cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calibration of Parameters for a single Hardening Model

A single hardening model (proposed by Lade and co -workers) is calibrated using 12 model parameters, which can be determined from one isotropic consolidation test (with unloading and reloading), and three triaxial shear tests; however, the process of calibrating these parameters is relatively complex. In this paper, the authors have calibrated this model for the purpose of predicting the experimentally observe d 3 -D mechanical behavior of Kaolin clay through advanced laboratory testing. During this calibration process, several interesting issues were observed for the specific Kaolin clay used in the study. These issues are discussed in light of the concepts behi nd relevant calibration parameters and their significance to the model predictions. Based on the definition of plastic work, a modified approach for calibrating the work hardening parameters is presented and shows some promise. Various aspects of this model are also presented in the context of predicting the mechanical behavior of soils including the sensitivity of the model parameters over the prediction of the complex mechanical behavior under generalized state of stress/strain.
Zinc Supplementation Increases Zinc Status and Thymopoiesis in Aged Mice

The age-related decline in lymphocyte development and function coincides with impaired zinc status in the elderly. Thymic involution and reduced immune responsiveness are classic hallmarks of both aging and zinc deficiency, resulting in decreased host defense and an increased susceptibility to infections. Thus, compromised zinc status associated with aging may be an important contributing factor in reduced thymopoiesis and impaired immune functions. Our goal in this study was to understand how dietary zinc supplementation affects thymopoiesis in aged mice. We hypothesized that impaired zinc status associated with aging would mediate the decline in thymic function and output and that restoring plasma zinc concentrations via zinc supplementation would improve thymopoiesis and thymic functions. In this study, groups of young (8 wk) and aged (22 mo) mice were fed a zinc-adequate (30 mg/kg zinc) or zinc-supplemented diet (300 mg/kg) for 25 d. Aged mice had impaired zinc status, with zinc supplementation restoring plasma zinc to a concentration not different from those of young male C57Bl/6 mice. Zinc supplementation in aged mice improved thymopoiesis, as assessed by increased total thymocyte numbers. In addition, improved thymic output was mediated in part by reducing the age-related accumulation of immature CD4(-)CD8(-)CD44(+)CD25(-) thymocytes, as well as by decreasing the expression of stem cell factor, a thymosuppressive cytokine. Taken together, our results showed that in mice, zinc supplementation can reverse some age-related thymic defects and may be of considerable benefit in improving immune function and overall health in elderly populations.
Relationship between environmental conditions and zooplankton community structure during summer hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico

The environmental conditions and mesozooplankton community were monitored during summer cruises in 2003, 2004 and 2006–2008 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Data were collected on temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a and zooplankton taxonomic abundances. Environmental conditions were largely related to the influence of the Mississippi River plume. The zooplankton community was numerically dominated by copepods, with various meroplankton and other non-copepod zooplankton present in lower abundances. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct groups of co-occurring zooplankton taxa. Two of these were numerically dominant, one characterized by the copepod Acartia spp. and a second consisting of several copepod taxa (including larger-bodied genera) and salps. Relative to the group containing Acartia spp., this second dominant group was more abundant at higher salinity, lower temperature and greater vertical extent of hypoxic water into the water column above the seafloor. Dissolved oxygen, as vertical extent of hypoxia, was of comparable importance to temperature and salinity in predicting the abundances of zooplankton taxa. Variability of the zooplankton community with environmental conditions, and particularly the greater abundance of larger taxa in association with hypoxia, has implications for the contribution of zooplankton-mediated vertical flux to oxygen drawdown, and for the quality of the food environment for larval and other planktivorous fish.
Test Strength: A Quality Metric for Transition Fault Tests in Full-Scan Circuits

We define the strength of a test for transition faults based on the number of fault effects that can disappear without causing the test to lose the detection of target faults. The removal of fault effects represents the uncertainty created by pattern-dependent effects that can slow-down or speed-up signal-transitions, thus causing fault effects predicted by logic-level simulation to disappear. A test set that consists of higher-strength tests is less susceptible to these effects. We demonstrate that a transition fault test set with higher-strength tests also detects more path delay faults, which represent delay defects that were not targeted during test generation.
Impaired Synthesis of Stromal Components in Response to Minnelide Improves Vascular Function, Drug Delivery, and Survival in Pancreatic Cancer.

