cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy With Incident Hypertension: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Increased left ventricular (LV) mass and changes in LV geometry may precede hypertension onset. The authors examined the associations of LV mass and geometry, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, with hypertension incidence in 2,567 normotensive participants enrolled in 2000-2002 in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, an ethnically diverse, population-based, US study. Over a median follow-up of 4.8 years, 745 (29%) participants developed hypertension. In a fully adjusted model including baseline blood pressure, the relative risks of incident hypertension from the lowest to highest LV mass quartile were 1.00 (referent), 1.13 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.89, 1.43), 1.28 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.63), and 1.78 (95% CI: 1.38, 2.30) (P < 0.001 for linear trend). Higher levels of LV concentric geometry, defined by higher LV mass to end-diastolic volume quartiles, were associated with higher risk of incident hypertension in a fully adjusted model (P = 0.044 for linear trend). In a final model containing both quartiles of LV mass and LV mass/volume along with all covariates including baseline blood pressure, higher LV mass quartiles were associated with incident hypertension (P < 0.001 for linear trend), whereas higher LV mass/volume quartiles were not (P = 0.643 for linear trend). In this multiethnic cohort, alterations in LV mass preceded hypertension onset among normotensive individuals.
Predicting students' happiness from physiology, phone, mobility, and behavioral data

In order to model students' happiness, we apply machine learning methods to data collected from undergrad students monitored over the course of one month each. The data collected include physiological signals, location, smartphone logs, and survey responses to behavioral questions. Each day, participants reported their wellbeing on measures including stress, health, and happiness. Because of the relationship between happiness and depression, modeling happiness may help us to detect individuals who are at risk of depression and guide interventions to help them. We are also interested in how behavioral factors (such as sleep and social activity) affect happiness positively and negatively. A variety of machine learning and feature selection techniques are compared, including Gaussian Mixture Models and ensemble classification. We achieve 70% classification accuracy of self-reported happiness on held-out test data.
Photoredox-catalyzed [4+2] annulation of cyclobutylanilines with alkenes, alkynes, and diynes in continuous flow

Continuous flow has recently emerged as a powerful enabling technology that greatly improves many reactions’ efficiency. Here, we apply the technology to intermolecular [4+2] annulation of cyclobutylanilines with alkenes, alkynes, and diynes by photoredox catalysis. An across-the-board improvement in the annulation’s efficiency is noticed. Moreover, a gram-scale annulation is successfully demonstrated in continuous flow using a much lower catalyst loading.
From Urinal to Manicure: Challenges to The Scholarship of Tax and Gender

The article explores ways in which sex and race create different research problems in the context of the federal income tax.
An Empirical Study on the Effective Demand of Policy-oriented Agricultural Insurance——Based on the Rural Household Survey Data in Liaoning Province

Based on the theory of agricultural insurance demand,this study applies the binary logistic model to conduct an empirical analysis and test of the rural household survey data in Liaoning Province.From such new perspectives as household economic conditions,farming conditions and risksharing measures,the influential factors and mechanisms of effective demand for policy-oriented agricultural insurance are studied empirically. Meanwhile,such factors as farmers'individual characteristics and their understanding of agricultural insurance are taken into account.The results show that health insurance,endowment insurance and revenue exert a negative impact on policyoriented agricultural insurance,whereas government assistance,household assets,insurance cognition,level of education and other factors exert a positive impact on policy-oriented agricultural insurance.
Particle filtering and marginalization for parameter identification in structural systems

Summary In structural health monitoring, one wishes to use available measurements from a structure to assess structural condition, localize damage if present, and quantify remaining life. Nonlinear system identification methods are considered that use a parametric, nonlinear, physics-based model of the system, cast in the state-space framework. Various nonlinear filters and parameter learning algorithms can then be used to recover the parameters and quantify uncertainty. This paper focuses on the particle filter (PF), which shows the advantage of not assuming Gaussianity of the posterior densities. However, the PF is known to behave poorly in high dimensional spaces, especially when static parameters are added to the state vector. To improve the efficiency of the PF, the concept of Rao–Blackwellisation is applied, that is, we use conditional linearities present in the equations to marginalize out some of the states/parameters and infer their conditional posterior pdf using the Kalman filtering equations. This method has been studied extensively in the particle filtering literature, and we start our discussion by improving upon and applying two well-known algorithms on a benchmark structural system. Then, noticing that in structural systems, high nonlinearities are often localized while the remaining equations are bilinear in the states and parameters, a novel algorithm is proposed, which combines this marginalization approach with a second-order extended Kalman filter. This new approach enables us to marginalize out all the states/parameters, which do not contribute to any high nonlinearity in the equations and, thus, improve identification of the unknown parameters. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Heaf survey and tuberculosis control programme in African primary school children in the City of Salisbury.

