cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insights in Public Health: Climate Change: A Public Health Challenge and Opportunity for Hawai'i.

Hawai‘i has been at the forefront of climate change for decades beginning in the 1950s when atmospheric measurements taken atop Mauna Loa provided the first reliable indicator of key changes in global climate trends.1 Hawai‘i also has a longstanding record of innovative planning, including the establishment of the first comprehensive state land use zoning system in the United States in 1978.2 In 1984, the state Department of Planning and Economic Development was charged with assessing the potential impacts from sea level rise induced by climate change.3 Serving as the guide for the future long-range development of the State, the 1978 State Planning Act was amended in 2012 to incorporate climate adaptation into county and state actions.4 The State has championed the Hawai‘i State Green Growth and Aloha Plus Challenge Initiative, as well as adopted the Hawai‘i Climate Adaptation Initiative Act.4 Efforts are currently underway to assess climate vulnerability and advance climate adaptation planning.5 In 2014, an Interagency Climate Adaptation Committee (ICAC) comprised of representatives from across the state was established as the official body to lead statewide efforts to address climate change. The ICAC is tasked with delivering a statewide climate adaptation report that emphasizes coastal resources and sea level rise to the State Legislature by 2018. Hawai‘i State policies and actions historically focused on mitigating the environmental impacts of climate change. More recently, the State is drawing attention to the impacts of climate change on human health. In 2015, the State convened a temporary Climate Change and Health working group (CCHWG) to work independent of ICAC to identify and plan for the impacts of climate change on population-based human health and well-being.4 The CCHWG served a critical role in facilitating dialogue with public and private sector health actors from across the state regarding emerging threats of climate change to human health. With the CCHWG concluding its efforts in Summer 2016, the outcomes are poised to integrate with on-going initiatives and advance State efforts to leverage cross-disciplinary expertise to elevate health concerns in all climate change discussions. As in Hawai‘i, communities around the world are taking steps to understand and address the health impacts resulting from climate change. Evidence at the global, national, and regional scales indicates that the impacts to health due to climate change will be generally adverse. However, research of the specific local level health impacts of climate change is in its nascence, meaning that policy makers striving to take action must often draw from macro level findings in order to design local level actions. Recognizing this limitation in the state of scientific research, this article seeks to contribute to the local level dialogue on these issues. Specifically, this article explores the connections between climate change, planning, and public health with a focus on implications for Hawai‘i.
Magnetism and multiferroicity of an isosceles triangular lattice antiferromagnet Sr3NiNb2O9.

Various experimental measurements were performed to complete the phase diagram of a weakly distorted triangular lattice system, Sr3NiNb2O9 with Ni(2+) , spin-1 magnetic ions. This compound possesses an isosceles triangular lattice with two shorter bonds and one longer bond. It shows a two-step magnetic phase transition at [Formula: see text] K and [Formula: see text] K at zero magnetic field, characteristic of an easy-axis anisotropy. In the magnetization curves, a series of magnetic phase transitions was observed such as an up-up-down phase at [Formula: see text] T with 1/3 of the saturation magnetization (M sat) and an oblique phase at [Formula: see text] T with [Formula: see text]/3 M sat. Intriguingly, the magnetic phase transition below T N2 is in tandem with the ferroelectricity, which demonstrates multiferroic behaviors. Moreover, the multiferroic phase persists in all magnetically ordered phases regardless of the spin structure. The comparison between the phase diagrams of Sr3NiNb2O9 and its sister compound with an equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet Ba3NiNb2O9 (Hwang et al 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 257205), illustrates how a small imbalance among exchange interactions change the magnetic ground states of the TLAFs.
Optimización de la Nutrición de Ganado de Carne de Concepción hasta Consumo

Feed cost and reproductive efficiency are the 1 st and 2 nd largest factors, respectively, that dictate profitability of the cow-calf enterprise. It should not be forgotten that these two economic areas are not independent of one another, as nutritional management is the largest single factor that producers can control that influences the probability of pregnancy. Thus, without proper nutritional management, many reproductive processes are altered, and establishment and maintenance of pregnancy may be hindered or prevented entirely. Traditionally, the major concern related to the interface between nutrition and reproduction is the effect of under nutrition prior to breeding. However, recent research in the fields of fetal/developmental programming as well as post-breeding heifer management suggests nutrition can significantly impact not only reproductive capacity of the female, but long term growth and efficiency of her progeny. Therefore, developing appropriate nutritional programs for all phases of production is critical for the economic success and productivity of the beef operation for not only the current year, but for years to come.
Discovering novel oncogenic pathways and new therapies using zebrafish models of sarcoma.

