cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hyperosmolar sexual lubricant causes epithelial damage in the distal colon: potential implication for HIV transmission

Background Many sexual lubricants are hyperosmolar. Hyperosmolar enemas induce epithelial damage, and enema use has been associated with an increased risk of HIV infection. To inform the development of rectal microbicide formulation, we evaluated the effects of hyperosmolar gels on the rectal mucosa. Methods Two commercial lubricants were compounded into iso-osmolar and hyperosmolar mixtures (283 and 3429 mOsm/kg, respectively). Each gel was radiolabeled with 500 micro Ci of (99m)Technetium-diethylene triaminepentaacetic acid, and 10 mL was given rectally to 10 subjects in random sequence. Sigmoidoscopy by an endoscopist blinded to treatment assignment was performed 90 min later to obtain luminal and mucosal samples. Urine radiolabel detection was used to assess mucosal permeability. Results Epithelial denudation 10 cm from the anus occurred to a greater degree with the hyperosmolar gel than with the iso-osmolar formulation (median toxicity grade, 2.50 vs. 1.17 out of 3, respectively; P=.009). The hyperosmolar gel was also associated with lower isotope luminal concentration at 10 cm, compared with the iso-osmolar gel (median, 8.9% vs. 54.6% of administered concentration, respectively). Mucosal permeability measured through 12 h was reduced with the hyperosmolar gel (P=.037). Conclusion Rectally applied hyperosmolar gels induce greater epithelial denudation and luminal secretion than iso-osmolar gels. Because denudation plausibly increases the risk of HIV transmission, hyperosmolar gels make poor rectal microbicide formulations, and hyperosmolar sexual lubricants may increase susceptibility to HIV infection.
Fourier phase in Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography

Phase of an electromagnetic wave propagating through a sample-of-interest is well understood in the context of quantitative phase imaging in transmission-mode microscopy. In the past decade, Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography has been used to extend quantitative phase imaging to the reflection-mode. Unlike transmission-mode electromagnetic phase, however, the origin and characteristics of reflection-mode Fourier phase are poorly understood, especially in samples with a slowly varying refractive index. In this paper, the general theory of Fourier phase from first principles is presented, and it is shown that Fourier phase is a joint estimate of subresolution offset and mean spatial frequency of the coherence-gated sample refractive index. It is also shown that both spectral-domain phase microscopy and depth-resolved spatial-domain low-coherence quantitative phase microscopy are special cases of this general theory. Analytical expressions are provided for both, and simulations are presented to explain and support the theoretical results. These results are further used to show how Fourier phase allows the estimation of an axial mean spatial frequency profile of the sample, along with depth-resolved characterization of localized optical density change and sample heterogeneity. Finally, a Fourier phase-based explanation of Doppler optical coherence tomography is also provided.
A generational study of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans on mouse fetal, postnatal, pubertal and adult testicular development

The health safety of transgenic soybeans (glyphosate-tolerant or Roundup Ready) was studied using the mammalian testis (mouse model) as a sensitive biomonitor of potential toxic effects. Pregnant mice were fed a transgenic soybean or a non-transgenic (conventional) diet through gestation and lactation. After weaning, the young male mice were maintained on the respective diets. At 8, 16, 26, 32, 63 and 87 days after birth, three male mice and an adult reference mouse were killed, the testes surgically removed, and the cell populations measured by flow cytometry. Multi-generational studies were conducted in the same manner. The results showed that the transgenic foodstuffs had no effect on macromolecular synthesis or cell growth and differentiation as evidenced by no differences in the percentages of testicular cell populations (haploid, diploid, and tetraploid) between the transgenic soybean-fed mice and those fed the conventional diet. Additionally, there were no differences in litter sizes and body weights of the two groups. It was concluded that the transgenic soybean diet had no negative effect on fetal, postnatal, pubertal or adult testicular development.
Using sterilization to change predation rates of wild coyotes:A test case involving pronghorn fawns

a b s t r a c t Surgical sterilization of coyotes (Canis latrans) reduced their predation rate on domestic sheep. We investigated whether sterilizing coyotes would similarly change coyote pre- dation rates on pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) neonates. From May 2006 to March 2008, we radio-collared 71 pronghorn fawns to determine survival rates in south- east Colorado, USA. During the first year of the study, all coyotes were reproductively intact. During the second year, we surgically sterilized 15 coyotes from 10 packs in the southern half of the study area, while nine coyotes from seven packs in the northern half were given sham sterilizations (i.e., remained reproductively intact). In addition, we estimated the availability of alternative prey and coyote density on both areas to evaluate predator-prey factors that could interact with the sterilization treatment. Using the known fate model in Program Mark, we constructed models with and without a treatment effect, plus year, area, individual covariates, alternative prey indices, and predator density to estimate pronghorn fawn survival rates. Results from model averaged parameter estimates and cumulative sum- mer survival indicated coyote sterilization increased survival rates of pronghorn fawns by reducing predation rates of fawns. While fawn survival was higher overall in the north area, after treatment was applied, cumulative pronghorn fawn survival during the summer of 2007 in the south area was 242% higher for pronghorn fawns captured in sterile coyote territories (0.44; 79-day interval survival rate) compared to fawns captured in intact coyote territories (0.18). There was also a significant local area effect, but no relationship between fawn survival and individual fawn covariates of sex, birth weight, birth date, or age. No relationship was detected between fawn survival and lagomorph abundance index, rodent abundance index, or coyote density. Surgical sterilization of coyotes was useful in reducing predation rates on pronghorn fawns. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Essentialist beliefs about bodily transplants in the United States and India

