cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hot topics at the intersection of aging and energetics: Diabetes/insulin resistance, Sirtuins, and the Microbiome

A recent review in F1000Research identified the “top research priorities identified in leading publications” at the interface of Aging and Energetics. The authors identified the ten most-cited papers in each of the years 2010 through 2013, and used these forty papers to identify thematic categories. However, the search methodology used by the authors omitted many high-impact aging manuscripts. Minor modifications in the authors’ search methodology finds that Diabetes/insulin resistance, Sirtuins, and the Microbiome are also top thematic categories.
Strategies for Online Critiquing of Student Assignments

Word processing programs now allow instructors to provide online personalized, detailed critiques of students’ writing assignments. The article discusses the advantages of online critiquing assignments using the Track Changes, Comment, and AutoCorrect functions. It provides guidelines for online critiquing and grading of student assignments, including preparing students for online grading, preparing for online critiquing, setting policies, orienting students to sending e-mail attachments, avoiding pitfalls, and developing time-saving strategies for online critiquing of student assignments.
Independent Colonies Emerge into Flourishing Independent City-States

Did Greek city-states create colonies in the ancient world in order to expand their sphere of influence? This is the focus of the article and an extremely important concept to grasp. In order to fully understand how colonies became self-sufficient, an analysis of financial, social, and militaristic values within the colonial society is necessary. Creating a distinction between colony and city-state helps to clarify why members of colonies, such as Methone, sought freedom and independence from their mother-cities.
Intimate Partner Violence and Depression in a Population-Based Sample of Women: Can Social Support Help?

Data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in Nevada was analyzed to determine whether social support is independently associated with depression in a population-based sample of women with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV). More than a quarter (27%) of the women who were randomly chosen to participate in the survey reported lifetime IPV (n = 472). Twenty-four percent of abused women were categorized as currently depressed according to the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). Abused women who reported low social support, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.95, 95% CI (1.69-14.49), or moderate social support, AOR = 2.71, 95% CI (1.00-7.33), were more likely to be depressed than women who reported high levels of social support. Other independent risk factors for depression included younger age, AOR = 5.36, 95% CI (1.36-25.39); low education (less than high school), AOR = 12.55, 95% CI (2.78-56.72); fair or poor perceived health status, AOR = 3.72, 95% CI (1.39-9.87); being overweight or obese, AOR = 3.21, 95% CI (1.26-8.19); having experienced sexual IPV, AOR = 4.95, 95% CI (1.08-22.74); and having experienced both physical and sexual IPV, AOR = 4.54, 95% CI (2.07-9.99). There is an urgent need for routine screening for IPV and depression in clinic and community settings. Interventions that target younger women who experience IPV and aim to decrease depression in this vulnerable population are likely to be most effective if they promote social support, increase education opportunities, and support healthy weight loss behaviors.
Mapping kernel objects to enable systematic integrity checking

Dynamic kernel data have become an attractive target for kernel-mode malware. However, previous solutions for checking kernel integrity either limit themselves to code and static data or can only inspect a fraction of dynamic data, resulting in limited protection. Our study shows that previous solutions may reach only 28% of the dynamic kernel data and thus may fail to identify function pointers manipulated by many kernel-mode malware.To enable systematic kernel integrity checking, in this paper we present KOP, a system that can map dynamic kernel data with nearly complete coverage and nearly perfect accuracy. Unlike previous approaches, which ignore generic pointers, unions and dynamic arrays when locating dynamic kernel objects, KOP (1) applies inter-procedural points-to analysis to compute all possible types for generic pointers (e.g., void*), (2) uses a pattern matching algorithm to resolve type ambiguities (e.g., unions), and (3) recognizes dynamic arrays by leveraging knowledge of kernel memory pool boundaries. We implemented a prototype of KOP and evaluated it on a Windows Vista SP1 system loaded with 63 kernel drivers. KOP was able to accurately map 99% of all the dynamic kernel data.To demonstrate KOP's power, we developed two tools based on it to systematically identify malicious function pointers and uncover hidden kernel objects. Our tools correctly identified all malicious function pointers and all hidden objects from nine real-world kernel-mode malware samples as well as one created by ourselves, with no false alarms.
Transgressive Gender Play: Profiles and Portraits of Girl Players in a Tween Virtual World

Little is known about how girl players navigate through virtual worlds, negotiate their identity, and challenge cultural norms and practices. We investigated over 500 players in a science-themed tween virtual world called Whyville.net with girls being the majority (68%) of its 1.5 million registered players. Using logfile data collected over a six-month long period, we identified three distinct groups: core gamers (7% of all players), semi-core gamers (34% of players), and peripheral gamers (59% of players). We found that all groups participated in common practices but that core players also participated in non-traditional, transgressive practices. These included private flirting with other players and aggressive scamming of others for personal profit as well as public denials of such activities because they violated gender and social norms. Often hidden, these facets of girls’ play indicate the value of virtual worlds as digital publics that offer youth opportunities to engage in identity exploration and border crossing.
Pulse-Probe Measurements in Low-Temperature, Low-Pressure SF6