A tuberculosis survey of all African primary school children in the city of Salisbury was undertaken during the twelve month period 1975/76. It involved a total of 41 000 children aged seven to 14 years and was done on a purely voluntary basis, but, even so, had a 90 percent acceptance rate among parents. The heaf multiple puncture method was used and only those children whose reactions were Heaf grades III and IV were regarded as positive. All positive reactors were fully investigated clinically; radiologically and with laboratory tests where appropriate.
Première observation du genre Pulvinites (Mollusca, Bivalvia) dans le Danien (Paléocène inférieur) de Vigny (Val-d'Oise, France)

First report of genus Pulvinites (Mollusca, Bivalvia) in the Danian (lower Paleocene) from Vigny (Val-d’Oise, France). Four complete specimens of a bivalve belonging to the genus Pulvinites Blainville, 1824 (Pterioidea, Pulvinitidae) have been collected in the Danian (lower Paleocene) reefal linestone of Vigny (Val-d’Oise, France). Pulvinites (s.s.) dysporista n. sp. is described. This is the first report of the member of family Pulvinitidae in the European Cenozoic, the only other post-Mesozoic species records of Pulvinites being from Danian (lower Paleocene) of Egypt, from Thanetian (upper Paleocene) of California and Virginia as also in Recent of Australia. Its specific content and stratigraphical range are also briefly analyzed.
'Behold the fear of the Lord' : The Erastianism of Stillingfleet, Wolseley, and Tillotson

Fear, according to the thesis expressedin The three impostors, is the origin of religion. The author (if there is a single author) of the treatise goes on to explain that in their ignorance of natural causes, men have been frightened by such apparently inexplicable events as earthquakes and illnesses and have imagined that invisible powers are responsible for these evils. Thinking these powers to have immediate and complete control over nature, men have tried to appease them and gain their favor. Princes and priests have capitalized upon this fear and the hope born of fear by nurturing these seeds of religion, the former to support their own authority and the latter to enrich their own purses. These cunning men have used religion to keep the vulgar in submission and awe, and their cheat has been facilitated by the ambition and avarice of certain individuals (most notably Jesus, Moses, and Mahomet) who have pretended to be friendly with and to have received laws from the invisible powers.2
A qualitative study of user perceptions of mobile health apps

Mobile apps for health exist in large numbers today, but oftentimes, consumers do not continue to use them after a brief period of initial usage, are averse toward using them at all, or are unaware that such apps even exist. The purpose of our study was to examine and qualitatively determine the design and content elements of health apps that facilitate or impede usage from the users’ perceptive. In 2014, six focus groups and five individual interviews were conducted in the Midwest region of the U.S. with a mixture of 44 smartphone owners of various social economic status. The participants were asked about their general and health specific mobile app usage. They were then shown specific features of exemplar health apps and prompted to discuss their perceptions. The focus groups and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using the software NVivo. Inductive thematic analysis was adopted to analyze the data and nine themes were identified: 1) barriers to adoption of health apps, 2) barriers to continued use of health apps, 3) motivators, 4) information and personalized guidance, 5) tracking for awareness and progress, 6) credibility, 7) goal setting, 8) reminders, and 9) sharing personal information. The themes were mapped to theories for interpretation of the results. This qualitative research with a diverse pool of participants extended previous research on challenges and opportunities of health apps. The findings provide researchers, app designers, and health care providers insights on how to develop and evaluate health apps from the users’ perspective.
The International Teleradiology Industry: Successes and Failures

Contrary to popular opinion, only one Indian firm - about a dozen radiologists in total - now reads medical images generated in the United States. The Indian teleradiology industry is having somewhat greater success in the United Kingdom and Singapore but even here, success is slow. In this paper, I discuss the Indian teleradiology industry and describe the substantive and regulatory obstacles that make the offshoring of teleradiology (and other professional services) more complicated than offshoring call center work or manufactured products.
Supporting Family Caregivers of Older Americans.

A National Academies committee has published a report raising serious concern about the state of family caregiving for older adults in the United States and recommending new policies and practices to make the delivery of person- and family-centered care a reality.
Efficient Derivation of Functional Human Airway Epithelium from Pluripotent Stem Cells via Temporal Regulation of Wnt Signaling.

