cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Progress in Heart Failure Management? Lessons from the Real World

In recent years, we have learned a great deal about the pathophysiology of heart failure, and we have demonstrated a significant potential for improved clinical outcomes with medical treatments. However, it is important to continually gauge the impact that this incremental knowledge has had on health outcomes in the real world, within populations beyond those enrolled in clinical trials. The study by MacIntyre et al,1 which examines 66 547 consecutive patients with first-time admissions for heart failure in Scotland, provides an important new look at the population of patients with this condition. It offers an opportunity to grade our accomplishments and to identify new approaches required to improve outcomes further. This group studied an elderly population (median age, 72 years in men and 78 years in women), evenly distributed between the sexes, with a poor prognosis (1-year mortality, 44.5%). However, the authors identified modest but encouraging improvement in outcomes over the 10-year observation period. In these findings, we see reason for optimism but also reason for concern that our clinical trials are leaving gaps in our knowledge and are not realizing their full potential for translation into improved public health. For their analysis, MacIntyre et al1 used an imperfect, yet unique and valuable national database. Databases derived from clinical trials or registries2 have the advantage of containing more detailed clinical information; however, the selection process inherent in their construction limit their usefulness in providing a true reflection of heart failure across the population. Furthermore, no such information set has been accumulated over a time frame sufficient to judge longitudinal changes in outcome. Administrative databases, although limited in their clinical content, may have less of a selection bias, and they can provide uniform information across a broad population over a long time frame. In the United States, the …
Multi-User Scheduling in Wireless Networks with QoS Constraints

We consider a cellular network consisting of a base station and N receivers. The channel states of the receivers are assumed to be identical and independent of each other. The goal is to compare the throughput of two different scheduling policies ( a queue-length-based policy and a greedy scheduling policy) given an upper bound on the queue overflow probability. We consider a multi-state channel model, where each channel is assumed to be in one of L states. Given an upper bound on the queue overflow probability, we obtain a lower bound on the throughput of the queue-length-based policy. For sufficiently large N, the lower bound is shown to be tight, strictly increasing with N, and strictly larger than the throughput of the greedy policy
Discussion: An estimate of the science-wise false discovery rate and application to the top medical literature

The paper “An estimate of the science-wise false discovery rate (SWFDR) and application to the top medical literature” by Jager and Leek provides an interesting perspective on FDRs in published medical research studies. As the authors point out, the distribution of p-values under the null hypothesis in these studies may well depart from uniform, and for this reason the authors explore the consequences of “p-hacking” and rounding of p-values on the FDR. Even after accounting for p-hacking, the authors conclude that the FDR is not alarmingly high. However, the authors appear to ignore other possible sources of departure from uniformity such as bias, model misspecification, and measurement error.
An Assessment of the Impact of the Medicare Prospective Payment System on Level II Fieldwork

The health care industry has undergone radical change because of the implementation of the Medicare Prospective Payment System (MPPS). This study is an assessment of the effect of MPPS on Level II fieldwork. Six factors that have the potential to influence fieldwork delivery patterns formed the basis of a questionnaire that was mailed to 23 occupational therapy directors in acute care Wisconsin hospitals. The 21 returned questionnaires were tallied by frequency of response and analyzed to ascertain current practice and changes resulting from MPPS. Findings indicate a strong commitment to professional and technical Level II fieldwork education. Departments reporting a decrease in staff were able to deflect the impact of the reductions by modifying their clinical education programs. Although changes were noted in all of the six identified categories, there was only minimal evidence that they were directly related to MPPS. Monitoring change during the 3rd and 4th year of the transition was recommended.
Challenges in implementing clinical liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry methods – seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

The use of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in the clinical setting is a relatively new application. One of the significant barriers hampering the transition of LC-MS/MS from the research lab into a clinical setting is the uncertainty of how to successfully develop and validate a method that meets guidelines for clinical applications. Here, we have taken this seemingly overwhelming process and broken it into five general stages for consideration: assessing the clinical validity of a new LC-MS/MS assay, determination of feasibility, assay development, assay validation and post-implementation monitoring. Although various publications are available and serve as resources for determining development processes and acceptability criteria for specific LC-MS/MS assays, many of them are general recommendations or are specific to research applications that may not translate either practically or clinically. In this perspective special feature article, a resource is compiled that describes key differences between LC-MS/MS methods for research use versus clinical use. In addition, the challenges facing the expanding role of this technique in the clinical setting are discussed, including instrumentation/automation challenges, potential regulation of laboratory developed tests by the US Food and Drug Administration and standardization and harmonization of MS methods through the use of traceable materials and availability of guidance documents.
On studying the impact of the Internet delays on audio transmission