The experimental determination of the intramolecular distribution of vibrational energy following infrared laser excitation of polyatomic molecules has been a goal of many researchers in recent years. One popular method of investigation has been the pulse-probe technique with SF6 and similar species.
Monitoring and Investigating Natural Disease by Veterinary Pathologists in Diagnostic Laboratories

Many emerging diseases in animals are initially recognized by diagnostic pathologists in animal health laboratories using routine laboratory submissions, in conjunction with clinical veterinarians and wildlife biologists. Familiar recent examples are chronic wasting disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, West Nile encephalomyelitis in North America, and postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome in pigs. The recognition of new diseases in animals requires that the curiosity of diagnosticians be articulated with the capacity of animal health laboratories to create effective diagnostic teams, solicit additional cases from the field at minimal cost to clients, and develop relationships with basic researchers. Bovine neosporosis is used as an example to illustrate how a disease investigation triggered by routine clinical accessions can have international ramifications. Between the late 1980s and 1995, diagnosticians with California’s animal health laboratory system identified neosporosis as a cause of rep...
Recurrent idiopathic membranous nephropathy in the renal allograft: successful treatment with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab

Idiopathic membranous glomerulonephritis (IMGN) is one of the most common causes of nephrotic syndrome in adults. Disease progression is associated with the magnitude and duration of proteinuria [Reichert LJ, Koene RA, Wetzels JF. Prognostic factors in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Am J Kidney Dis 1998; 31: 1-11]. Membranous nephropathy is also one of the glomerular diseases that is well described to recur in the transplanted kidney [Kotanko P, Pusey CD, Levy JB. Recurrent glomerulonephritis following renal transplantation. Transplantation 1997; 63: 1045]. There is no definitive therapy for primary membranous glomerulonephritis or recurrent disease in the graft. Cyclophosphamide plus steroids or cyclosporine [Cattran DC, Greenwood C, Ritchie S et al. Canadian Glomerulonephritis Study Group. A controlled trial of cyclosporine in patients with progressive membranous nephropathy. Kidney Int 1995; 47: 1130-1135] have been the preferred agents for the treatment of MGN involving the native kidneys. More recently, several reports have described the use of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab in patients with IMGN. In the current report, we present a patient with ESRD secondary to IMGN who developed nephrotic range proteinuria 5 months after receiving a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. A biopsy of the allograft demonstrated changes compatible with recurrent membranous glomerulonephritis. The patient was treated with four weekly infusions of rituximab over a 1-month period with a significant decrease in proteinuria and an improvement in renal function.
Predicting Age from Body Measurements and Observations

From 51 body measurements and two qualitative observations on 600 men ranging in age from the third to the eighth decade of life (mean age, 43 years), sixteen measurements plus grayness of hair and...
Isolation techniques for 256 Mbit SOI DRAM application

Various isolation techniques on SOI wafer were examined for the 256 Mbit DRAM application. The LOCOS technique results in good isolation down to 0.6 /spl mu/m pitch, in terms of encroachment and subthreshold characteristics. The encroachment of SOI wafers is slightly better than that of bulk wafers on the thick SOI wafers and expect to be even better on the thin SOI wafers. It is the most efficient way to adopt LOCOS isolation for the 256 Mbit SOI DRAM because of many years of process development experience in the bulk technology. In addition, the LOCOS isolation provides no edge leakage to the devices on SOI wafers. However, the LOCOS isolation technique may be limited as the DRAM cell pitch continue to scale down. The MESA isolation provides encroachment free for all ranges of SOI thickness. However, the MESA isolation morphology varies with the size of the isolation region. This could introduce edge leakage in devices with wide isolation region. The morphology variation can be solved with Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) technology and it is expected not to be an issue in the near future. The edge leakage can be suppressed by angled channel stop implant and with mesa corner rounding treatment. As the DRAM cell pitch continue to scale down, the MESA isolation technique may be the only candidate for the 1 Gbit and beyond SOI DRAM.
N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea (MNU): A positive control chemical for p53+/- mouse carcinogenicity studies

