cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Novel Preclinical Strategy for Identifying Cardiotoxic Kinase Inhibitors and Mechanisms of Cardiotoxicity

Rationale: Despite intense interest in strategies to predict which kinase inhibitor (KI) cancer therapeutics may be associated with cardiotoxicity, current approaches are inadequate. Sorafenib is a KI of concern because it inhibits growth factor receptors and Raf-1/B-Raf, kinases that are upstream of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) and signal cardiomyocyte survival in the setting of stress. Objectives: To explore the potential use of zebrafish as a preclinical model to predict cardiotoxicity and to determine whether sorafenib has associated cardiotoxicity, and, if so, define the mechanisms. Methods and Results: We find that the zebrafish model is readily able to discriminate a KI with little or no cardiotoxicity (gefitinib) from one with demonstrated cardiotoxicity (sunitinib). Sorafenib, like sunitinib, leads to cardiomyocyte apoptosis, a reduction in total myocyte number per heart, contractile dysfunction, and ventricular dilatation in zebrafish. In cultured rat cardiomyocytes, sorafenib induces cell death. This can be rescued by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of constitutively active MEK1, which restores ERK activity even in the presence of sorafenib. Whereas growth factor–induced activation of ERKs requires Raf, α-adrenergic agonist-induced activation of ERKs does not require it. Consequently, activation of α-adrenergic signaling markedly decreases sorafenib-induced cell death. Consistent with these in vitro data, inhibition of α-adrenergic signaling with the receptor antagonist prazosin worsens sorafenib-induced cardiomyopathy in zebrafish. Conclusions: Zebrafish may be a valuable preclinical tool to predict cardiotoxicity. The α-adrenergic signaling pathway is an important modulator of sorafenib cardiotoxicity in vitro and in vivo and appears to act through a here-to-fore unrecognized signaling pathway downstream of α-adrenergic activation that bypasses Raf to activate ERKs. # Novelty and Significance {#article-title-31}
Quantifying the Value of In-house Consultation in Surgical Pathology

In-house consultation is a well-known method to improve diagnostic accuracy and agreement, but the technique has not been well studied. We reviewed the results of in-house consultation in a large private hospital practice setting for a 1-month period and determined its effect on diagnostic accuracy using the final sign-out as the "gold standard." During this 1-month period, 352 cases were reviewed as in-house consultations. Initial complete agreement was found in 315 (89.5%) cases. Using the initial diagnosis as the test case and the final sign-out as the gold standard, of the 37 discrepant cases, 4 (1.1%) were thought to represent false-negative results, (0.3%) a false-positive result, 3 (0.9%) differences in type, and 29 (8.2%) differences in diagnostic threshold. Disagreements in 10 cases were thought to be potentially clinically significant. Internal consultation was obtained on approximately 20% of all cases seen in the laboratory and disagreements were found in 2% of all cases. Internal consultation has a significant and measurable impact on the practice of surgical pathology.
Unsupervised Focus Group Identification from Online Product Reviews

Technology products and software undergo large pre-release testing which is restricted to selected customers called a focus group. Acquiring feedback from these customers provides valuable information about the potential acceptance of the product in the market. Currently, these groups are formed either by manual or random selection or by out-sourcing, which incurs a substantial cost. However, automatic identification of these customers not only saves human effort in terms of money and time but can also help in obtaining useful feedback from fewer, effective representatives. This paper makes the first attempt at identifying these focus group members automatically through the analysis of online product reviews, posted by various consumers. We propose a novel probabilistic framework for focus group identification in an unsupervised setting and illustrate the efficacy of our approach on a dataset of 1.2 million reviews collected from Amazon.
The role of organizational culture in the management of clinical e-health systems

The research here presented focuses upon the informal, social, and cultural side of managerial coordination and control as manifested in clinical e-health systems. Specifically, the research seeks to analyze and determine the role specific dimensions of organizational culture may have upon effective managerial coordination and control in clinical e-health systems.
Transport Properties of the "Excitonic Insulator": Electrical Conductivity

The dc conductivity of the "excitonic insulator" recently discussed in the literature is calculated in the semimetallic region. The calculations are based on recent work on the description of the excitonic phase in the presence of impurities. It is shown that the conductivity decreases below the transition temperature to the excitonic state. For low impurity concentrations the system acquires insulating properties. For higher impurity concentrations the conductivity is still nonzero at $T=0$. Thus, metallic properties prevail in the excitonic phase. It is pointed out that this behavior depends essentially on the form of the excitation spectrum of the system, i.e., the presence or absence of a gap. At the transition temperature the conductivity-versus-temperature curve has a finite slope.
DX-9065a inhibition of factor Xa and the prothrombinase complex: mechanism of inhibition and comparison with therapeutic heparins