Psychological essentialism is the belief that some internal, unseen essence or force determines the common outward appearances and behaviors of category members. We investigated whether reasoning about transplants of bodily elements showed evidence of essentialist thinking. Both Americans and Indians endorsed the possibility of transplants conferring donors' personality, behavior, and luck on recipients, consistent with essentialism. Respondents also endorsed essentialist effects even when denying that transplants would change a recipient's category membership (e.g., predicting that a recipient of a pig's heart would act more pig-like but denying that the recipient would become a pig). This finding runs counter to predictions from the strongest version of the "minimalist" position (Strevens,2000), an alternative to essentialism. Finally, studies asking about a broader range of donor-to-recipient transfers indicated that Indians essentialized more types of transfers than Americans, but neither sample essentialized monetary transfer. This suggests that results from bodily transplant conditions reflect genuine essentialism rather than broader magical thinking.
On the Border: An Environmental History of San Antonio . Edited by Char Miller. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001. Pp. x, 291. $26.00.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, questions regarding which of America's economic regions will emerge as leader come to the fore. This regional economic leadership may arise when demographics and technology combine with conducive market policies to create unprecedented levels of prosperity. Nineteenth-century New England had these characteristics and created industrial prosperity. The twentieth century brought a westward shift in economic leadership to California and the American Pacific. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, policies friendly toward markets, demographics, and technology suggest an emerging thrust of economic development in the American South. Such an economic climate suggests that the economic lone star of Texas is on the rise. However, like New England's nineteenth- and California's twentieth-century economies, prosperity in the American South will come at an environmental cost. Texas's environment has already experienced some of these costs, as it now ranks first among states in toxic releases and tenth in hazardous-waste releases. Hence, the environmental condition of Texas will continue to be an active area of study among economists and environmental historians.
The right brain is dominant in psychotherapy

This article discusses how recent studies of the right brain, which is dominant for the implicit, nonverbal, intuitive, holistic processing of emotional information and social interactions, can elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie the relational foundations of psychotherapy. Utilizing the interpersonal neurobiological perspective of regulation theory, I describe the fundamental role of the early developing right brain in relational processes, throughout the life span. I present interdisciplinary evidence documenting right brain functions in early attachment processes, in emotional communications within the therapeutic alliance, in mutual therapeutic enactments, and in therapeutic change processes. This work highlights the fact that the current emphasis on relational processes is shared by, cross-fertilizing, and indeed transforming both psychology and neuroscience, with important consequences for clinical psychological models of psychotherapeutic change.
Distal histidine conformational flexibility in dehaloperoxidase from Amphitrite ornata

The enzyme dehaloperoxidase (DHP) from the terebellid polychaete Amphitrite ornata is a heme protein which has a globin fold but can function as both a hemoglobin and a peroxidase. As a peroxidase, DHP is capable of converting 2,4,6-trihalophenols to the corresponding 2,6-dihaloquinones in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. As a hemoglobin, DHP cycles between the oxy and deoxy states as it reversibly binds oxygen for storage. Here, it is reported that the distal histidine, His55, exhibits conformational flexibility in the deoxy form and is consequently observed in two solvent-exposed conformations more than 9.5 A away from the heme. These conformations are analogous to the open conformation of sperm whale myoglobin. The heme iron in deoxy ferrous DHP is five-coordinate and has an out-of-plane displacement of 0.25 A from the heme plane. The observation of five-coordinate heme iron with His55 in a remote solvent-exposed conformation is consistent with the hypothesis that His55 interacts with heme iron ligands through hydrogen bonding in the closed conformation. Since His55 is also displaced by the binding of 4-iodophenol in an internal pocket, these results provide new insight into the correlation between heme iron ligation, molecular binding in the distal pocket and the conformation of the distal histidine in DHP.
Review of 'Intellectual Property and Theories of Justice'

