cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Downregulation of Thy1 in Retinal Ganglion Cells in Experimental Glaucoma

Purpose: Thy1 is a surface glycoprotein uniquely expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in retina. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression change of Thy1 in a model of experimental glaucoma. Methods: The change of protein and mRNA levels of Thy1 in the retina were studied using stereological counts of back-labeled RGCs, Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and laser capture microdissection (LCM) of RGCs with quantitative PCR analysis of mRNA in a model of experimental glaucoma. LCM after optic nerve crush was also performed to evaluate Thy1 mRNA levels after a different injury. Results: After 10 days of elevated IOP, there was a 34% loss of RGC number, Thy1 protein decreased 60% in eyes with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), and Thy1 mRNA levels decreased 51% in RGCs. Both protein and mRNA level change of Thy1 is to a much greater extent than RGC number loss. Conclusions: The current results confirm that Thy 1 mRNA levels do not reflect the number of RGCs present and extend ...
The Fisher Effect under Deflationary Expectations

The response of nominal and real interest rates to expected deflation becomes problematic when nominal interest rates fall toward zero while the expected rate of deflation is increasing. As nominal interest rates approach their lower bound, further increases in expected deflation cannot cause the nominal rate to fall. Either the Fisher equation is violated or the real rate must increase. One way for the real rate to rise is for asset prices to fall. Regressions between 2003 and 2010 of the daily percentage change in the S&P 500 on the TIPS spread measuring inflation expectations show little correlation between asset prices and expected inflation from 2003 until early 2008. However, since early 2008 the correlation between changes in stock prices and in inflation expectations has been strongly positive and statistically significant.
Calcium current block by (-)-pentobarbital, phenobarbital, and CHEB but not (+)-pentobarbital in acutely isolated hippocampal CA1 neurons: comparison with effects on GABA-activated Cl- current

Block of a voltage-activated Ca2+ channel current by phenobarbital (PHB), 5-(2-cyclohexylideneethyl)-5-ethyl barbituric acid (CHEB), and the optical R(-)- and S(+)-enantiomers of pentobarbital (PB) was examined in freshly dissociated adult guinea pig hippocampal CA1 neurons; the effects of the barbiturates on GABA-activated Cl- current were also characterized in the same preparation. (-)-PB, PHB, and CHEB produced a reversible, concentration-dependent block of the peak Ca2+ channel current (3 mM Ba2+ as the charge carrier) evoked by depolarization from -80 to -10 mV (IC50 values, 3.5, 72, and 118 microM, respectively). In contrast, (+)-PB was nearly inactive at concentrations up to 1 mM. The inhibitory action of PHB was decreased at acid pH, indicating that the dissociated (anionic) form of the molecule is the active species. Block by (-)-PB was voltage dependent with the fractional block increasing at positive membrane potentials; calculations according to the method of Woodhull indicated that the (-)- PB blocking site senses approximately 40% of the transmembrane electric field. The time course and voltage dependence of activation of the Ca2+ channel current were unaffected by (-)-PB, PHB, and CHEB. The rate of inactivation was enhanced by (-)-PB and CHEB, with the major effect being acceleration of the slow phase of the biexponential decay of the current. GABA-activated Cl- current was potently enhanced by (-)-PB and PHB (EC50 values, 3.4 and 12 microM), whereas (+)-PB was only weakly active. At concentrations of (-)-PB > 100 microM and PHB > 200–300 microM, Cl- current responses were activated even in the absence of GABA. These results demonstrate that in CA1 hippocampal neurons, PB causes a stereoselective block of a voltage-activated Ca2+ current; PHB is also effective, but at higher concentrations. For (-)-PB, the effect on Ca2+ channel current occurred at similar concentrations as potentiation of GABA responses. In contrast, PHB was more potent as a GABA enhancer than as blocker of Ca2+ current, but the maximal potentiation of GABA responses was 40% of that obtained with (-)-PB. Consequently, the anticonvulsant action of PHB at clinically relevant concentrations may relate to modest enhancement of GABA responses and partial blockade of Ca2+ current, whereas the sedative effects that occur at higher concentrations could reflect stronger Ca2+ current blockade. The powerful sedative-hypnotic action of (-)-PB may reflect greater maximal enhancement of GABA responses in conjunction with strong inhibition of Ca2+ current.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
A new approach to implement a defect tolerant power distribution network in WSI circuits

An efficient approach for implementing a defect-tolerant power distribution network suitable for WSI (wafer scale integration) circuits is proposed. The network is not segmented but relies on a thermal imaging technique for defect localization and laser cutting for defect isolation. Power bus designs for this approach are described. Preliminary, experimental results have verified the design concepts. >
System centric mission critical simulation model for MES automation

