cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MR imaging of pulmonary and mediastinal malignancies.

SUMMARY The primary goal of performing cross-sectional imaging of the chest in the radiologic evaluation of lung cancer is to obtain information about the character and magnitude of the neoplasm. Patient prognosis and therapy decisions depend directly on identifying the size and full extent of the tumor. The ideal imaging modality therefore should provide reliable information that can be used to assist in accurately staging the malignancy. Traditionally, CT scanning has been used exclusively as part of the preoperative evaluation of primary lung carcinomas. Recent advances in CT scanning technology have greatly improved image acquisition times and image quality and consequently have enhanced the role of CT imaging in the evaluation of bronchogenic carcinomas. Single-breath CT acquisitions of the chest can now be accomplished in a matter of seconds. These rapid acquisitions improve image quality by decreasing respiratory motion, while enhancing patient compliance and throughput. Clearly, CT scanning has matured into an efficient and accurate diagnostic tool to stage primary lung malignancies noninvasively. In its present state of development, MR imaging has one distinct disadvantage that makes it significantly less attractive as a routine lung cancer examination, namely the inability to produce images of the lung that are high in spatial resolution. Also, the sensitivity and specificity of MR imaging, which are similar to those of CT scanning in identifying mediastinal and hilar metastases, offer no clinical advantages. Longer image acquisition times and time constraints force most MR imaging examinations to be abbreviated and limited in coverage. As a result, the necessary exclusion of important anatomic areas routinely visualized by CT scanning may limit the diagnostic power of MR imaging. Finally, MR imaging requires greater physician supervision than CT scanning to direct imaging and to maintain examination quality and thoroughness. Although MR imaging can contribute significantly to the radiologic evaluation of patients with lung cancer, its role is somewhat limited, and it is most useful as a complement to CT scanning. The additional versatility offered by pulse sequences that take advantage of the intrinsic relaxation of tissues greatly facilitates identification of tumor, particularly when local invasion is present. By virtue of the short T1 value of fat, MR imaging may improve the detection of mediastinal disease, particularly in cases in which the sensitivity of CT scanning cannot be optimized because of allergies to contrast or renal insufficiency. MR imaging is superior to CT scanning in demonstrating musculoskeletal anatomy and the neurovascular structures of the neck and mediastinum. Although MR imaging has a potential usefulness in the radiographic evaluation of lung carcinoma, technical shortcomings relegate this modality to a role that is primarily complementary to CT scanning. With time, technological improvements will undoubtedly redefine the role of MR imaging in the radiographic evaluation and staging of bronchogenic carcinomas.
Contextual Influences and Response to Intervention

Individuals develop and learn within contexts. Despite numerous calls for reform, common assessment and intervention practices fail to account for these contexts; instead decontextualizing students’ successes and difficulties as within-child phenomena. Response to intervention (RTI) is an opportunity to link assessment to intervention through the consideration of the contexts in which children learn and develop. In this chapter, the implications of the premier theory of child development, ecological systems theory are examined, for assessment and intervention practices within RTI models. In addition, assessment and intervention tools that may be used to integrate ecological systems theory and RTI are described. The chapter concludes with a discussion of areas for future research.
Elevated Serum Levels of Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin in Wheezing Children Infected with Human Metapneumovirus

Our aim was to study the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in children in the Suzhou area, China, and to investigate the effect of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) on wheezing in hMPV-infected children. The study included 13,533 children with respiratory tract infections who were admitted to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University between January 2009 and December 2014. Clinical data were recorded. Plasma levels of TSLP, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-2 were compared among 35 wheezing children with single hMPV infection, 15 non-wheezing children with hMPV infection, and 35 wheezing children with other viral infections. The annual rates of hMPV infection from 2009 to 2014 were 2.33%, 6.41%, 3.29%, 3.52%, 0.23%, and 0.64%, respectively, peaking in 2010. The number of CD3-/CD16+/CD56+ cells was significantly lower in inpatients with hMPV infection than that in patients with other viral infections. Serum levels of TSLP and IL-4 in wheezing children with hMPV infection were significantly higher than the levels in the other 2 groups. hMPV is a common viral pathogen that causes respiratory infections in children in Suzhou, but annual rates have declined since 2010. Infection with hMPV may affect cell-mediated immunity. Serum TSLP levels were elevated after hMPV infection.
Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzocyclooctene-based and indene-based anticancer agents that function as inhibitors of tubulin polymerization

