cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long Term Follow-Up and Retreatment of Patients with Low-Grade Lymphoproliferative Disorders (LPD) after 1 Year of Phamacokinetic (PK) Based Maintenance Therapy with Rituximab.

Abstract Background: We previously published data from a PK based maintenance trial in patients with CD 20 positive LPD. The PK based schedule derived from that trial was 1 dose every 3 months and is currently being evaluated in a large randomized trial (ECOG 4402). There has been appropriate concern that offering maintenance therapy may select for tumor cells resistant to rituximab thereby compromising the chance of response if patients are retreated once relapsing after such therapy. We now present long term follow-up on patients with low grade LPD treated on that trial. We furthermore report the results of retreating 5 patients who initially responded but relapsed after one year of maintenance rituximab. Methods: Patients with CD20 positive LPD (except SLL/CLL) were treated with four weekly infusions of rituximab 375mg/m2. All patients without PD were then monitored for 1 year and received a single infusion of 375mg/m2 when the level fell below Results: Of the 22 patients, there were 18 with follicular lymphoma, 2 with lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma and 1 each with MALT and NOS. The median progression free survival (PFS) for the entire group was 23 months, but for responders the PFS was 50 months. 6/22 (27%) remain in continuous complete remission with no further therapy with a median follow-up of 72.5 mo. (range 69–76). Nine patients who initially responded have subsequently relapsed and were treated at the discretion of the treating physician as follows: 2 received no treatment one of whom experienced a spontaneous CR lasting 59 months, one patient with an isolated CNS relapse received intrathecal and local radiotherapy and is currently in CR with no further therapy at 71mo, 1 patient died in PR of a presumed MI and 5 received retreatment with rituximab accompanied by 2 years of maintenance therapy given as 1 dose every 3 months. Of the 5 patients who were retreated with rituximab the outcomes are listed in table I. Conclusions: Individualized PK dosing for rituximab for 1 year yielded 27% prolonged DFS in patients with LG LPD. Although the numbers of patients treated are very small, 80% of those who responded to rituximab and subsequently relapsed retained sensitivity to rituximab and have had durable benefits, comparable to their first course. Future trials which evaluate the efficacy of limited duration maintenance strategies should continue follow-up of patients after progression to determine whether subsequent treatment with rituximab offers clinical benefit. Table I . Patient # 1st PFS 2nd Response 2nd PFS 1 18mo CR 44mo+ 2 23mo NR NA 3 27mo CR 33mo 4 29mo CR 33mo+ 5 50mo PR 29mo+
Revisiting the ‘Kerala Model’: Place-making, Environmentalism and Regional Pride in the Periyar Tiger Reserve

For several decades after Independence, the ‘Kerala model’ provided a development alternative that set it apart from the rest of India. The recent rise of Kerala as a fast growing ‘responsible’ tou...
Northern Italy in the American South: Assessing interobserver reliability within the Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology.

BACKGROUND The Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology (MSRSGC) has been proposed to standardize salivary gland fine-needle aspiration (FNA) diagnoses. This study assessed salivary gland FNA results and risk of malignancy (ROM) rates at the University of North Carolina as well as the interobserver reliability (IOR) of the atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) and salivary gland neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential (SUMP) categories. METHODS The electronic medical record was searched for FNA cases from 2010 to 2017 with subsequent surgical resections. Histologic diagnosis was used for gold-standard comparison. The original cytologic results were then converted into MSRSGC categories (nondiagnostic, nonneoplastic, AUS, benign neoplasm, SUMP, suspicious, and malignant). For the assessment of IOR, 23 cases were selected with enrichment for cases diagnosed as AUS (n = 11) or SUMP (n = 9). Six boarded cytopathologists and 1 cytopathology fellow assessed representative slides and provided an MSRSGC diagnosis for each case. Fleiss' κ coefficients were calculated to determine IOR. RESULTS The ROM was 33% for both AUS and SUMP cases; however, the risk of neoplasia was 56% for AUS cases and 100% for SUMP cases. Fleiss' κ for the AUS category was 0.217 (P < .05), and Fleiss' κ for the SUMP category was 0.024 (P = .74). CONCLUSIONS In this study assessing the IOR of MSRSGC categories, fair agreement and slight agreement were found for the AUS and SUMP categories, respectively. Observers preferentially used the AUS or benign neoplasm category for SUMP cases, perhaps because of unfamiliarity with SUMP as a diagnostic option. The initial adoption of a new reporting system will require a quality assessment to ensure that the system is reliable and useful for clinicians. Cancer Cytopathol 2018;126:390-6. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
Polycystin 1 loss of function is directly linked to an imbalance in G-protein signaling in the kidney

