cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Muscle activation and time to task failure differ with load type and contraction intensity for a human hand muscle.

Time to failure for sustained isometric contractions of the elbow flexors is briefer when maintaining a constant elbow angle while supporting an inertial load (position task) compared with exerting an equivalent torque against a rigid restraint (force task). Our primary purpose was to determine whether the effects of load type on time to task failure exist when motor unit recruitment cannot be enhanced during a sustained submaximal contraction of an intrinsic hand muscle. A second purpose was to determine whether a greater reserve remains in the muscle after early failure of the position task. Two groups of 10 strength-matched men performed the force and position tasks at either 20% or 60% of maximal force (MVC) with the first dorsal interosseus, followed by a second force task at the same relative intensity. The rate of increase in surface EMG was greater (P = 0.002) and time to failure was briefer (P = 0.005) for the position task (593±212 s) compared with the force task (983±328 s) at 20% MVC, whereas there were no task differences in these variables at 60% MVC (P ≥ 0.200). Time to failure for the second force tasks did not differ at either contraction intensity (P≥0.743). These results demonstrate that previously observed effects of load type generalize to a hand muscle, although only for low-intensity contractions. For the position task at low forces, muscle activity increased more rapidly and no additional reserve remained in the muscle at failure compared with the force task. We propose that the briefer time to failure for the position task during sustained, low-intensity contractions is due to earlier recruitment of the motor unit pool.
Autostoichiometric vapor-gel deposition of ferroelectric thin films

An autostoichiometric vapor gel deposition approach is demonstrated for ferroelectric LiTaO3 and LiNbO3 thin films. This approach utilizes the partial hydrolysis of hygroscopic alkoxide in the vapor phase, and the subsequent polycondensation on a heated substrate. Epitaxial films with precisely controlled stoichiometry were obtained. Ultra low temperature deposition was achieved taking advantage of the inherently low temperature sol-gel chemistry. The vapor phase hydrolysis of alkoxides provided a mild deposition reaction that allows for the autostoichiometric deposition. The vapor gel method appears to possess the combined advantages of sol- gel processing and MOCVD.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Orthopaedic resident and program director opinions of resident duty hours: a national survey.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) established national guidelines for resident duty hours in July 2003. Following an Institute of Medicine report in December 2008, the ACGME recommended further restrictions on resident duty hours that went into effect in July 2011. We conducted a national survey to assess the opinions of orthopaedic residents and of directors of residency and fellowship programs in the U.S. regarding the 2003 and 2011 ACGME resident duty-hour regulations and the effects of these regulations on resident education and patient care. Methods: A fifteen-item questionnaire was electronically distributed by the Candidate, Resident, and Fellow Committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) to all U.S. orthopaedic residents (n = 3860) and directors of residency programs (n = 184) and fellowship programs (n = 496) between January and April 2011. Thirty-four percent (1314) of the residents and 27% (185) of the program directors completed the questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed to detect differences between the responses of residents and program directors and between the responses of junior and senior residents. Results: The responses of orthopaedic residents and program directors differed significantly (p 0.05), and both groups (84% of residents and 74% of program directors) also disagreed with the limitation of intern shifts to sixteen hours (p 0.05). Conclusions: This national survey indicated significant differences between the opinions of orthopaedic residents and program (residency and fellowship) directors regarding the 2003 ACGME resident duty-hour regulations and the effects of these regulations on resident education and patient care. However, both residents and program directors agreed that the further reductions in duty hours in the 2011 rules may be detrimental to resident education and patient care.
Ethervation: Innovation of and on the Ethernet platform

Innovation sometimes advances in leaps and bounds when robust “platforms” appear. Ethernet's story going back 42 years involves two robust platforms: CMOS according to Moore's Law and TCP/IP/Ethernet according to, well OK yes, Metcalfe's Law. Ethernet began as a Local Computer Network (later LAN) in 1973. Back then it ran at 2.94Mbps and coaxially connected PCs in a building. Now it runs up to 100Gbps in the LAN, has returned to its Alohanet wireless roots as Wi-Fi, and is moving down to serve the coming Internet of Things. Ethernet platform innovation is paced by semiconductors. But then there are the many innovations that have taken place on top of the evolving Ethernet platform. The TCP/IP/Ethernet Internet has gone web, video, mobile, social, cloud, embedded - from mainframes to minicomputers to workstations to PCs to cellphones to things. Some of this innovation can be attributed to the venerable Ethernet business model, which is based on packet switching, de jure standards (IEEE), owned implementations, fierce competition, interoperability, rapid evolution, backward compatibility, build it and they will come. Ethernet is the answer; what is the question?
Tuning Equilibrium Compositions in Colloidal Cd1–xMnxSe Nanocrystals Using Diffusion Doping and Cation Exchange