This paper describes the system centric simulation methodology used for stress testing of manufacturing execution system (MES) in Intel. System centric simulation involves testing such that the system components (infrastructure stack and software) are characterized for the load they would experience in production, irrespective of how that load is exerted. A new manufacturing execution system software is introduced in Intel's latest fabrication facility. Validation of the product under stress is vital to ensuring that the mission critical capability will be able to comply with Intel's reliability, availability, performance, and scalability needs. The System centric simulation model allows for accurate reproduction of real-world scenarios while not requiring the expensive setup and execution of the complete set of defined use cases.
Changes in Shallow Groundwater Quality Beneath Recently Urbanized Areas in the Memphis, Tennessee Area1

Barlow, Jeannie R.B., James A. Kingsbury, and Richard H. Coupe, 2012. Changes in Shallow Groundwater Quality Beneath Recently Urbanized Areas in the Memphis, Tennessee Area. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 336-354. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00616.x Abstract: Memphis, the largest city in the state of Tennessee, and its surrounding suburbs depend on a confined aquifer, the Memphis aquifer, for drinking water. Concern over the potential for downward movement of water from an overlying shallow aquifer to the underlying Memphis aquifer provided impetus for monitoring groundwater quality within the shallow aquifer. The occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrate, and pesticides in samples from the shallow well network indicate a widespread affect on water quality from the overlying urban land use. Total pesticide concentration was generally higher in more recently recharged groundwater indicating that as the proportion of recent water increases, the occurrence of pesticides related to the current urban land use also increases. Groundwater samples with nitrate concentrations greater than 1.5 mg/l and detectable concentrations of the pesticides atrazine and simazine also had higher concentrations of chloroform, a VOC primarily associated with urban land use, than in other samples. The age of the water from these wells indicates that these concentrations are most likely not representative of past agricultural use, but of more recent urban use of these chemicals. Given that the median age of water represented by the shallow well network was 21 years, a lag time likely exists between changes in land use and the occurrence of constituents related to urbanization in shallow groundwater.
Association between resistance to Cercospora and yield in commercial sugarbeet hybrids

This report documents the difficulty breeders have experienced in combining resistance to Cercospora leaf spot (causal agent Cercospora beticola Sacc.) with high yield in sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.). Forty commercial hybrids, all recommended for Cercospora-threat areas, were grown in a Cercospora-free and a diseased (inoculated) environment in 1991 and 1992. A 2.9 Mg/ha decrease in root yield associated with each increment increase in susceptibility confirmed that under a severe epiphytotic (1991) Cercospora resistance provided substantial protection. Under less-severe disease conditions (1992) there was no apparent relationship between yield and resistance, suggesting that the benefits of resistance were similar to the yield potential sacrificed to obtain the resistance. In the absence of the disease, root yields increased 2.7 Mg/ha for each increment of increased susceptibility. There was no evidence of association between sucrose concentration and resistance in the Cercospora-free environment. Despite the limited efforts and/or success in developing resistant commercial hybrids, the demonstrated ability of Cercospora to produce fungicide-resistant strains and the possibility that effective fungicides will not be available provide incentives to seek genetic resistance through breeding efforts.
Neuropsychological differentiation of psychopathic and nonpsychopathic criminal offenders.

Abstract A battery of neuropsychological measures was administered to 69 right-handed incarcerated male offenders to test the hypothesis that psychopaths would perform more poorly than nonpsychopaths on measures related to left hemisphere (verbal) functioning, frontal lobe (executive) functioning, or both. Psychopathy was assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist and subjects were further subdivided into low- and high-anxious groups. Robust group differences were found on two of six measures (Block Design and trail Making Test, Part B) predicted to differentiate the groups. Consistent with other studies that subdivided subjects into low- and high-anxious groups, group differences were specific to the low-anxious subjects. The results provided no support for the hypothesis that psychopaths are characterized by verbal or left hemisphere dysfunction. Although the results were not inconsistent with the hypothesis of deficient frontal lobe functioning in psychopaths, the evidence supporting the hypothesis was specific to tasks involving the integration of cognitive-perceptual and motor processes.
Race as an outcome predictor after radical prostatectomy: results from the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database.

