients with GERD and severe DGR had histopathologic evidence of Barrett9s esophagus. Conclusions DGR is easily detected and frequently identified on Tc-99m MHBS and a significant proportion patients with scintigraphic evidence of DGR have GERD. As emerging literature is demonstrating stronger correlation between bile acid reflux and symptomatic GERD, DGR is an important diagnostic consideration as the cause of patients presenting symptoms in an otherwise normal HIDA study. Research Support This is a not a funded study and none of the authors have any relevant disclosures.
Engineered Aedes aegypti JAK/STAT Pathway-Mediated Immunity to Dengue Virus.

We have developed genetically modified Ae. aegypti mosquitoes that activate the conserved antiviral JAK/STAT pathway in the fat body tissue, by overexpressing either the receptor Dome or the Janus kinase Hop by the blood feeding-induced vitellogenin (Vg) promoter. Transgene expression inhibits infection with several dengue virus (DENV) serotypes in the midgut as well as systemically and in the salivary glands. The impact of the transgenes Dome and Hop on mosquito longevity was minimal, but it resulted in a compromised fecundity when compared to wild-type mosquitoes. Overexpression of Dome and Hop resulted in profound transcriptome regulation in the fat body tissue as well as the midgut tissue, pinpointing several expression signatures that reflect mechanisms of DENV restriction. Our transcriptome studies and reverse genetic analyses suggested that enrichment of DENV restriction factor and depletion of DENV host factor transcripts likely accounts for the DENV inhibition, and they allowed us to identify novel factors that modulate infection. Interestingly, the fat body-specific activation of the JAK/STAT pathway did not result in any enhanced resistance to Zika virus (ZIKV) or chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection, thereby indicating a possible specialization of the pathway’s antiviral role.
Sexual Assault Policies and Consent Definitions: A Nationally Representative Investigation of U.S. Colleges and Universities

ABSTRACTCampus sexual assault (SA) policies and sexual consent definitions have not been widely studied. The study team conducted a nationally representative review of college and university websites (n = 995), assessing the prevalence of publicly accessible online policies and definitions and examining associations with school characteristics. A content analysis was performed on a subsample (n = 100) of consent definitions. Most schools (93.0%) had an SA policy and consent definition (87.6%) available online. Schools were more likely to have a policy or consent definition if they were large (≥5,000 students), public, or had a female enrollment of ≥33%. Detail and comprehensiveness of definitions varied. Findings highlight opportunities for schools—especially small schools, private schools, and those with more male students—to increase access to SA policies and consent definitions.
How and when adjuvant treatment should be intensified in stage III colorectal cancers

The adjuvant chemotherapy (FOLFOX) represents the standard of care in stage III colon cancer with some exceptions in old patients. Adjuvant treatment must also be discussed in high-risk stage II colon cancer. However, 40-50% of patients develop disease recurrence after curative R0 surgical resection. The liver was the most common site of recurrence followed by peritoneum. Although adjuvant chemotherapy improved disease-free survival and overall survival, 5-year overall survival remains less than 55% in stage III colon cancer. Different strategies could be adopted to escalate the standard adjuvant chemotherapy in these patients going from aggressive intravenous chemotherapy, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to adding targeted therapies or immunotherapies. We reported in this review the published and ongoing trials evaluating these treatment modalities in colon cancer.
Long-Run Relationships in Differential U.S. Mortality Forecasts by Race and Sex: Tests for Co-integration

There is considerable interest in demography in comparing mortality by race and by sex to determine the magnitude of the differentials, to understand why they exist and to detect if they are changing over time. The question is if they will converge, and if so, how soon. For race, nowhere is that interest so evident as in the controversy over the well-researched black/white mortality crossover. A persistent decline in the age of crossover signals convergence, while advancing age of crossover indicates mortality divergence. Even so, white and nonwhite life expectancies have been converging generally over time. A similar concern is shown with sex differences since they have displayed a marked increase in the later twentieth century. The confounding of race and sex in mortality analyses invites the desegregation of the U.S. population into four race-sex specific groups, and an investigation of their pairings to understand their possible relationships well into the future. This paper does so by extending the mortality analysis by Lee and Carter (1992) for the total U.S. population and Carter and Lee (1992) for U.S. sex differentials. The basic approach is to examine some life table functions derived from forecasts of mortality for white males, white females, nonwhite males and nonwhite females using the Lee-Carter method (Lee and Carter 1992). We focus on puzzling patterns of life expectancy forecasts that show white and nonwhite life expectancies at birth initially continuing their historic decline, but then reversing themselves and increasing in the latter part of the forecast period.
Health, well-being, and urban refugees: an agenda paper

