cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ATF3 represses PINK1 gene transcription in lung epithelial cells to control mitochondrial homeostasis.

PINK1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase 1) is a key regulator of mitochondrial homeostasis that is relatively depleted in aging lungs and in lung epithelial cells from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease linked with aging. Impaired PINK1 expression and accumulation of damaged mitochondria in lung epithelial cells from fibrotic lungs were associated with the presence of ER stress. Here, we show that ATF3 (activating transcription factor 3), a member of the integrated stress response (ISR), negatively regulates transcription of the PINK1 gene. An ATF3 binding site within the human PINK1 promoter is located in the first 150 bp upstream of the transcription start site. Induction of ER stress or overexpression of ATF3 inhibited the activity of the PINK1 promoter. Importantly, overexpression of ATF3 causes accumulation of depolarized mitochondria, increased production of mitochondrial ROS, and loss of cell viability. Furthermore, conditional deletion of ATF3 in type II lung epithelial cells protects mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. Finally, we observed that ATF3 expression increases in the lung with age and, specially, in lung epithelial cells from IPF lungs. These data provide a unique link between ATF3 and PINK1 expression suggesting that persistent stress, driven by ATF3, can dysregulate mitochondrial homeostasis by repression of PINK1 mRNA synthesis.
Volumetric Nephrogram Represents Renal Function and Complements Aortic Anatomic Severity Grade in Predicting EVAR Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a predictor of poor outcomes for patients undergoing endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). Anatomic severity grade (ASG) represents a quantitative mechanism for assessing anatomical suitability for endovascular aortic repair. Anatomic severity grade has been correlated with repair outcomes and resource utilization. The purpose of this study was to identify a novel renal perfusion metric as a way to assist ASG with predicting EVAR outcomes. METHODS Retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database identified elective infrarenal aortic aneurysm repair cases. Anatomic grading was undertaken by independent reviewers. Using volumetric software, kidney volume, and a novel measure of kidney functional volume, the volumetric nephrogram (VN) was recorded. Systematic evaluation of the relationship of kidney volume and VN to CKD and ASG was undertaken using linear regression and receiver-operator statistical tools. RESULTS A total of 386 cases with patient and anatomic data were identified and graded. Mean age was 72.9 ± 0.4 years. Renal volume <281 mL correlated with CKD (area under the curve [AUC] = .708; P ≤ .0001). Volumetric nephrogram <22.5 HU·L correlated with CKD (AUC = 0.764; P ≤ .0001). High (≥15) ASG scores correlated with both renal volume (AUC = .628; P ≤ .0001) and VN (AUC = .628; P ≤ .0001). Regression analysis demonstrated a strong, inverse relationship between ASG and VN ( R2 = .95). CONCLUSION These data demonstrate that VN is a strong predictor of CKD in a large database of patients undergoing elective aneurysm repair. We demonstrate an inverse relationship between renal function and ASG that has not been previously described in the literature. Additionally, we have shown that VN complements ASG as a model of overall cardiovascular health and atherosclerotic burden. Outcomes in patients with poor renal function may be related to anatomical issues in addition to well-described systemic ramifications.
Third-Party Cellular Congestion Detection and Augmentation

While cellular networks connect over 3.7 billion people worldwide, their availability and quality is not uniform across regions. Under-provisioned and overloaded networks, as are common in rural or post-disaster areas, lead to poor network performance and a poor-quality user experience. To address this problem, we propose HybridCell: a system that leverages locally-owned small-scale cellular networks to augment the operation of overloaded commercial networks. HybridCell is the first system to allow a user with their existing SIM card and mobile phone to seamlessly switch between commercial and local networks in order to maintain continuous connectivity. HybridCell accomplishes this by identifying poorly-performing networks and taking action to provide seamless cellular connectivity to end users. Using traces from commercial cellular networks collected during our visit to the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan, we demonstrate HybridCell's capability to detect and act upon commercial network overload, offering an alternate communication channel during times of congestion. We show that even in scenarios where provider networks deny calls due to overload, HybridCell is able to accommodate users and facilitate local calling.
Sulle classi filtrali di algebre

Generalizing results of [1], we show that if a classK of algebras is filtral (as defined byMagari [1]), then so is the class of all simple algebras in the varietyW K generated byK, and these simple objects are precisely all subalgebras of all ultraproducts of copies of algebras inK. All algebras inW K are semisimple and regular. We then obtain charac terizations of filtral and semifiltral classes of algebras in terms of the existence of certain types of operations in these algebras, and illustrate our results with examples, mainly from ring theory.
AN IMPROVED ROOT CELLAR

This paper will describe a design for an experimental food storage structure which the writer hopes to build and operate on the Vermont Technical College campus. The design includes two features which should improve performance in comparison with the traditional root cellar. The purpose is to develop a cold-storage technique which will utilize a natural resource, cold air, in lieu of energy-expensive refrigeration machinery.
Modern East Asia: An Introductory History : An Introductory History