The quality of the audio in IP telephony is significantly influenced by various factors, such as type of encoder, distance, delay variation, rate and distribution of packet loss, type of error concealment, and others. Hence, the performance of any IP telephony system is highly dependent on understanding the contribution of these factors to audio quality, and their impact on adaptive transport mechanisms such as error and buffer control. We conducted a large-scale audio transmission experiment over the Internet in a 12-month period in order to evaluate the effects and the correlation of such parameters on audio transmission over IP. As a part of studying and analyzing the collected data, we have made a number of new observations on the correlation of loss and RTT (round trip time) variation, and various RTT measurement mechanisms that are significant for adaptive audio transmission over IP networks.
An investigation of methods of pileup rejection for 2-D array detectors employed in high resolution PET

Two methods of rejecting pileup events in 2-D array detectors used in positron emission tomography (PET) are investigated. Since the methods are based on different physical properties, they were investigated separately and in combination. Method one is based on the fact that valid events in the 2-D array detector occur only in a limited pulseheight range for each detector element, and by rejecting events outside these energy ranges, many of the pileup events can be rejected. Method two is based on the fact that most pileup event pairs have a time differential, which will cause a difference in the shape of the signal which increases the rise time of an integrated signal or the crossover time of a bipolar signal from a shaping amplifier. Method two proved to be somewhat better than method one. However, the ideal system would most likely use both methods simultaneously. >
Chronic fluoxetine treatment selectively uncouples raphe 5-HT1A receptors as measured by [35S]-GTPγS autoradiography

1. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are thought to have a delay in therapeutic efficacy because of the need to overcome the inhibitory influence of raphe 5-HT(1A) autoreceptors. Prolonged SSRI administration has been reported to desensitize these autoreceptors. We have used [(35)S]-GTP gamma S autoradiography to determine whether this desensitization occurs at the level of receptor/G protein coupling. 2. Male mice were injected intraperitoneally once a day with saline or 20 mg kg(-1) fluoxetine for either 2 days or 14 days. 5-HT(1A) receptor binding and coupling to G proteins were assessed using [(3)H]-8-OH-DPAT and [(35)S]-GTP gamma S autoradiography, respectively. 3. The 5-HT receptor agonist 5-carboxamidotryptamine (5-CT) stimulated [(35)S]-GTP gamma S binding in the substantia nigra, as well as in hippocampus and dorsal raphe nucleus. The 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist p-MPPF (4-fluoro-N-(2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)1-piperazinyl]ethyl)-N-(2-pyridinyl)benzamide) blocked this effect in the latter regions, whereas the 5-HT(1B/D) antagonist GR-127,935 (2'-methyl-4'-(5-methyl-[1,2,4]oxadiazol-3-yl)-biphenyl-4-carboxylic acid [4-methoxy-3-(4-methyl-piperazin-l-yl)-phenyl]-amide) only decreased labelling in substantia nigra. 4. Fourteen-day fluoxetine treatment decreased 5-CT-stimulated [(35)S]-GTP gamma S binding in dorsal raphe (saline: 112 +/- 12% stimulation; fluoxetine: 66 +/- 13%), but not in substantia nigra (99 +/- 14% vs 103 +/- 7%) or hippocampus (157 +/- 3% vs 148 +/- 18%). Two-day fluoxetine treatment did not alter 5-CT-stimulated [(35)S]-GTP gamma S binding in any of the brain areas investigated. 5. Decreased [(35)S]-GTP gamma S binding was not due to receptor down-regulation, since the density of raphe [(3)H]-8-OH-DPAT binding sites was unaffected by fluoxetine treatment. 6. These results suggest that the desensitization of presynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor function occurs at the level of receptor-G protein interaction on dorsal raphe neurons, and may underlie the therapeutic efficacy of long-term SSRI treatment.
The Gene Encoding Hydroxypyruvate Reductase (GRHPR) is Mutated in Patients with Primary Hyperoxaluria Type II

Primary hyperoxaluria type II (PH2) is a rare monogenic disorder that is characterized by a lack of the enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of hydroxypyruvate to Dglycerate, the reduction of glyoxylate to glycolate and the oxidation of D-glycerate to hydroxypyruvate. The disease is characterized by an elevated urinary excretion of oxalate and L-glycerate. The increased oxalate excretion can cause nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis and can, in some cases, result in renal failure and systemic oxalate deposition. We identified a glyoxylate reductase/hydroxypyruvate reductase (GRHPR) cDNA clone from a human liver expressed sequence tag (EST) library. Nucleotide sequence analysis identified a 1198 nucleotide clone that encoded a 984 nucleotide open reading frame. The open reading frame encodes a predicted 328 amino acid protein with a mass of 35 563 Da. Transient transfection of the cDNA clone into COS cells verified that it encoded an enzyme with hydroxypyruvate reductase, glyoxylate reductase and D-glycerate dehydrogenase enzymatic activities. Database analysis of human ESTs reveals widespread tissue expression, indicating that the enzyme may have a previously unrecognized role in metabolism. The genomic structure of the human GRHPR gene was determined and contains nine exons and eight introns and spans ~ ~ ~ ~9 kb pericentromeric on chromosome 9. Four PH2 patients representing two pairs of siblings from two unrelated families were analyzed for mutations in GRHPR by single strand conformation polymorphism analysis. All four patients were homozygous for a single nucleotide deletion at codon 35 in exon 2, resulting in a premature stop codon at codon 45. The cDNA that we have identified represents the first characterization of an animal GRHPR sequence. The data we present will facilitate future genetic testing to confirm the clinical diagnosis of PH2. These data will also facilitate heterozygote testing and prenatal testing in families affected with PH2 to aid in genetic counseling.
Size Effect on the Thermal Conductivity of High-Tc Thin-Film Superconductors