The physical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals can be tuned dramatically via composition control. Here, we report a detailed investigation of the synthesis of high-quality colloidal Cd1–xMnxSe nanocrystals by diffusion doping of preformed CdSe nanocrystals. Until recently, Cd1–xMnxSe nanocrystals proved elusive because of kinetic incompatibilities between Mn2+ and Cd2+ chemistries. Diffusion doping allows Cd1–xMnxSe nanocrystals to be prepared under thermodynamic rather than kinetic control, allowing access to broader composition ranges. We now investigate this chemistry as a model system for understanding the characteristics of nanocrystal diffusion doping more deeply. From the present work, a Se2–-limited reaction regime is identified, in which Mn2+ diffusion into CdSe nanocrystals is gated by added Se2–, and equilibrium compositions are proportional to the amount of added Se2–. At large added Se2– concentrations, a solubility-limited regime is also identified, in which x = xmax = ∼0.31, independ...
Hydration Properties and Solvent Effects for All-Atom Solutes in Polarizable Coarse-Grained Water.

Due to the importance of water in chemical and biological systems, a coarse-grained representation of the solvent can greatly simplify the description of the system while retaining key thermodynamic properties of the medium. A multiscale solvation model that couples all-atom solutes and polarizable Martini coarse-grained water (AAX/CGS) is developed to reproduce free energies of hydration of organic solutes. Using Monte Carlo/free energy perturbation (MC/FEP) calculations, results from multiscale and all-atom simulations are compared. Improved accuracy is obtained with the AAX/CGS approach for hydrophobic and sulfur- or halogen-containing solutes, but larger deviations are found for polar solute molecules where hydrogen bonding is featured. Furthermore, solvent effects on conformational and tautomeric equilibria of AA solutes were investigated using AA, CG, and GB/SA solvent models. It is found that the CG solvent model can reproduce well the medium effects from experiment and AA simulations; however, the...
Overview of the Pathogenesis of ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

Background: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) are associated with a spectrum of necrotizing vasculitis including granulomatosis with polyangiitis,
Frustrated XY model with screening.

We consider a Josephson- or proximity-coupled superconducting array with finite geometrical inductance. The finite self-inductance is shown to screen the vortex-antivortex interaction in the arrays, converting the logarithmic interaction into a 1/r interaction at large separations in analogy with the effects of screening found by Pearl for a homogeneous superconducting film. We explicitly calculate the screening length in terms of the geometrical inductance and the intergrain Josephson-coupling strength. For typical arrays, the screening length is found to be of order 10 cm, independent of the plaquette dimensions of the array, although the length can be made smaller for strong couplings. An analogous type of screening is shown to occur in the cooperative-ring-exchange model of the fractional quantum Hall effect. In this latter case, the screening arises from the vibrations of the two-dimensional Wigner lattice in the presence of a strong magnetic field, producing fluctuations in the flux per lattice plaquette. The screening in this case also produces 1/r interactions between the elementary excitations of the system. However, the screening is very slow, and hence only effective at very long times.
Effect of injection of rabbit leucocytes into neonatal rabbits on subsequent lymph node cell transfer.

Summary1. Newborn rabbits were injected with leucocytes obtained from adult rabbits which were prospective donors of lymph node cells. When antigen-incubated lymph node cells from these donors were transferred to young rabbits 1-2 1/2 months later, agglutinins failed to appear, or did so in low titer. This suppression of transferred lymph node cells indicated that tissues of newborn rabbits had reacted to antigens of leucocytes of donor animals. 2. Transfer of lymph node cells incubated in vitro with Shigella-trypsin filtrate to uninjected newborn rabbits (1-11 days of age) resulted in the appearance of anti-Shigella agglutinins.
Testing for density dependence : A cautionary note.

The robustness and sensitivity of a test for density dependence in an animal population against departures from the assumed null and alternative model is assessed via simulation. The test is shown to be nonrobust and insensitive to departures from the assumed models.
Neighborhood defined feature selection strategy for improved face recognition in different sensor modalities

