cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Primitive Scalar Functions

One communicates with an APL system through a computer terminal. There is a keyboard much like that of an ordinary typewriter, through which the user gives instructions, and there is a display device permitting the user to see both what he has typed and what response the computer makes. Some terminals are indeed typewriters, and the input and the output appear typed on a roll of paper, which can be kept afterwards as a record of the proceedings. The printing is done by a typeball or other printing device, on a carrier that moves across the page to type a line. Other terminals show input and output on a cathode-ray tube (television screen). These have some advantages over printing terminals: output comes fast, and they are relatively inexpensive; but there is no record to take away; an auxiliary device must be used to obtain a permanent copy. All the illustrations for this book have been produced on a (quite slow) printing terminal with typeball, which yields the most legible record; and that is the kind of terminal that will be referred to.
Reducing the noise level of EEG signal acquisition through reconfiguration of dry contact electrodes.

Dry EEG electrodes enhance the convenience and wearability of brain computer interface (BCI) systems, but the noise induced due to the skin electrode interface reduces the signal quality compared to that of wet electrodes. In this work, we analyzed a popular dry electrode design that incorporates several ‘finger’ shaped contacts and show how the noise level can be reduced by estimating the contact quality of each finger and reconfiguring the electrode accordingly. We designed custom electrodes for this analysis and showed the differences in skin interface noise among fingers of the same electrode. Finally, we showed how eliminating the signals from one of more noisy fingers can lead to better correlation with an ideal wet electrode and reduce the amount of noise by 1.6μV on average, which constitutes 11% of the EEG signal. Keywords—Dry contact EEG; Skin electrode noise;
Biological Notes on Uranotaenia Spp. in Louisiana (Culicidae, Diptera)

This interesting group of tiny mosquitoes has three representatives occurring in the United States, two of which have been found in Louisiana. Uranotaenia anhydor is apparently restricted to California. The general appearance and position of the larvae in the water, when at rest, is strikingly similar to that of Anopheles and casual examination might pass them over for this genus since they are almost horizontal and just beneath the surface film. They seem to feed and spend the majority of their time at the surface but when disturbed, rapidly seek the bottom and may remain there for considerable time.
A List System with Single Candidate Preference

This article is not intended as a criticism of the objectives of proportional representation. The election of the New York City council in 1937 and the seven Cincinnati council elections under the Hare system of proportional representation have undoubtedly resulted in the improvement of the caliber of the legislative bodies in those cities. The aim of this article is to suggest certain rules which may secure some of the advantages of the Hare system without a long and costly count.
Illuminating inflammasome activity in vivo.

Sentinel macrophages in the lymph node provide a first line of defense against invading viruses. A new study visualizes inflammasome activation in virally infected nodal macrophages in mice and shows that this activation augments both innate and adaptive immunity.
Liquid-Jet X-ray Photoelectron Spectra of TiO2 Nanoparticles in an Aqueous Electrolyte Solution

Titania has attracted significant interest due to its broad catalytic applications, many of which involve titania nanoparticles in contact with aqueous electrolyte solutions. Understanding the titania nanoparticle/electrolyte interface is critical for the rational development of such systems. Here, we have employed liquid-jet ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) to investigate the solid/electrolyte interface of 20 nm diameter TiO2 nanoparticles in 0.1 M aqueous nitric acid solution. The Ti 2p line shape and absolute binding energy reflect a fully oxidized stoichiometric titania lattice. Further, by increasing the X-ray excitation energy, the difference in O 1s binding energies between that of liquid water (O 1sliq) and the titania lattice (O 1slat) oxygen was measured as a function of probe depth into the particles. The titania lattice, O 1slat, binding energy decreases by 250 meV when probing from the particle surface into the bulk. This is interpreted as downward band bending at th...
Factors in the panic-agoraphobia transition

A cause-and-effect relation between panic attacks and agoraphobia is an accepted concept. It is believed that, left unchecked, a subgroup of patients with panic attacks will consistently develop agoraphobia. However, to date, there are no means for early identification of this at-risk group. This study analyzed patients with panic attacks and phobic avoidance behaviors by using population-based, survey-collected data. Path analysis was used to determine relations among panic symptoms, phobic behaviors, panic-phobic lag times, and measures of pervasiveness and severity of fears and panic. Panic-related chest pain, dyspnea, trembling, and fear were important factors in the development, pervasiveness, and severity of situational fears and anticipatory anxiety. However, full-blown agoraphobia was only related to the presence of anticipatory anxiety and the pervasiveness of phobic avoidance behaviors. Although the age-of-onset of panic and phobic avoidance was unrelated to other factors, lag times were dependent upon panic symptomatology and the presence of depression. These findings suggest that patients with panic attacks who are at risk for agoraphobia can be identified by the nature of their panic symptoms, and perhaps, through early treatment, the development of phobic avoidance can be averted.
STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCE CHARACTERSITICS AND DEPOSITIONAL EVOLUTION OF YINGCHENG FORMATION IN DONGLING AREA

