cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Soluble Levels of Receptor for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE) and Progression of Atherosclerosis in Individuals Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: ACTG NWCS 332

Identification of biomarkers and/or mediators of cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with HIV infection would be of diagnostic and therapeutic value. As soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE) and endogenous secretory (esRAGE) have been implicated in vascular complications in other settings, we investigated whether either soluble form of RAGE was associated with changes in carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in HIV-infected patients and HIV-uninfected controls. We found no differences in sRAGE, esRAGE, or CIMT among groups at study entry, or in yearly rates of change in sRAGE, esRAGE, or CIMT by HIV-serostatus (all p > 0.10). However, yearly rates of change in sRAGE (p = 0.07) and esRAGE (p < 0.001) were higher in those taking protease inhibitors, and lower baseline esRAGE levels (p = 0.06) were associated with increased odds of CIMT progression in HIV-infected individuals. Although esRAGE was not altered by HIV-serostatus (p = 0.17), its inverse relationship with CIMT progression in HIV-infected patients suggests a possible role as a mediator of CVD in HIV-infected persons.
An evaluation of the current therapeutic regimen for renal tuberculosis.

AbstractRenal tuberculosis will continue to be a potentially lethal disease and must be considered a diagnostic possibility in all patients with infection in order to discover it in time. Multiple drug regimens have withstood the test of time and it appears that triple drug therapy is more efficacious than 2 drugs since triple drugs permit the skipping of 1 or another of the medications with less danger of relapse. Rifampin is a new drug that is well tolerated and efficacious, although expensive. We recommend continuous use of triple drugs for 2 years at least with the continuance of pyridoxine. We advise an excretory urogram, the collection of 3 urine specimens for culture and the passage of ureteral catheters every 6 months during treatment and every 12 months thereafter for 10 years. We do not consider relapse an indication for an operation but for further therapy, using medications to which the patient’s organism is proved susceptible by bacteriologic means. Under modern conditions an operation is rar...
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Academic and Psychosocial Outcomes

Prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading preventable cause of developmental disorders and intellectual disability. Such exposure can cause lifelong impairments resulting in significant personal and societal costs and thus represents a major public health concern. Individuals with histories of alcohol exposure are often under-identified and underserved due to a variety of factors that hinder diagnostic clarification. The effects of alcohol exposure occur along a spectrum, and therefore the clinical presentation of affected individuals is quite heterogeneous. The neurobehavioral effects associated with prenatal alcohol exposure include impairments in intellectual abilities, academic achievement, neuropsychological performance, and behavioral outcomes. This chapter provides an overview of the neurobehavioral effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and discusses bourgeoning and clinically significant areas of research. These topics include definitional issues, diagnostic outcomes, special education eligibility, considerations for prevention, intervention, school accommodations, prognosis, and moderating factors. This discussion focuses primarily on research conducted on heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, though literature on lower levels of exposure is included when appropriate. Supporting neuroimaging findings are also discussed.
Increased fluorescence intensity in CaTiO3:Pr3+ phosphor due to NH3 treatment and Nb Co-doping

Abstract Development of next generation red phosphors for commercial lighting requires understanding of how increased luminescence is achieved by various treatment strategies. In this work, we compare co-doping with Nb to NH 3 treatment of CaTiO 3 :Pr phosphors to reveal a general mechanism responsible for the increased luminescence. The phosphors were synthesized using standard solid-state synthesis techniques and the fluorescence was characterized for potential use in fluorescent lighting, with 254 nm excitation. The lifetime of the fluorescence was determined and used to identify a change in a trap state by the co-doping of Nb 5+ in the phosphor. The oxidation state of the Pr was probed by NEXAFS and revealed that both Nb 5+ co-doping and NH 3 treatment reduced the number of non-fluorescing Pr 4+ centers. Calculations were performed to determine the energetically favorable defects. Vacuum annealing was also used to further probe the nature of the trap state. It was determined that NH 3 treatments reduce the number of Pr 4+ non-fluorescing centers, while Nb 5+ co-doping additionally reduces the number of excess oxygen trap states that quench the fluorescence.
Time-driven activity-based costing to identify opportunities for cost reduction in pediatric appendectomy

Abstract Purpose As reimbursement programs shift to value-based payment models emphasizing quality and efficient healthcare delivery, there exists a need to better understand process management to unearth true costs of patient care. We sought to identify cost-reduction opportunities in simple appendicitis management by applying a time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) methodology to this high-volume surgical condition. Methods Process maps were created using medical record time stamps. Labor capacity cost rates were calculated using national median physician salaries, weighted nurse–patient ratios, and hospital cost data. Consumable costs for supplies, pharmacy, laboratory, and food were derived from the hospital general ledger. Results Time-driven activity-based costing resulted in precise per-minute calculation of personnel costs. Highest costs were in the operating room ($747.07), hospital floor ($388.20), and emergency department ($296.21). Major contributors to length of stay were emergency department evaluation (270min), operating room availability (395min), and post-operative monitoring (1128min). The TDABC model led to $1712.16 in personnel costs and $1041.23 in consumable costs for a total appendicitis cost of $2753.39. Conclusion Inefficiencies in healthcare delivery can be identified through TDABC. Triage-based standing delegation orders, advanced practice providers, and same day discharge protocols are proposed cost-reducing interventions to optimize value-based care for simple appendicitis. Level of evidence II.
Blunt Abdominal Trauma from Motor Vehicle Collisions from 2007 to 2011: Renal Injury Probability and Severity in Children versus Adults