Summary Factor Xa (fXa) is the key enzyme of the prothrombinase complex that generates thrombin hence it is a good target for antithrombotic therapy. Here, the anti-fXa and anti-prothrombinase activities of DX-9065a which is an active-site directed inhibitor of fXa, and therapeutic heparins which are dependent on antithrombin (AT) for their anticoagulant function, were studied in amidolytic and proteolytic activity assays. It was found that DX-9065a is a competitive inhibitor of the Spectrozyme FXa (SpFXa) cleavage by both fXa and prothrom-binase with similar Ki values of ~10-20 nM.However, DX-9065a acted as a non-competitive inhibitor of prothrombin activation by prothrombinase with a Ki of ~26 nM. On the other hand, therapeutic heparins were effective catalysts of both fXa and prothrombinase inhibition by AT in the presence of SpFXa, but were ineffective in the presence of prothrombin. Further studies revealed that Tyr99, a residue in the extended S2-S4 binding pocket of fXa, plays a key role in determination of specificity of the DX-9065a interaction.
A GABAergic projection from the pretectum to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in the cat

To study the projection from the pretectum to the lateral geniculate nucleus, we placed wheat-germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase into the lateral geniculate nuclei of six cats, allowed this marker to be retrogradely transported by afferent axons to their parent somata in the pretectum, and revealed the label in these cells with stabilized tetramethylbenzidine histochemistry. In three cases we made large pressure injections that completely infiltrated the lateral geniculate nucleus and extended into neighboring thalamic nuclei; in the other three we made smaller iontophoretic injections largely confined to the A- and C-laminae of the lateral geniculate nucleus. In both types of injection we found labeled pretectal cells mainly in the nucleus of the optic tract but also found some cells labeled in the olivary pretectal nucleus and the posterior pretectal nucleus. After one of the larger injections we analysed both sides of the pretectum and found that 11% of the labeled cells were located contralaterally and were distributed in the same three nuclei. We analysed only the ipsilateral side in the remaining five cats. In those five experiments we also immunohistochemically stained the pretectal sections with an antibody directed against the neurotransmitter, GABA. Of the retrogradely labeled pretectal cells, 40% were also labeled for GABA, and those were similar in soma size (350 microns 2 in cross-sectional area) to those labeled only with the retrograde marker (331 microns 2). GABA-positive cells not labeled by retrograde transport were smaller (246 microns 2) than either of these other cells populations. These results indicate that at least 40% of the cells involved in the projection from the pretectum to the lateral geniculate nucleus are GABAergic. We suggest that this extrathalamic projection may serve to inhibit thalamic GABAergic cells. This, in turn, would disinhibit geniculate relay cells, thereby facilitating the geniculate relay of retinal information to cortex.
Margin re‐excision and local recurrence in invasive breast cancer: A cost analysis using a decision tree model

Background SSO-ASTRO recently published guidelines defining adequate margins in breast conservation therapy (BCT) as no tumor on ink based on studies demonstrating little difference in local recurrence (LR) with wider margins. We hypothesize that not routinely re-excising close margins results in decreased costs without compromising care. Methods A decision tree model was developed for the management of margins after BCT for invasive cancer. Patients were compared among three margin status groups: positive, close (≤2 mm) and negative (>2 mm). Ten publications provided re-excision rates (RER) and LR rates. The model assumed 140,000 BCT/year. Sensitivity analyses determined the most cost-effective strategy. Surgical costs were estimated using 2013 Medicare reimbursement rates. Results Re-excising close margins was significantly more costly than the alternative, $233.1 million versus $214.3 million, per year in the United States. Total surgical cost was most sensitive to re-excision of close margins—increasing the RER from 0% to 100% resulted in an $18.8 million cost difference. Conclusions The strategy of re-excising close margins resulted in a predicted cost of $18.8 million per year. This does not include hospital costs, the cost of surgical complications after re-excision, and underestimates the potential savings by using Medicare reimbursement rates. J. Surg. Oncol. 2015; 112:443–448. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Adenylyl Cyclase–A-kinase Anchoring Protein Complexes: The Next Dimension in cAMP Signaling

The formation of multiprotein complexes is a repeated theme in biology ranging from the regulation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and cAMP signaling pathways to the formation of postsynaptic density complexes or tight junctions. A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) are well known for their ability to scaffold protein kinase A and components upstream and downstream of cAMP production, including G protein-coupled receptors, cAMP-dependent Rap-exchange factors, and phosphodiesterases. Specific adenylyl cyclase (AC) isoforms have also been identified as components of AKAP complexes, namely AKAP79, Yotiao, and mAKAP. In this review, we summarize recent evidence for AC-AKAP complexes and requirements for compartmentalization of cAMP signaling. The ability of AKAPs to assemble intricate feedback loops to control spatiotemporal aspects of cAMP signaling adds yet another dimension to the classic cAMP pathway.
Optimisation of a generalised square-law detector

