cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical Trials in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by muscle atrophy and weakness due to degeneration of the anterior horn cells in the spinal cord. A great need exists for an effective treatment of SMA, a disease that often causes severe disability in patients who are cognitively intact and can have a normal life expectancy. Unlike many other neurologic diseases, SMA can be easily diagnosed through genetic testing. Also, preclinical progress over the last 2 decades has been major, with the discovery of the gene and of a "druggable" modifying gene that provides one of several promising targets for treatment. SMA is rare but is a common orphan disease, so trials should be feasible, raising the hope that we will find effective treatments for this disorder.
Reculturing Science Politics, Policy, and Promises to Keep

This is a blend of reminiscence, policy analysis, and political commentary. I shall draw on my experience in and out of the federal government and try to temper both self-righteousness and cynicism as I describe, and then prescribe, what “science watchers” in Washington D.C. and its surrounding reality, fear, loathe, and cope with daily. The epigram for my remarks might be Daniel Bell’s observation that an academic is one who wonders whether something that works in practice will work in theory. The tension inherent in Bell’s remark captures the tension that Nicholas Mullins will always symbolize in my mind. He was my competitor, colleague, and friend.
Immature CD4+CD8+ Thymocytes Do Not Polarize Lipid Rafts in Response to TCR-Mediated Signals

TCR-mediated stimulation induces activation and proliferation of mature T cells. When accompanied by signals through the costimulatory receptor CD28, TCR signals also result in the recruitment of cholesterol- and glycosphingolipid-rich membrane microdomains (lipid rafts), which are known to contain several molecules important for T cell signaling. Interestingly, immature CD4 + CD8 + thymocytes respond to TCR/CD28 costimulation not by proliferating, but by dying. In this study, we report that, although CD4 + CD8 + thymocytes polarize their actin cytoskeleton, they fail to recruit lipid rafts to the site of TCR/CD28 costimulation. We show that coupling of lipid raft mobilization to cytoskeletal reorganization can be mediated by phosphoinositide 3-kinase, and discuss the relevance of these findings to the interpretation of TCR signals by immature vs mature T cells.
Efficacy of Zinc Bacitracin and Sources of Unidentified Growth Factors with Corn-Soybean Meal Type Diet for Turkey Poults

Abstract PERHAPS the greatest continuing enigma in poultry nutrition is the variability in growth response to unidentified growth factors and antibiotics. These dietary components are usually considered in separate categories but some evidence shows an inter-relatedness of response. Barnett and Bird (1956) observed that chlortetracycline at 200 p.p.m. greatly reduced the growth response of chicks to fish solubles and pointed out that growth response to antibiotics and unknown factors disappeared at about the same time in the Wisconsin laboratory. Fecal contamination of the diet restored the response to fish solubles and the report of Heth and Bird (1962) indicated that the response to dietary antibiotics was restored at about the same time. Coates et al. (1952) demonstrated that chicks in old but not new quarters responded to antibiotics thereby supporting an “infectivity” aspect to antibiotic responses. The use of antibiotic in the old quarters tended to bring growth rate up to…
Combination of TNF-RII, CYP1A1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms and the risk of Japanese SLE: findings from the KYSS study

OBJECTIVES Association of the polymorphisms of the genes, TNF receptor type II gene (TNF-RII), cytochrome P4501A1 gene (CYP1A1) and glutathione S-transferase M1 gene (GSTM1), with SLE was investigated. TNF-RII mediates inflammatory and immune response, whereas CYP1A1 and GSTM1 are involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics. These three genes are involved in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which play a critical role for autoimmune diseases. METHODS A total of 152 SLE patients and 427 healthy individuals in a female Japanese population were enrolled in the study. Case-control studies were performed for the polymorphisms of these three genes. RESULTS The carriers of TNF-RII 196R were at a significantly increased risk for SLE with odds ratio (OR) of 1.59 (95% CI = 1.01, 2.52). CYP1A1 3801C homozygotes had a significantly increased risk of SLE (OR = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.28, 4.78). On the other hand, GSTM1 null genotype was not associated with SLE risk. As for combination action of two loci, CYP1A1 3801C/GSTM1 null combination was more strongly associated with an increased risk of SLE (OR = 4.35; 95% CI = 1.76, 10.73). Moreover, TNF-RII 196M/CYP1A1 3801C/GSTM1 null genotype combination was most significantly associated with SLE (OR = 5.83; 95% CI = 2, 17.04). CONCLUSIONS The individuals carrying two or more 'at-risk' genotypes of TNF-RII, CYP1A1 and GSTM1 had a significantly more increased risk for SLE compared with those having each 'at-risk' genotype. Combination of the risk genotypes will be important to more clearly identify the population at risk for SLE.
Detection and Multigenic Characterization of a Herpesvirus Associated with Malignant Catarrhal Fever in White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from Missouri