Health and well-being have been historically uncommon areas of focus in studies of forced migration within the social sciences, where the focus has more often been focused broadly on identity, liminality, and social suffering. Urban refugees have also been largely excluded from the narrative. Yet, urban refugees represent the majority of the world’s refugees, which means we are effectively excluding the majority of the refugee experience from our research. Health is often a central marker of inequality and marginalization. Understanding the entanglement of forced migration to urban areas and health bears enormous potential for policy and practice. This paper will outline what we know, and set an agenda for the study of urban refugee health.
Modifiable risk factors moderate the relationship between amyloid and cognition in midlife

Although evidence suggests a relationship between elevated beta-amyloid and cognitive decline, approximately 30% of older adults with positive markers of amyloid remain cognitively healthy. Our objective was to test if the presence of modifiable risk factors (i.e., central obesity, hypertension, and depressive symptoms) moderated the relationship between amyloid and longitudinal cognitive performance. Data were from 207 adults (140 females; age range=40-70) enriched for Alzheimer9s disease risk (73% parental history of Alzheimer9s disease) enrolled in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer9s Prevention study. Participants completed at least two neuropsychological evaluations and one biomarker visit ([C11]Pittsburgh Compound B PET scan or lumbar puncture). Participants were characterized as high or low on amyloid using cutoffs developed for [C11]Pittsburgh Compound B-PET distribution volume ratio or CSF amyloid beta 1-42 values. Participants were also coded as high or low risk on obesity, hypertension, and depressive symptoms. Linear mixed effects regression models examined three-way interactions between modifiable risk factor status x amyloid group x age at each study visit on longitudinal Verbal Learning & Memory and Speed & Flexibility factor scores. Results indicated that the relationship between beta-amyloid and Verbal Learning & Memory decline was associated with hypertension status (Likelihood ratio test for significance of hypertension status age x amyloid status x visit age interaction term; χ2(1) = 5.28, p = .02). The relationship between beta-amyloid and Speed & Flexibility decline was associated with depression status (Likelihood ratio test for significance of amyloid status x depression status x visit age interaction term; χ2(1) = 7.10, p = .03). The presence of obesity did not significantly moderate the relationship between beta-amyloid status and cognitive performance, although the direction of relationship was similar to above relationships (Likelihood ratio test for significance of obesity status x amyloid status x visit age interaction term; χ2(1) = 1.52, p = .21). In this at-risk for Alzheimer9s disease cohort, the modifiable risk factors of hypertension and depression significantly moderated the relationship between beta-amyloid and cognitive decline. Identification and modification of these risk factors in late middle age may slow the effect of amyloid on the progression of cognitive symptoms.
Rewiring to Regain Function in Patients with Spastic Hemiplegia.

Spastic hemiplegia results from several relatively common disorders, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, and cerebral palsy. Frequently, upper-limb function is impaired. In this issue of the Journal, Zheng et al.1 report a new approach to the treatment of this condition: the use of a contralateral C7 nerve transfer from the nonparalyzed side to the paralyzed side in order to engage the unimpaired cerebral hemisphere. Nerve transfers have long been performed as treatment for lesions affecting the lower motor neurons, mostly involving the brachial plexus. Gu and colleagues at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, in Shanghai have pioneered nerve transfers, particularly those . . .
Enhanced Back-Scatter in double-pass optical links with non-classic turbulence

The average intensity, as well as the intensity-intensity correlation at one and two points of the He-Ne laser beam passing in the monostatic double-passage (21 meter long in single pass) atmospheric channel with a retro-reflector are measured experimentally. The non-classic turbulence is generated in two different ways: by means of a 1.8-meter long turbulent chamber with 3D distributed non-classic turbulence and a localized hot air jet-stream applied to the beam in a transverse direction. The Enhanced Back Scatterer (EBS) effects produced by the two types of turbulence are compared as turbulence is placed at various locations along the channel. The data reveals the spatial stability of the EBS intensity in the detected beam in both cases, while the whole beam centroid generally appears to be off-centered, due to deterministic and random temperature gradients. The strongest EBS effect was observed with the localized turbulence placed close to the retro-reflector. The studied situations may appear in urban/industrial/coastal atmosphere and are of importance for free-space optical communications with retro-modulation.
Association of increased primary breast tumor AGR2 with decreased disease-specific survival.

