cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fault kinematics of the Magallanes-Fagnano fault system, southern Chile an example of diffuse strain and sinistral transtension along a continental transform margin

Abstract A system of left-lateral faults that separates the South American and Scotia plates, known as the Magallanes-Fagnano fault system, defines the modern tectonic setting of the southernmost Andes and is superimposed on the Late Cretaceous – Paleogene Patagonian fold-thrust belt. Fault kinematic data and crosscutting relationships from populations of thrust, strike-slip and normal faults from Peninsula Brunswick adjacent to the Magallanes-Fagnano fault system, presented herein, show kinematic and temporal relationships between thrust faults and sets of younger strike-slip and normal faults. Thrust fault kinematics are homogeneous in the study area and record subhorizontal northeast-directed shortening. Strike-slip faults record east—northeast-directed horizontal shortening, west—northwest-directed horizontal extension and form Riedel and P-shear geometries compatible with left-lateral slip on the main splay of the Magallanes-Fagnano fault system. Normal faults record north-south trending extension that is compatible with the strike-slip faults. The study area occurs in a releasing step-over between overlapping segments of the Magallanes-Fagnano fault system, which localized on antecedent sutures between basement terranes with differing geological origin. Results are consistent with regional tectonic models that suggest sinistral shearing and transtension in the southernmost Andes was contemporaneous with the onset of seafloor spreading in the Western Scotia Sea during the Early Miocene.
ATTITUDES OF TEEN-AGERS TOWARD ALL-NUMBER CALLING.

The burgeoning popularity of the telephone creates many engineering problems for companies providing this service. Improvements in equipment designed to increase technical proficiency may at times not be consonant with preferences of, and easy use by, customers. The substitution of numbers for letcers on the telephone dial (known as AllNumber Calling, or ANC) is one such development currently being promoted by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, primarily because it will make possible extensive expansion of exchange offices. Thc findings of several experiments conducted to determine user proficiency and acceptance of this procedure have, as shown by Karlin (1958), not been definitive. Severin and Rigby (1963), in a laboratory experiment using a simulated telephone situation, found that in two-thirds of their cases the familiar 3-4 pattern of all-numbers was dialed correctly. However, the likelihood of widespread adverse reaction to ANC is evidenced by newspaper reports and by the fact that it has become important enough to be made the butt of cartoons, comic strips, and song parodies. Teen-agers are a sub-group of our culture generally conceded to be notoriously avid telephone users. Hence, their attitudes about ANC would be importanr. In this study, 99 undergraduates responded to a questionnaire, which was prefaced with a statement taken from a standard telephone directory describing ANC, and which then asked them to indicate whether they had already had experience with ANC, whether they liked it, and what psychological principles in the area of perception and attention might apply to the use of ANC, either as an advantage or disadvantage. Of the 99 Ss, 50 said they had had experience with ANC, while 49 had not, but the responses of the two groups were so similar, that they are combined for presentation here. An overwhelming 77 disliked ANC, 16 liked it, and 6 were indifferenr. The principal reason for disliking it (68) was the difficulty of managing long series of numbers. The only pertinent psychological principle offered under "advantages" of ANC was "grouping," by which the students explained that they meant the numbers could be handled more easily if presented in the familiar 3-4 pattern of digits. Under "disadvantages" they cited "span of attention." Here they pointed out that telephone numbers which consist of seven digits plus three additional digits for an area code are beyond the average human span of arten tion. Ic is inreresting to note that approximately two-fifths of the total group thought that rhe telephone company could not be persuaded to change its plans for promotion of ANC, and that people simply must wait until the company itself sees that the procedure is causing difficulty for customers.
Phylogenetic Tree Distances

Phylogenetic trees are mathematical objects which summarize the most recent common ancestor relationships between a given set of organisms. There is often a need to quantify the degree of similarity or discordance between two proposed trees. For instance, a person may be interested in knowing whether the phylogenetic trees reconstructed from two distinct sequence alignments are truly different, or if the differences are so minor as to be attributable only to statistical variation. In this article we summarize several of the most widely known methods for defining distances between phylogenetic trees, and provide examples of the calculations when feasible.
Decadal shifts in grass and woody plant cover are driven by prolonged drying and modified by topo-edaphic properties.