Effective derivation of functional airway organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) would provide valuable models of lung disease and facilitate precision therapies for airway disorders such as cystic fibrosis. However, limited understanding of human airway patterning has made this goal challenging. Here, we show that cyclical modulation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway enables rapid directed differentiation of human iPSCs via an NKX2-1+ progenitor intermediate into functional proximal airway organoids. We find that human NKX2-1+ progenitors have high levels of Wnt activation but respond intrinsically to decreases in Wnt signaling by rapidly patterning into proximal airway lineages at the expense of distal fates. Using this directed approach, we were able to generate cystic fibrosis patient-specific iPSC-derived airway organoids with a defect in forskolin-induced swelling that is rescued by gene editing to correct the disease mutation. Our approach has many potential applications in modeling and drug screening for airway diseases.
Phytochemicals and Naturally Occurring Substances in the Chemoprevention of Skin Cancer

Non-melanoma skin cancer outnumbers all other cancers combined by three to four-fold while melanoma is the fifth most common cancer overall, and the deadliest form of skin cancer. Despite treatment advancements in the past several decades, incidence continues to rise. Phytochemicals and other naturally occurring substances may provide sustainable chemopreventive solutions. The purpose of this study is to review the key findings from the literature and report on the level of evidence based on study design. A comprehensive PubMed search was completed from 1984 to present using keywords “skin cancer chemoprevention” alone and with “phytochemicals,” “alternative,” “essential oils,” and “vitamins.” This search demonstrated that the literature strongly endorses the role of naturally occurring substances in the context of skin cancer chemoprevention, however the literature is predominantly comprised of data based on in vitro and animal based models. Prior to acceptance into mainstream practice, high quality prospective studies to evaluate the role of naturally occurring compounds in the context of skin cancer chemoprevention are indicated.
Determination of crustal structure from phase velocity of rayleigh waves, part II: San Francisco Bay region

The phase velocity method of measuring crustal thickness has been successfully applied in southern California. Phase velocity of dispersed Rayleigh waves from distant earthquakes is determined locally by use of a tripartite array of seismograph stations. Local crustal thickness is obtained by comparing the observed phase velocity with an experimentally determined curve representative of the average continental crust. In this paper we make use of the phase-velocity data of Evernden to determine crustal thickness in the San Francisco Bay region of California. Evernden determined the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves entering the North American continent from the Pacific Ocean. He was primarily interested in studying the direction of approach of these waves. His tripartite array consisted of stations at Berkeley, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, and a number of earthquakes were studied so that a large variation in direction of approach could be obtained. The data for all the earthquakes were combined to obtain an average phase velocity for each period. These phase velocities are plotted in figure 1, where the region to which the data apply is also shown. Also plotted in figure 1 are phase-velocity curves for a 25-km., 35-km., and 45-km. crust having the same composition as the average crust of Africa. The method by which these curves have been derived is explained in Part I (see fn. 1, above). By interpolating between the curves one can use each phase-velocity determination to obtain a value of crustal thickness. Neglecting the lowest three points which fall outside the range permitted by the phase-velocity curves, one finds a mean value of 30 ± 1 km. for crustal thickness in the San Francisco Bay region. The three points which were excluded fall in a period range where experimental phase-velocity determinations are difficult to make. Moreover, for these short periods the phase velocity for the oceanic segment of the path differs greatly from that for the continental segment, with the result that refraction effects are most pronounced.
Does Donor Age and Double Versus Single Lung Transplant Affect Survival of Young Recipients

Background In an effort to expand the donor pool for lung transplants, numerous studies have examined the use of advanced age donors with mixed results, including decreased survival among younger recipients. We evaluated the impact of the use of advanced age donors and single versus double lung transplantation on posttransplant survival. Methods The United Network for Organ Sharing database was retrospectively queried between January 2005 and June 2014 to identify lung transplant patients aged at least 18 years. Patients were stratified by recipient age 50 years or less, donor age 60 years or more, and single versus double lung transplantation. Overall survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariable survival analysis was performed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results In all, 14,222 lung transplants were performed during the study period. With univariate analysis, donor lungs aged 60 years or more were associated with slightly worse 5-year survival (44% versus 52%; p p = 0.055). Among recipients aged 50 years or more, receiving older donor lungs showed worse survival with the use of single lung transplant (5-year survival 15% versus 50%, p = 0.01). No significant difference in survival between young and old donors was seen when double lung transplant was performed ( p = 0.491). Cox proportional hazards model showed a trend toward interaction between single lung transplantation and older donors (hazard ratio 2.36, p = 0.057). Conclusions Reasonable posttransplant outcomes can be achieved with use of advanced age donors in all recipient groups. Double lung transplantation should be performed when older donors (age more than 60) are used in young recipients (age 50 or less).
Spatial Release From Masking in Adults With Bilateral Cochlear Implants: Effects of Distracter Azimuth and Microphone Location

Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to derive spatial release from masking (SRM) performance-azimuth functions for bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users to provide a thorough description ...
More than silent preaching: didactic use of wall painting in the Middle Ages

Various visual arts were used in churches throughout the Middle Ages to instruct and form the spiritual lives of those who worshiped in them. In an increasingly “post-literate” culture, what might ...
Delayed Presentation of Actinomycotic Intra-Abdominal Abscess Following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Complicated by Empyema: Dropped Gallstone to Blame?