The development of the kidney relies on the establishment and maintenance of a precise tubular diameter of its functional units, the nephrons. This process is disrupted in polycystic kidney disease (PKD), resulting in dilations of the nephron and renal cyst formation. In the course of exploring G-protein-coupled signaling in the Xenopus pronephric kidney, we discovered that loss of the G-protein α subunit, Gnas, results in a PKD phenotype. Polycystin 1, one of the genes mutated in human PKD, encodes a protein resembling a G-protein-coupled receptor. Furthermore, deletion of the G-protein-binding domain present in the intracellular C terminus of polycystin 1 impacts functionality. A comprehensive analysis of all the G-protein α subunits expressed in the Xenopus pronephric kidney demonstrates that polycystin 1 recruits a select subset of G-protein α subunits and that their knockdown - as in the case of Gnas - results in a PKD phenotype. Mechanistically, the phenotype is caused by increased endogenous G-protein β/γ signaling and can be reversed by pharmacological inhibitors as well as knocking down Gnb1. Together, our data support the hypothesis that G proteins are recruited to the intracellular domain of PKD1 and that this interaction is crucial for its function in the kidney.
Learning Impairments, Memory Deficits, and Neuropathology in Aged Tau Transgenic Mice Are Dependent on Leukotrienes Biosynthesis: Role of the cdk5 Kinase Pathway

Previous studies showed that the leukotrienes pathway is increased in human tauopathy and that its manipulation may modulate the onset and development of the pathological phenotype of tau transgenic mice. However, whether interfering with leukotrienes biosynthesis is beneficial after the behavioral deficits and the neuropathology have fully developed in these mice is not known. To test this hypothesis, aged tau transgenic mice were randomized to receive zileuton, a specific leukotriene biosynthesis inhibitor, or vehicle starting at 12 months of age for 16 weeks and then assessed in their functional and pathological phenotype. Compared with baseline, we observed that untreated tau mice had a worsening of their memory and spatial learning. By contrast, tau mice treated with zileuton had a reversal of these deficits and behaved in an undistinguishable manner from wild-type mice. Leukotriene-inhibited tau mice had an amelioration of synaptic integrity, lower levels of neuroinflammation, and a significant reduction in tau phosphorylation and pathology, which was secondary to an involvement of the cdk5 kinase pathway. Taken together, our findings represent the first demonstration that the leukotriene biosynthesis is functionally involved at the later stages of the tau pathological phenotype and represents an ideal target with viable therapeutic potential for treating human tauopathies.
Technological Innovation or Educational Evolution? A Multi-disciplinary Qualitative Inquiry into Active Learning Classrooms

In recent years, many institutions have transformed traditional classrooms (TCs) into technology-rich active learning classrooms (ALCs) to accommodate the pedagogical concept of “active learning”. In order to investigate the impact of ALCs on teaching and teaching, we observed an instructor teaching in an ALC for an entire academic year, audio/video-recorded every class and took field notes. A focus group discussion was conducted with faculty from six allied health disciplines who taught weekly classes in the ALC and an online survey was distributed to students who took those classes. Data was then analysed using a qualitative constant comparative method (CCM). Findings indicated that the ALC generated greater teaching and learning enjoyment, deepened engagement, amplified interaction, enhanced group activity efficiency and fostered the development of creative ideas. All these features were interrelated and created a synergistic effect on student learning.
Wide Range Achievement Test 3 ( wrat3 )

The Wide Range Achievement Test 3 (wrat3) is the most recent edition in a series of instruments which measure codes necessary to learn the basic skills of reading, spelling, and arithmetic. These codes—reading decoding, written encoding, and math computation—are fundamental building blocks of academic achievement, and the assessment of these skills is a vital component of psychological evaluations conducted in clinical and school settings. The wrat3 and its predecessors, the Wide Range Achievement Test (wrat) and the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (wrat-r), have been among the most widely used instruments of psychological measurement for over forty years. As but one example, the wrat tests have been used extensively in the investigation of learning disabilities and neurological impairments in children and adults.
Seasonal foods of coyotes in southeastern Idaho: a multivariate analysis

Seasonal foods of coyotes ( Canis latrans ) inhabiting the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory site were examined using step-wise discriminant analysis. Significant differences ( P < 0.01) were detected among seasons in food consumption by coyotes, where univariate statistical analysis failed to recognize differences. Recognition of seasonal changes in foods consumed by coyotes is essential to understanding coyote feeding strategies. The role opportunistic behavior plays in coyote food selection on the study area is questioned.
Sex Hormones and the Liver

The biosynthetic precursor of all the steroids is cholesterol. Cholesterol is derived from the diet, as well as being synthesized by all tissues, but particularly the liver and steroid-producing organs (the adrenal glands and the gonads). The first step in steroid-hormone synthesis from cholesterol is side-chain cleavage. It occurs within the mitochondria and involves an initial hydroxylation to form a 20,22-dihydroxycholesterol, followed by the splitting off of a six-carbon fragment, yielding pregnenolone and isocaproic aldehyde. In the case of bile acids, the first step is 7-alpha hydroxylation of the steroid nucleus, which occurs in the microsomal compartment of the liver, followed by side-chain shortening and oxidation to a carboxyl group at position 24 of the side chain, with release of a three-carbon fragment and 7-alpha hydroxycholane within the mitochondrin.
Pressure inversion point at the upper high pressure zone and its genesis.

