cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sleep-associated respiratory disorders and their psychobehavioral consequences in children.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the consequences of disrupted sleep specific to the effects of sleep-associated respiratory disorders. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a more severe form of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and is a relatively common disorder among both adults and children, with up to 3% of young children affected. OSA is characterized by repeated events of partial or complete upper-airway obstruction during sleep. These upper-airway changes induce disruption of normal alveolar ventilation, sleep structure, lead to blood gas abnormalities, and sleep fragmentation. The chapter discusses that SDB is not more likely to occur among children with true attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), that is, diagnoses following the stringent criteria recommended by the Academy of Pediatrics and the Academy of Psychiatry, yet SDB is significantly more prevalent among children with parent-reported hyperactive behaviors that do not fulfill strict ADHD criteria, suggesting that the subtle disruptions of sleep elicited by the presence of SDB may be associated with significant behavioral effects.
Fullerene-Benzene purple and yellow clusters: Theoretical and experimental studies

Abstract Fullerene (FR, C 60 ) gives a purple colored solution almost instantly when benzene is added to it. Interestingly, this purple solution turns yellow in about 7 weeks and remains yellow afterwards. The concentration of the purple complex increases with temperature indicating its formation kinetically favored, which transforms into a more stable yellow complex very slowly with time. The geometry optimization by density functional theory (DFT) followed by spectra (TD-DFT method) calculations suggest that the purple and yellow complexes are due to clusters of six benzene molecules arranged vertically and horizontally respectively around the FR molecule.
Relationships of body weight, forage composition, and corn supplementation to feed intake and digestion by Holstein steer calves consuming bermudagrass hay ad libitum.

Holstein steer calves (101 to 350 kg BW) consumed bermudagrass hay ad libitum without or with supplemental ground corn up to 1.0% of BW. As BW increased, total DMI increased quadratically (-2.459 + .05448 [BW]-.000073 [BW2] + .540 [corn DMI]; R2 = .83, sy.x = .655). Each kilogram of corn DM decreased bermudagrass DMI by .46 kg. Total digestible OM intake (kg) increased with BW and corn supplementation (.314 + .0127 [BW] + .441 [corn OM intake]; R2 = .79, sy.x = .444). Feed intake level accounted for approximately 2.5 times more variability in total digestible OM intake than digestion did. Corn supplementation decreased digestion of bermudagrass NDF (62.50 - 8.468 [corn DMI, % BW]; R2 = .13, sy.x = 8.121), with a similar decrease across BW. Increasing bermudagrass DMI (% of BW) decreased bermudagrass NDF digestion slightly, but variation accounted for was only 33% of that attributable to corn DMI (% of BW). Concentrations of common fiber fractions (NDF, ADF, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ADL) in bermudagrass explained very little variation in feed intake and digestion, indicating considerable influence of other factors. Bermudagrass intake and digestion were not related, and no substantial interactions were observed among steer BW, corn level, and bermudagrass composition.
2 Insight into Fungal Secondary Metabolism from Ten Years of LaeA Research

In 2004, the protein LaeA was identified and characterized as a global regulator of secondary metabolism in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Since this initial report, LaeA has been further described as a member of the fungal-specific Velvet Complex, a transcriptional complex critical in linking morphological transitions with chemical output. Hence, LaeA and the other two members of the Velvet Complex, VeA and VelB, are not only key regulators of secondary metabolite production but also asexual and sexual spore production. All three proteins are conserved in the Ascomycetes and possibly in the Basidiomycetes. Here, we will focus on LaeA-led studies contributing to our knowledge of regulation and synthesis of secondary metabolites in fungi.
Robert Southey (1774–1843)

In 1795 Wordsworth was pleased to be invited to become a tenant at Racedown Lodge in Dorset. The property belonged to John Pretor Pinney, a Bristol sugar merchant. The offer required Wordsworth to act as host for occasional visits by John Frederick and Azariah Pinney, John Pinney’s two sons, and to supervise the activities of Basil Montagu. Wordsworth had already lived with Basil for a short time in London, and he did not hesitate to agree to the stipulated responsibilities. (The rental fee was waived.) He thus was able, with minimal financial expense, to expand his circle of acquaintances to include Robert Southey, whom he met in Bristol (September 1795).
Syndrome of the Trephined: A Systematic Review.