The natural products colchicine and combretastatin A-4 (CA4) have been inspirational for the design and synthesis of structurally related analogues and spin-off compounds as inhibitors of tubulin polymerization. The discovery that a water-soluble phosphate prodrug salt of CA4 (referred to as CA4P) is capable of imparting profound and selective damage to tumor-associated blood vessels paved the way for the development of a new therapeutic approach for cancer treatment utilizing small-molecule inhibitors of tubulin polymerization that also act as vascular disrupting agents (VDAs). Combination of salient structural features associated with colchicine and CA4 led to the design and synthesis of a variety of fused aryl-cycloalkyl and aryl-heterocyclic compounds that function as inhibitors of tubulin polymerization. Prominent among these compounds is a benzosuberene analogue (referred to as KGP18), which demonstrates sub-nM cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines and functions (when administered as a water-soluble prodrug salt) as a VDA in mouse models. Structure activity relationship considerations led to the evaluation of benzocyclooctyl [6,8 fused] and indene [6,5 fused] ring systems. Four benzocyclooctene and four indene analogues were prepared and evaluated biologically. Three of the benzocyclooctene analogues were active as inhibitors of tubulin polymerization (IC50 < 5 μM), and benzocyclooctene phenol 23 was comparable to KGP18 in terms of potency. The analogous indene-based compound 31 also functioned as an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization (IC50 = 11 μM) with reduced potency. The most potent inhibitor of tubulin polymerization from this group was benzocyclooctene analogue 23, and it was converted to its water-soluble prodrug salt 24 to assess its potential as a VDA. Preliminary in vivo studies, which utilized the MCF7-luc-GFP-mCherry breast tumor in a SCID mouse model, demonstrated that treatment with 24 (120 mg/kg) resulted in significant vascular shutdown, as evidenced by bioluminescence imaging at 4 h post administration, and that the effect continued at both 24 and 48 h. Contemporaneous studies with CA4P, a clinically relevant VDA, were carried out as a positive control.
Modeling the production of sugar and byproducts from acid bisulfite pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of Douglas-fir

The aim of this work was to investigate the kinetics of multiple chemicals in acid bisulfite pretreatment and the relationship between total sugar yields and pretreatment factors (temperature and time). The results showed Saeman model accurately fitted the pretreatment process. According to this kinetic model, a maximum hemicellulose hydrolysis yield was achieved at a treatment time of 75min with a temperature of 145°C. Meantime, the concentrations of acetic acid, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and furfural were 1.54, 0.60, and 1.15gL-1, respectively. Also, a Lorentzian function described the relationship between total sugar yield and pretreatment factors: temperature and time. The regression parameters from this mathematical fitting have accurately reflected the maximum total sugar yield and the optimal treatment conditions were determined to be 145°C and 110min.
Timing correlation between clock & data strobe with dynamic rank switching in DDR3 RDIMMs

Memory plays a significant role in successful operations of modern day servers. DDR3 memory has been around for a while and the next generation is almost available. There are lots of challenges which still exist and are not fully uncovered with the DDR3 based ISRDIMMs and discussed in this paper is a unique problem faced during the server memory characterization of ISRDIMMs. Issues were unearthed in timing relationship between the Clock and WR DQS in a multi-Rank DIMM and experiments were conducted to find a suitable solution. The proposed solution uses a Built-In-Self-Test engine to toggle the phase rotator attached to a particular bit to overcome the zero timing margin issues. Experiments were conducted with single and multi-Rank DIMMs, sequential & random DATA pattern and with different addressing schemes to root cause the problem and ensure the proposed solution works fine in all cases.
The Sodium Channel β4 Auxiliary Subunit Selectively Controls Long-Term Depression in Core Nucleus Accumbens Medium Spiny Neurons.

Voltage-gated sodium channels are essential for generating the initial rapid depolarization of neuronal membrane potential during action potentials that enable cell-to-cell communication, the propagation of signals throughout the brain, and the induction of synaptic plasticity. Although all brain neurons express one or several variants coding for the core pore-forming sodium channel α subunit, the expression of the β (β1 to β4) auxiliary subunits varies greatly. Of particular interest is the β4 subunit, encoded by the Scn4b gene, that is highly expressed in dorsal and ventral (i.e. nucleus accumbens - NAc) striata compared to other brain regions, and that endows sodium channels with unique gating properties. However, its role on neuronal activity, synaptic plasticity, and behaviors related to drugs of abuse remains poorly understood. Combining whole-cell patch-clamp recordings with two-photon calcium imaging in Scn4b knockout (KO) and knockdown (KD) mice, we found that Scn4b altered the properties of action potentials (APs) in core accumbens medium spiny neurons (MSNs). These alterations are associated with a reduction of the probability of MSNs to evoke spike-timing-dependent long-term depression (tLTD) and a reduced ability of backpropagating action potentials to evoke dendritic calcium transients. In contrast, long-term potentiation (tLTP) remained unaffected. Interestingly, we also showed that amphetamine-induced locomotor activity was significantly reduced in male Scn4b KO mice compared to wild-type controls. Taken together, these data indicate that the Scn4b subunit selectively controls tLTD by modulating dendritic calcium transients evoked by backpropagating action potentials.
The Extensible Problem-Specific Tutor (xPST): Evaluation of an API for Tutoring on Existing Interfaces