Woody plant encroachment and overall declines in perennial vegetation in dryland regions can alter ecosystem properties and indicate land degradation, but the causes of these shifts remain controversial. Determining how changes in the abundance and distribution of grass and woody plants are influenced by conditions that regulate water availability at a regional scale provides a baseline to compare how management actions alter the composition of these vegetation types at a more local scale and can be used to predict future shifts under climate change. Using a remote-sensing-based approach, we assessed the balance between grasses and woody plants and how climate and topo-edaphic conditions affected their abundances across the northern Sonoran Desert from 1989 to 2009. Despite widespread woody plant encroachment in this region over the last 150 years, we found that leguminous trees, including mesquite (Prosopis spp.), declined in cover in areas with prolonged drying conditions during the early 21st century. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) also had moderate decreases with prolonged drying but was buffered from changes on soils with low clay that promote infiltration and high available water capacity that allows for retention of water at depth. Perennial grasses have expanded and contracted over the last two decades in response to summer precipitation and were especially dynamic on shallow soils with high clay that have large fluctuations in water availability. Our results suggest that topo-edaphic properties can amplify or ameliorate climate-induced changes in woody plants and perennial grasses. Understanding these relationships has important implications for ecosystem function under climate change in the southwestern USA and can inform management efforts to regulate grass and woody plant abundances.
Persian Restoration (1724–1735

Whether Tahmasp liked it or not, ratification or no ratification, Peter was ready to annex the territories ceded to him in the Treaty of St. Petersburg, especially now that the Ottoman sultan had recognized Peter’s title to them. On December 11, 1724, Admiral Matiushkin, with 300 men, landed at Anzali and proceeded toward Rasht. The chief of Gasgar, with 20,000 men, lay in waiting, vastly outnumbering the Russian force, which consisted of 6 battalions, 500 horsemen, and a few squads of Armenians, Georgians, and Cossacks from the Don region. Tahmasp himself was holed up in Farahabad, a coastal town some 16 miles north-northeast of Sari, the seat of Mazandaran, situated on the Bay of Gorgan at the seaward base of the Miyankaleh Peninsula. Matiushkin sent an emissary to ask Tahmasp to order the Persian forces to stand down. Tahmasp refused.
Laser Refrigeration of Ytterbium-Doped Sodium–Yttrium–Fluoride Nanowires

Sodium yttrium fluoride (β-NaYF4 ) nanowires (NWs) with a hexagonal crystal structure are synthesized using a low-cost hydrothermal process and are shown to undergo laser refrigeration based on an upconversion process leading to anti-Stokes (blueshifted) photoluminescence. Single-beam laser trapping combined with forward light scattering is used to investigate cryophotonic laser refrigeration of individual NWs through analysis of their local Brownian dynamics.
Toward situation awareness: a survey on adaptive learning for model-free tracking

Visual tracking estimates the trajectory of an object of interest in non-stationary image streams that change over time. Recently, approaches for model-free tracking have received increased interest since manually annotating sufficient examples of all objects in the world is prohibitively expensive. By definition, a model-free tracker has only one labeled instance in the form of an identified object in the first frame. In the subsequent frames, it has to learn variations of the tracked object with only unlabeled data available. There exists a dilemma for model-free trackers, i.e., whether the tracker would shift the focus to clutters (i.e., adaptivity) or result in very short tracks (i.e., stability) largely depends on how sensitive the appearance model is. In contrast to recent survey efforts with data-driven approaches focusing on the performance on benchmarks, this article aims to provide an in-depth survey on solutions to the dilemma between adaptivity and stability in model-free tracking focusing on the ability of achieving situation awareness, i.e., learning the object appearance adaptively in a non-stationary environment. The survey results show that, regardless of visual representations and statistical models involved, the way of exploiting unlabeled data in the changing environment and the extent of how rapidly the appearance model need be updated accordingly with selected example(s) of estimated labels are the key to many, if not all, evaluation measures for tracking. Such conceptual consensuses, despite the diversity of approaches in this field, for the first time capture the essence of model-free tracking and facilitate the design of visual tracking systems.
Eye Movement Patterns in Solving Science Ordering Problems

Dynamic biological processes, such as intracellular signaling pathways, commonly are taught in science courses using static representations of individual steps in the pathway. As a result, students often memorize these steps for examination purposes, but fail to appreciate either the cascade nature of the pathway. In this study, we compared eye movement patterns for students who correctly ordered the components of an important pathway responsible for vasoconstriction against those who did not. Similarly, we compared the patterns of students who learned the material using three dimensional (3-D) animations previously associated with improved student understanding of this pathway against those who learned the material using static images extracted from those animations. For two of the three ordering problems, students with higher scores had shorter total fixation duration when ordering the components and spent less time (fixating) in the planning and solving phases of the problem-solving process. This finding was supported by the scanpath patterns that demonstrated that students who correctly solved the problems used more efficient problem-solving strategies.
Retrospective evaluation of the impact of early enteral nutrition on clinical outcomes in dogs with pancreatitis: 34 cases (2010-2013).