Background Syndrome of the trephined (SoT) is a rare, important complication of a craniectomy characterized by neurological dysfunction that improves with cranioplasty. Its varied symptoms include motor, cognitive, and language deficits. Its exact characterization appears suboptimal, with differing approaches of evaluation. Accordingly, this topic is in great need of further investigation. Objective To accurately describe SoT and explore methods of an objective diagnosis/evaluation. Methods Electronic searches of PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge, and PsycINFO databases used the key words "syndrome of the trephined" and "sinking skin flap." Non-English-language and duplicate articles were eliminated. Title and abstract reviews were selected for relevance. Full-text reviews were selected for articles providing individual characteristics of SoT patients. Results This review identified that SoT most often occurs in male patients (60%) at 5.1 ± 10.8 months after craniectomy for neurotrauma (38%). The average reported craniectomy is 88.3 ± 34.4 cm and usually exists with a "sunken skin flap" (93%). Symptoms most commonly include motor, cognitive, and language deficits (57%, 41%, 28%, respectively), with improvement after cranioplasty within 3.8 ± 3.9 days. Functional independence with activities of daily living is achieved by 54.9% of patients after 2.9 ± 3.4 months of rehabilitation. However, evaluation of SoT is inconsistent, with only 53% of reports documenting objective studies. Discussion SoT is a variable phenomenon associated with a prolonged time to cranioplasty. Due to current weaknesses in objectivity, we hypothesize that SoT is often underdiagnosed and recommend a multifaceted approach for consistent evaluation. Conclusion SoT is a serious complication that lacks exact characterization and deserves future investigation. Improved understanding and recognition have important implications for early intervention and patient outcomes. Abbreviations ADLs, activities of daily livingCBF, cerebral blood flowSoT, syndrome of the trephinedVP, ventriculoperitoneal.
Temporal Lobectomy for Complex Partial Seizures

The results of anterior temporal lobectomy performed for medically intractable, complex partial seizures, with onset before 16 years of age, in 42 consecutive patients are reported from various centers.
Real-Time Implementation of the Signal Separator

A recursive technique is presented that achieves real-time implementation of the Signal Separator which is an algorithm that can be used with antenna arrays to provide each incident signal at a good output signal-to-interference ratio without having any a priori knowledge of the incident signals or their directions-of-arrival. Simulation results confirm performance previously predicted analytically.
Mechanisms of CRLF2 Rearrangement with IGH and P2RY8 in B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Abstract Abstract 3243 Poster Board III-180 Introduction Precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. While the great majority of these children achieve long-term remission, the disease exacts a high mortality in adults, and children with high-risk features. Fusion oncogenes such as BCR-ABL, MLL-AF4, E2A-PBX and TEL-AML1 are present in 60% of B-ALL cases. Cloning of these rearrangements has provided significant insight into the mechanisms involved in their formation. The gene alterations that affect the remaining 40% are poorly understood. We and others have recently identified CRLF2, a subunit of the thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor, as a novel oncoprotein in B-ALL. Approximately 15% of adult and high-risk pediatric B-ALL that lack other characteristic gene rearrangements overexpress CRLF2, while leukemias with these rearrangements do not. In cases with CRLF2 overexpression, CRLF2 appears to be the driver of STAT activation, either alone or in combination with gain-of-function mutations in Janus Kinases (JAKs). CRLF2 overexpression results from rearrangements involving the CRLF2 locus, which is located in the pseudoautosomal regions on chromosomes X and Y. These rearrangements can either involve translocation with the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) locus (t(X;14)(p22;q32) or t(Y;14)(p11;q32)) or interstitial deletion (del(X)(p22.33p22.33) or del(Y)(p11.32p11.32)). We sought to define the mechanisms of cleavage and repair that mediate these rearrangements. Methods For the translocations, we performed a series of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to amplify junctions between IGHJ segments on chr.14 and the region upstream (i.e., centromeric) of CRLF2 on chr.X/Y. For the deletions, we used single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays and quantitative PCR to define the extent of deletions and then amplified junctions by PCR. Results We successfully amplified IGHJ/CRLF2 translocation junctions from six B-ALL with CRLF2 overexpression. Junctions involved chr.X/Y sequence between 8-16kb upstream of the CRLF2 translation start site. Five of 6 clustered near putative V(D)J recombinase recognition signal sequences (RSS). Additional evidence for involvement of the V(D)J recombinase was identified in all cases, including the presence of nontemplated nucleotides. In contrast, deletions resulted in juxtaposition of the full length CRLF2 coding sequence to P2RY8. A similar event involving t(X;12) that resulted in SOX5 translocation to P2RY8 has been described in a single case of splenic follicular lymphoma. P2RY8 is a member of the purine nucleotide G-protein coupled receptor gene family and is highly expressed in lymphocytes. Conclusion CRLF2 rearrangements result in overexpression through juxtaposition to alternate transcriptional control elements. While translocations appear to be mediated by aberrant V(D)J recombination, deletions likely involve an alternate sequence-dependent mechanism that targets downstream of the P2RY8 promoter. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Generation and characterization of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from an Alzheimer's disease (ASUi003-A) and non-demented control (ASUi004-A) patient homozygous for the Apolipoprotein e4 (APOE4) risk variant