Legal scholars of intellectual property ought to welcome increased interdisciplinary engagement with this area of law, from fields as diverse as anthropology and science and technology studies to philosophy. Each of these disciplines brings an important lens to contemporary intellectual property law, and challenges the dominance of the singular law and economic vision. Anthropology helps us to consider more deeply a central purpose of this law: the promotion of culture. Science and technology studies reveal that technology is not merely science, but also a social and political artifact. Philosophers attend to the moral questions raised by intellectual property. Such questions are legion today with the exponential growth of intellectual property to cover everything from medicines to seeds, and with the steady march of this law into every corner of the globe, including the poorest countries on Earth. Understanding intellectual property as the incentive-to-create reduces to the claim that the ability to pay, as evidenced in the marketplace, should determine the production and dissemination of knowledge and culture. Intellectual Property and Theories of Justice (Gosseries, et al. 2008) is a much-needed intervention into current debates over intellectual property and social justice, a topic once thought irrelevant to IP. The book considers the theoretical foundations of intellectual-property claims are these rights rooted in Lockean claims, or are they merely tools to promote innovation? The contributors to this volume ask whether IP law ought to attend to maldistribution of resources and wealth that flow from IP law, from pricing medicines out of the reach of the poor to the redistribution of wealth from the IP-consuming South to the IP-producing North. Perhaps most importantly, the book is focused on plural values, for example, not just efficiency or equality, but also freedom. As Axel Gosseries writes in the Introduction, Not having enough money to buy non-generic drugs clearly raises problems of both equality and freedom. Gosseries argues that while efficiency concerns are important, they are not the end of the matter. They need to be plugged into theories of justice. Scholars in this volume consider not only the relevance of Locke and Nozick for understanding intellectual-property rights (some argue they are less relevant than many think), but also of Rawls and G. A. Cohen.
Disembodied performance

Early in Tod Machover's opera Death and the Powers, the main character, Simon Powers, is subsumed into a technological environment of his own creation. The theatrical set comes alive in the form of robotic, visual, and sonic elements that allow the actor to extend his range and influence across the stage in unique and dynamic ways. This environment must compellingly assume the behavior and expression of the absent Simon. In order to distill the essence of this character, we recover performance parameters in real time from physiological sensors, voice, and vision systems. These gesture and performance parameters are then mapped to a visual language that incorporates cognitive and semantic models informed by modal relationships. This language allows the off-stage actor to express emotion and interact with others on stage. Our Disembodied Performance system takes a new direction in augmented performance by employing a non-representational abstraction of a human presence that fully translates a character into an environment.
Direct Test of the Equivalency of Dynamic IR and Dynamic Raman Spectroscopies As Techniques for Observing Ultrafast Molecular Dynamics

We report the temperature-dependent infrared (IR) and Raman spectra of Fe(CO)3(η4-norbornadiene). This molecule undergoes carbonyl ligand site exchange on the vibrational time scale, and the effect of this exchange is observable as coalescence of the carbonyl bands in both the IR and Raman spectra. We outline a theory that we used to account for these effects and report simulations of the experimental spectra. We used these simulations to extract the carbonyl ligand exchange rates at various temperatures from the IR and Raman data. This data was used to calculate the activation energy for carbonyl exchange, yielding activation energies of 1.2 ± 0.2 and 1.4 ± 0.1 kcal/mol from the IR and Raman data, respectively. These activation energies are statistically identical and are consistent with previously reported values. This constitutes the first direct comparison between dynamic IR and Raman spectroscopies, and we find them to give identical results.
Collaborative Control of Cell Cycle Progression by the RNA Exonuclease Dis3 and Ras Is Conserved Across Species

Dis3 encodes a conserved RNase that degrades or processes all RNA species via an N-terminal PilT N terminus (PIN) domain and C-terminal RNB domain that harbor, respectively, endonuclease activity and 3'-5' exonuclease activity. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, dis3 mutations cause chromosome missegregation and failure in mitosis, suggesting dis3 promotes cell division. In humans, apparently hypomorphic dis3 mutations are found recurrently in multiple myeloma, suggesting dis3 opposes cell division. Except for the observation that RNAi-mediated depletion of dis3 function drives larval arrest and reduces tissue growth in Drosophila, the role of dis3 has not been rigorously explored in higher eukaryotic systems. Using the Drosophila system and newly generated dis3 null alleles, we find that absence of dis3 activity inhibits cell division. We uncover a conserved CDK1 phosphorylation site that when phosphorylated inhibits Dis3's exonuclease, but not endonuclease, activity. Leveraging this information, we show that Dis3's exonuclease function is required for mitotic cell division: in its absence, cells are delayed in mitosis and exhibit aneuploidy and overcondensed chromosomes. In contrast, we find that modest reduction of dis3 function enhances cell proliferation in the presence of elevated Ras activity, apparently by accelerating cells through G2/M even though each insult by itself delays G2/M. Additionally, we find that dis3 and ras genetically interact in worms and that dis3 can enhance cell proliferation under growth stimulatory conditions in murine B cells. Thus, reduction, but not absence, of dis3 activity can enhance cell proliferation in higher organisms.
Theoretical implications addressing rural college students’ organ donation behaviors