Purpose: Pancreatic cancer stromal microenvironment is considered to be the major reason for failure of conventional and targeted therapy for this disease. The desmoplastic stroma, comprising mainly collagen and glycosaminoglycans like hyaluronan (HA), is responsible for compression of vasculature in the tumor resulting in impaired drug delivery and poor prognosis. Minnelide, a water-soluble prodrug of triptolide currently in phase I clinical trial, has been very effective in multiple animal models of pancreatic cancer. However, whether Minnelide will have efficacious delivery into the tumor despite the desmoplastic stroma has not been evaluated before. Experiment Design: Patient tumor-derived xenografts (PDX) and spontaneous pancreatic cancer mice were treated with 0.42 and 0.21 mg/kg body weight for 30 days. Stromal components were determined by IHC and ELISA-based assays. Vascular functionality and drug delivery to the tumor were assessed following treatment with Minnelide. Result: Our current study shows that treatment with Minnelide resulted in reduction of ECM components like HA and collagen in the pancreatic cancer stroma of both the spontaneous KPC mice as well as in patient tumor xenografts. Furthermore, treatment with Minnelide improved functional vasculature in the tumors resulting in four times more functional vessels in the treated animals compared with untreated animals. Consistent with this observation, Minnelide also resulted in increased drug delivery into the tumor compared with untreated animals. Along with this, Minnelide also decreased viability of the stromal cells along with the tumor cells in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Conclusions: In conclusion, these results are extremely promising as they indicate that Minnelide, along with having anticancer effects is also able to deplete stroma in pancreatic tumors, which makes it an effective therapy for pancreatic cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 22(2); 415–25. ©2015 AACR.
Signal Processing and Signal Processing Models

In this chapter we will examine some of the characteristics of the dolphin sonar signal from a signal processing point of view. Several sections will also be devoted to the discussion of signal processing techniques and the construction of mathematical models and electronic analogs to the dolphin sonar signal processing system. These models and analogs fall into the category called bionic sonar. Although there are still many large gaps in our understanding of biosonar processes, sufficient knowledge is available to allow the construction of simple mathematical models of biosonar signal processing that can be implemented in computer software. These models will not explain how dolphins process acoustic information but will instead explain how acoustic signals may be processed in order to obtain hardware and software systems with equivalent capabilities as the dolphin sonar system. These models on the whole are relatively simplistic and may match a dolphin’s capabilities only in a limited context under ideal conditions.
DNA Synthesis and Cell Division in Germinating Onion II. Mitotic Cycle and DNA Content

SUMMARYThis study of the duration of the mitotic cycle in the germinating onion shows a mitotic cycle at stability of 12.8 hours, with G1, S, G2, and M-periods of 1.5, 6.5, 2.4, and 2.3 hours, respectively. Phase durations are 0.8, 0.2, 0.1, and 1.2 hours for prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, in that order. When examined as a function of developmental stage, no significant variation is seen in the lengths of the above intervals. Microspectrophotometric analysis of various developmental stages reveals that the total nuclear complement of the quiescent embryo is in G1, (essentially all 2C), and that the initiation of DNA synthesis occurs at approximately the 1.5–2.0 mm. point in root development, in agreement with the value determined earlier.
The role of ribonucleoproteins in the production of mitotic abnormalities.

Immersion of growing roots of onion and lily in aerated solutions of ribonuclease affected their pattern of growth and altered the structure and mitotic distribution of the chromosomes. Action of the enzyme on meristematic cells caused enlargement of nucleoli, excessive contraction, stickiness, adhesion, and clumping of chromosomes, and production of aneuploid and polyploid chromosome complexes, tripolar and multipolar spindles, binucleate and multinucleate cells. Very few cases of chromosome fragmentation were observed.
Ambient Filtration Method To Rapidly Prepare Highly Conductive, Paper-Based Porous Gold Films for Electrochemical Biosensing.

Thin gold films offer intriguing material properties for potential applications including fuel cells, supercapacitors, and electronic and photonic devices. We describe here an ambient filtration method that provides a simple and novel way to generate rapidly porous and thin gold films without the need for sophisticated instruments, clean-room environments, and any postgrowth process or sintering steps. Using this approach, we can fabricate highly conductive gold films composed of gold nanoparticles layered atop a matrix of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes on mixed cellulose ester filter paper within 20 min. These hybrid films (thickness ∼40 nm) exhibit fast electron transfer and excellent electrocatalytic properties that are similar to purchased gold films, but with a larger electroactive surface that lends itself to more sensitive analyte detection. We used the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin as benchmark analytes to demonstrate that our hybrid gold films can clearly discriminate the pres...
Generic Subversion in The Three Burials of Melquíades Estrada

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a contemporary, epic Western, which parodically reinscribes many of the formal and thematic conventions of the traditional Hollywood Western. From the standpoint of genre analysis, the present study dissects some of the film's principal strategies of generic subversion in order to gain a better understanding of the film's general aesthetic and political implications. Such strategies include the systematic use of estrangement, fragmentation, inversion, trans-contextualization and irony. This particular combination seeks to destabilize and denaturalize many of the ossified myths, codes, and conventions of the traditional Hollywood Western while simultaneously reaffirming an alternate model of social relations, one which is largely defined by traits such as solidarity and generosity (regardless of national origin), as well as a desire to understand and learn from each Other. Likewise, the film offers an indictment against the persistent problems of racism, instituti...
Cyclodextrins as Porous Material for Catalysis