Based on the sequence stratigraphy theory,this paper subdivided the Yingcheng Formation into four sedimentary sequences and one volcanic intercalation by means of sequence stratigraphic classification and comparison.According to the analysis of coring data,logging data,palaeontological characteristics,rock slices and grain sizes,the sedimentary facies in Yingcheng Formation should include fan-delta subfacies and lakes subfacies.On plane,the authors used seismic inversion tools to predict the distribution of sand and employed seismic waveform classification technology to do seismic face analysis.With the division results of the microfacies in individual wells,a comprehensive forecast was made for sedimentary facies distribution in Yingcheng Formation,and the evolution regularity on plane was analyzed.During the deposition of the Yingcheng Formation,there was a complete sequence development process in Dongling area.The sedimentary facies assumes an overall EW-striking spreading,with obvious variations in the NE direction.Material source from the northeast was adequate,and the sedimentary facies on the whole formed an integral sequence sedimentary sequence,reflecting the sedimentary characteristics of the lacustrine plane from expansion to shrinkage.
Event Recommendation in Social Networks with Linked Data Enablement

In recent years, social networking services have gained phenomenal popularity. They allow us to explore the world and share our findings in a convenient way. Event is a critical component in social networks. A user can create, share or join different events in their social circle. In this paper, we investigate the problem of event recommendation. We propose recommendation methods based on the similarity of an event’s content and a user’s interests in terms of topics. Specifically, we use Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to generate a topic distribution over each event and user. We also consider friend relationship and attendance history to increase recommendation accuracy. Moreover, we enable linked data as our data sources to collect contextual information related to events and users, and build an enhanced profile for them. As reliable resource, linked data is used to find structured knowledge and linkages among different knowledge. Finally, we conduct comprehensive experiments on various datasets in both academic community and popular social networking
Lymph Node Harvest in Emergent versus Elective Colon Resections

Quality measures for prognostication of colon cancer include the removal of 12 or more lymph nodes during colon resection. The purpose of this study was to determine whether emergent surgery is associated with inadequate lymph node harvest. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for colon cancer patients operated on at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, California, from 2005 to 2010. Demographic data, indication for surgery, surgeon, stage, lymph node harvest, tumor location, method of surgery, chemotherapy use, and survival were recorded. Univariate analyses were performed to compare lymph node harvest with the variables listed. Three hundred fifty-three patients underwent colon resection between 2005 and 2010. Two hundred ninety-six patients with Stage I to III disease underwent 253 elective (85%) and 43 emergent (15%) colectomies. There was no statistical difference between rates of adequate lymph node harvest in emergent and elective patient groups (86.0 vs 88.1%, P=0.7). Inferior long-term survival was associated with emergent indication and inferior lymph node harvest. Lymph node harvest adequacy showed a gradual increase over time from 79.5 per cent in 2005 to 95.5 per cent in 2010. Despite a perception that emergent surgery is associated with inadequate lymphadenectomy, 5-year data from Huntington Memorial Hospital participation in NCDB does not suggest inferior lymph node harvests in patients operated on for obstruction or perforation.
Sex Attractants in Frass Produced by Male Ips confusus in Ponderosa Pine

The attractant response of Ips confusus to frass produced by male beetles boring in ponderosa pine can be reproduced, in a laboratory bioassay, by a combination of compound I with either compound II or compound III, all isolated from frass. The same response by both sexes was elicited by mixtures of synthesized compounds. Compound I is (—)-2-methyl-6- methylene7-octen-4-ol; compound II, (+)-cis- verbenol; and compound III, (+)-2-methyl-6-methylene-2,7-octadien-4-ol.
Additional Exposure Routes

Toxic trace metals are widely dispersed in the environment. Adults are primarily exposed to these metals in the workplace. Children may be exposed from numerous sources, including contaminated air, dust, soil, lead based paint, pottery, sewage sludge, and battery burning. New sources of exposure will undoubtedly be discovered as additional industrial and commercial uses are found for the toxic metals.
AML Induction Therapy with Outpatient Azacitidine.

