cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Entropy and the complexity of graphs: I. An index of the relative complexity of a graph

The structural information content (Rashevsky, 1955; Trucco 1956a, b)I g (X) of a graphX is defined as the entropy of the finite probability scheme constructed from the orbits of its automorphism groupG(X). The behavior ofI g on various graph operations—complement, sum, join, cartesian product and composition, is examined. The principal result of the paper is the characterization of a class of graph product operations on whichI g is semi-additive. That is to say, conditions are found for binary operations o and ∇ defined on graphs and groups, respectively, which are sufficient to insure thatI g (X o Y)=I g (X)+I g (Y)−H XY , whereH XY is a certain conditional entropy defined relative to the orbits ofG(X o Y) andG(X) ∇G(Y).
Physiologic Interactions Between Macrophages and Leydig Cells

The purpose of this minireview is to present information concerning the morphologic and functional relationship between testicular macrophages and Leydig cells. Although data concerning the negative influence of macrophage-derived products on testicular Leydig cells exist, this review is focused on the stimulatory influences thought to be involved in the physiologic interactions between these two diverse cell types.
APPLICATION OF FULL QUALITY CONTROL IN BLOOD GLUCOSE BIOCHEMICAL TESTING IN PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEY PROJECT

Objective To approach the method of quality control in public health survey project,by using full quality control in blood glucose testing. Methods2093 blood samples were tested,had get a conformity assessment for control serial samples testing,by VITALAB selectra XL automatic biochemical analyzer in glucose oxidase method derived from glucose reagent kit.Meanwhile,control serial samples test were executed with an interval of 50 blood samples. Results8 ability validation tests results were assessed excellent by country laboratory,and all check point results of control serial sample were in control range and according with the demands of quality control. ConclusionFull quality control in blood glucose testing has given play to vital rule in this large-scale public health survey project.By using it,real time monitoring for difference laboratory have been achieved,result accuracy and comparability have been guaranteed,and high quality laboratory data have been provided for public health survey project based on epidemiology method.In this way,it is worth popularizing.
Clinical diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.

The advent of thrombolytic therapy has increased the importance of and the need for precise etiologic and nosologic diagnosis in myocardial infarction. Patients who stand to benefit most from throm...
Identification of an Auxiliary Leader Peptide-Binding Protein Required for Azoline Formation in Ribosomal Natural Products

Thiazole/oxazole-modified microcins (TOMMs) are a class of post-translationally modified peptide natural products bearing azole and azoline heterocycles. The first step in heterocycle formation is carried out by a two component cyclodehydratase comprised of an E1 ubiquitin-activating and a YcaO superfamily member. Recent studies have demonstrated that the YcaO domain is responsible for cyclodehydration, while the TOMM E1 homologue is responsible for peptide recognition during azoline formation. Although all characterized TOMM biosynthetic clusters contain this canonical TOMM E1 homologue (C domain), we also identified a second, highly divergent E1 superfamily member, annotated as an Ocin-ThiF-like protein (F protein), associated with more than 300 TOMM biosynthetic clusters. Here we describe the in vitro reconstitution of a novel TOMM cyclodehydratase from such a cluster and demonstrate that this auxiliary protein is required for cyclodehydration. Using a combination of biophysical techniques, we demonstr...
Catastrophe in Tierra Firme and the “Long Sleep” in Puerto Plata

Seville, Autumn 1520 Once again Las Casas was on a high. When the Emperor Charles signed his contract to settle Tierra Firme, Las Casas had his marching orders for reform. Even relations with the irascible bishop of Burgos, Fonseca, improved markedly after the departure of the king from La Coruna in late May, 1520. Las Casas’s grant was still immense. It covered 270 leagues from the Paria Peninsula in the east to near Santa Marta in the west. Inland, Las Casas’s grant ran to more than two thousand leagues, or virtually the entire continent of South America. Even given his disappointment at not obtaining the full thousand leagues, or more than three thousand miles of coastline, the grant was spectacular. After the departure of the king and his court, Las Casas took the highway for Seville where he arrived late in the summer of 1520. Many of the principal cities in central Castile and Leon were still in revolt against the crown, so Las Casas traveled from Valladolid to Seville through the western province of Extremadura, the home of so many conquistadors of the New World. Armed with letters from the regent Adrian and Dominican friends, Las Casas moved slowly south through Simancas, La Nava, Penaranda, Arenas de San Pedro, Oropesa, and La Puente del Arzobispo. His squire Francisco de Soto kept him company.
Small Artery Mechanobiology: Roles of Cellular and Non‐Cellular Elements

Small arteries and their component cellular and non-cellular elements are continually subjected to, and interact with, mechanical forces. Such interactions are key in both short- and long-term adaptation of the structure and function of the microcirculation to its local environment and metabolic requirements. Following this brief introduction is a series of papers presented as a symposium (Small Artery Mechanobiology: Roles of Cellular and Non-Cellular Elements) at the World Congress for Microcirculation, Kyoto 2015.
Optimized CRISPR–Cas9 System for Genome Editing in Zebrafish