The influence of respiration on the intraluminal pressures in the region of the upper high pressure zone was investigated in 25 subjects. Inspiration was associated with fall in pressure in the cervical esophagus. As the recording catheter was withdrawn, the polarity of respiratory excursions changed from a fall in pressure on inspiration to a rise in pressure on inspiration in the lower part of the upper high pressure zone, and then from an inspiratory rise in pressure to an inspiratory fall in pressure in the upper part of the high pressure zone. In the pharynx, inspiration caused a significant drop in the intraluminal pressure. The inspiratory rise in pressure was most obvious at the peak or the maximum pressure of the upper high pressure zone, which corresponds to horizontal fibers of the cricopharyngeal muscle. A brief rise in pressure in this region was also seen just before its relaxation in response to swallow in one-fourth of the subjects. These cricopharyngeal activities seem to guard against the entry of air into the esophagus.
IT Innovation Through a Work Systems Lens

This paper presents what I think is an innovation, the use of work system concepts as a lens for understanding IT innovation in organizations. It starts by presenting the ideas at the heart of the work system approach, the work system framework for describing an existing or proposed work system and the work system life cycle model for describing how work systems change over time. To demonstrate how a work system lens can illuminate both practice and theory related to IT innovation in organizations, it returns to the previous IFIP 8.6 Conference (Copenhagen, October 2003) and applies work system ideas to the situations and theories in the papers presented there. It closes by using CASE adoption as a final example about IT innovation within IT groups.
Fatigue-Creep-Environment Interactions in a Directionally-Solidified Ni-Base Superalloy

Directionally solidified (DS) GTD-111 is a Ni-base superalloy designed to withstand creep damage occurring in the first and second stage blades of gas-powered turbines. The service conditions in these components, which generally exceed 600°C, facilitate the onset of one or more damage mechanisms via fatigue, creep, and environmental corrosion. Under these conditions microstructural damage mechanisms operate interactively and independently to initiate cracks that lead to the eventual reduction of service life. Because of the distinctive microstructure of DS GTD-111, the manner in which these mechanisms interact to initiate cracks is related to grain structure and chemical composition. In addition to fatigue cycling, certain sections of these high temperature components are subjected to sustained dwell periods (i.e., creep) either in tension or compression. Experiments have been carried out to simulate a variety of thermal, mechanical, and environmental operating conditions endured by longitudinally (L) and transversely (T) oriented DS GTD-111. In some case, tests in extreme environments/temperatures were needed to isolate one or at most two of the damage mechanisms. Assuming a unique relationship between the damage fraction and cycle fraction with respect to cycles to crack initiation for each damage mode, the total crack initiation life has been represented in terms of the individual damage components (fatigue, creep-fatigue, creep, and oxidation-fatigue respectively), and is based on that developed by Neu and Sehitoglu [1] and modified by Gordon et al. [2]: $$ \frac{1} {{N_i^{tot} }} = \frac{1} {{N_i^{fat} }} + \frac{1} {{N_i^{c - f} }} + \frac{1} {{N_i^{cr} }} + \frac{1} {{N_i^{ox} }} $$ (1) Observations from micrographs (Fig. 1) of sections of oxidized, fatigued, and crept samples have been incorporated to develop damage mechanism maps (DMMs). The DMMs, which quantify the transitions between damage mechanism regimes, have been applied to develop physically-based relationships for each of components of a crack initiation model.
African swine fever in China.

An outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) has recently been reported in China.1 This first case of ASF was reported on 1 August, 2018 in Shenyang City, Liaoning province. Since then, three more ASF outbreaks were officially announced ( VR , 1 September 2018, vol 183, p 248) in Zhengzhou City of Henan province (14 August, 2018), Lianyungang City of Jiangsu province (15 August, 2018), and Leqing City of Zhejiang province (17 August, 2018) (Fig 1). Fig 1: Location of official reported cases of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in China. ![Graphic][1] cities with ASFV outbreaks, ![Graphic][2] the two cities where the pigs were imported from in the reported ASFV outbreaks, ![Graphic][3] the confirmed pig shipments in two ASF outbreaks. HLJ Heilongjiang province, JL Jilin province, LN Liaoning province, HN Henan province, JS Jiangsu province, ZJ Zhejiang province The Chinese government has announced these outbreaks of ASF on the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and official Chinese websites (Table 1). The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs … [1]: F1/embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [2]: F1/embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [3]: F1/embed/inline-graphic-3.gif
Elevated Sera sST2 Predicts Heart Failure in Men Under the Age of 50 with Clinically Suspected Myocarditis