Although the majority of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients are labeled sporadic, multiple genetic risk variants have been identified, the most powerful and prevalent of which is the e4 variant of the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. Here, we generated human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of a clinically diagnosed AD patient [ASUi003-A] and a non-demented control (NDC) patient [ASUi004-A] homozygous for the APOE4 risk allele. These hiPSCs maintained their original genotype, expressed pluripotency markers, exhibited a normal karyotype, and retained the ability to differentiate into cells representative of the three germ layers.
Building on Howe’s Three Pillars in Kindergarten to Grade 6 Classrooms

Howe (2014, Three pillars of first grade mathematics, and beyond. In: Li Y. & Lappan G. (eds), Mathematics curriculum in school education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 183–207) identified three pillars of first grade mathematics and beyond that described central mathematical and sense-making aspects of major Common Core State Standards Math (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. 2010) domains. This chapter builds on each pillar by sharing visual models that have been powerful in helping students learn the aspects identified by Howe. Visual models are central core ideas and practices in the CCSS–M and deserve attention and discussion. The research-based examples discussed here are simple math drawings that students can make and use in their own ways in problem solving and explaining of thinking. Such drawings support the math talk discussions that are at the heart of the CCSS–M and of the mathematical practices. They enable (Howe’s, 2014, Three pillars of first grade mathematics, and beyond. In: Li Y. & Lappan G. (eds), Mathematics curriculum in school education, Springer, Dordrecht, pp 183–207) three pillars to come to life in the classroom. Teachers and students can come to appreciate all of these pillars: Pillar I, the power of robust understanding of the operations of addition and subtraction including situations that give meaning to the operations and levels of single-digit addition and subtraction; Pillar II, an approach to arithmetic computation that intertwines place value with the addition/subtraction facts; and Pillar III, making connections between counting number and measurement number.
Abstract TP389: Utilizing A Stroke Protocol to Improve Stroke Prevention Education

Background: Although stroke is a preventable disease, it remains a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Public knowledge of stroke prevention is relatively low. Stroke educat...
Turning Waste into Power: Michigan State University’s Anaerobic Digester

As part of its ambitious Energy Transition Plan towards 100% renewable power Michigan State University (MSU) built an anaerobic digester facility in 2013. Annually it consumes approximately 22,000 metric tons of organic waste, predominantly food waste from the MSU cafeteria system and animal excrements from the MSU farms, and turns them into biogas and digestate. The digestate is a high quality organic fertilizer and replaces chemically produced fertilizers for MSU’s farm fields, which saves money at the same time that it conserves valuable resources. The biogas is combusted in high efficiency reciprocating engines and produces a constant electric power of 300–500 kW. The digester facility also serves as a living classroom for a wide variety of student groups: it hosts thesis projects for graduate students and senior undergraduate students in bio-systems engineering and other engineering and agriculture disciplines, it serves as a laboratory for regularly scheduled undergraduate classes, and it is a popular destination for K-12 school field trips. Thus the MSU anaerobic digester facility serves the entire sustainability education and outreach spectrum, in addition to its sustainability scholarship, research, and practical application purposes.
Iliac Artery Injuries

Injury to the iliac arteries remains a devastating injury with significant morbidity and mortality that continues to challenge trauma surgeons. Patients typically present in significant metabolic disarray as a result of massive hemorrhage. Damage control techniques should be employed for patients who are coagulopathic, hypothermic, or acidotic. Definitive arterial repair can be accomplished by various techniques, selection of which should depend upon the extent and location of injury. Penetrating injury typically requires open repair, whereas most blunt injuries are amenable to endovascular therapies. Early communication between the trauma surgeon, vascular surgeon, and interventional radiologist is necessary. Fasciotomies should be strongly considered in patients with injury to the common or external iliac arteries or in patients with crush injury in order to avoid development of compartment syndrome.
Computing Modular Forms for GL2 over Certain Number Fields

The cohomology of an arithmetic group is built out of certain automorphic forms. This allows computational investigation of these automorphic forms using topological techniques. We discuss recent techniques developed for the explicit computation of the cohomology of congruence subgroups of GL2 over CM-quartic and complex cubic number fields as Hecke-modules.
Genre Identification and the Compositional Effect of Genre in Literature

Recent advances in Natural Language Processing are finding ways to place an emphasis on the hierarchical nature of text instead of representing language as a flat sequence or unordered collection of words or letters. A human reader must capture multiple levels of abstraction and meaning in order to formulate an understanding of a document. In this paper, we address the problem of developing approaches which are capable of working with extremely large and complex literary documents to perform Genre Identification. The task is to assign the literary classification to a full-length book belonging to a corpus of literature, where the works on average are well over 200,000 words long and genre is an abstract thematic concept. We introduce the Gutenberg Dataset for Genre Identification. Additionally, we present a study on how current deep learning models compare to traditional methods for this task. The results are presented as a baseline along with findings on how using an ensemble of chapters can significantly improve results in deep learning methods. The motivation behind the ensemble of chapters method is discussed as the compositionality of subtexts which make up a larger work and contribute to the overall genre.
Rethinking the value of unpaid care work: lessons from participatory visual research in central Tanzania