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has universally become the gold standard for symptomatic gallstone disease. However, there are two specific complications more frequent in LC compared to open cholecystectomy, i.e. injury to the common bile duct and complications from dropped gallstones. Although asymptomatic in majority of cases, adverse events are reported in between 0.08% and 0.3% of these cases. The complications due to dropped stones include abscesses around liver, spleen, diaphragm, retroperitoneum and port sites, broncholithiasis, empyema, peritonitis leading to septicemia, intestinal obstruction, thrombosis of middle colic vein, colocutaneous fistula, and bladder obstruction. Abscesses are the most common infective complications and have been reported to occur from 3.3 months to 10 years. In most cases, E. coli have been identified in abscesses and in cause of septicemia and peritonitis. There are case reports of Klebsiella , Strep. bovis and Samonella being the contaminants after dropped stones. However, actinomycosis as source of infection has rarely been described. We describe a case of an elderly patient who presented with symptoms of shortness of breath and shoulder pain, 2.5 years after cholecystectomy, in whom actinomyces species were cultured from abdominal abscesses. Only few case reports, to our knowledge, have identified actinomyces species as an etiologic agent. We also briefly describe the management of such stones. Clin Infect Immun. 2018;3(1):20-23 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/cii74e
A time for YAP1: Tumorigenesis, immunosuppression and targeted therapy

YAP1 is one of the most important effectors of the Hippo pathway and has crosstalk with other cancer promoting pathways. YAP1 contributes to cancer development in various ways that include promoting malignant phenotypes, expansion of cancer stem cells and drug resistance of cancer cells. Because pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of YAP1 suppresses tumor progression and increases the drug sensitivity, targeting YAP1 may open a fertile avenue for a novel therapeutic approach in relevant cancers. Recent enormous studies have established the efficacy of immunotherapy, and several immune checkpoint blockades are in clinical use or in the phase of development to treat various cancer types. Immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME) induced by cancer cells, immune cells and associated stromal cells promotes tumor progression and causes drug resistance. Accumulated evidences of scientific efforts from the last few years suggest that YAP1 influences macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T-cells to facilitate immunosuppressive TME. Although the underlying mechanisms is not clearly discerned, it is evident that YAP1 activating pathways in different cellular components induce immunosuppressive TME. In this review, we summarize the evidences involved in the dual roles of YAP1 in cancer development and immunosuppression in the TME. We also discuss the possibility of YAP1 as a novel therapeutic target.
Cell mediated immunity to human solid tumors: in vitro detection by lymphocyte blastogenic responses to cell associated and solubilized tumor antigens

Studies during the past 7 years have demonstrated tumor-specific antigens in most human solid tumors [15, 27, 28]. In general, more importance was attached to cell-mediated immunity than to humoral immunity in the host’s immune defense against solid tumors, since transplantation experiments have shown that effective tumor immunity is based on lymphocytic mechanisms similar to those of homograft rejection [26].
Lipid-Protein Association in Lung Surfactant

We investigated the nature of the lipid-protein association and the role of the protein moiety in a highly surface active lipoprotein fraction we isolated from cell-free rabbit lung wash and also compared the surface properties of dipalmitoyl lecithin, generally believed chiefly responsible for the surface properties of lung surfactant, with those of the lipoprotein fraction.
Turing Machines — A Simple Object-Oriented Application

In this chapter, we present a simple but complete example of an application that is programmed in an object-oriented style. The example is that of a Turing machine, which, simply put, is a model of a computer. You need have no prior knowledge of Turing machines to read this chapter, since we will take a moment now to discuss what you need to know, beginning with a bit of background. Also, since this material will not be used later, you may skip this chapter if you wish.
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Chronic Kidney Disease

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins, which comprise an important compensatory mechanism for maintaining renal blood flow, glomerular filtration, and water and electrolyte homeostasis in the setting of a number of pathophysiologic states including CKD. CKD patients are, therefore, at risk for adverse renal side-effects of NSAIDs, including acutely worsened renal function, hyperkalemia, hyponatremia, sodium retention, and exacerbation of hypertension. Although these effects are generally reversible upon discontinuation of the drugs, CKD patients must be monitored closely while taking NSAIDs. Evidence suggests that heavy cumulative NSAID consumption is capable of causing chronic kidney injury with manifestations similar to those seen in classic analgesic nephropathy, including chronic interstitial nephritis and papillary necrosis. The pathogenesis of this disorder is probably renal medullary ischemia resulting from diversion of blood flow to the cortex that occurs with suppression of prostaglandin synthesis. CKD due to NSAIDs is probably rare. Extra caution is indicated when (1) committing patients to high-dose, long-term NSAID therapy, or (2) recommending NSAID therapy of any duration to patients with CKD or other risk factors for adverse renal side-effects including advanced age, use of diuretics, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, and hypertension.
Polymer-Modified Nanoparticles as Targeted MR Imaging Agents