Myocarditis is an important cause of heart failure. Men with myocarditis have worse recovery and an increased need for transplantation compared to women, but the reason for the sex difference remains unclear. Elevated sera soluble (s)ST2 predicts mortality from acute and chronic heart failure, but has not been studied in myocarditis patients. In this study we investigated whether sera sST2 levels were associated with low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) or New York Heart Association (NYHA) class in myocarditis patients. Adults with a diagnosis of clinically suspected myocarditis and a heart failure syndrome of less than 6 months symptom duration (n=328, 79% male) were identified according to the 2013 European Society of Cardiology position statement. Sera sST2 levels and cardiac function were also assessed in a mouse model of myocarditis. We found that sera sST2 levels were significantly higher in men (p=1 × 10−7) and women (p=4 × 10−5) with suspected myocarditis compared to controls. sST2 levels were also significantly increased in men with myocarditis compared to women (p=0.0002) who were under 50 years of age (p=0.01). sST2 levels were not increased with a LVEF ≤45% in both sexes (p=0.08) or in men (p=0.09). In contrast, sST2 levels increased in myocarditis patients with NYHA class III-IV heart failure for both sexes (p=0.04) which was driven by men (p=0.006) that were less than 50 years of age (p=0.008). Sera sST2 levels were also significantly higher in male mice with myocarditis compared to females (p=0.005) and levels associated with poor heart function. We show in this well characterized subset of heart failure patients with clinically suspected myocarditis that elevated sera sST2 is associated with an increased risk for heart failure based on NYHA class in men under the age of 50, which may be increased by testosterone based on translational studies in mice with myocarditis.
Risk markers for physical intimate partner violence victimization: A meta-analysis

Abstract This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive overview of risk markers for intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Data from 391 studies, yielding 1731 effect sizes, were analyzed. Using Dutton's (1995) nested ecological theory, we categorized risk markers into the exosystem, microsystem, and ontogenetic levels. We examined 50 risk markers for IPV victimization for women, and 28 risk markers for IPV victimization for men. Using a random-effects approach, the overall strength of each risk marker for men and women was calculated to find out which risk markers were most strongly correlated with IPV victimization for both men and women. Next, gender was used as a moderator on 28 risk markers to test if there was a significant difference in the strength of risk markers between men and women. We found that the strongest risk markers for IPV victimization for both men and women were risk markers located in the microsystem, and specifically risk markers associated with previous relationship violence. We also found that the strength of 5 out of 28 risk markers for IPV victimization significantly differed between men and women (alcohol use, child abuse in family of origin, depression, older age, sexual IPV victimization). Implications for future research and for clinicians are discussed.
Piezoelectric and piezoresistive behavior of unmodified carbon fiber

Abstract This work reports the piezoelectric and piezoresistive behavior of unmodified unpoled continuous 12 K/24 K carbon fiber (polyacrylonitrile-based, tensile modulus 240 GPa, electrical resistivity 1.6 × 10−5 Ω m). The first report of the effect of stress on the permittivity of carbon fiber is provided. Under elastic tension (strain ≤0.041%, stress ≤100 MPa), the piezoelectric coupling coefficient d33 is 5 × 10−8 pC/N, with the stress-induced electric field increase (≤103%) contributing 2 × 10−8 pC/N, the stress-induced permittivity increase also contributing 2 × 10−8 pC/N, and the stress-induced field-permittivity increase contributing 9 × 10−9 pC/N. Due to the stress, the relative permittivity (2 kHz) increases by ≤ 150% (≤31700) and the DC resistivity decreases by ≤ 44% (≥9 × 10−6 Ω m). The strong negative piezoresistivity, with stress-dependent gage factor ranging from −410 ( 0.02% strain), is attributed to (i) the low modulus and consequent feasibility of preferred orientation increase as the strain/stress increases, and (ii) the low strain and the tendency for high strain (prior work) to cause damage that increases the resistivity, thereby reducing the negative piezoresistivity. Permittivity increase and resistivity decrease result from the increased movement of the charge carriers. All effects are monotonic and reversible, enable piezoelectricity/piezoresistivity-based self-sensing, and are independent of the sizing or the number of fibers per tow.
Design and Analysis of a Standalone DC Microgrid with Battery and Fuel Cell Energy Storage Penetration for Different Load Characteristic

The technological development of energy storage and integration of renewable energy to the power system open up the need of using more controllable and flexible energy sources. Since most of the intermittent energy sources are arbitrarily located, controlling them locally will enhance power system stability and optimal use of distributed energy.This paper presents a distributed control system of energy storage devices connected with a standalone DC microgrid. The energy storage devices consist of two Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries and a hydrogen fuel cell. A decentralized charge controller is presented in this paper. The main idea is to use decentralized charge control to reduce the bus voltage variation in the microgrid and to utilize the storage devices optimally. In this model, the storage devices can share the load power equally. To understand and validate the model, resistive and inductive load have been connected to the DC microgrid. Different characteristics of power, voltage,and current of the storage system for different load profile is observed and controlled by a PI controller designed based on the mathematical model presented in this paper. The performance of the proposed model is tested and verified in Matlab/Simulink environment.
The Role of Education and Rehabilitation Specialists in the Comprehensive Low Vision Care Process

Within the framework of the comprehensive low vision care process, the overall goals of education and rehabilitation specialists are to maximize the specific skills, self-esteem, and quality of lif...
Integrated observing systems: An approach to studying harmful algal blooms in south Florida

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a large and complex barrier island estuary on Florida’s East coast. The system is also one of the nation’s most biologically diverse, a major spawning and nursery g...
Hospital Response to CMS Public Reports of Hospital Charge Information.