Sarcoma is a type of cancer affecting connective, supportive, or soft tissue of mesenchymal origin. Despite rare incidence in adults (<1%), over 15% of pediatric cancers are sarcoma. Sadly, both adults and children with relapsed or metastatic disease have devastatingly high rates of mortality. Current treatment options for sarcoma include surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy; however, significant limitations exist with respect to the efficacy of these strategies. Strong impetus has been placed on the development of novel therapies and preclinical models for uncovering mechanisms involved in the development, progression, and therapy resistance of sarcoma. Over the past 15 years, the zebrafish has emerged as a powerful genetic model of human cancer. High genetic conservation when combined with a unique susceptibility to develop sarcoma has made the zebrafish an effective tool for studying these diseases. Transgenic and gene-activation strategies have been employed to develop zebrafish models of rhabdomyosarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors, Ewing's sarcoma, chordoma, hemangiosarcoma, and liposarcoma. These models all display remarkable molecular and histopathological conservation with their human cancer counterparts and have offered excellent platforms for understanding disease progression in vivo. Short tumor latency and the amenability of zebrafish for ex vivo manipulation, live imaging studies, and tumor cell transplantation have allowed for efficient study of sarcoma initiation, growth, self-renewal, and maintenance. When coupled with facile chemical genetic approaches, zebrafish models of sarcoma have provided a strong translational tool to uncover novel drug pathways and new therapeutic strategies.
Measurement of exhaled breath carbon monoxide in clinical practice: A study of levels in Central Pennsylvania community members.

Background and purpose Exhaled breath carbon monoxide (eBCO) reading is a useful tool for nurse practitioners to evaluate smoking status and other exposures to carbon monoxide (CO) to identify risk for cancer and chronic disease. This study aimed to measure one community's eBCO and identify potential environmental factors that may affect eBCO among nonsmokers. Methods Data collected by convenience sampling at community health events included self-reported tobacco use and potential CO exposure. Means and frequency calculations describe the sample, two-sided t-tests determine differences in continuous variables, and chi-square tests determine differences in frequencies of CO levels between nontobacco users exposed to additional CO from their environment and nontobacco users who were not. Conclusion As expected, smokers have significantly higher mean eBCO than nonsmokers (20.1 ppm vs. 4.4 ppm, p 6 ppm), although there were no environmental factors that explained a higher eBCO. Implications for practice Measuring eBCO provides an opportunity for the nurse practitioner to engage in a conversation about the impact of smoking and other environmental factors that contribute to eBCO and health. Keeping record of patients’ smoking status and eBCO in their medical record is a valuable measure of the nurse practitioner's delivery of this care.
Experimental Study on Seismically Resilient Two-Span Bridge Models Designed for Disassembly

ABSTRACTShake-table studies were conducted on a ¼-scale, 2-span bridge model incorporating a newly-developed concept of replaceable plastic hinges and columns that can be easily assembled and disassembled. The plastic hinges incorporate novel materials that mitigate column damage and permanent drift, allowing the bridge to undergo intense seismic shaking and remain operational when most conventional bridges would warrant demolition. Designed to be disassembled, the column components have the potential to be reused, which is intended to help mitigate the environmental impact from material extraction and manufacture. The concept feasibility was demonstrated by assembling, testing, and disassembling the same bridge model twice.
Multiset Model Selection

Model selection algorithms are required to efficiently traverse the space of models. In problems with high-dimensional and possibly correlated covariates, efficient exploration of the model space b...
Ureteropyeloscopy for Calculi

Improved flexible ureteroscopes and the holmium: YAG laser have improved our ability to access and treat intrarenal calculi. Current indications for the treatment of patients with renal calculi using flexible ureteroscopy include difficult to visualize stones, body habitus that precludes shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), bleeding diathesis, need for stone-free state, concomitant stricture or infundibular stenosis, and lower pole stones. However, flexible ureteroscopy can be used to treat any moderate sized renal calculi because of equivalent or superior stone-free rates compared with SWL. The use of ureteral access sheaths to facilitate removal of stone fragments, the holmium: YAG laser to fragment stones or incise an infundibulum or stricture, and nitinol baskets to displace lower pole stones or retrieve fragments has improved stone-free rates and reduced access failures. Lastly, selective use of post-ureteroscopy ureteral stents can potentially reduce the morbidity of ureteroscopic treatment of renal caculi.
An approach to analytical validation and testing of body fluid assays for the automated clinical laboratory