This study evaluated the effects of a single intraperitoneal injection of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) in citrate buffer (pH 4.5) at a dose of 75 mg/kg in thirty male and thirty female p53+/- mice followed by a six-month observation period. Fifteen control mice per sex received a single intraperitoneal injection of citrate buffer. Fifty-six of sixty mice treated with MNU died or were sacrificed before the end of the observation period. Twenty-four males and twenty-seven females treated with MNU developed malignant lymphoma of the thymus; of these, twenty-three males and twenty-seven females had corresponding enlargement or masses in the thymus at necropsy. Lymphoblasts in thymic lymphomas stained positively for mouse CD3 antigen, indicating a T-cell lineage. One control female mouse had malignant lymphoma of the spleen that did not involve the thymus. Nine males and five females treated with MNU had adenomas or adenocarcinomas of the small intestine, whereas no intestinal neoplasms were observed in control mice. These findings support the use of a single dose of MNU as a positive control chemical in six-month p53+/- mouse carcinogenicity studies and suggest that examination of the thymus alone is sufficient to evaluate the validity of the model system.
Reshaping Visual Datasets for Domain Adaptation

In visual recognition problems, the common data distribution mismatches between training and testing make domain adaptation essential. However, image data is difficult to manually divide into the discrete domains required by adaptation algorithms, and the standard practice of equating datasets with domains is a weak proxy for all the real conditions that alter the statistics in complex ways (lighting, pose, background, resolution, etc.) We propose an approach to automatically discover latent domains in image or video datasets. Our formulation imposes two key properties on domains: maximum distinctiveness and maximum learnability. By maximum distinctiveness, we require the underlying distributions of the identified domains to be different from each other to the maximum extent; by maximum learnability, we ensure that a strong discriminative model can be learned from the domain. We devise a nonparametric formulation and efficient optimization procedure that can successfully discover domains among both training and test data. We extensively evaluate our approach on object recognition and human activity recognition tasks.
Mode coupling and generalized hydrodynamics

In this paper a general hydrodynamic mode coupling theory of equilibrium fluctuations in simple liquids is developed from molecular considerations. The approach developed hem avoids the shortcomings of previous mode coupling theories by adopting a complete hierarchy of equations for the slow modes of a hydrodynamic system and solving it formally through the N ordering approximation scheme developed previously by Machta and Oppenheim. A series is obtained from the hierarchy of equations which allows the generalized transport coeffcicnts to be obtained exactly in the thermodynamic limit up to arbitrary order in the wavevector. frequency and mode coupling parameters. A self-consistent equation for the transport coefficients is formulated up to Burnett order in the wavevector and all orders in the mode coupling parameter. The results arc similar to phenomenological models used by previous researchers.
Parametric design of an electrostatic rotary microactuator using finite element analysis and metamodeling

Advanced design simulations for MEMS devices require considering physical interactions in multiple domains, including electrical and structural, and these complex relationships are often best represented using finite element analysis (FEA). Relying on FEA simulations in the design stages can be computationally prohibitive, especially when used in an iterative design process to perform uncertainty/sensitivity analysis, or design/optimization procedures. Using more efficient metamodels in the design procedure enables more analyses to be run in less time, and allows for different types of analyses to be performed. The benefits are reduced time in the overall design-cycle, and MEMS devices with improved reliability and performance through application of these tools. The work presented in this paper utilizes a flexible analysis platform for performing parametric sensitivity analysis and design of a MEMS electrostatic rotary actuator using metamodels based on more complex FEA models. The metamodel approach may be used to perform a variety of different analysis and design tasks, but the focus in this work is on sensitivity analysis and parametric design. The design is also performed assuming two different fabrication processes to demonstrate the flexibility of the model.
Regulation of Steroidogenesis and Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein in R2C Cells by DAX-1 (Dosage-Sensitive Sex Reversal, Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita, Critical Region on the X Chromosome, Gene-1)

In the present study, steroidogenesis in two different Leydig tumor cell lines was compared. One, the MA-10 mouse tumor cell line, produces steroids and the steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein only when stimulated by trophic hormones and cAMP analogs. The other, the R2C rat tumor cell line, produces steroids and the StAR protein constitutively without stimulation. We observed that high levels of DAX-1 (dosage-sensitive sex reversal, adrenal hypoplasia congenita, critical region on the X chromosome, gene-1), a repressor of steroidogenesis and StAR gene expression, were present in MA-10 cells but not in R2C cells. Based upon this observation, we hypothesized that the absence of DAX-1 might result in constitutive steroidogenesis in R2C cells. To test this hypothesis, DAX-1 was overexpressed in the R2C cells using the Tet-oninduciblegeneexpressionsystemandresultedina45% decrease in steroid production, a 35% decrease in StAR protein, and a 39% decrease in cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage expression. Further, using retroviral infection with DAX-1, StAR expression and steroidogenesis were decreased 50–60% and 60% in R2C cells, respectively. These results corroborate previous findings that DAX-1 negatively regulates steroid synthesis through the inhibition of StAR expression and indicate that the absence of DAX-1 in R2C cells is, at least in part, responsible for the constitutive steroidogenesis and StAR expression observed. (Endocrinology 145: 5629–5637, 2004)
An evaluation of the neutrophil as a mediator of in vivo renal ischemic-reperfusion injury