Background In an effort to increase price transparency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began reporting charges for Medicare inpatients treated in ∼3400 hospitals online in 2013. As of 2019, CMS began to require hospitals themselves to publicize a more comprehensive list of their underlying procedure charges. Objective The objective of this study was to assess the responses of hospitals to broad-scale public reporting of their charges for inpatient services. Research design We used descriptive analysis to examine the trend in CMS charge data for high charge hospitals before and after the 2013 intervention. We also applied difference-in-differences analysis to comprehensive inpatient charge data from New York and Florida for the years 2011-2016, defining the reported high-volume diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) as the intervention group. Results At the national level, the CMS charge data showed relatively lower growth in high charge hospitals following the intervention. From the state data, we found that after 3 years, the growth in charges for reported DRGs in New York hospitals was 4%-9% lower than for unreported diagnosis-related groups. In Florida, it was 2%-8% lower. Conclusion Public reports of hospital inpatient charges by DRG appear to influence subsequent charges, slowing their growth.
Decay of Na 26

The bombardment of high-purity natural magnesium targets with fast neutrons from the ${\mathrm{Li}}^{7}(d, n){\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ reaction (${E}_{n}\ensuremath{\lesssim}24$ Mev) yielded, in addition to activities associated with well-known isotopes, an activity having an experimental half-life of 1.03\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06 sec. Scintillation spectrometer measurements showed a (1.82\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)-Mev gamma ray and a (6.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)-Mev beta group decaying with the 1.03-sec half-life. The 6.7-Mev beta group was found to be in coincidence with the 1.82-Mev gamma ray. The assignment of the (1.03\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06)-sec half-life to ${\mathrm{Na}}^{26}$ produced in the reaction ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{26}(n, p){\mathrm{Na}}^{26}$ and the proposed decay scheme are supported by internally consistent arguments based on the known characteristics of the reaction products and their decay modes; the half-life studies using both beta and gamma radiation; the features of experimental beta and gamma spectra; and nuclear systematics. The decay of the ground state of ${\mathrm{Na}}^{26}$ takes place in part by a (6.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)-Mev beta transition to the (2+) first excited state of ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{26}$. The intensities of the beta transitions to the (2+) second excited state and (0+) ground state are less than 0.1 of the intensity of the (6.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)-Mev transition. The possible ground-state spin and parity assignment for ${\mathrm{Na}}^{26}$ is either 1+, 2+, or 3+. A weak theoretical argument against spin 1 is presented. The present experimental measurements alone will not reduce the ambiguity in the spin assignment. A ${\mathrm{Na}}^{26}$---${\mathrm{Mg}}^{26}$ mass difference of 8.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 Mev is derived from the known level structure of ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{26}$ and the beta transition energy measured in the present investigation.
Development and Treatment of Aggression in Individuals with Dementia

Abstract Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are a group of non-cognitive symptoms and behaviors that often occur with a diagnosis of dementia. Aggression is the most prevalent and serious of these noncognitive symptoms. However, the development and treatment of aggression in this population are not always clear and the type of dementia does not further help to clarify this problem. There are biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors that attribute to the development of aggression, but identification has proven difficult due to the homogeneity of symptoms. Few studies have compared the type of aggression across the four most common types of dementia: Alzheimer's Disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), dementia with Lewy body (DLB) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Results indicated that those with AD are more likely to be physically aggressive, but other factors play a role in how and why it is exhibited. Treatment for aggression in dementia has focused on pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods. Atypical antipsychotics are the most frequently prescribed, nevertheless, these medications come with severe risks. The more recent Nonpharmacological treatments have shown promising results shown in conjunction with psychosocial approaches. Aggression in dementia is associated with a variety of factors and can be treated in multiple ways. Future research is needed in terms of identifying the etiology and presentation of aggression in AD, VaD, DLB, and FTD, developing safe pharmacologic treatments, and evidence-based nonpharmacological methods.
6 – Sex Differences