15 patients with newly diagnosed acute myelogenous leukemia were treated with outpatient 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (azacitidine, 75 mg/m2 subcutaneously for seven days every four weeks) as primary induction therapy. The average age was 68 years (range = 44–80). Bone marrow blast counts ranged between 20% and 38%. The overall response rate (complete remission, CR + parital remission, PR) was 53% (8/15). CR was achieved in 4 patients (27%) in an average of 3 cycles (range = 2–5). Duration of response averaged 8 cycles (range = 6–13) from the time CR was documented. Two of these patients went on to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (one in CR, one in PR). PR was achieved in 4 patients (27%) in an average of 3 cycles (range = 2–3). Duration of response averaged 7 cycles (range = 1–15) from the time PR was documented. Two patients continue therapy, maintaining PR, at 9 and 15 cycles. One patient met criteria for stable disease with a survival of 17 months. One patient with biphenotypic leukemia survived 12 months with a significant reduction in transfusion requirements. One patient demonstrated a major platelet response, but discontinued therapy after 3 cycles due to anorexia. Four patients had disease progression after 1, 1, 2, and 3 cycles. The average survival for patients who achieved at least stable disease and did not go on to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was 14+ months (range = 8–24). None of the responders had an ECOG performance status worse than 1 while being treated. The most common toxicity was febrile neutropenia (4 patients, 2 deaths). Azacitidine administered in the outpatient setting can induce remission in AML. This therapy appears to be well tolerated. Further study is warranted in poor risk patients to document activity and toxicity.
Comparative Effectiveness Research of Disease-Modifying Therapies for the Management of Multiple Sclerosis: Analysis of a Large Health Insurance Claims Database.

Limited data are available on the real-world effectiveness of newer oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in multiple sclerosis. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare the real-world effectiveness of dimethyl fumarate (DMF), fingolimod, teriflunomide, and injectable DMTs in routine clinical practice based on US claims data. Patients newly-initiating DMF, interferon beta (IFNβ), glatiramer acetate (GA), teriflunomide, or fingolimod in 2013 were identified in the Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims Databases (N = 6372). Relapse episodes were identified based on a published claim-based algorithm and used to determine the annualized relapse rate (ARR) for the year before and after initiating therapy. Poisson and negative binomial regression was used to determine the adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) for each therapy relative to DMF. Significant ARR reductions in the year after initiating therapy were reported for DMF and fingolimod (P < 0.0001). Compared with DMF, the adjusted IRR (95% CI) for relapse in the year after initiating therapy was 1.27 (1.10–1.46) for IFNβ, 1.34 (1.17–1.53) for GA, 1.23 (1.05–1.45) for teriflunomide, and 1.03 (0.88–1.21) for fingolimod. Results were consistent across subgroup and sensitivity analyses. These real-world data suggest DMF and fingolimod have similar effectiveness and demonstrate superior effectiveness to IFNβ, GA, and teriflunomide. Funding: Biogen, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Statistical study of polar negative magnetic bays driven by interplanetary fast-mode shocks

The question of whether an interplanetary (IP) fast-mode shock can trigger the substorm expansion is still not resolved. Some scientists believe that the substorm expansion can be triggered by a sudden compression of the magnetosphere if a substorm growth phase is in progress (e.g. the magnetosphere precondition hypothesis). Such a hypothesis has not been rigorously tested. Here we study 258 positive sudden impulse (SI+) events associated with interplanetary fast-mode shocks observed by the ACE spacecraft from 1998 to 2009. The westward auroral electrojet SML index, derived from the SuperMAG network geomagnetic field data, is used to check for negative magnetic bays. It is found that the probability of having a magnetic bay onset that follows a shock impact peaks (~27%) sharply and immediately (within 3 minutes) after the shock-induced SI+. This indicates that the majority of the shock events do not lead to magnetic bays. A superposed epoch analysis of the shock events associated with (Type-Y) and without (Type-N) negative bays indicates that the Type-Y events had stronger (~40%) solar wind driving than the Type-N ones. This result generally supports the magnetosphere precondition hypothesis. We also found that (1) Type-Y events are associated with even stronger (~56%) solar wind driving down stream of the shock than Type-N events and (2) there is a good correlation between the SML and the polar cap magnetic PC indices both upstream and downstream of the shock. It is suggested that sharp decreases in SML immediately after a shock impact is not associated with the substorm-driven DP-1 current system but with the convection-driven DP-2 current system.
A 4.4 nW lossless sensor data compression accelerator for 2.9x system power reduction in wireless body sensors

This paper presents a lossless sensor data compression accelerator for power reduction in wireless body sensors. First, a low complexity compression algorithm is demonstrated for the first time on electrocardiogram (ECG) and acceleration sensor data. Second, the algorithm is implemented as a custom hardware accelerator on a health monitoring driven System on Chip (SoC) in a 130 nm process. The accelerator is closely integrated with the transmitter interface to minimize its contribution to system power and reduce user overhead. The accelerator adds only 4.4 nW processing overhead and reduces the required transmitter duty cycle by 3.7x, reducing the system power by 2.9x, and allowing the entire system to consume just 2.62 μW when transmitting ECG data at a 360 Hz sampling rate.
The potential of identifying replacement gilts by screening for lipid biomarkers in reproductive tract swabs taken at weaning