Using the kinetic theory approximation and reported data, this study shows that at low temperatures, the phonon mean free path in polycrystalline ceramic YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} can be of the order of the thickness of thin-film superconductors. In this case, boundary scattering reduces the thermal conductivity with decreasing film thickness. A simple method accounts for the size effect on conduction in thin films. This analysis rests solely on geometric arguments and does not consider the effect of grain boundaries. For conduction along the film, this model approximates well an analytical solution of Boltzmann transport equation, and is in good agreement with experimental data for thin lead films. The model is also employed to analyze the size effect on conduction across the film and the influence of anisotropy.
A self-assessment instrument to assess engineering students' self-directedness in information literacy

Information literacy, the ability and processes of information gathering and application, is of paramount importance to engineers, engineering design, and engineering decision-making. Building on prior qualitative research, this paper presents the development and initial validation study of a self-directed information literacy assessment for engineering and technology students (n = 366). Internal consistency was found to be high, (α = 0.895). Exploratory factor analysis results provide evidence of structural aspects of validity and support for scoring structure. In addition, areas were identified for future development of the items and instrument.
Antibody regeneration on degenerate Si electrodes for calibration and reuse of impedance biosensors

Abstract Mild denaturing agents were studied for antibody regeneration atop degenerate (highly doped) Si and Au electrodes using comparable 11-carbon chain linker reagents onto which the mouse monoclonal antibody to peanut protein Ara h 1 is covalently immobilized. Of the reagents studied, only 200 mM KSCN is effective for antibody regeneration and detection of Ara h 1 atop Au electrodes, allowing 15 days of sensor usage after daily antibody unfolding and refolding, while 200 mM KSCN + 10 mM HF is effective atop degenerate Si electrodes, allowing 30 days of sensor usage. The addition of HF is required for antibody regeneration atop Si electrodes, as demonstrated by cyclic voltammetry in the presence of 5.0 mM K3Fe(CN)6/K4Fe(CN)6 at pH 7.3, where the oxidation/reduction peaks can be observed only in the presence of HF. The impedance spectrum for detection of Ara h 1 gradually degrades during these multi-day regeneration trials, but calibration experiments performed within one day illustrate that sensor electrodes can be calibrated on the day of use to within about 2%.
Interface Microstructure and Strength of TLP Bonded Iron and Steel

Commercially pure iron (Fe) and stainless steel 321 (SS 321) were transient liquid phase (TLP) diffusion bonded using Cu and/or Au-12Ge interlayers. The joining pressures, temperatures and times were investigated. Au atoms appeared to diffuse back at the joining interface during slow cooling from the joining temperature. A faster cooling method prevented the back-diffusion of Au atoms from interior to the joining interface. Residual interlayer disappeared when faster cooling methods such as air cooling, water cooling or water quenching were applied. However, microcracks appeared in the joint centerline if water cooling or quenching was applied. Au-rich particles also appeared in the joint microstructure. No microcracks appeared for the samples cooled in air from the bonding temperature. The highest strength of the TLP diffusion bonded Fe reached almost same as the normalized Fe. The maximum tensile strengths (UTS) obtained for the bonded Fe were 291 ± 2 MPa using a Cu interlayer and 315 ± 4 MPa. The maximum strength found was 387 ± 4 MPa for TLP diffusion bonded steel using an Au-12Ge interlayer. The maximum strength for steel was obtained for the samples bonded at 1050 °C for 20 h in vacuum and cooled in air. The maximum strength found was 387 ± 4 MPa which is 70.4 % of the base alloy strength.
On irreducible generic representations distinguished by orthogonal groups

Abstract Let F be a local non-archimedean field of characteristic zero. We provide a classification of the irreducible, generic representations of GL ( n , F ) which are distinguished by an orthogonal group modulo the corresponding classification for quasi-square-integrable representations. More precisely, we prove that an irreducible, generic representation of GL ( n , F ) is distinguished by an orthogonal group if and only if the corresponding inducing quasi-square integrable representations are distinguished by appropriate orthogonal groups.
The Political Economy of Public Education