In this chapter, the properties of cyclodextrin-based polymers are described as porous materials for catalysis. The first part gives a brief overview on cyclodextrins, their supramolecular properties and some of their applications, especially in aqueous catalysis. The second part is devoted to the use of CD-based polymers as mass transfer promoters in organic and organometallic reactions. The third part is dedicated to molecular imprinting using CD-based polymers and their catalytic applications. The last part is devoted to CD-based nanosponges and the impact of their particular structure on the performances of various catalytic reactions.
Reduction of Hexavalent Chromium by Green Tea Polyphenols and Green Tea Nano Zero-Valent Iron (GT-nZVI)

This study reports on the direct reduction of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] by green tea polyphenols, including a green tea solution and pure epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) solution. A linear trend was observed between the amount of reduced Cr(VI) and the amount of added polyphenols. The green tea solution showed a continued decrease in the observed stoichiometry with increasing pH, from a maximum of 1.4 mol per gallic acid equivalent (GAE) of green tea at pH 2.5, to 0.2 mol/GAE at pH 8.8. The EGCG solution exhibited different behavior, with a maximum stoichiometry of 2 at pH 7 and minimum of 1.6 at pH 4.4 and 8.9. When green tea was used to first react with Fe3+ and form GT-nZVI, the amount of Cr(VI) reduced by a certain volume of GT-nZVI was double compared to green tea, and 6 times as high considering that GT-nZVI only contains 33 % green tea.
An Eight-Element 2–16-GHz Programmable Phased Array Receiver With One, Two, or Four Simultaneous Beams in SiGe BiCMOS

This paper presents an eight-element 2–16-GHz programmable phased array (PPA) receiver in a 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ SiGe BiCMOS with the reconfigurable number of beams and with the digital beamforming (DBF) capabilities. The eight-element chip can be configured for one, two, or four simultaneous beams or as an element-level DBF receiver. This is achieved using reconfigurable input switching and output combining networks with wideband active switches and combiners. The phased array channel results in a 5-b performance at 3–14 GHz (rms error $P_{\text {1 dB}}$ of −20 dBm per channel when all channels are activated. The chip consumes 250 mW per channel, which is competitive knowing its bandwidth and linearity. The DBF function also results in a wideband response with a gain and an NF of 15–16 and 12–13 dB, respectively, and high linearity (input $P_{\text {1 dB}} = -16$ dBm) at 2–16 GHz. The programmable phased array receiver allows a single chip to be used over $S$ -, $C$ -, $X$ -, and $Ku$ -bands for a variety of applications such as satellite communications and point-to-point links. This results in faster and lower-cost phased array development since the same chip and its field-programmable gate array control can be reused from system to system, but with different antenna and grid spacing. The PPA removes the need to develop a different chip for every application and allows the development of phased arrays at commercial scales.
Embolization Followed by Radiosurgery for the Treatment of Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (AVMs)

Background Embolization has been proposed to reduce the size of the arteriovenous malformation (AVM) nidus in advance of radiosurgical treatment. Embolization followed by radiosurgery for brain AVMs, however, is controversial. Objective We assessed the impact of embolization on nidal size before radiosurgical treatment and evaluated cure rates and complications by using embolization followed by radiosurgery. Methods A retrospective review of our institutional AVM database identified 91 patients treated from 1995 to 2009 with embolization followed by radiosurgery. Pre- and postembolization AVM volumes were measured with angiography, and the modified radiation-based AVM scores (RBAS) also were calculated pre- and postembolization. RBAS determined from pre-embolization volumes were correlated with postradiosurgical obliteration. Results Median AVM volume declined from 18.8 mL (interquartile range, 10.2–32.2 mL) to 9.9 mL (3.1–19.2 mL) after embolization, P 2). A total of 71 of 91 (79%) have had >3 years' follow-up, and 40 (56%) had complete obliteration, with 38 (53%) having excellent outcomes (complete obliteration without neurologic decline). Excellent outcome was seen in 90% of patients with modified RBAS score 2. Conclusions These data suggest that embolization of brain AVMs can safely and effectively reduce the treatment volume before radiosurgery. Combined therapy with embolization and radiosurgery does not appear to adversely affect rates of excellent outcome.
A Novel Small-Molecule Approach To Inhibit Jak2 Tyrosine Kinase Signaling.