A novel feature selection strategy for improved face recognition in images with variations due to illumination conditions, facial expressions, and partial occlusions is presented in this dissertation. A hybrid face recognition system that uses feature maps of phase congruency and modular kernel spaces is developed. Phase congruency provides a measure that is independent of the overall magnitude of a signal, making it invariant to variations in image illumination and contrast. A novel modular kernel spaces approach is developed and implemented on the phase congruency feature maps. Smaller sub-regions from a predefined neighborhood within the phase congruency images of the training samples are merged to obtain a large set of features. These features are then projected into higher dimensional spaces using kernel methods. The unique modularization procedure developed in this research takes into consideration that the facial variations in a real world scenario are confined to local regions. The additional pixel dependencies that are considered based on their importance help in providing additional information for classification. This procedure also helps in robust localization of the variations, further improving classification accuracy. The effectiveness of the new feature selection strategy has been demonstrated by employing it in two specific applications via face authentication in low resolution cameras and face recognition using multiple sensors (visible and infrared). The face authentication system uses low quality images captured by a web camera. The optical sensor of the web camera is very sensitive to environmental illumination variations. It is observed that the feature selection policy overcomes the facial and environmental variations. A methodology based on multiple training images and clustering is also incorporated to overcome the additional challenges of computational efficiency and the subject's non involvement. A multi-sensor image fusion based face recognition methodology that uses the proposed feature selection technique is presented in this dissertation. Research studies have indicated that complementary information from different sensors helps in improving the recognition accuracy compared to individual modalities. A decision level fusion methodology is also developed which provides better performance compared to individual as well as data level fusion modalities. The new decision level fusion technique is also robust to registration discrepancies, which is a very important factor in operational scenarios. Research work is progressing to use the new face recognition technique in multi-view images by employing independent systems for separate views and integrating the results with an appropriate voting procedure.
Mortality risk associated with sleeping patterns among adults.

Abstract The mortality risk associated with different sleeping patterns was assessed by use of the 1965 Human Population Laboratory survey of a random sample of 6928 adults in Alameda County, CA and a subsequent 9-year mortality follow-up. The analysis indicates that mortality rates from ischemic heart disease, cancer, stroke, and all causes combined were lowest for individuals sleeping 7 or 8 h per night. Men sleeping 6 h or less or 9 h or more had 1.7 times the total age-adjusted death rate of men sleeping 7 or 8 h per night. The comparable relative risk for women was 1.6. The association between sleeping patterns and all causes of mortality was found to be independent of self-reported trouble sleeping and self-reported physical health status at the time of the 1965 survey. Simultaneous adjustment for age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, physical health status, smoking history, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, weight status, use of health services, social networks, and life satisfaction reduced the relative mortality risk associated with sleeping patterns to 1.3 (p less than or equal to 0.04).
The Health Resources and Services Administration diversity data collection.

The Health Resources and Services Administration maintains a strong emphasis on increasing the diversity of the health-care workforce through its grant programs. Increasing the diversity of the wor...
Introduction of After Dinner Speaker

Good evening. I hope that all of you won ’t feel that I am inflicting another talk upon you after all the many talks which you heard earlier but it’s a real pleasure tonight to have with us a distinguished scientist who has been involved in the field of n, γ really from the very beginning. Maurice Goldhaber was born in Lemberg, Austria, some few years ago and received his Ph.D. from Cambridge in 1936. So he was present at the early very exciting research in neutron physics and the birth of the n, γ field. He left Cambridge in 1938 and spent some years at the University of Illinois, came to Brookhaven National laboratory. I can assure you he is still very active in the field of physics. I really am not qualified to list his many accomplishments. I think he is so well known to all of you that I need not do that, but I want to make one remark which I think is pertinent. At the beginning of the conference there was a statement about the maturity of the field of neutron physics and (n,γ) reactor research, and about the mature people who are in that field, but when I look at Maurice I don ’t feel that the field is all that mature. I think it is still a young field, still an exciting field, and a field in which he is still working very actively. So I want to present you this evening, Dr. Goldhaber.
To Believe is to Know that You Believe

Most agree that believing a proposition normally or ideally results in believing that one believes it, at least if one considers the question of whether one believes it. I defend a much stronger thesis. It is impossible to believe without knowledge of one's belief. I argue, roughly, as follows. Believing that p entails that one is able to honestly assert that p. But anyone who is able to honestly assert that p is also able to just say – i.e., authoritatively, yet not on the basis of evidence – that she believes that p. And anyone who is able to just say that she believes that p is able to act in light of the fact that she holds that belief. This ability to act, in turn, constitutes knowledge of the psychological fact. However, without a broader theory of belief to help us make sense of this result, this conclusion will be hard to accept. Why should being in a particular mental state by itself necessitate an awareness of being in that state? I sketch a theory that helps to answer this question: believing is a matter of viewing a proposition as what one ought to believe. I show how this theory explains (and entails) the thesis that to believe is to know that you believe.
Factors associated with prolonged hospitalization in patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.

Abstract Background Complex surgeries such as a pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) traditionally have long hospital stays (LOS). Methods Patients who underwent elective PD at our institution from 8/2011-6/2015 were retrospectively examined. Interquartile ranges were calculated from LOS. Patient were compared between the highest quartile and the remainder of the cohort. Results 492 patients had a median LOS of 9 days, with 106 (22%) admitted for >14 days. Characteristics associated with prolong hospitalization include age (p = 0.004) and preoperative albumin Conclusion Older patients with hypoalbuminemia are at higher risk of prolonged LOS following PD as well as high EBL, operative time, and surgical complications. Focused efforts to counsel and optimize patients pre-operatively and minimize intra-operative complications may shorten hospital stays.
Ibrutinib modulates the immunosuppressive CLL microenvironment through STAT3-mediated suppression of regulatory B-cell function and inhibition of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway.