Written with rare mastery and a sure sense of the essential, this concise general history of modern East Asia offers students and general readers an understanding of this dynamic region from a global perspective. It is the ideal introductory text for college survey courses in Asian and international studies.Following an introductory discussion of the regional concept, the first two chapters lay the foundations. Chapter 1 describes East Asia's geographical, human, cultural, economic, social, and political setting as it has evolved over the past several millennia, and the three major belief systems - Confucianism, Buddhism, and Islam. Chapter 2 presents a panoramic view of the region ca. 1800. The chapter introduces the "dramatis personae" - the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Indonesians, Filipinos, and others - and describes their interactions with each other and with Imperial China.The following three chapters deal with European expansionism and East Asians' responses to the civilizational challenge; the stirrings of nationalism in reaction to European colonial rule; and the remarkable rise of Imperial Japan. Chapters 6 and 7 trace Japan's bid to lead a pan-Asianist revolt against the twin threats of Western liberalism and Soviet communism, and the ensuing Pacific War. Chapters 8 and 9 span the cold war era, from postwar U.S. hopes for a "Pax Americana" to the division of East Asia into communist and anti-communist blocs. The Sino-Soviet split and the Sino-American rapprochement of the early 1970s open the way to the "East Asian miracle" and a resurgence of East Asian regionalism, surveyed in Chapter 10. A concluding chapter considers the prospects for continued economic dynamism and the balance of nationalism and pan-Asian trends in shaping the future.
An exact bifurcation diagram for a reaction–diffusion equation arising in population dynamics

We analyze the positive solutions to $$ \textstyle\begin{cases} - \Delta v = \lambda v(1-v); & \Omega_{0}, \\ \frac{\partial v}{\partial\eta} + \gamma\sqrt{\lambda} v =0 ; & \partial\Omega_{0}, \end{cases} $$ where $\Omega_{0}=(0,1)$ or is a bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ , $n =2,3$ , with smooth boundary and $|\Omega_{0}|=1$ , and λ, γ are positive parameters. Such steady state equations arise in population dynamics encapsulating assumptions regarding the patch/matrix interfaces such as patch preference and movement behavior. In this paper, we will discuss the exact bifurcation diagram and stability properties for such a steady state model.
Regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces for real-time, proportional control of a Neuroprosthetic hand

Regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces (RPNIs) are biological constructs which amplify neural signals and have shown long-term stability in rat models. Real-time control of a neuroprosthesis in rat models has not yet been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to: a) design and validate a system for translating electromyography (EMG) signals from an RPNI in a rat model into real-time control of a neuroprosthetic hand, and; b) use the system to demonstrate RPNI proportional neuroprosthesis control. Animals were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: (1) Control; (2) Denervated, and; (3) RPNI. In the RPNI group, the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle was dissected free, denervated, transferred to the lateral thigh and neurotized with the residual end of the transected common peroneal nerve. Rats received tactile stimuli to the hind-limb via monofilaments, and electrodes were used to record EMG. Signals were filtered, rectified and integrated using a moving sample window. Processed EMG signals (iEMG) from RPNIs were validated against Control and Denervated group outputs. Voluntary reflexive rat movements produced signaling that activated the prosthesis in both the Control and RPNI groups, but produced no activation in the Denervated group. Signal-to-Noise ratio between hind-limb movement and resting iEMG was 3.55 for Controls and 3.81 for RPNIs. Both Control and RPNI groups exhibited a logarithmic iEMG increase with increased monofilament pressure, allowing graded prosthetic hand speed control (R2 = 0.758 and R2 = 0.802, respectively). EMG signals were successfully acquired from RPNIs and translated into real-time neuroprosthetic control. Signal contamination from muscles adjacent to the RPNI was minimal. RPNI constructs provided reliable proportional prosthetic hand control.
The use of endobronchial ultrasound to place fiducial markers for targeted radiation therapy.

e18529 Background: Radiation therapy is a common treatment modality for patients with thoracic involvement with there tumors. As advanced radiation systems have become available the use of fiducial...
“XI SHUAI” 蟋蟀 (“CRICKET”) AND ITS CONSEQUENCES: ISSUES IN EARLY CHINESE POETRY AND TEXTUAL STUDIES