Jak kinases are non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases that play a pivotal role in cytokine/growth factor signaling through phosphorylation of specific proteins such as the Stat molecules. Activated Stats translocate to the nucleus where they mediate transcription of several target genes involved in cell cycle progression and survival (Bcl-xL, cyclin D1, c-myc, survivin. Many tumors have highly activated Stats that are associated with aberrant Jak2 regulation and recent studies have shown that activating mutations in Jak2 (V617F) play a key role in many myeloproliferative disorders such as polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia. Jak inhibitors may be useful in treating many diseases with aberrant Jak2/Stat signaling. The most commonly used inhibitor of Jak2 is the tyrphostin AG490, which inhibits Stat3 activation by preventing its tyrosine phosphorylation. However AG490 has limited in vivo efficacy and must be administered at high concentrations (>50 μM) for anti-tumor effects. We describe here a new class of compounds, termed degrasyns, that block Jak2 mediated activation of Stat3 in intact cells at high nM to low μM concentrations. Degrasyns (WP1130/CP2005) did not directly inhibit Jak2 tyrosine kinase activity but suppressed Stat3 activation by reducing the cytoplasmic levels of Jak2. Degrasyn-mediated Jak2 down-regulation was rapid (complete in 2 hrs) and not inhibited by proteasomal, lysosomal, or serine/threonine protease inhibitors. Biochemical studies and confocal microscopy show that degrasyn induces translocation of Jak2 from the plasma membrane/cytosolic fraction into the cytoskeletal fraction and this altered partitioning of Jak2 was associated with loss of cytokine-mediated Stat activation by degrasyn. Jak2 translocation was associated with tyrosine phosphorylation of specific proteins which complex with Jak2. Lyn kinase in the cytoskeletal fraction was highly activated by degrasyn in multiple hematopoetic tumors (multiple myeloma, mantle cell lymphoma, leukemias). Jak2 translocation and Stat inhibition by degrasyn is mechanistically distinct from “classical” Jak2 inhibitors and is not associated with a translocation of other kinases or cytokine signaling molecules in the Jak2 cascade (IL-6R, gp130, Lyn, Btk, Hck, Akt, PI-3K, Erk, Src, Jak1). Degrasyn induces cytoskeletal translocation of both wild-type and mutant (V617F) Jak2 and was associated with induction of apoptosis in HEL cells expressing the Jak2 V617F mutation. These results suggest that degrasyn suppresses Jak/Stat signaling through a unique mechanism involving translocation of Jak2 into a signal transduction incompetent compartment and may be used to investigate a novel form of Stat suppression. Degrasyn may also have anti-tumor effects on cells with aberrant activation of Jak/Stat signaling.
Biomarkers of Exposure

Publisher Summary A biomarker of exposure can be defined as the degree of individual exposure to xenobiotics in a given environment by providing a measurement of internal dose. A relatively narrow definition of an exposure biomarker would be the level of the parent compound or secondary products, such as metabolites, and/or reaction products in biological fluid, cells, or subcellular component, for example, DNA and protein adducts. Ideally, the purpose of measuring biomarkers of xenobiotic exposure is ultimately to provide a better linkage between the exposure with biological effects and/or clinical disease. Thus, biomarkers represent a spectrum between health and disease. Biomarkers of exposure may become critical in the prevention or treatment of a disease. It may also provide information regarding the mechanism(s) leading to a biological effect, and to determine if similar processes are occurring across species. An important attribute of exposure biomarkers is that it takes into account individual determinants of the dosimetry and metabolism of the absorbed pollutant. The factors that affect these rest mainly with individual susceptibility and can include avoidance behavior, personal protective equipment, physiological and psychological adaptations, physical activity, metabolic factors, and organ transport rates. Thus, measurement of the external exposure may not adequately correlate with the target tissue dose or internal dose because of these factors.
Quantitative Imaging Approaches to Study the CAR Immunological Synapse

The lytic immunological synapse (IS) is a discrete structural entity formed after the ligation of specific activating receptors that leads to the destruction of a cancerous cell. The formation of an effector cell IS in cytotoxic T lymphocytes or natural killer cells is a hierarchical and stepwise rearrangement of structural and signaling components and targeted release of the contents of lytic granules. While recent advances in the generation and testing of cytotoxic lymphocytes expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) has demonstrated their efficacy in the targeted lysis of tumor targets, the contribution and dynamics of IS components have not yet been extensively investigated in the context of engineered CAR cells. Understanding the biology of the CAR IS will be a powerful approach to efficiently guide the engineering of new CARs and help identify mechanistic problems in existing CARs. Here, we review the formation of the lytic IS and describe quantitative imaging-based measurements using multiple microscopy techniques at a single cell level that can be used in conjunction with established population-based assays to provide insight into the important cytotoxic function of CAR cells. The inclusion of this approach in the pipeline of CAR product design could be a novel and valuable innovation for the field.
Biochemical and Biomechanical Aspects of Appressorial Development in Magnaporthe Grisea

