cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intermittent heat exposure and thirst in rats

Adequate water intake, supporting both cardiovascular function and evaporative cooling, is a critical factor in mitigating the effects of heat waves, which are expected to increase with global warming. However, the regulation of water intake during periods of intermittent heat exposure is not well understood. In this study, the effects of access to water or no access during intermittent heat exposure were assessed using male Sprague‐Dawley rats exposed to 37.5°C for 4 h/day. After 7 days of intermittent heat exposure, reductions in evaporative water loss were observed in all animals and reductions in water intake following heat exposure occurred as the days of heat exposure increased. Rats that were not allowed water during the 7 days of exposure had decreased rehydration levels, however, rats allowed access to water increased water intake during exposure and exhibited higher overall rehydration levels over the same time period. Peripheral administration of angiotensin II, mimicking activation of volemic thirst, or hypertonic saline solution, activating intracellular thirst, did not result in alteration of water intake in rats exposed to heat with access to water compared to control rats. In contrast, rats exposed to heat without access to water had reduced water intake after administration of hypertonic saline and increased water intake after administration of angiotensin II compared to control rats. These experiments demonstrate that thirst responses to intermittent heat exposure are altered by providing water during heat exposure and that intermittent heat exposure without access to water alters drinking responses to both intracellular and extracellular thirst challenges.
An Alkali Metal-Capped Cerium(IV) Imido Complex

Structurally authenticated, terminal lanthanide–ligand multiple bonds are rare and expected to be highly reactive. Even capped with an alkali metal cation, poor orbital energy matching and overlap of metal and ligand valence orbitals should result in strong charge polarization within such bonds. We expand on a new strategy for isolating terminal lanthanide–ligand multiple bonds using cerium(IV) complexes. In the current case, our tailored tris(hydroxylaminato) ligand framework, TriNOx3–, provides steric protection against ligand scrambling and metal complex oligomerization and electronic protection against reduction. This strategy culminates in isolation of the first formal Ce═N bonded moiety in the complex [K(DME)2][Ce═N(3,5-(CF3)2C6H3)(TriNOx)], whose Ce═N bond is the shortest known at 2.119(3) A.
Correlation between word recognition score and intracochlear new bone and fibrous tissue after cochlear implantation in the human

Cochlear implantation is an effective, established procedure for patients with profound deafness. Although implant electrodes have been considered as biocompatible prostheses, surgical insertion of the electrode induces various changes within the cochlea. Immediate changes include insertional trauma to the cochlea. Delayed changes include a tissue response consisting of inflammation, fibrosis and neo-osteogenesis induced by trauma and an immunologic reaction to a foreign body. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of these delayed changes on the word recognition scores achieved post-operatively. Seventeen temporal bones from patients who in life had undergone cochlear implantation were prepared for light microscopy. We digitally calculated the volume of fibrous tissue and new bone within the cochlea using Amira(®) three-dimensional reconstruction software and assessed the correlations of various clinical and histologic factors. The postoperative CNC word score was positively correlated with total spiral ganglion cell count. Fibrous tissue and new bone were found within the cochlea of all seventeen specimens. The postoperative CNC word score was negatively correlated with the % volume of new bone within the scala tympani, scala media/vestibuli and the cochlea, but not with the % volume of fibrous tissue. The % volume of new bone in the scala media/vestibuli was positively correlated with the degree of intracochlear insertional trauma, especially trauma to the basilar membrane. Our results revealed that the % volume of new bone as well as residual total spiral ganglion cell count are important factors influencing post-implant hearing performance. New bone formation may be reduced by limiting insertional trauma and increasing the biocompatibility of the electrodes.
Systematic review with meta-analysis: prevalent vs. incident oesophageal adenocarcinoma and high-grade dysplasia in Barrett's oesophagus.

SummaryBackground The proportion of oesophageal adenocarcinoma that is detected concurrently with initial Barrett's oesophagus diagnosis is not well studied. Aim To compare the proportion of prevalent adenocarcinoma vs. incident adenocarcinoma found during surveillance of Barrett's. Methods We performed a systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science (from their inception to 31 May 2015) for cohort studies in adults with Barrett's (nondysplastic Barrett's ± Barrett's with low-grade dysplasia) with minimum average follow-up of 3 years, and providing numbers of prevalent adenocarcinoma detected (concurrently with Barrett's diagnosis and up to 1 year afterwards) vs. incident adenocarcinoma detected (greater than 1 year after Barrett's diagnosis). Pooled weighted proportions of prevalent and incident adenocarcinoma were calculated, using a random effects model. Results On meta-analysis of 13 studies reporting on 603 adenocarcinomas in 9657 Barrett's patients, 85.1% of adenocarcinomas were classified as prevalent [95% confidence interval (CI), 78.1–90.2%) and 14.9% as incident (95% CI, 9.8–21.9%), with substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 66%). Among nine studies reporting on 787 high-grade dysplasia and oesophageal adenocarcinomas in 8098 Barrett's patients, the proportion of prevalent high-grade dysplasia-oesophageal adenocarcinoma was similar at 80.5% (95% CI, 68.1–88.8%, I2 = 87%). These results remained stable across multiple subgroup analyses including study quality, setting, duration of follow-up and presence of baseline dysplasia. Conclusions In our meta-analysis, four of five patients diagnosed with adenocarcinoma or high-grade dysplasia at index endoscopy or within 1 year of Barrett's follow-up were considered to be prevalent cases. Continued efforts are needed to identify patients with Barrett's before the development of adenocarcinoma.
The changing landscape of investor-state arbitration in India