Between 1998 and 2001, tissues from four captive white-tailed deer were observed to have histologic lesions of systemic lymphocytic vasculitis. These lesions suggested malignant catarrhal fever, although epizootic hemorrhagic disease and bluetongue were included in the differential diagnosis. Initial diagnostic efforts, including virus isolation and reverse transcription-PCR for epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus and bluetongue virus, failed to identify an etiologic agent. However, consensus primer PCR targeted to the herpesvirus DNA polymerase gene detected viral genomic DNA in each of these four cases. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the amplified product demonstrated that the detected virus was identical over the compared region to the recently described malignant catarrhal fever virus of white-tailed deer (H. Li, N. Dyer, J. Keller, and T. B. Crawford, J. Clin. Microbiol. 38:1313-1318, 2000). Additional nucleotide sequencing of both the DNA polymerase gene and DNA packaging gene followed by phylogenetic analysis solidified this newly recognized herpesvirus as a member of the Gammaherpesvirinae and suggests that this virus, along with ovine herpesvirus 2, alcelaphine herpesvirus 1, alcelaphine herpesvirus 2 and caprine herpesvirus 2, may be part of a separate clade within this subfamily.
An Apparent Rachitogenic Effect of Excessive Vitamin E Intakes in the Chick

Abstract Three replicates (pens of 10 birds each) of a 2 × 2 factorial design experiment (25 and 10,000 IU vitamin E/kg diet on 25 and 500 IU vitamin D/kg diet) were utilized in order to assess effects of excessive intakes of vitamin E on calcium metabolism in the growing chick. A one-week equilibration period was followed by a two-week experimental period. Excessive vitamin E supplementation resulted in reduced calcium and phosphorus in blood plasma, in dry fat-free bone, and in bone ash, calcium, and phosphorus. Inadequate vitamin D supplementation reduced total feed consumption, terminal body weight, plasma calcium, dry fat-free bone, bone ash, bone calcium, and bone phosphorus. Significant vitamin E × vitamin D interactions were noted for plasma calcium, dry bone, and bone ash, excessive vitamin E apparently interfering with vitamin D utilization.
5-HT2B-receptor antagonist LY-272015 is antihypertensive in DOCA-salt-hypertensive rats

We previously demonstrated a change in the receptors mediating 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)-induced contraction in arteries of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt-hypertensive rats. Specifically,...
Using virtual reality to study food cravings

Food cravings (FCs) are associated with overeating and obesity and are triggered by environmental cues. The study of FCs is challenged by difficulty replicating the natural environment in a laboratory. Virtual reality (VR) could be used to deliver naturalistic cues in a laboratory. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether food related cues delivered by VR could induce greater FCs than neutral VR cues, photographic food cues, or real food. Sixty normal weight non-dieting women were recruited; and, to prevent a floor effect, half were primed with a monotonous diet (MD). Experimental procedures involved delivering neutral cues via VR and food related cues via VR, photographs, and real food in counterbalanced order while measuring subjective (self-report) and objective (salivation) FCs. FCs produced by VR were marginally greater than a neutral cue, not significantly different from picture cues, and significantly less than real food. The modest effects may have been due to quality of the VR system and/or measures of FC (i.e., self-report and salivation). FC threshold among non-dieting normal weight women was lowered with the use of a MD condition. Weight loss programs with monotonous diets may inadvertently increase FCs making diet compliance more difficult.
Pityriasis rotunda: A new cutaneous marker of hepatocellular carcinoma?

Although paraneoplastic phenomena occur frequently in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, cutaneous changes have rarely been reported. During the past two years, ten South African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma and pityriasis rotunda have been seen in a single hospital. The rash affected the trunk, especially the lower back and buttocks. The lesions ranged in size from 1.5 to 25 cm and were always multiple. They had a characteristic circular or arcuate configuration with scaling and varying degrees of hyperpigmentation. Pityriasis rotunda may prove to be a useful cutaneous marker of hepatocellular carcinoma in South African blacks.
The burned trachea.

Tracheal burns caused by thermal or chemical injuries are uncommon, but they can be difficult to manage. A high index of suspicion is required for early detection of these injuries. Acutely, they are often life threatening unless they are diagnosed quickly and managed properly. Tracheal burn injuries can lead to long-term stenoses, which require specialized surgical techniques and chronic therapy--often with Montgomery T-tubes--for their proper management.
Political and News Media Factors Shaping Public Awareness of the HPV Vaccine

Background: In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed a vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV) that prevents the strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancers. Within months, many states introduced legislation requiring the vaccine for girls, prompting controversy and heightened political and media attention to the issue. Previous research has shown differences in HPV vaccine awareness by individual-level characteristics such as race/ ethnicity, income, and education levels. We examined how individual political orientation and exposure to media coverage can also shape awareness of the vaccine. Methods: Using data from a 2009 Internet survey of 1,216 nationally representative adult respondents linked to data on state-specific news coverage, we assessed how political orientation, media exposure, and state political context predicted HPV vaccine awareness. Results: Younger people, women, and those with more education were significantly more likely to be aware of the vaccine. Even after controlling for these characteristics, we found that exposure to news media was associated with higher HPV vaccine awareness. Whereas liberals and conservatives were both more aware of the vaccine compared with moderates, the data are suggestive that liberals were more sensitive to news coverage. Conclusion: These findings suggest that individual-level political identities and their interaction with the informational environment may be important factors to consider in evaluating the determinants of individuals’ attitudes and behaviors related to politically charged women’s health issues. Copyright 2013 by the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Pacing Real-Time Spatiotemporal Control of Cardiac Alternans