The contemporary international development agenda addresses several important gender issues, including the contribution of unpaid care work (UCW) to human well-being. The inclusion of UCW into the ...
“Diabesity” among Latinos: A Culturally Relevant Mathematics Activity by a Mathematics Teacher Candidate

This paper summarizes a culturally relevant mathematics project conducted by a mentored secondary-level Latino teacher candidate (TC) as a requirement for an undergraduate mathematics project course at a south Texas university. The culturally relevant math project involved four secondary Latino students and their parents. Â The topic was â€œdiabesityâ€; that is, diabetes and obesity among Latinos southern region in the United States of America with an emphasis on body mass index, proper diet, and exercise. Remarks by the faculty mentor and a faculty consultant about the TC work and reflections regarding this project are also included and provide perspectives on how to address cultural connections with mathematics. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.4.4
Spontaneous partitioning and proportion estimation in children’s numerical judgments

Abstract What do numerical estimates tell us about developing an understanding of number? One theory is that bounded number line estimation (NLE) tasks reveal a “representational shift” from logarithmically to linearly organized mental representations of number over development. According to a different theoretical framework, developmental change in estimation reflects changes in children’s numerical knowledge and their ability to make appropriate relative judgments. Empirical support for this “proportion estimation” framework includes the fact that quantitative models of proportion estimation describe signature patterns of estimation bias. A recent study argued against this latter theory by suggesting that patterns of curvature in number line placements are simply artifacts of a task procedure in which participants receive explicit information about the location of the numerical midpoint. We tested this claim in two experiments with children aged 6–8 years (Experiment 1: N = 47; Experiment 2: N = 104). Results demonstrated that the proportion estimation framework provides a good explanation of children’s number line placement in the absence of explicit midpoint cues, that explicit cues to the midpoint are associated with more frequent use of middle reference points in young children, and that children can use a middle reference point spontaneously in the absence of explicit cues (with this tendency increasing with age). These findings provide novel support for the idea that psychophysical models of proportion estimation successfully account for numerical estimates across development regardless of whether spatial and numerical midpoint cues are provided as part of the NLE task.
The Case for Stance Dependent Reasons

Abstract Many philosophers maintain that neither one’s reasons for action nor well-being are ever grounded in facts about what we desire or favor. Yet our reasons to eat a flavor of ice cream we like rather than one we do not seem an obvious counter-example. I argue that there is no getting around such examples and that therefore a fully stance independent account of the grounding of our reasons is implausible. At least in matters of mere taste our “stance” plays a normative role in grounding reasons.
Recombinant vector vaccine evolution.

Replicating recombinant vector vaccines consist of a fully competent viral vector backbone engineered to express an antigen from a foreign transgene. From the perspective of viral replication, the transgene is not only dispensable but may even be detrimental. Thus vaccine revertants that delete or inactivate the transgene may evolve to dominate the vaccine virus population both during the process of manufacture of the vaccine as well as during the course of host infection. A particular concern is that this vaccine evolution could reduce its antigenicity—the immunity elicited to the transgene. We use mathematical and computational models to study vaccine evolution and immunity. These models include evolution arising during the process of manufacture, the dynamics of vaccine and revertant growth, plus innate and adaptive immunity elicited during the course of infection. Although the selective basis of vaccine evolution is easy to comprehend, the immunological consequences are not. One complication is that the opportunity for vaccine evolution is limited by the short period of within-host growth before the viral population is cleared. Even less obvious, revertant growth may only weakly interfere with vaccine growth in the host and thus have a limited effect on immunity to vaccine. Overall, we find that within-host vaccine evolution can sometimes compromise vaccine immunity, but only when the extent of evolution during vaccine manufacture is severe, and this evolution can be easily avoided or mitigated.
Generation of a knock-in MAP2-tdTomato reporter human embryonic stem cell line with inducible expression of NEUROG2/1 (NYGCe001-A)

Overexpression of NEUROG2 and NEUROG1 (NEUROG2/1) in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) rapidly produces functional networks of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. To facilitate the use of this efficient inducible human neuron model in neuroscience research, we generated hESCs with doxycycline-inducible NEUROG2/1 via lentivirus and a tdTomato fluorescent reporter knock-in at the MAP2 locus using the CRISPR nuclease Cas9. Upon doxycycline-driven induction of NEUROG2/1, these hESCs differentiate within days into cells that are uniformly MAP2 immunoreactive and tdTomato fluorescent.
Polarization-dependent absolute-phase-corrected multidimensional coherent spectra of exciton-polaritons