// Phoebe Ann 1 , Brandon-Luke L. Seagle 1 , Arunima Shilpi 1 , Manoj Kandpal 1 and Shohreh Shahabi 1 1 Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 60611 Chicago, IL, USA Correspondence to: Shohreh Shahabi, email: sshahabi@nm.org Keywords: AGR2; ER+ breast cancer; primary tumor mRNA Received: July 21, 2017 Accepted: April 04, 2018 Published: May 01, 2018 ABSTRACT Objective. Tumor expression of Anterior Gradient 2 ( AGR2 ), an endoplasmic reticulum protein disulfide isomerase, was associated with decreased breast cancer survival. We aimed to validate the association of tumor AGR2 mRNA expression with disease-specific survival (DSS) and identify differentially expressed signaling pathways between high and low AGR2 expression tumor groups. Methods. Primary tumor mRNA expression data from the METABRIC study was used to evaluate AGR2 expression as a prognostic factor for DSS while adjusting for survival-determining confounders using Cox proportional-hazards regression. Differentially expressed genes and signaling pathway differences between high and low AGR2 groups were determined by modular enrichment analyses using DAVID and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Results. Increased tumor AGR2 mRNA expression was associated with decreased DSS among 1,341 women (per each standard deviation increase of AGR2 expression: HR 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01-1.29, P = 0.03). Pathway analyses supported prior experimental studies showing that estrogen receptor 1 ( ESR1 ) regulated AGR2 expression. Canonical signaling pathways significantly differentially represented between high and low AGR2 groups included those involved in inflammation and immunity. Conclusion. Increased primary tumor AGR2 expression was associated with decreased DSS. Pathway analyses suggested that increased AGR2 was associated with endoplasmic reticular homeostasis, possibly allowing tumor cells to overcome hypoxic stress and meet the increased protein demand of tumorigenesis, thereby preventing unfolded protein response-mediated apoptosis.
Abstract B44: Lysyl oxidases suppress pancreatic cancer progression and inhibit FAK and ERK signaling

Pancreatic cancer carries a dismal prognosis, as most patients present with locally advanced and metastatic disease at time of diagnosis. High levels of type I collagen extracellular matrix in pancreatic tumor specimens are associated with poor survival and resistance to therapy. Furthermore, the expression of lysyl oxidases (LOXs), enzymes that mediate cross-linking and linearization of collagen type I, correlate with poor prognosis in breast and pancreatic cancer. However, a clinical trial targeting LOX-like (LOXL) 2 in pancreatic cancer did not show any survival benefits, pointing to a limited understanding of the context in which these enzymes function in cancer progression. To understand how collagen structure influences cancer cell behavior, we used host mice that expressed GFPtopaz fused to collagen type I and performed intravital microscopy after orthotopic injection of fluorescently labeled cancer cells (derived from the KPC mouse models of pancreatic cancer). Strikingly, we observed that invasive cancer cells migrated out of the tumors on linear type I collagen. Surprisingly, inhibition of LOX and LOXL2, using a pharmacologic inhibitor or shRNA-mediated knockdown, had the opposite results of what we expected with increased metastasis, collagen linearization, and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activity. Indicating a mechanism independently of collagen crosslinking, LOX inhibition promoted invasion and increased FAK and Ras/ERK-MAPK signaling in vitro, when cells were grown on plastic. We demonstrated that the FAK activity was required for the increased metastasis induced by LOX inhibition, using a clinical stage pharmacologic inhibitor. Our data highlight that LOXs in pancreatic cancer play an important role in suppression of the ERK and FAK signaling pathways, and metastasis. Indeed, the earliest report of lysyl oxidase function in cancer was as a tumor suppressor in Ras transformed cells.
Olfactomedin 4 contributes to hydrogen peroxide-induced NADPH oxidase activation and apoptosis in mouse neutrophils.