The present article explores questions about the composition, performance, circulation, and transmission of early Chinese poetry by examining a small number of poems from the received Mao shi and their counterparts in recently discovered manuscripts. Starting from a close examination of the poem “Xi shuai” (“Cricket”), the essay briefly discusses the problems we face in dealing with looted manuscripts before advancing toward rethinking the patterns of early Chinese poetic composition and transmission. Instead of taking individual poems as discrete, reified objects in the form we encounter them in the Mao shi, it is suggested to read them as particular instantiations of circumscribed repertoires where the individual poetic text is but one of many realizations of a shared body of ideas and expressions. This analysis is informed by the examination of both manuscript texts and the received literature, but also by comparative perspectives gained from both medieval Chinese literature and other ancient and medieval literary traditions. In emphasizing the formation of poetry as a continuous process, it leaves behind notions of “the original text,” authorship, and the moment of “original composition”—notions that held no prominence in the early Chinese literary tradition before the empire.
Active cannabis marketing and adolescent past-year cannabis use

Abstract Methods Data are from an online survey of 482 adolescents (aged 15–19 years) living in states with legalized retail cannabis. Youth were asked about their engagement with cannabis promotions, including whether they liked/followed cannabis businesses on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), had a favorite cannabis brand, or could see themselves owning/wearing a cannabis-branded product. Youth also self-reported cannabis use in the past year. We used logistic regression with a Bonferroni correction to compare the odds of cannabis use among youth with different levels of engagement with cannabis promotions and brands after controlling for demographics. Results After adjusting for several possible confounders, youth who liked or followed a cannabis business on at least one social media platform had 5 times higher odds of past-year cannabis use (aOR = 5.00, 95% CI: 2.47, 10.09, p Conclusion Youth who engage with cannabis promotions and brands had higher odds of past-year cannabis use. Jurisdictions with retail cannabis may want to consider restrictions to limit youth engagement with cannabis promotions.
Development of a high-temperature inorganic synthetic foam with recycled fly-ash cenospheres for thermal insulation brick manufacturing

Abstract In this study, a novel inorganic synthetic solid foam composed of recycled fly-ash cenospheres (FACs) is developed with low-density, good thermal insulation performance, and reasonable mechanical strength. The manufacturing process utilizes low-fraction clay binder materials diluted in water, enabling a self-assembling mechanism assisted by natural capillary effect to form minimal contacts among the FACs. The microstructure and minimal contact formation were confirmed by optical and electron microscope imaging. Both thermal and mechanical properties of the fly-ash cenosphere synthetic solid foam (FAC-SSF) materials were experimentally studied as functions of key material parameters including cenosphere particle size and clay content. A numerical model was developed to predict the effective thermal conductivity of FAC-SSF using a three-step homogenization method which takes into account different thermal percolation paths within the material. The inorganic synthetic foam developed has the potential for thermal insulation applications taking advantage of their relatively simple, low-cost, and scalable manufacturing process, minimal use of binder materials, and relatively high mechanical strength and highly tailorable properties.
Healthy workplaces, active employees: A systematic literature review on impacts of workplace environments on employees’ physical activity and sedentary behavior

Abstract Insufficient physical activity (PA) and extensive sedentary behavior (SB) are major global health threats. Workplace interventions, especially the impacts of physical environments, have received limited attention compared to the growing literature linking residential environments with PA/SB. This systematic review examines this understudied topic and proposes a comprehensive conceptual framework for future research and practice. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 87 relevant articles (2000–2017) were identified and reviewed. The results revealed evidence supporting environmental impacts on employees' PA/SB from three spatial scales. At the workstation scale, sit-stand desks, treadmill desks, and stationary high desks were found to reduce SB and increase standing. Work building scale is relatively understudied, and reported correlates include staircase design, overall building design combining multiple PA-friendly strategies, and specific PA amenities (e.g., exercise facilities). On the work neighborhood scale, important correlates include work commute distance and corresponding route characteristics, parking availability and cost, and surrounding neighborhood environments. Assessment of the study quality showed limitations related to selection bias, confounders, difficulty of blinding, and lack of control groups and long-term assessments. The research base is still nascent as to how the workplace environment as a whole, including all three scales, influence PA/SB throughout the workday. This review provides promising support for the potential of promoting active lifestyles through workplace environmental interventions. Future research and practice will be enhanced by a more holistic approach that integrates multiple environmental scales and considers personal and social factors.
AIRduino: On-Demand Atmospheric Secondary Organic Aerosol Measurements with a Mobile Arduino Multisensor

To empower high school and undergraduate students to become citizen scientists, we describe the design, construction, and operation of a multisensor device based on Arduino microcontroller technology to record atmospheric measurements relevant to secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). The handheld “AIRduino” multisensor device was built and deployed by undergraduate and high school students to simultaneously measure the concentrations of ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), temperature, humidity, and aerosol particulate matter with 2.5 and 10 μm diameters (PM2.5 and PM10). Paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth, the data are streamed in real-time to an app interface for on-demand SOA profiling, and the results are recorded with on-board storage using a storage device (SD) card. Furthermore, the AIRduino SOA measurements are calibrated with the regional atmospheric data from the CAPABLE site at the NASA Langley Research Center. Subsequently, the regional chemistry composition was monitored for several days with the AIRduino device to correlate gas-phase molecule concentrations to the formation of aerosols. The mobile AIRduino multisensor device is low-cost and readily accessible for students, thus making it an ideal vehicle to obtain crowd-sourced SOA measurements and to foster excitement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
USING NOVEL METHODS TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF SELECTION BIAS ON STATIN USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF DIABETES IN A NATIONAL CLAIMS DATABASE