Multidimensional coherent spectroscopy measures the third-order polarization response of a system to reveal microscopic electronic and many-body phenomena. Applied to semiconductor nanostructures, it can distinguish homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening due to disorder or strain gradients, resolve coupling between transitions, and optically access transitions that are either non-radiating or outside the bandwidth of the pulses. Two tools often exploited in this versatile technique are (i) the ability to control the polarization of the excitation and emission and thus the optical selection rules, and (ii) the ability to capture the complex spectrum. Here, the polarization of pulses emerging from a multidimensional optical nonlinear spectrometer (MONSTR) and the resulting four-wave mixing emission are controlled automatically using variable retarders, such that multiple spectra are recorded during a single phase-stabilized scan. This improves the acquisition time by ~3x compared to running separate polarization scans. Importantly, only one phase ambiguity exists in the complex spectra across all sets of polarization states measured. This single ambiguity is resolved by comparing the initial spectrally resolved transient absorption to the complex four-wave mixing spectrum for collinear polarization and then applying it to all spectra. Here, the method is applied to a quantum well embedded in a semiconductor microcavity with an adjustable cavity-exciton detuning. The complex 2DCS spectra we report constitute the first measurements of detuning- and polarization-dependent exciton-polariton lineshape across the strong coupling regime.
Continuous Albuterol Therapy in Pediatric Acute Care: Safe and Efficacious Management Outside the ICU

There is little data to support the use of continuous nebulized albuterol (CNA) in the non-ICU or non-ER setting for pediatric patients with status asthmaticus; many pediatric hospitals admit these patients to a critical care setting. A recent 2014 study demonstrated low rates of adverse outcomes with the administration of CNA on the acute care (general inpatient) unit; however, additional outcomes have not been previously described. We sought to determine if there were …
3.02 – Crown Ethers

Crown ethers are macrocyclic polyethers. Together with the nearly contemporaneous discovery of cryptands, they underlay the field that is now called supramolecular chemistry. These compounds bind alkali metal and alkaline earth cations, which lack the complex orbital structures of transition metals and had lacked effective synthetic receptors. Initial work explored structural variations and the ability of these varied structures to bind and transport ions. By virtue at least of their ability to bind cations, they exhibit a range of biological activity. Many crown structures were modified so that cation binding and release could be controlled. Some had elements appended that could respond to light or other stimuli to report binding. Others were formed into polymers that multiplied the efficacy of individual rings. Eventually, macrocycles became modular platforms for more complex supramolecular assemblies.
Diagnostic challenges of intra-operative frozen consultation for gastrointestinal signet ring cell carcinoma†.

Aims Signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) is challenging to recognise on intra-operative frozen sections, with known high false-negative rates. The objective of this study was to investigate common factors contributing to discrepancies between intra-operative frozen diagnoses and those made upon review of permanent sections, and summarise our experiences gained and lessons learned on minimising errors on intra-operative frozen diagnoses of gastrointestinal SRCC. Methods and results We retrospectively examined our pathology database from 25 May 2000 to 1 January 2018 and re-reviewed intra-operative frozen sections and permanent haematoxylin and eosin (HE (ii) disguise as normal or reactive cells (histiocytes, macrophages, large reactive lymphocytes, plasma cells or adipocytes) due to their relatively clear or depleted cytoplasmic mucin; and (iii) histological sampling errors, leading to misses of small foci of SRCC on frozen section slides. Conclusions An accurate diagnosis of SRCC during intra-operative frozen consultations remains challenging. Based on our experiences and lessons, the most important strategies to reduce diagnostic errors are: (i) understanding the unusual histomorphological features of SRCC cells on frozen sections including, but not limited to, intracellular mucin depletion, absence of desmoplasia and no adjacent pre-cancer changes; and (ii) close attention to abrupt transition from normal architecture (e.g. glandular or submucosal loose connective tissue) to myxoid and/or inflammatory-like appearance, which potentially harbours SRCC.
Year 15 and the Preservation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects: Lessons from Detroit, Michigan:

This study examines the efforts to preserve the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) projects that are at risk from their year-15 transition in Detroit, Michigan. Using the preservation framework...
Early Insights into COVID-19 in Persons Living with HIV and Cardiovascular Manifestations

Persons living with HIV-1 (PLHIV) are at increased risk of cardiovascular complications in part due to the persistent inflammatory state despite viral suppression. SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, was declared a pandemic virus in March 2020, and caused over 30 million cases and 900,000 deaths worldwide to date. Individuals with COVID-19 are manifesting acute cardiovascular complications because of the inflammatory response associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is not yet known whether having COVID-19 in the context of ongoing HIV-1 infection results in worse cardiovascular complications than in PLHIV who have not had COVID-19 infection. In this review, the potential for exacerbated cardiovascular manifestations in persons coinfected with HIV-1 and COVID-19 is considered.
ORNL hosts first virtual HANDS workshop