India’s new Model BIT is a response to the considerable concerns expressed by various sovereign states and civil society on the impact of Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism in affecting State autonomy and regulatory freedom. As a large developing country with a rising economy, the Indian experience offers the need to carefully circumscribe investor protection mechanisms especially considering the political and administrative governance challenges India has. The paper while arguing that the Indian experience offers one solution to balancing investor protection and state sovereignty, it reminds the concerned stakeholders of the challenges in negotiating or renegotiating India’s treaties based on the new Model BIT.
CHAPTER 3 – General Features of Autoimmune Disease

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of autoimmune disease, which is characterized by an activation of the adaptive immune response with T and B lymphocytes responding to self-antigen in the absence of any detectable microbial assault or tumor invasion. The immune activation may be initiated by infection, but must persist in the absence of any detectable microbial antigen. It now seems most useful to consider autoimmunity as a failure in T- and B-cell repertoire selection or a failure in the regulation of activated T and B cells. It is also clear that autoimmunity needs to be coupled to target-organ vulnerability to immune attack for autoimmune disease to be present. This understanding suggests new therapeutic targets, and new therapeutic strategies. The focus on new technologies to provide biomarkers of immune function represents an exciting opportunity to treat disease prior to tissue damage and to customize therapy for each patient. Furthermore, studies of gene and protein expression can help elucidate those mechanisms of immune dysfunction that are shared among multiple autoimmune diseases and those that are unique to a particular disease.
Monitoring Endothelial Cell Activation In Vivo during Thrombus Formation.

Abstract The endothelium serves as a metabolically active interface between the blood and underlying tissues and offers response to changes in its microenvironment. The endothelium is rapidly activated in response to stimuli associated with fluctuations in shear stress, physical trauma, oxidative stress, and thrombotic and inflammatory mediators. To study endothelial cell activation we have monitored calcium mobilization in vitro in cultured endothelial cells and also in situ in the living mouse, following vessel wall injury. The addition of exogenous ADP (10 μM) or thrombin (1 U/mL) to Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) loaded with the calcium sensitive dye, Fluo-4 AM, is followed by rapid elevation of intracellular calcium, with a sustained peak observed within 10 sec. To further investigate the ability of the endothelium to activate in response to mediators potentially localized in the microenvironment of the endothelium during thrombus formation, we investigated the ability of IL-6 (0.1 ng/mL), IL-8 (80 ng/mL), MCP-1 (15 ng/mL), NAP-2 (10 ng/mL) and SDF-α (60 ng/mL) to mobilize calcium in HUVECs. These potential agonists were selected based on their primary roles in inflammation and thrombosis, and proposed roles in atherosclerosis and tumor angiogenesis. SDF-α and NAP-2 rapidly mobilized calcium in HUVECs, with similar maximum responses, but NAP-2 initiated a more prolonged (4-fold longer) rise in intracellular calcium. IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 also mobilized calcium, but the rise in intracellular calcium was almost 4-fold lower than that observed with SDF-α and NAP-2. Comparable calcium mobilization occurs in HUVECs subjected to a single pulse of a nitrogen dye-tuned laser. In addition, targeting of single cells within a confluent culture of endothelial cells initiated calcium elevation in the targeted cell and was followed by a wave of calcium elevation in surrounding cells. To determine whether this endothelial cell activation, and more specifically the calcium elevation, occurs in vivo, we conducted experiments using the laser-induced model of thrombus formation to look for calcium elevation in the arteriolar endothelium in live mice. Calcium elevation was monitored by Fluo-4AM introduced intravenously into the mouse circulation via the jugular vein. Fluo-4AM is non-specific in its uptake among cell types, and endothelial cell uptake of the dye in the cremaster muscle microcirculation was observed. Upon laser-induced injury, calcium elevation in the endothelium could be monitored by intravital microscopy. The observed calcium elevation was rapid (within 30 s) and preceded detection of platelets in the developing thrombus. These results add to the evidence of a dynamic endothelium and demonstrate that the endothelium activates rapidly prior to thrombus formation in the laser induced thrombosis model.
Vitamin D Levels Do Not Predict Risk of Metatarsal Fractures.