Abstract Background Biochemical analysis of body fluids may lend insight into the pathogenesis of disease. Most commercially-available clinical laboratory methods are intended for blood-derived specimens and/or urine and laboratories must characterize the analytical performance of these methods for other specimen types such as body fluids. The aim of this work is to demonstrate one approach for characterizing analytical performance of assays for clinical analysis of body fluids. Methods Residual waste samples were obtained from clinically ordered testing. Validation studies were performed for 8 chemistry analytes on Roche Cobas 6000 c501 (Roche Diagnostics, Inc.) analyzers. Accuracy, precision, analytical measurable range, reportable range, analytic sensitivity, interferences, analyte stability were assessed. Laboratory workflow for body fluid handling was designed based on results obtained. Results Sample matrix interferences were not observed for the body fluids tested and assay reportable ranges used for serum were validated for body fluids. Dilution of body fluid specimens with saline demonstrated non-linear recovery of some enzyme activities . Assay imprecision was comparable to the manufacturer's claims for serum. The serum index thresholds for interference from hemoglobin and lipemia were lower for body fluids compared to manufacturer's stated limits for serum. Pretreatment of body fluid samples with hyaluronidase caused a 28% false increase in lipase activity, and 13% increase in total protein concentration. Ambient temperature analyte stability in body fluids was ≤24 h for most analytes compared to manufacturer's stated stability of 7 days for serum. In contrast to serum, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was labile in frozen body fluid specimens. Conclusions Validation of analytical methods for body fluid testing is a necessary exercise to exclude potential matrix effects and set pre-analytic specimen quality criteria.
Development of a veteran engagement toolkit for researchers.

Aim Engaging patients in the planning, implementation and dissemination of research can increase the credibility and relevance of results and lead to higher quality, more patient-centered care. Veterans have unique experiences and healthcare needs, making their input on research related to their care particularly important. However, existing veteran engagement resources primarily focus on veterans who receive care through the Veterans Health Administration (VA). This excludes those veterans - the majority - who do not use the VA for healthcare. Methods To address this gap, we developed a veteran engagement toolkit that was informed by the work of both VA and non-VA researchers across the USA. Results The resulting toolkit provides guidance on essential engagement activities relevant to researchers in a variety of settings. Conclusion: Investigators wishing to engage the veteran community may benefit from the experience and lessons summarized in this veteran-informed toolkit, in addition to resources directed at informing community engagement more generally.
Uncorrelated healing response of tendon and ear injuries in MRL highlight a role for the local tendon environment in driving scarless healing.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Tendon tears are common injuries that heal with scar formation. Interestingly, MRL/MpJ mice heal without scar in several tissues, including tendon. Most hypotheses regarding scarle...
Geology of Icy Satellites

The geology of the major icy Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune is discussed and related to the four major processes that shape icy satellite surfaces: impact cratering, volcanism, tectonism, and interactions with planetary magnetospheres and solar radiation.
Erecting the Pipeline for Socially Responsible Physicians

The United States, rich in technology and extensive in health expenditures, has numerous pockets of patients that receive disparate health care. Much of this is a result of the undervaluing of primary care specialties, caused in part by the drift from medical professionalism. Aspects of professionalism including recognition and attention to civic engagement, pursuit of social justice and placing the needs of patients first, continually compete with the economic, prestige, and lifestyle incentives of the subspecialties.
Rate-compatible Low Density Parity Check Codes for Capacity-approaching ARQ Schemes in Packet Data Communications.

Strong rate-compatible codes is important to achieve high throughput in hybrid automatic repeat request with forward error correction (ARQ/FEC) systems in packet data transmission. This paper focuses on the construction of efficient rate-compatible low density parity check (RC-LDPC) codes over a wide rate range. The conventional approach of puncturing is first studied. Analysis on the code ensemble and the asymptotic performance shows that it works well only at high rates and only when the amount of puncturing is small. To extend the dynamic rate range, a special approach of extending is proposed and is shown to produce good RC-LDPC codes at low rates. Combining both approaches, efficient RC-LDPC codes are constructed and a hybrid ARQ/FEC system using RC-LDPC codes is evaluated. The proposed LDPC-ARQ system can achieve information rate about 1 dB away from the theoretical limit, which is comparable to turbo ARQ systems [1][2], yet with lower decoding complexity.
New Concepts on the Normal and Abnormal Developing Bladder

In the mid-1980s, a large number of children with myelomeningocele (MMC) were undergoing bladder augmentation for neurogenic bladder dysfunction leading to renal deterioration and incontinence. At that time, a small portion of the bladder was excised and submitted to pathology. We noted that pathology reports indicated “acute and chronic inflammation” but there was no mention of any other bladder wall abnormalities. This description did not explain the radiographic findings of trabeculation nor did it address the appearance of the bladder at cystoscopy or at the time of augmentation. On reviewing these bladders histologically, we noted that there was a significant increase in connective tissue and marked disruption of bladder muscle bundle formation by dense infiltrating collagen or extracellular matrix (ECM) protein.1 Some of the muscle cells appeared to be encased within collagen. These observations provided an explanation as to why these bladders develop significant problems with compliance and why they do not contract normally . We then embarked on investigations to determine when these bladder wall changes occurred since it was assumed at that time that the bladders were normal at birth and then deteriorated due to recurrent infection or hypercontractility and/or detrusor sphincter dyssynergia.
Radio Telemetric Determination of the 24-Hour Feeding Activities of Sea Otters, Enhydra lutris