This work demonstrates real-time control of cardiac alternans in the extracted rabbit heart and provides an analysis of the control methodology applied in the case of a one dimensional (ID) cable of cardiac cells. The realtime applied control is realized through feedback by proportional perturbation of a basic pacing cycle length (PCL). Measurements of the electric wave propagation are obtained by optical mapping of fluorescent dye from the surface of the heart and fed back in the custom designed software that provides the control input signal, which perturbs the basic pacing cycle length. In addition, a novel pacing protocol that avoids conduction block is applied. A complementary numerical analysis to the experiment is given by dimensionally reduced ionic model of the ID cable of cardiac cells under the self-referencing feedback protocol, which is identical to the one applied in the experimental study. In addition, the amplitude of alternans linear parabolic PDE with gain full state feedback control associated with the ionic ID cardiac cell cable model is explored and analyzed. The analysis of stabilization of the amplitude of alternans PDE is in an agreement with experimental results obtained and numerical results produced by the ionic ID cable of cardiac cells model.
Delimiting the gap phase in the growth cycle of a Panamanian forest

Despite the importance of treefall gaps in tropical forest dynamics, few studies have followed gap-phase processes for more than 2 y. We monitored, for five years, the growth and survival of many seedlings of Tetragastris panamensis (Engler) 0. Kuntze, Protium panamense (Rose) I. M. Johnston, and Desmopsis pana- mensis (Rob.) Saff. (three common tree species of the Panamanian tropical moist forest) in artificially created treefall gaps and under intact-canopy control plots. On these same plots, we also monitored light levels using hemispherical photo- graphs taken over an 8-y period. Seedling height growth was faster in gaps than under intact canopies during the first 42 mo of regrowth, then declined to rates similar to those under intact canopies. Light levels in gaps similarly rose and fell, returning to pre-gap levels by month 48. Only Tetragastris panamensis showed higher survival in gaps, contrary to the general assumption that seedling survival is enhanced by gap creation. Our results document important transition points that mark the conclusion of the gap phase, suggesting an estimate of 4y for the dura- tion of the gap phase in this tropical forest.
Direct and indirect means of predicting forage quality through near infrared reflectance spectroscopy

The advent of NIRS technology for assessing quality of plant/forage/feed tissue and predicting diet quality from feces offers livestock nutritionists, researchers, farm advisors and resource consultants a rapid mechanism to acquire nutritional information. The portability and low long-term maintenance costs of this technology coupled with rapid turn around time on processing offers a mechanism for nutrition programs to address forage and dietary quality issues that were limited due to high maintenance costs of wet chemistry laboratories. The fundamentals of NIRS technology and associated development of calibration equations are discussed along with methods to validate equations. Direct methods for tissue analysis and indirect methods to predict diet quality from feces are reviewed for major constituents found in forages, including crude protein, digestibility, tannins and minerals.
Gradient Adaptive Lattice Methods

The transversal filter structure was seen in Chapter 2 to be one form for implementing the desired Nth order linear prediction filter. Then in Chapter 5, the LMS adaptive filter algorithm was seen to be a natural candidate for implementing the transversal form for an adaptive linear prediction filter. However, in Chapter 3, an alternative structure denoted as the lattice formulation was seen to be a direct result of using Durbin’s method for solving the normal equations. To use the lattice filter for processing actual data required that the reflection coefficients, k p , 1 ≤ p ≤ N, be computed based upon estimates of the autocorrelation coefficients. These autocorrelation estimates were used in the very efficient Durbin’s algorithm for producing the k p . For additional review on the autocorrelation method of linear prediction and other fixed coefficient approaches, the reader is referred to the excellent article by Makhoul [1].
The relation between nutritional deprivation and immunity.

Classically, an intimate association has been recognized between nutritional deprivation and infection (1,2). The studies to be summarized in this brief presentation represent extensive investigations that have been carried out over the past 4 years at the University of Minnesota as we have begun to analyse under carefully controlled conditions in the laboratory, the relation of protein, caloric and specific amino acid deprivation and immune responses (3–6). For us these investigations, however, had their point of departure in clinical and field observations which suggested that different forms and different degrees of nutritional deprivation might have a profound influence on the development and expression of immunity. In 1968 one of us (R.A.G.) visited a former student and collegue Galal Aref who was working with refugie children in Egypt. Aref had found that when profound nutritional deprivation began in the neonatal period and was extreme it led to advanced protein deficiency and even Kwashiorkor already by 6 or 7 months of age.
Whither settler colonialism