Introduction. In the literature, there is conflicting data regarding the relationship between vitamin D and fractures. Reports on the effects of vitamin D levels on pathologies of the foot and ankl...
Inhibiting Translation One Protein at a Time

Historically, translational inhibitors have been confined to anti-bacterials that globally affect translation. Lintner et al. demonstrate that small molecules can specifically inhibit translation of a single disease-associated protein by stalling the ribosome's nascent chain [1], opening up a new therapeutic strategy for 'undruggable' proteins.
Supporting Data Analytics Applications Which Utilize Cognitive Services

A wide variety of services are available over the Web which can dramatically improve the functionality of applications. These services include information retrieval (including data lookups from a variety of sources and Web searches), natural language understanding, visual recognition, and data storage. A key problem is how to provide support for applications which use these services. This paper presents a rich software development kit (SDK) which accesses these services and provides a variety of features applications need to use these services, optimize performance, and compare them. A key aspect of our SDK is its support for natural language understanding services. We also present a personalized knowledge base built on top of our rich SDK that uses publically available data sources as well as private information. The knowledge base supports data analysis and reasoning over data.
Abstract WP294: Utilization of Hospice Care and Patient Characteristics Associated With Discharge to Hospice in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

Introduction: Hospice is an option in providing terminally ill patients with good quality end of life care. We sought to determine demographic and clinical factors associated with discharge to hospice in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Methods: Using our institutional GWTG database, we analyzed 2,363 consecutive AIS patients who were alive at the time of discharge, from Jan 2009 till July 2015. Univariate and multivariable analysis was performed to determine factors associated with discharge to hospice. Results: Out of 2,363 AIS patients, 100 (4.2%) were discharged to hospice care. Patients discharged to hospice care were more likely to be older, Caucasian and less likely to be African American. They more often had Medicare or private insurance, while less likely paid for the care themselves. Patients discharged to hospice more often had atrial fibrillation and heart failure, while less often had diabetes mellitus or were smoker. Altered level of consciousness at presentation was more often in patients discharged to hospice. Although the rates of thrombolysis and pneumonia were similar, UTI was more common in patients discharged to hospice. Thirty-seven percent of patients were made comfort measure prior to discharging them to hospice (Table). On multivariable analysis, older age [OR 1.04 (95% CI 1.01 - 1.07); p Conclusion: The rates of discharge to hospice following AIS have substantially grown in the past decade and at our institution 4.2% were discharged to hospice. These patients were older, had higher median NIHSS and more often had altered level of consciousness upon presentation. Large, multicenter studies are needed to address the variation in the rates of hospice care across the United States.
Baseline heart rate may predict hypotension after spinal anesthesia in prehydrated obstetrical patients.

Purpose Hypotension is the most frequent complication of spinal anesthesia in pregnant patients. This study was designed to identify patients at risk for postspinal hypotension based on preoperative vital signs before and after an orthostatic challenge.
Social pressure analysis of local events using social media data

The lack of access to clear and actionable information and analysis to law enforcement agencies during the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville and the torch-lit march the night before (August 11–12, 2017) was found to be a major handicap in the handling of the situation. To address these issues, this study analyzes online activity associated with events such as this on an ongoing basis and can be provided to local police departments so that they can more effectively monitor information on emerging events and respond appropriately. In this work, we introduce the concept of social pressure to assist human users to identify and track trends that may lead to potentially violent events. We combine existing methods of analyzing social media data for event detection with monitoring of the social pressure that may lead to such events. Our algorithm detects words and phrases appearing on social media that may be of interest due to their pertinence to real-world events or movements. After identifying words and phrases that may correspond to news or events, the social pressure is interpreted from the Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic weights and sentiment scores of the tweets over time. The resulting algorithm is able to consistently detect keywords related to events before they occur, and provide valuable insight into the nature of the events.
Vitamin C in Sepsis

Bacterial bloodstream infection causes septic syndromes that range from systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and encephalopathy to severe sepsis and septic shock. Microvascular dysfunction, comprising impaired capillary blood flow and arteriolar responsiveness, precedes multiple organ failure. Vitamin C (ascorbate) levels are low in critically ill patients. The impact of ascorbate administered orally is moderate because of its limited bioavailability. However, intravenous injection of ascorbate raises plasma and tissue concentrations of the vitamin and may decrease morbidity. In animal models of polymicrobial sepsis, intravenous ascorbate injection restores microvascular function and increases survival. The protection of capillary blood flow and arteriolar responsiveness by ascorbate may be mediated by inhibition of oxidative stress, modulation of intracellular signaling pathways, and maintenance of homeostatic levels of nitric oxide. Ascorbate scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) and also inhibits the NADPH oxidase that synthesizes superoxide in microvascular endothelial cells. The resulting changes in redox-sensitive signaling pathways may diminish endothelial expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tissue factor and adhesion molecules. Ascorbate also regulates nitric oxide concentration by releasing nitric oxide from adducts and by acting through tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) to stimulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Therefore, it may be possible to improve microvascular function in sepsis by using intravenous vitamin C as an adjunct therapy.
Update on the Molecular Pathology of Precursor Lymphoid Leukemias