ABSTRACTSow longevity affects economic returns to pork producers. The cost of gilt replacements is substantial and sows with greater than three litters have lower costs per pig produced. An early marker of reproductive potential would facilitate early identification of superior females, and likely increase sow longevity. Gilts raised in small litters have greater reproductive competence, but mechanisms associated with increased reproductive responses are not fully understood. Here, early postnatal development of the gilt's reproductive tract is described, and a brief review of literature is presented to support that factors in colostrum regulate the developmental trajectory of the gilt's uterine tissues. We propose that, similar to the uterus, nutritional environment likely affects the postnatal developmental programme of the vagina. A metabolomics approach, multiple reaction monitoring -profiling, for biomarker discovery is described, along with evidence that lipids present in vaginal samples are differe...
The stem cell factor SALL4 is an essential transcriptional regulator in mixed lineage leukemia-rearranged leukemogenesis

The stem cell factor spalt-like transcription factor 4 (SALL4) plays important roles in normal hematopoiesis and also in leukemogenesis. We previously reported that SALL4 exerts its effect by recruiting important epigenetic factors such as DNA methyltransferases DNMT1 and lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1/KDM1A). Both of these proteins are critically involved in mixed lineage leukemia (MLL)-rearranged (MLL-r) leukemia, which has a very poor clinical prognosis. Recently, SALL4 has been further linked to the functions of MLL and its target gene homeobox A9 (HOXA9). However, it remains unclear whether SALL4 is indeed a key player in MLL-r leukemia pathogenesis. Using a mouse bone marrow retroviral transduction/ transplantation approach combined with tamoxifen-inducible, CreERT2-mediated Sall4 gene deletion, we studied SALL4 functions in leukemic transformation that was induced by MLL-AF9—one of the most common MLL-r oncoproteins found in patients. In addition, the underlying transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms were explored using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing (ChIP-Seq), mRNA microarray, qRT-PCR, histone modification, co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), cell cycle, and apoptosis assays. The effects of SALL4 loss on normal hematopoiesis in mice were also investigated. In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that SALL4 expression is critically required for MLL-AF9-induced leukemic transformation and disease progression in mice. Loss of SALL4 in MLL-AF9-transformed cells induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G1. ChIP-Seq assay identified that Sall4 binds to key MLL-AF9 target genes and important MLL-r or non-MLL-r leukemia-related genes. ChIP-PCR assays indicated that SALL4 affects the levels of the histone modification markers H3K79me2/3 and H3K4me3 at MLL-AF9 target gene promoters by physically interacting with DOT1-like histone H3K79 methyltransferase (DOT1l) and LSD1/KDM1A, and thereby regulates transcript expression. Surprisingly, normal Sall4 f/f /CreERT2 mice treated with tamoxifen or vav-Cre-mediated (hematopoietic-specific) Sall4 −/− mice were healthy and displayed no significant hematopoietic defects. Our findings indicate that SALL4 critically contributes to MLL-AF9-induced leukemia, unraveling the underlying transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms in this disease and suggesting that selectively targeting the SALL4 pathway may be a promising approach for managing human MLL-r leukemia.
Strain-Dependent Variation in Acute Ischemic Muscle Injury.

Limited efficacy of clinical interventions for peripheral arterial disease necessitates a better understanding of the environmental and genetic determinants of tissue pathology. Existing research has largely ignored the early skeletal muscle injury response during hind limb ischemia (HLI). We compared the hind limb muscle response, after 6 hours of ischemia, in two mouse strains that differ dramatically in their postischemic extended recovery: C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ. Perfusion, measured by laser Doppler and normalized to the control limb, differed only slightly between strains after HLI (
Linguistics' role in the right to education.

In primary schools across the world, 40% of students must learn all academic subjects, including how to read, in a language that they do not speak fluently ([ 1 ][1]). Excluding students' native languages from the classroom leads to academic failure for hundreds of millions of children throughout
Problems and Solutions in Undergraduate Medical Education in Psychiatry

Directors of medical student education in psychiatry were surveyed. The most pressing problems in undergraduate medical education in psychiatry were identified as: (1) not enough teachers; not enough teaching time; overcom-mitted, overworked, burned out, and poorly motivated faculty; (2) lack of support, recognition, tenure, and monetary rewards for committed teachers; (3) not enough funding for psychiatric undergraduate medical education; (4) low status and poor image in psychiatry; (5) diverse curricular concerns. Discussed in this paper are solutions to these complex problems which will require ongoing departmental, institutional, regional, and national efforts. Leadership by departmental chairmen is essential to preserve the quality of psychiatric education with the rapid changes in health care dynamics.
Diversion from the Juvenile Justice System

Concern over adult crime and juvenile delinquency is prominent in American society. In annual surveys conducted from 1972 through 1984, U.S. citizens were asked “Is there more crime in this area than there was a year ago, or less?” In each year save one, the most frequent response was “More Crime,” indicating the belief that crime has been increasing (Gallup, 1984). In similar surveys from 1965 through 1984, respondents were asked “Is there any area right around here—that is, within a mile—where you would be afraid to walk alone at night?” Over the last 17 years, the proportion of respondents indicating fear in their own neighborhood has steadily increased from one third to nearly one half (Roper, 1985).
Mechanism of Interferon Action: Biochemical and Genetic Evidence for the Intermolecular Association of the RNA-Dependent Protein Kinase PKR from Human Cells