Purpose: There are sparse data directly comparing the probability of renal injury in children and adults. The kidney of the child is believed to be more susceptible to blunt injury for a variety of anatomical reasons. In a large cohort we tested the hypothesis that the pediatric kidney is more susceptible to any renal injury and to higher grade injury.Materials and Methods: We queried the NTDB® (National Trauma Data Bank®) on all hospital admissions following motor vehicle collisions in a pediatric population (age less than 21 years) and a referent adult population (age 30 to 50 years). Of 111,172 children who were admitted after motor vehicle collisions 1,093 had renal injury.Results: Of the 111,172 children admitted to the hospital following motor vehicle collisions 59,385 had abdominal trauma and 1,093 had renal injury. In a multivariate logistic model adjusting for overall ISS (Injury Severity Score), region, year, driver/passenger status, presence of restraint or an airbag, we found that children had...
The Susceptibility of Bacterial Endophthalmitis Isolates to Vancomycin, Ceftazidime, and Amikacin: a 23 Year-Review.

Purpose To investigate the in vitro susceptibility of gram-positive (GP) and gram-negative (GN) endophthalmitis bacterial isolates to vancomycin (VAN), amikacin (AMK), and ceftazidime (CEF) over a 23-year period. Design Retrospective noncomparative laboratory case series. Participants Culture-positive bacterial isolates derived from endophthalmitis patients. Methods Laboratory records of bacteria isolated from endophthalmitis specimens collected from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2015, were reviewed for incidence and standard susceptibility testing. Main Outcome Measures The in vitro susceptibilities of bacteria cultured from endophthalmitis to VAN, AMK, and CEF. Results Patients with endophthalmitis had positive results from cultures for bacteria in 665 cases. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were the most common bacteria (54.6%), followed by streptococci (Strep) (20.8%), Staphylococcus aureus (10.2%), other GP bacteria (7.4%), and GN bacteria (7.1%). All GP organisms were susceptible to VAN, with the exception of 2 isolates. The in vitro susceptibilities of bacteria to AMK were CoNS, 95.3%; S aureus , 75.0%; Strep, 8.0%; GN, 95.7%; and other GP bacteria, 81.1%. The in vitro susceptibilities of bacteria to CEF were CoNS, 58.5%; S aureus , 54.4%; Strep, 84.1%; GN isolates, 93.6.%; and other GP bacteria, 52.8%. There was no significant difference between AMK (95.7%) and CEF (93.6%) for GN coverage. For CoNS, S aureus , and other GP bacteria, AMK provided better coverage than CEF ( P P Conclusions Based on standard in vitro susceptibility testing, VAN remains an optimal antibiotic choice for the treatment of GP endophthalmitis. AMK and CEF seem to provide equal GN coverage, but AMK seems to provide better coverage for CoNS, S aureus , and other GP bacteria, but not Strep isolates.
Progress in Gas-Coupled Laser Acoustic Detection for NDE Applications

A laser-based technique which enables noncontact detection of well-resolved ultrasonic waveforms independently of the optical qualities of the sample surface has been developed. [1,2] The technique can be applied to any material, but is particularly useful for evaluation of materials with optically rough or poorly reflecting surfaces.
Nutritional Supplementation in AMD

Nutrition, cigarette smoking, and plasma homocysteine may be modifiable risk factors which provide therapeutic targets in the management of AMD,Data regarding therapeutic interventions for primary prevention of AMD are limited and thus far inconclusive.
Atypical Color Doppler Findings Related to Remote Lower-Extremity Traumatic Injury:

IntroductionUltrasound artifacts can be misleading. This case demonstrates an unusual color Doppler artifact encountered while performing a lower-extremity venous evaluation. This color Doppler art...
Phase-Variable Genotypes Sweetened by Glycosylation Phenotypes.