A novel surface modification technique was employed to produce a polymer-modified, positive contrast agent nanoparticle for targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A range of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic homopolymers, along with novel multifunctional copolymers of poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide)-co-poly(N-methacryloxysuccinimide)-co-poly(fluorescein O-methacrylate), were synthesized using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. These polymers were subsequently used to modify the surface of gadolinium (Gd) metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles. The succinimide functionality of the copolymer was utilized as a scaffold for attachment of the targeting ligands, H-glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartate-serine-NH2 peptide or the antibody for epidermal growth factor. Reduction of the trithiocarbonate RAFT polymer end groups to thiolates provided a means of polymer attachment through vacant orbitals on the Gd3+ ions at the surface of the Gd MOF nanoparticles. MRI confirmed that the relaxivity rates of these novel polymer-modified structures were easily tuned by changes in size and shape of the nanoparticles or by modifying the molecular weight and chemical structure of the polymers attached to the surface of the nanoparticles. In most cases, the relaxivity values were significantly higher than both the unmodified Gd MOF nanoparticles and the clinically employed contrast agents, Magnevist® and MultiHance®. These versatile, polymer-modified nanoscale scaffolds were shown to provide biocompatibility, cancer cell targeting, and diagnostic imaging through positive contrast in MRI and fluorescence microscopy. This unique method provided a simple yet versatile route of producing polymer-modified nanoparticles for targeted MRI of cancer with an unprecedented degree of flexibility in the construct, potentially allowing for tunable loading capacities and spatial loading of targeting agents while incorporating bimodal imaging capabilities.
A two-interval, forced-choice, observer-based procedure for evaluating hearing sensitivity in children with motor and developmental impairments

Purpose It can be challenging to collect reliable behavioral responses to sound from individuals with significant motor or developmental impairments, the most common types of comorbid disability fo...
Moving Past "Avoid All Nuts": Individualizing Management of Children with Peanut/Tree Nut Allergies

It has been common practice to tell patients with allergy to peanut or tree nuts to avoid all nuts. Evidence that unnecessary avoidance of peanuts and eggs is associated with increased risk for developing anaphylaxis to those foods has changed how allergists view previous recommendations to avoid foods that have not caused a reaction. In the absence of evidence, collaborative decision making between clinicians and families should be used to decide whether to avoid tree nuts and how to safely introduce tree nuts into the diet. This article discusses the options for introducing tree nuts to children with peanut allergy.
Endogenous and exogenous contrast mechanisms for detection of ovarian cancer

We show that multispectral fluorescence imaging, optical coherence tomography, and multispectral microscopy differentiates normal, cancer, and benign ovary and fallopian tube tissue in a mouse model and human tissue samples.
A Ecopoética de G.H.

Este texto oferece o termo ecopoetica como uma maneira de conceituar as reverberacoes de som e silencio no romance de Clarice, A paixao segundo G.H . (1964). Uma poetica do eco procura investigar os contornos da arte verbal a partir da figura mitica de Eco, que personaliza os efeitos da reflexao sonora e da reverberacao, e coloca em questao a nocao de auto-identidade e de autoria. Uma comparacao com o mito de Eco tambem ajuda a entender o desenvolvimento de uma poetica da escuta que se move em uma direcao inumana e assume uma dimensao planetaria.
Groundwater modeling in data scarce aquifers: The case of Gilgel-Abay, Upper Blue Nile, Ethiopia

Abstract Groundwater (GW) is the main source of domestic water supply in Ethiopia (85%), however, despite widespread acknowledgement of its potential for resource-based development and climate change adaptation, the sector is still quite under-investigated. This is mainly due to the scarcity of in situ data, which are essential to building robust impact models. To address this, we developed a fine-resolution (500 m) GW model using MODFLOW-NWT, focusing on the Gilgel-Abay Catchment located in the Upper Blue Nile basin, fed with daily distributed input forcings of recharge and streamflow simulated by the Coupled Routing and Excess Storage (CREST) hydrological model. The model was calibrated against instantaneous observation records of GW table for 38 historical wells, and validated at selected sites using time series data collected from the Citizen Science Initiative (PIRE CSI), and the Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project. An RMSE of 14.4 m (1.8% of range) was achieved for calibration and same for validation was 18.21 m and 15.76 m at the PIRE CSI and ILSSI sites, respectively. The findings of this research indicate substantial physical GW resource availability in the Gilgel-Abay region. Moreover, we expect the model to have multiscale future applications. These include obtaining dynamically downscaled boundary conditions for a local-scale GW model, to be developed in the next phase of our research. Further, an upscaled version of this model to encompass the entire Tana Basin would be developed to simulate lake-aquifer interactions. Finally, the approach of this research combining different types of datasets (e.g., reanalysis products, satellite data, citizen science data, etc.) is adaptable to other global data-scarce regions. Moreover, the method overcomes specific challenges associated to in situ data scarcity, limited knowledge on GW resources availability in the area, interaction with complex boundary conditions, and sensitivity under meteorological boundary forcings.
Analyzing the Quality Problems and Defects of Design Deliverables on Building Projects

Abstract Since poor design deliverables can generate significant project cost overruns and schedule delays, producing high-quality design deliverables is critical. To improve design quality on buil...
Mechanistic Studies of the Multiple Myeloma and Melanoma Cell-Selective Toxicity of the Rpn13-Binding Peptoid KDT-11.