Abstract Objectives Whether race is an independent predictor of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence after RP is controversial. To compare racial differences in clinical and pathologic features and biochemical recurrence in men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP), we used a newly established multicenter database of patients from four equal-access healthcare centers in California, the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database. Methods A retrospective survey of 1547 patients treated with RP at four different equal-access medical centers in California between 1988 and 2001 was undertaken. Race was categorized as white (n = 1014), black (n = 338), or nonwhite-nonblack (n = 195). Patients were analyzed for racial differences in preoperative variables (age at surgery, clinical stage, PSA, and biopsy Gleason score) and surgical variables (pathologic stage, surgical Gleason score, incidence of seminal vesicle invasion, positive surgical margins, capsular penetration, and pelvic lymph node involvement). Patients were followed up for PSA recurrence. Multivariate analysis was used to determine whether race was an independent predictor of biochemical failure. Results Significant differences were found among the races in the preoperative factors of clinical stage, age, serum PSA, and biopsy Gleason score, although the absolute differences were small. No differences were found among the races in the pathologic features of the RP specimens, including Gleason score, pathologic stage, and incidence of positive surgical margins, capsular penetration, seminal vesicle invasion, or lymph node involvement. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, only serum PSA ( P P Conclusions In a large multicenter cohort of patients from four equal-access medical care facilities in California, although racial differences were found in clinical stage, age, biopsy Gleason score, and serum PSA level at diagnosis, we found race was not an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence after RP. Race should not be used in models or nomograms predicting PSA failure after RP. The current study represents the largest series of black patients and the first large series of nonwhite-nonblack patients treated with RP reported to date. The Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital database is a valuable resource for studying patients treated with RP.
A targeting approach for ecosystem protection

The Critical Ecosystems Team of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 5, has developed an approach to prioritize and target ecologically high-quality areas for enhanced environmental protection in the Midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Using this approach, we intend to employ a pro-active strategy to protect the environment by protecting and restoring natural ecosystems rather than the traditional EPA approach of remediating and attempting to restore already degraded habitats. The approach consists of two components: (1) partnership and (2) criteria. For the partnership component, we collected, mapped, and summarized information on ecosystems considered critical to federal and state agencies, tribes and non-profit organizations. Multi-county areas with high numbers of ecosystems identified by a variety of partners were designated as ‘Ecologically Rich Regions’. These Ecologically Rich Regions highlight broad geographic areas where there are high levels of partner interest and, correspondingly, areas with high potential for forming collaborative partnerships for enhanced environmental protection. The second component, which relies on criteria, is still under development and defines critical ecosystems as having three important properties: (1) high ecological diversity, (2) potential for long-term sustainability and (3) presence of relict native ecosystems or communities. The information compiled under both components of this ecosystem targeting approach will inform ecological risk managers and assessors about important ecosystems that should be considered in risk management and assessment processes. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Application of a hybrid method for scattering of P, SV, and Rayleigh waves by near-surface irregularities

Abstract Application of a hybrid method to problems of diffraction of plane harmonic P , SV , and Rayleigh waves by subsurface irregularities of arbitrary shape is investigated. Special emphasis is made to irregularities in the form of dipping layers of arbitrary shape. The method presented in this paper combines the finite element method with an indirect boundary integral equation approach. The accuracy and efficiency of the method are demonstrated through several numerical examples. The numerical results presented are in excellent agreement with the ones derived by other methods. It is found that the numerical efficiency of the hybrid method is superior in general to that of boundary integral equation methods.
Recent developments in scale-up of microfluidic emulsion generation via parallelization

Microfluidics affords precise control over the flow of multiphasic fluids in micron-scale channels. By manipulating the viscous and surface tension forces present in multiphasic flows in microfluidic channels, it is possible to produce highly uniform emulsion droplets one at a time. Monodisperse droplets generated based on microfluidics are useful templates for producing uniform microcapsules and microparticles for encapsulation and delivery of active ingredients as well as living cells. Also, droplet microfluidics have been extensively exploited as a means to enable highthroughput biological screening and assays. Despite the promise droplet-based microfluidics hold for a wide range of applications, low production rate ( >100) and networks of fluid channels that distribute fluid to each of these generators onto a single chip. To parallelize droplet generation and, at the same time, maintain high uniformity of emulsion droplets, several considerations have to be made including the design of channel geometries to ensure even distribution of fluids to each droplet generator, methods for large-scale and uniform fabrication of microchannels, device materials for mechanically robust operation to withstand high-pressure injection, and development of commercially feasible fabrication techniques for three-dimensional microfluidic devices. We highlight some of the recent advances in the mass production of highly uniform microfluidics droplets via parallelization and discuss outstanding issues.
Innovative Hypofractionated Stereotactic Regimen Achieves Excellent Local Control with No Radiation Necrosis: Promising Results in the Management of Patients with Small Recurrent Inoperable GBM