Objective To evaluate the effect of early enteral nutritional therapy on time to return to voluntary intake, maximum food consumption, incidence of gastrointestinal intolerance (GI), and total hospitalization time for dogs with acute pancreatitis. Design and Setting Retrospective analysis of dogs with pancreatitis at a veterinary teaching hospital between 2010 and 2013. Animals Thirty-four client-owned dogs diagnosed with acute or acute-on-chronic pancreatitis. Procedures and Interventions Medical records of dogs evaluated for inappetence, anorexia, and GI for which a diagnosis of pancreatitis was recorded were reviewed. The time to initiation of food offerings since hospitalization were recorded in addition to signalment, historical medical conditions, chief complaint, physical examination findings, diagnostic results, treatments provided, timing of food offering (within 48 h of hospitalization, early feeding group (EFG) versus delayed feeding group (DFG), diet therapy (low fat versus high fat), caloric intake (% resting energy requirement), incidence of GI (%), and length of hospitalization (LOH) (days). A Clinical Severity Index Score (CSIS) was determined for each patient. Measurements and Main Results Dogs in the EFG demonstrated a decreased time to return of voluntary intake (2.1 days, EFG versus 2.7 days, DFG; P = 0.05) and time (days) to maximum intake (3, EFG versus 3.4 DFG) as compared to the DFG dogs. The DFG exhibited more GI versus EFG irrespective of CSIS grouping (60% versus 26%, P = 0.04). A CSIS ≥ 7 was associated with prolonged LOH (P = 0.004); however, time to initiation of feeding and diet selection did not impact LOH (P = 0.8). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Results of the study suggested that feeding within 48 hours of hospitalization for canine pancreatitis has a positive impact on return to voluntary intake and decreases the frequency of GI in these patients, independent of CSIS. The traditional protocol of withholding food during hospitalization may not be necessary nor yield the most benefit for patient recovery; subsequently early enteral refeeding should be considered.
Rethinking Teacher Turnover: Longitudinal Measures of Instability in Schools:

While there is a robust literature examining the patterns and causes of teacher turnover, few articles to date have critically examined the measures of turnover used in these studies. Yet, an asses...
Unique cytologic features of thyroiditis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for malignant melanoma

Blockade of immune checkpoint molecules to reverse cancer-induced immune suppression can improve anti-tumor immune responses in cancer patients. Monoclonal antibodies targeting two such molecules, Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) have shown clinical benefit in the treatment of advanced malignancies, including metastatic melanoma. Adverse effects of these immune checkpoint inhibitors include immune-related adverse events (irAE) and the inducing of new autoimmunity, of which one of the most common is autoimmune thyroiditis. Though thyroiditis is increasingly recognized, there are no reports of the pathological findings that occur in immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis. We present a case of immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis demonstrating its unique cytopathologic features. A 51-year-old woman with metastatic melanoma was found to have a suppressed TSH and elevated free thyroxine concentration 14 days after starting treatment with nivolumab (PD-1 antagonist) plus ipilimumab (CTLA-4 antagonist) therapy. A thyroid biopsy was performed based on ultrasound findings and cytopathology revealed unique features including abundant clusters of necrotic cells, lymphocytes and CD163-positive histiocytes. This case reports cytopathologic features found in immune checkpoint inhibitor related thyroiditis. These appear to be unique findings and may help inform future research regarding the pathophysiology and mechanisms of this condition.
Encoding of Self-Referential Pain Catastrophizing in the Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE Pain catastrophizing is a common feature of chronic pain, including fibromyalgia (FM), and is strongly associated with amplified pain severity and disability. While previous neuroimaging studies have focused on evoked pain response modulation by catastrophizing, the brain mechanisms supporting pain catastrophizing itself are unknown. We designed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-based pain catastrophizing task whereby patients with chronic pain engaged in catastrophizing-related cognitions. We undertook this study to test our hypothesis that catastrophizing about clinical pain would be associated with amplified activation in nodes of the default mode network (DMN), which encode self-referential cognition and show altered functioning in chronic pain. METHODS During fMRI, 31 FM patients reflected on how catastrophizing (CAT) statements (drawn from the Pain Catastrophizing Scale) impact their typical FM pain experience. Response to CAT statements was compared to response to matched neutral (NEU) statements. RESULTS During statement reflection, higher fMRI signal during CAT statements than during NEU statements was found in several DMN brain areas, including the ventral (posterior) and dorsal (anterior) posterior cingulate cortex (vPCC and dPCC, respectively). Patients' ratings of CAT statement applicability were correlated solely with activity in the vPCC, a main DMN hub supporting self-referential cognition (r = 0.38, P < 0.05). Clinical pain severity was correlated solely with activity in the dPCC, a PCC subregion associated with cognitive control and sensorimotor processing (r = 0.38, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION These findings provide evidence that the PCC encodes pain catastrophizing in FM and suggest distinct roles for different PCC subregions. Understanding the brain circuitry encoding pain catastrophizing in FM will prove to be important in identifying and evaluating the success of interventions targeting negative affect in chronic pain management.
Exploring Latino/a college students’ transition experiences: An ethnography of social preparedness and familial support