The affordability of bacterial genome sequencing has provided a helpful tool for sequencing large strain collections. Bente Borud (J. Bacteriol. 200:e00794-17, 2018, https://doi.org/doi:10.1128/JB.00794-17) recently led an effort to analyze the genomes of a collection of oropharyngeal Neisseria meningitidis isolates from 50 healthy individuals. Paired longitudinal isolates from each individual were sequenced. Genome analyses focused on (i) predicting the expression state of phase-variable loci that encode enzymes important for O-linked protein glycosylation and (ii) correlating specific genotypes with glycosylation phenotypes.
Utilizing Red Algae to Understand a Neurodegenerative Disease

Mutations in the gene encoding the dual specificity phosphatase laforin result in Lafora disease (LD), a neurodegenerative disease that causes epilepsy and death. A hallmark of LD is the accumulation of insoluble carbohydrate bodies, called Lafora bodies (LBs), in the cytoplasm of cells of LD patients. Some protists, notably the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, synthesize a type of insoluble carbohydrate called floridean starch in their cytoplasm that appears similar in composition to the LBs. We recently identified, cloned, purified, and characterized an ortholog of human laforin from C. merolae and demonstrated that C. merolae laforin has similar properties as the human laforin. In this chapter, we will discuss this finding and how a red alga can contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) that causes LD.
Taking serious risks seriously

Could a particle accelerator destroy the world? Fears that the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven in the United States could trigger an unforeseen disaster have been allayed by two studies that show the risk of worldwide catastrophe to be truly negligible.
Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor: Cloning and Regulation of Its Expression

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptor, its cloning, and the regulation of its action. The number of receptors on the surface membrane of cells may be decreased by the action of the receptor ligand or by the action of other extracellular regulatory factors that interact with other cell receptors. Down-regulation has been shown to be affected at several steps in the synthesis and turnover of receptors, including posttranslational processes, such as internalization and subsequent intracellular degradation, and pretranslational processes, such as inhibition of receptor synthesis secondary to decreases in the level of receptor mRNA. Studies of regulation of mRNA levels in eukaryotic cells have primarily focused on control of gene transcription, that is, mRNA synthesis. The down-regulation of the number of thyrotropin-releasing hormone receptors (TRH-Rs) on anterior pituitary cells has been well-documented. Homologous down-regulation by TRH as well as heterologous down-regulation by other extracellular signaling molecules, such as the thyroid hormones, epidermal growth factor, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), have been demonstrated. Importantly, the decrease in the number of TRH-Rs causes pituitary cells to exhibit a less marked response to TRH.
Learning by Occasion Setting

In a feature-positive discrimination, presentations of the ‘feature’ cue and ‘target’ cue are accompanied by the unconditioned stimulus, and presentations of the target alone are not reinforced, whereas in a feature-negative discrimination the target alone is reinforced and the compound non-reinforced. In these discriminations, the feature can either act as a ‘simple stimulus’—eliciting conditioned responses by signaling the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus, or as an ‘occasion setter’—controlling the responses generated by the target by indicating its relation to the unconditioned stimulus. Three criteria can distinguish between simple conditioned stimulus properties (excitation or inhibition) and occasion setting attributes of the feature: (a) response form, (b) extinction on feature-positive discriminations and counter-conditioning on feature-negative discriminations; and (c) transfer during feature-positive and feature-negative discriminations. A neural network model of classical conditioning is used to (a) illustrate how the feature acts as a simple CS in simultaneous feature-positive discriminations, and (b) as an occasion setter in serial feature-positive discriminations, (c) explain why occasion setters are impervious to extinction, and (d) hypothesize about the conditions in which occasion-setter properties can be transferred to other targets.
The Construction of Feminist Pedagogy in Nursing Education: A Preliminary Critique.

This project was completed in response to articles that have appeared in nursing journals calling for feminist pedagogy. The object of inquiry is the current discourse of feminist pedagogy. In critiquing the discourse, Foucault's notion of "regime of truth" was used as a tool for analysis. It is the author's contention that feminist pedagogy, as currently constructed in nursing education, has likened Freire's notion of liberatory education with feminist scholarship. Feminist scholarship has taken a subordinate role to stories of classroom processes. Many so-called feminist strategies are, in reality, progressive educational strategies adorned with seductive language. Adopting a questioning stance, rather than merely proclaiming that "all is bliss" in the feminist classroom, would benefit all who are involved in the construction of feminist pedagogy. If nursing education is to seriously engage with feminist scholarship, as the author believes it must do, then it must not play a secondary role in feminist pedagogy.
The Nile River and Transboundary Water Rights

The Nile River is a transboundary river shared by 11 countries: Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Among the riparian countries, Ethiopia is the largest contributor to the Nile River accounting to 82% of the annual flow. Nile River water rights are complex as a result of the basins geography climate and political history. Pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial claims and assertions of water rights are being challenged due to growing population, awareness and water demand. The Blue Nile is the largest of the tributaries, a collection of tributaries in the Ethiopian Highlands, flowing through settlements, farm fields and natural landscapes. Water demand in the basin is continuously growing as a result of population growth, climatic factors, and small to medium scale irrigation and water harvesting schemes. Small dams and control structures are being built on tributary rivers for both hydropower and irrigation. Ethiopia has been investing on multiple dams on Nile river tributaries and is building a major dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile since 2011. Although, there are over thirty dams and water control structures on the Nile and tributaries, dams on the Blue Nile raise attention as it is the main source of water for the Nile, The GERD has brought to the forefront the question of water rights of the Nile with a tug of war between Ethiopia and Egypt with the main concern of downstream flow reduction as the result of the dam. Negotiations and agreements have been murky as water rights and water sharing is not addressed directly. This chapter outlines the history of water rights, water use and water controls in the Nile basin, and current realities associated with the construction and operation of the GERD.
Private and Public Investments in Children: Creating the Human Capital to Meet US Economic Needs