The precursor lymphoid malignancies are a group of neoplasms derived from either hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) or committed lymphoid progenitor cells, depending upon the underlying genetic lesion. Because the malignant cells in these tumors share many of the genetic (e.g., ongoing rearrangement of antigen receptor genes), and immunophenotypic (e.g., expression of progenitor markers such as CD34 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase) properties of normal lymphoid progenitors, they are categorized under the World Health Organization (WHO) classification as “precursor lymphoid malignancies” [1]. These neoplasms include precursor B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), precursor B-lymphoblastic lymphoma (B-LBL), precursor T-lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), and precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL). B-ALL is significantly more common than T-lineage disease, with the latter comprising only 10–15% and 25% of ALL in children and adults, respectively. Although they may develop at any age, the precursor lymphoid malignancies arise most frequently in children, in whom ALL is the most common malignancy. The lineage of the malignant lymphoblasts, most commonly determined by flow cytometry-based immunophenotyping, greatly influences the likelihood of lymphomatous versus leukemic presentation [2]. With B-lineage disease, a leukemic presentation is much more common, whereas T-lymphoblastic malignancies manifest more frequently as a lymphoma most often an anterior mediastinal thymic mass.
Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Gallbladder Cancer, and Cholangiocarcinoma

Hepatobiliary carcinomas represent tumors that originate either from the gallbladder, the liver parenchyma, or bile ducts (cholangiocarcinoma). Hepatocellular cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the world and most common in men aged 50–60 years. The strongest risk factor for hepatocellular cancer is cirrhosis (risk of hepatocellular cancer is at 1%–2% per year) (Fattovich et al. 1995). Cirrhosis can be caused by viral infections including hepatitis B or C. Alcohol and hemochromatosis are other causes of cirrhosis. Aflatoxins and hepatitis itself (independent of underlying cirrhosis) are also strong risk factors for hepatocellular cancer.
Production and secretion of testicular steroids.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the production and secretion of testicular steroids. Animal preparations were developed to investigate in detail the testicular secretion of androgens. Steroids are determined in plasma samples or in testicular tissue by gas-phase chromatography. Rates of secretion of testosterone vary to a considerable degree in adult mongrel dogs. Continuous administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) via the spermatic artery leads to increased rates of testosterone secretion. When catecholamines like epinephrine, norepinephrine, butanephrine, or isoproterenol are administered via the spermatic artery in these animals, rates of testosterone synthesis and secretion increase. Data from experiments make it clear that rates of secretion of steroids by male and female gonads depend on rates of blood flow in these organs.
Relative Roles of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy and Percutaneous Nephrostolithotomy

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL†) with the Dormer lithotripter1 and percutaneous nephrostolithotomy (PCNL)Z2,3 have revolutionized the management of upper urinary tract calculi. Both techniques may be applied to a wide variety of upper urinary tract calculi, though their relative roles remain yet to be established. In essence, the primary question when using ESWL or PCNL is not who can be treated, but rather who should be treated with these exciting new techniques. Because of the tremendous spectrum of disease presented by symptomatic upper urinary tract calculi requiring intervention, overall statements about the relative benefits of ESWL and PCNL are meaningless; rather, an intelligent decision regarding the indications for these techniques requires that the efficacy, morbidity, and costs associated with ESWL and PCNL for each type of stone problem be established. This presentation will present the treatment approach at the Methodist Hospital of Indiana (MHI), based on careful documentation of patients with upper urinary tract calculi treated with a variety of techniques.
Oxidative Stress and Hearing Loss

Oxidative stress is considered as a central factor in acquired hearing loss. This chapter provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of oxidative stress as well as an overview of cochlear oxidative stress pathways activated by risk factors of auditory dysfunction. It also discusses the susceptibility of the inner ear to oxidative damage, the intracellular redox sensitive mechanisms that facilitate cytotoxicity, and the cochlear targets of oxidative stress. Special focus is given to cochlear oxidative stress induced by exposure to environmental factors, such as noise, heavy metals, and organic solvents, ototoxic drugs/agents, such as aminoglycosides, cisplatin, and radiation, and aging. Potential biomarkers of oxidative stress and the utility of targeting cochlear oxidative stress to mitigate acquired hearing loss are discussed. Finally, recent developments in this field, including therapeutic compounds and strategies employed to target different steps in the oxidative stress signaling pathways as well as potential challenges to these approaches are discussed.
Lung cancer screening findings in academic versus community imaging centers.