Abstract Traditionally sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were considered to be diurnally active but some casual night time observations indicated that some nocturnal feeding may occur. Seven free ranging sea otters were fitted with radio tracking collars to determine their 24 h feeding activities near Monterey, California. The transmitters used were FM blocking oscillators which operated in the 164 MHz band. Sea otters in California rarely leave the water. By using this characteristic, their stereotyped feeding behavior, and the tendency for VHF transmissions to be highly attenuated in seawater, three surface behavior patterns were determined by the strength and consistency of the transmitted signal. These behaviors included inactivity, active but not feeding, and feeding. The results indicated that animals fed as much by night as by day (45 percent of all feeding was at night) and that they typically returned to the same feeding location during both phases. These data help explain how sea otters obtain sufficient food to sustain their uncommonly high metabolic rate.
A Comparison of Labor Supply Behavior among Single and Married Puerto Rican Mothers

When the U. S. Census figures from 1960 to 1980 showed an increased number of female-headed households among all ethnic/racial groups, economists assumed that other things being equal, the lack of a second, male wage-earner would motivate many single mothers to enter the labor force, and supply more labor than would otherwise be the case. Among white women, female heads of households with minor children are more likely to be in the labor force than married women with children who live with their spouse (Kamerman & Kahn, 1988). Paradoxically, among black and Puerto Rican female householders with minor children, participation rates since 1960 appear to have stayed well below those of their spouse-present counterparts (Tienda & Glass, 1985). The literature has not specified why headship status per se should cause some women to work more and other women to work less.
Understanding the Complexities of Chinese Word Acquisition within an Online Learning Platform.

Because Chinese reading and writing systems are not phonetic, Mandarin Chinese learners must construct six-way mental connections in order to learn new words, linking characters, meanings, and sounds. Little research has focused on the difficulties inherent to each specific component involved in this process, especially within digital learning environments. The present work examines Chinese word acquisition within ASSISTments, an online learning platform traditionally known for mathematics education. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which researchers manipulated a learning assignment to exclude one of three bi-directional connections thought to be required for Chinese language acquisition (i.e., sound-meaning and meaning-sound). Researchers then examined whether students’ performance differed significantly when the learning assignment lacked sound-character, character-meaning, or meaning-sound connection pairs, and whether certain problem types were more difficult for students than others. Assessment of problems by component type (i.e., characters, meanings, and sounds) revealed support for the relative ease of problems that provided sounds, with students exhibiting higher accuracy with fewer attempts and less need for system feedback when sounds were included. However, analysis revealed no significant differences in word acquisition by condition, as evidenced by next-day post-test scores or pre-to post-test gain scores. Implications and suggestions for future work are discussed.
SPACETIME PROPERTIES OF (1,0) STRING VACUA

We discuss one of the generic spacetime consequences of having (1,0) worldsheet supersymmetry in tachyon-free string theory, namely the appearance of a ``misaligned supersymmetry'' in the corresponding spacetime spectrum. Misaligned supersymmetry is a universal property of (1,0) string vacua which describes how the arrangement of bosonic and fermionic states at all string energy levels conspires to preserve finite string amplitudes, even in the absence of full spacetime supersymmetry. Misaligned supersymmetry also constrains the degree to which spacetime supersymmetry can be broken without breaking modular invariance, and is responsible for the vanishing of various mass supertraces evaluated over the infinite string spectrum. [Talk delivered at Strings '95, based on material drawn from hep-th/9402006 and hep-th/9409114. To appear in Proceedings.]
Automated Essay Scoring with Discourse-Aware Neural Models.

Automated essay scoring systems typically rely on hand-crafted features to predict essay quality, but such systems are limited by the cost of feature engineering. Neural networks offer an alternative to feature engineering, but they typically require more annotated data. This paper explores network structures, contextualized embeddings and pre-training strategies aimed at capturing discourse characteristics of essays. Experiments on three essay scoring tasks show benefits from all three strategies in different combinations, with simpler architectures being more effective when less training data is available.
miR-98 reduces endothelial dysfunction by protecting blood–brain barrier (BBB) and improves neurological outcomes in mouse ischemia/reperfusion stroke model:

Most neurological diseases, including stroke, lead to some degree of blood–brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction. A significant portion of BBB injury is caused by inflammation, due to pro-inflammatory fa...
Parotid Gland Enlargement in Acromegaly: A Case Report of This Rare Finding.