The Extensible Problem-Specific Tutor (xPST) system was created to facilitate the creation of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) on existing software and web-based interfaces. This research introduces xPST and describes an exploration of the ease of authoring an xPST tutor for three web-based tasks. Participants demonstrated a quick learning curve and alternated their attentional focus regularly among the three components of the xPST authoring system.
Towards an analytic construction of the wavefunction of boson stars

Light scalar fields can form gravitationally bound compact objects called boson stars. The profile of boson stars in the Newtonian limit is described by the Gross-Pitaevskii-Poisson equations. We present a semianalytic solution to these equations and construct the profile of boson stars formed by a noninteracting scalar field. Our solution is stable with respect to numerical errors and has accuracy better than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$ over the entire range.
EWSR1 fusion proteins mediate PAX7 expression in Ewing sarcoma

PAX7 is a paired-box transcription factor that is required for the developmental specification of adult skeletal muscle progenitors in mice. We previously demonstrated PAX7 expression as a marker of skeletal muscle differentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma. Here, using analyses of published whole-genome gene expression microarray data, we identify PAX7 as a gene with significantly increased expression in Ewing sarcoma in comparison to CIC-DUX4 round cell sarcoma. Analysis of PAX7 in a large cohort of 103 Ewing sarcoma cases by immunohistochemistry revealed expression in 99.0% of cases (102/103). PAX7 expression was noted in cases demonstrating three distinct Ewing sarcoma EWSR1 translocations involving FLI1, ERG, and NFATc2. No PAX7 expression was observed in any of 27 cases of CIC-DUX4 sarcoma by immunohistochemistry (0%; 0/27). Exploring the mechanism of PAX7 expression in Ewing sarcoma using curated RNA- and ChIP-sequencing data, we demonstrate that the EWSR1 fusion protein is required for PAX7 expression in Ewing sarcoma and identify a candidate EWSR1-FLI1-bound PAX7 enhancer that coincides with both a consensus GGAA repeat-containing binding site and a peak of regulatory H3K27 acetylation. Taken together, our findings provide mechanistic support for the utility of PAX7 immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma, while linking this sarcoma of uncertain histogenesis to a key transcriptional regulator of mammalian muscle progenitor cells.
Racialized physical space as cultural product

We argue for incorporating physical space into the psychological study of race. Specifically, we review historical and sociological work explaining how physical space (e.g., houses, rivers, neighborhoods, and nations) has been used to construct race and racial hierarchy, leaving physical space structurally racialized. This structural racialization, we propose, has led people to think of physical space in racial terms, creating mental images of race that include physical space characteristics. We explain how these mental images may influence race-related psychological processes (e.g., person perception and social identity threat). We also detail evidence that these mental images of racialized space shape how people perceive and interact with space, in ways that likely reinforce its structural racialization. We therefore frame physical space as a cultural product, situating it within the mutually constitutive nature of culture and psyche. This expanded approach to studying race can facilitate a fuller understanding of all the ways in which psychological processes contribute to racial inequality.
The Devil is in the Details: Parsing Unknown German Words

The statistical parsing of morphologically rich languages is hindered by the inability of parsers to collect solid statistics because of the large number of word types in such languages. There are however two separate but connected problems, reducing data sparsity of known words and handling rare and unknown words. Methods for tackling one problem may inadvertently negatively impact methods to handle the other. We perform a tightly controlled set of experiments to reduce data sparsity through class-based representations in combination with unknown word signatures with two PCFG-LA parsers that handle rare and unknown words differently on the German TiGer treebank. We demonstrate that methods that have improved results for other languages do not transfer directly to German, and that we can obtain better results using a simplistic model rather than a more generalized model for rare and unknown word handling.
Value of combined adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation on survival for stage III uterine cancer: is less radiation equal to more?

OBJECTIVE Locally advanced endometrioid adenocarcinoma (LA-EAC) accounts for the majority of deaths for this cancer, yet there is no consensus on adjuvant treatment after surgery. Past studies suggest that combined modality treatment (CMT) may improve outcomes over treatment with chemotherapy (CT) or radiation therapy (RT, either external beam radiotherapy [EBRT] or vaginal brachytherapy [VBT]) alone. Using a large US-based population-based registry, we evaluated adjuvant CMT in LA-EAC and the relative benefit of regional EBRT compared to focused VBT. METHODS We studied patients diagnosed with Stage III LA-EAC between 2004 and 2013 from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). We used Cox regression and a log-rank test to assess survival based on treatment with CT alone, EBRT alone, VBT alone, or CMT with EBRT and/or VBT. We used a χ² test to compare covariates between patients receiving CMT with EBRT or VBT. RESULTS Patients who received CMT had better survival than those who received CT or EBRT/VBT alone. Compared to CMT with VBT, patients who received CMT with EBRT were slightly older and had more advanced-stage or positive nodes, and fewer had lymph node surgery. We found no survival difference between CMT with EBRT and CMT with VBT even when categorizing patients as high or low risk according to age, grade, and stage (low-risk p=0.3460; high-risk p=0.2158). CONCLUSION CMT was associated with superior survival outcomes compared to monotherapy. We observed no survival difference between radiation modalities in CMT, which highlights the effectiveness of a more focused treatment like brachytherapy.
Molecular Characterization of Gastric Carcinoma: Therapeutic Implications for Biomarkers and Targets