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in conjunction with North Carolina State University, hosted the first virtual HFIR/SNS Advanced Neutron Diffraction and Scattering workshop (HANDS 2020). The v...
An evaluation of the reliability of the foot-tapping test in a healthy sample

Abstract The foot-tapping test (FTT) can be used to assess upper motor neuron dysfunction in clinical populations. However, relatively little is known regarding the reliability or normative values of the FTT in either healthy or clinical populations. Although several different FTT methods have been used, no study to date has demonstrated the reliability or validity of FTT by comparing it across several different counting methods in healthy persons. This unfortunately limits its usefulness in medicine and research. Objective This study sought to examine the reliability and validity of the FTT in healthy individuals to determine its usefulness and to make recommendations for its implementation in clinical populations. Furthermore, the concurrent validity and reliability of using a force plate as an objective measure of foot-taps was considered. Design Thirty-eight healthy individuals had their foot-tapping assessed using Live, Force Plate, and Video Counting methods over four separate visits. Methods Participants were seated as per previous FTT recommendations and asked to tap their foot in 10-second intervals while the number of taps was counted via Live, Video, and Force Plate counters. This was done with both legs, with shoes ON and OFF, and repeated over four separate visits. Results Despite significant differences between repeat trials for Force Plate and Video Counts (∼2 foot-taps, p 0.90). Dominant foot trials were higher (∼2 foot-taps, p 0.80) and only the Video count was significantly lower for Visit 1 (p Conclusions Given findings, the authors suggest using a Force Plate counting method and have compiled a list of suggestions for future implementation of the FTT.
Anastomotic leak following interval debulking surgery with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in women with advanced epithelial ovarian Cancer.

Abstract Objective(s) To evaluate the incidence and associated risk factors for anastomotic failure following interval debulking surgery (IDS) with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study in women with stage III/IV high-grade ovarian cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by IDS with colorectal resection and HIPEC from 2017 to 2020. These patients were compared to a historical control cohort who underwent IDS with colorectal resection without HIPEC from 2009 to 2016. Data was collected for demographics, surgical variables, and perioperative outcomes. The univariate analysis compared progression-free survival and overall survival. Results 61 women were identified; 21 (34.4%) underwent IDS with HIPEC from 2017 to 2020, and 40 underwent IDS alone from 2009 to 2016. None of the patients who had IDS with HIPEC had protective ileostomy, compared to 10.0% of those who received had IDS alone (n = 4)(p = 0.29). The cumulative incidence of anastomotic leak rate was 8.2% (n = 5). There was no significant difference in anastomotic leak rate for women who underwent IDS with HIPEC (9.5%, n = 2) versus without HIPEC (7.5%, n = 3) (p = 0.99). While there was no difference in PFS (12.2 vs. 13.3 months, log-rank p = 0.31), OS (9.4 vs. 40.6 months, log-rank p = 0.013) was significantly decreased following postoperative anastomotic leak. Conclusions In this retrospective series of women with advanced ovarian cancer, HIPEC was not associated with increased risk for anastomotic leak at the time of IDS with colorectal resection and reanastomosis. While further study is needed, HIPEC alone should not preclude colorectal resection or dictate practices for colonic diversion in IDS.
Narrowing the Wide Tip via Endonasal Approach

Rhinoplasty is arguably the most complex and intricate surgery performed by facial plastic surgeons. Nasal tip refinement of a broad nasal tip has remained the most challenging part of rhinoplasty as sophisticated techniques are critical to achieve aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound nasal tips that can withstand the contractile forces of healing. Successful tip refinement relies on an in-depth preoperative and intraoperative understanding of the patient's nasal anatomy, well developed arsenal of techniques, the experience of the surgeon, and the aesthetic desires of the patient. Although the approach to gain access to the nasal tip so as to successfully reshape the tip has been a topic of debate over many years, the aim of this article is to outline and demonstrate how the broad nasal tip can be successfully recontoured through an endonasal approach using nondestructive techniques that have been effectively used in open rhinoplasty. We believe that there continues to be a place for endonasal tip rhinoplasty especially in this era in which patients desire less invasive procedures with shorter healing time.
Current Issues in ESP Materials

Materials for ESP reflect the specific language needs that are being addressed and have much in common with “general” ESL/EFL materials, but there are important distinctions as well. Like the field of ESL/EFL in general, ESP has evolved considerably over the past 50 years, and the impact of this evolution can be seen in the area of materials development. While much has been written on ESL materials development, discussion focusing on the issues involved in the development and use of materials in ESP contexts has been less robust. This paper first provides an overview of language learning materials in general. Particular features and challenges with ESP materials are then discussed, looking specifically at the role of needs assessment and the questions about the level of specificity required in ESP materials. The paper concludes with suggestions for ‘best practices’ in identifying and preparing ESP materials.
Space and time sharing of reconfigurable hardware for accelerated parallel processing