We report a case that shows the pathognomonic orofacial features identified with acromegaly. Unilateral parotid gland enlargement was also present. Our investigation showed that the parotid gland swelling was non-neoplastic and part of the organomegaly complex associated with acromegaly. Parotidomegaly represents a very rare finding in acromegaly.
Local microstructure and micromechanical stress evolution during deformation twinning in hexagonal polycrystals

Deformation twinning is a prevalent plastic deformation mode in hexagonal close-packed (HCP) materials, such as magnesium, titanium, and zirconium, and their alloys. Experimental observations indicate that these twins occur heterogeneously across the polycrystalline microstructure during deformation. Morphological and crystallographic distribution of twins in a deformed microstructure, or the so-called twinning microstructure, significantly controls material deformation behavior, ductility, formability, and failure response. Understanding the development of the twinning microstructure at the grain scale can benefit design efforts to optimize microstructures of HCP materials for specific high-performance structural applications. This article reviews recent research efforts that aim to relate the polycrystalline microstructure with the development of its twinning microstructure through knowledge of local stress fields, specifically local stresses produced by twins and at twin/grain–boundary intersections on the formation and thickening of twins, twin transmission across grain boundaries, twin–twin junction formation, and secondary twinning.
Chronic Tenosynovitis of the Upper Extremities Caused by Mycobacterium kansasii : A Clinical Case and Systematic Review of Literature.

Background Chronic tenosynovitis of the upper extremities caused by Mycobacterium kansasii (M. kansasii) is uncommon, but symptoms may overlap with other more common diseases. Late diagnosis and treatment can lead to disfiguration of structures and rupture of tendons, resulting in worse cosmetic outcomes after reconstruction. Methods We present a clinical case and literature review of M. kansasii in patients with chronic tenosynovitis of upper extremities. PubMed was queried for cases of upper extremities tenosynovitis caused by M. kansasii. The keywords “M. kansasii,” “tenosynovitis” and synonyms were used for search in different combinations. Manuscripts, with no specific data or another condition, where the infection was not located in the upper extremities, were reviews, or not in English, were excluded from the study. Results We described 23 reported cases of tenosynovitis of the upper extremity caused by M. kansasii. An immunosuppressed state was present in eight (34.8%) cases, and 12 (52.2%) patients received immunosuppressive treatment. A long-time period between the first appearance of symptoms and the definitive diagnosis was identified (median: 7 months, interquartile range: 9). The most frequent symptoms were local swelling (65.2%), pain (56.5%), mass effect (26%), and stiffness (13%). Tendon rupture was found in three (13%) patients as a complication of the disease. Moreover, seven (30.4%) patients underwent previous surgeries to try to relieve the symptoms before definitive diagnosis was achieved. Conclusion M. kansasii is an important differential causal pathogen for tenosynovitis of the upper extremities. Although rare, raising awareness about this infectious disease is imperative to avoid inadequate management and hazardous aesthetic sequelae.
A Multi-purpose Model Driven Platform for Contingency Planning and Shaping Response Measures

Effective emergency response requires situational awareness and preplanning for various contingencies inherent to the catastrophe; may it be a natural disaster or man-made crisis situation. Model Driven Software Engineering has contributed to the domain of contingency planning and response in a befitting manner by providing generic and scalable models, simulating emergency scenarios, in order to enhance the skills of responders. However, a thorough literature review identified that a comprehensive, intelligent and repository based model for planning of various contingencies inherent to the emergency situation is a mile stone to be achieved. Accepting the challenge, Interactive Contingency environment creation and Response Planning System (CRIPS) is proposed, which is a model driven platform/framework and facilitates a crisis manager to create a virtual emergency environment with its diverse ingredients and shaping an effective response actions to cater it. A multi perspective feedback mechanism and centrally administered picture board, which are the essential components of any response planning system, have also been incorporated. In addition, intelligent rater and repository concepts are introduced to rate the planning of crisis manager and save this whole contingency environment for analysis and self-learning of model, making it distinctive to the previous researches. The outcome of this research is a comprehensive meta-model, which can be further extended for model based development of an effective contingency and emergency response planning system. The validity of proposed meta-model is demonstrated through a real world case study of terrorists attack on Army Public School (APS) Peshawar/Pakistan. The results prove that proposed model is capable of modeling simple as well as complex scenarios and allows a crisis manager to effectively model a response in order to deter the catastrophic effects.
Analysis of the Most Commonly Encountered Diagnoses in Academic Dermatopathology

: The number of skin biopsies has increased over the last three decades, but benchmarks based on the number of biopsies required to capture skin cancers are lacking. To determine the most common dermatopathology diagnoses, reports of all 85,785 dermatopathology specimens examined in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Florida from January 2017 to December 2017 were reviewed. 78,353 non-excisional specimens were evaluated for diagnosis. 7,432 excisional specimens consisting of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), melanoma, and dysplastic nevi were evaluated for residual tumor and marginal status. The fifteen most common diagnoses accounted for 84% of all biopsies, and an additional 30 entities accounted for 12% of all biopsies. The remaining 4% of cases were composed of only 206 diagnoses. This pattern reflects current dermatology practice in the United States, wherein the 20 most commonly encountered diseases account for 85.4% of all diagnoses made by dermatologists. Among the total number of biopsies, 90.7% of specimens were neoplasms and 9.3% were inflammatory or infectious disorders. Uncommon (4%) and inflammatory or infectious (9.3%) disorders comprise a small minority of academic dermatopathology, with implications for resident and fellowship training.
Performance of a Method to Standardize Breast Ultrasound Interpretation Using Image Processing and Case-Based Reasoning