Ibrutinib, a covalent inhibitor of Bruton Tyrosine Kinase (BTK), is approved for treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory or treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Besides directly inhibiting BTK, ibrutinib possesses immunomodulatory properties through targeting multiple signaling pathways. Understanding how this ancillary property of ibrutinib modifies the CLL microenvironment is crucial for further exploration of immune responses in this disease and devising future combination therapies. Here, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory properties of ibrutinib. In peripheral blood samples collected prospectively from CLL patients treated with ibrutinib monotherapy, we observed selective and durable downregulation of PD-L1 on CLL cells by 3 months post-treatment. Further analysis showed that this effect was mediated through inhibition of the constitutively active signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in CLL cells. Similar downregulation of PD-1 was observed in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We also demonstrated reduced interleukin (IL)-10 production by CLL cells in patients receiving ibrutinib, which was also linked to suppression of STAT3 phosphorylation. Taken together, these findings provide a mechanistic basis for immunomodulation by ibrutinib through inhibition of the STAT3 pathway, critical in inducing and sustaining tumor immune tolerance. The data also merit testing of combination treatments combining ibrutinib with agents capable of augmenting its immunomodulatory effects.
Variability in motivational interviewing adherence across sessions, providers, sites, and research contexts

Providers' adherence in the delivery of behavioral interventions for substance use disorders is not fixed, but instead can vary across sessions, providers, and intervention sites. This variability can substantially impact the quality of intervention that clients receive. However, there has been limited work to systematically evaluate the extent to which substance use intervention adherence varies from session-to-session, provider-to-provider, and site-to-site. The present study quantifies the extent to which adherence to Motivational Interviewing (MI) for alcohol and drug use varies across sessions, providers, and intervention sites and compares the extent of this variability across three common MI research contexts that evaluate MI efficacy, MI effectiveness, and MI training. Independent raters coded intervention adherence to MI from 1275 sessions delivered by 216 providers at 15 intervention sites. Multilevel models indicated that 57%-94% of the variance in MI adherence was attributable to variability between sessions (i.e., within providers), while smaller proportions of variance were attributable to variability between providers (3%-26%) and between intervention sites (0.1%-28%). MI adherence was typically lowest and most variable within contexts evaluating MI training (i.e., where MI was not protocol-guided and delivered by community treatment providers) and, conversely, adherence was typically highest and least variable in contexts evaluating MI efficacy and effectiveness (i.e., where MI was highly protocolized and delivered by trained therapists). These results suggest that MI adherence in efficacy and effectiveness trials may be substantially different from that obtained in community treatment settings, where adherence is likely to be far more heterogeneous.
Palliative Care Consultation for Goals of Care and Future Acute Care Costs: A Propensity-Matched Study.

Background:Hospitals are under increasing pressure to manage costs across multiple episodes of care. Most studies of the financial impact of palliative care have focused on costs during a single ho...
Measurement and the Quantum World

The quantum theory of measurement and its development are explained. The basis for viewing measurement in quantum mechanics as a genuine physical, rather than psychophysical process or a process that depends on consciousness or the mental, is given and defended against the critiques of Bell and others. The notion of quantum measurement as the actualization of quantum potentiality as grounded in the related versions advocated by Heisenberg and Shimony is explicated in the context of the theory of positive-operator-valued measures. Quantum interference is discussed as a process of interference of quantum potentialities in contradistinction to the interference of some material substance or the interference of probability waves. This provides the basis for a valid realist interpretation of quantum theory.
Surgical Anatomy of the Forehead, Eyelids, and Midface for the Aesthetic Surgeon

The eyes are probably our most important sensory organ, and eyelid surgery is one of the most common aesthetic procedures performed today. As such, it is incumbent upon the eyelid surgeon to become familiar and gain experience with all aspect of eyelid surgery. This begins with a detailed knowledge of the anatomic structures of the eyelid and periorbital area. These units act in consort, and any manipulation of one will affect the other. An understanding of this interrelationship is critical, as it will promote successful outcomes to surgery and help prevent potential complications.
Bragg scattering of water waves by Green-Naghdi theory

It has been known for more than ten years that the phenomenon known as Bragg scattering in solid-state physics has an analog in the propagation of water waves over a ripple bottom. This analog has been investigated theoretically, experimentally, and numerically by numerous researchers. We shall not attempt to summarize this earlier work, for this has already been done in Guazzelli et al. [1]. In the treatment of the underlying theory all of these papers have one trait in common: they start with the assumption of irrotational flow of an inviscid fluid (with attempts at viscosity corrections in some), and then by various schemes approximate the boundary conditions. These are described in [1].
Potential feedbacks of Northern wetlands on climate change - An outline of an approach to predict climate-change impact