Palliative chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment of advanced gastric carcinoma (GC). Monoclonal antibodies including trastuzumab, ramucirumab, and pembrolizumab have been shown to provide additional benefits. However, the clinical outcomes are often unpredictable and they can vary widely among patients. Currently, no biomarker is available for predicting treatment response in the individual patient except human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression for effectiveness of trastuzumab and pembrolizumab, respectively. Multi-platform molecular analysis of cancer, including GC, may help identify predictive biomarkers to guide selection of therapeutic agents. Molecular classification of GC by The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network and the Asian Cancer Research Group is expected to identify therapeutic targets and predictive biomarkers. Complementary to molecular characterization of GC is molecular profiling by expression analysis and genomic sequencing of tumor DNA. Initial analysis of patients with gastroesophageal carcinoma demonstrates that the ratio of progression-free survival (PFS) on molecular profile (MP)-based treatment to PFS on treatment prior to molecular profiling exceeds 1.3, suggesting the potential value of MP in guiding selection of individualized therapy. Future strategies aiming to integrate molecular classification and profiling of tumors with therapeutic agents for achieving the goal of personalized treatment of GC are indicated.
A Fast Exact Functional Test for Directional Association and Cancer Biology Applications

Directional association measured by functional dependency can answer important questions on relationships between variables, for example, in discovery of molecular interactions in biological systems. However, when one has no prior information about the functional form of a directional association, there is not a widely established statistical procedure to detect such an association. To address this issue, here we introduce an exact functional test for directional association by examining the strength of functional dependency. It is effective in promoting functional patterns by reducing statistical power on dependent non-functional patterns. We designed an algorithm to carry out the test using a fast branch-and-bound strategy, which achieved a substantial speedup over brute-force enumeration. On data from an epidemiological study of liver cancer, the test identified the hepatitis status of a subject as the most influential risk factor among others for the cancer phenotype. On human lung cancer transcriptome data, the test selected 1068 transcription start sites of putative noncoding RNAs directionally associated with the presence or absence of lung cancer, stronger than 95 percent transcription start sites of 694 curated cancer genes. These predictions include non-monotonic interaction patterns, to which other routine tests were insensitive. Complementing symmetric (non-directional) association methods such as Fisher's exact test, the exact functional test is a unique exact statistical test for evaluating evidence for causal relationships.
How to Measure Angles with a Ruler

Travis Kowalski (travis.kowalski@sdsmt.edu) received his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego in 2002. He joined the mathematics faculty at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2004. His academic interests include complex analysis, applications of power series, and the cultural and historical roots of mathematics. He also enjoys drawing cartoons and visual wordplay, time with his daughter, and panicking at the ever-increasing size of his "To do" list.
Dimerization of Neuronal Calcium Sensor Proteins

Neuronal calcium sensor (NCS) proteins are EF-hand containing Ca2+ binding proteins that regulate sensory signal transduction. Many NCS proteins (recoverin, GCAPs, neurocalcin and visinin-like protein 1 (VILIP1)) form functional dimers under physiological conditions. The dimeric NCS proteins have similar amino acid sequences (50% homology) but each bind to and regulate very different physiological targets. Retinal recoverin binds to rhodopsin kinase and promotes Ca2+-dependent desensitization of light-excited rhodopsin during visual phototransduction. The guanylyl cyclase activating proteins (GCAP1-5) each bind and activate retinal guanylyl cyclases (RetGCs) in light-adapted photoreceptors. VILIP1 binds to membrane targets that modulate neuronal secretion. Here, I review atomic-level structures of dimeric forms of recoverin, GCAPs and VILIP1. The distinct dimeric structures in each case suggest that NCS dimerization may play a role in modulating specific target recognition. The dimerization of recoverin and VILIP1 is Ca2+-dependent and enhances their membrane-targeting Ca2+-myristoyl switch function. The dimerization of GCAP1 and GCAP2 facilitate their binding to dimeric RetGCs and may allosterically control the Ca2+-dependent activation of RetGCs.
Burnout and Vitality for Yale Neurology (P3.158)