Our computer-aided diagnostic (CADx) tool uses advanced image processing and artificial intelligence to analyze findings on breast sonography images. The goal is to standardize reporting of such findings using well-defined descriptors and to improve accuracy and reproducibility of interpretation of breast ultrasound by radiologists. This study examined several factors that may impact accuracy and reproducibility of the CADx software, which proved to be highly accurate and stabile over several operating conditions.
Exposure to Common Geographic COVID-19 Prevalence Maps and Public Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Behavioral Intentions.

This survey study examines knowledge, risk perceptions, and behavioral intentions among survey respondents exposed to different types of COVID-19 prevalence maps.
Cessation classification likelihood increases with higher expired-air carbon monoxide cutoffs: a meta-analysis

Abstract Background Expired-air carbon monoxide (CO) is commonly used to biochemically verify smoking status. The CO cutoff and CO monitor brand may affect the probability of classifying smokers as abstinent, thus influencing conclusions about the efficacy of cessation trials. No systematic reviews have tested this hypothesis. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis examining whether the likelihood of smoking cessation classification varied due to CO cutoff and monitor brand. Methods Eligible studies (k = 122) longitudinally assessed CO-verified cessation in adult smokers in randomized trials. Primary meta-regressions separately assessed differences in quit classification likelihood due to continuous and categorical CO cutoffs (Low, 3−4 parts per million [ppm]; [SRNT] Recommended, 5−6 ppm; Moderate, 7−8 ppm; and High, 9−10 ppm); exploratory analyses compared likelihood outcomes between monitor brands: Bedfont and Vitalograph. Results The likelihood of quit classification increased 18% with each 1 ppm increase above the lowest cutoff (3 ppm). Odds of classification as quit significantly increased between each cutoff category and High: 261% increase from Low; 162% increase from Recommended; and 150% increase from Moderate. There were no differences in cessation classification between monitor brands. Conclusions As expected, higher CO cutoffs were associated with greater likelihood of cessation classification. The lack of CO monitor brand differences may have been due to model-level variance not able to be followed up in the present dataset. Researchers are advised to report outcomes using a range of cutoffs—including the recommended range (5−6 ppm)—and the CO monitor brand/model used. Using higher CO cutoffs significantly increases likelihood of quit classification, possibly artificially elevating treatment strategies.
Mathematically Rigorous Global Optimization and Fuzzy Optimization

Mathematically rigorous global optimization and fuzzy optimization have different philosophical underpinnings, goals, and applications. However, some of the tools used in implementations are similar or identical. We review, compare and contrast basic ideas and applications behind these areas, referring to some of the work in the very large literature base.
Effects of chronic exposure to low levels of IR on Medaka (Oryzias latipes): a proteomic and bioinformatic approach.

PURPOSE Chronic exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) at low doses (<100 mGy) has been insufficiently studied to understand fully the risk to health. Relatively little knowledge exists regarding how species and healthy tissues respond at the protein level to chronic exposure to low doses of IR, and mass spectrometric-based profiling of protein expression is a powerful tool for studying changes in protein abundance. MATERIALS AND METHODS SDS gel electrophoresis, LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry-based approaches and bioinformatic data analytics were used to detect proteomic changes following chronic exposure to moderate/low doses of radiation in adults and normally developed Medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). RESULTS Significant variations in the abundance of proteins involved in thyroid hormone signaling and lipid metabolism were detected, which could be related to the gonadal regression phenotype observed after 21.04 mGy and 204.3 mGy/day exposure. The global proteomic change was towards overexpression of proteins in muscle and skin, while the opposite effect was observed in internal organs. CONCLUSION The present study provides information on the impacts of biologically relevant low doses of IR, which will be useful in future research for the identification of potential biomarkers of IR exposure and allow for a better assessment of radiation biosafety regulations.
Logical Empiricism: Assumptions, Language, Activities, Products, Goal, and Theory Creation

Logical empiricism is the philosophical thought most often utilized in scholarly marketing research. But what is it? To answer the question in a simple manner, this paper summarizes the assumptions, language, activities, products, goal, and theory construction process of logical empiricism based on popular thoughts in the existing marketing and social science literatures. A framework for logical empiricism theory building is provided to guide future research.
Intelligent day trading agent: a natural language processing approach to financial information analysis