Management of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a challenge. Several institutions reported that a single fraction of ≥ 20 Gy for small tumor burden results in excellent local control; however, this is at the expense of a high incidence of radiation necrosis (RN). Therefore, we developed a hypofractionation pattern of 33 Gy/3 fractions, which is a radiobiological equivalent of 20 Gy, with the aim to lower the incidence of RN. We reviewed records of 21 patients with recurrent GBM treated with hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (HFSRT) to their 22 respective lesions. Sixty Gy fractioned external beam radiotherapy was performed as first-line treatment. Median time from primary irradiation to HFSRT was 9.6 months (range: 3.1 – 68.1 months). In HFSRT, a median dose of 33 Gy in 11 Gy fractions was delivered to the 80% isodose line that encompassed the target volume. The median tumor volume was 1.07 cm3 (range: 0.11 – 16.64 cm3). The median follow-up time after HFSRT was 9.3 months (range: 1.7 – 33.6 months). Twenty-one of 23 lesions treated (91.3%) achieved local control while 2/23 (8.7%) progressed. Median time to progression outside of the treated site was 5.2 months (range: 2.2 – 9.6 months). Progression was treated with salvage chemotherapy. Five of 21 patients (23.8%) were alive at the end of this follow-up; two patients remain disease-free. The remaining 16/21 patients (76.2%) died of disease. Treatment was well tolerated by all patients with no acute CTC/RTOG > Grade 2. There was 0% incidence of RN. A prospective trial will be underway to validate these promising results.
Delay and trace fear conditioning in C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice: issues of measurement and performance

Strain comparison studies have been critical to the identification of novel genetic and molecular mechanisms in learning and memory. However, even within a single learning paradigm, the behavioral data for the same strain can vary greatly, making it difficult to form meaningful conclusions at both the behavioral and cellular level. In fear conditioning, there is a high level of variability across reports, especially regarding responses to the conditioned stimulus (CS). Here, we compare C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice using delay fear conditioning, trace fear conditioning, and a nonassociative condition. Our data highlight both the significant strain differences apparent in these fear conditioning paradigms and the significant differences in conditioning type within each strain. We then compare our data to an extensive literature review of delay and trace fear conditioning in these two strains. Finally, we apply a number of commonly used baseline normalization approaches to compare how they alter the reported differences. Our findings highlight three major sources of variability in the fear conditioning literature: CS duration, number of CS presentations, and data normalization to baseline measures.
Lactate as substrate for mitochondrial respiration in alveolar epithelial type II cells

Because of the many energy-demanding functions they perform and their physical location in the lung, alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells have a rapid cellular metabolism and the potential to influence substrate availability and bioenergetics both locally in the lung and throughout the body. A thorough understanding of ATII cell metabolic function in the healthy lung is necessary for determining how metabolic changes may contribute to pulmonary disease pathogenesis; however, lung metabolism is poorly understood at the cellular level. Here, we examine lactate utilization by primary ATII cells and the ATII model cell line, MLE-15, and link lactate consumption directly to mitochondrial ATP generation. ATII cells cultured in lactate undergo mitochondrial respiration at near-maximal levels, two times the rates of those grown in glucose, and oxygen consumption under these conditions is directly linked to mitochondrial ATP generation. When both lactate and glucose are available as metabolic substrate, the presence of lactate alters glucose metabolism in ATII to favor reduced glycolytic function in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that lactate is used in addition to glucose when both substrates are available. Lactate use by ATII mitochondria is dependent on monocarboxylate transporter (MCT)-mediated import, and ATII cells express MCT1, the isoform that mediates lactate import by cells in other lactate-consuming tissues. The balance of lactate production and consumption may play an important role in the maintenance of healthy lung homeostasis, whereas disruption of lactate consumption by factors that impair mitochondrial metabolism, such as hypoxia, may contribute to lactic acid build-up in disease.
Pulmonary Heart Disease Induced by Disenecioyl Dehydroretronecine: A Semisynthetic Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Pyrrole1:

SummaryRats injected with disenecioyl dehydroretronecine, a recently synthesized semisynthetic pyrrolizidine alkaloid pyrrole, developed cardiopulmonary lesions similar to those caused by naturally occurring PA pyrroles. These alterations included pulmonary edema, alveolar edema and septal fi-brosis, occlusion of the pulmonary arteri-oles, increase in alveolar macrophages, and right heart hypertrophy.
Resilient Distributed Energy Management Subject to Unexpected Misbehaving Generation Units

Distributed energy management algorithms are being developed for the smart grid to efficiently and economically allocate electric power among connected distributed generation units and loads. The use of such algorithms provides flexibility, robustness, and scalability, while it also increases the vulnerability of smart grid to unexpected faults and adversaries. The potential consequences of compromising the power system can be devastating to public safety and economy. Thus, it is important to maintain the acceptable performance of distributed energy management algorithms in a smart grid environment under malicious cyber-attacks. In this paper, a neighborhood-watch-based distributed energy management algorithm is proposed to guarantee the accurate control computation in solving the economic dispatch problem in the presence of compromised generation units. The proposed method achieves the system resilience by performing a reliable distributed control without a central coordinator and allowing all the well-behaving generation units to reach the optimal operating point asymptotically. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through case studies under several different adversary scenarios.
Study on Profession of Farmers Engaged in Farming