The current study used the theory of planned behavior to examine rural college students' attitudes, normative beliefs, and perceived behavioral control regarding intent to register as organ donors. This effort is done in light of a need to increase intervention efforts among college students, particularly those in rural areas where these undertakings may need to be tailored in grassroots approaches. The study made use of perceived behavioral control as a moderator and found partial support for the model. Findings offer results that scholars, practitioners, and educators can utilize for interventions.
Qualitative Research on Special Education Teacher Preparation

Further, the debate around evidence-based research in education has promoted and supported this view, despite some acknowledgement of the relevance of qualitative methods (Feuer, Towne, & Shavelson, 2002). The history of special education, based on a medical model of disability, has not only mirrored but has intensified a positivist epistemology. Indeed, Skrtic’s (1991) analysis of special education concluded that the field has been grounded in a “functionalist paradigm,” whose emphasis has been on the teaching of discrete skills and measureable, quantifiable outcomes, while Artiles (2011) emphasized that categorical thinking has reified beliefs about disabilities and racial inferiority.
Emerging Physicochemical Phenomena along with New Opportunities at the Biomolecular–Nanoparticle Interface

Efforts to create new nanoparticle–biomolecule hybrids for diverse applications including biosensing, theranostics, drug delivery, and even biocomputation continue to grow at an unprecedented rate. As the composite designs become more sophisticated, new and unanticipated physicochemical phenomena are emerging at the nanomaterial–biological interface. These phenomena arise from two interrelated factors, namely, the novel architecture of nanoparticle bioconjugates and the unique physicochemical properties of their interfacial environment. Here we examine how the augmented functionality imparted by such hybrid structures, including accessing concentric energy transfer, enhanced enzymatic activity, and sensitivity to electric fields, is leading to new applications. We discuss some lesser-understood phenomena that arise at the nanoparticle interface, such as the complex and confounding issue of protein corona formation, along with their unexpected benefits. Overall, understanding these complex phenomena will i...
Examining the Impact of Consumer Innovativeness and Innovative Restaurant Image in Upscale Restaurants

Long-term customer retention in the upscale restaurant industry requires successful management of postconsumption service evaluations. The purpose of this research is to identify drivers of price fairness and postconsumption behavioral intentions within the context of upscale/fine dining restaurant patronage. Specifically, this study identifies the dual roles of consumer innovation and restaurant image as drivers of price fairness and behavioral intentions. Based on a review of the literature, a construct nomology was proposed. The model was then tested using data collected from a sample of upscale restaurant patrons residing in the United States. Results of a structural equation analysis suggest, for innovative consumers, the perception that a restaurant is likewise innovative results in increased perceptions of price fairness and positive postconsumption behavioral intention. Innovative customers, grateful to the restaurant for having their needs for novelty satisfied, were more likely to perceive price...
WE‐G‐204‐01: Building a Career in Academic Medical Physics: The Hardest and Best Job You Will Ever Have!

While many indicators for academic medical physics are distressing – jobs are tight, demands on clinical time are high (and getting worse) and national funding has been flat for several years (meaning less money in reality) the present is perhaps one of the most exciting times in cancer research history, and medical physicists have an opportunity to make a difference. Many of us predict the impact of medical physics on cancer research over the next decade to be more significant than ever. Why is that? First, medical imaging is used for every cancer patient in developed countries. Every improvement in the acquisition, processing or analysis of radiological images has the potential to impact patients. The use of radiation therapy is at an all-time high – and virtually cannot be performed without medical physics. Many of the advances in both biomedical imaging and radiation oncology are the result of the hard work of academic medical physicists who are thinking of the next generation of technologies that will be used against cancer or an even broader spectrum of diseases. A career in academic medical physics is demanding, particularly for those with clinical responsibilities. As the demands for justification of their clinical effort become increasingly metricized, the ability to do “unfunded research” will become even more difficult. This means that many will have to generate external salary support to justify their efforts in research and development. This comes at a time when funding for research is compressed and harder to obtain. Generally speaking, if you are not contributing 50% or more of your effort to research, you are competing at a disadvantage and it is very unlikely you will get an NIH/NCI/NIBIB grant. Furthermore, in the ongoing effort to improve patient care and safety, we have developed credentialing pathways that now require at least two-years of residency training. This full-time clinical training creates a gap in the research trajectory of graduate students who aspire to academic positions with an expectation for extramural funding. To address this, several residency programs have created hybrid programs where the two-years of clinical training is combined with one or two years of research effort to allow candidates to further establish an academic identity and to ensure adequate academic productivity to compete for a beginning faculty position. In conclusion, while the path to a successful career in academic medical physics is steep and sometimes hard to follow, reaching the apex is worth the journey. Different paths to a career in medical physics are available, you just have to decide which one is right for you. If improving cancer care is your goal as a physicist, then academic medical physics is the job for you!
Effect of cholinergic drugs on outflow facility after ciliary ganglionectomy.