This protocol describes how to generate and genotype mutants using an optimized CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing system in zebrafish (CRISPRscan). Because single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) have variable efficiency when targeting specific loci, our protocol starts by explaining how to use the web tool CRISPRscan to design highly efficient sgRNAs. The CRISPRscan algorithm is based on the results of an integrated analysis of more than 1000 sgRNAs in zebrafish, which uncovered highly predictive factors that influence Cas9 activity. Next, we describe how to easily generate sgRNAs in vitro, which can then be injected in vivo to target specific loci. The use of highly efficient sgRNAs can lead to biallelic mutations in the injected embryos, causing lethality. We explain how targeting Cas9 to the germline increases viability by reducing somatic mutations. Finally, we combine two methods to identify F1 heterozygous fish carrying the desired mutations: (i) Mut-Seq, a method based on high-throughput sequencing to detect F0 founder fish; and (ii) a polymerase chain reaction-based fragment analysis method that identifies F1 heterozygous fish characterized by Mut-Seq. In summary, this protocol includes the steps to generate and characterize mutant zebrafish lines using the CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering system.
A Kaleidoscope of Plates, Faunal and Floral Dispersals, and Sea Level Changes

Complex problems seem to have a way of becoming increasingly complex as we learn more, recognize new variables, and appreciate the labyrinthine nature of interactions. When we learn to deal with them as large-scale systems, however, models can be posited and tested, and it becomes possible to move from an observational-analytical approach to one allowing a certain degree of experimentation.
Control of Perimeter Surveillance Wireless Sensor Networks via Partially Observable Marcov Decision Process

This paper presents a novel approach to controlling large wireless sensor networks capable of optimizing multiple conflicting performance criterion. The example of battery power usage versus target tracking error is formulated here, though the technique can be extended to assessment, false alarm reduction, etc. Modeling a perimeter security system as a partially observable Markov decision process, an intruder's behaviors are probabilistically estimated several steps into the future (look-ahead) thus allowing the system to make the best decisions for overall benefit (non-myopic). In this example sensor activation is the control input. Further, particle filtering is employed to improve location estimates of multiple targets from noisy sensor data. Performance of the algorithm is demonstrated on a high fidelity simulator called UMBRA. Also a 100 node wireless sensor network has been constructed for algorithm validation
Inventor Sued for Infringing His Own Patent. You Won't Believe What Happened Next

The Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have repeatedly emphasized the public interest in testing the validity of patents, weeding out patents that should not have been issued. But there is one important group of people the law systematically prevents from challenging bad patents. Curiously, it is the very group patent law is supposed to support: inventors themselves. The century-old doctrine of assignor estoppel precludes inventors who file patent applications from later challenging the validity or enforceability of the patents they receive. The stated rationale for assignor estoppel is that it would be unfair to allow the inventor to benefit from obtaining a patent and later change her tune and attack the patent when it benefits her to do so. The Supreme Court has traditionally disfavored the doctrine, reading it narrowly. But the Federal Circuit has expanded the doctrine in a variety of dimensions, and applied it even when the benefit to the inventor is illusory. Further, the doctrine misunderstands the role of inventor-employees in the modern world. More important, the expansive modern form of assignor estoppel interferes substantially with employee mobility. Inventors as a class are put under burdens that we apply to no other employee. If they start a company, or even go to work for an existing company in the same field, they will not be able to defend a patent suit from their old employer. The result is a sort of partial noncompete clause, one imposed without even the fiction of agreement and one that binds anyone the inventor comes in contact with after leaving the job. Abundant evidence suggests that noncompetes in general retard innovation and economic growth, and several states prohibit them outright, while all others limit them. But assignor estoppel is a federal law doctrine that overrides those state choices.It is time to rethink the doctrine of assignor estoppel. I describe the doctrine, its rationale, and how it has expanded dramatically in the past 25 years. I argue that the doctrine is out of touch with the realities of both modern inventing and modern patent law, and that it interferes with both the invalidation of bad patents and the goal of employee mobility. Should the Supreme Court take up the doctrine, it is unlikely to survive in its current form. Rather, it should – and will – return to its much more limited roots.
A phase I/II study combining tosedostat with capecitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