This ethnographic case study examined first-year, first-generation, low-income Latino/a college students’ social experiences and familial support during their transition from a charter high school ...
Conformance Criteria for the SAME Approach to Binding Ada Programs to SQL

Abstract : The structured query language (SQL) Ada Module Extensions (SAME) form a method for the design and construction of Ada database applications. The method is explained in a companion document: Guidelines for the Use of the SAME, 2. In order to enable the method to be referenced in requests for proposals (RFPs) and development contracts, there must be some method to determine if a given software design and implementation conform to the SAME guidelines. Such conformance criteria are contained in this report.
Plant invasions: Early and continuing expressions of global change

Through prolific, current use and tacit agreement ‘global change’ refers to permanent alteration of the Biosphere as caused by humans. In practice, most emphasis in predicting global change stems from the on-going rise in levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their myriad environmental consequences (National Academy of Sciences 1988). So defined and practised, it has been treated as a subject with immensely important present and future implications but little past; parts of the Biosphere have been drastically and repeatedly altered, but humans’ historic role has been largely viewed as restricted to non-global alterations (e.g. forest-clearing and burning, diversion of rivers, land-filling and flooding) (Turner et al. 1990). I contend that this conventional view, whether explicitly or implicitly stated, overlooks the role humans have already played in at least one important arena of global change — plant invasions (Drake et al. 1989). Unlike other forms of current or projected global change, humans have altered the composition of vegetation for several thousand years through their deliberate or accidental dispersal of plants beyond their native ranges (di Castri 1989). As I hope to demonstrate, there are important lessons to be gleaned from plant invasions, both as examples of global change in their own right and as phenomena that will complicate (and confound) predictions about the consequences of other forms of global change, including those stemming from increases in levels of greenhouse gases. I concentrate here on four such topics; in my estimation, all are either under- or unappreciated in the current concern about global change, although D’Antonio and Vitousek (1992) provide a related assessment of the role of alien grasses as agents of global change.
Aqueous piperazine/potassium carbonate for enhanced CO2 capture

Publisher Summary This chapter presents experimental and modeling results for aqueous piperazine (PZ)/potassium carbonate (K 2 CO 3 ) for enhanced CO 2 capture from flue gas. CO 2 removal by aqueous absorption/stripping is a mature technology currently used in the manufacture of ammonia and syngas. The use of aqueous K 2 CO 3 promoted by PZ should enhance rates of CO 2 absorption and reduce the heat requirement for stripping. Simple models have been developed to estimate absorber and stripper performance. The piperazine solvent can also be used to provide 90% CO 2 removal with a rich loading and packing height that would give only 75% removal with monoethanolamine (MEA). Because 5m K + /2.5m PZ provides a richer solution and greater optimum capacity, the reboiler duty with 5m K + /2.5m PZ in a simple absorption/stripping process can be 25 to 46 % less that that with 7m MEA. Additional heat savings up to 6% may be achieved by operating the stripper at greater pressure.
Fluid and Electrolyte Balance

The appropriate evaluation and maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance in children with congenital heart disease are a fundamental aspect of everyday clinical practice. Fluids are continuously administered for the most reasons: nutrition, drug administration, and fluid resuscitation. Their amount and biochemical composition have been associated with several important outcomes in the pediatric and adult cardiac surgery populations. For example, even if human albumin and crystalloids remain the first choice for cardiopulmonary bypass priming and volume replacement, uncertainty currently concerns third-generation hydroxyethyl starches. Secondly, appropriate and timely fluid resuscitation may improve patients’ survival, but an incorrect fluid therapy in pediatric intensive care setting can significantly impact several organ functions. Hence, the fluid status assessment and management during perioperative period in pediatric cardiac surgery are a clinical challenge: there is no consensus regarding the optimal definition of fluid overload, which also varies by calculations and by the time frame during which fluid balance is assessed. Furthermore, the estimation of intravascular volume to guide fluid therapy is typically based on clinical assessment and on standard hemodynamic and perfusion parameters, but these parameters could be inadequate in children affected by congenital heart disease.
Voluntary physical exercise decreases MDSC (myeloid derived suppressor cell) populations in the spleen and circulation in a rat model of mammary adenocarcinoma

Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogenous population of myeloid progenitor cells that suppress T cells and other potentially anti-cancer immune cells. MDSC presence in cancer patients can diminish immunotherapy response and worsen treatment outcomes. Here we examine a low-risk, low-cost approach to MDSC modulation by examining the impact of voluntary wheel-running exercise on MDSC populations in a Fisher-344 rat, MATBIII mammary adenocarcinoma model. Rat MDSCs in blood, spleen, bone marrow, and tumor tissue were identified by dual expression of surface markers His48 and CD11b and confirmed to be immunosuppressive upon sorting and interrogation in an in-vitro T cell suppression assay. We find that the percentage of MDSCs (as a proportion of total cells) is reduced in whole spleen isolates (2.55% vs. 19.68%, P ≤0.005) and in the circulating white blood cell fraction (1.33% vs. 23.21%, P ≤0.05) of exercised versus sedentary animals. In contrast, we find no difference between the proportion of MDSCs as a population of total cells in bone marrow (23.57% vs. 25.52%, P ≥0.05) or tumor tissue (11.68% vs. 7.10%, P ≥0.05). We conclude that exercise decreases splenic and circulating MDSC populations in tumor bearing animals. Further studies are necessary to establish the molecular mechanisms of this suppression to leverage potential interactions between exercise and MDSC-directed immune therapies.
Getting Comfortable with Risk

Getting Comfortable with Risk In 2018, knowing that he would become infected, a transplant surgeon received a heart transplant from a donor with hepatitis C who’d died from a heroin overdose. Accep...
Unstructured kinetic models to simulate an arabinose switch that decouples cell growth from metabolite production

Modeling synthetic gene circuits to implement dynamic flux balancing is crucial in teaching and exploring metabolic engineering strategies to repartition metabolic precursors and construct efficient microbial cell factories. Microbial fitness and production rates are often complex phenotypes that are governed by highly non-linear, multivariable functions which are intrinsically linked through carbon metabolism. The solution of such dynamic system can be difficult for synthetic biologists to visualize or conceptualize. Recently, researchers (Santala et al., Metab. Eng. Comm., 2018) have implemented an arabinose based genetic switch to dynamically partition the central carbon flux between cell growth and product formation. The autonomous switch allowed dynamic shift from arabinose-associated cell growth to acetate-associated product (wax ester) formation. This system clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of using a genetic switch to decouple cell growth from product formation in a one-pot bioreactor to minimize operational cost. Coupled with Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and Luedeking-Piret equations, we were able to reconstruct and analyze this metabolic switch in silica and achieved graphical solutions that qualitatively match with the experimental data. By assessing physiologically-accessible parameter space, we observed a wide range of dynamic behavior and examined the different limiting cases. Graphical solutions for this dynamic system can be viewed simultaneously and resolved in real time via buttons on the graphical user interface (GUI). Metabolic bottlenecks in the system can be accurately predicted by varying the respective rate constants. The GUI serves as a diagnosis toolkit to troubleshoot genetic circuits design constraints and as an interactive workflow of using this arabinose based genetic switch to dynamically control carbon flux, which may provide a valuable computational toolbox for metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists to simulate and understand complex genetic-metabolic system.
Seasonal impact in admissions and burn profiles in a desert burn unit

Abstract In much of the world, pattern of burn injuries can vary depending on the season. This study examines the seasonal impact of admissions, acuity, mortality, and resource utilization at an accredited burn center located in a desert climate. It is a retrospective analysis of patients admitted from March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2019 for acute burns. Patients were categorized into four groups according to each season based on their date of admission: Spring (March, April, May), Summer (June, July, August), Fall (September, October, November), and Winter (December, January, February). A total of 1519 patients were included. 1016 were male (66.9%) with an average age 39.6 years. Most admissions came during the Summer (35%), followed by Winter (23%), Spring (21%) and Fall (21%). Most common mechanisms are flame/flash (677, 44.6%), scald (414, 27.3%) and pavement (194, 12.8%). 169 (87.1%) of 194 pavement burn admissions occurred during the Summer. Average hospital LOS was 18.7 days, longest for pavement at 25.8 days, flash/flame 21.9 days and electrical 11.8 days. Log-rank test of LOS showed longer LOS for pavement burns compared to all other etiologies combined. Average daily census was highest in Summer (14.1), followed by Winter (9.8), Spring (8.7) and Fall (7.1). Summer was the peak season for burn admissions and average daily census in large part from pavement burns. As these burns have a longer LOS, it leads to increase in resource utilization compared to the other mechanisms. Volume of non-pavement burns appear steady throughout the year.
Riding in cars with boys: Elinor Ostrom's adventures with the police

More than 40 years ago, Elinor Ostrom began her adventures with the police. In order to combat the conventional view that ‘bigger means better’, Ostrom pioneered a fieldwork-based framework for measuring police services that utilized consumer surveys and thereby created a community-centered model of analysis for public services. In this paper, we contend that although Ostrom's career demonstrated the importance of employing multiple methods, her most enduring contributions and legacy came from on-the-ground research. Her case studies and fieldwork proved to be necessary for examining complex systems beyond the state–market dichotomy, and these methods of analysis should be defended as critical for inquiry into the variety of institutional arrangements.
Endothelin-1 and peak oxygen consumption in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