The paper analyzed the true sense of rare professional farmers and the main reason of lacking professional farmers in China. Then, it presented four countermeasures to solve how to help farmers to be professional, such as help professional farmers become the main body of new rural management, and present the question of "Who will plant ?" as a strategic issue on the government's schedule; the government should establish policies, laws and regulations soon, so as to build the environment for professional farmers' education and development; reform current education system and strengthen the education and training; establish professional farmers' qualification and registered practice system.
Simulation Method and Testing Apparatus of Fog-haze

The external insulation of transmission and distribution equipment in a fog-haze condition needs further study. In order to simulate the fog-haze condition, we prepared a cylindrical testing apparatus with the diameter of 1 m and the height of 2 m using polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA), with which the burning particle and the salt mist were used as the ingredient of fog-haze while the laser dust monitor, aerosol spectrometer, temperature and humidity sensor, and conductivity meter were used to measure the parameters of particulate matter concentration, particle size distribution, temperature, relative humidity and so on. Then, we proposed a method to simulate the fog-haze condition and a method of test in the fog-haze condition. The fog-haze condition with the particulate matter concentration of 200~600 μg/m3, the mainly particle size of 0.25~2 μm, the fog conductivity of 1 000~3 000 μS/cm, and the relative humidity of 80%~90% was successfully simulated. The results show that all kinds of fog-haze conditions can be simulated in the proposed testing apparatus, which can be used for studying influences of fog-haze on external insulation of transmission and distribution equipments.
Basic Types of Dunes

Nature has produced an amazing variety of shapes in which sand grains have accumulated to make landforms that are called ‘dunes’, a variety that accounts for the enduring aesthetic appeal and scientific interest in aeolian landforms, and the wide range of names in different languages (notably Arabic) for the different forms.
What Do Statisticians Really Need to Know, and When Do They Need to Know It?

Blinding is the practice of deliberately depriving a decision maker of some piece of information due to the fear that, were the information available, the decision maker would make less optimal decisions. In this essay, I demonstrate that quantitative analysts have been using blinding for some time when they attempted to infer causal relationships from observational data. They have done so by deliberately depriving themselves of data on the outcome variable of interest as they searched a data set for units that were comparable (or close to comparable) in all ways except for a treatment variable. More colloquially, analysts blinded themselves to outcomes while they looked for “twin” units, or perhaps “families” of units, that looked as alike as possible, except for the treatment variable. This process of looking for “twins” or “families” of comparable units can be accomplished without the outcome data, and by blinding themselves to that outcome data, the analysts deprived themselves of knowledge of the final conclusion of their studies until after the most important analysis work was finished. In short, analysts precommitted to a particular analysis before knowing what the analysis would show. The practice continues today. I provide a toy example to illustrate concepts.
TU-H-BRB-01: Physics and Dosimetry for Radiation Countermeasure Research.

The US government has substantial research and development activities underway for medical countermeasures that will insure the long-term safety and survival of the country's population after unfortunate large-scale biological, chemical and radiological and nuclear events. Preparedness includes research and development of medical countermeasures to address radiation-induced cutaneous and internal injury from radiation and nuclear events as well as for minimizing radiation risks incurred during and after travel in space. Other important research and development efforts include the repurposing of countermeasures and development of radioprotectors and mitigators to improve the outcome of radiation treatment. Participating agencies include NIAID, BARDA, NCI, and NASA, with examples of research and development funding that includes the Centers for Medical Countermeasures against Radiation (CMCR) consortia (NIAID) and primary and sub-contracts with commercial entities (BARDA). Each of these programs requires substantial medical and health physics effort in collaboration with biology colleagues to provide a range of radiation sources, dosimetry instrumentation and assessment methods, and animal models for specific radiation-induced effects and injuries. Radiation countermeasure activities for government agencies will be reviewed, the importance of model development will be stressed, example radiation countermeasure research projects will be reviewed, and the roles for medical physicists will be discussed. Learning Objectives: 1.Review US national radiation countermeasure activities. 2.Review the roles for medical physicists in radiation countermeasures research and development. 3.Understand specific physics challenges in radiation research that need solutions. Research for JD Bourland supported in part by: NIH/NIAID, U19 AI67798 (subcontract 131714). NIH/NCI, R01CA155293. HHSO10020130019C, BARDA/Argentum Medical LLC.; J. Bourland, Research supported in part by: NIH/NIAID, U19 AI67798 (subcontract 131714); NIH/NCI, R01CA155293; HHSO10020130019C, BARDA/Argentum Medical LLC.; P. Prasanna, Supported by the Radiation Research Program, National Cancer Institute
Visualizing clusters in parallel coordinates for visual knowledge discovery