410Background: Recent advances in front-line therapy have improved survival in patients with advanced PDAC. A fluorouracil-based regimen is recommended for patients who progress on a gemcitabine-based therapy. Tosedostat is an oral aminopeptidase inhibitor that disrupts the cleavage of amino acids from peptides downstream of proteasomal degradation. It prevents the recycling of free amino acids, leads to intracellular depletion of amino acids, and triggers an amino acid deprivation response that subsequently results in apoptosis. Because PDAC cells frequently upregulate expression of these aminopeptidases, tosedostat offers therapeutic promise, particularly in combination with fluoropyrimidines. Methods: This is a single institution phase I/II trial to evaluate the safety and toxicity of tosedostat plus capecitabine in patients with metastatic PDAC progressed on a gemcitabine-based therapy. The phase I portion is being conducted in a dose de-escalation fashion, with two dose levels of tosedostat (120 mg o...
Interleukin (IL)-18 Binding Protein Deficiency Disrupts Natural Killer Cell Maturation and Diminishes Circulating IL-18

The cytokine IL-18 is a crucial amplifier of NK cell function. IL-18 signaling is regulated by the inhibitory effects of IL-18BP. Using mice deficient in IL-18BP (IL-18BPKO), we investigated the impact of mismanaged IL-18 signaling on NK cells. We found an overall reduced abundance of splenic NK cells in the absence of IL-18BP. Closer examination of NK cell subsets in spleen and bone marrow using CD27 and CD11b expression revealed that immature NK cells were increased in abundance, while the mature population of NK cells was reduced. Also, NK cells were polarized to greater production of TNF-α, while dedicated IFN-γ producers were reduced. A novel subset of IL-18Rα- NK cells contributed to the expansion of immature NK cells in IL-18BPKO mice. Splenocytes cultured with IL-18 resulted in alterations similar to those observed in IL-18BP deficiency. NK cell changes were associated with significantly reduced levels of circulating plasma IL-18. However, IL-18BPKO mice exhibited normal weight gain and responded to LPS challenge with a >10fold increase in IFN-γ compared to wild type. Finally, we identified that the source of splenic IL-18BP was among DCs/macrophage localized to the T cell-rich regions of the spleen. Our results demonstrate that IL-18BP is required for normal NK cell abundance and function and also contributes to maintaining steady state levels of circulating IL-18. Thus, IL-18BP appears to have functions suggestive of a carrier protein, not just an inhibitor.
Modulation of Gut Inflammation by Dietary Fibers in Murine Chronic Colitis

Natural dietary fiber serves as a substrate for gut microbiotal fermentation generating short chain fatty acids, which are thought to offer protection against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, certain fibers are known to cause moderate to severe intestinal side effects in IBD patients. We hypothesize that soluble fibers (inulin & pectin) which are more accessible for microbiotal fermentation may offer pronounced gut protective effects than insoluble fiber (cellulose). To demonstrate this, chronic colitis was induced in dietary cellulose, inulin or pectin fed C57BL/6 mice by administering three weekly injections of α-IL-10R neutralizing antibody. Mice were euthanized two weeks after the last injection and colitis development was examined by serological, biochemical, histological and immunological parameters. WT mice receiving dietary cellulose along with α-IL-10R mAb exhibited robust colitis as characterized by splenomegaly, colomegaly, elevated colonic MPO activity, pro-inflammatory cytokines ( Kc , Il-1β & iNos ), systemic and fecal Lcn2 levels (an inflammatory marker) and colon histology score when compared to control mice. Similar results were observed in toll-like receptor 5 knockout ( Tlr5 KO) mice which are prone to develop microbiota-dependent spontaneous colitis. Surprisingly, prebiotic fiber inulin failed to protect against α-IL-10R neutralization-induced chronic colitis in both WT and Tlr5 KO mice. Interestingly, pectin ameliorates colitis development, supporting the notion that not all dietary fibers are created equal in modulating host gut inflammation. Further mechanistic study on how pectin dampens gut inflammation may yield development of novel dietary therapeutics to treat human IBD.
Biosolids and conservation tillage: impacts on soil fungal communities in dryland wheat-fallow cropping systems.

Abstract Organic amendments and conservation tillage are important management tools for reducing soil erosion and improving soil health in agricultural systems, yet the impacts of these practices on soil microbial communities is poorly understood. We evaluated the effects of biosolid amendments and conservation tillage on soil fungal communities in a dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) –summer fallow cropping system in the inland Pacific Northwest, USA (PNW). Biosolids or synthetic fertilizer was used in combination with conventional (disk) or conservation (undercutter) tillage. Fungal communities were characterized from soil and biosolid aggregates after the second application of biosolids in 2015 and before and after the second application of biosolids in 2016 using high-throughput amplicon sequencing. Biosolid amendments substantially altered fungal community composition, but not diversity, relative to synthetic fertilizer. In contrast, although many more fungal taxa were influenced by conservation tillage when synthetic fertilizer was applied, conservation tillage had relatively little effect on soil fungal communities receiving biosolids, suggesting that the form of N supplied (mineral or organic) may mediate the effects of increasing surface crop residue on fungal communities. Biosolid-mediated shifts in fungal communities were correlated with differences in soil characteristics, especially C, N, and P, and were persistent for at least three years after the initial biosolid application. A small number of taxa, including Fusarium, Ulocladium, Gymnoascus, Mortierella, and Neurospora, were highly enriched by biosolids in soil and dominated fungal communities of biosolid aggregates. Results show biosolids can have strong and lasting impacts on soil fungal communities, likely due to their effects on soil nutrients, and select for a small number of fungi capable of utilizing biosolids as a food source.
The Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument is a Valid and Reliable Measure of Nutrition Literacy in Adults with Chronic Disease.