Several large observational studies have reported an association between statin use and incident diabetes mellitus (DM) that is much greater than what has been found in randomized controlled trials. This conflicting data has raised concerns about statin safety but the findings could be due to
A systematic review and meta-analysis of attentional bias toward food in individuals with overweight and obesity

Abstract Attentional bias to food stimuli may contribute to the etiology and/or maintenance of overweight and obesity. We conducted a literature review and meta-analysis per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify the effect size associated with attentional bias to palatable food in persons with overweight/obesity across the age spectrum. Included studies measured attentional bias to food stimuli using two reaction-time tasks (dot-probe, emotional Stroop), eye-tracking methodology, and/or event-related potentials. Meta-analysis showed that persons with overweight/obesity did not differ from persons with a healthy weight on any of the following: automatic and maintained attention to food stimuli measured by the dot-probe task (Hedge's gautomatic = −0.355, 95% CI = −0.383, 0.486; and Hedge's gmaintained = 0.006, 95% CI = −0.187, 0.199); attentional bias to food stimuli measured by the emotional Stroop task (Hedge's g = 0.184, 95% CI = −0.283, 0.651); and attentional bias to food images on gaze-direction and gaze-duration bias eye-tracking metrics (Hedge's gdirection = 0.317, 95% CI = −0.096, 0.729; and Hedge's gduration = 0.056, 95% CI = −0.296, 0.407). Systematic review of preliminary event-related potentials research suggested automatic, but not maintained, attention to food images in persons with overweight/obesity. Limitations of past attentional bias research in overweight/obesity, such as poor reliability of measures and lack of consideration of moderators, such as binge eating and degree of overweight/obesity, preclude the ability to draw firm conclusions. We recommend implementation of empirically based methods for improving psychometric properties of attentional bias measures and examination of potential moderators so that the field can understand whether attentional bias to food is truly greater in overweight/obesity.
Differences by Rurality in Satisfaction with Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

PURPOSE There are stark differences between rural and urban areas in demographic characteristics, health status, and health care, yet less is known about rural-urban differences in Medicare beneficiaries' satisfaction with care. We seek to identify rural-urban differences in satisfaction with care for Medicare beneficiaries and whether those differences are explained by differences in beneficiary characteristics. METHODS We used data from the 2016 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (n = 10,625), in which beneficiaries indicated their level of satisfaction for 9 measures related to quality and access/affordability of care. We first assessed bivariate differences in satisfaction with care by rural-urban location (metropolitan, rural micropolitan, and rural noncore) across each measure. We then used logistic regression to assess whether differences remained after adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics. RESULTS For nearly all measures, satisfaction with care decreased with increasing rurality. Differences in satisfaction persisted for satisfaction with ease of getting to the doctor from home (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] micropolitan: 0.63, P = .037; AOR noncore: 0.61, P = .023) and availability of care by specialists (AOR micropolitan: 0.51, P = .001; AOR noncore: 0.61, P < .001) after adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Rural Medicare beneficiaries reported lower satisfaction with care than their urban counterparts across a variety of measures, and some of these differences remained after adjustments were made for sociodemographic and health characteristics. These findings may have implications for access to and quality of care that rural Medicare beneficiaries receive and their subsequent health outcomes.
Estimating the optimal timing of surgery from observational data.

Infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome require an initial Norwood operation, followed some months later by a stage 2 palliation (S2P). The timing of S2P is critical for the operation's success and the infant's survival, but the optimal timing, if one exists, is unknown. We attempt to identify the optimal timing of S2P by analyzing data from the Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial (SVRT), which randomized patients between two different types of Norwood procedure. In the SVRT, the timing of the S2P was chosen by the medical team; thus with respect to this exposure, the trial constitutes an observational study, and the analysis must adjust for potential confounding. To accomplish this, we propose an extended propensity score analysis that describes the time to surgery as a function of confounders in a discrete competing-risk model. We then apply inverse probability weighting to estimate a spline hazard model for predicting survival from the time of S2P. Our analysis suggests that S2P conducted at 6 months after the Norwood gives the patient the best post-S2P survival. Thus, we place the optimal time slightly later than a previous analysis in the medical literature that did not account for competing risks of death and heart transplantation.
Safety, efficacy, and tolerability of systemic therapies in male breast cancer: are there sex-specific differences?