Traders with immediate access to real-time news services (such as Dow Jones News Wire, Bloomberg News Service) constantly monitor and track financial news that is expected to have a significant impact on stock prices. A precondition for successful news-based trading is fast and accurate analysis of the news content. However, manually identifying relevant newswire articles and performing human analysis on the selected news items within a reasonable timeframe represents a daunting task due to the fact that traders face large amounts of financial news releases and reports throughout the trading hours. This research seeks to develop a prototype trading system that automates the procedure of news tracking and analysis. The design of our system adopts an integrated approach using a variety of natural language processing (NLP) techniques to extract the relevant information from merger and acquisition news announcements and generate trading signals based on a set of predefined rules. First, a learning algorithm is employed to identify and classify merger-and-acquisition-related newswire articles from Dow Jones News Wire database. Then the selected news texts are run through an Information Extraction system that performs in sequence the individual tasks of preprocessing, name entity recognition and semantic analysis. Finally, by simulating human-like analysis of all the collected informational elements, the system produces a trading signal by following the simple rule of “buying the target firm and shorting the acquiring firm”. The core of our system is built with hand-crafted rules that are obtained through an iterative training process. Following the Knowledge Engineering approach enables us to achieve a high level of system performance, which is critical to the practical application of automated trading systems. Our system reports a precision rate of 98.3% and high scores in other performance measurements as well. Further empirical evidence is obtained through an event study to lend support to the hypothesis that our prototype system is capable of capturing a small portion of the post-announcement stock price movement despite the fact that the bulk of the price reaction is completed within the first few trades.
Migration and Homing of Marine Invertebrates: A Potpourri of Strategies

Marine invertebrates have a diversity of behavioral strategies for finding and remaining in a suitable habitat. The cases considered here on a comparative basis include vertical migration of Zooplankton, the homing of talitrid amphipods (Orchestoidea), and the tidal migrations of a burrowing crab (Emerita) and a tiny amphipod (Synchelidium). The behavioral mechanisms and sensory systems underlying these performances vary with the ecologic situation, and range from simple phototaxis (plankton), straightforward geotaxis (plankton; Emerita; Synchelidium), and thigmotaxis (Orchestoidea in sea water); through finely tuned responses to hydrostatic pressure (Emerita; Synchelidium) and critically timed reversals of phototaxis (Synchelidium); to time-compensated celestial orientation (both sun and moon) and visual recognition of form (Orchestoidea).
Chapter 11. Antithrombotic and Anti-Inflammatory Agents of The Protein C Anticoagulant Pathway

Publisher Summary Thrombosis plays a key role in a number of disease processes, including stroke and inflammation, and is a major complication of the atherosclerotic process, resulting in myocardial infarction. The chapter describes the therapeutic potentials and issues/challenges in the development of anti-thrombotics from the protein C anti-coagulant pathway— namely recombinant protein C, protein S, and soluble thrombomodulin. The protein C anti-coagulant pathway plays a key role in maintaining normal hemostasis. The major physiological enzyme complex that converts protein C to its active form is thrombin in complex, with an endothelial surface membrane protein, thrombomodulin. Homeostasis of blood depends on an intricate balance, between the procoagulant and anticoagulation factors. The importance of the protein C pathway is demonstrated by homozygous protein C deficient individuals suffer life threatening neonatal purpura fulminans. Activated protein C is efficacious in venous thrombosis models in the dog and nonhuman primate models. Protein C levels are depressed in patients, suffering from meningococcemia, especially for those that developed purpura fulminans. The mortality rate for patients, suffering from meningacoccemia, with purpura fulminans, is over 50%. The plasma-derived protein C is used to treat four patients, with severe meningococcal sepsis, with purpura fulminans, and a patient, with gram positive sepsis, with purpura fulminans, and associated disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Robust optimal control for the maximization of design space

A commonly applied procedure in the pharmaceutical industry is to determine the maximum allowable set of uncertain parameters—called the design space—that guarantees that the product quality attributes obtained by a manufacturing process are within the specific limits. Design spaces in industry are constructed without considering the effects of process dynamics or feedback control, which results in design spaces that poorly characterize the real operations. This paper presented approaches for determining the design space for a dynamic state-space model with linear fractional uncertainties and for synthesizing a linear feedback control law for a set of ellipsoidal quality attributes by using invariant set theory. The proposed method is illustrated in a simulation example.
Rapid on/off cycling of cytokine production by virus-specific CD8 + T cells