Abstract Objective To test the reliability and validity of the Nutrition Literacy Assessment Instrument (NLit) in adult primary care and identify the relationship between nutrition literacy and diet quality. Design This instrument validation study included a cross-sectional sample participating in up to 2 visits 1 month apart. Setting/Participants A total of 429 adults with nutrition-related chronic disease were recruited from clinics and a patient registry affiliated with a Midwestern university medical center. Main Outcome Measures Nutrition literacy was measured by the NLit, which was composed of 6 subscales: nutrition and health, energy sources in food, food label and numeracy, household food measurement, food groups, and consumer skills. Diet quality was measured by Healthy Eating Index–2010 with nutrient data from Diet History Questionnaire II surveys. Analysis The researchers measured factor validity and reliability by using binary confirmatory factor analysis; test-retest reliability was measured by Pearson r and the intraclass correlation coefficient, and relationships between nutrition literacy and diet quality were analyzed by linear regression. Results The NLit demonstrated substantial factor validity and reliability (0.97; confidence interval, 0.96–0.98) and test-retest reliability (0.88; confidence interval, 0.85–0.90). Nutrition literacy was the most significant predictor of diet quality (β = .17; multivariate coefficient = 0.10; P Conclusions The NLit is a valid and reliable tool for measuring nutrition literacy in adult primary care patients.
The Embedded Lesson Approach to Social Media Research: Researching Online Phenomena in an Authentic Offline Setting

For American teenagers, social media participation has become a routine feature of everyday life, with ready access to their online networks via smartphones, tablets, and computers. Despite questions and concerns about its effects, relatively few educational researchers have qualitatively explored how students use social media. Complexities such as parental consent, unintended access to non-consented peers, and privacy rights may be deterrents to this research. In this paper, we describe our embedded lesson approach to studying teenagers’ social media use in a high school setting. We designed and delivered three consecutive lessons about social media to two classes. Embedded within these lessons were opportunities to collect data via surveys, focus groups, and observations, along with member checking as a form of quality assurance. This approach rapidly yielded a rich data set, while also giving students the opportunity to articulate and reflect on their social media activities and experiences.
Vector Bundles over Ruled Surfaces

In this chapter and in Chapter 8 we will discuss the structure of stable bundles on special classes of surfaces, ruled and elliptic surfaces. In general, it seems a little difficult to obtain detailed information about moduli spaces when stability is defined with respect to an arbitrary ample divisor. We will need instead to consider ample divisors adapted to the geometry of the surfaces at hand. The examples we have in mind are all given as fibrations over a base curve, and the fibration itself will be the most interesting geometric feature of the surface. Thus, we will try to consider ample divisors which reflect the fibration. The class of a fiber is not ample; it lives at the boundary of the ample cone. Instead we shall consider ample divisors which are sufficiently close to the class of a fiber, where how close will depend on the particular choice of Chern classes of the problem we want to study. We will further study bundles on the surface X by studying their restrictions to the fibers of the fibration. This method of studying bundles on a surface by looking at their restrictions to curves on the surface is one which has been successfully applied in a wide variety of contexts.
The Hollow Deconstruction of Time

I came to this study from a love for phenomenology and specifically for Husserl’s descriptions of internal time-consciousness, which move me as both beautiful and profound. The Phenomenology of Internal Time-Consciousness offers a paradigmatic example of phenomenological description which, as phenomenology of phenomenology, is of crucial significance. Reading Derrida’s criticisms of internal time-consciousness in his classic essay “Speech and Phenomena,” I find them seriously flawed. At the same time, I find other deconstructions effective.1
Modeling Oxygen Transport: Development of Methods and Current State

It is a privilege and a pleasure to be a participant in a symposium in honor of Professor Gehard Thews. This is a special occasion for me because my professional career is closely tied to Professor Thews and his early work in mathematical modeling oxygen transport in the microcirculation of tissue.
Application-Agnostic Batch Workload Management in Cloud Environments

We present Scavenger, a reactive batch workload manager that opportunistically runs containerized batch jobs next to customer Virtual Machines (VMs) in a public cloud like setting to improve utilization. Scavenger dynamically regulates the resource usage of batch jobs, including CPU usage, memory capacity, and LLC capacity, to ensure that the customer VMs' resource demand is met at all times. We experimentally evaluate Scavenger and show that it considerably increases resource usage without compromising on the resource demand of customer VMs. Importantly, Scavenger does so without requiring any offline profiling or prior information about the customer workloads.
Self-Awareness, Identity, and Leader Development.