Atmospheric concentrations of many greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide and methane, are rapidly increasing from preindustrial levels. This paper explores the potential feedback from northern wetlands, particularly with regard to carbon dioxide and methane flux, to climate change. Although progress has been made in determining current trace gas fluxes from major biomass, the authors believe that a mechanistic approach is necessary to predict the direct and indirect feedbacks between climate and northern wetlands. Relevant areas covered in the article include the following: feedback mechanisms; carbon and nutrient mineralization; the kinetics of carbon and nutrient mineralization; methane oxidation and the role of plants; field dynamics of gases in a meadow and bog in Minnesota; and extrapolating to larger scales. 80 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.
A winter-season lightning climatology for the contiguous United States

This research characterizes the spatial and temporal distribution of cloud-to-ground lightning occurring during the winter season (December through February) by utilizing 14 years (2002–2015) of data from the National Lightning Detection Network. Additionally, a Spatial Synoptic Classification system was utilized to examine flash patterns associated with a variety of weather types. The spatial and temporal analysis was conducted by incorporating these datasets into a geographic information system to determine the winter season distribution and associated lightning characteristics across the contiguous US as well as within weather types. The Southeast US and adjacent Oceanic regions, as well as California and Nevada were examined at a higher spatial resolution to further discern flash patterns. The results provide visualization of the lightning flash distribution utilizing flash density and lightning day metrics by weather type and for the winter months; a season under-represented in previous lightning investigations.
Exploring Social Media Group Use Among Breastfeeding Mothers: Qualitative Analysis

Background: Breastfeeding is well known as the optimal source of nutrition for the first year of life. However, suboptimal exclusively breastfeeding rates in the United States are still prevalent. Given the extent of social media use and the accessibility of this type of peer-to-peer support, the role of social networking sites in enabling and supporting breastfeeding mothers needs to be further explored. Objective: This study aimed to leverage mothers’ attitudes and behaviors of social media usage to understand effects on breastfeeding outcomes. Methods: Participants were recruited from 1 probreastfeeding social media group with over 6300 members throughout the United States. Online focus group discussions were conducted with 21 women; interviews were conducted with 12 mothers. Qualitative data were aggregated for thematic analysis. Results: Participants indicated that the social media group formed a community of support for breastfeeding, with normalizing breastfeeding, empowerment for breastfeeding, resource for breastfeeding, and shared experiences in breastfeeding as additional themes. Conclusions: According to participants, social media groups can positively influence breastfeeding-related attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors as well as lead to longer duration of breastfeeding. The results of this study should be taken into account when designing interventions for breastfeeding mothers.
The Effects of Lag Schedules of Reinforcement on Social Skill Accuracy and Variability

Five participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) between the ages of 10 and 14 years attended a twice-weekly social skills group for 8 weeks. A multiple probe design across skills with concurr...
The Macroeconomic Uncertainty Premium in the Corporate Bond Market

We examine the role of macroeconomic uncertainty in the cross section of corporate bonds and find a significant uncertainty premium for both investment-grade (IG) (0.40% per month) and non-investment-grade (NIG) (0.81% per month) bonds. The economic-uncertainty premium declines as we progressively remove downgraded bonds, indicating that the premium represents an increase in required returns for bonds with higher credit and macroeconomic risk. The economic-uncertainty premia vary across equities and bonds in a manner consistent with the heterogeneous risk-aversion levels of dominant players in equities (retail investors) versus bonds (institutional investors).
Harmonious: expressive confidence through explorative construction of chord progressions

Novice music learners need to learn music theory to boost their musical self-expression, but they are often intimidated by its abstract and symbolic representation. To harness the musical intuition of novice learners and lower the barriers around theory, we present Harmonious, a tangible interface where learners explore chord progressions, reflect on their emotions, and build expressive confidence.
Resilience of Oregon white oak to reintroduction of fire

Pacific Northwest USA oak woodlands and savannas are fire-resilient communities dependent on frequent, low-severity fire to maintain their structure and understory species diversity, and to prevent encroachment by fire-sensitive competitors. The re-introduction of fire into degraded ecosystems is viewed as essential to their restoration, yet can be fraught with unintended negative consequences. We examined the response of mature Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Douglas ex Hook.; Garry oak) to “first entry” woodland restoration burns following long fire-free periods. Thirteen to twenty-five months post burn, topkill of oaks was minimal (3%) and mortality was rare in three prescribed burns, despite high levels (mean = 92%) of crown scorching, and irrespective of proportional duff consumption around oak bases (mean = 21%). Percentage of crown scorch volume was the strongest predictor of oak crown dieback, but response was highly variable, especially when canopy scorch was ≥80%. Comparison of our results with FOFEM (First Order Fire Effects Model), a common fire effects model, revealed high model inaccuracy, likely due to lack of a species-specific equation for prediction of Oregon white oak mortality. The results of this study indicate that Oregon white oak is highly resistant to mortality in restoration burns, even following long fire-free intervals. Prescribed fire is not contraindicated in areas with extant mature oaks, and may promote oak regeneration via basal sprouting.
A proposed approach to the asymptomatic pediatric patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White pattern