Neutrophils increase production of reactive oxygen species, including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hydroxyl radical, to destroy invading microorganisms under pathological conditions. C...
Daily Fish and Zooplankton Abundances in the Littoral Zone of Lake Texoma, Oklahoma-Texas, in Relation to Abiotic Variables

Many studies have shown the effects of yearly or monthly environmental conditions on the structure of fish and zooplankton communities. Environmental conditions can also vary greatly on much shorter time scales. We tested the effects of abiotic conditions on the daily abundance of fish and zooplankton in the littoral zone of Lake Texoma, Oklahoma-Texas. After date was removed statistically from the analysis, no environmental variables were particularly important in determining the daily abundance of zooplankton, whereas, numbers of fish in the littoral zone were related to changes in wind velocity and wave height. Regressions of daily fish abundance against wave height showed that the response differed among species and among life-history intervals within species. Numbers of juvenile Dorosoma petenense, Notropis atherinoides, and Morone chrysops were positively correlated with wave height, whereas juvenile Menidia beryllina were negatively correlated with wave height. We suggest that changes in the abundance of particular species may be associated with (1) avoidance of inshore areas to escape possible physical damage by wave induced turbulence, (2) attraction to inshore areas to feed on prey organisms suspended in the water column by wave induced turbulence, and (3) avoidance of inshore areas to escape high predator abundance and increased possibility of being eaten due to turbulence.
Organosoluble tetravalent actinide di- and trifluorides

Soluble molecular actinide(IV) fluorides can be prepared in high yield via redox or metathesis reactions of silver fluorides with actinide compounds containing ancillary iodide or fluorinated thiolate ligands. Two compounds, (py)4UF2I2·2py and (py)7Th2F5(SC6F5)3·2py were isolated and characterized by conventional methods, powder and low temperature single crystal X-ray diffraction.
Bleomycin-induced genome structural variations in normal, non-tumor cells

Many anticancer drugs are genotoxic agents inducing DNA breaks in actively proliferating cancer cells. However, these same drugs also induce mutations, mostly genome structural variations (GSVs). The detection of GSVs in normal cells and tissues is a major challenge due to the very low abundance of these mutations, which are essentially only detectable in clonal outgrowths, such as tumors. Previously we developed Structural Variant Search (SVS) - an NGS-based assay for the quantitative detection of somatic GSVs in normal cells. Using an improved version of SVS we now demonstrate that the same dose of the anti-cancer drug bleomycin induces about 5 times more somatic GSVs in quiescent primary human fibroblasts than in proliferating cells. GVS induction in non-dividing, normal cells was subsequently confirmed in vivo by demonstrating that a single dose of bleomycin leads to a significant increase of GSV frequency in mouse liver and heart, two postmitotic tissues. Our findings suggest that normal non-cycling differentiated cells may serve as a reservoir of iatrogenically induced mutations. These results provide more insight into the possible molecular mechanisms that underlie late-life morbidities in cancer survivors exposed to chemotherapy.
Establishing the Foundation to Support Health System Quality Improvement: Using a Hand Hygiene Initiative to Define the Process.

OBJECTIVES As hospitals are increasingly consolidating into larger health systems, they are becoming better positioned to have far reaching and material impacts on safety and quality of care. When the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) was formed in 2013, it sought to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality care to every patient. In 2014, the MSHS addressed hand hygiene as the first major system-wide process improvement project focused on quality and safety. The goals of this study were to evaluate a system-wide hand hygiene program and to create a foundation for future process improvement projects. METHODS The MSHS implemented the Joint Commission's Targeted Solutions Tool as a way to improve hand hygiene compliance and reduce harm from hospital-acquired infections, specifically Clostridium difficile infections. A multifaceted approach was used to improve hand hygiene and promote a culture of patient safety. RESULTS The MSHS improved hand hygiene compliance by approximately 20% from a baseline compliance of 63.3% to an intervention compliance of 82.8% (P < 0.001). Additional correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between increasing hand hygiene compliance and reduction in C. difficile infections. CONCLUSIONS Through a focus on leadership engagement, data transparency, data and observer management, and system-wide communication of best practices, the MSHS was able to improve hand hygiene compliance, reduce infection rates, and build an effective foundation for future process improvement programs.
The bubbling cauldron: Race, ethnicity, and the urban crisis: Edited by: Michael Peter Smith and Joe R. Feagin Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota press, 1995, 359 pages

(1997). The bubbling cauldron: Race, ethnicity, and the urban crisis. The Social Science Journal: Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 411-414.
Performance of Dual-Energy Contrast-enhanced Digital Mammography for Screening Women at Increased Risk of Breast Cancer.