This article is concerned with the developmental processes that prime the appressorium of Magnaporthe grisea for mechanical penetration of the host surface. Experiments have shown that melanized appressoria generate enormous turgor pressure following the accumulation of high concentrations of cytoplasmic osmolytes, and thereby deliver substantial invasive force at the tip of a slender penetration hypha. Recent molecular genetic studies provide authoritative evidence for the central role played by melanin biosynthesis in the operation of the appressorium, and still other studies have revealed the identity of some of the osmolytes responsible for turgor generation. However, our picture of appressorial function remains limited by a number of problems: the maximum level of appressorial pressure is still questionable, the metabolic source of the cytoplasmic osmolytes is a mystery, and the processes that control melanization of the appressorial wall are poorly understood. Progress toward the resolution of these issues is discussed.
Galactic Cosmic Radiation Induces Persistent Epigenome Alterations Relevant to Human Lung Cancer

Human deep space and planetary travel is limited by uncertainties regarding the health risks associated with exposure to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), and in particular the high linear energy transfer (LET), heavy ion component. Here we assessed the impact of two high-LET ions 56Fe and 28Si, and low-LET X rays on genome-wide methylation patterns in human bronchial epithelial cells. We found that all three radiation types induced rapid and stable changes in DNA methylation but at distinct subsets of CpG sites affecting different chromatin compartments. The 56Fe ions induced mostly hypermethylation, and primarily affected sites in open chromatin regions including enhancers, promoters and the edges ("shores") of CpG islands. The 28Si ion-exposure had mixed effects, inducing both hyper and hypomethylation and affecting sites in more repressed heterochromatic environments, whereas X rays induced mostly hypomethylation, primarily at sites in gene bodies and intergenic regions. Significantly, the methylation status of 56Fe ion sensitive sites, but not those affected by X ray or 28Si ions, discriminated tumor from normal tissue for human lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Thus, high-LET radiation exposure leaves a lasting imprint on the epigenome, and affects sites relevant to human lung cancer. These methylation signatures may prove useful in monitoring the cumulative biological impact and associated cancer risks encountered by astronauts in deep space.
The Realm of Proteins. Structural Features. The Phenomenon of Optical Activity. Historical Highlights

Proteins, especially those that act as enzymes, are essential ingredients of every living cell. In spite of the spectacular advances in protein structure studies, most of the structures are still either unknown or only partially understood. The situation is even worse as regards the functional aspects, e.g. the interplay between the enzymes and other molecules of the living tissue. Nucleic acids are the carriers of genetic information, yet their biosynthesis depends on enzymes. Also, the nucleic acids are found as complex compounds with basic proteins, the histones.
Online Frequency Response Identification using synchrophasor Data

This paper proposes an online data-driven approach for characterization of the power grid dynamic frequency response, implementable in practice with phasor measurement unit (PMU) data. The problem of system frequency response identification is posed as one of Bode Plot identification from a pair of control input and measurement output in a linear dynamic system. A suitable control input preference is proposed along with criteria for observed outputs. It maintains system stability and allows for reasonable linear approximation of a non-linear power grid. The performance of the proposed approach is tested in IEEE systems using synthetic PMU measurements.
Popular subsets for Euler’s $$\varphi $$ φ -function

Let $$\varphi (n) = \#(\mathbb {Z}/n\mathbb {Z})^{\times }$$ (Euler’s totient function). Let $$\epsilon > 0$$ , and let $$\alpha \in (0,1)$$ . We prove that for all $$x > x_0(\epsilon ,\alpha )$$ and every subset $$\mathscr {S}$$ of [1, x] with $$\#\mathscr {S}\le x^{1-\alpha }$$ , the number of $$n\le x$$ with $$\varphi (n)\in \mathscr {S}$$ is at most $$x/L(x)^{\alpha -\epsilon }$$ , where $$\begin{aligned} L(x) = \exp (\log x\cdot \log _3{x}/\log _2 x). \end{aligned}$$ Under plausible conjectures on the distribution of smooth shifted primes, this upper bound is best possible, in the sense that the number $$\alpha $$ appearing in the exponent of L(x) cannot be replaced by anything larger.
Metal-Free Synthesis of 1,3-Disiloxanediols and Aryl Siloxanols

The first example of metal-free oxidative hydrolysis of hydrido-siloxanes is reported. Both base-catalyzed and organocatalytic hydrolysis methods are demonstrated to transform 1,3-dihydrido-disiloxanes into 1,3-disiloxanediols. The first example of a chemoselective silane hydrolysis is demonstrated.
Echoes from the ocean’s interior: High-frequency observations of ocean phenomena

Recent technological advances in high-frequency (>10 kHz) sonar transducers, sonar transceivers, and sonar design have been accompanied by increased capabilities for observing ocean phenomena. These advances include the high range resolution and frequency-domain target classification capabilities associated with wideband acoustic echo sounders, the long-range high-resolution synoptic imaging capabilities associated with multibeam echo sounders and synthetic aperture sonar, and an increased focus on sensor calibration for all systems. High-frequency sonars are increasingly being used to quantify ocean phenomena at scales ranging from sub-centimeter (e.g., individual gas bubbles) to 100s of km (e.g., internal waves) to several 10s of km (e.g., thermohaline staircases). In this talk, we highlight some of the ocean processes that we have been investigating using high-frequency sonar systems, typically involving the transport of hydrocarbons, heat, energy, and fresh water into and through the ocean, and some of the (many) acoustic challenges that must be overcome to continue to increase the value of these observations.
Combined Proctectomy and Hepatectomy for Metastatic Rectal Cancer Should be Undertaken with Caution: Results of a National Cohort Study.