High-Performance Reconfigurable Computers (HPRCs) are parallel machines consisting of FPGAs and microprocessors, with the FPGAs used as co-processors. The execution of parallel applications on such systems has mainly followed the Single-Program Multiple-Data (SPMD) model; however, overall system resources are often underutilized because of the asymmetric distribution of the reconfigurable (co-)processors relative to the (main) processors. Furthermore, with the introduction of HPRCs containing multi/many-core technologies, underutilization of system resources becomes more obvious especially for multi-tasking and multi-user usage. To address the asymmetry problem, we propose a resource virtualization solution based on Partial Run-Time Reconfiguration (PRTR). The proposed technique allows space, time, and/or space-time sharing of the reconfigurable (co-)processors among the (main) processors and thus increasing the overall system utilization. We show the effectiveness of the proposed concepts through a stochastic execution model verified with experimental implementations on the Cray XD1 platform. The results demonstrate favorable performance as well as scalability characteristics.
FIS: an AI-based fault isolation system

An artificial intelligence (AI)-based fault-isolation system (FIS) is discussed. It was developed primarily for use with large-scale analog hybrid electronic systems such as radar and sonar systems, but it is applicable at least in principle to any human-engineered system with discrete replaceable components. An overview of the system and a description of some of its current application areas are given. A brief overview of the architecture of the FIS system is also given. >
Classifying reanalysis surface temperature probability density functions (PDFs) over North America with cluster analysis

[1] An important step in projecting future climate change impacts on extremes involves quantifying the underlying probability distribution functions (PDFs) of climate variables. However, doing so can prove challenging when multiple models and large domains are considered. Here an approach to PDF quantification using k-means clustering is considered. A standard clustering algorithm (with k = 5 clusters) is applied to 33 years of daily January surface temperature from two state-of-the-art reanalysis products, the North American Regional Reanalysis and the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications. The resulting cluster assignments yield spatially coherent patterns that can be broadly related to distinct climate regimes over North America, e.g., low variability over the tropical oceans or temperature advection across stronger or weaker gradients. This technique has the potential to be a useful and intuitive tool for evaluation of model-simulated PDF structure and could provide insight into projections of future changes in temperature.
Distribution of microtubules and microfilaments in developing vestibular sensory epithelium of mouse otocysts grown in vitro

Otocysts explanted from 12th-gestation-day mice and maintained in organ culture under went a series of developmental changes which paralleled those that occurred in vivo and which resulted in the formation of a sensory epithelium of the vestibular type. At the time of explantation presumptive vestibular sensory epithelium consisted of cells that were undifferentiated, pseudostratified and rapidly proliferating. The only microtubules present were those of the mitotic apparatus. After 4 days of in vitro development cells comprising the presumptive vestibular sensory epithelium were less pseudostratified and more elongate; their nuclei had assumed a basal orientation and there was a clear maginal velum. Longitudinally oriented cytoplasmic microtubules were present at the apices of some cells; they were often grouped around a centriole which may have served as a nucleation centre for their assembly. After 7 days of in vitro development mitosis had ceased and supporting cells had innervated hair cells were present: both types of cells were always longer than they were broad and were often highly asymmetrical. Hair cells were flask- or columnar-shaped, with a nucleus situated in the basal third of the cell. Most mitochondria in hair cells were located in the apical third of the cell. The same distribution of mitochondria and nuclei was evident in supporting cells. Microtubules occurred throughout the length of the supporting cell and were always parallel to its longitudinal axis. In hair cells microtubules were more frequent than in supporting cells: the majority were parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cell but there were two exceptions. First, at the apex of hair cells some microtubules were oriented transversely and diagnonally: these were probably involved in the development and maintenance of the constricted apex of these cells. Secondly, microtubules appeared to be randomly arranged in the narrow region of the cytoplasm between the ventral surface of the nucleus and the base of the hair cells. Microfilaments were confined to the basal third of hair cells where their orientation paralleled that of microtubules. The possible functions of microtubules and microfilaments in the development of hair cells and supporting cells of the mouse vestibular epithelium are discussed.
FPGA acceleration of a quantum Monte Carlo application

Quantum Monte Carlo methods enable us to determine the ground-state properties of atomic or molecular clusters. Here, we present a reconfigurable computing architecture using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to accelerate two computationally intensive kernels of a Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) application applied to N-body systems. We focus on two key kernels of the QMC application: acceleration of potential energy and wave function calculations. We compare the performance of our application on two reconfigurable platforms. Firstly, we use a dual-processor 2.4GHz Intel Xeon augmented with two reconfigurable development boards consisting of Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGAs. Using this platform, we achieve a speedup of 3x over a software-only implementation. Following this, the chemistry application is ported to the Cray XD1 supercomputer equipped with Xilinx Virtex-II Pro and Virtex-4 FPGAs. The hardware-accelerated application on one node of the high performance system equipped with a single Virtex-4 FPGA yields a speedup of approximately 25x over the serial reference code running on one node of the dual-processor dual-core 2.2GHz AMD Opteron. This speedup is mainly attributed to the use of pipelining, the use of fixed-point arithmetic for all calculations and the fine-grained parallelism using FPGAs. We can further enhance the performance by operating multiple instances of our design in parallel.
Enabling stem cell therapies for tissue repair: Current and future challenges