This work focuses on the political determination of a public education policy within the context of a general equilibrium macroeconomic model. The primary objective of this paper is to study whether publicly funded education can emerge and be sustained as a political and economic equilibrium in an economy where individual agents are selfish, rational and forward-looking. I construct an overlapping generations general equilibrium model that endogenizes the large involvement of the public sector in human capital investment. The agents work for the first two periods of their lives and then retire during the third period. The first generation agents may also allocate resources to the acquisition of human capital, but they cannot borrow against their future income. In a political equilibrium where the rational and forward-looking agents of the two oldest generations vote for a level of public funding of education, public financing of education is motivated by the complementarity between capital and labor in the production function and appears as an instrument to compensate for the absence of credit markets. Thus, public funding of education does not have to be chosen because of altruism or externalities. In an economy calibrated using U.S. data, I can match the high shares of GNP allocated to education observed in the U.S. economy. The share of publicly funded education is an increasing function of GNP which mirrors the observed disparities across countries with different levels of development. Furthermore, an increase in the social security tax rate reduces the share of GNP allocated to publicly funded education which might help explain differences across countries with similar levels of development. The constructed economy also supports the existence of poverty traps for relatively low levels of income per capita. An interesting feature is that, if we do not allow the young agents to work, the economy will get out of these poverty traps and will converge to a steady-state with high levels of physical and human capital.
Revision of the Genus Cloeodes Traver (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae)

A comprehensive revision of Cloeodes Traver, a genus clearly distinguished as larvae by the presence of ventral tufts of setae on abdominal segments 2—6, shows that species with hind wings and species without hind wings are included. Two major phyletic lineages within the genus are recognized as subgenera: the monotypic Notobaetis Morihara & Edmunds, n. status, including C. penai (Morihara & Edmunds) from Argentina; and Cloeodes sensu stricto (= Centroptella Braasch & Soldan [in part]) including C. maculipes Traver from Puerto Rico (the type species), C. anduzei (Traver), n. comb., from Venezuela, C. aymara (Traver), n. comb., from Uruguay, C. consignatus Traver from Puerto Rico, C. excogitatus , n. sp., from Arizona, C. irvingi , n. sp., from Paraguay, C. longisetosus (Braasch & Soldan) from China, C. macrolamellus , n. sp., from New Mexico, C. peninsulus , n. sp., from Baja California, C. redactus , n. sp., from Peru, and C. soldani (Muller-Liebenau) from Sri Lanka. Species are delineated primarily on the basis of larval structural characteristics, especially those of abdominal terga and armature associated with legs. Only C. consignatus, C. anduzei , and C. aymara are unknown as larvae, and these together with C. penai and C. maculipes are the only species presently known as adults. A key to the species in the larval stage is included.
Endoscopic ultrasound-fine needle aspiration: A novel way to diagnose a solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma of the liver.

Plasmacytoma is a neoplastic production of a single line of plasma cells, usually forming monoclonal immunoglobulin. It most often occurs in the bone marrow; however, in 3% of the cases, solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma arises, which is a proliferation in the soft tissue, outside the bone marrow. In only 10% of the cases is the gastrointestinal tract involved. A 77-year-old female presented with lethargy, abdominal fullness, bilious vomiting, and clay-colored stools. The patient was anemic with initial laboratory results showing increased total and direct bilirubin with elevated transaminases. Despite conservative management, liver function tests (LFTs) continued to increase. On endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), there was mild diffuse mucosal thickening consistent with possible infiltrative disease of the gastric body without any obvious focal lesions. There was a 1.7 cm Χ 1.8 cm hypoechoic heterogeneous lesion noted in the porta hepatis and fine needle aspiration (FNA) was performed. Cytology showed infiltrative plasma cells. The patient was then taken for computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy of the liver. Pathology showed liver involvement by atypical plasma cells in a nodular and sinusoidal pattern. Immunohistochemical staining appropriately identified the solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma. Plasma cell neoplasm is essentially a clonal disease of differentiated B-cells that can encompass a broad spectrum and present as asymptomatic monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to plasma cell neoplasms or multiple myeloma. Five percent of patients with multiple myelomas are diagnosed with extramedullary plasmacytomas, and even less than that are diagnosed as a primary lesion. When the liver is affected, either as a direct diffuse neoplastic plasma cell infiltration, or as a single or multiple space occupying lesion as plasmacytomas, symptomatic features include extrahepatic biliary obstruction, jaundice, or ascites. In our case, the patient was diagnosed via EUS-guided FNA (EUS-FNA) bringing to light an alternative method to its diagnosis.
Design Scheme Evaluation and Benefit Analysis of Cogeneration of Heat and Power Project with Gas Replaced by Coal

At Shengli Gubei Thermoelectricity Plant, the gas turbine unit has been unused due to natural gas shortage. So a reforming design scheme of the cogeneration of heat and power project is put forward to change fuel from natural gas into coal in the basis of using original equipment. This paper introduces the boiler type selection, configuration and control system capacity enhancing, and conducts benefit analysis for this reforming project.
An innovative approach to management of lower third ureteral calculi.