The interferon-inducible protein kinase (PKR) is activated by an RNA-dependent autophosphorylation. Structure–function studies of the 551 amino acid PKR kinase from human cells have revealed that catalytic-deficient PKR mutants such as PKR(1–551)K296R display a dominant negative behavior when expressed in transfected cells. The potential for PKR to form protein multimers has therefore been examined. Three types of studies, including both genetic and biochemical analyses, demonstrated that PKR from human cells undergoes an intermolecular association that is not dependent upon RNA. First, the intermolecular association of PKRin vitrowas demonstrated in the context of an enzyme–substrate interaction. Purified recombinant histidine-tagged PKR(1–551)K296R mutant protein was phosphorylated by purified wild-type PKR; this intermolecular phosphorylation of PKR was dependent on double-stranded RNA. At a fixed RNA concentration, high concentrations of the HIS-PKR(1–551)K296R mutant both impaired the autophosphorylation of wild-type PKR and blocked the trans-phosphorylation of itself. Second, the yeast two-hybrid system was used to probe the intermolecular association of PKRin vivo.Coexpression of the full-length catalytic-deficient phosphotransfer mutant PKR(1–551)K296R as a fusion protein with the Gal4 activation domain and the Gal4 DNA binding domain resulted in the expression of two Gal4-responsive reporter genes,HIS3 andlacZ. The full-length RNA-binding deficient PKR(1–551)K64E/K296R double mutant also interacted with PKR(1–551)K296R sufficiently to activate Gal4-responsive reporter genes; however, other PKR mutants including PKR(1–280)wt and PKR(281–551)K296R as well as p53, RAS, and BCL2 did not. Third, both PKR(1–551)K296R and PKR(1–551)K64E/K296R enhanced the expression of the reovirus S1 gene and S1/S4 chimeric gene in cotransfected COS cells. By contrast, the expression of the reovirus S4 gene was not enhanced by cotransfection with either PKR(1–551)K296R or PKR(1–551)K64E/K296R. These results indicate that PKR interacts with itself in an intermolecular manner bothin vivoandin vitro,and that RNA binding is neither necessary nor sufficient for PKR multimerization.
A schizophrenia risk gene, NRGN, bidirectionally modulates synaptic plasticity via regulating the neuronal phosphoproteome

NRGN is a schizophrenia risk gene identified in recent genetic studies, encoding a small neuronal protein, neurogranin (Ng). Individuals carrying a risk variant of NRGN showed decreased hippocampal activation during contextual fear conditioning. Furthermore, the expression of Ng was reduced in the post-mortem brains of schizophrenic patients. Using the mouse model, we found that the translation of Ng in hippocampus is rapidly increased in response to novel context exposure, and this up-regulation is required for encoding contextual memory. The extent and degree of the effect that altered Ng expression has on neuronal cellular functions are largely unknown. Here, we found that Ng bidirectionally regulates synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Elevated Ng levels facilitated long-term potentiation (LTP), whereas decreased Ng levels impaired LTP. Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that decreasing Ng caused a significant shift in the phosphorylation status of postsynaptic density proteins, highlighting clusters of schizophrenia- and autism-related genes. In particular, decreasing Ng led to the hypo-phosphorylation of NMDAR subunit Grin2A at newly identified sites, resulting in accelerated decay of NMDAR-mediated channel currents. blocking protein phosphatase PP2B activity rescued the accelerated synaptic NMDAR current decay and the impairment of LTP caused by decreased Ng levels, suggesting that enhanced synaptic PP2B activity led to the deficits. Taken together, our work suggests that altered Ng levels under pathological conditions affect the phosphorylation status of neuronal proteins by tuning PP2B activity and thus the induction of synaptic plasticity, revealing a novel mechanistic link of a schizophrenia risk gene to cognitive deficits.
Introduction to the 2018 Keith L. Parker Award Lecture, William E. Rainey, PhD.

Abstract The Adrenal Cortex Meeting celebrated the awarding of the Keith L. Parker Award Lecture to William E. (Bill) Rainey, and this article reviews his training, career, and contributions to the field of adrenal biology.
Occlusion-guided compact template learning for ensemble deep network-based pose-invariant face recognition.