Objective: To assess and compare rates of burnout in the Yale Department of Neurology to national data and develop programs to address the findings. Background: Burnout has become an important topic of research as it significantly impairs physician job satisfaction and overall patient care. Recent studies have shown that over 60% of neurologists demonstrate one criteria of burn out. Design/Methods: 55 faculty members in the Yale Department of Neurology were surveyed in June 2017. The questionnaire included an abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory and specific questions tailored at identifying aspects of job satisfaction. Results: Percentage of physician burnout was compared among neurologic specialties and to national data from 2016. 61% of faculty at Yale reported feeling burned out compared to the national average of 56% for academic neurologists in 2016. The specialties of General Neurology, Headache, Neuromuscular Disorders, and Vascular Neurology demonstrated more burnout than the national average. Neuro-Intensive Care, Movement Disorders, and Neuroimmunology reported a lower burnout rate compared to the average. Overall, 74% of neurology faculty at Yale reported satisfaction with their jobs, although there was a trend for low satisfaction in categories of work outside of normal hours, time for discussions, time spent with family, and time with menial work. Conclusions: Reported burnout rates for the Yale Department of Neurology are similar to national trends. The etiology of burnout is multifactorial, including decreased time for academic interests, increased clinical responsibilities, and limited resources. Based on the above study, several changes have been implemented, including the hiring of additional support staff in more burned out areas, the implementation of a scribe system to reduce time in the EMR, and efforts to increase resources for academic pursuits. The department has also made a commitment to obtain yearly data regarding burnout and develop annual metrics and objectives to address this important issue. Disclosure: Dr. Fu has nothing to disclose. Dr. Khokhar has nothing to disclose.
Diversity and Inclusion as Essential Elements of 4-H Youth Development Programs

Diversity and inclusion are essential elements of 4-H’s goals related to positive youth development, workforce development, and organizational sustainability. Previous research has examined Cooperative Extension professionals’ attitudes on this topic, demonstrating that most of them recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion in 4-H. Here we present results from a survey of adolescents participating in New York state 4-H programs assessing their endorsement of racial/ethnic diversity and inclusion in 4-H. Results revealed that, overall, youth felt positively toward this kind of diversity and inclusion in 4-H, and endorsement was most strongly predicted by a learning orientation that emphasizes acquiring new information through intergroup contact. We conclude with considerations for 4-H programs seeking to help young people develop and maintain an openness to diversity and inclusion.
Competition and Asset Prices

We present a simple model of endogenous markups and illustrate its connection to asset pricing. In equilibrium, markups are non--monotonic in underlying macro risk in that above a threshold, monopolistic rents can not be sustained and markups drop to zero. The interaction between demand and discount rates that vary over the business cycle has several implications that do not arise in a model in which constant discount rates are exogenously imposed. For example, the higher the correlation between demand realizations and the business cycle, the more counter-cyclical the markup is in equilibrium. Indeed, sustaining a noncompetitive equilibrium with positive markups is more difficult in industries in which demand is strongly procyclical. These observations allow us to distinguish between fundamental industry risk and fluctuations in equity returns.
The Effect of Vehicle Body Shapes on the Near Wake Region and Drag Coefficient: A Numerical Study

The purpose of this paper is to gain a good understanding about wake region behind the car body due to the aerodynamic effect when the air flows over the road vehicle during its movement. The main goal of this study is to discuss the effect of the geometry on the wake region and the aerodynamic drag coefficient. Results will be achieved by using two different shapes, which are the fastback and the notchback. The study will be implemented by the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) by using STAR-CCM+® software for the simulation. This study investigates the steady turbulent flow using k-epsilon turbulence model. The results obtained from the simulation show that the region of the air separation behind the vehicle varies with the variation of the body design. The minimum drag coefficient can be achieved with notch-back since the separation of the air is less as compared with fastback end. These results are demonstrated by pressure distribution and velocity distribution which offer a good understanding of the flow behavior around the vehicle bodies.
Model reduction for fractured porous media: a machine learning approach for identifying main flow pathways

Discrete fracture networks (DFN) are often used to model flow and transport in fractured porous media. The accurate resolution of flow and transport behavior on a large DFN involving thousands of fractures is computationally expensive. This makes uncertainty quantification studies of quantities of interest such as travel time through the network computationally intractable, since hundreds to thousands of runs of the DFN model are required to get bounds on the uncertainty of the predictions. Prior works on the subject demonstrated that the complexity of a DFN could be reduced by considering a sub-network of it (often termed a “backbone” sub-network), one whose flow and transport properties were then shown to be similar to that of the full network. The technique is tantamount to partitioning the complete set of fractures of a network into two disjoint sets, one of which is the backbone sub-network while the other its complement. It is in this context that we present a system-reduction technique for DFNs using supervised machine learning via a Random Forest Classifier that selects a backbone sub-network from the full set of fractures. The in-sample errors (in terms of precision and recall scores) of the trained classifier are found to be very accurate indicators of the out-of-sample errors, thus exhibiting that the classifier generalizes well to test data. Moreover, this system-reduction technique yields sub-networks as small as 12% of the full DFN that still recover transport characteristics of the full network such as the peak dosage and tailing behavior for late times. Most importantly, the sub-networks remain connected, and their size can be controlled by a single dimensionless parameter. Furthermore, measures of KL-divergence and KS-statistic for the breakthrough curves of the sub-networks with respect to the full network show physically realistic trends in that the measures decrease monotonically as the size of the sub-networks increase. The computational efficiency gained by this technique depends on the size of the sub-network, but large reductions in computational time can be expected for small sub-networks, yielding as much as 90% computational savings for sub-networks that are as small as 10-12% of the full network.
Nondimensional Streaming Dielectrophoresis Number for a System of Continuous Particle Separation.