CD8-positive T cells protect the body against viral pathogens by two important mechanisms: production of antiviral cytokines1,2 and lysis of infected cells3,4. Cytokine production can have both local and systemic consequences5,6, whereas cytolytic activity is limited to infected cells that are in direct contact with T cells7,8,9. Here we analyse activated CD8-positive T cells from mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and find that cytokines are not produced ex vivo in the absence of peptide stimulation, but that they are rapidly generated after T cells encounter viral peptides bound to the major histocompatibility complex. Remarkably, cytokine production ceases immediately upon dissociation of the T cells from their targets and resumes when antigenic contact is restored. In contrast to the ‘on/off/on’ cycling of cytokines, the pore-forming cytotoxic protein perforin is constitutively maintained. Our results indicate that there is differential expression of effector molecules according to whether the antiviral product is secreted (like cytokines) or stored inside the cell (like perforin). The ability to turn cytokines on and off while maintaining intracellular stores of perforin shows the versatility of the cellular immune response and provides a mechanism for maintaining effective immune surveillance while reducing systemic immunopathology.
Some Clitic Combinations in the Syntax of Romance

The purpose of this paper is to account for certain gaps in the syntactic distribution of certain combinations of clitics in varieties of Aragonese, Catalan, Occitan and Spanish. A view in which ordering of clitics is only determined by templates is insufficient since templates enter into play after the syntactic component, either in the morphology or in some other post-syntactic component. The alternative I propose is to assume that the ordering of clitic combinations can be done in the syntax, as anticipated by Kayne (1994) and Terzi (1999). I will specifically propose that some of the anomalies involve clitic combinations that are actually non-constituents (split clitics) while in others one element is not actually a clitic but an element with a different morphological status or weak pronominals as in Cardinaletti and Starke (1999).
Basic Concepts in Probability

Probability deals with the likelihood of occurrence of events. This chapter reviews the basic probability concepts and introduces the terms and notations that will be used in the remainder of the book.
Abstract 4554: Downstream effects of rigosertib (ON 01910.Na) in cancer cells involves impairment of protein translation via eIF2 and eIF4

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Purpose: Rigosertib, a novel synthetic styryl benzyl sulfone, is cytotoxic against a variety of human tumor cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Significantly, rigosertib is currently being tested in a randomized phase III clinical trial in patients with higher risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who have failed treatment with hypomethylating agents. Previous studies have shown that rigosertib interacts with both the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and polo-like kinase (PLK1) pathways. Because these pathways can affect several cellular functions, we used a combination of unbiased global proteomics and interactomics approaches to assemble a rigosertib target profile. Here, we confirm and elaborate the pathways modulated by rigosertib. Experimental Design: Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based proteomics was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins in HeLa cells with and without 8 hours of treatment with 10 μM rigosertib. In addition, rigosertib protein interaction (interactomics) studies were performed to validate the proteomics observations. Results: Using a combination of SILAC and subcellular fractionation we were able to quantify more than 1500 proteins, among which 125 were significantly altered by rigosertib treatment. Quantified proteins were selected and clustered by biological function. We performed pathway and network analysis using Ingenuity® Systems computational pathway analysis. The pathways that were identified at statistically significant levels (p < 0.05) were eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF2) signaling, eIF4 signaling and nuclear erythroid factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated oxidative stress response. In total, 19 proteins were down-regulated and 2 proteins were up-regulated in the eIF2 signaling pathway, suggesting that rigosertib represses protein translation in tumor cells. These observations have been noted in other experimental systems using different experimental approaches. To validate these findings and to determine extent of interaction of these proteins with rigosertib, we used drug affinity pull-down followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis to confirm that rigosertib interacts with eIF2 and eIF4 via Raf and p70S6K, respectively. Conclusions: Collectively, these results demonstrate that a terminal effect of rigosertib in cancer cells is the inhibition of protein translation mediated by eIF2 and eIF4. Citation Format: Salim Merali, Oscar Perez-Leal, Carlos Barrero. Downstream effects of rigosertib (ON 01910.Na) in cancer cells involves impairment of protein translation via eIF2 and eIF4. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4554. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4554
WHY REWARDS ARE BETTER THAN SANCTIONS

Sanctions are said to fail because of the “rally-round-the-flag effect”. This is the main reason why many advocate the use of positive incentives as a viable alternative. Not only do rewards provoke no defensive reaction, but they may elicit a rally in support of compliance – a “fifth-column effect.” Yet, positive incentives are vulnerable to extortion – doing wrong in the hope of obtaining larger rewards. As a result, many conjecture that sanction threats and promises of reward are most efficient when used simultaneously. We put this conjecture to a test, staging a formal confrontation of the two forms of incentives. Our model pits a sanctioner and a target in a game allowing for the possibility of rally-round-the-flag, fifth-column, and extortion effects. The game yields unambiguous results: under no circumstances should a sanctioner prefer sanction threats to reward promises. This result holds despite the risk of extortion, a risk that proves to be less of a drawback than the rally round the flag.
On the Cohomology of Modular Lie Algebras

In this paper we establish a connection between the cohomology of a modular Lie algebra and its p-envelopes. We also compute the cohomology of Zassenhaus algebras and their minimal p-envelopes with coefficients in generalized baby Verma modules and in simple modules over fields of characteristic p > 2.