An interference improvement factor (IIF) is derived for a generalised square-law detector utilised for a radar application. This factor, which is a ratio of two quadratic forms, incorporates the effects of antenna beam shape as the radar beam scans over the target, interference due to receiver noise plus clutter and the target Doppler frequency. The IIF can be maximised to improve target detectability via eigenvalue, eigenvector techniques so that the optimal weights to be applied by a weighted integrator following the square-law device can be determined for an N-pulse batch. Numerical results are presented for a sea surveillance application.
Leveraging Information Technology to Improve Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases

When the internet emerged to prominence in the 1990s, websites accessed from computers were mostly static and displayed information that was collected and updated at given points in time. Two decades later, mobile phones and other devices codominate the information technology (IT) space, and websites and other tools are dynamic systems that intensively incorporate instantaneous interaction among people. Individuals now use text messaging on basic mobile phones to negotiate market prices for agricultural products and social networking on advanced smartphones to coordinate mass political protests. We argue that the impact of IT in NTD control will not be fully realized without IT tools designed to enable dynamic human interaction and real-time information exchange. In NTD control efforts, the use of IT primarily relies on computers and focuses on two areas: epidemiology and advocacy (see Table 1). Several webbased atlases and databases display the epidemiology of particular NTDs or subgroups of NTDs, often using global or country-level maps. Multiple websites raise the profile of NTDs by incorporating images, displaying key figures and information, and listing the major organizations involved in NTD control. The major deficiency in this use of IT is the primary focus on static information displays through websites, reminiscent of the 1990s’ IT approach. However, recent innovations in the broader IT community (see Table 2) may reveal IT-based solutions capable of addressing two central challenges in NTD control: service delivery and research.
Microcredit Under the Microscope: What Have We Learned in the Past Two Decades, and What Do We Need to Know?

Research on microcredit is now two decades old. There has been enormous progress in understanding both what microcredit does and how. Yet a lot of what we have learned has raised new and often quite fundamental questions about its nature: Is microcredit primarily about investment, consumption, or savings? Why is it that the investments financed by microcredit do not always lead to income growth, and does this have to do with the structure of microlending? What are the roles of social capital, reputation, and group lending? This article attempts to take stock of this significant body of work and tries to identify the most important questions for future research.
A Redox-Based Mechanism for Cardioprotection Induced by Ischemic Preconditioning in Perfused Rat Heart

Recent studies have suggested that mild redox alterations can regulate cell function. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that alteration in the thiol redox state might be responsible for the cardioprotective effects conferred by ischemic preconditioning in the perfused rat heart. We find that preconditioning with four 5-minute periods of ischemia, each separated by 5 minutes of reflow, is associated with a significant loss of glutathione (3.98 +/- 0.32 mumol/g dry wt, n = 8) compared with no preconditioning (6.38 +/- 0.24 mumol/g dry wt, n = 14). We further find that the addition of N-acetylcysteine (NAC, a glutathione precursor and antioxidant) during the preconditioning protocol not only blocks the loss of glutathione (5.60 +/- 0.31 mumol/g dry wt, n = 9) but also blocks the protective effects of preconditioning. It is observed that after 20 minutes of ischemia followed by 20 minutes of reflow, untreated hearts recover 38 +/- 7% (n = 5) of their initial preischemic contractile function, whereas preconditioned hearts recover 91 +/- 11% (n = 7). Hearts preconditioned in the presence of NAC recover 24 +/- 3% (n = 7) of their preischemic function. Similarly, the addition of NAC reverses the protective effect of preconditioning on creatine kinase release. On reflow after 60 minutes of ischemia, creatine kinase release from control hearts was 271 +/- 20 IU.20 min-1.g dry wt-1 (n = 5), whereas preconditioned hearts release only 170 +/- 26 IU.20 min-1.g dry wt-1 (n = 6), and hearts preconditioned in the presence of NAC release 361 +/- 30 IU.20 min-1.g dry wt-1 (n = 5). We also find that hearts preconditioned in the presence of NAC have less attenuation of the decline in pHi than hearts preconditioned in the absence of drug. Thus, a redox-sensitive mechanism may be involved in the protection afforded by ischemic preconditioning.
The Consumption Culture and Its Critiques: A Framework for Analysis:

A framework is proposed for analyzing the consumption culture, including its micro/personal and macrolexternal covariates and critiques. Two main questions emerge: (1) Are goods assigned excess meaning, such that their pursuit distracts an individual from achieving true meaning in life? (2) Does the consumption culture destroy collective values and detract from issues in the public domain?
Flow cytometric DNA content analysis of paraffin block embedded endometrial carcinomas.