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease, accounting for approximately 1% of all breast cancer diagnoses. Clinical studies that provide insight into the optimal treatment of this unique patient p...
Towards Low-Cost, Ubiquitous High-Time Resolution Sensing for Terrestrial Spectrum

Spectrum utilization has become increasingly fragmented and diverse, with millions of devices supporting multiple protocols and use cases. A smartphone today uses LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi simultaneously, spanning multiple GHz of spectrum. In such an environment, comprehensive knowledge of spectrum usage can help in ushering in better networked system design, unified control, and provide new ways of understanding cyber-physical interactions. A versatile spectrum sensor that can monitor all utilized bands quickly and at low cost is a crucial enabler for such applications. Such a sensor is difficult to realize due to the vast size of the terrestrial spectrum and the necessity to keep up with fleeting wireless communication signals in innumerable bands. Additionally, it needs to be inexpensive and suitable for mass deployment. We introduce a new paradigm, in which the spectrum sensor can "sweep" over a wide band of spectrum quickly and extract useful information, such as occupancy and protocol type. The system, dubbed SweepSense, is prototyped on inexpensive hardware and opens up opportunities for new applications that were previously intractable, even with expensive solutions.
Analyzing fractional Horn constraint systems

Abstract In this paper, we study linear constraint systems in which each constraint is a fractional Horn constraint. A constraint is fractional Horn, if it can be written in the form: ∑ i = 1 n a i ⋅ x i ≥ c , where each a i is integral, c is integral, at most one of the a i s is positive, and all negative a i s are equal to −1. A conjunction of fractional Horn constraints is called a Fractional Horn Constraint Systems (FHS). FHSs generalize a number of specialized constraint systems such as Difference Constraint Systems (DCS) and Horn Constraint Systems (HCS). We know that the problem of checking lattice point feasibility in DCSs and HCSs is in P. In contrast, we show that the problem of checking lattice point feasibility in FHSs is NP-complete. We then study a sub-class of fractional Horn constraint systems called Binary Fractional Horn Constraint Systems (BFHS). In a BFHS, each constraint has at most two non-zero coefficients. In this case, we show that the problem of checking integer feasibility is in P. Furthermore, we establish several properties of the least integer point and the least linear point of a BFHS, if they exist.
Large static tuning of narrow-beam terahertz plasmonic lasers operating at 78K

A new tuning mechanism is demonstrated for single-mode metal-clad plasmonic lasers, in which the refractive-index of the laser’s surrounding medium affects the resonant-cavity mode in the same vein as the refractive-index of gain medium inside the cavity. Reversible, continuous, and mode-hop-free tuning of ∼57 GHz is realized for single-mode narrow-beam terahertz plasmonic quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs), which is demonstrated at a much more practical temperature of 78 K. The tuning is based on post-process deposition/etching of a dielectric (silicon-dioxide) on a QCL chip that has already been soldered and wire-bonded onto a copper mount. This is a considerably larger tuning range compared to previously reported results for terahertz QCLs with directional far-field radiation patterns. The key enabling mechanism for tuning is a recently developed antenna-feedback scheme for plasmonic lasers, which leads to the generation of hybrid surface-plasmon-polaritons propagating outside the cavity of the laser with a...
Extrapulmonary Manifestations of Diffuse Cystic Lung Diseases

In this chapter, we describe the key extrapulmonary manifestations of the major diffuse cystic lung diseases described elsewhere in this textbook. These extrapulmonary manifestations, although not directly in the purview of management for a practicing pulmonologist, carry significant health implications for patients, factor into the overall management including the decision to start pharmacological therapies, can help ascertain the underlying disease diagnosis, and enable a comprehensive evaluation of patients presenting with diffuse cystic lung disease.
Changing Enhancement Pattern and Tumor Volume of Vestibular Schwannomas After Subtotal Resection.

Background Surgical strategy in vestibular schwannomas may require subtotal resection to preserve neurologic function. Residual tumor growth pattern and contrast enhancement in the immediate postresection period remain uncertain. We sought to evaluate changes in the enhancement pattern and volume of vestibular schwannomas after subtotal resection in the immediate postoperative period. Methods Volumetric analysis of tumor size and enhancement patterns of vestibular schwannomas were measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans obtained within 3 days of surgery, 3 months after surgery, and 1 year after surgery. Results Nineteen patients were eligible for inclusion in the study (9 male and 10 female) with an average age of 47 years. Contrast enhancement was absent in 6 of 19 (32%) of cases on the immediate postresection MRI with return of expected enhancement on subsequent studies. Volumetric analysis identified that tumors decreased in size by an average of 35% in the first 3 months (P = 0.025) after resection and 46% in the first year after resection (P Conclusions Vestibular schwannomas that undergo subtotal resection tend to decrease in size over the first 3 months after resection. Residual tumor volume may fail to enhance on the immediate postresection MRI. Both of these findings could lead surgeons to misinterpret degree of resection after surgery and have implications for clinical decision making and research reporting in the scientific literature for vestibular schwannomas after subtotal resection.
Parfit's Ethics