Children with asymptomatic Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) pattern are increasingly being identified as part of routine screening or the investigation of unrelated illnesses. The risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in these subjects is significantly increased compared to children without WPW, but the absolute risk is poorly defined and remains very rare. This small risk of SCD must be balanced against the potential complications of a low-risk but invasive investigative and potentially curative procedure such as electrophysiological study (EPS) and catheter ablation. This article reviews the pediatric-specific data regarding these competing risks and should be of benefit to those making decisions regarding the management of pediatric asymptomatic WPW subjects.
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration is Associated with Aberrant Endplate Remodeling and Reduced Small Molecule Transport

The intervertebral disc is the largest avascular structure in the body, and cells within the disc rely on diffusive transport via vasculature located within the vertebral endplate to receive nutrients, eliminate waste products, and maintain disc health. However, the mechanisms by which small molecule transport into the disc occurs in vivo and how these parameters change with disc degeneration remain understudied. Here, we utilize an in vivo rabbit puncture disc degeneration model to study these interactions and provide evidence that remodeling of the endplate adjacent to the disc occurs concomitant with degeneration. Our results identify significant increases in endplate bone volume fraction, increases in microscale stiffness of the soft tissue interfaces between the disc and vertebral bone, and reductions in endplate vascularity and small molecule transport into the disc as a function of degenerative state. A neural network model identified changes in diffusion into the disc as the most significant predictor of disc degeneration. These findings support the critical role of trans-endplate transport in disease progression and will improve patient selection to direct appropriate surgical intervention and inform new therapeutic approaches to improve disc health. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Solar-thermal membrane for dewatering aqueous organic-acid solutions

Abstract A thermally conductive porous membrane has been developed to directly absorb solar energy and conduct heat that can effectively evaporate liquid water at the interface between the membrane and the bulk feed solution. Black, porous, thermally conductive graphite foam support is employed as an effective photothermal-energy absorber and heat conductor that heats up an aqueous feed solution to produce vapor. Graphite nanoparticle-slurry coating is applied onto the foam surface to reduce the pore size and generate a microporous membrane. Then, application of a dense graphene oxide membrane coating as an active separation layer on the microporous nanoparticle surface of internal foam channels allows vapor permeation of volatile molecules. Acetic acid/water solution was studied as a model feed system to experimentally demonstrate effective separation. This model vapor permeation system demonstrates excellent acetic acid separation, with a separation factor of 8.3, under simulated 0.7 sun irradiation. The membrane hydrophobicity and nanostructure, including pore size and surface chemistry, played a significant role in enabling high permselectivity of water vapor over acetic acid molecules, as well as liquid solution. Pore size reduction from open pores to a nonporous dense layer in the membrane enables effective separation of water vapor from the organic vapor, while it reduces the permeation flux. Also, the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface shows ∼3 times higher permeation flux with higher permselectivity, compared with the hydrophobic membrane surface. This work introduces a process of directly using renewable energy instead of conventional heating to drive selective separation of water from organic acids.
BlinKey: A Two-Factor User Authentication Method for Virtual Reality Devices