BACKGROUND Mechanisms of exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are not well understood. Pulmonary hypertension, a common accompaniment in patients with HFpEF, is associated with poor outcomes. While Endothelin -1 (ET-1) plays a mechanistic role in pulmonary hypertension, its role in exercise intolerance in HFpEF is not well established. OBJECTIVE To explore the association between plasma ET-1 levels and maximal oxygen consumption (pVO2), and their changes over 24 weeks in HFpEF. METHODS This is a post-hoc analysis of the Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibition to Improve Clinical Status and Exercise Capacity in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (RELAX) trial. We performed linear regressions to assess the relationship between plasma ET-1 and pVO2. We also used linear regressions to determine whether ET-1 was associated with change in peak VO2 (ΔpVO2). RESULTS A total of 210 patients were included. Baseline plasma ET-1 levels were associated with older age, higher NT-proBNP levels, higher serum creatinine levels, and higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation. Patients with higher ET1 levels also had higher plasma galectin-3 and CITP levels. After multiple adjustments, baseline ET1 levels were associated with lower pVO2 (β -0.927, SE 0.196, p < 0.001). Over 24 weeks, the change in ET1 levels was associated with the change in pVO2 (multivariable adjusted β -0.415, SE 0.115, p = 0.018). Baseline ET1 levels did not modify the effect of sildenafil on change in peak VO2. CONCLUSIONS Plasma ET1 levels are significantly associated with lower exercise oxygen consumption both at baseline and longitudinally over 24 weeks. Future studies should explore Endothelin-1 antagonism to improve exercise tolerance in HFpEF.
Lymph node metastases in pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract Background Unlike medullary thyroid carcinoma in adults, the vast majority of pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma is hereditary. Pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma is known to have different genetic alterations driving tumorigenesis, but it is not known if pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma has different clinicopathologic features. This study aims to identify which pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma patients might warrant elective neck dissection. Methods We selected all patients ages 0 to 19 diagnosed with clinically evident medullary thyroid carcinoma in the National Cancer Database between 2004 to 2016. Clinicopathologic factors, treatments, and outcomes were analyzed and compared between this cohort and adults (ages ≥20) with medullary thyroid carcinoma. Results One hundred twenty-five pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma (median age: 13) and 5,086 adult medullary thyroid carcinoma (median age: 57) patients were identified. Pediatric patients had smaller tumors (median diameter: 1.2 cm vs 2.0 cm; P Conclusion Pediatric medullary thyroid carcinoma has lower rates of lymph node metastases compared with adults. The risk of nodal disease was low among the youngest children, but older children ages 6 to 19 were at considerable risk for occult metastases. These findings could guide clinicians in selecting pediatric patients considered for elective lymph node dissection.
Cervical Spine Navigation and Enabled Robotics: A New Frontier in Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Background: Robotic-assisted and computer-assisted navigation (CAN) systems utilization has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Most existing data using these systems are performed in the thor...
Graphical Modeling of Multiple Biological Pathways in Genomic Studies

Complex diseases are associated with a variety of genomic factors. Identifying such risk factors can help us to better understand the pathogenesis of these diseases, which in turn may help the development of prevention and intervention strategies in terms of personalized treatments. Disease-associated risk factors can be identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) or the detection of differentially expressed (DE) genes. Traditional single-marker- or single-gene-based approaches lack adequate statistical powers due to the stringent threshold of multiple testing corrections. To address this problem, researchers have proposed pathway-based approaches, leveraging our knowledge of the gene–gene interactions to increase the power of conducting a large number of statistical tests. Many pathway-based approaches treat pathways as lists of genes that ignore the topology structures of genes. Including the topology structure into analysis allows modeling of specific gene–gene interactions. Previously, such approaches only consider two-way interactions, and they only incorporate a single pathway in GWAS or DE analysis. However, genes participate in different biological processes and thus interact with each other simultaneously in different pathways. We hereby extend the approach by combining multiple biological pathways into genomic studies. In the proposed approaches, the topology structures of biological pathways are modeled by a Markov random field, which is a graphical model to present the dependence structure in the dataset. Finally, a Bayesian framework is constructed to incorporate the knowledge from topological structures of biological pathways with the evidence from biological experiments. The inference of gene status, like disease association status, can be made based on the marginal posterior probability obtained from Bayesian analysis. The proposed approaches are evaluated with simulations studies and a lung cancer dataset. The results show that combining multiple biological pathways can enhance the power of detection and control the false positive rate.
Sphingosine-1-phosphate and its mimetic FTY720 do not protect against radiation-induced ovarian fibrosis in the nonhuman primate†