Summary We previously reported a peptoid ligand for the proteasomal ubiquitin receptor Rpn13 called KDT-11 and demonstrated that this compound is toxic to multiple myeloma cells, but not non-malignant cells. Here, we show that KDT-11 decreases the viability of a variety of cancer cell lines, especially melanomas and various blood cancers. The peptoid induces selective G1 cell-cycle arrest, resulting in eventual apoptosis. While KDT-11 does not antagonize any of the known protein-protein interactions involving Rpn13, the peptoid inhibits the ability of Rpn13 to stimulate the activity of an associated deubiquitylase Uch37/UCHL5 in vitro, suggesting a high level of Uch37 activity might be important for cancer cell proliferation. However, a variety of experiments in SK-MEL-5 melanoma cells suggest that KDT-11's cytotoxic effects are mediated by interactions with proteins other than Rpn13.
The effect of ankle osteoarthritis and total ankle arthroplasty on center of pressure position.

Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is a common surgical approach for patients with end-stage ankle osteoarthritis (OA). However, very little is known about the path of the center of pressure (COP) of the foot, and thus important aspects of load transfer, muscle mechanical advantage, and balance, in patients before or after surgery. The objective of this study was to trace the pathway of the COP under the foot in patients with symptomatic ankle OA, comparing asymmetry between affected and unaffected limbs. From force plate data, proximo-distal and medio-lateral position of the COP beneath the foot were calculated and compared for the affected and unaffected foot in patients with unilateral ankle OA (N=93) before and after TAA. Gender and age at surgery had little or no effect in this study. Patients with ankle OA had minimal COP position asymmetry before surgery, and this asymmetry was reduced following surgery. Prior to surgery, patients had a slower walking speed and a shorter path of the COP which began relatively distal to the heel and ended relatively proximal to the hallux. TAA increased the proximo-distal distance the COP traveled under both the unaffected and affected foot, a pattern that was maintained for over two years post-surgery. TAA allows patients with ankle OA to maintain a longer COP path than they had before surgery on both sides that is closer to that reported for unaffected individuals, extending effectively from the heel to the hallux, potentially improving pedal mechanics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Abstract S05-03: Preserving innate memory to overcome SARS-CoV-2 infection through the mevalonate pathway

Background: Easily accessible therapies have been proposed to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. Given that the mevalonate pathway is critical in preventing nonspecific inflammation, events that interfere in this pathway in mononuclear or epithelial lung cells might determine the outcome of infected patients. Based on its mechanism of action, we hypothesize that in patients with metastatic cancer (MC), zoledronic acid (ZA) may influence the severity of COVID-19 disease. Methods: In silico analysis compared normalized expression levels of prenylation-related genes in mononuclear and epithelial cells, between infected and noninfected SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 samples, from available GEO datasets. RNA analysis was done using R v3.6.3. Counts were normalized with EdgeR, and ggpubr package and was used to compute t-tests. For analyzing samples from GSE150728, Partek Flow was used to align and normalize reads from single-cell RNA. Results: Analysis of data from the 2003 SARS outbreak (GSE1739) showed that PBMCs isolated from infected patients expressed lower levels of HMGCR, FNTA, COX10, and PGGT1B ( 1.5-fold as compared to their healthy controls. Infected A549 cells showed decreased levels of MVK and RABGGTA (p Conclusion: In light of these findings, coronaviruses may hijack the mevalonate pathway and induce autoimmunity. Response to coronavirus infection may differ in patients with MC under treatment with ZA, statins, or other substances that interfere with prenylation-mediated small vesicle trafficking (i.e., hydroxychloroquine, nicotine). Hence, studies that investigate SARS-CoV-2 disease severity in patients under treatment with ZA are strongly needed. Citation Format: Juan Luis Gomez, Adam Brufsky. Preserving innate memory to overcome SARS-CoV-2 infection through the mevalonate pathway [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2020 Jul 20-22. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(18_Suppl):Abstract nr S05-03.
Amantadine withdrawal syndrome masquerading as COVID-19 encephalopathy: a case report and review of the literature

Amantadine withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a rare but recognized cause of severe and persistent altered mental status sometimes with co-occurring extrapyramidal symptoms. First described in a case series from 1987, its clinical manifestations have been characterized along a spectrum ranging from profound hypoactive delirium to hyperactive delirium with hallucinations. Risk factors for withdrawal include abrupt medication discontinuation, prolonged use, older age and underlying dementia. Herein we describe a case of a 52-year-old woman who presented with confusion, hallucinations, and coronavirus disease-2019 infection. She subsequently developed a prolonged hypoactive delirium after her amantadine was tapered and held. Her hypoactive delirium entirely resolved with resumption of amantadine confirming the diagnosis of AWS. This case illustrates the importance of slowly tapering dopaminergic medications and being aware of rare pharmacologic side effects.
Laboratory monitoring of nusinersen safety.