Abstract Flow cytometry is being used as an aid in planning the treatment of patients with various malignancies. We report our experience with DNA content analysis on paraffin-embedded carcinomas. Hospital, radiation therapy, clinic, and pathology records were reviewed in 139 cases of endometrial carcinoma diagnosed between December 1980 and December 1986. Patients having Stage IV tumors, endometrial sarcomas, dual primary tumors, or incomplete records were eliminated from the analysis, which left 98 evaluable patients. This report outlines our experience with the first 20 patients. Five of 20 (25%) specimens demonstrated DNA content consistent with aneuploidy, median coefficient of variance of 5.3%. The median survival time of these five patients is 55 months, with three dying of cancer and one patient dying of other causes but with metastatic disease. The median %S phase was 3.7% in the 15 patients comprising the DNA content diploid population, median coefficient of variance 5.4%. No patient whose tumor showed S-phase cells below 3.7% died of endometrial cancer. Four of 7 patients developed recurrent cancer with 3 of the 4 patients dying of disease in the high %5 phase group. The median patients survival time in the DNA content diploid population was 73 (range: 17–98) months. Patients with 3.7% or below S-phase cells had a median survival time of 75 (range: 40–98) months whereas the median survival time was 48 (range: 17–89) months for patients having a %S phase fraction above 3.7%. Although the number of patients studied is small, it appears that DNA content aneuploid tumors are frequently “upstaged” at surgery. These patients may not benefit from preoperative irradiation. Accurate determination of the %S phase fraction in DNA content diploid tumors may possibly identify patients with a poorer prognosis who may benefit from adjuvant therapy.
Ankyrin-G Coordinates Intercalated Disc Signaling Platform to Regulate Cardiac Excitability In Vivo

Rationale: Na v 1.5 ( SCN5A ) is the primary cardiac voltage-gated Na v channel. Na v 1.5 is critical for cardiac excitability and conduction, and human SCN5A mutations cause sinus node dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, conductional abnormalities, and ventricular arrhythmias. Further, defects in Na v 1.5 regulation are linked with malignant arrhythmias associated with human heart failure. Consequently, therapies to target select Na v 1.5 properties have remained at the forefront of cardiovascular medicine. However, despite years of investigation, the fundamental pathways governing Na v 1.5 membrane targeting, assembly, and regulation are still largely undefined. Objective: Define the in vivo mechanisms underlying Na v 1.5 membrane regulation. Methods and Results: Here, we define the molecular basis of an Na v channel regulatory platform in heart. Using new cardiac-selective ankyrin-G -/- mice (conditional knock-out mouse), we report that ankyrin-G targets Na v 1.5 and its regulatory protein calcium/calmodulin–dependent kinase II to the intercalated disc. Mechanistically, β IV -spectrin is requisite for ankyrin-dependent targeting of calcium/calmodulin–dependent kinase II-δ; however, β IV -spectrin is not essential for ankyrin-G expression. Ankyrin-G conditional knock-out mouse myocytes display decreased Na v 1.5 expression/membrane localization and reduced I Na associated with pronounced bradycardia, conduction abnormalities, and ventricular arrhythmia in response to Na v channel antagonists. Moreover, we report that ankyrin-G links Na v channels with broader intercalated disc signaling/structural nodes, as ankyrin-G loss results in reorganization of plakophilin-2 and lethal arrhythmias in response to β-adrenergic stimulation. Conclusions: Our findings provide the first in vivo data for the molecular pathway required for intercalated disc Na v 1.5 targeting/regulation in heart. Further, these new data identify the basis of an in vivo cellular platform critical for membrane recruitment and regulation of Na v 1.5.
THE ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF PHENOLIC ANTIOXIDANTS IN FOODS: A REVIEW

Phenolic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and monotertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) are hindered phenols with antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial activity of phenolic antioxidants appears to depend on the presence of a hydroxyl group on the molecule, the lipid solubility of the compound and the degree of steric hindrance. The use of phenolic antioxidants in food products is regulated by federal agencies. In general, these compounds are permitted in concentrations up to 200 ppm, based on the fat or oil content of the food product. Certain food products have special regulations. The antimicrobial activity of phenolic antioxidants has been studied in meat and its products, poultry and its products, milk and its products, seafood, rice, applesauce and food ingredients. The antimicrobial activity of phenolic antioxidants is modified by at least 10 factors such as microbial species/strain, stressed microorganisms, type and concentration of phenolic antioxidants, concentration of microbial challenge, combination of phenolic antioxidants, combination of phenolic antioxidants with other antimicrobials, combination of phenolic antioxidants with temperature and food additives, food components, carriers of phenolic antioxidants and the mode of addition of phenolic antioxidants. The antimicrobial activity of phenolic antioxidants in foods has been examined against growth and by-products of bacteria (gram positive and negative, spore and nonspore formers, spoilage and pathogenic), molds and yeasts. The concentration of phenolic antioxidants that had antimicrobial activity in food products was in the range of 30–10,000 ppm. The mechanism of inhibition by phenolic antioxidants has been found to affect the function and composition of the cellular membrane, the synthesis of DNA, RNA, protein and lipid, and the function of the mitochondrion.
Gabapentin and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

OBJECTIVE:To report the effects of gabapentin in a patient with concurrent depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and review the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in PTSD.CASE SUMMARY:A 37-year-old Latin American woman was being treated for major depression and PTSD. While the depressive symptoms were in remission, she reported a significant reduction in the frequency of her flashbacks after gabapentin was added to venlafaxine. She did not receive any type of psychotherapy. The flashbacks recurred after she discontinued gabapentin.DISCUSSION:While the improvement reported by the patient may have been related to a placebo effect or spontaneous recovery, treatment with gabapentin may have played a role in alleviating the flashbacks. Other published reports suggest that AEDs have a beneficial effect on some PTSD symptoms.CONCLUSIONS:AEDs may be of some therapeutic value in patients with PTSD. Future controlled studies are warranted to investigate the effectiveness of these agents.
Persistence of micronuclei in lymphocytes of cancer patients after radiotherapy.