Abstract Previous studies indicated that administration of a monoclonal antibody (MoAb 60.3), which blocks neutrophil adherence to rabbit endothelial cells, prevents ischemic-reperfusion (I-R) injury in multiple extrarenal organs. These findings indicated that the neutrophil can be a critical mediator of I-R tissue damage. To assess whether the neutrophil affects renal I-R injury, MoAb 60.3 was given to rabbits that were then subjected to either 50 minutes or 38 minutes of renal ischemia induced by renal artery occlusion (RAO). The severity of kidney damage was assessed 24 and 48 hours later by blood urea nitrogen and plasma creatinine concentrations and by renal histology. The results were compared with those obtained in time-matched RAO controls. MoAb 60.3 conferred no functional or morphologic protection against either severe or mild ischemic insults. To further evaluate whether neutrophils affect renal I-R injury, rats were depleted of neutrophils (less than 200 cells/mm3) by anti-neutrophil serum administration and then they were subjected to either 37 minutes or 29 minutes of RAO. Neutrophil depletion conferred neither functional nor morphologic protection when compared with time-matched RAO controls. It was concluded that the uniform lack of protection noted in these experiments, despite that two different animals, two different ways of interfering with neutrophil function, and differing severities of ischemic injury were studied, strongly suggests that the neutrophil is not a critical participant in the renal I-R injury process.
Design improvements on a vee belt CVT and application to a new in-line CVT concept

Researchers at the UC Davis HEV Center have developed a new design of a continuously variable transmission for use in all vehicle sizes. They have implemented this design by modifying a conventional pulley-type CVT both significantly increasing the efficiency and allowing for implementation in hybrid powertrains. The CVT is a pulley-type transmission in which a chain or belt is used to transmit torque from the input shaft to the output drive shaft. The hydraulically controlled pulleys allow for an infinite number of transmission ratios in a specified range, eliminating the need for discrete shifts. With drivability characteristics better than that of an automatic transmission and higher efficiency, the CVT is a considerable alternative.
Evidence for top quark production in p̄p collisions at √s=1.8 TeV

A search[1] for the top quark with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in a sample of pp collisions at √s=1.8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 19.3±0.7 pb−1 is summarized. We find 12 events consistent with either two W bosons, or a W boson and at least one b jet. The probability that the measured yield is consistent with the background is 0.26%. Though the statistics are too limited to establish firmly the existence of the top quark, a natural interpretation of the excess is that it is due to tt production. Under this assumption, constrained fits to individual events yield a top quark mass of 174±10+13−12 GeV/c2. The tt production cross section is measured to be 13.9+6.1−4.8 pb. Some implications of the measured value of the top mass are discussed.
News Influence on Our Pictures of the World

Millions of Americans spent weeks using the media to keep track of the unique events surrounding the 2000 presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Not only did they watch and read to find out the latest events and changes surrounding the vote count and the ensuing legal battles after Election Day, they also looked to the media for some direction on what issues to think about prior to election day. Through their day-today selection and display of the news, journalists, editors, and news directors focused our attention and influenced our perceptions of what were the most important issues in this contentious election. This ability to influence the salience of topics on the public agenda has come to be called the agenda-setting role of the news media.
Results of the fellowship matching plan in oncology.

Abstract The Medical Specialties Matching Program provides a means for fellowship applicants and participating institutions to rank their preferences. The first attempt in 1986 resulted in a wide variation in the percentage of matched positions according to specialty. For oncology, the programs ranged near the median, ie, of 255 enrolled positions, 207 (81.2%) were actually offered. Of these, 148 (71.5%) were filled. In 76 programs, 61% of the positions were not filled. Oncology directors have expressed reluctance to participate in this Matching Program in the future.
Abstract 4349: Cancer histologic and cell nucleus architecture differentiate prostate cancer Gleason patterns 3 from 4

There will be an anticipated 29,480 prostate cancer (PCa) deaths in 2014 in the US. Nearly 40% of PCa patients will undergo radical prostatectomy (RP), which reduces the risk of death from PCa. Roughly ∼15% of these PCa patients tend to recur and of these a portion will metastasize (∼40%). Hence, a more accurate and objective computer-assisted image analysis (CAIA) automated PCa grading system should be considered. The current standard for Gleason grading involves an expert pathologist visually scoring Gleason grade patterns based upon HE 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4349. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4349
Microbial Community and Chemical Characteristics of Swine Manure during Maturation.