Educational investments have been key to US economic development and growth. This chapter looks at the economy over time in relation to the educational system and identifies the economic factors behind families’ and governments’ allocation of resources to human capital investments. Then it describes the evolution of the US primary, secondary, and higher education systems over the last two centuries, and the effect of legalized school segregation on education for African Americans. The economic effects on families of past policies including local school funding, de jure segregation, and the G.I. Bill are explained. Finally, the chapter details how universal preschool, school vouchers, and free community college could change the economics of education for families.
Cyclic vectors and invariant subspaces for unbounded multiplication operators on Hilbert space

Abstract Sufficient conditions are given for a vector to be cyclic, or more generally, to generate a spectral subspace for a densely defined unbounded multiplication operator acting on a Hilbert space having an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors with unbounded associated set of eigenvalues. Such operators are shown to have non-spectral invariant subspaces which are closed with respect to a topology defined on the core of the operator. Conditions are also given for such operators to have non-spectral norm-closed invariant subspaces.
Sustained Intracellular Raltegravir Depots Generated with Prodrugs Designed for Nanoparticle Delivery

Polymeric nanocarriers have been extensively used to improve the delivery of hydrophobic drugs, but often provide low encapsulation efficiency and percent loading for hydrophilic compounds. In particular, insufficient loading of hydrophilic antiretroviral drugs such as the integrase inhibitor raltegravir (RAL) has limited the development of sustained-release therapeutics or prevention strategies against HIV. To address this, we developed a generalizable prodrug strategy using RAL as a model where loading, release and subsequent hydrolysis can be tuned by promoiety selection. Prodrugs with large partition coefficients increased the encapsulation efficiency up to 25-fold relative to RAL, leading to significant dose reductions in antiviral activity assays. The differential hydrolysis rates of these prodrugs led to distinct patterns of RAL availability and observed antiviral activity. We also developed a method to monitor the temporal distribution of both prodrug and RAL in cells treated with free prodrug or prodrug-NPs. Results of these studies indicated that prodrug-NPs create an intracellular drug reservoir capable of sustained intracellular drug release. Overall, our results suggest that the design of prodrugs for specific polymeric nanocarrier systems could provide a more generalized strategy to formulate physicochemically diverse hydrophilic drugs with a number of biomedical applications.
The Death of the Inner Circle: Understanding the Perpetuation of the Corporate Elite

While the inner circle has traditionally been operationalized based upon degree centrality, governance reforms have hindered the ability for directors to hold multiple board seats. Thus, researcher...
Redesigning a Basic Laboratory Information System for the Global South

Laboratory information systems (LIS) optimize information storage and processing for clinics and hospitals. In the recent past, developers of LIS for the global south have worked under the assumption that computing environments will be very limited. However, the computing resources in the area have been rapidly enriched. This has also changed the expectations that users have about the LIS interface and functionality. In this paper, we provide a case study of C4G BLIS that has been in operation for nearly a decade in seven African countries. In two studies that included 51 participants from three African countries, we redesigned the LIS to better suit the changing technical landscape and user needs and evaluated the new design. The study procedure, usability metrics and lessons learned from our evaluation provide a model that other researchers can use. The findings provide empirical insights that can benefit designers and developers of LIS in the global south. The results also highlight the need for adding usability specifications for international standard organizations.
Dungeons and Dragons: Combinatorics for the dP3 Quiver

In this paper, we utilize the machinery of cluster algebras, quiver mutations, and brane tilings to study a variety of historical enumerative combinatorics questions all under one roof. Previous work (Zhang in Cluster variables and perfect matchings of subgraphs of the $$dP_{3}$$ lattice, http://www.math.umn.edu/~reiner/REU/Zhang2012.pdf. arXiv:1511.0655, 2012; Leoni et al. in J Phys A Math Theor 47:474011, 2014), which arose during the second author’s mentoriship of undergraduates, and more recently of both authors (Lai and Musiker in Commun Math Phys 356(3):823–881, 2017), analyzed the cluster algebra associated with the cone over $$\mathbf {dP_3}$$, the del Pezzo surface of degree 6 ($${\mathbb {C}}{\mathbb {P}}^2$$ blown up at three points). By investigating sequences of toric mutations, those occurring only at vertices with two incoming and two outgoing arrows, in this cluster algebra, we obtained a family of cluster variables that could be parameterized by $${\mathbb {Z}}^3$$ and whose Laurent expansions had elegant combinatorial interpretations in terms of dimer partition functions (in most cases). While the earlier work (Lai and Musiker 2017; Zhang 2012; Leoni et al. 2014) focused exclusively on one possible initial seed for this cluster algebra, there are in total four relevant initial seeds (up to graph isomorphism). In the current work, we explore the combinatorics of the Laurent expansions from these other initial seeds and how this allows us to relate enumerations of perfect matchings on Dungeons to Dragons.
The CBX family of proteins in transcriptional repression and memory