For screening women at increased risk for breast cancer, the sensitivity of contrast agent–enhanced mammography was 87.5%, compared with 50.0% for digital mammography (P = .03), with a specificity ...
Detecting Sequential Human Mental Workload Using U-Net with Continuity-Aware Loss Applied to Streamed Physiological Signals

Human mental workload perception is an important problem with multiple applications in the areas of industry, transportation, military and medical contexts. In this paper, we present a deep learning model developed for detecting sequential driver mental workload using physiological signals. We modify a fully convolutional U-Net in order to learn from multiple temporal physiological signals as inputs. We also demonstrate that the element-wise cross-entropy loss function, which has been adopted by many other deep learning architectures for classification or segmentation purposes, is not sufficient for the sequential workload segmentation because it treats each data point as an independent classification object while ignoring the neighboring relation between the points. We introduce a new loss function that is sensitive to local continuity property in workload sequence. The proposed method is evaluated on two sets of data collected by wearable sensors to record multiple physiological signals. The effectiveness of an introduced scalar used to control the influence of the continuity-aware loss is investigated. Our experiments show that the proposed U-Net is effective in detecting sequential human mental workload. Furthermore, when the proposed continuity-aware loss is combined with the element-wise binary cross-entropy loss with the properly selected controlling scalar value, the quality of the predicted mental workload segments is significantly improved.
The Jew and the tank: Habit and habitus towards a theodicy of war:

Histories of the Arab–Israeli War of 1967 have advanced a curious commonplace. As they have sought to account for the decisive factors in what they treat as a decisive war, soldiers and interpreter...
Throughput, Delay, and Complexity Tradeoffs in Interference Channels

We investigate the duality of the stable throughput and the capacity regions in the context of networks with distributed transmitters. In particular, we focus on a network with two transmitter-receiver pairs, intermittent connectivity, and delayed feedback. For this problem, we show the equivalence of stable throughput and capacity regions by devising a queue-based dynamic communication protocol that achieves the information-theoretic outer-bounds. This new strategy includes several new ingredients and coding strategies compared to prior results. We assume packets arrive through stochastic processes and explain how our procedure determines packet movement rules between queues in different cases. We also investigate the average lifetime packets spend in the queues under this capacity achieving protocol and observe that the lifetime scales the square root function of the communication window.
Machine Learning Neural-Network Predictions for Grain-Boundary Strain Accumulation in a Polycrystalline Metal

Microstructural features such as grain boundaries play a significant role in the macroscopic plastic response of polycrystalline metals. However, a quantitative link between plastic strain accumulation at grain boundaries and material response in plasticity dominated phenomena is still lacking. Here we seek to develop predictive relations between a material’s granular microstructure and the accumulation of plastic strains at the microstructural level during plastic deformation. A single-input neural network approach was applied to predict the residual plastic strain fields at regions surrounding grain boundaries of an austenitic stainless steel. The neural network was trained on data obtained by applying a very-high resolution digital image correlation (DIC) experimental technique that allows the measurement of grain-scale strains aligned to the underlying microstructure obtained from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) scans. The neural-network-predicted and the DIC-measured strain fields showed good correlation for most of the tested cases. Best individual agreement was found when each microstructure was used to predict fields in its own case. However, best overall average predictions were seen when multiple samples were used for the network training. The results showed that the local geometrical angle between a grain boundary and the loading axes is in many cases a good predictor for the accumulation of strains at the given boundary. The expected limitations of this single parameter approach (grain boundary angle alone cannot be a good predictor for varying strains along a straight grain boundary, for example) were seen as the reason for the situations where predictions were not as good.