e18915Background: Widespread adoption of lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) is an opportunity to save lives. However, one risk of screening is undergoing unnecessa...
Understanding Professionals' Reasons for Participating in Continuing Professional Education

The demand for continuing professional education (CPE) programs has dramatically increased during the past decade. According to various reports, U.S. employers increased employee education spending by 24 to 32 percent in the past decade. Many of these employers seek external service providers to meet their employees' education needs. One cause for the increase in demand is the trend toward professionalization in various career fields. As those fields seek professional recognition, they are requiring their practitioners to become licensed, certified or accredited. For the practitioners to maintain their licenses, certifications or accreditation, they must participate in CPE programs. Career fields such as medicine, dentistry, law, social work, teaching, accounting and real estate require continuing education for their professionals. From the professionals' perspective, CPE also helps practitioners to keep current in their fields, maximize their competence, advance in their careers and enjoy greater job security. Universities are in an excellent position to become the prime service providers of continuing professional education. Most have the resources, facilities, finances, content experts, and technology to market and conduct continuing professional education programs effectively The only element that they lack is market information on factors that lead individuals to participate in CPE programs. Without this information, universities risk losing their CPE business to for-profit firms who already have access to this information. To develop effective continuing professional education programs, the following questions must be considered: 1. What professional and personal factors lead individuals to participate in CPE programs? 2. Are these factors internal or external? 3. How can these factors be helpful in recruiting and retaining CPE participants? Once universities have the necessary information, they can better market existing continuing professional education programs to the public, create future programs and restructure current programs to better meet learner goals. There are both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators for learning. Extrinsic motivators would include expected financial benefit and status such as bonuses, promotions, and rewards. One way for universities to attract extrinsically motivated professionals to their programs is to offer a certificate program with recognition of successful completion granted after participation in a select group of courses. Professionals take pride in having certificates with a university name on them. Another type of extrinsic motivation that is common in CPE is awarding credentials. Many career fields require their practitioners to be certified, licensed or accredited to ensure they are recognized as members of the profession. …
The temporal organization of mouse ultrasonic vocalizations

House mice, like many tetrapods, produce multielement calls consisting of individual vocalizations repeated in rhythmic series. In this study, we examine the multielement ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) of adult male C57Bl/6J mice and specifically assess their temporal properties and organization. We found that male mice produce two classes of USVs which display unique temporal features and arise from discrete respiratory patterns. We also observed that nearly all USVs were produced in repetitive series exhibiting a hierarchical organization and a stereotyped rhythmic structure. Furthermore, series rhythmicity alone was determined to be sufficient for the mathematical discrimination of USVs produced by adult males, adult females, and pups, underscoring the known importance of call timing in USV perception. Finally, the gross spectrotemporal features of male USVs were found to develop continuously from birth and stabilize by P50, suggesting that USV production in infants and adults relies on common biological mechanisms. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the temporal organization of multielement mouse USVs is both stable and informative, and we propose that call timing be explicitly assessed when examining mouse USV production. Furthermore, this is the first report of putative USV classes arising from distinct articulatory patterns in mice, and is the first to empirically define multielement USV series and provide a detailed description of their temporal structure and development. This study therefore represents an important point of reference for the analysis of mouse USVs, a commonly used metric of social behavior in mouse models of human disease, and furthers the understanding of vocalization production in an accessible mammalian species.
Continuous and Reversible Tuning of Electrochemical Reaction Kinetics on Back-Gated 2D Semiconductor Electrodes: Steady-State Analysis Using a Hydrodynamic Method.

Here we report the steady state kinetic analysis of field-effect-controlled outer-sphere electrochemistry on ultrathin back-gated ZnO working electrodes (i.e., 5 nm ZnO electrodes prepared on SiO2/degenerate Si back gates). To achieve steady state conditions in the electrolyte phase, gate-tunable electrochemical flow cells were prepared by integrating a silicone microfluidic channel on the back-gated ZnO electrode. In these flow cells, continuous supply of fresh electrolyte generates time-invariant diffusion layers near the ZnO surface, allowing steady-state kinetic analysis as in other hydrodynamic methods. From the steady-state analysis, it was found that the electron density on the ZnO surface increases with the voltage bias, VBG, applied to the back gate, while the rate constant for electron transfer decreases with VBG. The observed trend can be explained as a result of the field-effect-induced band alignment shift at the ZnO/electrolyte interface which is predicted by our conceptual model; a positive...
The Red Brigades and the Discourse of Violence: Revolution and Restoration

This book explores the communicative practices of the Italian radical group Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse, or BR), the relationship the group established with the Italian press, and the specific social historical context in which the BR developed both its own self-understanding and its complex dialectical connection with the society at large. The BR’s worldview and the dominant ideology(ies) mediated by the press are treated as competing responses to structural issues of Italian history: the structural weakness of the nation state, the contradictions of an uneven economic development, and the consequent struggle of the bourgeois class to achieve hegemonic rule.
Butyrate Makes Macrophages "Go Nuclear" against Bacterial Pathogens.