Derek Parfit (1942–2017) was one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This Element offers a critical introduction to his wide-ranging ethical thought, focusing especially on his two most significant works, Reasons and Persons (1984) and On What Matters (2011), and their contribution to the consequentialist moral tradition. Topics covered include: rationality and objectivity, distributive justice, self-defeating moral theories, Parfit's Triple Theory (according to which consequentialism, contractualism, and Kantian ethics ultimately converge), personal identity, and population ethics.
Understanding and Defending the Preference for Native Species

The preference for native species, along with its concomitant antipathy toward non-natives, has been increasingly criticized as incoherent, obsolete, xenophobic, misanthropic, uncompassionate, and antithetical to conservation. This essay explores these criticisms. It articulates an ecological conception of nativeness that distinguishes non-native species both from human-introduced and from invasive species. It supports, for the most part, the criticisms that non-natives threaten biodiversity, homogenize ecological assemblages, and further humanize the planet. While prejudicial dislike of the foreign is a human failing that feeds the preference for natives, opposition to non-natives can be based on laudatory desires to protect natural dimensions of the biological world and to prevent biological impoverishment. Implications for our treatment of non-native, sentient animals are explored, as well as are questions about how to apply the native/non-native distinction to animals that share human habitats and to species affected by climate change.
Apples, oranges, and anything in between: In search of the best desensitization therapy

Patients exhibiting high percent calculated panel reactive antibodies (cPRA) have limited access to transplantation. A sliding scale prioritization scheme was introduced to the allocation system in December of 2014 to particularly support patients with a cPRA ≥98. While many highly sensitized patients benefited from the change, patients with cPRA >99.9 remain disadvantaged and may benefit from desensitization1 . Other highly sensitized patients with an HLA incompatible living donor may also benefit from combining kidney paired donation and desensitization. Thus far, several desensitization approaches have been reported, with equivocal results.
Machine learning algorithm to perform ASA Physical Status Classification

Abstract Background The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status Classification System defines peri-operative patient scores as 1 (healthy) thru 6 (brain dead). The scoring is used by the anesthesiologists to classify surgical patients based on co-morbidities and various clinical characteristics. The classification is always done by an anesthesiologist prior operation. There is a variability in scoring stemming from individual experiences / biases of the scoring anesthesiologists, which impacts prediction of operating times, length of stay in the hospital, necessity of blood transfusion, etc. In addition, the score affects anesthesia coding and billing. It is critical to remove subjectivity from the process to achieve reproducible generalizable scoring. Methods A machine learning (ML) approach was used to associate assigned ASA scores with peri-operative patients’ clinical characteristics. More than ten ML algorithms were simultaneously trained, validated, and tested with retrospective records. The most accurate algorithm was chosen for a subsequent test on an independent dataset. DataRobot platform was used to run and select the ML algorithms. Manual scoring was also performed by one anesthesiologist. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to assess the consistency of scoring Results Records of 19,095 procedures corresponding to 12,064 patients with assigned ASA scores by 17 City of Hope anesthesiologists were used to train a number of ML algorithms (DataRobot platform). The most accurate algorithm was tested with independent records of 2325 procedures corresponding to 1999 patients. In addition, 86 patients from the same dataset were scored manually. The following ICC values were computed: COH anesthesiologists vs. ML – 0.427 (fair); manual vs. ML – 0.523 (fair-to-good); manual vs. COH anesthesiologists – 0.334 (poor). Conclusions We have shown the feasibility of using ML for assessing the ASA score. In principle, a group of experts (i.e. physicians, institutions, etc.) can train the ML algorithm such that individual experiences and biases would cancel each leaving the objective ASA score intact. As more data are being collected, a valid foundation for refinement to the ML will emerge.
Neuroscience, Resilience, and the Embodiment of “Mental” Disorder

The transdiagnostic perspective described in this chapter focuses on the core neurocognitive processes that underpin and cut across a broad array of psychosocial disorders. Beginning with a discussion of stress, cognitive appraisal, and adaptation, chapter authors demonstrate how a downward spiral of stress, negative emotion, biased cognition, and maladaptive coping can disrupt the normal healthy functioning of brain and body and result in the maladaptive patterns that underlie a range of mental disorders. Each of the processes that contribute to this downward spiral is explored in depth: automaticity, attentional bias, memory bias, interpretation bias, and thought suppression. An analysis of resilience follows, indicating a pathway for a corrective “upward spiral” that draws on the broaden-and-build theory in which positive emotions broaden individuals’ repertoires of cognition, affective response, and behavior through adaptive neuroplasticity and thereby build lasting internal resources. The chapter then explores the neurobiological evidence for the role of mindfulness in enabling individuals to extricate themselves from the stress reaction by facilitating cognitive reappraisal and responding with less emotional distortion and cognitive bias. It concludes by suggesting that a transdiagnostic approach can offer an effective means of case conceptualization and selection of targeted, actionable, and effective interventions.
Going Global: The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1945