AbstractA total of 130 patients with symptomatic lower third ureteral calculi underwent 136 treatments by 43 accredited urologists. These treatments were performed at a fixed lithotripsy site and 16 mobile sites using the Medstone lithotriptor from December 1990 through January 1992. The average stone size was 8.16 × 5.14mm. A total of 126 patients underwent a single treatment and 4 underwent multiple treatment sessions. Of the 126 patients undergoing monotherapy 10 (8%) were lost to followup, while 101 of the remaining 116 evaluable patients (87%) were stone-free with a single treatment. The 15 patients in this subgroup who were considered failures and the 4 patients who underwent multiple treatments had overall larger stone sizes. The preoperative stent placement rate was only 32%. The treatments were well tolerated by the patients. Our report confirms a high efficacy rate with the second generation bathless lithotriptor for management of lower third ureteral calculi. The importance of a stable and qual...
Lethal graft-versus-host disease in mice directed to multiple minor histocompatibility antigens: features of CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses.

Lethal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) can be induced in MHC-matched strain combinations which differ in their expression of multiple minor histocompatibility (H) antigens. It has been shown that CD8+ T cells play an important role in the development of disease directed to the minor H antigens, and that initial indications were that highly purified preparations of these cells were capable of mediating GVHD, without apparent 'help' from mature donor-derived CD4+ T cells. To further strengthen this hypothesis, the current study was undertaken with the B10.BR----CBA strain combination in which irradiated recipient mice were additionally treated with an anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody, as a single or repeated injection, to minimize the presence of either residual host CD4+ cells or recently generated donor-derived CD4+ cells at later stages of disease development. The results indicate that these treatments do not affect the GVHD outcome and that the CD8+ cells are indeed capable of inducing disease independent of CD4+ 'help'. The addition of donor CD4+ T cells in the inoculum, however, does enhance the potential of these CD8+ cells, and is observed with both low and high dosages of CD4+ cells. CD4+ T cells, on their own, have also been observed to cause GVHD directed to minor H antigens in certain strain combinations, and their response has been further characterized in this study. Results indicate that CD4+ cells capable of mediating GVHD in the B10.D2----DBA/2 strain combination can do so over a wide range of recipient irradiation exposures. The transfer of high dosages of CD4+ cells only shortens survival times of the recipients and does not afford any apparent protection phenomenon as previously observed in CD4+ cell mediated anti-class II MHC GVHD. The study also indicates that neither CD4+ nor CD8+ cells responsible for GVHD directed to minor H antigens seem capable of targeting host stem cell elements.
Collective plasmon modes in nanoparticle assemblies

In order to incorporate plasmonic nanoparticles into functional devices it is necessary to understand how surface plasmons couple as particles are arranged into ordered structures. Bottom-up assembly of chemically prepared nanoparticles facilities strong plasmon coupling due to short interparticle distances, but also gives to rise to defects in particle size, shape, and ordering. Single particle spectroscopy of plasmonic nanoparticle assemblies, especially when correlated with structural characterization using scanning electron microscopy, allows one to gain a detailed understanding about collective plasmon modes. We have used polarization sensitive dark-field scattering spectroscopy covering a broad spectral range from the visible up to 2000 nm and polarization dependent photothermal imaging to separately investigate radiative and nonradiative coupling in single nanoparticles [1–2] and individual one-dimensional assemblies of plasmonic nanoparticles [3–6]. For both scattering and absorption, we observed collective plasmon modes that are highly polarized along the main axis of the one-dimensional nanoparticle chain and red-shifted from the plasmon resonance of the individual constituents. These collective plasmon modes are compared to plasmon antenna modes of continuous nanorods with varying length and width [7] and propagating surface plasmon polaritons [8,9]. For the latter, we have developed a fluorescence based method to visualize plasmon propagation in one-dimensional nanostructures.
Situated vision in a dynamic world: chasing objects

We describe a system that approaches and follows arbitrary moving objects in real time using vision as its only sense. The system uses multiple simple vision computations which, although individually unreliable complement each other in a manner mediated by a situated control network. The objects can move over a wide variety of backgrounds including those with strong secondary reflections from light sources. Previously unseen objects can be tracked against backgrounds that include other moving objects. Computations are carried out in image coordinates at roughly 5 frames per second on a Lisp machine. The camera need not be calibrated or aligned well, and the system can tolerate a wide range of dynamically changing actuator response characteristics.
Incomplete loss of a conserved trait: function, latitudinal cline, and genetic constraints