Simultaneous proctectomy and hepatic resection for stage IV rectal cancer remains controversial due to concerns for increased morbidity and mortality. While small series have described simultaneous rectal and hepatic resection, surgical outcomes in a large national cohort have not been described. Overall, 9012 patients with stage IV rectal adenocarcinoma with hepatic metastases were identified in the National Cancer Data Base (2010–2015). Associations between treatment selection, tumor and patient characteristics, 30- and 90-day mortality, and factors predictive of survival after surgery were examined. Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between tumor/patient characteristics, and selection of combined proctectomy and hepatectomy (C-PH). Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to identify median survival stratified by age and other patient-specific factors. Among patients included for analysis, 1331 (14.8%) underwent C-PH. Factors associated with lower rates of C-PH included increasing age, Black/Hispanic race, increased Charlson comorbidity score, Medicare/Medicaid/uninsured status, and treatment at a community cancer program. Thirty- and 90-day mortality increased with age (Chi square 11.4, p 70 years (hazard ratio [HR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0–2.5, p < 0.001), perineural invasion (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2–1.9, p < 0.001), kras mutation (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.1, p = 0.006), positive circumferential margin (HR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0–1.7, p = 0.03), and omission of postoperative chemotherapy (HR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1–1.7, p = 0.002). C-PH should be utilized with caution in frail, high-risk patients. Such patients may be better served by staged surgical management or nonsurgical therapy.
Apolar Behavior of Hydrated Calcite (101̅4) Surface Assists in Naphthenic Acid Adsorption

Water molecules bind strongly to the polar calcite surface and form a surface-adsorbed layer that has properties akin to an apolar surface. This has important implications for understanding the thermodynamic driving forces underlying the adsorption of acid groups from crude oil, in particular, naphthenic acid, onto calcite. Free energy calculations show that naphthenic acid binds favorably to the water monolayer adsorbed on the calcite surface. However, to bond directly to calcite, a free energy barrier has to be overcome to expel the intervening layer of water. Further, naphthenic acids with longer alkyl chains bind with lower free energy to the calcite surface than those with shorter alkyl chains, and, for the same chain length, branching enhances adsorption. To better understand this behavior, for a specified alkyl chain length, we study adsorption at different temperatures. Consistent with experiments, we find that adsorption is enhanced at higher temperatures. Examination of the enthalpic and entropi...
Informatics Framework to Identify Consistent Diagnostic Techniques

Pathologists diagnose diseases according to diagnostic clues (DCs) such as clinical features, morphological features, and expression of antigens on the surface of a cell population. The specific use of these complex DCs constitutes a diagnostic technique. However, interpretation of these DCs may not be the same by all pathologists, subtle differences could lead to misdiagnosis or diagnostic pitfalls. Given that certain DCs express similarly for different disease types, are interrelated, or missing it is challenging to analyze DCs in order to find consistent diagnostic techniques. To address that challenge, we discuss a framework based on Shannon information entropy, which groups cases that represent consistent diagnostic techniques. The analysis of DCs from 35 cases generated three groups. Evaluation studies show that the results are statistically significant. In conclusion, this framework can be useful for the analysis of sparse data and has the potential to discover groups of cases that represent consistent diagnostic heuristics.
Energy Storage in Paraffin: A PDE Backstepping Experiment

This article proposes a novel control algorithm of a thermal phase-change process and shows its experimental verification using paraffin as a phase-change material (PCM). The core problem is to design a boundary feedback control for the “Stefan system” that describes the time evolution of the temperature profile in the liquid phase, which is associated with the time evolution of a position of liquid–solid phase interface, for the sake of stabilizing the interface position at a chosen set point. First, we design the continuous-time full-state feedback control law by means of the PDE backstepping method, which, in the absence of a demand for accelerated convergence, can also be arrived at by the energy-shaping method, and rigorously prove the stability of the closed-loop system under sufficiently small heat loss. Next, the control law is refined via observer-based output feedback under sampled-data measurements of the surface temperature and the phase interface position so that the control algorithm is practically implementable. Then, we conducted an experiment under a constant input to calibrate unknown parameters involved with the heat loss. Finally, the proposed model-based boundary feedback control algorithm is implemented in the experiment of melting paraffin. The experiment was successful: the convergence of the phase interface to the set point was achieved.
Directional Mechanical Impedance of the Human Ankle During Standing with Active Muscles