The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA) of 1945 revolutionized U.S. trade policy and global economic order. Based upon a new conception of the United States' national trade interest and role in world economic affairs, the RTAA of 1945 initiated the nation's postwar drive to construct an open world trading system. Yet despite its epoch-making character, the history of this statute has not been subjected to sustained analysis. Building upon the three dominant political science explanations for U.S. trade politics and policy formation—system, society, and state—this study traces the origins of the RTAA of 1945 to the impact of World War II on the formulation and enactment of this statute at the domestic level. It argues that it is impossible to explain the genesis of the RTAA of 1945 absent a consideration of the influence of World War II on the pattern of domestic politics that produced it.
Not at All: Environmental Sustainability in the Supreme Court

The principle of “sustainability” is soon to mark its 40th anniversary. It is a concept that has experienced both evolution and stasis. It has shaken the legal foundation, often engaged, recited, and even revered by policymakers, lawmakers, and academics worldwide. This essay assesses the extent to which sustainability registers on the scales of the United States Supreme Court, particularly during the tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts.None of the environmental cases decided thus far during the tenure of Chief Justice Roberts engage sustainability. The word “sustainability” does not appear to exist before the Court. It does not appear in any majority, concurring, or dissenting opinion. While the Court seems to be agnostic about the idea of sustainability as a governing norm, strong astringent reveals that with some counterexamples the extent to which decisions before the Roberts’ Court regarding biodiversity, land use, air pollutant emissions, and cleanup standards implicate sustainability, they do so negatively, as discussed below. The article concludes that factors having little or nothing to do with sustainability per se are at the heart of these results. Yet unless and until parties amass the courage of their conviction and infuse “sustainability” into litigative lexicon and strategy, sustainability will continue to matter to the U.S. Supreme Court not at all.
A Specification Methodology by a Collection of Compact Properties as Applied to the Intel® ItaniumTM Processor Bus Protocol

In practice, formal specifications are often considered too costly for the benefits they promise. Specifically, interface specifications such as standard bus protocol descriptions are still documented informally, and although many admit formal versions would be useful, they are dissuaded by the time and effort needed for development. We champion a formal specification methodology that attacks this costvalue problem from two angles. First, the framework allows formal specifications to be feasible for signal-level bus protocols with minimal effort, lowering costs. And second, a specification written in this style has many different uses, other than as a precise specification document, resulting in increased value over cost. This methodology allows the specification to be easily transformed into an executable checker or an simulation environment, for example. In an earlier paper, we demonstrated the methodology on a widely-used bus protocol. Now, we show that the generalized methodology can be applied to more advanced bus protocols, in particular, the Intel® Itanium™ Processor bus protocol. In addition, the paper outlines how writing and checking such a specification revealed interesting issues, such as deadlock and missed data phases, during the development of the protocol.
Toward robust sensor based exploration by constructing reduced generalized Voronoi graph

Considers sensor based mobile robot exploration in an unknown indoor environment. One of the big problems in this area is positioning error. To deal with this problem in the exploration task, we proposed a localization method using a partially constructed topological map termed the generalized Voronoi graph (GVG). The GVG-based method performed successfully in some large scale indoor environments, but had problems resulting from poor sensing ability of the sixteen sonar sensors on-board the robot. The poor sensing ability was particularly deleterious at geometric structures in the GVG that were "unstable." To solve the problem, we adopted "the Reduced Generalized Voronoi Graph (RGVG)" for the exploration map instead of the original GVG. The RGVG is a stable subset of the GVG and is sufficient for motion planning. To enable realistic and reliable exploration using the RGVG structure, we developed an edge matching procedure for topology matching. In this paper, we introduce the RGVG structure and the edge matching procedure for robust exploration. Experimental results verify the described work.
What are young adults smoking in their hookahs? A latent class analysis of substances smoked.