For mammals to develop properly, master regulatory genes must be repressed appropriately in a heritable manner. This review concerns the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) family and the relationship between the establishment of repression and memory of the repressed state. The primary focus is on the CBX family of proteins in PRC1 complexes and their role in both chromatin compaction and phase separation. These two activities are linked and might contribute to both repression and memory.
An Introduction to Prejudice, Stigma, Privilege, Oppression, Discrimination, and Clinical Science

Clinical psychology as a profession could be justifiably accused of neglecting or at best only obliquely addressing prejudice, stigma, privilege, oppression, and discrimination. Admittedly, it is not clear that any behavioral health profession or health profession for that matter has done any better. While there is no doubt that these problems have existed for centuries and currently exist in manifold ways, the profession of clinical psychology has been relatively indirect at dealing with these. For example, clinical psychologists, with the possible exception of feminist therapists, have not developed standardized and valid measures of the extent to which their clients’ presenting problems may be due to prejudice and discrimination. However, unfortunately, feminist therapies have also not been sufficiently studied through randomly controlled trials to determine their efficacy and safety (see Chambliss). Clinical psychologists have not developed interventions that directly ameliorate the effects of these problems on our clients. This book provides an overview of potential ways to mitigate this issue.
Rural Community Perceptions and Interests in Pharmacogenomics.

Pharmacogenomics testing is a rapidly expanding field with increasing importance to individualized patient care. However, it remains unclear whether the general public in rural areas would be willing to engage in this service. The objective of this survey was to determine rural community-dwelling members’ perceptions of pharmacogenomics. A questionnaire was developed consisting of five Likert-style questions on knowledge and perceptions of pharmacogenomics, a single multiple-choice question on cost of testing, and a free-response question. Two cohorts received the same questionnaire: attendees at a university-sponsored health fair and patients presenting to two independent community pharmacies in southeastern Idaho. While both showed positive reception to the implementation and value of pharmacogenomics, those at the health fair were more in favor of pharmacogenomics, suggesting a need for greater outreach and education to the general public. The findings suggest that interest of rural community-dwelling individuals may be amenable to the expansion of pharmacogenomics testing.
Gas Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis of Global Data

Mitigation of global climate impacts from landfilling of municipal solid waste (MSW) requires a broad understanding of the multitude of factors influencing gas generation and subsequent emissions. Despite recent advances in both measurement and prediction of emissions of gas from MSW landfills, there have been few efforts to collectively gather, analyze, and interpret global gas emissions data. Therefore, a comprehensive review and analysis of literature data was performed herein to document landfill gas generation, composition, emissions, and factors influencing emissions from MSW landfills on a global basis. In particular, global methane, nitrous oxide, and non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) flux measurement data were compiled to summarize and compare the data according to continent, country, climate, and landfill operational practices. Compiled fluxes were highest for methane (− 4.50 × 101 to 4.15 × 104 g/m2 day), followed by nitrous oxide (− 2.50 × 10–3 to 3.75 × 101 g/m2 day), and NMVOCs (− 2.00 × 10–3 to 7.32 × 10–1 g/m2 day). Among the NMVOCs surveyed, measured fluxes of oxygenated compounds, including alcohols and ketones were highest, ranging from − 1.81 × 10–5 to 2.20 × 10–2 g/m2 day. In addition, fluxes of the aromatics, alkanes, reduced sulfur compounds, and F-gases were consistently high. Flux generally increased with increasing organics content of the waste mass, decreasing cover thickness, and increasing average air temperature. Lower fluxes of landfill gases were obtained in dry climates. Both developed and developing countries were responsible for high fluxes. While methane is the main gas of concern in greenhouse gas investigations, consistent and considerable measurement of nitrous oxide and NMVOC releases from landfills globally indicate the potential for high contributions from trace gas species to whole-site landfill gas emissions. The trace gas contributions become particularly significant when emissions are converted to CO2-equivalents. Overall results of this literature review can be used to verify initial estimates of national inventory models and as baseline data to inform future strategies focused on managing global greenhouse gas and NMVOC emissions from MSW landfills.
Physical and chemical properties of rice grain of variety Rapan at different seeding rates and does of nitrogen fertilizers