Oocytes are highly radiosensitive, so agents that prevent radiation-induced ovarian follicle destruction are important fertility preservation strategies. A previous study in rhesus macaques demonstrated that ovarian treatment with antiapoptotic agents, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and FTY720, its long-acting mimetic, preserved follicles following a single dose of 15 Gy X-ray radiation, and live offspring were obtained from FTY720-treated animals. However, it is unknown whether these antiapoptotic agents also protected the ovarian stroma from late effects of radiation, including vascular damage and fibrosis. Using ovarian histological sections from this study, we evaluated the vasculature and extracellular matrix in the following cohorts: vehicle + sham irradiation, vehicle + irradiation (OXI), S1P + irradiation (S1P), and FTY720 + irradiation (FTY720). One ovary from each animal was harvested prior to radiation whereas the contralateral ovary was harvested 10 months post-treatment. We assessed vasculature by immunohistochemistry with a PECAM1 antibody, hyaluronan by a hyaluronan binding protein assay, and collagen by picrosirius red and Masson's trichrome staining. Disorganized vessels were observed in the medulla in the OXI and S1P cohorts relative to the sham, but the vasculature in the FTY720 cohort appeared intact, which may partially explain fertoprotection. There were no differences in the hyaluronan matrix among the cohorts, but there was thickening of the tunica albuginea and fibrosis in the OXI cohort relative to the sham, which was not mitigated by either S1P or FTY720 treatment. Thus, the fertoprotective properties of S1P and FTY720 may be limited given their inability to protect the ovarian stroma against the late effects of radiation-induced fibrosis.
Reconstructing Bedform Assemblages from Compound Crossbedding

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the reconstruction of bedform assemblages from compound crossbedding. Sedimentologists have observed that small bedforms are commonly superimposed on large bedforms, and they have realized that many complicated cosets of crossbeds in eolian and subaqueous sandstones can be readily explained by the migration of small bedforms on the lee surfaces of other large bedforms. The critical factor that determines whether the crossbedding deposited by a bedform is simple or compound is the absence of or the occurrence of intermittent erosion on the lee slope. It is found that where no erosion occurs, beds deposited on the lee slope are not truncated, bounding surfaces are not generated within the set, and crossbedding is simple. In contrast, where parts of a lee slope occasionally undergo erosion, layers on the lee slope are truncated, bounding surfaces are produced within the set, and the resulting crossbedding is compound. The key to reconstructing bedform geometry from compound crossbedding is visualizing the structures generated when hypothetical lee slopes are translated through space and later exposed in variably oriented outcrop planes.
Factors driving professional and public urban tree risk perception

Abstract Urban tree risk assessment and mitigation is a process that is strongly influenced by professional experience, risk perception, and risk tolerance. While arborists and other tree risk assessors document all of the risk factors they see in an effort to provide their clients a comprehensive assessment of a tree and its surroundings, the homeowner or property manager ultimately determines what mitigation measures are adopted. Using photographed urban tree scenarios and conjoint analysis, we assessed the level in which seven commonly taught risk factors related to target, likelihood of failure, and consequences of failure contributed to risk ratings given by non-professionals, professionals, and advanced professionals. While risk ratings from all three respondent groups were influenced by the presence and severity of a tree defect and proximity to target, defect severity accounted for approximately half of the risk rating decision (48.5–55.3%). Some risk factors (e.g., tree size, tree species) had little influence on risk ratings. Findings from this research highlight the need to educate both the public and tree care professionals regarding the importance of risk factors beyond tree condition.
Favorable Female Sexual Function is Associated with Patient Satisfaction after Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Implantation

ABSTRACT Introduction The interrelationship between male and female sexual function suggests that partner outcomes after inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) implantation must be assessed. Aim We examined predictors of patient and partner satisfaction, and the relationship between patient satisfaction and female sexual function, after IPP implantation. Methods We designed a questionnaire (scored 1–5) assessing satisfaction with various domains related to the IPP (e.g., overall satisfaction and satisfaction related to: length, width, ease of use, and partner perception). Scores ≥3 were classified as satisfied. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was administered to the female partners of patients that underwent an IPP. Main Outcome Measures Independent samples Students' t ‐test was used to compare various FSFI domain scores in relation to male and female satisfaction. Analysis of variance test was used to assess linear regression correlation between various continuous variables. Results 45 men and 32 partners with a mean follow‐up of 2.2 years were contacted. Overall satisfaction for men and women was 3.60 and 3.62 (out of 5), respectively. Partner FSFI scores were higher, respectively, in men with higher implant satisfaction than those with lower implant satisfaction (25.09 ± 6.79 vs. 13.67 ± 12.70, P r = 0.50, r 2 = 0.23; P = 0.001) and partner ( r = 0.70 r 2 = 0.50; P Conclusion Patient satisfaction after IPP implantation implies favorable partner sexual function compared to that of unsatisfied patients. The correlation observed suggests that patients not satisfied with their IPP are likely to have female partners at high risk for female sexual dysfunction. Further interventions may be needed to improve patient and partner sexual function, particularly unsatisfied men and their female partners. Moskovic DJ, Gittens P, Avila D, Chandrashekar A, Khera M, and Lipshultz LI. Favorable female sexual function is associated with patient satisfaction after inflatable penile prosthesis implantation. J Sex Med 2011;8:1996–2001.
Ethical Investment in Stock Screening and Zakat on Stocks