Concatenation of the deep network representations extracted from different facial patches helps to improve face recognition performance. However, the concatenated facial template increases in size and contains redundant information. Previous solutions aim to reduce the dimensionality of the facial template without considering the occlusion pattern of the facial patches. In this paper, we propose an occlusion-guided compact template learning (OGCTL) approach that only uses the information from visible patches to construct the compact template. The compact face representation is not sensitive to the number of patches that are used to construct the facial template and is more suitable for incorporating the information from different view angles for image-set based face recognition. Instead of using occlusion masks in face matching (e.g., DPRFS [38]), the proposed method uses occlusion masks in template construction and achieves significantly better image-set based face verification performance on a challenging database with a template size that is an order-of-magnitude smaller than DPRFS.
The Impact of Staple Line Reinforcement Utilization on Bleeding and Leak Rates Following Sleeve Gastrectomy for Severe Obesity: a Propensity and Case–Control Matched Analysis

Staple line reinforcement (SLR) is a commonly used technique during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) for severe obesity. There remains controversy over the potential benefit or risk associated with SLR. There are currently no consensus recommendations about SLR use. Its use is surgeon-dependent and remains controversial. To determine the impact of staple line reinforcement on staple line leak and bleeding rates after sleeve gastrectomy. Using the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Quality Improvement Program Participant User File (MBSQIP-PUF) database, we identified patients who had a SG in 2015 and 2016. SLR utilization status was used to create two cohorts. An unmatched cohort analysis was performed, and the outcomes were compared. A propensity score and case–control matched cohort analysis were then performed, and the outcomes were compared. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS and SAS. Of the 189,173 SG cases identified, SLR utilization was noted in 127,521 (67.4%). In the unmatched analysis, bleeding and reoperation were significantly higher in the cohort without SLR utilization. In both propensity score and case–control matched analysis, bleeding and reoperation remained significantly higher in the cohort without SLR utilization. There was no difference in mortality and staple line leak rates between the cohorts. SLR significantly reduces bleeding and reoperation rates following SG and has no deleterious impact on staple line leak rate. While further prospective studies factoring in the SLR method and staple characteristics are needed, this large database analysis supports the use of routine SLR during SG to reduce the risk of perioperative bleeding and reoperation.
Analyzing airborne environmental DNA: A comparison of extraction methods, primer type, and trap type on the ability to detect airborne eDNA from terrestrial plant communities

© 2019 The Authors. Environmental DNA published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Not All Scientists Are Equal: Role Aspirants Influence Role Modeling Outcomes in STEM

AbstractThree experiments examined how role aspirants’ (i.e., people exposed to role models) views of scientists’ exceptional talent affected motivation. Study 1 demonstrated that when exposed to a...
Fiscal structure and programme response over the business cycle: evidence from Medicaid and SCHIP

In this paper, I show that fiscal structure can have large effects on the ability of safety net programmes to provide benefits. I examine the response of child enrolment in Medicaid, which is funde...
4 – Higher-Order Differential Equations

In Chapters 2 and 3 we saw that first-order differential equations can be used to model a variety of physical situations. However, many physical situations need to be modeled by higher-order differential equations. In this chapter, we discuss several methods for solving higher-order linear differential equations.
A Moving Target-Vancomycin Therapeutic Monitoring

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has been a common practice to optimize efficacy and safety of vancomycin. While vancomycin trough-only TDM has widely been integrated into pediatric clinical practice since 2009, recently updated vancomycin TDM guidelines published in March 2020 recommend area under the curve (AUC) based TDM for vancomycin instead of trough-only TDM. In this review, we discuss the rationale behind the change in TDM recommendations, describe two approaches for calculating vancomycin AUC in clinical practice, and address considerations for integrating vancomycin AUC TDM into pediatric clinical practice. Our primary goal is to provide pediatric clinicians with a resource for implementing vancomycin AUC monitoring into clinical care.
Numerical investigation of the local and global supersonic combustion characteristics of ethylene fuel

Abstract In supersonic combustors, cavities play an active role in the process of fuel injection and flameholding. This study numerically investigates the influence of chemical kinetics on the local and global heat release predictions of supersonic combustion of ethylene. To this end, three-dimensional compressible, turbulent, Favre-averaged Navier-Strokes reacting-flow calculations have been carried out with a single-step chemistry model and a multi-step chemistry model. The reacting flow calculations have been performed with and without the presence of an inclined cavity in a model supersonic combustor. The heat release patterns obtained using the single-step and multi-step chemistry are compared. Furthermore, the heat release patterns are correlated with the variation of reaction rates involved in different chemistry models. In addition, the overall performance metrics such as mixing efficiency and combustion efficiency are used to draw inferences on the nature (whether mixing- or kinetic-controlled) and the completeness of the combustion process. The predicted values of the dimensionless wall static pressure are compared with experimental data reported in the literature. The calculations show that not only the multi-step chemistry model predicts the heat release better than single step chemistry, but also, the intricate details of the combustion process inside the combustor configurations.
The Effects of Offering Proactive Student-Success Coaching on Community College Students’ Academic Performance and Persistence:

Objective:This study examined the effects of offering proactive student-success coaching, informed by predictive analytics, on student academic performance and persistence. Specifically, this study...
Socioeconomic status and mental illness stigma: the impact of mental illness controllability attributions and personal responsibility judgments

Prior research has suggested that higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES) may be linked with heightened mental illness stigma (MIS). It has been posited that this link is due to the resource-ri...
Teaching Video NeuroImages: When the Shoulder Inspires: A Case of Breathing Arm.