The paper presents the results of evaluating the rice variety Rapan grown in 2018, 2019 at different seeding rates and doses of nitrogen fertilizers, according to the main amylographic characteristics of starch dispersion and fracturing. In 2018 and 2019, when growing variety Rapan with seeding rates of 4, 6 and 8 million viable seeds, the highest values were noted for the “fracturing” trait at a nitrogen dose of 92 kg/ha of active ingredient. In 2018, they amounted to 31, 35 and 41%, respectively, in 2019 - 13, 12 and 12%, respectively. The following tendency in the change of rice quality traits was noted: in the samples grown without the use of nitrogen, low fracturing was revealed, while in the N92 variants the value of the trait was maximum, with N184 - the minimum. Indicators for the “maximum viscosity” at a nitrogen dose of 92 kg / ha of active ingredient had the lowest values at all three seeding rates and amounted to 484, 500 and 485 Br.units in 2018, respectively. In 2019 - 471, 440 and 480 Br. units. The opposite pattern was observed when determining the viscosity indices: at the minimum values of fracturing, the viscosity indices were maximum and decreased at high values of this trait.
Carotid webs produce greater hemodynamic disturbances than atherosclerotic disease: a DSA time-density curve study.

BACKGROUND Carotid webs (CaWs) are associated with ischemic strokes in younger patients without degrees of stenosis that are traditionally considered clinically significant. OBJECTIVE To compare the hemodynamic parameters in the internal carotid artery (ICA) bulbar segment in patients with CaW with those in patients with atherosclerotic lesions using time-density curve (TDC) analysis of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images. METHODS We retrospectively assessed DSA images of 47 carotid arteries in 41 adult patients who underwent ICA catheter angiography for evaluation after ischemic stroke. Hemodynamic parameters, including full width at half maximum (FWHM) and area under the time-density curve (AUC) as proxies for increased flow stasis, were calculated using TDC analyses of a region of interest (ROI) in the ICA bulb immediately rostral to the web/atherosclerotic plaque, relative to a standardized ROI in the ipsilateral distal common carotid artery (eg, relative FWHM (rFWHM)). Hemodynamic parameters were compared using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests. Logistic regression was used to predict CaW versus mild/moderate atherosclerosis for each hemodynamic parameter, adjusting for degree of stenosis. RESULTS Mean age of patients was 56.0±13 years, with 22 (53.7%) women. 17 CaWs, 22 atherosclerotic plaques (15 mild/moderate and 7 severe), and eight normal carotid arteries were assessed. Significant between-group differences were present in the relative total AUC (p<0.001), relative AUC at wash out (p=0.031), and relative FWHM (p=0.001). Logistic regression to predict CaW versus mild/moderate atherosclerosis showed that rAUC total had the highest predictive value (pAUC=0.96, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.00), followed by rFWHM (0.87, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.00), and rAUC WO (0.74, 95% CI (0.57 to 0.91). CONCLUSION CaW results in larger local hemodynamic disruption, characterized by flow stasis, than mild/moderate carotid atherosclerotic lesions, suggesting that CaWs may produce larger regions of thrombogenic flow stasis.
Weather Patterns and Machine Learning

In this chapter, the effects of climate change and changing temperatures on agricultural commodities are introduced. As part of the chapter, two use cases and ML are introduced: rice production in Sacramento valley and milk production in the United States and international. The role of crop calendar, the minimum and maximum temperature on the rice yield, the precipitation, and the effects of drought are introduced, as well as the effects of macrolevel economic indicators on milk production and of raising temperatures on milk productivity and, finally, the application of weather events and modeling ML models, by taking into account the effects of temperature, precipitation, and drought index (Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)).
Long Distance Casualty Transportation and Treatment in the Vietnam War

At the beginning of many of its armed conflicts, the United States has found itself unprepared for large numbers of casualties. The Vietnam War was no exception. In August 1965, Marines landed at Chu Lai, just south of Danang in South Vietnam, for their first major unit combat effort. They suffered more casualties than anticipated. They were cared for by Navy physicians and corpsmen in the combat area and then flown by helicopter to the Danang airbase. There, they were further triaged in a small field hospital, which quickly became saturated with those casualties which could not be moved. Those less seriously wounded and those who could be made transportable were flown directly to Clark Airforce Base in the Philippines by C130 combat aircraft, a flight of approximately 3 hours. They arrived unwashed, in their combat gear, with weapons on the litters. A C130 aircraft carries 72 litter casualties when fully loaded. At Clark AFB, after word had been received of the combat action, all patients, who could be discharged, were sent out. All personnel at the base, including wives and dependents, were mobilized to help at the hospital. They washed and moved the casualties as they arrived.
Multimodal data and machine learning for surgery outcome prediction in complicated cases of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