Abstract Lee, T-K., Allison, R. R., O'Brien, K. F., Naves, J. L., Karlsson, U. L. and Wiley, A. L., Jr. Persistence of Micronuclei in Lymphocytes of Cancer Patients after Radiotherapy. Radiat. Res. 157, 678–684 (2002). To verify the applicability of the micronucleus (MN) yield in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) as a quantitative biodosimeter for monitoring in vivo ionizing radiation damage, we applied the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay in PBLs of cancer patients treated with partial-body radiotherapy. Dosimetric information on these 13 patients represented a wide range in the number of fractions, cumulative tumor dose, total integral dose, and equivalent total-body absorbed dose. We found in PBLs of these patients that (1) the MN yield increased linearly with the equivalent total-body absorbed dose (r = 0.8, P = 0.002), (2) the distributions of the MN yields deviated significantly from Poisson, and (3) there was a general decline in MN yields with increasing length of follow-up, but with consi...
Saudi-Russian Relations Since 9/11

Saudi Arabia and Russia have established a truce, but many issues threaten their fragile rapprochement.
On the Functions of Imagined Interactions in Night Dreams

Imagined interactions (IIs) are a form of mental imagery and daydreaming in which people imagine conversations or other interactions with significant others. IIs serve six intrapersonal communication functions including catharsis, rehearsal, self-understanding, compensation, conflict-linkage, and relational maintenance. IIs are an important form of cognition that effects both message production and message interpretation. Daydreams and night dreams have traditionally been thought of as distinct processes, but more recently, they have been theorized as points along a continuum of consciousness. We investigated whether the functions of IIs are also served by interactive night dreams. Results reveal intriguing similarities and differences in the functions of interactive daydreams and interactive might dreams. In addition, we found these dreams had overwhelmingly negative affect as opposed to positive, neutral, or mixed affect. Results are discussed in terms of continuity theory.
Factors Influencing Ovarian Response of Normal and Hypophy-sectomized Rat to Pregnant Mare Serum.

SummaryA study of the ovarian response of the normal and hypophyscctomized rat to PMS showed that subcutaneous administration is less effective than intraperitoneal. With small doses, 6 units distributed over 3 days and given at a 2-unit level in a single injection, the intraperitoneal route was twice as effective as subcutaneous in both normal and hypophysectomized. In the normal animal, PMS was twice as effective as in the hypophysectomized. The uterine response was not significantly affected by the mode of injection in the normal animal, but in the hypophysectomized intraperitoneal injection was 4 times as effective as subcutaneous. When the same daily dose is given for 12 days intraperitoneal injection was 3 times as effective as subcutaneous in the normal animal and 11 times as effective in the hypophysectomized. At this level, intraperitoneally administered PMS yielded ovaries of approximately the same weight in both groups. When the same total dose, namely 24 units, was distributed over a 4-day per...
Railway Occupational Health Management and Technical Service Support

Guangzhou Railway Corporation Group is the fist railway transport enterprise group in P.R.China.Occupational health is always being a focal point of the corporate health.Also occupational health managerment and occupational health technical service has been the most important department in modern enterprise system for fulfilling social responsibilities and establishing an enterprise standard of "peopleoriented".By analyzing the characteristics of occupational hazards and the problems of conducting occupational health management and by combining with a long-term practicing service work engaged in occupational health technique,we have put forward countermeasures to strengthen and improve the railway enterprise occupational health in our corporation group,in order to help promoting The Code of Occupational Disease Prevention of PRC in enterprises being fully implemented.
General Principles of Statistical Spectroscopy

Rather than repeat the substance of other elementary reviews1–3 now in print or in press, which pay special attention to techniques and to applications, it seems better to lay more stress on the theorems and structures which underly the subject, and to emphasize their usefulness, for example in fixing parameters in problems which are highly “non-statistical.” The domain in which the theorems work is that of the ordinary shell model, say with N single-particle states and m particles. But we may take large values of N and m, thereby generating huge model spaces. Instead of dealing only with the lowest-lying states, we consider the entire spectrum as a single structure, though it may not be at all obvious at the outset that this is a sensible thing to do; for the many-particle spectrum has a span far larger than the single-particle span, so that almost none of the states are directly relevant to physics. This of course is true also in ordinary shell-model calculations, in which usually only the low states are explicitly constructed, the others being hidden in the computer. In the shell-model case there is an implicit argument that, while the high states are not well treated, their effects on the low-lying states are, especially when one takes account of renormalizations of the Hamiltonian. In our case the high-lying states cannot be hidden, their centroid and width being basic parameters of the theory; but if the model spaces are not too large we can rely on a central limit theorem (CLT) to “propagate” downwards from the centroid, and on a theorem4 of “spectral rigidity” to keep the local fluctuations in check. For larger spaces a method of partitioning, when combined with these theorems, will do the same things.
Making the Emperor's New Clothes Visible in Anti-Racist Teacher Education: Enacting a Pedagogy of Discomfort with White Preservice Teachers