On 11 June 2008 the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper issued a well-publicized statement in which he televised, documented, discussed, and presumably felt an apology to those who attended In...
Effects of Green Liquor Pretreatment on the Chemical Compositions and Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Wheat Straw

The effects of green liquor pretreatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw for production of ethanol was investigated at different temperatures,total titrateable alkali(TTA) charges and sulfidity.Lignin can be effectively removed with the increasing amount of TTA charge and sulfidity in GL pretreatment while pulp yield drops with the increasing amount of TTA charge and sulfidity.The final pH was controlled to be lower than 9.5 in order to prevent the severe loss of carbohydrates and to ensure little silica dissolved in the black liquor.The pretreated materials were hydrolyzed by the enzyme cocktail which was a mixture of cellulase,xylanase and β-glucosidase to evaluate the improvement of sugar recovery.Compared with the cellulase loading of 5 FPU/g,sugar yield was significantly increased by the loading of 10 FPU/g.After 48 h enzymatic hydrolysis under a cellulase loading of 10 FPU/g pulp,the total sugar yield of pulp pretreated by 8 % TTA and sulfidity 40% at 130 ℃ was the highest among all pretreated pulps,and the highest enzymatic hydrolysis sugar recovery was 73.1 %.These results provided evidences that the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of wheat straw can be significantly improved by GL pretreatment.
Research on the Effects of PP Formulation on the Properties of Interior and Exterior Trim Materials

In order to implement the materials standards of interior and exterior trim materials and choose materials reasonably,the effects of modified polypropylene formulation on the properties were investigated by chosen the different mass ratio.The experiment results showed that: the rigidity,intensity of PP materials increased,and the hardness and scratch resistance decreased with the increase of talc in the formulation;the general property of PP was better when the grain size of talc was added;the amount of POE was the key factor for the impact property in low temperature of PP.
Gene transcription repression in Clostridium beijerinckii using CRISPR‐dCas9

CRISPR-Cas9 has been explored as a powerful tool for genome engineering for many organisms. Meanwhile, dCas9 which lacks endonuclease activity but can still bind to target loci has been engineered for efficient gene transcription repression. Clostridium beijerinckii, an industrially significant species capable of biosolvent production, is generally difficult to metabolically engineer. Recently, we reported our work in developing customized CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome engineering in C. beijerinckii. However, in many cases, gene expression repression (rather than actual DNA mutation) is more desirable for various biotechnological applications. Here, we further demonstrated gene transcription repression in C. beijerinckii using CRISPR-dCas9. A small RNA promoter was employed to drive the expression of the single chimeric guide RNA targeting on the promoter region of amylase gene, while a constitutive thiolase promoter was used to drive Streptococcus pyogenes dCas9 expression. The growth assay on starch agar plates showed qualitatively significant repression of amylase activity in C. beijerinckii transformant with CRISPR-dCas9 compared to the control strain. Further amylase activity quantification demonstrated consistent repression (65-97% through the fermentation process) on the activity in the transformant with CRISPR-dCas9 versus in the control. Our results provided essential references for engineering CRISPR-dCas9 as an effective tool for tunable gene transcription repression in diverse microorganisms. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 2739-2743. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Corrigendum to "Cutaneous Plasmacytosis with Perineural Involvement".

In the article titled “Cutaneous Plasmacytosis with Perineural Involvement” [1], the authors incorrectly identified the ethnicity of the patient as Hispanic. The patient's correct ethnicity is Filipino.
Decision Support Systems and Processes for Groundwater

Information and knowledge management challenges abound in groundwater sciences. Groundwater problems of interest to society are characteristically complex and exceed our ability to solve them without the aid of computational analysis. Yet discipline specific problems that are of interest to hydrogeologists frequently do not directly address the immediate decision making needs of policy makers, groundwater managers, and stakeholders. It is the immediate societal needs that drive the demand for science-based information for common problems in which groundwater figures as a prominent element. Integrated Assessment and Modeling (IAM) presents an approach for merging discipline and case-specific knowledge, such as those in hydrogeological sciences, with social drivers for use in decision support applications. Moreover, decision support systems (DSS) that are constructed and applied using integration as a guiding principle and design ethic can advance groundwater DSS beyond passive support toward active and, eventually, proactive support for implementations to achieve real world integrated groundwater management.
ROC comment: automated descriptive and subjective captioning of behavioral videos

We present an automated interface, ROC Comment, for generating natural language comments on behavioral videos. We focus on the domain of public speaking, which many people consider their greatest fear. We collect a dataset of 196 public speaking videos from 49 individuals and gather 12,173 comments, generated by more than 500 independent human judges. We then train a k-Nearest-Neighbor (k-NN) based model by extracting prosodic (e.g., volume) and facial (e.g., smiles) features. Given a new video, we extract features and select the closest comments using k-NN model. We further filter the comments by clustering them using DBScan, and eliminating the outliers. Evaluation of our system with 30 participants conclude that while the generated comments are helpful, there is room for improvement in further personalizing them. Our model has been deployed online, allowing individuals to upload their videos and receive open-ended and interpretative comments. Our system is available at http://tinyurl.com/roccomment.
Sugar, Aspartame and Behavior