BackgroundThis study sought to predict postsurgical seizure freedom from pre-operative diagnostic test results and clinical information using a rapid automated approach, based on supervised learning methods in patients with drug-resistant focal seizures suspected to begin in temporal lobe. MethodWe applied machine learning, specifically a combination of mutual information-based feature selection and supervised learning classifiers on multimodal data, to predict surgery outcome retrospectively in 20 presurgical patients (13 female; mean age?SD, in years 33?9.7 for females, and 35.3?9.4 for males) who were diagnosed with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and subsequently underwent standard anteromesial temporal lobectomy. The main advantage of the present work over previous studies is the inclusion of the extent of ipsilateral neocortical gray matter atrophy and spatiotemporal properties of depth electrode-recorded seizures as training features for individual patient surgery planning. ResultsA maximum relevance minimum redundancy (mRMR) feature selector identified the following features as the most informative predictors of postsurgical seizure freedom in this study's sample of patients: family history of epilepsy, ictal EEG onset pattern (positive correlation with seizure freedom), MRI-based gray matter thickness reduction in the hemisphere ipsilateral to seizure onset, proportion of seizures that first appeared in ipsilateral amygdala to total seizures, age, epilepsy duration, delay in the spread of ipsilateral ictal discharges from site of onset, gender, and number of electrode contacts at seizure onset (negative correlation with seizure freedom). Using these features in combination with a least square support vector machine (LS-SVM) classifier compared to other commonly used classifiers resulted in very high surgical outcome prediction accuracy (95%). ConclusionsSupervised machine learning using multimodal compared to unimodal data accurately predicted postsurgical outcome in patients with atypical MTLE. Machine learning with multimodal data can accurately predict postsurgical outcome in patients with drug resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.Features resulting from quantitative analysis of structural MRI and intracranial EEG are informative predictors of postsurgical outcome.Least-square support vector machine with radial basis function kernel resulted in optimal prediction.Clinical factors such as family history of epilepsy and duration of epilepsy significantly affect the chance of seizure freedom post epilepsy surgery.
σ-Automata and Chebyshev-polynomials

A σ-automaton is an additive, binary cellular automaton on a graph. For product graphs such as a grids and cylinders, reversibility and periodicity properties of the corresponding σ-automaton can be expressed in terms of a binary version of Chebyshev polynomials. We will give a detailed analysis of the divisibility properties of these polynomials and apply our results to the study of σ-automata.
Virtue of Bad Times and Financial Market Frictions

Schumpeter (1939) proposes that recessions have virtue in promoting growth-enhancing activities. However, this view is often at odds with data, as many innovative activities appear pro-cyclical. We revisit the “virtue of bad times”theoretically and empirically. Our theory suggests that recessions have such virtue only when the cyclicality of innovation’s marginal opportunity cost dominates that of its marginal expected return; but binding …nancial constraints can hinder such virtue, preventing innovation from rising during recessions. Our theory is carried to an industry panel of production and innovation. Our evidence suggests that recessions indeed have potential virtue, but such virtue is hindered by …nancial-market frictions.
Le développement du cerveau et les patterns de conduites typiques pendant l’adolescence (1re partie)

Il est admis que l’adolescence est un moment de transition clef dans la vie de chaque individu, mais l’ampleur et l’importance des transformations cerebrales, a cette periode de la vie, sont encore peu connues. Linda Spear les envisage dans ce travail que nous presentons sous la forme de deux articles pour plus de clarte. Linda Spear est une biologiste du developpement qui s’est beaucoup interessee aux modifications biologiques et comportementales qui apparaissent chez l’animal au moment de la transition adolescente. Elle dirige le laboratoire de psychologique de l’universite de Binghamton dans l’etat de New York. Ses annees d’experiences et de recherche et les tres nombreux contacts qu’elle a developpes avec d’autres disciplines l’ont amenee a proposer une vue evolutionniste et integrative du developpement du cerveau au moment de l’adolescence. Dans la premiere partie de ce travail, wl’accent est mis sur une approche evolutionniste de l’adolescence, notamment dans ses liens avec certains comportements caracteristiques de l’adolescence et conserves dans differentes especes. Les modifications structurelles que le cerveau connait a l’adolescence sont ensuite detaillees. Dans la seconde partie de cet article, ce sont les transformations dans les regions anterieures du cerveau qui sont exposees. Pour conclure, Linda Spear fait le lien entre ces transformations neurales et les comportements normaux et atypiques a l’adolescence.
An optimal culture condition maintains human hepatocyte phenotype after long-term culture

Abstract Background Long-term culture of primary hepatocytes from various species is impeded by a decrease of cell viability and a loss of hepatocyte-specific function. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether our optimal culture condition (OC) can maintain the phenotype of primary hepatocytes in long-term culture. Methods Primary human hepatocytes were cultured in either hepatocyte maintenance medium (HM) or OC for 2–4 weeks. Expression of hepatocyte-specific genes was determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Results The level of albumin mRNA in human hepatocytes cultured in OC was 11-fold more than in HM and gene expression levels of α1-antitrypsin and transferrin were at approximately 40 and 11% of freshly isolated primary human hepatocytes. Electron microscopy revealed that cells in OC displayed hepatocyte properties (e.g. polarity, junctional complexes, bile canaliculi and glycogen particles). Cytochrome P4501A1/2 activity of hepatocytes cultured in OC was 15- and 17-fold higher than in HM at 2 and 4 weeks of culture, and DNA synthesis was higher. Conclusions Using our optimal culture condition, we were able to maintain the phenotype of primary human hepatocytes in long-term culture. They not only maintain better liver-specific function, but also retain higher proliferative potential.
Distributed Geospatial Computing (DGC)