ABSTRACTThe failures of university-based teacher education programs in the United States with regard to the preparation of White preservice teachers for engagement with students who embody marginalized racial identities in public schools are well documented. One such shortcoming is the inadequate attention paid to the unholy trinity of race, racism, and White supremacy. This article details how I, a Black teacher educator, performed a self-study on my utilization of a pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, 1999) in a course housed in a social justice-oriented program that enrolled primarily White preservice teachers. Using critical theories on race and affect in my analysis of a racialized, affectively-charged classroom incident, I find that enacting discomfort as pedagogy provoked both the preservice teachers and me to individually and collectively make meaning of the contours of racial oppression by noticing and listening to the interactions between our bodies and emotions. Additionally, employing a pedagogy of...
Vascular Endothelial–Breast Epithelial Cell Coculture Model Created from 3D Cell Structures

Endothelial cell interactions with normal and cancerous breast epithelial cells have been widely studied in tissue growth and development, as well as in angiogenesis and metastasis. Despite the understanding that 3D multicellular architecture is critical to the cell phenotype, 3D vascular structures have not yet been cocultured with 3D breast spheroids in vitro. The objective of this study was therefore to create a hierarchical, multiscale model of vascular endothelial-breast epithelial cell interactions in which both cell types were assembled into their 3D architectures. The model was successfully fabricated by adding preformed breast spheroids onto preformed endothelial tube-like networks. Through this model, we observed that breast spheroids maintain vascular tube-like networks. Over time, breast epithelial cells migrate out of the spheroid structure along the endothelial networks. This research shows that 3D cell structures serve as an important building block for creating multicellular coculture mode...
Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) dispersion of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/clay nanocomposites: Structural, mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties

Dispersed poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/clay nanocomposites can lead to materials with superior barrier and mechanical properties. PET/clay nanocomposites were prepared by melting extrusion of PET with as-received or supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) predispersed Cloisite® 30B (30B). The predispersion of 30B was assessed by WAXD, SEM, and TGA, and results indicated that scCO2 processing could predisperse 30B and the surface modification of the clay was preserved after processing. The structure of PET/30B nanocomposites was investigated by WAXD and TEM confirming that PET has penetrated into the clays inter-galleries and the predispersed clays lead to improved interfacial interaction and homogenous clay dispersion. Both tensile strength and Young's modulus were improved by 12.1% and 24.9% respectively, as incorporating of 3 wt % of scCO2 processed clay. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicated that clay particles served as nucleation agent could increase the crystallinity whereas had no impact on melting process. In addition, with the addition of 1 wt % of predispersed clay, a significant reduction of oxygen permeation (∼33%) was achieved at 23 °C and the maximum reduction (44%) was achieved by adding 3 wt % processed clay. Moreover, we confirmed the effect of temperature on the permeation of PET/30B nanocomposites depended both on the Arrhenius behavior of the organic phases and tortuous path effects, where improved clay dispersion resulted in a higher effective activation energy. Moreover, the transparency of PET matrix was preserved for all nanocomposites. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44779.
Use of Third Line Therapy for Overactive Bladder in a Practice with Multiple Subspecialty Providers—Are We Doing Enough?

Purpose: Overactive bladder impacts more than 15% of the adult population. Compliance with medical treatment is low due to inadequate symptom control or intolerable side effects. Although third line therapies have improved the treatment of overactive bladder, many patients do not receive optimal treatment. We hypothesized that third line treatment use is higher among female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery urologists, and we examined its use at our tertiary referral center.Materials and Methods: The electronic medical record was queried for patients with overactive bladder seen in 1 year. The number of visits associated with an overactive bladder prescription and the number of patients who received third line therapy were determined and subcategorized by department. Female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery providers were considered separately.Results: A total of 5,445 patients (8,994 visits) were seen for overactive bladder. Of all patients seen for overactive bladder 3.5% received thir...
How Much Regulation? A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Analysis of Student Literacy Skills in Prekindergarten vs. Transitional Kindergarten