The effects of glucose, sucrose, saccharin, and aspartame on aggression and motor activity in 30 boys, ages 2-6 years, were studied at the Child Psychiatry Branch and Laboratory of Developmental Psychology, NIMH, Bethesda, MD.
Developing the Optimal Artificial Tear

Development of what has been called “the optimal artificial tear solution” was based on a two-pronged strategy. This strategy was first, to develop a profound understanding of the pathogenesis of dry-eye disease, and second, to develop a comprehensive understanding of why the eye needs a tear film. As an eye becomes dry, through either decreased tear production or increased evaporation, the tear film loses water and tear film osmolarity increases. The increase in osmolarity dehydrates the ocular surface and drives the disease process. TheraTears™, based on clinical studies, has the hypotonicity necessary to rehydrate the tear film, thwarting the disease process and permitting rehydration of the ocular surface.
The Cardinality of the Set of Zeros of Homogeneous Linear Recurring Sequences over Finite Fields

Consider homogeneous linear recurring sequences over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$, based on the irreducible characteristic polynomial of degree $d$ and order $m$. We give upper and lower bounds, and in some cases the exact values of the cardinality of the set of zeros of the sequences within its least period. We also prove that the cyclotomy bound introduced here is the best upper bound as it is reached in infinitely many cases. In addition, the exact number of occurrences of zeros is determined using the correlation with irreducible cyclic codes when $(q^{d}-1)/ m$ follows the quadratic residue conditions and also when it has the form $q^{2a}-q^{a}+1$ where $a\in \mathbb{N}$.
Do the clinicoradiological outcomes of endoscopic fenestration for intracranial cysts count on age? An institutional experience.

Background: The clinicoradiological outcome of endoscopic fenestration of intracranial cysts and predictors of an unfavorable outcome, including age, are under reported in the neurosurgical literature. In this cohort, our experience in the endoscopic fenestration of intracranial cysts is reviewed. Materials and Methods: Thirty consecutive patients treated with endoscopic fenestration for intracranial cysts were identified and analyzed. The study population in our series was followed clinically and radiographically. Results: In this series, the overall resolution of clinical symptoms such as headache, seizures, and neurological deficits was 83%, P= 0.0001. The percentage of clinical resolution after endoscopic intervention was significantly higher (85% vs. 76%, P= 0.001) in arachnoid cysts compared to other cyst types. The reduction of arachnoid cyst size was significantly higher in adults with obstructive hydrocephalus compared to the children group (P = 0.037). In addition, requirement of a cystoperitoneal shunt placement (P = 0.0001) and its subsequent revision (P = 0.0001) was significantly lower in adults compared to children. Adults (P = 0.041), presence of an arachnoid cyst (P = 0.026), female gender (P = 0.016), and presence of communicative hydrocephalus (P = 0.015) were significant predictors for improvement in the symptoms of intracranial pressure. Lastly, adults (P = 0.028), presence of arachnoid cyst (P = 0.046), and presence of communicative hydrocephalus (P = 0.012) were significant positive predictors for shunt revision. Conclusions: This study revealed that endoscopic fenestration is an effective neurosurgical procedure for the management of intracranial cysts both in adults and children. Moreover, endoscopic fenestration is more beneficial in adults and patients with an arachnoid cyst compared to that in children and other cyst types, respectively.
Getting Started with Fortran: Writing Simple Programs

This chapter describes some basic elements of the Fortran language and lays the foundation for every Fortran program you will write. It includes Fortran implementations of the ASSIGN, DEFINE, INCREMENT, INITIALIZE, READ, and WRITE pseudocode commands from Chapter 2. By the time you finish this chapter, you will be able to write simple Fortran programs that accept input from your computer keyboard, perform some calculations, and display output on your monitor.
Life Cycle Impacts and Techno-economic Implications of Flash Hydrolysis in Algae Processing

Generation of coproducts from nutrients is purported to improve the sustainability of algae-derived transportation fuels by minimizing life cycle impacts and improving economic sustainability. Although algae cultivation produces lipids that is upgraded to drop-in transportation fuel products, life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis have shown that without coproducts, energy/economic returns are diminishing regardless of processing methods. This study utilizes a combined flash hydrolysis (FH), hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), and coproduct conversion technology (atmospheric precipitation/AP; hydrothermal mineralization/HTM) to conserve the most recyclable nutrients for coproduct marketability. Six biofuel pathways were developed and compared in terms of “well-to-pump” energy, life cycle greenhouse gas (LC-GHG) emissions, and economic profitability: renewable diesel II (RDII), renewable gasoline (RG), and hydroprocessed renewable jet (HRJ) fuel, each were modeled for AP and HTM coproduct conversi...
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO ALLOTROPIC FORMS OF SiO2: α-QUARTZ AND β-CRISTOBALITE