Parallel coordinates is frequently used to visualize multi-dimensional data. In this paper, we are interested in how to effectively visualize clusters of multi-dimensional data in parallel coordinates for the purpose of facilitating knowledge discovery. In particular, we would like to efficiently find a good order of coordinates for different emphases on visual knowledge discovery. To solve this problem, we link it to the metric-space Hamiltonian path problem by defining the cost between every pair of coordinates as the number of inter-cluster or intra-cluster crossings. This definition connects to various efficient solutions and leads to very fast algorithms. In addition, to better observe cluster interactions, we also propose to shape clusters smoothly by an energy reduction model which provides both macro and micro view of clusters.
How do pregnant women use quality measures when choosing their obstetric provider

Background Given increased public reporting of the wide variation in hospital obstetric quality, we sought to understand how women incorporate quality measures into their selection of an obstetric hospital. Methods We surveyed 6141 women through Ovia Pregnancy, an application used by women to track their pregnancy. We used t tests and chi-square tests to compare response patterns by age, parity, and risk status. Results Most respondents (73.2%) emphasized their choice of obstetrician/midwife over their choice of hospital. Over half of respondents (55.1%) did not believe that their choice of hospital would affect their likelihood of having a cesarean delivery. While most respondents (74.9%) understood that quality of care varied across hospitals, few prioritized reported hospital quality metrics. Younger women and nulliparous women were more likely to be unfamiliar with quality metrics. When offered a choice, only 43.6% of respondents reported that they would be willing to travel 20 additional miles farther from their home to deliver at a hospital with a 20 percentage point lower cesarean delivery rate. Discussion Women's lack of interest in available quality metrics is driven by differences in how women and clinicians/researchers conceptualize obstetric quality. Quality metrics are reported at the hospital level, but women care more about their choice of obstetrician and the quality of their outpatient prenatal care. Additionally, many women do not believe that a hospital's quality score influences the care they will receive. Presentations of hospital quality data should more clearly convey how hospital-level characteristics can affect women's experiences, including the fact that their chosen obstetrician/midwife may not deliver their baby.
Outcome of Adults with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) with Second Salvage Therapy

Background and Aims. The outcome of adults with ALL undergoing second salvage therapy is poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome and prognostic factors associated with second salvage therapy in patients with ALL. Study Group and Methods. A total of 288 patients treated for ALL in second salvage at our institution were analyzed. Results. 53 patients (18%) achieved complete remission (CR). The median remission duration was 7 months. The median survival was 3 months. By multivariate analysis, prognostic factors independently associated with achievement of CR were: duration of first CR, and platelet count. Patients with a first CR 9 /L had an expected CR rate of 7%. By multivariate analysis, prognostic factors independently associated with survival were: duration of first CR, percent of marrow blasts, platelet count, and albumin levels. Expected 12-month survival rates for patients with 0–1, 2, 3, or 4 adverse factors were 33%, 14%, 8%, and 0%, respectively. A repeat multivariate analysis using landmark assessment at 6 weeks selected achievement of CR as adding significantly to the survival benefit (p = 0.0001, hazard ratio 0.51). Only 22 patients (8%) were able to undergo allogeneic stem cell transplant as second salvage therapy; their one-year survival rate was 18%. Conclusions. The outcome of adults with ALL undergoing second salvage therapy is poor. Novel effective therapies against ALL are needed in this subset of patients.
Students’ Argumentation about the Density of Fractions

This chapter, using data from Session 14 of the intervention, focuses on a class discussion begun by Alan’s claim that the fraction one zillionth could be placed on a number line between 0 and 1. The narrative and the accompanying VMCAnalytic illustrate the reasoning of the fourth-grade students as they try to make sense of the placement of increasingly small unit fractions on a line segment and explore the idea of density of number.
Tropical rainforest carbon sink declines during El Niño as a result of reduced photosynthesis and increased respiration rates

Summary Changes in tropical forest carbon sink strength during El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events can indicate future behavior under climate change. Previous studies revealed ˜6 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 lower net ecosystem production (NEP) during ENSO year 1998 compared with non-ENSO year 2000 in a Costa Rican tropical rainforest. We explored environmental drivers of this change and examined the contributions of ecosystem respiration (RE) and gross primary production (GPP) to this weakened carbon sink. For 1998–2000, we estimated RE using chamber-based respiration measurements, and we estimated GPP in two ways: using (1) the canopy process model MAESTRA, and (2) combined eddy covariance and chamber respiration data. MAESTRA-estimated GPP did not statistically differ from GPP estimated using approach 2, but was ˜ 28% greater than published GPP estimates for the same site and years using eddy covariance data only. A 7% increase in RE (primarily increased soil respiration) and a 10% reduction in GPP contributed equally to the difference in NEP between ENSO year 1998 and non-ENSO year 2000. A warming and drying climate for tropical forests may yield a weakened carbon sink from both decreased GPP and increased RE. Understanding physiological acclimation will be critical for the large carbon stores in these ecosystems.
Research Challenges to Secure the Future Internet

This article puts forth a number of research challenges that need to be overcome to secure the future digital world and protect the people living in it.
Modeling primary immune regulatory disorders: Ferrari or Yugo?