Retention of nonfunctional traits over evolutionary time is puzzling, because the cost of trait production should drive loss. Indeed, several studies have found nonfunctional traits are rapidly eliminated by selection. However, theory suggests that complex genetic interactions and a lack of genetic variance can constrain evolution, including trait loss. In the mustard family Brassicaceae the conserved floral condition includes four long and two short stamens, but we show that short stamens in the highly self-pollinating mustard Arabidopsis thaliana do not significantly increase selfed seed set, suggesting that the trait has lost most or all of its function after the transition to selfing. We find that short stamen loss is common in native populations. Loss is incomplete and decreases with increasing latitude, a cline unexplained by correlations with flowering time or ovule count (which also vary with latitude). Using recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between plants at the latitudinal extremes of the native range, we found three QTLs affecting short stamen number, with epistasis among them constraining stamen loss. Constraints on stamen loss from both epistasis and low genetic variance may be augmented by high selfing rates, suggesting that these kinds of constraints may be common in inbred species.
Which States Can Be Changed by Which Events

We present a method for finding (STATE, EVENT) pairs where EVENT can change STATE. For example, the event “realize” can put an end to the states “be unaware”, “be confused”, and “be happy”; while it can rarely affect “being hungry”. We extract these pairs from a large corpus using a fixed set of syntactic dependency patterns. We then apply a supervised Machine Learning algorithm to clean the results using syntactic and collocational features, achieving a precision of 78% and a recall of 90%. We observe 3 different relations between states and events that change them and present a method for using Mechanical Turk to differentiate between these relations
Transcriptional responses to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation: An approach based on graph curvature

More than half of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy in their treatment process. However, our understanding of abnormal transcriptional responses to radiation remains poor. In this study, we employ an extended definition of Ollivier-Ricci curvature based on L1-Wasserstein distance to investigate genes and biological processes associated with ionizing radiation (IR) and ultraviolet radiation (UV) exposure using a microarray dataset. Gene expression levels were modeled on a gene interaction topology downloaded from the Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD). This was performed for IR, UV, and mock datasets, separately. The difference curvature value between IR and mock graphs (also between UV and mock) for each gene was used as a metric to estimate the extent to which the gene responds to radiation. We found that in comparison of the top 200 genes identified from IR and UV graphs, about 20∼30% genes were overlapping. Through gene ontology enrichment analysis, we found that the metabolic-related biological process was highly associated with both IR and UV radiation exposure.
Differential Attachment of Salmonella enterica and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli to Alfalfa, Fenugreek, Lettuce, and Tomato Seeds

Vegetable seeds have the potential to disseminate and transmit foodborne bacterial pathogens. This study was undertaken to assess the abilities of selected Salmonella and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains to attach to fungicide-treated versus untreated, and intact versus mechanically damaged, seeds of alfalfa, fenugreek, lettuce, and tomato. Surface-sanitized seeds (2 g) were exposed to four individual strains of Salmonella or EHEC at 20°C for 5 h. Contaminated seeds were rinsed twice, each with 10 ml of sterilized water, before being soaked overnight in 5 ml of phosphate-buffered saline at 4°C. The seeds were then vortexed vigorously for 1 min, and pathogen populations in seed rinse water and soaking buffer were determined using a standard plate count assay. In general, the Salmonella cells had higher attachment ratios than the EHEC cells. Lettuce seeds by unit weight had the highest numbers of attached Salmonella or EHEC cells, followed by tomato, alfalfa, and fenugreek seeds. In contrast, individual fenugreek seeds had more attached pathogen cells, followed by lettuce, alfalfa, and tomato seeds. Significantly more Salmonella and EHEC cells attached to mechanically damaged seeds than to intact seeds (P 0.05), with a few exceptions. This study fills gaps in the current body of literature and helps explain bacterial interactions with vegetable seeds with differing surface characteristics.IMPORTANCE Vegetable seeds, specifically sprout seeds, have the potential to disseminate and transmit foodborne bacterial pathogens. This study investigated the interaction between two important bacterial pathogens, i.e., Salmonella and EHEC, and vegetable seeds with differing surface characteristics. This research helps understand whether seed surface structure, integrity, and fungicide treatment affect the interaction between bacterial cells and vegetable seeds.
STAT3: a crucial target for ovarian cancer stem cells that inhibits WNT signaling through a novel epigenetic mechanism

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal cause of death from gynecological malignancies (1). Most patients are diagnosed with advanced stage of metastatic disease (1). Following surgery and the standard chemotherapy, most patients gain initial complete response (2). However, the majority will eventually have a relapse and die of their disease (2). The overall survival rate remains poor, with the five-year survival rate below 25% for stage III–IV disease (1). Therefore, new regimens targeting the pathways involved in metastasis and chemoresistance is essential to the development of more effective therapies in ovarian cancer.
Inverse Limits in Continuum Theory

This chapter is devoted to some topics in the theory of continua. We look at the effect of imposing atriodicity or unicoherence on the factor spaces or monotonicity on the bonding mappings. We conclude the chapter with characterizations of irreducibility and indecomposability of inverse limits followed by a brief discussion of selected miscellaneous topics from continuum theory.
Design and performance study of a DC-DC flyback converter based on wide bandgap power devices for photovoltaic applications