The directional mechanical impedance of the human ankle was identified from subjects in a standing posture with varying levels of muscle activity. The impedance modeled the different torque responses to angle perturbations about different axes of rotation. This work proposed a novel impedance model that incorporated the coupling between multiple degrees of freedom of the ankle and was validated theoretically and experimentally. The reconstructed torque had an average variance accounted above 94% across twelve subjects. In addition, the impedance varied between and within trials and this variation was explained by changes in the ankle states, i.e., the ankle angle, torque, and muscle activities. These results have implications in the design of new prostheses controllers and the understanding of the human ankle function.
High-Fidelity Finite Element Modeling of Wood-Sheathed Cold-Formed Steel Shear Walls

AbstractCold-formed steel (CFS) framed construction has been widely adopted and used toward a modern, lightweight, and cost-efficient engineering practice across the United States. The primary obje...
Elimination of the linearization error in APW/LAPW basis set: Dirac-Kohn-Sham equations

A detailed account of the implementation of equations of the relativistic density functional theory (RDFT) using basis sets of APW/LAPW type with flexible extensions provided by local orbitals is given. Earlier discoveries of the importance of the high derivative local orbital (HDLO) extension of the APW/LAPW basis set for enhancing the accuracy of DFT calculations are confirmed using a fully relativistic approach and $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{-}U$ as an example. High energy local orbitals (HELO's), however indispensable for GW calculations, are considerably less efficient in enhancing the accuracy of DFT applications. It is shown that a simplified approach to the relativistic effects, namely considering them only inside the muffin-tin (MT) spheres, produces basically identical results (as compared to fully relativistic approach) for the electronic free energy of the five materials considered in this work. By comparing the effect of the simplified approach on the electronic free energy with its effect on the electronic kinetic energy we conclude that the insensitivity of the free energy to the way we describe the relativistic effects in the interstitial region is related to the variational property of this quantity.
Self-care management 101: strategies for social workers and other frontline responders during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural communities

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has taken the world by storm, causing massive death and infection rates, along with a myriad of challenges for individuals, families, groups, organizations, and c...
HCC implications for the procurement process

AI research has done much over the years to facilitate intelligent guessing. Rule-based systems using information about symptoms help solve medical questions given limited information, even helping the user ferret out the important information. Neural networks combine information about multiple variables to solve several guessing situations. Uncertainty representations help guide users to guessing insights about a wide range of problems including machine fault problems. Knowledge discovery can generate profiles or discover unique relationships among variables. These and other AI areas are steeped in guessing. However, the solution approaches are relatively independent of each other
Skills Checklist Utilization and the Impact on Nursing Student Skill Acquisition of the Pediatric Physical Assessment

Nurse educators have a short period of time to prepare a nursing student to enter the healthcare profession. New graduate nurses enter the healthcare field taking positions in high acuity, specialty areas in unprecedented numbers. One such specialty area is pediatrics. Baccalaureate nursing programs only include the pediatric patient in small amounts of the curriculum. This creates a challenge to prepare nursing students to manage pediatric patients that require more astute pattern recognition. Skills checklists are used to facilitate and evaluate the acquisition of the skill of pediatric physical assessment. The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition is used as a guiding framework. According to Benner (2004), a nursing student remains a novice throughout nursing school. Expectations by regulatory bodies, such as the Virginia Board of Nursing, have expectations for proficient clinicians prior to entering the clinical setting (Virginia Board of Nursing, 2017). This study evaluates the method of using a skill checklist as a formative and summative tool versus the traditional model of using solely as a summative tool to see which is more effective in developing skill acquisition.
King Lear and the late Renaissance dramatic convention of self-addressed speech: An empirical approach to theatrical history:

In King Lear, Shakespeare inventively and daringly employed the astonishingly precise features of the convention that governed soliloquies in late Renaissance drama. Plentiful, unambiguous, conspic...
Follow-up Visits

Increasingly, genetic counselors are beginning to note the necessity of follow-up visits. However, due to a shortage of staff, follow-up visits are not always offered as a routine part of genetic counseling services. Instead, they are made available “for those who really need them,” or “if it seems necessary.” When individuals seeking genetic counseling realize that follow-up visits are not routine, they frequently feel awkward about availing themselves of such visits. They may feel that follow-up visits are a confirmation of their inability to deal with the situation or that they have been singled out for special treatment. Some people are concerned about taking up too much of the genetic counselor’s time or even of depriving others whom they feel may have greater needs. For many people, to ask for additional help means they are failures and they suffer a loss of self-esteem. For these and other reasons, follow-up visits, to be successful, need to be an integral part of the genetic counseling service.
Analog cellular neural network with application to partial differential equations with variable mesh-size