Cell sorting methods are required in numerous healthcare assays. Although flow cytometry and magnetically actuated sorting are widespread techniques for cell sorting, there is intense research on l...
Parents and interscholastic sport: a mixed-method approach to identify salient issues

ABSTRACTParents are generally considered one of the strongest influences on interscholastic athletes. Unfortunately, empirical research identifying the most salient administrative issues associated...
How nanoscale surface heterogeneity impacts transport of nano- to micro-particles on surfaces under unfavorable attachment conditions

The impact of nanoscale surface heterogeneity on retention of nano-to-micro-scale particles (colloids) on surfaces governs colloid transport in the environment where unfavorable conditions (repulsive barrier present) are prevalent. Applications include water resource protection and contaminant remediation, and colloid sizes range from viruses and engineered nanomaterials (e.g., ∼50 nm) to protozoa and activated carbon (e.g., ∼5 μm). Prediction and colloid delivery require understanding how nanoscale heterogeneity impacts size dependence of colloid retention under unfavorable relative to favorable conditions. This dependence has not been previously investigated. We report experiments on soda lime glass (silica) with carboxylate-modified polystyrene latex colloids (0.1, 0.25, 1.1, 2.0, 4.4, 6.8 μm) under varied ionic strengths (0.006 and 0.02 M) and pH (6.7 and 8.0) in an impinging jet system representing upstream sides of porous media grains. These experiments demonstrate dramatically reduced attachment efficiencies (α) for n–μ transition colloids (0.2 to 2 μm) relative to smaller (e.g., 2 μm) sizes with equivalent surface properties. We demonstrate via mechanistic trajectory simulations incorporating discrete representative nanoscale heterogeneity (DRNH) that for n–μ transition colloids, their least combined diffusion and fluid drag in the near-surface fluid domain increased their residence times prior to encountering nanoscale heterogeneity, both phenomena thereby reducing the likelihood of colloid attachment under unfavorable conditions. The generality of this phenomenon was examined using silica colloids, and by compiling reported colloid retention in porous media. We discuss how this new understanding may guide strategies for targeted delivery in porous media.
TFAM Enhances Fat Oxidation and Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance in Skeletal Muscle.

Diet-induced insulin resistance (IR) adversely affects human health and life span. We show that muscle-specific overexpression of human mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) attenuates high-fat diet (HFD)–induced fat gain and IR in mice in conjunction with increased energy expenditure and reduced oxidative stress. These TFAM effects on muscle are shown to be exerted by molecular changes that are beyond its direct effect on mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription. TFAM augmented the muscle tricarboxylic acid cycle and citrate synthase facilitating energy expenditure. TFAM enhanced muscle glucose uptake despite increased fatty acid (FA) oxidation in concert with higher β-oxidation capacity to reduce the accumulation of IR-related carnitines and ceramides. TFAM also increased pAMPK expression, explaining enhanced PGC1α and PPARβ, and reversing HFD-induced GLUT4 and pAKT reductions. TFAM-induced mild uncoupling is shown to protect mitochondrial membrane potential against FA-induced uncontrolled depolarization. These coordinated changes conferred protection to TFAM mice against HFD-induced obesity and IR while reducing oxidative stress with potential translational opportunities.
The Hip in Mucopolysaccharidoses

The mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) are a group of lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) characterized by a genetic deficiency or dysfunction of the enzymes required to breakdown glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Unmetabolized GAG molecules accumulate in the intracellular and extracellular spaces throughout the body, affecting multiple organ systems. Current metabolic treatment consists of Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) in Hurler Syndrome (MPS I-H), as well as Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) in other MPS conditions. MPS I-H is the archetype of MPS conditions. The constellation of musculoskeletal abnormalities seen in the MPSs is termed “dysostosis multiplex”. In the hip, this is characterized by acetabular dysplasia that is due to decreased ossification of the lateral portion of the acetabulum. However, the unossified cartilaginous anlage of the acetabulum is still present. Progressive coxa valga in the latter half of the first decade may lead to progressive hip subluxation. In patients in whom the hips are not treated, many patients develop hip pain, stiffness and disability in the second decade of life. Hip reconstructive surgery, if performed, requires combined femoral varus osteotomies and pelvic osteotomies. The role of early hip reconstructive surgery still requires further study to determine its efficacy and impact on future hip function and quality of life.
The national blueprint for future factor VIII inhibitor clinical trials: NHLBI State of the Science (SOS) Workshop on factor VIII inhibitors