Swine diet formulations have the potential to lower animal emissions, including odor and ammonia (NH). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of manure storage duration on manure chemical and microbial properties in swine feeding trials. Three groups of 12 pigs were fed a standard corn-soybean meal diet over a 13-wk period. Urine and feces were collected at each feeding and transferred to 12 manure storage tanks. Manure chemical characteristics and headspace gas concentrations were monitored for NH, hydrogen sulfide (HS), volatile fatty acids, phenols, and indoles. Microbial analysis of the stored manure included plate counts, community structure (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), and metabolic function (Biolog). All odorants in manure and headspace gas concentrations were significantly ( 13 wk).
Change and clinical significance of TNF-α,IL-6 and cholinesterase in serum of HFMD children

Objective:To study the expression and clinical significance of serum tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6)and cholinesterase(CHE)of children with hand foot and mouth disease(HFDM).Method:Seventy-three children with HFDM were divided into ordinary group(n=34),severe group(n=23),and critical group(n=16).Twenty-six children served as control group.TNF-αand IL-6were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay assay,and the CHE was detected with rate assay.The data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software.Results:TNF-αand IL-6of patients with HFDM were increased compared with control group.There was no significant difference in serum CHE between HFDM groups and control group(P0.05).The levels of TNF-αin severe group and critical groups were significantly increased compared with ordinary group(P0.05).The levels of IL-6in critical group were significant higher than the sever group and the ordinary group(P0.05).The levels of CHE showed no significant differences among three groups(P0.05).Conclusions:The increased of inflammatory cytokines IL-6and TNF-αare consistent with severity of the disease,and the cytokines play important roles in monitoring disease progression,determining prognosis and guiding treatment.CHE may have no clinical value for HMFD.
Stability monitoring and analysis of online learning neural networks

On-line adaptation using soft-computational learning methods is on the rise for use in safety-critical applications such as fault-tolerant flight control, maintenance of distributed networks, implementation of high security devices, etc. The inapplicability of traditional analysis methods is limiting the wider use of soft-computational learning methods in safety-critical applications that involve online adaptation. The focus of the research is the development of non-conventional analysis techniques for the testing, verification, validation and analysis of adaptive learning components such as the online learning neural networks. Our research considers stability of online adaptation as a heuristic measure of correctness in the operation of the adaptive component. The approach is based on the principles of stability according to Lyapunov theory, deriving mathematical stability proofs to assure convergence in neural network learning within a bounded amount of time. The analysis is applied to online learning neural networks such as the Dynamic Cell Structures, Sigma-Pi, and Adaline. This approach is applicable for learning from stationary, non-varying data. For time-varying training data sets, we developed the online stability monitoring methodology. Stability monitors analyze the neural network's learning in real-time. ROC curves present the performance of the developed stability monitoring system as a trade off between the selectivity and sensitivity of the stability detection. Further, we derived a convergence prediction methodology that, given the amplitude of the disturbance, predicts the number of learning cycles required by the neural network to return to a stable state. Our research identifies the significance of topology preservation for a stable online adaptation. In order to improve the robustness of topology preservation, we propose a modified DCS learning algorithm. Our dissertation offers the first known methodology for verification, validation and analysis of learning in adaptive computing applications. The developed techniques can overcome the difficulties associated with model-uncertainty in the context of assurance of adaptive systems.
Me and My OCD: Memoirs and the Challenges of Self-Representation

Daniel Mendelsohn has called the memoir/autobiography “a literary form that exposes the author’s life without the protective masks afforded by fiction.” Of course, many people consider fiction to be at some level always also autobiographical, if not in event, at least in intention and symbolic meaning. Yet, this genre divide itself, as well as other category partitions, has at times proven problematic, an issue taken up by Nancy K. Miller: “Appearances to the contrary, genre is pretty intractable, never more so than when its distinctions seem hopelessly out-of-date” (539). This divide might lead to the assumption that the autobiography is not a construction of a facet or facets of self and that the novel, for example, does not contain filaments of reality, however masked. Despite such problems, I have chosen for practical reasons to discuss memoirs and fiction separately in this and the next chapter. This is an organizational decision simply to facilitate the discussion.
Microstructure in ammonium dihydrogen phosphate crystals induced by clays during growth

During a study of habit modification of crystals of NH4H2PO4 various clays were added as impurities to the solutions in order to determine the effect of colloidal particles in suspension on crystal growth. The results are of interest for the following two reasons: 1. they indicate the relative degree of reactivity of the clays with the solutions, and 2. they show that interesting growth features, some visible to the unaided eye, and others visible by means of the electron microscope, form as a result of the presence of the clays. The growth features are unique in that they are not observed on fracture surfaces of the pure crystals or on habit-modified crystals grown from solutions containing certain metal ions as impurities.
DWCox: A density-weighted Cox model for outlier-robust prediction of prostate cancer survival