Islamic finance is the fastest growing segment of the global financial system and has been experiencing an impressive double-digit growth in recent history. Following the growth trend of Islamic finance, a rapidly rising affluent and well-educated Muslim middle class from the Islamic world and Western countries is aspiring to match finance with faith and fueling demand for Islamic investments. This paper examines how Muslim investors can invest in the contemporary stock market in a way completely compatible with the letter and spirit of divine Islamic law or shariah, and how Islamic investment is considered for zakat—a religious obligation to donate to the poor and needy a certain percentage of wealth. The conditions laid down by shariah make Muslim investors’ participation in the stock market a special case of ethical investment. This paper discusses a qualitative screening process to identify stocks of companies that are engaged in business or activities permissible (halal) in Islam, and a quantitative screening process utilizing financial ratio analysis to allow companies in permissible business to use a tolerable level of interest-bearing securities and associated interest income and expenses. Stocks of companies passing these tests are designated as shariah-compliant stocks or halal investments and these stocks form the investment opportunity set for Muslim investors. The paper then focuses on how to cleanse investment income from shariah-compliant stocks contaminated by income from impermissible (haram) sources and concludes with a discussion of two opinions of Islamic jurists and shariah scholars on treatment of investment in stocks for zakat calculation.
Respondent cooperation in telephone surveys: The effects of using volunteer interviewers

Abstract This study reports the effects of using volunteer interviewers on respondent cooperation in telephone surveys. A random, countywide telephone survey focusing on a local youth services program was conducted using three subgroups of interviewers: professional program staff, volunteer adults, and volunteer adolescents. No differences were found among the groups on two variables: respondent refusals to be interviewed and respondent terminations of interviews in progress. The results support previous findings of modest interviewer effects in telephone surveys. Local evaluators may find the results particularly noteworthy in that volunteer assistance is often a significant program resource.
Diets and growth potential of early stage larval yellow perch and alewife in a nearshore region of southeastern Lake Michigan

Abstract Transition from endogenous to exogenous feeding is thought to be a critical period for many fish larvae, when prey availability (type, size, and density) and ambient physical conditions (e.g., temperature, water clarity) can strongly influence survival. In Lake Michigan, two important fish species, yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), hatch and, presumably, begin exogenously feeding in the nearshore zone, an area characterized by short-term variation in environmental conditions. During 2010-2011, we examined environmental conditions and spatial and temporal distributions of larval yellow perch, larval alewife, and their potential prey in a nearshore region of southeastern Lake Michigan. To consider implications of environmental conditions on larval fish habitat quality, we quantified diet contents of young larval yellow perch and alewife and modeled bioenergetic growth rate potential (an index of habitat quality) under observed and predicted prey consumption scenarios. As expected, in this dynamic nearshore zone temperatures, light levels, zooplankton prey availability, and resulting growth rate potential were highly variable. Many larval fish digestive tracts were empty, suggesting that starvation may affect cohort survival. Among early-feeding larval fish, relatively small diet items were common, with larval alewives consuming diatoms and larval yellow perch consuming veligers of invasive dreissenid mussels. Though the mechanisms underlying such prey consumption and the consequences of ingesting these prey items remain largely unexplored, our results suggest dreissenid mussel veligers present early-feeding larvae with a relatively abundant prey source that may partially offset the apparent low consumption of other prey sources within Lake Michigan’s nearshore region.
Revisiting the Gain–Loss Separability Assumption in Prospect Theory

A fundamental assumption of prospect theory is gain–loss separability (GLS)—the assertion that the overall utility of a prospect can be expressed as a function of the utilities of its positive and negative components. Violations of GLS may potentially limit the generalization of results from studies of single-domain prospects to mixed prospects and systematically distort the predictions of the theory. Violations also have implications for how choices with positive and negative components should be presented to decision makers. Previous studies, using different elicitation methods, have documented different rates, and types, of systematic violations of GLS. We discuss the differences between two specific elicitation methods—binary choice and certainty equivalents—and report results of a new study of GLS using both methods and randomly generated prospects. We compare the extent and nature of GLS violations under the two elicitation methods using between-subject and within-subject analyses. We find (i) systematic violations of GLS under both methods, (ii) higher rates of violations under choice, (iii) higher sensitivity to the outcomes for the certainty equivalents, which is consistent with the predictions of the scale-compatibility hypothesis, and (iv) different patterns of violations under the two methods, which are explained by method-specific preferences. We discuss the psychological mechanisms underlying the findings and the implications for presenting information with gain and loss components. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.