In cynomolgus monkeys, resting total outflow facility was unaltered 1 and 6 or more months after ciliary ganglionectomy (CG) or postganglionic ciliary neurectomy (PCN). Intraocular pressure (IOP) was decreased in the denervated eye 1 week and 1 month after surgery, but returned to normal after 6 or more months. Although baseline facilities were comparable in CG/PCN and fellow control eyes 6 or more months after surgery, even maximal intracameral doses of pilocarpine did not increase outflow facility in previously denervated eyes, while a normal facility increase occurred in fellow control eyes. However, both previously denervated and fellow control eyes exhibited a large facility increase to both submaximal and greater than maximal intracameral doses of eserine. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 29:491-494,1988 Previous investigations on the effects of ciliary ganglionectomy (CG) or postganglionic ciliary neurectomy (PCN) in the cynomolgus monkey eye have demonstrated that 1 month after surgery, the ciliary muscle is completely parasympathetically denervated, but that within 6 months nearly complete reinnervation occurs. 1 * 2
The impact of multiple-site interactions on the energy resolution of a high-pressure xenon γ-ray spectrometer

High-pressure xenon (HPXe) ionization chambers have generated interest as a radiation detection medium for purposes requiring good energy resolution, high detection efficiency, and uniform response over a broad temperature range, such as homeland security and well logging applications. However, these chambers generally exhibit a substantial degradation of the measured energy resolution relative to theoretical limits. This investigation studies the impact of the number of interaction sites in an event sequence on the measured energy resolution using a benchmarked simulation package. The prominence of single and multiple-site interactions is investigated in addition to the photopeak broadening due to each event class. A radial position-sensing technique developed for coplanar- anode HPXe chambers is shown to have benefit for only single- site events.
Multipolar f Electron-Conduction Band Interactions in Rare-Earth Compounds

Recently we discussed the evidence for multipolar rare earth conduction electron (k-f) interactions in rare earth metallic systems.1 Here we will present some new evidence for this and consider the role of the k-f interactions as well as the orbit-lattice interaction in producing multipolar interionic (f-f) coupling between rare earths in metallic systems.
A Student's Guide to Dimensional Analysis

This introduction to dimensional analysis covers the methods, history and formalisation of the field, and provides physics and engineering applications. Covering topics from mechanics, hydro- and electrodynamics to thermal and quantum physics, it illustrates the possibilities and limitations of dimensional analysis. Introducing basic physics and fluid engineering topics through the mathematical methods of dimensional analysis, this book is perfect for students in physics, engineering and mathematics. Explaining potentially unfamiliar concepts such as viscosity and diffusivity, the text includes worked examples and end-of-chapter problems with answers provided in an accompanying appendix, which help make it ideal for self-study. Long-standing methodological problems arising in popular presentations of dimensional analysis are also identified and solved, making the book a useful text for advanced students and professionals.
A unique gene expression signature in tumor positive or negative sentinel lymph nodes in patients with melanoma.

9087 Background: Molecular characterization through gene expression (exp) profiling of node positive and node negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in patients with clinical stage I-II melanoma may ...
Randomness Testing of the Advanced Encryption Standard Candidate Algorithms

One of the criteria used to evaluate the Advanced Encryption Standard candidate algorithms was their demonstrated suitability as random number generators. That is, the evaluation of their output utilizing statistical tests should not provide any means by which to computationally distinguish them from a truly random source. This internal report lists several characteristics which an encryption algorithm exhibiting random behavior should possess, describes how the output for each candidate algorithm was evaluated for randomness, discusses what has been learned utilizing the NIST statistical tests, and finally provides an interpretation of the results.
Accuracy investigation of SFCW radar in human vital signs detection for subject's relative position

In this paper, the effects of different subject orientations, and multiple subjects in human vital sign detection using stepped frequency continuous wave (SFCW) radar are analyzed. The accuracy performance is validated with an electromagnetic scattering human ribcage model. Both of simulation and measurement results are demonstrated in this work.
Family Relationships and Youth Sport: Influence of Siblings and Parents on Youth's Participation, Interests, and Skills