Reliable predictions on the risk and survival time of prostate cancer patients based on their clinical records can help guide their treatment and provide hints about the disease mechanism. The Cox regression is currently a commonly accepted approach for such tasks in clinical applications. More complex methods, like ensemble approaches, have the potential of reaching better prediction accuracy at the cost of increased training difficulty and worse result interpretability. Better performance on a specific data set may also be obtained by extensive manual exploration in the data space, but such developed models are subject to overfitting and usually not directly applicable to a different data set. We propose DWCox, a density-weighted Cox model that has improved robustness against outliers and thus can provide more accurate predictions of prostate cancer survival. DWCox assigns weights to the training data according to their local kernel density in the feature space, and incorporates those weights into the partial likelihood function. A linear regression is then used to predict the actual survival times from the predicted risks. In the 2015 Prostate Cancer DREAM Challenge, DWCox obtained the best average ranking in prediction accuracy on the risk and survival time. The success of DWCox is remarkable given that it is one of the smallest and most interpretable models submitted to the challenge. In simulations, DWCox performed consistently better than a standard Cox model when the training data contained many sparsely distributed outliers. Although developed for prostate cancer patients, DWCox can be easily re-trained and applied to other survival analysis problems. DWCox is implemented in R and can be downloaded from https://github.com/JinfengXiao/DWCox.
Weight Fluctuation and Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Weight cycling, defined by an intentional weight loss and subsequent regain, commonly occurs in overweight and obese women and is associated with some negative health outcomes. We examined the role of various weight-change patterns during early to mid-adulthood and associated risk of highly prevalent, obesity-related cancers (breast, endometrial, and colorectal) in postmenopausal women. Methods: A total of 80,943 postmenopausal women (age, 63.4 ± 7.4 years) in the Women9s Health Initiative Observational Study were categorized by self-reported weight change (weight stable; weight gain; lost weight; weight cycled [1–3, 4–6, 7–10, >10 times]) during early to mid-adulthood (18–50 years). Three site-specific associations were investigated using Cox proportional hazard models [age, race/ethnicity, income, education, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, hormone therapy, diet, and body mass index (BMI)]. Results: A total of 7,464 (breast = 5,564; endometrial = 788; and colorectal = 1,290) incident cancer cases were identified between September 1994 and August 2014. Compared with weight stability, weight gain was significantly associated with risk of breast cancer [hazard ratio (HR), 1.11; 1.03–1.20] after adjustment for BMI. Similarly, weight cycling was significantly associated with risk of endometrial cancer (HR = 1.23; 1.01–1.49). Weight cycling “4 to 6 times” was most consistently associated with cancer risk, showing a 38% increased risk for endometrial cancer [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.76] compared with weight stable women. Conclusions: Weight gain and weight cycling were positively associated with risk of breast and endometrial cancer, respectively. Impact: These data suggest weight cycling and weight gain increase risk of prevalent cancers in postmenopausal women. Adopting ideal body-weight maintenance practices before and after weight loss should be encouraged to reduce risk of incident breast and endometrial cancers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(5); 779–86. ©2017 AACR.
Showing transmitters the door: synucleins accelerate vesicle release

α-Synuclein is present at high levels in all neurons and their synapses. We now learn that this protein helps dilate the fusion pore, which forms transiently during vesicle exocytosis, promoting release of certain neurotransmitters.
Bupropion Overdose: Significant Toxicity in Pediatrics

Abstract Bupropion is a commonly prescribed antidepressant and smoking cessation agent indicated for use in adults. Pediatric bupropion exposures reported to US poison control centers have increased in recent years. Both intentional and unintentional bupropion overdose can result in life-threatening toxicity. Bupropion toxicity is characterized by agitation, hallucinations, tachycardia, and delayed-onset seizures. This article reviews bupropion's pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical manifestations, and management of toxicity.
Achievement of Sustained Net Plasma Heating in a Fusion Experiment with the Optometrist Algorithm

Many fields of basic and applied science require efficiently exploring complex systems with high dimensionality. An example of such a challenge is optimising the performance of plasma fusion experiments. The highly-nonlinear and temporally-varying interaction between the plasma, its environment and external controls presents a considerable complexity in these experiments. A further difficulty arises from the fact that there is no single objective metric that fully captures both plasma quality and equipment constraints. To efficiently optimise the system, we develop the Optometrist Algorithm, a stochastic perturbation method combined with human choice. Analogous to getting an eyeglass prescription, the Optometrist Algorithm confronts a human operator with two alternative experimental settings and associated outcomes. A human operator then chooses which experiment produces subjectively better results. This innovative technique led to the discovery of an unexpected record confinement regime with positive net heating power in a field-reversed configuration plasma, characterised by a >50% reduction in the energy loss rate and concomitant increase in ion temperature and total plasma energy.
Open peer review in the era of open science: a pilot study of researchers' perceptions