In today’s complex, turbulent organizations, a critical competency for successful leaders is the ability to learn how to deal with the changing demands of the environment and develop the appropriate new skills. There are two overarching personal capabilities that help leaders “learn how to learn” new skills and competencies: self-awareness (or identity) and adaptability (Briscoe and Hall, 1999; Hall, 1986a, 1986b, 2002; Hall and Associates, 1996). Because of the superordinate power of these two personal capabilities in helping the person grow new competencies, I refer to them as “metacompetencies.” This chapter is a detailed examination of one of these metacompetencies: self-awareness. Much less is known about self-awareness in organizations than is known about adaptability.1 I examine the nature of self-awareness, the different theoretical perspectives that have been used to study the concept, what role it plays in leadership development, and what organizations might do to create cultures that promote its development.
AB1228 Sonoelastography of quadriceps is more accuracy than grip strength to predict low muscle mass

Background Reduced muscle mass had associated with higher mortality. So it is mandatory for simple techniques to early detection sof arcopenia. However, some patients with low grip strength had normal muscle mass, especially those with rheumatoid arthritis. Objectives Our objective was to examine the validity of sonoelastography to predict sarcopenia in osteoporotic patients. Methods We conducted an observational study in Kaohsiung Chang Gang Memorial Hospital. Low muscle mass was determined using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Sonoelastography was performed over mid thigh over quadriceps muscle. We measure grip strength and hardness and elastography ratio of quadriceps over subcutaneous fat tissue. Logistical regression was used to find the factors to predict low muscle mass. While ROC analysis was used to find best cut-off point. Results A total 122 (68 low muscle mass, 54 normal muscle mass) patients were enrolled. The mean age was 79.26±6.77 years in low muscle mass group and 74.7±13.49 in normal muscle mass group(p=0.017). Most patients (86.9%) were women. Sonoelastography showed low muscle mass patients had more soft than normal muscle mass patients, furthermore the elastography ratio of quadriceps over subcutaneous tissue was lower than normal muscle mass patients. Using logistical regression, grip strength, sex and age cannot be used to predict low muscle mass, while the hardness and ratio had statistically significant to predict low muscle mass (p=0.001). When the cut points determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were applied, The best cut-point of hardness was 64.79%(sensitivity, 0.741; 1-specificity, 0.147), while the best cut-point of quadriceps over subcutaneous tissue was 0.81 (sensitivity, 0.815; 1-specificity, 0.118). Conclusions Our findings indicate that sonoelastography is more accurate to predict low muscle mass. The measurement include quadriceps over subcutaneous tissue and hardness of the quadriceps. Although, grip strength is less expensive for evaluation of muscular weakness, from this findings, it is not a reliable method for evaluation of low muscle mass. The possible reason is that sarcopenia initial occur at thigh muscle and then spread up to upper limb. So grip strength is not a accurate method to screen sarcopenia. Reference [1] Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, Martin FC, Michel JP, Rolland Y, Schneider SM, et al: Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age and ageing2010, 39(4):412–423. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung grant CMRP Disclosure of Interest None declared
P-011 Increased rates of successful first pass recanalization during mechanical thrombectomy for M2 occlusions: a single institution study

Background Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is standard of care for treatment of acute ischemic stroke due to proximal anterior circulation large vessel occlusion, such as the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The effectiveness and complication profile in more distal vessels such as the M2 segment, however, remains to be completely defined. Methods All MT treatments for acute M1 or M2 occlusion between 2011 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with thrombectomy using Merci device, intra-arterial pharmacological thrombolysis, mechanical wire maceration, or only using a balloon were excluded. Patient characteristics (age, NIHSS), number of passages, first passage recanalization success (TICI 2b or higher), total recanalization success, and hemorrhagic complications (ICH and SAH) were compared between M1 and M2 groups. Results Two hundred sixty cases, including 171 M1 and 89 M2 occlusions, were analyzed. The mean age of patients and median of NIHSS were 70.7 ± 15.0 (SD) years and 15 (1–33), respectively. There was no significant difference between M1 and M2 groups for age and NIHSS (p=0.727 and p = 0.065, respectively). The total number of passages in M2 group was significantly less than M1 group (Median of 1 and range of 1 to 5 versus median of 2 and range of 1 to 7, p=0.023). First passage recanalization success rate was significantly higher in the M2 group than the M1 group (55.1% versus 39.2%, p=0.015). The total recanalization success rate also trended higher in the M2 group, but it did not reach statistical significance (83% versus 74.7%, p=0.132). Subarachnoid hemorrhage rate was significantly higher in the M2 group than the M1 group (24.7% versus 12.3%, p=0.010), but there was no difference for ICH between the two groups (p=0.862). Conclusion Mechanical thrombectomy for M2 occlusions is effective, has a higher rate of first pass recanalization, and has lower total pass number than M1 thrombectomy. However, mechanical thrombectomy in the M2 using recent generations of stent retriever technology is associated with higher rates of SAH, likely related to tension on the vessels when pulling through a more tortuous MCA segment. Disclosures H. Baharvahdat: None. A. Mowla: None. J. Jones: None. Y. Ooi: None. N. Kaneko: None. R. Jahan: None. S. Tateshima: None. V. Szeder: None. M. Nour: None. F. Vinuela: None. G. Duckwiler: None. G. Colby: 2; C; Stryker Neurovascular, Medtronic.
Clinical Characteristics and Long-Term Outcomes of Midaortic Syndrome.