Taking a family systems perspective, the present study investigated how older siblings’ and parents’ (mothers’ and fathers’) interests, skills, and participation in sports predicted younger siblings’ attitudes and behaviors in those same domains. Testing social learning principles, we further examined whether family members’ influence was stronger when they shared warmer relationships and siblings shared the same gender. Participants included mothers, fathers, and adolescent-aged first and second-born siblings from 197 maritally intact families. Families participated in home interviews as well as a series of 7 nightly phone calls during which participants reported on their daily activities. Across dependent variables, results revealed that parents’ and (with one exception) older siblings’ qualities were predictive of younger siblings’ interests, skills, and participation in sports. Inconsistent with hypotheses, however, family members’ influence was not moderated by relational warmth. Discussion highlights the need to examine the socialization processes by which siblings shape each other’s sport-related attitudes and activities.
The Machine: South Side Blues Club Interplay—2000 to Present

The Machine: South Side Blues-scape Interplay–2000 to Present sharpens the focus, examining the relations between Chicago’s current redevelopment machine and blues clubs and their blocks on the South Side. It examines how this once no-go redevelopment area (but always bound up with redevelopment as a warehousing and containment district for the black poor) now receives attention from machine actors for its potentially profitable real-estate and potentially commodifiable “gems” for city cultural enhancement. As these formations navigate difficult economic times and stare at this new restructuring frontier, key issues remain unclear: What of their reach into new discourses? Ways of presenting themselves? New political strategies for involvement? New social relations and political alliances?
Combined Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and MIR Quantum Cascade Laser Reflectance Spectroscopy for Elemental and Molecular Characterization

We combine laser-based mid-infrared reflectance measurements using tunable quantum cascade lasers and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to get both the elemental and molecular compositions of a sample. Results for mineral ore characterization are shown.
ON MINIMIZING THE MEAN DETECTION TIME TO FAILURES SUBJECT TO DETECTION ERROR.

Results from statistical search and detection theory are employed to establish a method for prescribing an optimal testing sequence for locating a failure in a series system when testing is subject to error. A numerical example is given for the case of ..
Chronic Diarrheal Disorders due to Endocrine Neoplasms

Endocrine neoplasms of the gut are a rare cause of chronic diarrhea and account for <1% of patients who present with chronic diarrhea. However, diarrhea associated with endocrine neoplasms can cause significant morbidity and mortality, and clinicians should recognize the diarrheal syndromes associated with endocrine neoplasms. This chapter discusses pathophysiology, diagnostic tests, and treatment options for diarrhea associated with endocrine neoplasms.
Electronic Markets: Impact and Implications

In this chapter we survey the economic impact of electronic markets (e-markets). We identify and analyze examples of e-markets, the impact of e-markets on the structure of industries, buyer and seller cost differences for traditional and electronic markets, revenue source implications for sellers and transaction intermediaries, and determinants of e-market success. The overall issue addressed is whether there are economic incentives for electronic markets, or are they just a passing fad?
Sulfate aerosol geoengineering: the question of justice

Some authors have called for increased research on various forms of geoengineering as a means to address global climate change. This paper focuses on the question of whether a particular form of geoengineering, namely deploying sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere to counteract some of the effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations, would be a just response to climate change. In particular, we examine problems sulfate aerosol geoengineering (SAG) faces in meeting the requirements of distributive, intergenerational, and procedural justice. We argue that SAG faces obstacles to meeting the requirements of all three considered kinds of justice, because its impacts can harm some persons and communities much more than others; it poses serious risks to future generations; and SAG is especially prone to unilateral implementation. While we do not claim that SAG ought not to be implemented, we argue that it is the responsibility of proponents of SAG to recognize and address these ethical obstacles before advocating its implementation.
Political Corruption and Auditor Behavior: Evidence from US Firms

This paper investigates the impact of political corruption on auditor behavior in the United States. We find that US firms headquartered in more corrupt regions pay higher audit fees, have longer audit report lags, and are more likely to receive a going concern audit opinion. Political corruption is a manifestation of a weak institutional environment and, as such, weakens the rule of law. In addition, political corruption erodes the public’s belief in a political system and reduces interpersonal trust. Our results suggest that auditors assess the risk and trustworthiness of their clients based on where firms are headquartered. The results are robust to using a 2SLS regression analysis and a propensity-score-matched sample. This study extends the prior research on political corruption and the client risk management strategies used by external auditors. Moreover, the current study will be helpful to regulators considering the more explicit role of external auditors in corruption risk assessment.
Deep learning algorithms to identify documentation of serious illness conversations during intensive care unit admissions.