DEFINITION Distributed Geospatial Computing (DGC) refers to the geospatial computing resides on multiple computers connected through computer networks. Figure 1 illustrates DGC within the C/S architecture [1]: where the geospatial computing is conducted by the geospatial components, which can communicate with each other or communicate through wrapping applications, such as web server and web browser. The Geospatial Components can communicate through application level protocols, such as HTTP or other customized protocols.
What Connects Biolinguistics and Biosemiotics

This paper reviews the background, fundamental questions, current issues, and goals of the intellectual movements initiated by Noam Chomsky’s biolinguistics and Thomas A. Sebeok’s (1920-2001) biosemiotics. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief history of these movements, to clarify the common objectives and areas of overlap between them, and to address some aspects of focus and terminology that may stand in the way of productive collaboration among the disciplines involved in the biology of language.
Recovery from psychological trauma: Recovery from psychological trauma

Trauma destroys the social systems of care, protection, and meaning that support human life. The recovery process requires the reconstruction of these systems. The essential features of psychological trauma are disempowerment and disconnection from others. The recovery process therefore is based upon empowerment of the survivor and restoration of relationships. The recovery process may be conceptualized in three stages: establishing safety, retelling the story of the traumatic event, and reconnecting with others. Treatment of posttraumatic disorders must be appropriate to the survivor's stage of recovery. Caregivers require a strong professional support system to manage the psychological consequences of working with survivors.
Experimental analysis and modeling of self heating effect in dielectric isolated planar and fin devices

Field Effect Transistors on SOI offer inherent capacitance and process advantages. The flow of heat generated at the drain junction may be impeded by dielectric isolation but an assessment must also account for conduction of heat through the gate stack and through the device contacts, and its impact on device characteristics should be captured by the scalable model to enable accurate circuit design. A quantitative comparison to 45nm planar SOI shows that while the scaled FinFET on dielectric devices show higher normalized thermal resistance, as expected from device scaling, the characteristic time constant for self heating is still well below the operating frequency of typical logic circuits, hence resulting in negligible self heating effect. For cases where the self heating becomes a factor, e.g., in high-speed I/O circuits, the same design methods can be applied for both planar and FinFET devices on dielectric isolation.
PORTRAYALS OF CHAN BUDDHISM IN THE LITERATURE OF INTERNAL ALCHEMY

Chan 禪 Buddhism's rise to popularity in the Song dynasty produced far-reaching effects within Chinese religious culture. This paper examines the ways in which doctrinal, literary, and mythological ...
Effects of capacitive versus resistive loading on high transformation ratio piezoelectric transformers for modular design considerations

Piezoelectric transformers (PTs) can be useful as compact, high-voltage supplies. However, PTs cannot be fully utilized if the associated circuitry does not allow for the desired transformation ratio to be maintained. The effects of adding capacitive and/or resistive loads to a PT are being studied. Experiments and modeling suggest that the highest transformation ratios are achieved when both the resistive and reactive load elements are optimized, rather than only the magnitude of the impedance. Specifically, these effects are being studied to modularize the PT as a compact, high-voltage power supply for a variety of applications. This paper will analyze these loading effects and suggest a coupling method for maintaining high transformation ratios from Rosen-type PTs comprised of rotated y-cut lithium niobate.
Non-Gaussian fluctuations and primordial black holes from inflation

We explore the role of non-Gaussian fluctuations in primordial black hole (PBH) formation and show that the standard Gaussian assumption, used in all PBH formation papers to date, is not justified. Since large spikes in power are usually associated with flat regions of the inflaton potential, quantum fluctuations become more important in the field dynamics, leading to mode-mode coupling and non-Gaussian statistics. Moreover, PBH production requires several {sigma} (rare) fluctuations in order to prevent premature matter dominance of the universe, so we are necessarily concerned with distribution tails, where any intrinsic skewness will be especially important. We quantify this argument by using the stochastic slow-roll equation and a relatively simple analytic method to obtain the final distribution of fluctuations. We work out several examples with toy models that produce PBH{close_quote}s, and test the results with numerical simulations. Our examples show that the naive Gaussian assumption can result in errors of many orders of magnitude. For models with spikes in power, our calculations give sharp cutoffs in the probability of large positive fluctuations, meaning that Gaussian distributions would vastly overproduce PBH{close_quote}s. The standard results that link inflation-produced power spectra and PBH number densities must then be reconsidered, since they rely quitemore » heavily on the Gaussian assumption. We point out that since the probability distributions depend strongly on the nature of the potential, it is impossible to obtain results for general models. However, calculating the distribution of fluctuations for any specific model seems to be relatively straightforward, at least in the single inflaton case. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}« less