Abstract Rationale Hookah smoking continues to be a popular form of tobacco use, especially among college students. Although hookahs are commonly used to smoke tobacco, anecdotal evidence suggests other substances, including herbal shisha, marijuana and hashish may be used. However, little is known about the variety of substances smoked in hookahs, or correlates associated with different substances smoked. Methods In fall 2010, 3447 students from 8 colleges in N.C. completed an online survey. Results 44% of students reported ever smoking tobacco from a hookah. Of those ever users, 90% reported smoking flavored tobacco in a hookah, 45% marijuana, 37% herbal (non-tobacco) shisha, and 18% hashish. Latent class analysis revealed two distinct classes. The most prevalent class (77%) primarily smoked flavored tobacco, with minimal use of herbal shisha and marijuana and virtually no use of hashish. The second class (23%) primarily smoked marijuana, hashish and flavored tobacco with moderate use of herbal shisha. Logistic regression analysis adjusting for clustering within schools revealed that males, illicit drug users, daily, nondaily and former cigarette smokers and those whose mothers had higher levels of education were significantly more likely to be in the second class compared to the first. Conclusions Rates of lifetime use of hookah were high in our sample of college students. While the majority of hookah users smoked tobacco in hookahs, they also smoked other substances, notably marijuana and herbal shisha. Prevention efforts should recognize that students are using hookahs to smoke a variety of substances.
Sequence of the Polypyrimidine Tract of the 3′-Terminal 3′ Splicing Signal Can Affect Intron-Dependent Pre-mRNA Processing In Vivo

Most pre-mRNAs require an intron for efficient processing in higher eukaryotes. However, not all introns can provide this function. For example, transcripts synthesized from a variant of the human beta-globin gene lacking its second intervening sequence (IVS2), yet retaining its first intervening sequence (IVS1), exhibit multiple defects in mRNA biogenesis. To investigate why, we transfected into monkey cells plasmids containing the human beta-globin gene and variants of it altered in (i) IVS1, (ii) the 3'-terminal exon, and (iii) the polyadenylation signal. The beta-globin RNAs accumulated in these cells were analyzed by quantitative S1 nuclease mapping for nuclear accumulation, intron excision, polyadenylation and cytoplasmic accumulation. We found that the 3' splicing signal of IVS1, with multiple purines interrupting its polypyrimidine tract, could efficiently function as an internal 3' splicing signal; however, it could not efficiently function as the 3'-terminal 3' splicing signal for any of these steps in intron-dependent mRNA biogenesis unless (i) its polypyrimidine tract was made uninterrupted in pyrimidines, or (ii) specific sequences were deleted from the 3'-terminal exon. We conclude that whether an intron can provide the function necessary for efficient processing of intron-dependent pre-mRNA is dependent upon the ability of its 3' splicing signal to define the 3'-terminal exon. On the practical side, this finding means one needs to consider both the sequence and location of the intron to be included in an intron-dependent gene to obtain efficient expression in vivo.
Transdermal fentanyl for chronic cancer pain: detailed case reports and the influence of confounding factors.

Patients were entered into an open label study to evaluate the efficacy of transdermal fentanyl as an analgesic for chronic cancer pain. The clinical course of 3 patients is described as well as an emphasis on the apparent influence of confounding factors, i.e., factors unique to each patient that appeared to affect that individual's analgesic requirements. Our anecdotal clinical experience suggests that transdermal fentanyl is an acceptable, efficacious, and safe means of pharmacologic management for patients with chronic cancer pain. Our results reinforce the concept that cancer pain is a dynamic, multiply determined process and that, as a result, the effects of a single intervention are difficult to analyze.
Classification and evaluation of problem-solving tasks

Abstract Problem-solving tasks are classified on the basis of four task characteristics (ambiguity, number of solutions, complexity, and experience), three process categories (preparation, production, and evaluation), and four general outcome categories (number of solutions, time to solution, quality, and process measures). The classification scheme is compared with recent attempts to define “ideal” characteristics of measures, and seven general criteria are proposed for evaluating problem-solving tasks. Twelve categories of tasks commonly used in research are classified and evaluated. Concept identification, switchlight problems, verbal mazes, and simulations are concluded to be tasks that most closely satisfy all evaluation criteria, although each has some problems. Implications for improvement of measures of problem-solving are indicated.
Prognostic value of thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with unstable angina who respond to medical treatment.

Abstract Although the prognostic value of thallium-201 imaging is well established, its ability to risk stratify patients who present with unstable angina is unclear. Fifty-two consecutive patients admitted with unstable angina who responded to medical treatment and underwent stress thallium-201 imaging within 1 week of discharge were studied. Patients were followed up for 39 ± 11 months. Cardiac events included cardiac death (n = 3), nonfatal myocardial infarction (n = 4) and admission for unstable angina or revascularization (n = 17). The ability of thallium-201 data (redistribution, fixed defects, normal) to predict cardiac events was compared with clinical data (age, gender, prior myocardial infarction, anginal syndrome, rest and stress electrocardiogram) and cardiac catheterization data using logistic regression. Thallium-201 redistribution was the only significant predictor of cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (p Stress thallium-201 imaging has important prognostic value in patients admitted with unstable angina who respond to medical therapy and can identify subgroups at high versus low risk for future cardiac events.