Background:Timely documentation of care preferences is an endorsed quality indicator for seriously ill patients admitted to intensive care units. Clinicians document their conversations about these...
Abstract P181: Young Adult Risk Factor Burden and Sleep Hypertension in Middle-Age: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

Introduction: Developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors at younger ages increases the risk for clinic hypertension. Few data report if earlier exposure to CVD risk factors impacts blood ...
Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models

As the previous chapters suggest, it is not difficult to conceive of test items that require more than one hypothetical construct to determine the correct response. However, when describing multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models, care should be taken to distinguish between dimensions as defined by MIRT models, which represent statistical abstractions of the observed data, and the hypothetical constructs that represent cognitive or affective dimensions of variation in a population of examinees. The earlier chapters present some of those distinctions. This chapter will elaborate on the distinctions between coordinates and constructs and the distinctions will be given additional treatment in Chaps. 6 and 7.
Opening new paths for biological applications of ion mobility - Mass spectrometry using structures for lossless ion manipulations

Ion mobility separations coupled to mass spectrometry (IM-MS) have received much attention for their ability to provide complementary structural information to solution-phase-based separations, as well as to aid in the identification of unknown compounds. While IM-MS is an increasingly powerful analytical technique, significant bottlenecks related to the resolution of measurements have kept it from becoming broadly applied for biological analyses. Presently, IM-MS-based measurements also remain limited in terms of their sensitivity as compared to state of the art MS-based approaches alone. Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM)-based IM separations provide a basis for overcoming these bottlenecks, addressing issues associated with resolution and sensitivity in the omics, and potentially opening the door to much broader application.
PerRNN: Personalized Recurrent Neural Networks for Acceleration-Based Human Activity Recognition

The ever-growing proliferation of mobile devices equipped with accelerometers has provided new opportunities to capture the semantic meanings of human activities and improve user experience with behavior-based recommendations, which heavily rely on the accuracy of the recognition of daily human activities. Acceleration-based human activity recognition (HAR) is a challenging problem because each accelerometer records multi-dimensional signals in both spatial and temporal domains that have different attributes for representing different activities or even the same activity. Thus we cannot directly compare these signals with each other, because they are embedded in a non-metric space. In this paper, we present a Personalized Recurrent Neural Network (PerRNN) to dynamically segment and recognize the human activities based on accelerometer data. Enlightened by the idea of spatiotemporal predictive learning, the proposed architecture is capable of memorizing different acceleration signals' appearances and temporal variations in a unified memory pool. We evaluate the performance of the proposed framework on a commonly used dataset, WISDM. Experiment results show that compared with state-of-the-art schemes, our proposed PerRNN system recognizes 6 different human activities with the highest overall accuracy of 96.44&#x0025;.
Assessment of Transporter Polymorphisms as a Factor in a BCRP Drug Interaction Study With Lanabecestat.

Lanabecestat is a human β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1 inhibitor in development to slow disease progression in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. The study evaluated the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) inhibition potential of lanabecestat on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of rosuvastatin, a probe for BCRP activity, in healthy white subjects who were not carriers of SLCO1B1 (c.521T>C), not homozygotes for ABCG2 (c.421C>A or c.34G>A), and not heterozygotes of ABCG2 (c.421C>A and c.34G>A). The safety of lanabecestat + rosuvastatin, the effects of rosuvastatin on the PK of lanabecestat, and the effects of multiple genetic polymorphisms on rosuvastatin exposure were assessed. Geometric mean ratios of the maximum observed rosuvastatin concentration (Cmax ), area under the rosuvastatin concentration-versus-time curve (AUC) from time 0 to infinity, and time of maximum observed drug concentration (tmax ) when rosuvastatin was administered alone and with lanabecestat were contained within 0.8-1.25, as were lanabecestat AUC at steady state and tmax at steady state when lanabecestat was administered alone or with rosuvastatin. Lanabecestat Cmax at steady state increased 8% in the presence of rosuvastatin. Except for an approximately 80% increase of rosuvastatin AUC (P A relative to the CC genotype, there were no statistically significant associations between rosuvastatin exposure and polymorphisms assessed. Lanabecestat + rosuvastatin was associated with few treatment-emergent adverse events, all of which resolved and were mild. Lanabecestat does not meaningfully impact BCRP activity; therefore, restriction of concomitant administration with BCRP substrates, such as rosuvastatin, may be unnecessary.
Method for evaluating ion mobility spectrometers for trace detection of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances

Continuing efforts to combat the opioid crisis in the U.S. require technologies that can detect the presence of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances for multiple applications, including law enforcement and border protection. Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) technologies have a potential role here, and agencies will require robust methods to evaluate instrument performance for what are very challenging detection requirements. A suite of commercial instruments configured for general drug and/or explosives detection was used to determine baseline performance for detection of fentanyl and 15 fentanyl-related substances to guide the development of a method. Detection of all 16 compounds and reproducibility in reduced mobilities (K0) of ±0.01 cm2 V−1 s−1 indicate that product ion formation is the same across instrument platforms, and a strong correlation with molecular weight (R2 = 0.99) allows for the prediction of reduced mobility for newly encountered fentanyl analogs. Eleven compounds representing those most frequently encountered in seized materials in the U.S. since 2015 were chosen for the proposed evaluation method. Based on the highest resolution instruments, detection windows of ±0.003 cm2 V−1 s−1 allow for 6 out of 11 compounds to be uniquely identified while the remainder are identified as pairs. The method proposes testing only 9 compounds because of the redundancies represented by the paired detections. Sensitivity measurements using ASTM E2677 for fentanyl and benzyl fentanyl indicate that all instruments are capable of nanogram detection levels, and that a common dosing level of 100 ng for all tested compounds is appropriate. Heroin, procaine, and quinine are proposed as confusants to add to fentanyl samples, based on the known presence of these materials in seized samples and baseline measurements of the effect on the detection of fentanyl. The method also includes a list of drugs that should be tested for false positives to ensure that authentic pharmaceutical compounds or other illicit drugs can be discriminated. IMS manufacturers are currently developing algorithms to enable fentanyl detection in their trace detectors, and this method can apply as those instruments become available.
Thinking with Others: A Radically Externalist Internalism

This paper is ambitious: it begins with mixing externalism in philosophy of mind with internalism in epistemology, and it ends with instructive insights from social and feminist thought. In the first stage, I argue that one can consistently combine two theses that appear, at first glance, incompatible: cognitive externalism—the thesis that one’s mental states/processing can extend past one’s biological boundaries—and mentalism in epistemology—i.e., that epistemic justification supervenes on one’s mental states. This yields the perhaps startling or strange view that the loci of epistemic justification are both mental states and (can be) located externally to one’s skull and skin. This motivates the second stage: I aim to ease that strangeness by suggesting that most discussions of cognitive externalism and epistemology too often focus exclusively on extending epistemically reliable abilities, faculties, dispositions, etc. to artifacts (e.g., notebooks, computers) in one’s environment. Instead, we should think of this combination as informed by feminist epistemologists’ insistence of our thinking’s irreducible and radical sociality. Epistemic communities shape and are shaped by our cognition—echoing the dynamic, interactive integration at the heart of cognitive externalism. Thus, just as I am part of an epistemic community, it is also a part of me (literally). Thus, I think with others: not merely as an artifact but as constituent elements of my cognition itself; resulting in a robust socially extended internalism.
Topography of Hippocampal Connectivity with Sensorimotor Cortex Revealed by Optimizing Smoothing Kernel and Voxel Size

Evaluating hippocampal connectivity across task conditions can be challenging, especially in the absence of activation to select the size and location of seeds; furthermore, optimal analysis parameters are unknown. Hippocampal task-specific connectivity with sensorimotor cortex was identified from psychophysiological interactions (PPI) during volitional movements; connectivity from a structural seed represented the mean of connectivity maps from all voxels in a hippocampal region, whereas connectivity from a functional seed represented maximal connectivity from an individual voxel. Motor activation and hippocampal connectivity were both evaluated across different processing parameters (3mm vs. 4mm isovoxels, smoothing kernels of 6-10mm). Topography in hippocampal connectivity was apparent along both its longitudinal axis and mediolateral axis, but only with optimal processing. Larger voxels improved signal-to-noise during individual and group analyses, lowering the statistical threshold and increasing the area of activation. The 10mm smoothing kernel was optimal for detecting connectivity from structural seeds, whereas the size of the smoothing kernel had little effect on connectivity from functional seeds. Unlike other approaches, structural seeds in this study allowed task-related connectivity to be examined throughout the hippocampus. By optimizing processing parameters, topography in hippocampal connectivity became demonstrable from both structural seeds and individual voxels. Larger voxels and smoothing kernels improved sensitivity for detecting activation and hippocampal connectivity, with the use of structural / functional seeds uncovering details about the topography of its functional connections.
Mesenchymal subtype neuroblastomas are addicted to TGF-βR2/HMGCR-driven protein geranylgeranylation

The identification of targeted agents with high therapeutic index is a major challenge for cancer drug discovery. We found that screening chemical libraries across neuroblastoma (NBL) tumor subtypes for selectively-lethal compounds revealed metabolic dependencies that defined each subtype. Bioactive compounds were screened across cell models of mesenchymal (MESN) and MYCN-amplified (MYCNA) NBL subtypes, which revealed the mevalonate and folate biosynthetic pathways as MESN-selective dependencies. Treatment with lovastatin, a mevalonate biosynthesis inhibitor, selectively inhibited protein prenylation and induced apoptosis in MESN cells, while having little effect in MYCNA lines. Statin sensitivity was driven by HMGCR expression, the rate-limiting enzyme for cholesterol synthesis, which correlated with statin sensitivity across NBL cell lines, thus providing a drug sensitivity biomarker. Comparing expression profiles from sensitive and resistant cell lines revealed a TGFBR2 signaling axis that regulates HMGCR, defining an actionable addiction in that leads to MESN-subtype-dependent apoptotic cell death.