Butyrate is a microbial metabolite with pleiotropic effects. Schulthess et al. (2019) report that butyrate preconditioning of macrophages enhances their anti-bacterial preparedness by inducing anti-microbial proteins that restrict bacterial growth. This study augments understanding of how microbial metabolites shape host defense.
Using Robots to Introduce First-Year College Students to the Field of Electrical Engineering

Improving the retention of first-year college students has been the focus of many engineering programs. Often, students declare an engineering major without having an understanding of what that major entails or what their career goals are. This lack of understanding combined with the absence of proper mentoring results in a large percentage of students who either switch to other majors or drop out of college without receiving a degree. To lessen the attrition rate among first-year engineering majors, the common initiative that has been adopted by many engineering programs is to offer an introductory-level engineering course. The main educational objective of these courses is to help students gain a better understanding of the engineering field and what engineers do. At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, located in the South Central Region of USA, we developed and introduced a robot project in the curriculum of our introductory course for first-year electrical engineering majors. Using the Pololu 3pi mobile robot, the project allows students to experience a real-world engineering problem. To prepare students for the robot project, we used the experiential learning model that aimed at engaging students in hands-on learning experiences consisting of robot navigation examples. Students gained a glimpse into the different technical subjects within the electrical engineering field through their experience working with the robots. Data collected over several semesters showed that educational robots contribute to keeping first-year students in the program.
Declines in skeletal muscle quality vs. size following two weeks of knee joint immobilization.

Background Disuse of a muscle group, which occurs during bedrest, spaceflight, and limb immobilization, results in atrophy. It is unclear, however, if the magnitude of decline in skeletal muscle quality is similar to that for muscle size. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two weeks of knee joint immobilization on vastus lateralis and rectus femoris echo intensity and cross-sectional area. Methods Thirteen females (mean ± SD age = 21 ± 2 years) underwent two weeks of left knee joint immobilization via ambulating on crutches and use of a brace. B-mode ultrasonography was utilized to obtain transverse plane images of the immobilized and control vastus lateralis and rectus femoris at pretest and following immobilization. Effect size statistics and two-way repeated measures analyses of variance were used to interpret the data. Results No meaningful changes were demonstrated for the control limb and the rectus femoris of the immobilized limb. Analyses showed a large increase in vastus lateralis echo intensity (i.e., decreased muscle quality) for the immobilized limb (p = .006, Cohen's d = .918). For vastus lateralis cross-sectional area, no time × limb interaction was observed (p = .103), but the effect size was moderate (d = .570). There was a significant association between the increase in vastus lateralis echo intensity and the decrease in cross-sectional area (r = - .649, p = .016). Conclusion In female participants, two weeks of knee joint immobilization resulted in greater deterioration of muscle quality than muscle size. Echo intensity appears to be an attractive clinical tool for monitoring muscle quality during disuse.
A pipeline approach for three dimensional time-domain finite-difference multi-parameter waveform inversion on GPUs

Abstract We adopt a pipeline approach to accelerate 3D time-domain finite-difference waveform inversion codes using graphics cards, thus avoiding domain decomposition. The key designs include streaming through the volume one block at a time and propagating this block as many time steps as possible while it is on the device. This approach allows us to process an arbitrarily large volume with a single GPU, which is particularly suitable in a cloud environment where fast inter-nodal connection is not guaranteed. Moreover, two parameters, block size and number of updates, give users flexibility to adapt to available resources at hand. The most significant advantage that the pipeline approach offers is the ability to compute subsurface offset gathers on GPUs. We describe our implementation on the pseudo-acoustic anisotropic wave equations and show that the pipeline technique achieves nearly linear scaling with number of GPUs. Application to multi-parameter anisotropic inversion on a 3D field data improves the quality of seismic image and flatness of offset gathers.
Treatment Effectiveness and Medication Use Reduction for Older Adults in Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation

Abstract Objective To examine the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program (IPRP) that incorporates medication tapering on improving pain-related and performance-based outcomes for older adults with chronic noncancer pain and determine the proportion who demonstrated reliable improvement in outcome. Patients and Methods This 2-year retrospective clinical cohort study examined treatment outcomes of 134 older adult patients 65 years or older with chronic noncancer pain who completed a 3-week IPRP with physician-supervised medication tapering between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017. Pain, pain catastrophizing, depressive symptoms, and quality of life were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and follow-up. Physical performance and medication use were assessed pre- and posttreatment. Outcomes were examined using a series of repeated-measures analyses of variance, examining effect size and reliable change. Results Significant treatment effects (P Conclusion Older adults with chronic noncancer pain demonstrated improved pain-related outcomes, physical performance, and decreased medication use following IPRP treatment. Results support the effectiveness of IPRPs in enhancing the physical and emotional functioning of older adults with chronic pain while also facilitating the reduction of medications that place them at risk for adverse events.
6.11 – Proteomic Applications to Elucidate Bacterial Aromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolic Pathways

The growing availability of genome sequences and advancement of high-throughput omics and analytical chemistry technologies have reinvigorated the study of biodegradation processes in aromatic hydrocarbon catabolism. In particular, proteomics approaches globally have identified and quantified bacterial enzymes responsible for aromatic hydrocarbon metabolism, which significantly assists in determining strategies for the biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons with applications in environmental bioremediation.
“Perspectives on and Standards of Life’s Meaningfulness: A Reply to Landau”

In a recent article Iddo Landau has defended his distinction between perspectives on and standards of meaning in life to support his rebuttal of a familiar pessimistic objection to the meaningfulness of human life. According to that complaint, human life is meaningless when viewed from a detached, cosmic, or sub specie aeternitatis [SSA] perspective. Landau argues that a cosmic perspective need not entail a comparably high standard of meaningfulness. What counts on his view then is not the perspective, which is compatible with any number of possible standards for what constitutes an adequate amount of meaningfulness, but the standard that sets that threshold. In this article I argue that Landau has 1.a.) underestimated the severity of the pessimists’ critique of the availability of any standards for meaningfulness and has also 1.b.) misunderstood the pessimists to be saying that human lives are meaningless because they make an insufficient spatio-temporal impact. I argue further that 2.a.) Landau has left unexplained on what basis we would locate the standard of meaning, leaving a gap in his account. Finally, I maintain that 2.b.) by acknowledging that the ontological, normative, or theological content of the SSA perspective can influence the placing of that standard, Landau leaves himself open to the plausible alternative possibility that the meaning of a life is settled not by the standard itself but by the character attributed to the SSA perspective.
Interstate variation within a five-state health system: Polysomnography prior to tonsillectomy in trisomy 21 patients.

Abstract Objectives Since 2011, the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Clinical Practice Guidelines have recommended polysomnography (PSG) prior to tonsillectomy in children with Down syndrome (DS). The purpose of this study was to determine adherence to guidelines recommending polysomnography before tonsillectomy for children with DS and sleep-disordered breathing among pediatric otolaryngologists. Methods A one-year quality assurance retrospective review was conducted at four hospitals within one pediatric health system to identify children with a diagnosis of DS who underwent a tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. De-identified data related to age, sex, BMI, procedure type, and preoperative PSG were collected and examined. Results The rate of PSG prior to tonsillectomy was 90.4% (66 of 73) among patients with DS. 51.6% of PSG studies were performed within 90 days before surgery, and 92.2% (59 of 64) of PSG studies were performed within one year before surgery. 33% of patients who did not undergo PSG also were obese or under age two years. The most common reason for not obtaining a PSG prior to tonsillectomy was that either the provider or parent felt the patient would not tolerate it. There was no variance from guidelines by age, sex, and procedure type. Conclusions Polysomnography for children with DS prior to tonsillectomy is achieved greater than 90% of the time in a multistate pediatric health system. Broader assessment across the nation and future studies regarding the timing of PSG before tonsillectomy are warranted.
Anomalies in the Space of Coupling Constants and Their Dynamical Applications II

It is customary to couple a quantum system to external classical fields. One application is to couple the global symmetries of the system (including the Poincar\'{e} symmetry) to background gauge fields (and a metric for the Poincar\'{e} symmetry). Failure of gauge invariance of the partition function under gauge transformations of these fields reflects 't Hooft anomalies. It is also common to view the ordinary (scalar) coupling constants as background fields, i.e. to study the theory when they are spacetime dependent. We will show that the notion of 't Hooft anomalies can be extended naturally to include these scalar background fields. Just as ordinary 't Hooft anomalies allow us to deduce dynamical consequences about the phases of the theory and its defects, the same is true for these generalized 't Hooft anomalies. Specifically, since the coupling constants vary, we can learn that certain phase transitions must be present. We will demonstrate these anomalies and their applications in simple pedagogical examples in one dimension (quantum mechanics) and in some two, three, and four-dimensional quantum field theories. An anomaly is an example of an invertible field theory, which can be described as an object in (generalized) differential cohomology. We give an introduction to this perspective. Also, we use Quillen's superconnections to derive the anomaly for a free spinor field with variable mass. In a companion paper we will study four-dimensional gauge theories showing how our view unifies and extends many recently obtained results.
Influence of growth temperature on defect states throughout the bandgap of MOCVD-grown β-Ga2O3