Stem cells embody the tremendous potential of the human body to develop, grow, and repair throughout life. Understanding the biologic mechanisms that underlie stem cell-mediated tissue regeneration is key to harnessing this potential. Recent advances in molecular biology, genetic engineering, and material science have broadened our understanding of stem cells and helped bring them closer to widespread clinical application. Specifically, innovative approaches to optimize how stem cells are identified, isolated, grown, and utilized will help translate these advances into effective clinical therapies. Although there is growing interest in stem cells worldwide, this enthusiasm must be tempered by the fact that these treatments remain for the most part clinically unproven. Future challenges include refining the therapeutic manipulation of stem cells, validating these technologies in randomized clinical trials, and regulating the global expansion of regenerative stem cell therapies.
Detection of antibody monomers, dimers and polymers upon interaction of a homologous series of divalent haptens with its specific antibody.

Summary The interaction of anti-2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-antibody with a homologous series of divalent haptens of the general formula DNP-NH-(CH2)n-NH-DNP produced an array of monomeric, dimeric and polymeric species; the types of species formed depended upon the particular hapten used. The hapten series ranged from n = 2 to n = 11. The short divalent haptens, i.e ., n = 2 to n = 5, upon interaction with an equimolar quantity of antibody, produced only monomers and dimers. The amount of dimer produced increased as n increased from 2 to 6. The intermediate-sized divalent haptens, i.e ., n = 6 to n = 9, showed polymers as well as monomers and dimers. However, the amount of monomer again increased as n equalled, or became greater than, 7. The long divalent haptens, i.e ., n = 10 and n = 11, again showed almost all monomer. The results are interpreted in terms of the heterogeneity in depth and location of the antibody binding sites, and possible competing reactions.
SIR2 Proteins Regulate Aging in Response to Nutrients.

Studies on the molecular basis of aging in my lab over the past nine years have led to the notion that the SIR2 gene controls the pace of aging in response to nutrient availability. SIR2 promotes longevity: sir2 deletion strains of yeast have short life spans, and strains with an extra copy of SIR2 live longer than wild type. Sir2p triggers silencing at select genomic locations, including mating type genes, telomeres, and the ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Silencing at this last locus represses the formation of toxic rDNA circles by recombination and thus potentiates a long life span. Sir2p was shown to be an NAD-dependent histone deacetylase (see figure below). This finding explains how Sir2p creates silenced chromatin and, surprisingly, draws a link between metabolic rate and aging. We suggest that as metabolic rate slows, for example during calorie restriction, NAD is freed up from its many metabolic reactions and activates Sir2p. This promotes an increase in silencing and a longer life span. We show experimentally that SIR2 and NAD are involved in the extention of yeast life span by calorie restriction. We imagine that this mechanism has been selected because it allows organisms to stay alive longer in the face of adversity, to resume reproduction when conditions improve. It is interesting to note, in this regard, that SIR2 also controls mating and thus sporulation, a pathway of cell differentiation that allows long-term survival in the face of scarcity.
Misperception of exocentric directions in auditory space.

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated large errors (over 30°) in visually perceived exocentric directions (the direction between two objects that are both displaced from the observer’s location; e.g., Philbeck et al. [Philbeck, J. W., Sargent, J., Arthur, J. C., & Dopkins, S. (2008). Large manual pointing errors, but accurate verbal reports, for indications of target azimuth. Perception, 37, 511–534]). Here, we investigated whether a similar pattern occurs in auditory space. Blindfolded participants either attempted to aim a pointer at auditory targets (an exocentric task) or gave a verbal estimate of the egocentric target azimuth. Targets were located at 20–160° azimuth in the right hemispace. For comparison, we also collected pointing and verbal judgments for visual targets. We found that exocentric pointing responses exhibited sizeable undershooting errors, for both auditory and visual targets, that tended to become more strongly negative as azimuth increased (up to −19° for visual targets at 160°). Verbal estimates of the auditory and visual target azimuths, however, showed a dramatically different pattern, with relatively small overestimations of azimuths in the rear hemispace. At least some of the differences between verbal and pointing responses appear to be due to the frames of reference underlying the responses; when participants used the pointer to reproduce the egocentric target azimuth rather than the exocentric target direction relative to the pointer, the pattern of pointing errors more closely resembled that seen in verbal reports. These results show that there are similar distortions in perceiving exocentric directions in visual and auditory space.