A growing body of research provides evidence that quality early childhood experiences can affect a host of life outcomes. Equally well documented is the variation in the quality of prekindergarten programs (pre-K) offered to children. In this study I employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach to evaluate the efficacy of Transitional Kindergarten (TK) on student outcomes in the San Francisco Unified School District. TK is a highly regulated, state funded, early education program. Importantly, universal prekindergarten was already established in San Francisco, making this study a comparison of prekindergarten opportunities. This study tests whether a more highly regulated pre-K program, situated solely in schools, can provide benefits to young five year olds over a modern, robust universal pre-K market. I find that students who attended TK outperform their peers on a variety of foundational literacy skills, with some evidence that the gains are larger for minority children. TK, however, had little eff...
Stochastic Ground-Delay-Program Planning in a Metroplex

This paper introduces a novel stochastic approach for the ground-delay-program planning under uncertainty, using chance-constrained optimization. The major advantage of the chance-constrained model...
A multi-scale fully convolutional network for semantic labeling of 3D point clouds

Abstract When classifying point clouds, a large amount of time is devoted to the process of engineering a reliable set of features which are then passed to a classifier of choice. Generally, such features – usually derived from the 3D-covariance matrix – are computed using the surrounding neighborhood of points. While these features capture local information, the process is usually time-consuming and requires the application at multiple scales combined with contextual methods in order to adequately describe the diversity of objects within a scene. In this paper we present a novel 1D-fully convolutional network that consumes terrain-normalized points directly with the corresponding spectral data (if available) to generate point-wise labeling while implicitly learning contextual features in an end-to-end fashion. This unique approach allows us to operate on unordered point sets with varying densities, without relying on expensive hand-crafted features; thus reducing the time needed for testing by an order of magnitude over existing approaches. Our method uses only the 3D-coordinates and three corresponding spectral features for each point. Spectral features may either be extracted from 2D-georeferenced images, as shown here for Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point clouds, or extracted directly for passive-derived point clouds, i.e. from multiple-view imagery. We train our network by splitting the data into square regions and use a pooling layer that respects the permutation-invariance of the input points. Evaluated using the ISPRS 3D Semantic Labeling Contest, our method scored second place with an overall accuracy of 81.6%. We ranked third place with a mean F1-score of 63.32%, surpassing the F1-score of the method with highest accuracy by 1.69%. In addition to labeling 3D-point clouds, we also show that our method can be easily extended to 2D-semantic segmentation tasks, with promising initial results.
Fostering Academic and Mathematical Excellence at Girton College 1870–1940

Founded in 1869, Girton College, Cambridge was Britain’s first residential college for women to offer an education at degree level. At the end of the nineteenth century, women’s colleges such as Girton played a significant role in improving girls’ education. In its early years, women often came to Girton underprepared for university studies, particularly in mathematics. Determined to prove their merit, women at Girton found creative ways to hone their mathematical skills, an essential undertaking especially for those women preparing for the formidable Mathematical Tripos exam. Along with British and international mathematicians, several Girton students contributed to the mathematics department of The Educational Times and Journal of the College of Preceptors. During the first half of the twentieth century, as research mathematics flourished and the preparation of its students improved, Girton continued to provide support and encouragement for women pursuing mathematical and scientific studies through its research fellowships. We detail the accomplishments of several women who, influenced by Girton’s commitment to academic excellence, went on to play prominent roles in private and public sectors.
Applying Recent Research to ESL in the Bilingual Classroom

Abstract Bilingual education has moved from a position of documenting its successes to studying the reasons for its success. It is now up to teachers and administrators to apply that research in systemmatic ways. One model for implementing the latest research in second language education takes advantage of native language instruction, as described by Cummins (1981), while developing lessons along the lines of the notional/functional syllabus. In this model the teacher plans the ESL curriculum by taking into consideration program objectives, students’ language needs, the nature of the linguistic task, and prescribed textual and supplemental materials. Emphasis on grammatical accuracy, so prevalent in ESL materials, gives way to specific language use necessary in the school domain. The implementation of the model relies on the cognitively-based linguistic functions in Sampson’s (1972) language arts approach as well as the language-rich environment.
Effects of the Tennessee Prekindergarten Program on children’s achievement and behavior through third grade

Abstract This report presents results of a randomized trial of a state prekindergarten program. Low-income children (N = 2990) applying to oversubscribed programs were randomly assigned to receive offers of admission or remain on a waiting list. Data from pre-k through 3rd grade were obtained from state education records; additional data were collected for a subset of children with parental consent (N = 1076). At the end of pre-k, pre-k participants in the consented subsample performed better than control children on a battery of achievement tests, with non-native English speakers and children scoring lowest at baseline showing the greatest gains. During the kindergarten year and thereafter, the control children caught up with the pre-k participants on those tests and generally surpassed them. Similar results appeared on the 3rd grade state achievement tests for the full randomized sample – pre-k participants did not perform as well as the control children. Teacher ratings of classroom behavior did not favor either group overall, though some negative treatment effects were seen in 1st and 2nd grade. There were differential positive pre-k effects for male and Black children on a few ratings and on attendance. Pre-k participants had lower retention rates in kindergarten that did not persist, and higher rates of school rule violations in later grades. Many pre-k participants received special education designations that remained through later years, creating higher rates than for control children. Issues raised by these findings and implications for pre-k policy are discussed.
Bogotá en el manejo del agua lluvia