This paper presents a high-performance dc–dc flyback converter design based on wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices for photovoltaic (PV) applications. Two different power devices, a gallium nitride (GaN)-transistor and a silicon (Si)-MOSFET, are implemented individually in the flyback converter to examine their impact on converter performance. The total power loss of the converter with different power devices is analyzed for various switching frequencies. Converter efficiency is evaluated at different switching frequencies, input voltages, and output power levels. The results reveal that the converter with the GaN-transistor has lower total power loss and better efficiency compared to the converter with the conventional Si-MOSFET.
Identification of a serum-induced transcriptional signature associated with metastatic cervical cancer.

Objective Tumor cells that escape local tissue control can convert inflammatory cells from tumor suppressors to tumor promoters. Moreover, soluble immune-modulating factors secreted from the tumor environment can be difficult to identify in patient serum due to their low abundance. We used an alternative strategy to infer a metastatic signature induced by sera of cervical cancer patients. Methods Sera from patients with local and metastatic cervical cancer were used to induce a disease-specific transcriptional signature in cultured, healthy peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). An empirical Bayesian method, EBarrays, was used to identify differentially expressed (DE) genes with a target false discovery rate of <5%. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software was used to detect the top molecular and cellular functions associated with the DE genes. IPA and in silco analysis was used to pinpoint candidate upstream regulators, including cancer-related microRNAs (miRNAs). Results We identified enriched pathways in the metastatic cervical group related to immune surveillance functions, such as downregulation of engulfment, accumulation, and phagocytosis of hematopoietic cells. The predicted top upstream genes were IL-10 and immunoglobulins. In silco analysis identified miRNAs predicted to drive the transcriptional signature. Two of the 4 miRNAs (miR-23a-3p and miR-944) were validated in a cohort of women with local and metastatic cervical cancer. Conclusions This study supports the use of a cell-based assay that uses PBMC “reporters” to predict biologically relevant factors in patient serum. Further, disease-specific transcriptional signatures induced by patient sera have the potential to differentiate patients with local versus metastatic disease.
Dorothy Day, Religion, and the Left

Dorothy Day’s integration of radical politics and Catholic identity reveals the challenges and opportunities of forging a tradition inclusive of religion and the left. Day and Peter Maurin founded the Catholic Worker movement as a Christian anarchist community that emphasized subsidiarity (local decision making), freedom of conscience, and the works of mercy (direct service to the economically and politically disenfranchised). In doing so, Day demonstrated to skeptics on the left and among her coreligionists that radical politics and Catholic practice could be harmonized. Her emphasis on freedom of conscience and the works of mercy created a context within which people of varying backgrounds could collaborate in social justice endeavors.
The Impact of Grading on the Curve: A Simulation Analysis

Grading on the curve is a common practice in higher education. While there are many critics of the practice it still finds wide spread acceptance particularly in science classes. Advocates believe that in large classes student ability is likely to be normally distributed. If test scores are also normally distributed instructors and students tend to believe that the test reasonably measures learning and that the grades are assigned fairly. Beyond an intuitive reaction, is there evidence that normally distributed test scores appropriately distinguish among student performance? Can we be sure that there is a significant correlation between test scores and student knowledge? Testing these assumptions would be difficult using actual subjects. In this paper we use mathematical models and Monte Carlo simulation to test the assumption that normally distributed grades assign the highest grades to the students who were best prepared for an exam.
Torsional Frequencies and Barriers to Internal Rotation from Far Infrared Spectra of Solids

The far infrared and Raman spectra of several molecular solids which contained one, two, three, and four methyl rotors have been obtained over a range of temperatures. For the molecules with one methyl rotor it was found that the torsional frequency shifted approximately 20% with solidification; the calculated barriers are also raised by a similar amount. For molecular solids which contained three rotors it was found for almost every case that the A2 torsional mode which may be inactive for the molecule in the gas phase was always observed in the spectra of the solids. From a comparison of the frequencies for the degenerate E torsional mode and the A2 torsion one obtains a measure of the top-top interaction term for the potential energy. The barriers obtained for most of the molecular solids which contained three methyl rotors were very similar to those reported in the gas phase work in which the top-top interaction has been neglected. For the tetrahedral molecules containing four methyl rotors both the triply degenerate F1 torsional mode and the A2 torsion were observed in the spectra of the solids and from these data torsional barriers were calculated. A comparison of the torsional barriers for a large number of one, two, three, and four top-molecules will be given and discussed.
A Systematic Summary of Systematic Reviews on the Topic of the Rotator Cuff

Background:The number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published on the rotator cuff (RC) has increased markedly.Purpose:To quantify the number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses publis...
Metabolites associated with early cognitive changes implicated in Alzheimer's disease