The quality of Open Access journals is an important issue in developing digital library collections. Traditional criteria, such as peer review, may not be able to identify the quality of peer- reviewed publications. Open peer review (OPR) has emerged as an innovation of open science. OPR is still at an early development stage with various models, from revealing identities of the author and the reviewer to publishing the entire peer review history of the accepted paper. This pilot study utilizes qualitative interviews to investigate researchers' perceptions and attitudes towards the emerging publishing model. Through semi-structured interviews with seven researchers, this pilot study reports on the thoughts and opinions of the interviewees towards OPR and proposes further studies on the potential of OPR in scientific publishing.
Abstract 2443: Massively parallel single-cell RNA-Seq identifies diverse subpopulations displaying EMT and stem-like features

Single-cell transcriptome analysis enables a new paradigm for studying complex systems in cancer. As opposed to bulk sequencing, which averages genomic signals across thousands or millions of cells and obscures the presence of rare subtypes, single cell sequencing enables the interrogation of individual cells. In cancer, intratumoral heterogeneity is observed at both genomic and epigenomic levels, and its analysis enables the discovery of new actionable targets and treatment modalities tailored to individual subpopulations. As an example, many cancer cell lines and those derived from patients contain subpopulations marked by distinct patterns of surface markers such as CD44, and are linked to drug resistant and tumor initiating phenotypes. A complete characterization of such cellular populations ideally requires marker-free sampling, followed by clustering into distinct subgroups. In this study, we demonstrate the significant advantages of such an approach; we utilize a high-throughput single-cell RNA-Seq method to characterize the transcriptomic profiles of cellular populations. We performed single-cell RNA-Seq on thousands of cells in the matched SW480 (primary) and SW620 (metastatic) colorectal cell lines using a microfluidic droplet barcoding technology that enables the tracking of single cells during library preparation. By focusing on genes with high inter-cell variability, we discovered a small subpopulation of cells that displayed a distinct gene expression signature from the major subpopulation. Differential gene expression analysis of this subpopulation yielded genes virtually all enriched in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. These cells showed significant increases in canonical mesenchymal marker genes such as VIM, CD44, and SOX9. Gene expression profiles of these subpopulations also correlated with established EMT signatures. Remarkably, this subpopulation did not display mutual exclusivity in gene expression with the epithelial marker EPCAM, which possibly indicates an intermediate mesenchymal phenotype. We also observed in the major population cluster a small subset of cells totaling less than 1% of the population that were significantly enriched for LGR5 expression, a common stem-like marker in colorectal cancer. Overall, we demonstrate the use of single-cell RNA-Seq to discover and characterize a diversity of cellular states that would otherwise be impossible from bulk analysis. Citation Format: Billy Lau, Jiamin Chen, Hanlee P. Ji. Massively parallel single-cell RNA-Seq identifies diverse subpopulations displaying EMT and stem-like features [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2443. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2443
Towards Internet of Underground Things in smart lighting: A statistical model of wireless underground channel

The Internet of Underground Things (IOUT) has many applications in the area of smart lighting. IOUT enables communications in smart lighting through underground (UG) and aboveground (AG) communication channels. In IOUT communications, an in-depth analysis of the wireless underground channel is important to design smart lighting solutions. In this paper, based on the empirical and the statistical analysis, a statistical channel model for the UG channel has been developed. The parameters for the statistical tapped-delay-line model are extracted from the measured power delay profiles (PDP). The PDP of the UG channel is represented by the exponential decay of the lateral, direct, and reflected waves. The developed statistical model can be used to generate the channel impulse response, and precisely predicts the UG channel RMS delay spread, coherence bandwidth, and propagation loss characteristics in different conditions. The statistical model also shows good agreement with the empirical data, and is useful for tailored IOUT solutions in the area of smart lighting.
Clostridium difficile on YouTube: A need for greater focus on prevention.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe the content of the most popular YouTube videos related to Clostridium difficile . Across all sources, the kinds of content most likely to be included in the videos was general information, overuse of antibiotics, and symptomatic diarrhea. Health professionals can contribute to existing social media messages related to C. difficile with comprehensive messages that include means for prevention.
A Framework for High-Quality Clustering Uncertain Data Stream over Sliding Windows