Virtual Reality (VR) has shown promising potentials in many applications, such as e-business, healthcare, and social networking. Rich information regarding user's activities and their online accounts is stored in VR devices. If it is carelessly unattended, then attackers, including insiders, can make use of the stored information to, for example, perform in-app purchases at the legitimate owner's expenses. Current solutions, mostly following schemes designed for general personal devices, have been proved vulnerable to shoulder-surfing attacks due to the sight blocking caused by the headset. Although there have been efforts trying to fill this gap, they either rely on some highly advanced equipment, such as electrodes to read brainwaves, or introduce heavy cognitive load that has users perform a series of cumbersome authentication tasks. Therefore, an authentication method for VR devices that is robust and convenient is in dire need. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of a two-factor user authentication scheme, BlinKey, for VR devices that are equipped with an eye tracker. A user's secret passcode is a set of recorded rhythms when he/she blinks, together with the unique pupil size variation pattern. We call this passcode as a blinkey, which can be jointly characterized by knowledge-based and biometric features. To examine the performances, BlinKey is implemented on an HTC Vive Pro with a Pupil Labs eye tracker. Through extensive experimental evaluations with 52 participants, we show that our scheme can achieve the average EER as low as 4.0% with only 6 training samples. Besides, it is robust against various types of attacks. BlinKey also exhibits satisfactory usability in terms of login attempts, memorability, and impact of user motions. We also carry out questionnaire-based pre-/post-studies. The survey result indicates that BlinKey is well accepted as a user authentication scheme for VR devices.
Abstract PS16-20: Targeting the RNA-binding protein HuR to overcome chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a much lower 5-year relative survival rate (77%) than the overall breast cancer (91%). Chemotherapy remains the primary choice for the treatment of TNBC. However, patients often develop resistance to conventional chemotherapy after long-term exposure to the chemo-drugs, resulting in poorer prognosis and higher tumor reoccurrence compared to other subtypes of breast cancer. Therefore, understanding and overcoming drug resistance is critical for the successful treatment of TNBC. The Hu antigen R (HuR) or ELAVL1 (embryonic lethal, abnormal vision, Drosophila-like protein 1) plays an important role in chemotherapy resistance. The RNA-binding protein HuR is a posttranscriptional regulator, which can stabilize target mRNAs by binding to U- or AU-rich elements (ARE) mainly in 3’ untranslated region (UTR) of mRNAs and upregulate the translation of them. The encoded proteins are implicated in multiple cancer hallmarks, including chemoresistance. The overexpression of HuR, especially accumulated cytoplasmic expression, has been identified to be related to chemoresistance in many types of cancer. We hypothesize that inhibition of HuR function by disrupting its interaction with mRNAs can accelerate the decay of mRNAs and thus reduce the translation of proteins responsible for chemoresistance.Recently, we reported a small molecule HuR inhibitor, KH-3, which potently inhibit HuR function by disrupting the HuR-mRNA interaction. KH-3 can effectively suppress the growth and invasion of TNBC cells in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we aim to verify that HuR is a target for overcoming chemoresistance and evaluate that KH-3 as a HuR functional inhibitor can enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy for TNBC cells. To determine whether HuR inhibition can overcome acquired chemotherapy resistance of TNBCs, we generated MDA-MB-231 sub-cell lines with acquired resistance against docetaxel or doxorubicin. Our results show that inhibition of HuR by KH-3 could synergize chemotherapy for TNBC in vitro and in vivo. More interestingly, KH-3 treatment could re-sensitize resistant TNBC cells to chemo-drugs, indicating that HuR inhibition can overcome acquired chemoresistance. In the study of mechanism of actions, several pathways and HuR direct target mRNAs are found to be involved in acquired docetaxel and doxorubicin resistance. The detailed molecular mechanisms of how KH-3 sensitizes TNBC to chemotherapy is currently under investigation. This study provides a new strategy to overcome chemotherapy resistance and improve the overall survival rate of patients with TNBC. Citation Format: Lanjing Wei, Qi Zhang, Gulhumay Gardashova, Cuncong Zhong, Jeffrey Aube, Danny R. Welch, Xiaoqing Wu, Liang Xu. Targeting the RNA-binding protein HuR to overcome chemoresistance in triple-negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS16-20.
Fundus Examination of 23,861 Newborns by Digital Imaging in Ningbo.

Purpose To perform fundus examinations of full-term and premature infants to identify common congenital ocular diseases and determine the incidence and additional risk factors in Ningbo, China. Methods Fundus examinations were performed on newborns between January 2017 and July 2020 in Ningbo using a RetCam3 or PanoCam LT wide-field digital imaging system. The neonates' birth weight, gestational age, gender, delivery mode, oxygen intake, and other conditions were recorded. We compared the incidence of ocular abnormalities in both full-term newborns and premature infants. Results There were 23,861 newborns in this study comprising 12,605 (52.8%) male and 11,256 (47.2%) female infants, 20,938 full-term babies, and 2,923 premature babies. The average gestational age was 37.9 ± 5.6 weeks, and the average birth weight was 3,189 ± 417 g. Overall, we found ocular abnormalities in 6,645 (27.8%). The most common abnormality in full-term newborns was retinal hemorrhage (RH), which we found in 3,827 (18.3%) cases. Other diseases identified included familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR), retinoblastoma (RB), and congenital cataracts. The delivery method had a significant impact on the incidence of neonatal RH (P Conclusion Early examination and prompt treatment of ocular disorders in newborns are important to avoid lifelong visual impairment. Eye examinations should be performed during the neonatal period and at regular follow-up visits.
SGLT2 Inhibitors Improve All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in Patients Regardless of Diabetes or Heart Failure Status.