Introduction Inhibitor formation is a major complication of haemophilia for which clinical trials are planned. Despite emerging novel haemostatic agents, challenges of rare disease trials are limited subjects and lack of an organized research organization with strategic resources and partnerships. Aim The charge to Working Group 1 was to establish scientific priorities and innovative implementation strategies to conduct inhibitor prevention and eradication trials. To determine feasibility of trial design and strategic resources and partnerships to be leveraged, two clinical trial concepts were considered. Results For the Inhibitor Prevention Trial, we considered adaptive design with early stopping rules, dynamic randomization and Master Protocol models to reduce sample size; and registries to provide concurrent controls and natural history data. For the Inhibitor Eradication Trial using gene therapy, an adaptive design was considered in a small number of subjects, and, if safe and meeting regulatory requirements, enrolment would be expanded. A Haemophilia Clinical Trials Group (HCTG) infrastructure was envisioned, with uniform procedures and standardized outcomes, data collection and assays, within which trial concepts would be developed, vetted and prioritized by a Steering Committee, and submitted to NIH and other research sponsors for review and funding. Mechanistic studies would be embedded within the trials, early stage investigators trained and mentored, and the research infrastructure established within the haemophilia centre (HTC) network and supported by partnerships with foundations, community, federal partners and industry. Conclusion The success of inhibitor trials will depend on innovative trial design and an organized HCTG research infrastructure, leveraged through community partnerships.
Annual changes in plasma progesterone and estradiol-17β concentrations compared to pituitary-adrenal axis activity in the female goat reared under arid environment

This study investigates the relationships between the pituitary-adrenal axis and the ovarian activity in the cyclic goat reared under arid environment. Plasma hormone levels are assessed on blood s...
Three-Dimensional Porous Trabecular Scaffold Exhibits Osteoconductive Behaviors In Vitro

In the USA, approximately 500,000 bone grafting procedures are performed annually to treat injured or diseased bone. Autografts and allografts are the most common treatment options but can lead to adverse outcomes such as donor site morbidity and mechanical failure within 10 years. Due to this, tissue engineered replacements have emerged as a promising alternative to the biological options. In this study, we characterize an electrospun porous composite scaffold as a potential bone substitute. Various mineralization techniques including electrodeposition were explored to determine the optimal method to integrate mineral content throughout the scaffold. In vitro studies were performed to determine the biocompatibility and osteogenic potential of the nanofibrous scaffolds. The presence of hydroxyapatite (HAp) and brushite throughout the scaffold was confirmed using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and ash weight analysis. The active flow of ions via electrodeposition mineralization led to a threefold increase in mineral content throughout the scaffold in comparison to static and flow mineralization. Additionally, a ten-layer scaffold was successfully mineralized and confirmed with an alizarin red assay. In vitro studies confirmed the mineralized scaffold was biocompatible with human bone marrow derived stromal cells. Additionally, bone marrow derived stromal cells seeded on the mineralized scaffold with embedded HAp expressed 30% more osteocalcin, a primary bone protein, than these cells seeded on non-mineralized scaffolds and only 9% less osteocalcin than mature pre-osteoblasts on tissue culture polystyrene. This work aims to confirm the potential of a biomimetic mineralized scaffold for full-thickness trabecular bone replacement.
Diabetes Distress and Quality of Life in Adults with Diabetes

In this chapter, we discuss the importance of considering patient-reported outcomes (PROs) alongside surrogate measures to better assess benefits and potential costs of diabetes treatments in terms that matter to patients. Two central PROs in diabetes research and care include diabetes distress (DD) and quality of life (QOL). We begin by providing an overview of DD, discuss its association with depression and important diabetes outcomes, and review available DD measures. Next, we provide an overview of QOL measurement in diabetes and focus on health-related quality of life (HRQOL); discuss its differentiation from health status, its relationship to DD, and other diabetes outcomes; and provide recommendations for how to select an appropriate measure. In addition, we describe cultural, social, and demographic factors in relation to DD and HRQOL. Finally, we discuss conclusions and future directions in diabetes DD and HRQOL research. We conclude that PROs such as DD and QOL have emerged as valid, reliable, and meaningful constructs reflecting aspects of a patient’s health and well-being that are not captured by physiological measures alone. To ensure the best use of these PROs, it is imperative that conceptual clarity is improved, particularly when considering HRQOL, and that PRO measure construction and revision follow US Food and Drug Administration recommendations. PRO assessment undoubtedly improves clinical practices and is essential to truly move toward a patient-centered model of diabetes prevention and care.
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Mineral and Organic Matter Deposition Across Two San Francisco Bay-Delta Tidal Marshes

Sediment deposition in tidal wetlands is a critical process that determines whether vertical growth will keep pace with sea-level rise. However, more information is needed on how sediment deposition varies spatially and temporally across wetlands, including the effects of elevation, tidal inundation, vegetation, and weather. We investigated variation in sediment deposition due to season, distance from channel, channel size, and vegetation composition at low and high salinity tidal marshes in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, California using sediment traps deployed monthly between December 2015 and November 2016. Over the course of the year, sediment deposition ranged widely (1.4 – 174.0 kg m−2 yr−1) and averaged 19.5 ± 3.5 kg m−2 yr−1. Deposition increased with flooding duration, decreased with increasing distance from channels, and was highest during the spring and early summer. Higher wind speeds during the spring may have driven re-suspension from mudflats, promoting deposition. Ratios of organic-to-mineral deposition were twice as high at the fresher site and were correlated with differences in vegetation composition between sites. Our results suggest that seasonality, distance from sediment source, salinity regime, and channel size are important sources of spatiotemporal variation in deposition. These results are relevant to accretion sampling and wetland restoration design.
Neurobehavioral outcomes in young adults with perinatally acquired HIV.