Background Midaortic syndrome (MAS) is a rare congenital or acquired condition marked by segmental or diffuse stenosis of the distal thoracic and/or abdominal aorta and its branches. The optimal approach to medical or interventional management of MAS and long-term outcomes in adults are not well defined. We reviewed MAS cases to characterize the natural history of aortic disease, identify prognostic factors, and evaluate the durability of invasive interventions. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of patients with MAS who presented to Memorial Hermann Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine between 1997 and 2018. We categorized cases according to demographic and clinical manifestations, etiologies, the extent of aortic involvement, interventions, and vascular outcomes. Results We identified a cohort of 13 patients with MAS. The etiology of MAS was identified in 6 cases, including genetic syndromes (neurofibromatosis type 1 (2/13), Williams syndrome (1/13), fibromuscular dysplasia (2/13), and Takayasu arteritis (1/13)). Mean age at first documented clinical event was 25.2 (2–67) years, but cases with genetic etiologies presented significantly younger (18.2 years). The most common primary anatomic site was the suprarenal and infrarenal aorta (zones 5–8). Extra-aortic locations involved the renal (4/13), celiac (3/13), and superior mesenteric (3/13) arteries. Clinical manifestations included hypertension (13/13), claudication (9/13), and postprandial abdominal pain (5/13). All patients with available follow-up data underwent at least one surgical or endovascular intervention (range: 1–8). Postoperative complications included renal failure requiring postdischarge hemodialysis and respiratory failure. There were no deaths in long-term follow-up. Conclusions MAS is a complex vasculopathy with substantial variability in clinical presentation and anatomic distribution. Extensive disease frequently requires multiple invasive interventions and results in refractory hypertension, which may predict subsequent clinical events. A multidisciplinary approach with long-term monitoring is essential for preservation of end-organ function and quality of life in this debilitating disease.
Using wearable technology to monitor exercise intensity and predict V˙O2max.

In summary, we appreciate the opportunity to provide commentary on the original investigation by Freeberg et al. (1). We commend the authors for their important work and hope that our comments provide ideas for research and development of new technology along with testing methodology on existing wearable technology. In the present study, the authors concluded the N-EX method was superior to the fitness test developed for the FBC2, with the results from the FBC2 device over-predicting “true” V˙O2max. Arguably, a better protocol and regression model that parcels out the contribution of D’ might easily remedy such an error, although more research is warranted.
3 – MOLECULAR MIMICRY

Molecular mimicry is the occurrence of common B or T cell reactive epitopes between microorganisms or environmental agents and the host, and the pathogenic consequence of such cross-reactivity. Molecular mimicry has been demonstrated to occur in several different forms including complete identity at the protein level, homology at the protein level, similarity at the level of amino acid sequences and structural similarity. Identification of cases of molecular mimicry as a cause of autoimmunity can aid in the prevention, prognosis and treatment of patients with autoimmune disease. For the conclusion that molecular mimicry causes autoimmune disease, several criteria must be fulfilled: (1) similarity between a host epitope and an epitope in a microorganism or environmental agent, (2) antibodies or T cells cross-reactive with both epitopes detected in patients with the autoimmune disease, (3) an epidemiological link between exposure to the environmental agent or microbe and the development of autoimmune disease and (4) reproducibility of autoimmunity in an animal model following sensitization with the epitopes, infection with the microbe or exposure to the environmental agent. Few proposed molecular mimics have been shown to fulfill all these criteria. However, Campylobacter jejuni lipooligosaccharide (LOS) mimicry of human GM1 ganglioside and mimicry between the dietary antigen butyrophilin and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein provide examples that fulfill all the criteria, thus providing support for molecular mimicry as a viable mechanism for the development of autoimmune disease.
GIS preprocessing for rapid initialization of HEC-HMS hydrological basin models using web-based data services

Abstract Hydrological GIS preprocessing tools are used to spatially relate different datasets for producing topologically connected watersheds and deriving attributes for model parameterization. Obtaining such information requires disparate data-sources from various websites with lengthy processing requirements. This research describes the development of HMS-PrePro, an open-source GIS preprocessing tool that was developed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Hydrologic Engineering Center's Hydraulic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) software. HMS-PrePro provides data as a service by connecting to Esri's Living Atlas web service and extracting authoritative hydrological datasets for any watershed of interest in the contiguous United States. The datasets are saved to a local geodatabase, and spatial operations are executed to automatically delineate the watershed, derive topological connections, and estimate several common hydrologic parameters. An output basin text file is produced in HEC-HMS format for rapid model initialization.
A microfluidic platform for cultivating ovarian cancer spheroids and testing their responses to chemotherapies.