Publisher Summary Male-female relationships have been a subject of investigation in both Mexico and the United States for the past decade. Both the popular and scientific literature in this field have tended to emphasize the greater dominance of Mexican males and the greater egalitarianism between males and females in the United States. The most common justification for choosing the son given by parents in both Mexico and the United States was that the male would eventually be the chief family provider, and, therefore, he needed more education. A sizable proportion of Mexican men and women also claimed that the male was more likely to work harder or was more capable of making use of educational opportunities. Those who chose daughters tended to emphasize the age differential and suggested the possibility that the son might have his chance later. Many Mexicans emphasized the importance of the husband's maintaining authority and stressed the inevitability that the “wife suffers.” Such phrases did not occur in the United States white-collar responses and rarely occurred among the United States blue-collar parents.
Rapid Validation of Telepathology by an Academic Neuropathology Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Context The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is placing unparalleled burdens on regional and institutional resources in medical facilities across the globe. This disruption is causing unprecedented downstream effects to traditionally established channels of patient care delivery, including those of essential anatomic pathology services. With Washington state being the initial North American COVID-19 epicenter, the University of Washington in Seattle has been at the forefront of conceptualizing and implementing innovative solutions in order to provide uninterrupted quality patient care amidst this growing crisis. Objective To conduct a rapid validation study assessing our ability to reliably provide diagnostic Neuropathology services via a whole slide imaging (WSI) platform as part of our departmental COVID-19 planning response. Design This retrospective study assessed diagnostic concordance of neuropathological diagnoses rendered via WSI as compared to those originally established via traditional histopathology in a cohort of 30 cases encompassing a broad range of neurosurgical and neuromuscular entities. This study included the digitalization of 93 slide preparations, which were independently examined by groups of board-certified neuropathologists and neuropathology fellows. Results There were no major or minor diagnostic discrepancies identified in either the attending neuropathologist or neuropathology trainee groups for either the neurosurgical or neuromuscular case cohorts. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that accuracy of neuropathological diagnoses and interpretation of ancillary preparations via WSI are not inferior to those generated via traditional microscopy. This study provides a framework for rapid subspecialty validation and deployment of WSI for diagnostic purposes during a pandemic event.
Scientific and Technological Advances in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis

Powered by advances in computing technology, a range of professions and business enterprises have moved toward a more science-driven approach to operations. Law enforcement has been no exception. In fact, the modern day idea of intelligence-led policing (ILP) emerged in the UK in the 1990s as the country was pushing all government services to operate on more of a data-informed, business process or managerial model. This trend led to the development of a British “National Intelligence Model” (NIM), which by 2002, was formally adopted as policy for law enforcement agencies nationwide. “The NIM followed the government policy of using a business process model to deal with crime control and employed the ILP philosophy to introduce intelligence into virtually all aspects of the policing business plan” (p. 311).
Difference equations for scientists and engineering: interdisciplinary difference equations

Difference equations for scientists and engineering by Michael Radin is a valuable book that offers an exceptional approach to the field of difference equations. The content is easy to follow and v...
Voxel-level Classification of Prostate Cancer Using a Four-Compartment Restriction Spectrum Imaging Model

Purpose: Diffusion MRI is integral to detection of prostate cancer (PCa), but conventional ADC cannot capture the complexity of prostate tissues. A four-compartment restriction spectrum imaging (RSI4) model was recently found to optimally characterize pelvic diffusion signals, and the model coefficient for the slowest diffusion compartment, RSI4-C1, yielded greatest tumor conspicuity. In this study, RSI4-C1 was evaluated as a quantitative voxel-level classifier of PCa. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 46 men who underwent an expanded-acquisition pelvic MRI for suspected PCa. Twenty-three men had no detectable cancer on biopsy or clinical follow-up; the other 23 had biopsy-proven PCa corresponding to a lesion on MRI (PI-RADS category 3-5). High-confidence cancer voxels were delineated by expert consensus, using imaging data and biopsy results. The entire prostate was considered benign in patients with no detectable cancer. Diffusion images were used to calculate RSI4-C1 and conventional ADC. Voxel-level discrimination of PCa from benign prostate tissue was assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves generated by bootstrapping with patient-level case resampling. Specifically, we compared RSI4-C1 and conventional ADC on mean (and 95% CI) for two metrics: area under the curve (AUC) and false-positive rate for a sensitivity of 90% (FPR90). Classifier images were also compared. Results: RSI4-C1 outperformed conventional ADC, with greater AUC [0.977 (0.951-0.991) vs. 0.921 (0.873-0.949)] and lower FPR90 [0.033 (0.009-0.083) vs. 0.201 (0.131-0.300)]. Conclusion: RSI4-C1 yielded a quantitative, voxel-level classifier of PCa that was superior to conventional ADC. RSI classifier images with a low false-positive rate might improve PCa detection.
Games with Strategic Complements

Codirectional incentives formalize situations in which participants have an incentive to move in the same direction as other participants. Payoff functions with a combination of increasing differences, supermodularity, single crossing property, and quasisupermodularity capture these incentives. Games with strategic complements are lattice games in which each player has an incentive to move in the same direction as their opponents. Special features of these games imply particular patterns for individual and equilibrium behavior. The theory identifies principles governing behavior in these cases and a diversity of examples highlight applications of these principles.
Factors associated with the new appearance of cerebral microbleeds after endovascular treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms

Endovascular treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms may increase cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in postprocedural T2*-weighted MRIs, which may be a risk for future intracerebral hemorrhage. This study examined the characteristics of postprocedural CMBs and the factors that cause their increase. The patients who underwent endovascular treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms from April 2016 to February 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment techniques for endovascular treatment included simple coiling, balloon-assisted coiling, stent-assisted coiling, or flow diverter placement. To evaluate the increase in CMBs, a head MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging and T2*-weighted MRIs was performed on the preprocedural day; the first postprocedural day; and at 1, 3, and 6 months after the procedure. Among the 101 aneurysms that were analyzed, 38 (37.6%) showed the appearance of new CMBs. In the multivariate analysis examining the causes of the CMB increases, chronic kidney disease, a higher number of preprocedural CMBs, and a higher number of diffusion-weighted imaging–positive lesions on the first postprocedural day were independent risk factors. Furthermore, a greater portion of the increased CMBs was found in cortical and subcortical lesions of the treated vascular perfusion area within 1 month after the procedure. In endovascular treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms, CMBs tended to increase in patients with small vessel disease before the procedure, and it was also implicated in hemorrhagic changes after periprocedural microinfarction.
Real-time neuromusculoskeletal model for myoelectric control of ankle prosthesis