Background With combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), infants with perinatally-acquired HIV (pHIV) are living into adolescence and adulthood. Worldwide, many have not received cART in the first years of life, and challenges of adolescence complicate transition to adulthood. Neurobehavioral outcomes in pHIV young adults (pHIVAd) are infrequently reported. Objectives To examine neurobehavioral characteristics of pHIVAd ages 21 to 30, and to compare them with age-matched young adults infected in the second or third decade of life (HIVagematch), and older adults with similar duration HIV disease (HIVOA). Methods A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and questionnaires to determine cognitive function and mood, and reviews of neuromedical and behavioral records were undertaken in three groups of 13 individuals each. Descriptive analysis and bivariate techniques were used for comparisons. Results Rates of cognitive impairment were highest in pHIVAd (85%) compared with HIVagematch (38%) and HIVOA (62%). pHIVAd had the worst scores in global cognition, speed of information processing, working memory, and verbal fluency (0.5 to 1.0 SD below other groups). There was a trend for higher rates of psychiatric dysfunction (predominantly mood disorders) in pHIVAd (85%) compared with HIVagematch (46%) and HIVOA (54%). Only 4 pHIVAd reported employment or enrollment in school. Four had autoimmune disorders. Conclusions These pHIVAd displayed high rates of cognitive, psychiatric, and autoimmune dysfunction, greater than age-matched or HIV duration-matched comparators. While this small study is largely descriptive in nature, it suggests that a lack of cART in early life may result in long-term neurobehavioral and immune abnormalities manifesting into adulthood.
A multicenter case series documenting Medicare Part D plan denials of immunosuppressant drug coverage for organ transplant recipients.

Medicare Part D plans make coverage decisions according to FDA-labeled indications and off-label uses endorsed by two CMS-recognized compendia. Patients who rely on Medicare Part D for immunosuppressive drug coverage are at risk for denied coverage when these medications are prescribed off-label. The purpose of this multicenter collaboration was to assemble a case series documenting situations where immunosuppressive therapies prescribed for transplant patients were denied by Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. This case series documents 66 instances in 39 patients where immunosuppressive drug claims were denied coverage due to off-label use not endorsed by the compendia. Patients were recipients of lung (n = 28, 72%), heart (n = 7, 18%), or liver (n = 4, 10%) transplants. Denied claims were for mycophenolate mofetil (n = 22, 33%), azathioprine (n = 18, 27%), sirolimus (n = 15, 23%), mycophenolate sodium (n = 5, 8%), everolimus (n = 5, 8%), and belatacept (n = 1, 1%). Most denials were upheld across all the levels of attempted appeal, including those escalated to a Medicare Administrative Law Judge. This case series demonstrates a critical flaw in the construct of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. The currently referenced compendia are not up to date and do not reflect best practices in organ transplantation.
Race and affluence shape spatio-temporal urbanization trends in Greater Houston, 1997 to 2016

Abstract Urbanization results in increasing impervious surfaces with the potential to threaten fragile environments and heighten flood risks. In the United States, research on the social processes driving urbanization has tended to focus on the twenty-first century, but less is known about how temporal trends arose from the spatial layout of the urban land upon which this growth was founded. To address this gap, we present a novel interdisciplinary synthesis using neighborhood-level census data in tandem with a satellite-derived annual land cover change time series to assess the role of race, affluence, and socioeconomic status in shaping spatio-temporal urbanization in the Houston metropolitan area from 1997−2016. Results from cross-sectional and temporal regression models indicate that while social dynamics associated with historical versus recent urbanization are related, they are not identical. Thus, while temporal change in Houston's urbanization is driven primarily by socioeconomic status, the social dynamics associated with spatial disparities in urbanization relate primarily to race, regardless of socioeconomic status. These results are noteworthy as urbanization in Houston does not fully comport with existing theoretical perspectives or with empirical findings nationally. Instead, we suggest these findings reflect the city’s politics and culture surrounding land use. Thus, beyond its important social and environmental implications, this study affirms the utility of fusing socio-demographic data with satellite remote sensing of urban growth, and highlights the value of the socioenvironmental succession framework for characterizing urbanization as a recursive process in space and time.
Response to Finsterer's "Exclude hereditary and acquired differential disorders before attributing retinoschisis to Kears-Sayre syndrome".

We thank Dr. Finsterer for his interest in our article and his erudite comments on the differential diagnosis of retinoschisis. Indeed, many of the conditions he cites were mentioned specifically w...