There is increasing interest in utilizing in vitro cultures as patient avatars to develop personalized treatment for cancer. Typical cultures utilize Matrigel-coated plates and media to promote the proliferation of cancer cells as spheroids or tumor explants. However, standard culture conditions operate in large volumes and require a high concentration of cancer cells to initiate this process. Other limitations include variability in the ability to successfully establish a stable line and inconsistency in the dimensions of these microcancers for in vivo drug response measurements. This paper explored the utility of microfluidics in the cultivation of cancer cell spheroids. Six patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors of high-grade serous ovarian cancer were used as the source material to demonstrate that viability and epithelial marker expression in the microfluidic cultures was superior to that of Matrigel or large volume 3D cultures. To further demonstrate the potential for miniaturization and multiplexing, we fabricated multichamber microfluidic devices with integrated microvalves to enable serial seeding of several chambers followed by parallel testing of several drug concentrations. These valve-enabled microfluidic devices permitted the formation of spheroids and testing of seven drug concentrations with as few as 100,000 cancer cells per device. Overall, we demonstrate the feasibility of maintaining difficul-to-culture primary cancer cells and testing drugs in a microfluidic device. This microfluidic platform may be ideal for drug testing and personalized therapy when tumor material is limited, such as following the acquisition of biopsy specimens obtained by fine-needle aspiration. Researchers in the United States have developed a microfluidic system for culturing ovarian cancer organoids. The use of microfluidics makes it possible to create cultures starting from a smaller number of cells than existing approaches. The team compared the new approach to standard techniques and found that the resulting cultures were superior in terms of viability, proliferation, and phenotype expression. Building on this framework, the researchers developed an 8-chamber microfluidic device which could be seeded serially and then used for parallel testing of different drug concentrations. The device required with fewer than 100,000 cells, which is insufficient to test multiple conditions using existing approaches. The ability to work reliably with small cells numbers makes this microfluidic platform well-suited for personalized drug testing when the sample material is limited.
Exploring Correlation among Different Elements of Student Evaluation of Teaching

The Research to Practice Full Paper intends to explore the possible correlations among the distinct elements of the student evaluations. The students have their own perception of the course and instructor. The individualism of students in a class reflects the need to change instructional elements of the course when the student expectation is not satisfied thoroughly. Students ought to have their mind flooded with the things which they want to learn from the instructor. They entail improving their skills through university education for the upcoming competition of the professional world. In addition, some of the previous research indicates student evaluations are a crucial source of data available to increase the student performance of the course.As a result, the authors are dedicated to the analysis of the instructor-based questions used in the evaluations. The questionnaire usually used in a feedback form is generalized and branded according to instructional requirements. The correlation of course structure of assignment in the mind of an instructor is different than in the mind of a student. The data used include courses offered by a selected professor at the Engineering Department at University. The student evaluations cover instructor and course-based questions. This include, course structure and organization, course objective-defining and course-meeting, knowledge demonstration, concept-explaining, communication effectiveness, class discussion-stimulating, student question-answering, consultation availability, student learning facilitation by assignments, concept-reflecting by exams, timely, and constructive feedback on student work, and overall rating of the instructor. The rating scale with five response categories are employed which range from very good (1) to very poor (5). The panel data used contains mean of each question from all students enrolled during a semester. Layer in the panel data differs for a lecture course and a lab course.To capture the reliable correlation amongst instructor-based questions, some of the more popular rank correlation statistics are used including Spearman's ρ, Kendall's τ, Pearson’s r, Wilcoxon T-test. Some of the teaching activities are found to have a stronger connection with the method of structuring assignments, which tend to have isolated impacts on student learning. It is anticipated that the research findings would assist the faculty in doing reflective work to comprehend student requisites.
FMMTL: FMM Template Library A Generalized Framework for Kernel Matrices

In response to two decades of development in structured dense matrix algorithms and a vast number of research codes, we present designs and progress towards a codebase that is abstracted over the primary domains of research. In the domain of mathematics, this includes the development of interaction kernels and their low-rank expansions. In the domain of high performance computing, this includes the optimized construction, traversal, and scheduling algorithms for the appropriate operations. We present a versatile system that can encompass the design decisions made over a decade of research while providing an abstracted, intuitive, and usable front-end that can integrated into existing linear algebra libraries.
La metaficción historiográfica en Corona de sombra de Rodolfo Usigli: un cotejo de los hechos durante el reino de Maximiliano en México