The extended tight binding method, with Gaussian basis sets and the Hartree-Fock-Slater model for potential, is employed to investigate the electronic structure of silicon dioxide in the α-quartz and β-cristobalite structures. Results are compared with photoemission experiments and previous theoretical calculations.
Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of Highly Electrophilic Carbene Complexes of the Type C5H5 (CO)(L)Fe=CHR

Much of our research in the area of transition metal carbene complexes has focussed on the synthesis and chemistry of highly electrophilic complexes of the type Cp(CO)(L)Fe=CHR+, 1 (L = CO, PR3, R = H, alkyl, aryl, cyclopropyl). Topics discussed in this paper include: (1) the synthesis and structure of complexes J [including the kinetics and thermodynamics of interconversion of synclinal and anticlinal isomers (L = PR3), (2) the reactions of these species with alkenes to yield cyclopropanes, (3) the use of chiral, optically pure iron carbene complexes (L = PR3) to effect enantioselective cyclopropane syntheses, (4) the relative reactivities of synclinal and anticlinal isomers with nucleophiles, and (5) on the basis of these results our current knowledge of the mechanism of carbene transfer to alkenes.
Abstract 231: Outcome Variations Between Patients Prescribed Direct Oral Anticoagulant or Warfarin

Background: Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) require antithromobotic therapy to reduce risk of embolization. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) were introduced to widespread clinic use in ...
Geomorphic and temporal evolution of a Mississippi delta flanking barrier island: Grand Isle, LA

Abstract Barrier islands throughout the world are increasingly stressed due to accelerating sea-level rise (SLR), increasing storminess, and diminishing sediment supplies. This condition is particularly evident along the Louisiana coast because it has one of the highest rates of relative SLR in the world and very limited sand sources. One of the keys in predicting how barrier islands will change in the future is to understand how they have evolved since their formation. Historical shoreline changes are usually insufficient, because those records only provide a glimpse of a barrier's history. Moreover, the data needed to decipher barrier evolution at an intermediate scale (~101–103 years) is lacking for many coastal Louisiana barrier systems. One method for tracking barrier island development through time makes use of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of beach ridge sediments. This study combines OSL and the analysis of aerial imagery and previous core logs to document the timing of beach ridge formation, rates of progradation, and geologic framework of the only developed barrier island in Louisiana. Grand Isle is composed of prograding beach ridges organized in distinct, unconformable sets. Ridges increase in spacing from west to east, due to increased rates of shoreline progradation caused by decreased accommodation space. Proto-Grand Isle began forming approximately 750 years ago, prograded northeastward until approximately 620 years ago when sediment supply slowed and/or major storms impacted the island. During that time, much the seaward portion of the existing ridges were eroded. Following truncation of the first set of beach ridges (Group 1), the island once again began to prograde in a slightly more eastward direction (Group 2 ridge sets). OSL dates indicate the island's central ridges (Group 2, ridge sets 7–9) formed between 370 ± 30 and 170 ± 10 years ago at an average rate of one ridge every 14.8 years, or progradation rate of 14.9 m/yr. The island's sediment source comes from an eroding beach ridge plain of the Caminada headland to the west. The volume of Grand Isle's barrier lithosome is 9.26 × 107 m3, which computes to an average northeasterly longshore transport rate of 128,625 m3/yr. This is a high longshore transport rate for the relatively low wave energy of this coast (Hs = 0.6 m) but is explained by hurricane impacts that substantially increase average sand transport conditions. The substantial thickness of the Grand Isle barrier lithosome (~10 m) and its steady supply of sediment contribute to the island's stability in contrast to other barrier systems along the Louisiana coast.
Effects of non-tobacco flavors and nicotine on e-cigarette product appeal among young adult never, former, and current smokers.

Abstract Background E-cigarette regulations targeting products that disproportionately appeal to never-smokers may optimize population health. This laboratory study of young adults tested whether differences in appeal between e-cigarettes with non-tobacco-flavored (vs. tobacco-flavored) and nicotine-containing (vs. nicotine-free) solutions varied by smoking history. Methods Current (N = 53), former (N = 25), and never (N = 22) cigarette smokers who vape (Mean[SD] age = 25.4[4.4] years) administered standardized e-cigarette doses varied by a Flavor (fruit, menthol, tobacco) × Nicotine (nicotine-containing [6 mg/mL], nicotine-free) within-subject double-blind design. Participants rated each dose’s appeal (0–100 scale). Covariate-adjusted interactions tested whether smoking history moderated flavor and nicotine effects. Results Appeal was higher for fruit and menthol than tobacco flavors in each group. The fruit vs. tobacco appeal difference was greater in never smokers (fruit–tobacco estimate = 19.6) than current smokers (estimate = 12.1) but not former smokers (estimate = 12.6). The menthol vs. tobacco difference was greater in never smokers (menthol–tobacco estimate = 17.3) than former (estimate = 6.0) and current (estimate = 7.2) smokers. Appeal was lower for nicotine-containing than nicotine-free solutions in each group; this difference was greater in never smokers (nicotine–nicotine-free estimate = −17.3) than former (estimate = −7.0) and current (estimate = −10.6) smokers. Compared to tobacco flavors, nicotine’s appeal-reducing effects were suppressed by fruit and menthol flavors in never smokers. Conclusions Higher appeal of non-tobacco-flavored (vs. tobacco-flavored) and lower appeal of nicotine-containing (vs. nicotine-free) e-cigarettes may be widespread in young adults but disproportionately amplified in never smokers. Non-tobacco flavors may suppress nicotine’s appeal-lowering qualities in never smokers. The impact of regulating non-tobacco flavors in e-cigarettes may vary by smoking history.
Ovarian tumors: a survey of selected advances of note during the life of this journal