Despite about 75 million years of evolutionary separation, mice have proven to be remarkably informative for understanding the human immune system. Many immune signaling and developmental pathways are nearly identical between mouse and man, and some pathways, such as NK cell sensing of self, display clear evolutionary convergence. In this issue, Burnett et al. and Gamez-Diaz et al. independently describe the phenotype of Lipopolysaccharide Responsive Beige-like Anchor (LRBA) deficient mice. LRBA-deficient humans have a striking and severe syndrome of varied autoimmunity, lymphoproliferation, gut inflammation and immune deficiency.1 In contrast, these two groups report that LRBA-deficient mice are generally quite well. Despite aging and/or challenge with infectious organisms, these animals display none of the pathologies seen in humans. Of note, LRBA knockout mice have decreased CTLA4 protein levels, as is seen in LRBA-deficient patients, and is thought to underlie disease development. Both groups also noted other subtle immune abnormalities not correlated in patients to date: a decrease of the innate-like B1 B cells, and evidence of increased IgA production. These abnormalities are not predicted by any known function of LRBA, but may provide additional clues to disease pathogenesis.
Celiac Disease and Intestinal Endocrine Autoimmunity

Although celiac disease (CD) is unrelated directly to the endocrine system, it still deserves mention owing to its close association with other autoimmune diseases, in particular type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroid disease. CD is an immune-mediated disease primarily of the small intestine but with a wide spectrum of ­clinical symptoms that is no longer isolated to the gastrointestinal tract. The classic presentation of CD occurs in a young child with growth failure, diarrhea, abdominal distension, and irritability shortly following the introduction of gluten in the diet. However, the clinical presentation of this disease has changed over the past decade, possibly as a result of both improved screening methods as well as the evolution of the natural disease course. Today’s celiac patient is often identified through screening due to a genetic risk for CD, who otherwise would not have sought medical attention for relatively minor symptoms if present at all.
History and Presence

Robert Orsi’s work on American religious history, in particular the lived religion of American Catholics, has been a benchmark for religious studies in the USA since his first book, The Madonna of ...
Tolerance Versus Support: Perceptions of Residential Community Climate Among LGB Parents.

Objective To understand which aspects of residential communities are most salient for determining whether sexual minority parents classify their residential community climates as tolerant versus supportive. Background Metropolitan hubs for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) parents are well established, but less is known about nonmetropolitan community climates for LGB parents. Residential community climate toward nonmetropolitan LGB persons may be particularly important to LGB parents because of the potential influences on child and family well-being. Method Open- and closed-ended survey data from a sample of 55 LGB parents were collected along with publically available data regarding their residential communities. Self-reported residential community climate (tolerant vs. supportive) and community involvement, as well as objective county and municipal climate were analyzed. Results Compared with LGB parents who perceived their communities to be tolerant (n = 38), parents who considered their residential communities to be supportive (n = 17) were more likely to live in counties characterized by legal support and broad social acceptance, were personally more likely to participate in LGB-focused social and political activities, had children with more exposure to other LGB families, and attended church less frequently. Conclusion Having basic features of equity such as city ordinances and LGB organizations provides a foundation for tolerance in a community; however, individuals in a community must access personal and social supports and activities beyond work and church to feel truly supported. Implications LGB parents' perceptions of climate reveal specific community features that need to be strengthened to promote family well-being.
Mathematical Decision-Making with Linear and Convex Programming

Operations research (OR) is a branch of applied mathematics dedicated to analytical decision-making, and has close ties with optimization, statistics, and mathematical modeling. As a discipline, it is often housed in schools of engineering or business, and undergraduate students of mathematics may have little exposure to the field. However, for students interested in practical applications of mathematics, operations research contains a wonderful abundance of problems. In this brief introduction, we discuss two classes of optimization problems of interest to operations research, linear programs (LP) and their generalization, convex programs. Both theory and applications are outlined. We also mention project ideas that could be pursued by undergraduates.
Using Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence to Assess Social and Health Policies