Introduction This retrospective study reports our tertiary care center's experience with intrathecal nusinersen administration in children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Methods We reviewed safety monitoring laboratory results and need for procedural sedation and fluoroscopy-guidance in all SMA patients receiving nusinersen between February 2017 and March 2020. Results Fifty-eight patients ages 1 month- 56 years received 494 nusinersen doses. There were 166 laboratory abnormalities in 45 patients. Most were either mild (145 [87.3%]) or were transient proteinuria (18 [10.8%]). None altered nusinersen treatment. Twenty-eight patients required either general anesthesia (75 doses) or anxiolysis with oral midazolam (133 doses, including 6 patients [23 doses] with SMA type I). Eight patients with complicated spines (45 doses) required fluoroscopic guidance. One treatment-related serious adverse event (emesis leading to intubation) occurred during general anesthesia. Two children had asymptomatic increased intracranial pressure. No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Discussion Intrathecal nusinersen is generally safe and well-tolerated, including in patients requiring oral anxiolysis, general sedation, and fluoroscopic guidance. Frequent serial laboratory monitoring did not identify any persistent significantly abnormal findings or alter treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Learning Models for Suicide Prediction from Social Media Posts

We propose a deep learning architecture and test three other machine learning models to automatically detect individuals that will attempt suicide within (1) 30 days and (2) six months, using their social media post data provided in the CLPsych 2021 shared task. Additionally, we create and extract three sets of handcrafted features for suicide risk detection based on the three-stage theory of suicide and prior work on emotions and the use of pronouns among persons exhibiting suicidal ideations. Extensive experimentations show that some of the traditional machine learning methods outperform the baseline with an F1 score of 0.741 and F2 score of 0.833 on subtask 1 (prediction of a suicide attempt 30 days prior). However, the proposed deep learning method outperforms the baseline with F1 score of 0.737 and F2 score of 0.843 on subtask 2 (prediction of suicide 6 months prior).
Nonfinancial Performance Measures and Risk Taking: Evidence from the Oil and Gas Industry

This study examines the relation between nonfinancial performance measures (NFPMs) and firms’ risk taking. Specifically, using CEO compensation contracts in the oil and gas industry (SIC 1311), I examine the relation between NFPMs and firms’ exploration and exploitation activities. The oil and gas industry provides an ideal setting for my study because firms in this industry are required to disclose their exploration and exploitation activities, which allows me to develop empirical measures for both activities. I find NFPMs that incentivize high risk exploration activities (exploration NFPM) lead to more investment in exploration activities. More importantly, I find that firms with exploration NFPMs also invest in more low risk exploitation activities and achieve better short-term financial performance compared to other firms. These results are consistent with my hypothesis that explicit incentives to invest in risky projects induce risk averse managers to manage the associated downside risk of failure by allocating resources more efficiently across other projects. My findings shed light on how NFPMs can potentially complement equity-based incentives and financial accounting measures to direct and motivate managers to take on risky projects as well as better manage firm performance.
A Theory of Necessities

We develop a theory of necessity operators within a version of higher-order logic that is neutral about how fine-grained reality is. The theory is axiomatized in terms of the primitive of being a necessity, and we show how the central notions in the philosophy of modality can be recovered from it. Various questions are formulated and settled within the framework, including questions about the ordering of necessities under strength, the existence of broadest necessities satisfying various logical conditions, and questions about their logical behaviour. We also wield the framework to probe the conditions under which a logicist account of necessities is possible, in which the theory is completely reducible to logic.
A Depression Screening Protocol for Patients With Acute Stroke: A Quality Improvement Project (P3.223)

Objective: The purposes of this evidence-based project were to (1) determine the efficacy of an evidence-based depression screening protocol in improving early detection and treatment of PSD and (2) identify if there were any relationships between the protocol interventions, depression scores, and diagnosis. Background: Depression after stroke is common and is associated with poor functional recovery, suicidal ideation, decreased quality of life, and increased mortality. Despite this knowledge, poststroke depression (PSD) is often underdetected and thus undertreated. PSD is clinically important for the caregiver, the family, and the stroke survivor. Design/Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted in a convenience sample of 79 hospitalized patients with acute stroke. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Demographic data and medical and protocol variables were also collected. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and Pearson correlation test were used for data analysis. Results: Of the 79 participants, 56% were men, 65% were White, 77% were admitted with ischemic stroke, and 48% were identified as being depressed (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depression scale 9 4). Individuals with a history of depression (22 = 17.09, p = .002) were also more likely to have higher levels of depression severity as compared with patients who did not have a history of depression. After the intervention, patients screening positive were more likely to receive an educational booklet on stroke and depression (22 = 30.0, p = .000) and be medically treated for PSD before discharge (22 = 5.57, p = .018). Nurses’ documentation of screening results also improved (22 = 9.19, p = .002). Conclusions: Implementation of the Evidence Based Depression Screening and Treatment (EBDST) protocol improved early detection and treatment of PSD in the hospitalized patients with acute stroke before discharge. Use of the EBDST protocol may further improve long-term health outcomes, decrease mortality, and improve functional recovery and quality of life. Disclosure: Dr. mcintosh has nothing to disclose.
Beauty, Personal Characteristics, and Trust in Credit Markets