A design of VLSI analog CMOS circuit for solving partial differential equations (PDE) has been presented. Elliptic PDE with constant coefficients were considered. A numerical method of discretizing the differential equations on n by n mesh is applied. The partial derivatives are approximated by the difference quotients. When these are substituted back into differential equation, a linear system of algebraic equations is obtained. The n/sup 2/ unknowns of this system are the solutions of the discretized differential equation at the mesh points. The resultant coefficient matrix of this linear system of equations is positive definite. A neural network approach is used. Due to a very regular structure and sparsity of the coefficient matrix, the electrical circuit of the neural network results in a cellular structure which is very suitable for the VLSI analog CMOS implementation. In solving PDE by the use of finite-difference approximations an inherent error due to the discretization technique exists, Intuitively, the accuracy of any finite-difference solution could be increased by decreasing the mesh size. However, the nature of the very solution of the PDE has also an effect upon the inherent accuracy of a finite-difference approximation. Therefore, in selecting an appropriate mesh size, the nature of the function that constitutes the solution of PDE must be taken into consideration. In this paper we will consider how, within the limited size of the neural network, the accuracy of the introduced method can be improved by using a variable mesh size. >
Genetically Engineered ART Architectures

This chapter focuses on the evolution of ARTMAP architectures, using genetic algorithms, with the objective of improving generalization performance and alleviating the ART category proliferation problem. We refer to the resulting architectures as GFAM, GEAM, and GGAM. We demonstrate through extensive experimentation that evolved ARTMAP architectures exhibit good generalization and are of small size, while consuming reasonable computational effort to produce an optimal or a sub-optimal network. Furthermore, we compare the performance of GFAM, GEAM and GGAM with other competitive ARTMAP structures that have appeared in the literature and addressed the category proliferation problem in ART.
Distribution of Fos-Like Immunoreactivity in the Medullary Reticular Formation of the Rat after Gustatory Elicited Ingestion and Rejection Behaviors

The distribution of neurons in the medullary reticular formation (RF) activated by the ingestion of sucrose or rejection of quinine was examined using standard immunohistochemical techniques to detect the expression of the Fos protein product of the immediate-early gene c-fos. Double-labeling techniques were used to gain further insight into the possible functional significance of RF neurons exhibiting Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI). Compared with sucrose and unstimulated controls, quinine elicited significantly more FLI neurons in three specific RF subdivisions: parvocellular reticular nucleus (PCRt), intermediate reticular nucleus (IRt), and dorsal medullary reticular nucleus (MdD). Moreover, the number of FLI neurons in the RF of quinine-stimulated animals was significantly correlated with the degree of oromotor activity. Thus, the distinct distribution of FLI neurons throughout the RF after quinine may reflect the activation of a specific oral rejection circuit. The double-labeling results indicated a high degree of segregation between FLI neurons and premotor projection neurons to the hypoglossal nucleus (mXII) retrogradely labeled with Fluorogold. Thus, although there were a significant number of double-labeled neurons in the RF, the major concentration of premotor projection neurons to mXII in IRt were medial to the preponderance of FLI neurons in the PCRt. In contrast, there was substantial overlap between FLI neurons in the RF and labeled fibers after injections of the anterograde tracer, biotinylated dextran into the rostral (gustatory) portion of the nucleus of the solitary tract. These results support a medial (premotor)/lateral (sensory) functional topography of the medullary RF.
The invisible hook: the hidden economics pirates

There is a long-standing fascination with pirates. Amusement parks boast pirate-themed rides, and blockbuster movies attract viewers of all ages, as evidenced by the multibillion dollar Pirates of ...
Behavioral Genetics and Crime

One of the most hotly debated questions in the scientific arena has centered on whether criminal behavior has a genetic basis. Although it has been previously argued that genetics play no part in shaping antisocial and criminal behavior (e.g., Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990), a growing literature base has served to substantiate that genetic factors are as important to the development of some forms of criminal activity as are environmental factors.
Forward/inverse blind equalization

A new technique for blind equalization is presented which estimates the inverse (deconvolution) multipath channel and the forward channel as well. This method removes the need for an ad hoc energy constraint on the filter taps and constrains the equalization filter by relating the output back to the equalizer input. The concept of feedback is used to provide a more meaningful constraint for blind equalization filters. The real advantage of the method is increased speed of convergence over traditional stochastic gradient methods, and greater robustness to eigenvalue spread. These benefits come at a modest two times the computational complexity price. >
Other important star maps of the Golden Age

The four people highlighted in Chapter 6 were very important for their innovations and influences on others. Each made contributions that added to the accuracy of stellar location in the sky and included more stars in the process. Although attractive visually, their atlases were not necessarily the most beautiful of the Golden Age. In fact, in terms of sheer beauty, some of the works from people discussed in this chapter were superior. Other atlases had wide appeal for different reasons and were quite popular with the public.