Las ciudades actuales enfrentan situaciones cada vez mas complejas, nutridas por factores demograficos, economicos y sociales. A ellos se suman condiciones ambientales extremas, ocasionadas por el cambio climatico. Estas situaciones se hacen evidentes en periodos mas largos, de inundaciones o sequias, desastres ambientales que perjudican la calidad del habitat, tanto urbano como rural. Frente a esta problematica, han surgido propuestas de estructuras espaciales sostenibles procurando, mejorar y mitigar, el impacto de doble via de nuestros modelos de desarrollo frente al planeta. Propuestas, como la utilizacion del recurso pluvial, se consideran como una de las “alternativas limpias” en procura de estos desarrollos. El articulo de revision a continuacion, hace parte del proceso de investigacion in- terdisciplinar adelantado por el proyecto “Gestion del Recurso Pluvial y su uso potencial en la planeacion del territorio”. Busca aplicar el modelo sistemico en una escala de analisis de ciudad, al privilegiar dos variables: la normativa, que revisa el marco legal rector de Bogota, frente al manejo de este recurso; y la ambiental, que presenta la importancia dentro del ciclo del agua de los humedales y los acuiferos, y establece su relacion con el recurso pluvial a traves de las escorrentias.
"El derrumbamiento" de Armonía Somers y "El ángel caído" de Cristina Peri-Rossi: dos manifestaciones de la narrativa imaginaria

Tanto "El derrumbamiento", de la uruguaya Armonia Somers (1914), publicado por primera vez en 1953 ', asi como "El angel caido", de otra uruguaya Cristina Peri-Rossi (1940) , de 19832, han sido catalogados por parte de la crftica como cuentos fantasticos. En el caso de "El derrumbamiento", traducido al frances fue publicado en Belgica en 1977 en una antologia de cuentos fantasticos escritos por mujeres3. Con respecto al cuento de Peri-Rossi, Magdalena Garcia Pinto lo relaciona con el cuento de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Un hombre muy viejo con unas alas enormes" y se refiere al concepto de lo fantastico segun lo entiende Julio Cortazar. Sin embargo, la incorporation de estos textos en la literatura fantastica no es tan facil. Ya en 1963, cuando Angel Rama, ante la escritura fascinante y extrana de Armonia Somers, destacaba su novedad desconcertante y el efecto de perturbation que causa en el lector, senalaba que no era una muestra de literatura fantastical Mas tarde en 1966, ante la emergencia en el Uruguay de una literatura que se alejaba del realismo crftico que habia dominado nuestra literatura por casi tres decadas, el mismo Rama se refiere a una literatura imaginaria o "literatura de la imagination*0. Dentro de esta nueva generation de escritores que retoma la iniciativa de Armonia Somers, Felisberto Hernandez y del mas lejano Isidore Ducasse, el Conde de Lautreamont, se encuentra lajoven Cristina Peri-Rossi. En ese momento, Rama senala que la narrativa imaginaria
Topical agents for the treatment of atopic dermatitis

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is perhaps the most common inflammatory skin disorder worldwide, with an increasing incidence in developed countries. The mainstay treatment for patients with AD is topical therapies, which are used not only by the mild patients but also by the moderate-to-severe patients, in conjunction with systemic treatment. While topical steroids and calcineurin antagonists are widely used, these are associated with long-term cutaneous adverse effects (AEs) or a black box warning, preventing their chronic use.Areas covered: The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of new and upcoming topical therapies currently in development and undergoing clinical trials, as well as their safety and efficacy profiles, and discuss current topicals used in the management of AD.Expert opinion: AD is a heterogeneous disease with complex pathophysiology. Treatments available to date for AD provide disease control; however, patients struggle to find an optimized therapeuti...
1998 national clinical pharmacy services study.

This study determined the extent of hospital-based clinical pharmacy services in 950 United States acute care, general, medical-surgical, and pediatric hospitals with 50 or more licensed beds in 1998 and compared results with data from similar national surveys in 1989, 1992, and 1995. Fifteen clinical pharmacy services were assessed to determine pharmacists' specific patient care responsibilities. Two services increased substantially over both the 9-year period and between 1995 and 1998: drug therapy protocol management and clinical pharmacokinetics consultations, which were offered in 70% and 80% of hospitals in 1998, respectively. Pharmacists' provision of in-service programs decreased 6% between 1995 and 1998, whereas other services remained constant. Pharmacists conducted clinical research in 14% of hospitals in 1998, averaging 7.2 ± 19.7 protocols/department annually; total budget was $224,572 ± 753,321; and mean clinical research funding increased 2.3-fold between 1995 and 1998. Clinical pharmacy services continue to expand, with pharmacists providing higher-level direct patient care related to drug therapy management and pharmacokinetics consultations.