A 6-month-old girl presented with left arm weakness dating from birth. She had significant elbow flexion and shoulder abduction weakness and mild finger, wrist, and arm extension weakness. EMG/nerve conduction studies were pursued to evaluate extent of injury and demonstrated panplexus injury. Median, lateral antebrachial cutaneous, and radial sensory responses were abnormal, and EMG showed evidence of reinnervation in C5-T1 innervated muscles with ongoing denervation in C5-6 innervated muscles. Spontaneous deltoid firing coincident with inspiration was observed on EMG (video 1). This phenomenon, “breathing arm,” occurs in obstetric and nonobstetric plexopathies when the C5 nerve root is injured proximal to the phrenic nerve origin. In breathing arm, aberrant regeneration of fibers originally supplying the phrenic nerve supplies upper trunk muscles, resulting in synkinesis with contraction of upper trunk muscles with inspiration. An alternative explanation is that this represents a compensatory response to diaphragmatic inadequacy. However, with no clinical evidence of respiratory insufficiency, aberrant reinnervation is favored. Respiratory synkinesis is significant when considering surgery as this indicates severe proximal root or trunk injury.1,2
The periodic axon membrane skeleton leads to high-density sodium nanodomains but does not impact action potentials

ABSTRACT Recent work has established that axons have a periodic skeleton structure comprising of azimuthal actin rings connected via longitudinal spectrin tetramer filaments. This structure endows the axon with structural integrity and mechanical stability. Additionally, voltage-gated sodium channels follow the periodicity of the active-spectrin arrangement, spaced ∼190 nm segments apart. The impact of this periodic sodium channel arrangement on the generation and propagation of action potentials is unknown. To address this question, we simulated an action potential using the Hodgkin-Huxley formalism in a cylindrical compartment but instead of using a homogeneous distribution of voltage-gated sodium channels in the membrane, we applied the experimentally determined periodic arrangement. We found that the periodic distribution of voltage-gated sodium channels does not significantly affect the generation or propagation of action potentials, but instead leads to high-density sodium channel nanodomains. This work provides a foundation for future studies investigating the role of the voltage-gated sodium channel periodic arrangement in the axon.
The relationship between concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyric acid in transition dairy cows

Both non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) concentrations have been used as cow and herd-level markers of negative energy balance during the transition period of dairy cows to monitor disease risk and reproductive and milking performance. Prior evidence based on cross-sectional data suggests that the NEFA and BHBA are not well correlated. The objective of this study was to describe the correlation between NEFA and BHBA concentrations of dairy cows in the peripartum period. We hypothesized that accounting for possible lag times between elevation of NEFA and BHBA by using longitudinal data could improve their relationship.
A Simple Cost Reduction Strategy for Small Liquidity Traders: Trade at the Opening

We extend the market microstructure literature by examining trading strategies of a small discretionary liquidity trader in call and continuous markets. Our investigation of trading strategies uses intraday market and limit orders, and introduces the market-at-open order as an alternative strategy for a small liquidity trader. We find that a small trader can reduce transaction costs by trading at the opening. Using tick-by-tick transaction data, we demonstrate that the market-at-open order consistently produces better prices than market and limit orders executed during the trading day.
Effectiveness of shoulder injury prevention programs in an overhead athletic population: A systematic review.

Abstract Objective To analyze the effectiveness of shoulder injury prevention programs in overhead athletes. Design Systematic Review. Methods CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus electronic databases were searched from database inception through December 2020 for randomized controlled or prospective cohort studies that implemented shoulder injury prevention programs in overhead athletes and reported shoulder injury incidence rates. Results Seven studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Two studies reported on odds ratios (OR) that resulted in a reduction of shoulder injuries in overhead athletes following shoulder strengthening and flexibility exercises (OR, 0.72; 95% CI; 0.52, 0.98; OR, 0.22; 95% CI; 0.06, 0.75). One study reported on hazard ratio (HR) that resulted in a reduction of shoulder injuries following stretching of the posterior capsule (HR, 0.36; 95% CI; 0.13, 0.95). Conclusion There is limited research surrounding the effectiveness of shoulder injury prevention programs in overhead athletes specific to injury reduction. Only three studies reported a favorable effect in terms of injury prevention, with only one study at low risk of bias. At present, no conclusions can be made regarding the effectiveness of shoulder injury prevention programs in the overhead athlete.
Exploring the relationships among social support, patient activation, and pain-related outcomes.