The functional impact of amputations presents significant challenges in daily living activities. These challenges—particularly maintaining balance-are escalated to significant patient safety risks due to severe falling injuries. Modern transtibial amputation procedures preserve much of the neuromuscular tissue involved in motor control of ankle joints, which can be utilized for myoelectric control of ankle prosthesis. In this study, a real-time neuromusculoskeletal(NMS) model of the lower limb with two degrees of freedom at knee and ankle joint was developed to receive EMG and limb kinematic signals as input and predict ankle motion as output during target following tasks and swing phase of gait. Our results indicated that the real-time NMS model predicts accurate ankle motion for various target speeds and positions. We also show the performance of the model in predicting ankle kinematics during the swing phase of motion and found mean peak correlation of 0.95 between predicted and measured motions across all subjects. The proposed modeling framework can be used for developing powered ankle prosthesis for transtibial amputees.
Hyperprolactinemia

In several respects prolactin is unique among anterior pituitary hormones. The primary regulation of prolactin secretion is mediated through hypothalamic inhibition, and the diagnosis of hyperprolactinemia can be established without the use of stimulation or suppression tests. Documenting the presence of hyperprolactinemia is not difficult–the challenge is in identifying the cause of the hormone hypersecretion. With immunoradiometric assays falsely low levels of prolactin are occasionally seen in patients with macroadenomas and very high serum prolactin (the hook effect). Macroprolactin should be suspected when a patient with hyperprolactinemia does not present with typical clinical symptoms, and all hyperprolactinemic sera should be screened for macroprolactin. With prolactinomas, prolactin levels generally parallel tumor size. Prolactin secreting macroadenomas are typically associated with levels that exceed 250 μg/l and may exceed 1,000 μg/l. Large non-functioning adenomas also lead to hyperprolactinemia but levels virtually never exceed 94 μg/l. Acquired and isolated prolactin deficiency is rare.
SAM: Accelerating Strided Memory Accesses

Strided memory accesses are an important type of operations for In-Memory Databases (IMDB) applications. Strided memory accesses often demand data at word granularity with fixed strides. Hence, they tend to produce sub-optimal performance on DRAM memory (the de facto standard memory in modern computer systems) that accesses data at cacheline granularity. Recently proposed optimizations either introduce significant reliability degradation or are limited to non-volatile crossbar memory structures. In this paper, we propose a low-cost DRAM-based optimization scheme SAM for accelerating strided memory accesses. SAM consists of several designs. The primary design, termed SAM-IO, is to exploit under-utilized I/O resources in commodity DRAM chips to support high-performance strided memory accesses with near-zero hardware overhead. Based on SAM-IO, an enhanced design, termed SAM-en, is further proposed by combining several innovations to achieve overall efficiency on energy and area. Our evaluation of the proposed designs shows that SAM not only achieves high performance improvement (up to ∼ 4.2 ×) but also maintains high-level reliability protection for server systems.
Anthranilate synthetase-anthranilate 5-phosphoribosylpyrophosphate phosphoribosyl-transferase from Salmonella typhimurium: Inactivation of glutamine-dependent anthranilate synthetase by agarose-bound anthranilate

Exposure of the anthranilate synthetase-anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase enzyme complex (chorismate pyruvate-lyase (amino-accepting) EC 4.1.3.27 and N-(5-phosphoribosyl)-anthranilate pyrophosphate phosphoribosyl-transferase, EC 2.4.2.18) from Salmonella typhimurium to agarose-bound anthranilate led to the slow inactivation of glutamine-dependent anthranilate synthetase activity, an activity dependent on protein-protein interaction in the enzyme complex. Region I of phosphoribosyltransferase, the location of the enzyme complex glutaminase activity, is the site of alteration. Phosphoribosyltransferase and NH3-dependent anthranilate synthetase activities and trypto phan regulation of phosphoribosyltransferase were unaffected by the anthranilate matrix. The molecular weight (280 000) and subunit molecular weight (62 000) of the enzyme complex eluted from an anthranilate matrix were identical to those of enzyme complex purified by classical methodology. The enzyme complex could be partially protected against inactivation by storiing in 0.1 M L-glutamine or 30% glycerol and completely protected by storing in 50% glycerol at -18 degrees C. Evidence is presented that the anthranilate matrix acts as a hydrophobic matrix and may be binding to and altering a hydrophobic region in the enzyme complex. The anthranilate matrix provides a convenient tool for altering a specific region of an enzyme complex without covalent modification. At the same time, the results demonstrate that affinity matrices are not necessarily innocuous but may subject macromolecules to an adverse environment not previously recognized.
Rafting with Ebola

Lipid rafts are microdomains in the cell plasma membrane that are enriched in cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, and certain proteins. In a Perspective, [Freed][1] discusses new work published elsewhere showing that filoviruses, including the deadly human pathogens Ebola and Marburg, use these lipid rafts to infect host cells and to assemble new virus particles. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5566/279
Use of the ARPE-19 cell line as a model of RPE polarity: basolateral secretion of FGF5.