The author reviews highlights of advances in knowledge concerning ovarian tumor pathology since the time of an essay in the first issue of this Journal written by Dr Robert E. Scully, who, both before and for several decades after the Journal was instituted, made many original contributions to the field and was the major architect of the 1973 World Health Organization classification of ovarian tumors which was much more clear and logical than prior ones. The current review considers the neoplasms in essentially the same order as was done in the first issue of this journal and presents a personal look at the highlights of new information concerning various well-known categories, surface epithelial, germ cell, sex cord-stromal, metastatic neoplasms and briefly, benign so-called tumor-like lesions. Some of the most notable developments are as follows: (1) an orderly approach to the classification of implants of serous borderline tumors into noninvasive and invasive categories; (2) recognition of distinctive micropapillary patterns seen in some borderline tumors and low-grade carcinomas; (3) a remarkable propensity for some endometrioid carcinomas to mimic sex cord- stromal tumors; (4) appreciation of the differences between primary mucinous tumors of intestinal and mullerian types; (5) the importance of distinguishing within primary mucinous carcinomas between expansile and destructive stromal invasion; (6) emphasis on the diagnosis of immature teratoma being based on the presence of primitive-embryonic-appearing tissues; (7) appreciation of variant morphology of cases of struma ovarii which may lead to significant diagnostic problems; (8) subdivision of granulosa cell tumors into adult and juvenile types because of the differing features of the two groups including in the second category the propensity for more malignant neoplasms to be mimicked; (9) recognition of a distinctive form of Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, the retiform variant, with a propensity to occur in the young; (10) appreciation of a unique highly malignant neoplasm that typically afflicts the young and may be associated with hypercalcemia, so-called small cell carcinoma of hypercalcemic type; (11) greater awareness than was hitherto the case of the propensity for metastatic intestinal adenocarcinoma to mimic primary endometrioid carcinoma and similarly for metastatic mucinous carcinomas to simulate primary mucinous cystic tumors; (12) recognition of the distinctive features of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms that spread to the ovary and are typically associated with pseudomyxoma peritonei; and (13) appreciation that the histologic spectrum seen in cases of Krukenberg tumor is broader than often previously thought.
Trematode prevalence and an invasive freshwater snail: fewer infections and parasites likely contribute to the success of an invasive snail

The enemy release hypothesis postulates that non-native species establish and become abundant because coevolved enemies from the native range are missing or greatly reduced in the introduced range. We assessed whether the invasive New Zealand mud snail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, is released from castrating trematode parasites by comparing prevalence and diversity of trematode parasites in P. antipodarum and co-occurring native snails in the western United States. Consistent with the enemy release hypothesis (1) P. antipodarum was not infected by trematodes at 80% of the sites and, relative to native snails, had low prevalence (4–5%) at the remaining sites, (2) across all sites, mean prevalence of trematodes was nine times lower in P. antipodarum than in co-occurring native snails and, (3) P. antipodarum were infected by half or fewer of the trematode taxa that infected co-occurring native snails. Taken together, our results suggest that fewer trematode infections and fewer trematode taxa in P. antipodarum could contribute to the success of this invasive snail. However, despite the large geographic scale of our survey (32 rivers sampled) and the large number of sites that we visited (n = 82), few sites had either enough snails or trematode parasites in native snails to be informative. Thus, our conclusions are based on a small number of sites (n = 10).
Effect of Ventricular Pacing on Morbidity in Adults After Fontan Repair.

Implantation of a permanent pacemaker is a negative prognostic marker in patients with Fontan palliation; however, data delineating outcomes in adult patients with pacemaker requirements are lacking. We hypothesize that high ventricular pacing burden is associated with adverse outcomes in adult Fontan patients. We performed a retrospective review comprising adult patients with history of Fontan repair. A high burden of ventricular pacing was defined as ≥40% pacing. Major adverse clinical events (MACE) were defined as all-cause mortality or need for advanced cardiac therapies (ventricular assist device or heart transplant). A total of 145 adult patients with Fontan were studied for a median of 3.1 years. Twenty (14%) patients had implanted pacemakers with ≥40% ventricular pacing. Twelve events occurred in those with ≥40% ventricular pacing (incidence 60.0%) versus 11 in those without (incidence 8.8%). In multivariable analysis, ≥40% ventricular-pacing (odds ratio 12.51, confidence interval [CI] 3.56 to 43.83, p
Bidirectional relationships of physical activity and gross motor skills before and after summer break: Application of a cross-lagged panel model.