OBJECTIVE Social support has been linked to more effective pain adaptation. The relationship between social support and other relevant constructs is less well-understood. Chief among these is patient activation, which has robust links to effective self-management, yet has not been well-studied in chronic pain. We sought to better understand these relationships in an effort to inform future intervention strategies for patients with chronic pain. METHODS Using baseline data from a clinical trial with patients with chronic pain (N = 213), we analyzed the relationships among perceived social support and patient activation, depression, anxiety, general health perceptions, pain centrality, pain catastrophizing, and pain intensity and interference. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the effect of social support on outcomes. Patient activation was explored as a mediator of the effect of social support on outcomes. RESULTS Social support was significantly associated with all outcomes except pain. Social support explained the greatest variance in patient activation (squared semi-partial correlation =0.081), followed by depression (0.073) and general health perceptions (0.072). Patient activation was not found to be a significant mediator of the effect of social support on pain-related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Findings provide insight into the roles of patient activation and social support in chronic pain management. Although patient activation did not mediate the relationship between social support and outcomes, this study is an important step toward gaining a more complete understanding of constructs thought to be related to pain self-management and points to the need to advance theory in this area to guide future research. Such work is needed to optimize interventions for patients with chronic pain.
Site-Specific Synthesis of N4-Acetylcytidine in RNA Reveals Physiological Duplex Stabilization

N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) is a post-transcriptional modification of RNA that is conserved across all domains of life. All characterized sites of ac4C in eukaryotic RNA occur in the central nucleotide of a 5-CCG-3 consensus sequence. However, the thermodynamic consequences of cytidine acetylation in this context have never been assessed due to its challenging synthesis. Here we report the synthesis and biophysical characterization of ac4C in its endogenous eukaryotic sequence context. First, we develop a synthetic route to homogenous RNAs containing electrophilic acetyl groups. Next, we use thermal denaturation to interrogate the effects of ac4C on duplex stability and mismatch discrimination in a native sequence found in human ribosomal RNA. Finally, we demonstrate the ability of this chemistry to incorporate ac4C into the complex modification landscape of human tRNA, and use duplex melting combined with sequence analysis to highlight a potentially unique enforcing role for ac4C in this setting. By enabling the analysis of nucleic acid acetylation in its physiological sequence context, these studies establish a chemical foundation for understanding the function of a universally-conserved nucleobase in biology and disease.
Left Atrial Strain is an Independent Determinant of Exercise Capacity in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Aims: The objective was to evaluate the potential contribution of left atrial (LA) function to reduced exercise capacity in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).Methods and results: Using a case-control design we randomly selected 95 patients with confirmed HCM based on guidelines criteria and without permanent atrial arrhythmia who underwent a treadmill exercise test. We measured echo-based left ventricular (LV) and LA morphology and function including mechanics using 2D speckle tracking. Preserved exercise capacity was defined as the 25 th percentile of metabolic equivalents (METs) or > 7 METs. Of 95 HCM patients, 36 had reduced exercise capacity (£7 METs) and 59 had preserved exercise capacity (>7 METs). Reduced exercise capacity patients were more likely to be older, female, had higher BMI, and more advanced heart failure symptoms. They also had a higher E/e’ ratio and lower LA reservoir and conduit strain but similar left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) pressure gradients. By univariate analysis, LA reservoir and conduit strain, age, gender, BMI, NYHA class, and E/e’ correlated with METs. In multivariate analysis, LA conduit strain independently determined METs after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, NYHA and E/e’ (standardized coefficients 0.17, P=0.04). This relationship was primarily noted in non- and labile-obstructive but not in obstructive HCM. History of atrial fibrillation did not impact the association of LA strain with exercise capacity.Conclusion : Even after adjusting for LVOT gradients and diastolic function, reduced LA conduit strain is an independent determinant of exercise tolerance in HCM.
"Don't You Mean 'Slaves,' Not 'Servants'?": Literary and Institutional Texts for an Interdisciplinary Classroom

representations: One of the things that virtually all the students referred to in their reflections was that when the slave quarters were finally demolished, many of the remnant stones were used for foundational stones of the first university buildings con Texts of Our Institutional Lives 171 structed in the 1890s. This image was so troubling that it imprinted itself upon almost every exam essay. Students suggested that plaques commemorating these stones be placed on those buildings. One student even suggested taking similar-looking stones and stra tegically piling them in small mounds around campus as a quiet sort of commemorative art installation, accompanied with no signage at all?echoing the ways in which the slaves themselves were both omnipresent and ignored. As he noted to justify his pro posal, the first line of Property runs, "It never ends." The final story of this class is still to come. I hope to tactfully and persuasively assemble many of my students' suggestions and present them to our administration in order to improve community awareness of our history. I doubt the university will be ready to take on many of the more challenging, controversial, or outlandish pro posals the students had, such as constructing a massive Colonial Williamsburg-style reconstruction with hundreds of interpreters and freestanding visitors' centers and exhibit space or, more pointedly, placing markers all over campus reminding visitors that this is where enslaved people once worked, lived, and died. On the other hand, I can see some of the ideas being taken on and the mere fact that they are being made gives me hope for my university and my students. By looking at a variety of texts, and including the university itself as a site for textual interrogation, I hope I broadened not merely my students' knowledge of representations of slavery, but of representation itself.