In recent years, data mining over uncertain data stream has attracted a lot of attentions along with the imprecise data widely generated. In many cases, the estimated error of the data stream is available. The estimated error is very useful for the clustering process, since it can be used to improve the quality of the cluster results. In this paper, we try to resolve the problem of clustering uncertain data stream over sliding windows. The tuple expected value and uncertainty are considered meanwhile in the clustering process. We therefore propose the algorithm based on Voronoi diagram to reduce the number of expected distance calculation over sliding windows. Finally, our performance study with both real and synthetic data sets demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed method.
DNA Damage and Repair in the Brain: Implications for Seizure-Induced Neuronal Injury, Endangerment, and Neuroprotection

Continuous seizures can be induced in rodents using several methods, including focal or systemic chemoconvulsants or electrical stimulation of particular neural networks. Injurious durations of seizure activity result in neuronal death in vulnerable brain regions, including the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 subfields and hilus; the entorhinal, perirhinal, and piriform cortices; and the amygdala, regardless of the method employed to evoke the seizures (Ben-Ari et al. 1986; Du et al. 1995; Fujikawa 1996; Fujikawa et al. 2000a, b; Henshall et al. 2000; Kondratyev et al. 2001; Motte et al. 1998; Schwob et al. 1980; Sloviter et al. 1996; Sperk et al. 1983). Other neuronal populations, including those located in striatum, in the hippocampal CA2 subfield, and in the hippocampal dentate granule cell layer, are resistant to seizure-evoked injury. It is unclear why particular endangered populations die in the aftermath of injurious seizures, whereas other populations survive. One plausible explanation is that injury-resistant populations are either inherently endowed with or more efficiently engage protective cellular mechanisms.
Tight Closure in Positive Characteristic

In this chapter, p is a fixed prime number, and all rings are assumed to have characteristic p, unless explicitly mentioned otherwise. We review the notion of tight closure due toHochster and Huneke (as a general reference, we will use [59]). The main protagonist in this elegant theory is the p-th power Frobenius map. We will focus on five key properties of tight closure, which will enable us to prove, virtually effortlessly, several beautiful theorems. Via these five properties, we can give a more axiomatic treatment, which lends itself nicely to generalization, and especially to a similar theory in characteristic zero (see Chapters 6 and 7).
Impurity structure in a molecular ionic crystal: Atomic-scale x-ray study of CaCO 3 :Mn 2+

The lattice sites and spatial disorder of isolated Mn{sup 2+} ions in calcite were examined with x-ray standing waves, and the structure of the surrounding ions was examined with extended x-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy. The Mn{sup 2+} ion is found to be on-center substitutional at the Ca{sup 2+} site, with spatial disorder comparable to that of Ca{sup 2+}. The first-neighbor Mn-O distance is found to be the same as that in the isostructural MnCO{sub 3}. The radial distance of the closest Mn-Ca shell is reduced by {approx}2% from the undistorted Ca-Ca distance. Based on these measurements, an atomic-scale structural model of the Mn{sup 2+} site suggests that the intramolecular distortion in the first-neighbor CO{sub 3}{sup 2-} anions plays a key role in establishing the conserved first-neighbor Mn-O distance while maintaining ordering with respect to the lattice. The CaCO{sub 3}:Mn{sup 2+} structure is shown to be characteristically distinct from those of analogous impurities in monatomic ionic crystals.
A Measurement-Based Method to Determine the Photofission Contribution to Fission Rate

A new measurement-based method has been developed to determine the photofission contribution to measured responses of fission reactions in a mixed radiation field of neutrons and photons. Using thi...
The Complex Geometry of the Mandelbrot Set

In this paper, we give a brief overview of the geometry of the Mandelbrot set. We show how to distinguish each of the principal bulbs hanging off the main cardioid of this set by counting the spokes of the antennas attached to each bulb. We also use these antennas to attach a fraction to each such bulb, and this then indicates how these bulbs are arranged around the boundary of the main cardioid.
Evidence-Based Practice: Concepts and Techniques for Translating Research into Practice

Psychologists in medical settings have been trained to incorporate empirical evidence into clinical practice, but very few have been taught formal techniques for doing so. Given the rapid proliferation of scientific evidence in the clinical sciences, there is a growing need among practitioners to be able to access current, clinically relevant research and have specific strategies for integrating these research findings into their clinical work. In response to this need, Evidence-based Medicine took hold in the early 1990's to provide a framework and skill set for translating research into practice, and in 2005, this approach was formally adopted by the American Psychological Association (APA) and called Evidence-based Practice (EBP). In this chapter, we present an overview of EBP with an emphasis on describing five specific steps EBP practitioners can take to quickly locate the most relevant, up-to-date research to answer clinically relevant questions, synthesize the evidence, and integrate it into practice. We then illustrate how we applied these 5 steps of EBP to improve the care of a “real-world” patient with obesity, hypertension and diabetes, emphasizing resources and techniques that are particularly relevant for psychologists who work in medical settings.