This paper investigates the effect of personal characteristics and the way people present themselves on their likelihood of getting a loan, the terms of such loan, and whether these characteristics are correlated with future loan performance. After controlling for credit score, credit history, income, employment status, and homeownership, personal characteristics like beauty, race, appearing creditworthy, being overweight, or the context of the picture a borrower posts significantly affect the likelihood of getting a loan and/or the interest rate paid. Beautiful borrowers are 1.41 percent more likely to get a loan and pay 81 basis points less than an average-looking borrower with the same credentials. Black borrowers pay between 139 and 146 basis points more than an otherwise similar White borrower. The borrower's personal characteristics do not appear to be significantly related to subsequent delinquency rates, with the exception of beauty that, all else equal, makes a borrower more than three times as likely to become delinquent. I also find that lenders' sophistication and personal characteristics such as gender, race, age and income affect their lending decisions. Similarity between borrowers and lenders also has a statistically significant and large economic effect on the terms of the loan, although it doesn't change the impact of the other explanatory variables. The setting of the study is a large U.S. online lending website.
Proposed tests to evaluate the frequency-dependent capacitor ratio for single electron tunneling experiment

A precise measurement of the ratio of two cryogenic capacitors is needed for a capacitor charging experiment using single electron tunneling (SET) phenomena. To support the capacitor charging metrology a frequency characterization of the capacitors is required. To cover the frequency range from 1 Hz to 1 kHz, resistive and inductive voltage divider bridges are proposed. Preliminary tests suggest that the uncertainty with which the capacitor ratio can be evaluated is less than one part per 10/sup 6/.
Possible Contributions of Supernova Remnants to the Soft X-Ray Diffuse Background (0.1 – 1 keV)

Almost all of the B band (0.10–0.19 keV) and C band (0.15–0.28 keV) X-rays probably originate in a hot region surrounding the Sun, which Cox and Anderson have modeled as a supernova remnant. This same region may account for a significant fraction of the M band (0.5–1 keV) X-rays if the nonequilibrium models of Cox and Anderson are applicable. A population of distant SNR similar to the local region, with center-to-center spacing of about 300 pc, could provide enough galactic M band emission to fill in the dip in the count rate in the galactic plane that would otherwise be present due to absorption of both the extra-galactic power law flux and any large-scale-height stellar (or galactic halo) emission.
Eulerian Path and Tour Problems

A fundamental problem in arc or edge routing is determining an Eulerian path or tour in the underlying graph. An Eulerian tour is a traversal that visits every edge of the graph exactly once and every node at least once. This paper presents the history of the Eulerian tour problem; the main algorithms to find Eulerian tours in directed, undirected, and mixed Eulerian graphs; and the ongoing research topics. Keywords: Eulerian graphs; Eulerian tours; directed graphs; undirected graphs; mixed graphs
A systematic review of psychosocial interventions to improve cancer caregiver quality of life

Objective To evaluate and estimate the effect of psychosocial interventions on improving the quality of life (QoL) of adult cancer caregivers. Methods We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials among adult cancer caregivers published from 1947 to 2011. Rigorous inclusion criteria included randomization of caregivers, use of control groups, and at least one active psychosocial intervention where caregiver QoL was measured. A pair of raters independently reviewed all abstracts, and studies were assessed for quality using an 11-item PEDro coding scale. Data were extracted, examined, and synthesized using a narrative approach. Results Six randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria out of 1066 identified abstracts. Studies were rejected because of methodological flaws and failure to report a measure of caregiver QoL. A total of 1115 caregivers were included at baseline measurements. Estimated effect sizes for included studies were nil to small ranging from 0.048 to 0.271. Studies with larger effect sizes targeted caregivers’ problem-solving and communication skills. Conclusions Interventions targeting problem-solving and communication skills may ease the burdens related to patient care and role changes associated with care while improving caregiver's overall QoL. Further research is needed to establish efficacy of interventions across all stages of the 2cancer caregiving experience, especially focusing on issues of caregiver retention, caregiver relationships to the cancer patient, and individual differences in caregiver experiences with different types of cancer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.