En este trabajo, el autor examina los hechos historicos tratados e interpretados por el dramaturgo y como estos se comparan con la version "oficial". En especifico, se analiza el papel de la Historia oficial y la memoria como instrumento historiografico posmoderno.
Implementation of UAV localization methods for a mobile post-earthquake monitoring system

The goal of this paper is to develop an integrated mobile sensing system that enhances Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to provide an autonomous means of locating and mapping damage characteristics of a structural system. The UAV brings mobility to the integrated sensor payload so that the sensors can access remote sites and collect data of structures and field features following an earthquake or a natural disaster. A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor and high resolution camera are installed on a UAV to obtain highly detailed and accurate topological maps of physical surfaces from which structural cracks, surface chances and minor faulting can be detected. One of the challenges in automating the operation of the UAV in challenging operational environments such as GPS-denied environments (e.g., under bridges, indoor environments) is accurate navigation. In a GPS-denied environment, localization relies on on-board sensors, which has limited accuracy when positioning the UAV in a fixed coordinate system. This paper explores solutions to this problem with vision- and marker-based localization methods. The experimental results are based on a LiDAR and camera payload integrated with an octo-rotor UAV platform that has an onboard inertial measurement unit. The experimental results show that three dimensional navigation and geometric mapping in unknown operational environments are both feasible and accurate.
The Buck Stops Here: Toxic Titles and Title Insurance

By failing to properly transfer ownership of loans and mortgages, recording fraudulent documents, and performing unlawful foreclosures, financial institutions and law firms have generated property titles that range from defective to toxic. Those actions evince a systemic failure to comply with longstanding principles of real property law and regulations governing financial transactions. Title companies participated in title services and issued title insurance policies throughout the housing boom and although they did not directly cause toxic titles, many title insurers have ultimately assumed the risk for the bad practices that became the industry norms in the last decade. In this article, I will discuss how title insurers have exposed themselves to liability for toxic titles.
Distributional Objectives Should Affect Taxes But Not Program Choice or Design

A society can redistribute income through the tax system, and through the choice and design of government programs. Neither type of redistribution is as efficient as lump-sum transfers would be, if feasible. In practice, however, both taxes and government programs serve redistributional goals. The question becomes how best to integrate them to achieve an optimal outcome, maximizing the redistributional effect for a given efficiency cost. The following conclusions are reached. If total benefits are independent of the income distribution and relative benefits are determined by before or after-tax income, those projects that yield the greatest total of unweighted benefits across the population should be selected. If benefits depend on the distribution of income, the optimal program will be one which produces maximal net benefits at the income distribution which is being induced. Redistribution is a concern, but is carried out solely through the tax system.
'Tomorrow' May Finally Have Arrived - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: A Necessary First Step Toward Health Care Equity in the United States

This essay provides a brief overview of the major provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, characterizing the federal effort to require health insurance coverage for all Americans as a first step in an incremental process of expanding access to health care services on an equitable basis and controlling the costs of health care. The essay argues that the success of health reform efforts such as PPACA should be measured by how well the initiatives achieve the goal of providing necessary health care to all and not by whether particular mechanisms can be characterized as satisfying ideological preferences for “capitalism” or “socialism.”
Multidimensional RWRE with Subclassical Limiting Behavior

This paper is based on a talk given at the workshop on Random Media, September 17–24 at the IMA, and like the talk it describes two results proved in [4] and [5].
Identification of Acylglycerols Containing Dihydroxy Fatty Acids in Castor Oil by Mass Spectrometry

Ricinoleate, a monohydroxy fatty acid, in castor oil has many industrial uses. Dihydroxy fatty acids can also be used in industry. The C18 HPLC fractions of castor oil were analyzed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of lithium adducts to identify the acylglycerols containing dihydroxy fatty acids and the dihydroxy fatty acids. Four diacylglycerols identified were diOH18:1-diOH18:1, diOH18:2-OH18:1, diOH18:1-OH18:1 and diOH18:0-OH18:1. Eight triacylglycerols identified were diOH18:1-diOH18:1-diOH18:1, diOH18:1-diOH18:1-diOH18:0, diOH18:2-diOH18:1-OH18:1, diOH18:1-diOH18:1-OH18:1, diOH18:1-diOH18:0-OH18:1, diOH18:2-OH18:1-OH18:1, diOH18:1-OH18:1-OH18:1 and diOH18:0-OH18:1-OH18:1. The locations of fatty acids on the glycerol backbone were not determined. The structures of these three newly identified dihydroxy fatty acids were proposed as 11,12-dihydroxy-9-octadecenoic acid, 11,12-dihydroxy-9,13-octadecadienoic acid and 11,12-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid. These individual acylglycerols were at the levels of about 0.5% or less in castor oil and can be isolated from castor oil or overproduced in a transgenic oil seed plant for future industrial uses.