What effect do sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have on mortality and cardiovascular and renal outcomes in patients with and without diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or kidney disease?
Importance of duration of acute kidney injury after severe trauma: a cohort study

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common after severe trauma. AKI incidence and AKI stage have previously been shown to be associated with poor outcomes after trauma. However, AKI duration may also be important for outcomes after trauma, given that it is associated with long-term morbidity and mortality in general intensive care unit (ICU) and hospitalized patients. We hypothesized that duration of AKI is independently associated with poor outcomes after trauma. Methods A cohort study was conducted at a single, level 1 trauma center. Patients admitted to the ICU between 2009 and 2018 were included. Data were extracted from the trauma registry and electronic medical records. AKI within 7 days from presentation was defined according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines. Multivariable analyses were performed to assess the association between AKI incidence, AKI stage, and AKI duration with outcomes including prolonged ICU and hospital length of stay, discharge to home, and mortality. Results Of 7049 patients included, 72% were male, the median age was 41 years (IQR 27–58), and 10% died. The AKI incidence was 45%, with 69% of these patients presenting with AKI on arrival. The majority (73%) of patients who suffered AKI recovered within 2 days. After adjustment in separate models, AKI incidence, AKI stage and AKI duration were each associated with prolonged hospitalization, an unfavorable discharge disposition, and mortality. AKI stage and duration were not used in the same model due to collinearity. Conclusions Post-traumatic AKI was common on arrival and frequently short lasting. Duration correlated with highest AKI stage, and both were separately associated with prolonged hospitalization, discharge destination other than home, and mortality on adjusted analyses. Given the high incidence of AKI on arrival, stage or duration may be better targets for future interventions and quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes after post-traumatic AKI. Level of evidence III. Prognostic.
PreDarwinian evolution, prebiotic change: a principle of least selection

Abstract Evolution prior to its Darwinian era was an age of variation. Events allowed by starting materials, chemistry and physics were realized, directed by intrinsic probabilities. In this landscape, a principle of least selection defines the most probable evolutionary path. For selection from a population where x varies, the rate of x evolution dx/dt = αΔμ. μ is the population mean of the selected property x, α a proportionality constant. Explicit equations for selected change Δμ are presented. Simple results exist for frequent cases; for example, selection for x ≥ a threshold. Maximizing Δμ minimizes need for selection. Least selections for x demand maximal dependence on x, maximal x standard deviation σ, and maximal lower x threshold (consistent with the need for a survivor). Least selection is free of the cost of natural selection, thus can support rapid advance. Least selection also unites previous seemingly independent optima. As examples, evolution via ‘starting bloc selection’ and ‘chance utility’ (where selection spans a minimal change) and ‘near-ideal reactions’ (where variable reactant supplies create easy reactions) occur via transitory paths of least selection. ‘Bayesian convergence’ is guaranteed by least selection’s extremum (which sharply defines evolution’s path). ‘Distribution fitness’ (where specific outcomes are selected among multiple concurrent variations) is least selection of rare functional minorities. Inheritance of encoded chemical capabilities first evolves because templating and catalysis are close, potentially joined in a single molecular complex. Least selection defines directions, biostructures define destinations in likely pathways of preDarwinian evolution.
The Principles of Drug Dosing in Peritoneal Dialysis

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is significantly increasing, impacting approximately 23 million Americans. Greater than 660,000 have end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) requiring dialysis. It is estimated that in the United States, only approximately 10% of patients with ESKD receive peritoneal dialysis as kidney replacement therapy. In comparison, the utilization of PD is much higher in other countries. The latest estimate indicates that over 270,000 patients are receiving peritoneal dialysis worldwide accounting for 11% of all the kidney replacement modalities. Peritoneal dialysis patients are at increased risk for infections, cardiovascular complications, anemia, and adverse drug reactions, all of which contribute to the greater morbidity and mortality compared to both the general population and CKD I–III patients. Polypharmacy is a common problem in patients with end-stage kidney disease; work from a cross-sectional study in the province of Ontario, Canada, has established that end-stage kidney patients take, on average, 12 ± 5 distinct medications per day (about 19 pills daily), with 70% reported potentially inappropriate.
Effectiveness of Einsteinium Nanoparticles in Optothermal Human Cancer Cells, Tissues and Tumors Treatment under Synchrotron Radiation

In the current study, thermoplasmonic characteristics of Einsteinium nanoparticles with spherical, core-shell and rod shapes are investigated. In order to investigate these characteristics, interaction of synchrotron radiation emission as a function of the beam energy and Einsteinium nanoparticles were simulated using 3D finite element method. Firstly, absorption and extinction cross sections were calculated. Then, increases in temperature due to synchrotron radiation emission as a function of the beam energy absorption were calculated in Einsteinium nanoparticles by solving heat equation. The obtained results show that Einsteinium nanorods are more appropriate option for using in optothermal human cancer cells, tissues and tumors treatment method. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of Einsteinium nanoparticles with 50000x zoom.