Abstract Background Gross motor skills are postulated to have a bidirectional relationship with physical activity (PA); however, no study has tested this relationship before and after a summer break. The purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between school PA and gross motor skills in children before and after a summer break. Methods Participants were a sample of 440 children recruited from 3 low-income schools (mean age = 8.9 ± 1.2 years, mean ± SD). PA was assessed as average school-day step counts using Yamax DigiWalker (Yamasa Tokei Keiki, Tokyo, Japan) pedometers worn for 5 consecutive school days. Gross motor skills were assessed using the Test for Gross Motor Development, 3rd edition. Data were collected at 2 timepoints: at the end of spring semester (T1) and at the beginning of the subsequent fall semester (T2). An age- and body mass index-adjusted cross-lagged model was employed to relate T1 school step counts with T2 gross motor skills and T1 gross motor skills with T2 school step counts. Results T1 gross motor skills significantly predicted T2 school step counts (β = 0.24, 95%CI: 0.08 to 0.40, p = 0.003); however, T1 school step counts did not predict T2 gross motor skills (β = 0.04, 95%CI: –0.06 to 0.14, p = 0.445). The model explained 35.4% and 15.9% of the variances of T2 gross motor skills and T2 school step counts, respectively. Additional analyses indicated that these relationships were driven primarily by ball skills. Conclusion The relationship between gross motor skills and school PA was not bidirectional; however, higher gross motor skills, specifically ball skills, predicted higher school PA after a 3-month summer break.
Impact of Previous Genetic Counseling and Objective Numeracy on Accurate Interpretation of a Pharmacogenetics Test Report.

INTRODUCTION Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing can be useful for providing information about a patient's drug response by increasing drug efficacy and decreasing the incidence of adverse drug events. While PGx tests were previously only offered to patients under healthcare provider supervision, they are now available as direct to consumer (DTC) tests. This study aimed to assess how accurately individuals from the general population were able to interpret a sample PGx test report and if accuracy differed based on individuals' numeracy or prior genetic counseling (GC). METHODS We surveyed 293 individuals from the general population, ascertained through ResearchMatch. The survey included questions about PGx test interpretation, numeracy, and genetic literacy. RESULTS In our cohort, numeracy level impacted PGx result interpretation, with those of high numeracy performing statistically significantly better on both the table format and graphical format (p value = 0.002 and p value <0.001, respectively) and genetic knowledge questions (p value <0.001) than those with low/average numeracy. In addition, previous GC did not impact test interpretation or genetic knowledge, but the number of individuals with prior GC was small (n = 26). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION We found that numeracy had a significant impact on correct interpretation of PGx test reports. Because many individuals in the USA have low numeracy levels, it is extremely important that patients do not make their own medication management decision based on the test results and that they consult with their physicians about their PGx testing. The importance of consultation and discussion with providers about results should be emphasized on the test report.
Emerging Markets: When Are They Worth It?

Using 24 years of data, we show that emerging market equities are a worthy addition to a U.S. investor's portfolio of developed market equities. Specifically, portfolio returns increased by approximately 1.5 percentage points a year when emerging country equities were included in the investment set. When we considered U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy, however, we found that the benefits of investing in emerging markets accrued almost exclusively during periods of restrictive U.S. monetary policy. During periods of expansive U.S. monetary policy, the benefits to a U.S. investor of holding emerging market equities were trivial. An implication of our findings is that evaluating monetary conditions is a necessary prerequisite to identifying an optimal allocation of assets to international equities.
Exploring the Role of Women as Validating Agents for Latino Men in Their Transfer Success

This phenomenological study explored the ways women served as validating agents for Latino men who had transferred from a community college to a four-year institution. Informed by Rendon’s theory o...
Kindergarten Children's Academic Skills: Association with Public Library Use, Shared Book Reading and Poverty.

Few studies have examined associations of public library use and shared book reading to kindergarten children’s academic skills.The study sample consisted of 13,385 kindergarten students enrolled i...
Representing juvenile lifers: do attorneys in parole hearings matter?

Courts and scholars have advocated for the right to legal representation in the parole process. The state examined in this study qualified that juvenile lifer parole candidates have the right to an...
Creating Creativity: A Behavior Analytic Approach

Creativity and innovation have brought about phenomenal changes throughout human history. Art, science, medicine, industry, and technology have all grown through creative and innovative behavior. A complete science of human behavior needs to account for “creativity,” especially given its importance in society. Prior behavioral research has been able to account for creative behavior in animals by training the component skills of a complex creative solution and arranging environmental conditions which result in the recombination of component skills to produce a creative solution. The present study partially replicates creativity research conducted in a laboratory setting with animals by conducting a similarly arranged laboratory study with humans. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a creative solution to a difficult problem could be produced by teaching participants the necessary component skills and arranging the environment in such a way as to cause the component skills to recombine in order to solve the problem. The present study suggests that such an approach may be viable and provides an experimental task that can be used in future human creativity research.