We investigated the metabolomics of early cognitive changes related to Alzheimer9s disease (AD) in order to better understand mechanisms that could contribute to early stages and progression of this disease. This investigation used longitudinal plasma samples from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer9s Prevention (WRAP), a cohort of participants who were dementia free at enrollment and enriched with a parental history of AD. Metabolomic profiles were quantified for 2,338 fasting plasma samples among 1,206 participants, each with up to three study visits. Of 1,097 metabolites tested, levels of seven were associated with executive function trajectories, including an amino acid and three fatty acids, but none were associated with delayed recall trajectories. Our time-varying metabolomic results suggest potential mechanisms that could contribute to the earliest signs of cognitive decline. In particular, fatty acids may be associated with cognition in a manner that is more complex than previously suspected.
Note on “A chance-constrained programming framework to handle uncertainties in radiation therapy treatment planning”

Abstract A recent article by Zaghian et al. (2018) proposed reformulations, proposed reformulations of stochastic chance-constrained programming models for radiation therapy treatment planning. This note questions the validity of the proposed reformulations and shows that they are not equivalent to the original formulations. Two numerical examples illustrate that the approach proposed by Zaghian et al. (2018) provides approximation problems and not reformulations.
Science and the Reality Principle

This chapter reveals how on the most basic level, modern science seeks to use reason to judge reality by first eliminating all preconceived notions and then testing ideas against the reactions of empirical reality. For Freud, the goal of analysis was to help people apply this scientific method to their perceptions of their own lives and the world around them. On the most fundamental level, Freud examined why it was so hard for people to abide by what he called the “reality principle,” and much of his work examines the different ways people escape from the reality of their lives.
Model of variability estimation: factors influencing human prediction and estimation of variability in continuous information

Understanding the variability of trends and other continuously distributed quantities is a vital ability underlying many safety critical decisions, such as how widely to search for a downed aircraf...
Complex C1-2 osteophyte presenting with severe dysphagia and ptosis.

A 67-year-old man presented with dysphagia, hoarseness, dysarthria, left ptosis, and 30-pound weight loss over 7 months, requiring a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. Examination revealed partial left ptosis, dysphonia, left hemitongue weakness, atrophy, and fasciculations, and left hemipalate weakness (figure 1).
Does Diversity Matter? School Racial Composition and Academic Achievement of Students in a Diverse Sample:

Research findings on school diversity and its impact on children’s educational outcomes is mixed. This study examined school racial diversity and educational outcomes for ethnically diverse student...
LightCloud: Future of Dynamic Lighting in the Shared Space

Lighting conditions in an indoor environment have been shown to affect our cognition and behaviors in a variety of ways. On average, we spend 90% of our time in indoor environments. These usually involve multiple people with diverse environmental needs sharing a space with the same lighting conditions. Additionally, besides providing us with better illumination for practical and aesthetic effects, the way we use and interact with light has not changed. To address this, we present LightCloud, a lighting system that enables each user to create and control their own dynamic light source in a shared enclosed space for enhancing social interactions and work experience. The advances in smart lighting and novel distributed system architecture will further enable novel multi-user dynamic lighting. This paper aims to provide a look into the applications of dynamic lighting between multiple users in a shared environment.
X-Ray Observations of Markarian 231

This paper presents new X-ray observations of Mrk 231, an active galaxy of particular interest because of its large infrared luminosity and the presence of several blueshifted broad absorption line (BAL) systems, a phenomenon observed in a small fraction of QSOs. A ROSAT HRI image of Mrk 231 is presented, which shows an extended region of soft X-ray emission covering several tens of kiloparsecs, consistent with the extent of the host galaxy. An ASCA observation of Mrk 231 is also presented. Hard X-rays are detected, but the data show no significant variability in X-ray flux. The hard X-ray continuum is heavily attenuated, and X-ray column estimates range from ~2×1022 to 1023 cm-2, depending on whether the material is assumed to be neutral or ionized, and depending on the model assumed for the extended X-ray component. These ASCA data provide only the second hard X-ray spectrum of a BAL active galactic nucleus presented to date. The broadband spectral energy distribution of the source is discussed. While Mrk 231 is X-ray weak compared to Seyfert 1 galaxies, it has an optical-to-X-ray spectrum typical of a QSO.
Bioconjugation strategies toward efficient intracellular nanoparticle probes

The integration of biosensors into the clinic can transform the ability to monitor personal and public health. High sensitivity and specificity have been realized leveraging nanostructured sensors and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which can be further integrated by fluorescence to push the boundaries of sensitivity, selectivity, and multiplexing. However, to ensure accurate and reliable applicability, the nanostructured probes need to be designed, synthesized, and characterized very rigorously. In my talk, I will report on our development of intracellular probes for the detection of viral pathogens, providing tips and guidelines to reduce opsonization, increase stability, reduce cytotoxicity, and improve performance.