The influence of growth temperature on the distribution (concentrations and energy levels) of individual defect states in metal organic chemical vapor deposition-grown, Si-doped β-Ga2O3 is investigated. A combination of deep level thermal transient/optical spectroscopies and admittance spectroscopy (AS) was used to quantitatively monitor the evolution of trap states throughout the ∼4.8 eV bandgap. States are observed at EC-0.12 eV by AS; at EC-0.4 eV by deep level transient spectroscopy; and at EC-1.2 eV, EC-2.0 eV, and EC-4.4 eV by deep level optical spectroscopy, and showed different dependencies on growth temperatures ranging from 800 °C to 920 °C. The EC-0.4 eV and EC-4.4 eV states both displayed a strong reduction in its concentration with increasing growth temperature, whereas no consistent trends were seen for the states at EC-1.2 eV and 2.0 eV over the temperature range studied. In contrast, the concentration of the EC-0.12 eV trap monotonically increased over the same range of increasing growth temperature, which tracked a slight, monotonic increase in overall Si concentration measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy with growth temperature. The opposing trends in concentrations for some of these states shifted the dominant deep level in the bandgap from the EC-4.4 eV state at the lowest growth temperature explored here to the EC-0.12 eV state at the highest growth temperature. The shifting dominance of various bandgap states can have important ramifications on β-Ga2O3 device behavior, and the different trends for these deep levels cannot only guide further growth optimization but also advance the identification of their physical sources.
Superior Mesenteric Artery Dissection: Classical Presentation, Novel Genetic Determinants.

Abstract Superior mesenteric artery dissection is a rare cause of acute abdomen. Potential etiologies include atherosclerosis, medial degeneration of the arterial wall, mycotic aneurysm, hypertensi...
In From the Cold: Energy Efficiency and the Reform of HUD's Utility Allowance System

This article takes a step beyond Professor Ferrey’s prior article published at Harvard, “Cold Power: Energy and Public Housing,” 23 HARV. J. ON LEGIS. 33 (1986), to review and document housing energy problems at the federal and local levels. It offers concrete proposals for a revised federal utility allowance system that, while recognizing technological limitations facing public housing authorities, would employ more sophisticated statistical tools to administer better the federal utility allowance system. Public and Section 8 housing are the two largest sources of low-income rental housing in the nation, subsidizing several million units in more than 3000 communities nationwide. The federal utility allowance system for these housing units affects millions of low-income, elderly, and handicapped tenants. The federal government subsidy of utility expenses is in billions of dollars annually. The current "deregulated" system fails to provide tenants with equitable allowances; this article recommends the use of more sophisticated statistical techniques to set allowances and investments in energy efficiency to minimize variations in energy consumption that are beyond tenants' control. The article analyzes statistical tools to redesign and recalculate utility allowances and concludes that the current utility allowance calculation lacks statistical robustness and misallocates utility allowances in many or most housing authorities nationwide. The article introduces three models for calculating utility allowances and examines the benefits and limitations of each model. The article presents several additional statistical tools to reflect the central tendency, range, and skew of federal housing energy use, ultimately recommending a more statistically robust utility allowance scheme intelligently incorporating these tools. It also suggests that a key to reform is implementation of available energy efficiency measures to narrow the range and variation of energy consumption in subsidized housing units. This Article also introduces legislative and administrative suggestions to improve the system at all levels and to bring it into compliance with current statutes, and consistent with the interests of the various affected stakeholders.
Enriching Language Models with Visually-grounded Word Vectors and the Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms

Language models are trained only on text despite the fact that humans learn their first language in a highly interactive and multimodal environment where the first set of learned words are largely concrete, denoting physical entities and embodied states. To enrich language models with some of this missing experience, we leverage two sources of information: (1) the Lancaster Sensorimotor norms, which provide ratings (means and standard deviations) for over 40,000 English words along several dimensions of embodiment, and which capture the extent to which something is experienced across 11 different sensory modalities, and (2) vectors from coefficients of binary classifiers trained on images for the BERT vocabulary. We pre-trained the ELECTRA model and fine-tuned the RoBERTa model with these two sources of information then evaluate using the established GLUE benchmark and the Visual Dialog benchmark. We find that enriching language models with the Lancaster norms and image vectors improves results in both tasks, with some implications for robust language models that capture holistic linguistic meaning in a language learning context.
Household Food Insecurity and Sleep Quality among Latinos with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Household food insecurity (HFI) is prevalent among Latinos and related to type 2 diabetes risk. Sleep restriction adversely effects glucose homeostasis. We investigated relationships be...