Purpose To determine the polarity of fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5) secretions from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and to examine the viability and utility of the ARPE-19 cell line as a model for the study of RPE polarity. Methods Influenza infection and adenovirus-mediated gene transfer were used to deliver and express genes encoding influenza hemagglutinin (HA), p75-NTR (a neurotrophin receptor), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (LDLR), and FGF5 in confluent monolayers of ARPE-19 cells. The localization of HA, p75-NTR, and LDLR was determined by confocal microscopy. Domain selective biotinylation assays were used to quantitatively determine the polarities of p75-NTR and LDLR. The secretion of FGF5 into the apical and basal media of ARPE-19 cultures was examined by immunoblot analysis of conditioned media. Results Hemagglutinin and p75-NTR were found to be localized on the apical surface of infected and transduced ARPE-19 cells. In contrast, LDLR was associated preferentially with the basolateral membrane of ARPE-19 cells. Biotinylation studies indicated that 84% of p75-NTR was present on the apical surface, and 79% of LDLR was basolaterally polarized. Over the course of 6 hours, more than 90% of the total secreted FGF5 protein accumulated in the basolateral media. Conclusions ARPE-19 cells exhibit a polarized distribution of cell surface markers when examined by either confocal microscopy or surface-labeling assays. This indicates that the ARPE-19 cell line is a valid model for studies of RPE cell polarity. FGF5, a secreted protein normally produced by RPE cells, is accumulated preferentially in the basal media after only 6 hours, suggesting that it is vectorially secreted from the basolateral surface of ARPE-19 cells.
Cuts for Conic Mixed-Integer Programming

A conic integer program is an integer programming problem with conic constraints. Conic integer programming has important applications in finance, engineering, statistical learning, and probabilistic integer programming. Here we study mixed-integer sets defined by second-order conic constraints. We describe general-purpose conic mixed-integer rounding cuts based on polyhedral conic substructures of second-order conic sets. These cuts can be readily incorporated in branch-and-bound algorithms that solve continuous conic programming relaxations at the nodes of the search tree. Our preliminary computational experiments with the new cuts show that they are quite effective in reducing the integrality gap of continuous relaxations of conic mixed-integer programs.
Algorithms for rationalizability and CURB sets

Significant work has been done on computational aspects of solving games under various solution concepts, such as Nash equilibrium, subgame perfect Nash equilibrium, correlated equilibrium, and (iterated) dominance. However, the fundamental concepts of rationalizability and CURB (Closed Under Rational Behavior sets have not, to our knowledge, been studied from a computational perspective. First, for rationalizability we describe an LP-based polynomial algorithm that finds all strategies that are rationalizable against a mixture over a given set of opponent strategies. Then, we describe a series of increasingly sophisticated polynomial algorithms for finding all minimal CURB sets, one minimal CURB set, and the smallest minimal CURB set. Finally, we give theoretical results regarding the relationships between CURB sets and Nash equilibria, showing that finding a Nash equilibrium can be exponential only in the size of the smallest CURB set. We show that this can lead to an arbitrarily large reduction in the complexity of finding a Nash equilibrium. On the downside, we also show that the smallest CURB set can be arbitrarily larger than the supports of the enclosed Nash equilibrium.
Quantiles, Parametric-Select Density Estimations, and Bi-Information Parameter Estimators.

A quantile-based approach to statistical analysis and probability modeling of data is presented which formulates statistical inference problems as functional inference problems in which the parameters to be estimated are density functions. Density estimators can be non-parametric (computed independently of model identified) or parametric-select (approximated by finite parametric models that can provide standard models whose fit can be tested). Exponential models and autoregressive models are approximating densities which can be justified as maximum entropy for respectively the entropy of a probability density and the entropy of a quantile density. Applications of these ideas are outlined to the problems of modeling: (1) univariate data; (2) bivariate data and tests for independence; and (3) two samples and likelihood ratios. It is proposed that bi-information estimation of a density function can be developed by analogy to the problem of identification of regression models.
An Assessment of Steam-Explosion-Induced Containment Failure. Part II: Premixing Limits

AbstractThe issues of transient and two-dimensional effects on fuel-coolant mixing in the lower plenum of a pressurized water reactor are addressed and resolved. Strong coolant depletion phenomena within fuel regions are analytically demonstrated. Quantification of premixtures under a variety of contact modes and conditions is used to specify the probable ranges of fuel mass available to participate in an explosion as a function of the core failure (melt pour) area.