An editorial is presented which addresses the author's views about the use of cost-related medication nonadherence as a means of examining health and social policies in America as of 2018, and it mentions other articles which appear in the same issue of the journal and deal with topics such as the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), hunger, and public health in America. Access to health care, financial hardship, and the U.S. Medicaid insurance program are assessed.
Environmental Factors Moderate Glyphosateinduced Antagonism of POST Herbicides on the Rapid Response Biotype of Glyphosate-Resistant Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida)

Abstract In the rapid response (RR) biotype of glyphosate-resistant (GR) giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.), exposure to glyphosate elicits H2O2 production in mature leaves, resulting in foliage loss and reduced glyphosate translocation. When glyphosate is applied with POST herbicides intended to improve control of A. trifida, the RR to glyphosate has the propensity to antagonize these herbicide combinations. This research documents how transient changes in air temperature, soil moisture, and light intensity during a 6-d period surrounding herbicide application regulate induction of the RR and the effect on POST herbicide interactions with glyphosate. Air temperature had the greatest influence on H2O2 accumulation in leaf disks following treatment with glyphosate, as plants at 30 C produced more than twice the amount of H2O2 at 2.5 h after treatment compared with 10 C. Plants under field capacity conditions accumulated nearly 50% more H2O2 than those at one-third field capacity, while those under no shad...
Two-Degree-of-Freedom Nonlinear Oscillators

In this chapter analytical solutions for period-m motions in a two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillator are discussed, and the analytical solutions with the finite Fourier series expression are obtained from the generalized harmonic balance method, and the stability and bifurcation analyses of the corresponding period-m motions in the two-degree-of-freedom system are carried out.
Employment of Advanced Practice Clinicians in Physician Practices

This study examines trends in advanced practice clinician employment across different physician practices in the United States.
Evaluating Native American Bird Use and Bird Assemblage Variability along the Oregon Coast

Native American use of birds on the Oregon coast is not well known and has never been synthesized to present a regional understanding. We rectify this by analyzing data from 26 zooarchaeological as...
Effect of IrO 2 /Pt, IrO 2 , and Pt bottom electrodes on the structure and electrical properties of PZT based piezoelectric microelectromechanical system devices

In piezoelectric microelectromechanical system devices with PbZr x Ti1−xO3 as the ferroelectric, the bottom electrode can provide a template for oriented PbZr x Ti1−xO3 growth. IrO2/Pt, IrO2, and Pt bottom electrode layers were sputter deposited onto TiO2 and were used as growth templates for oriented PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 growth. The IrO2 and Pt were found to be {100}- and {111}-oriented, respectively, by X-ray diffraction. Scanning/transmission electron microscopy results indicate that the bottom electrodes are textured; however, the PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 layer is partially textured. The impact of the bottom electrode type on the electrical properties is investigated by dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric measurements on circular capacitors formed on blanket PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 films and unimorph cantilevers. For devices with PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 on IrO2/Pt bottom electrodes, values for the dielectric constant of 1103 ± 28, loss tangent of 0.070 ± 0.004, maximum polarization of 0.399 ± 0.003 C/m2 at 38 MV/m, and leakage current of 5.4 ± 5.8 nA at 20 MV/m were obtained. Values of normalized strain of 0.0030 ± 0.0001 at 20 MV/m, and effective piezoelectric coefficient, d31,f, of 100 ± 25 pm/V at 15 MV/m were obtained on cantilever unimorphs with electrode area 16 µm × 123 µm and PZT area 16 µm × 125 µm. These values are comparable to results obtained for PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 on 100 nm thick Pt-only bottom electrodes.
Improving Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism-Based Fetal Fraction Estimation of Maternal Plasma Circulating Cell-Free DNA Using Bayesian Hierarchical Models.

Abstract The recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have enabled the development of effective high-throughput noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) assays for fetal geneti...
Release of spectacle prescriptions: an update.

Background: Due to the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission's prescription release rule, the patients of optometrists are entitled to a copy of the spectacle prescription following the examination. Methods: The FTC rule and provisions of various state laws that regulate the release of information from medical records have been reviewed to determine the specific legal requirements that govern the release of spectacle prescriptions. Results: Although the FTC rule does not require specific information to be included in a spectacle prescription, in 19 states specific information is required, and optometrists in all states should include such additional information as they believe will be necessary to ensure that patients receive the appropriate spectacles from a third-party dispenser. In addition, the laws of 29 states require optometrists to release copies or information from patient records on request from the patient, and in 3 states optometry practice acts or board rules require the release of copies of the spectacle prescription, thereby expanding the duty to patients beyond that required by the FTC rule. In states that do not have statutory provisions, court rulings must be consulted to determine the extent of an optometrist's obligation to provide prescription information from records to patients. Conclusion: These legal obligations should be observed when providing spectacle prescriptions or responding to requests for prescription information.