cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Polymerase chain reaction detection of Y chromosome sequences in vaginal fluid: Preliminary studies of a potential biomarker for sexual behavior

Background: Self-reported measures of sexual behavior are subject to nontrivial reporting biases. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a behavioral biomarker of recent sexual activity among females that is inexpensive, easily administered, and can be used in low sexually transmitted disease prevalence populations. Methods: We developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect Y chromosome (Yc) fragments. The Yc primers were developed against a 200-basepair (bp) microsatellite repeat sequence, which is unique to the male genome. A standard PCR technique was used. Assay sensitivity was determined quantitatively using donated semen samples. To assess longevity of detectability, we recruited female subjects in monogamous relationships. Seventeen subjects had unprotected intercourse followed by 3 weeks of abstinence from vaginal intercourse. Self-administered vaginal swabs (SAVS) were collected every other day. In addition to the swabs, subjects kept daily sexual diaries. Swabs were processed by semiquantitative PCR, and Yc decay curves were determined for each subject. The half-life of Yc in vaginal fluid was calculated on the collection of individual decay curves by a random-effects regression model approach. Results: The sensitivity of our Yc-PCR assay was determined to be 5 copies of Yc. In the longevity studies, Yc was detectable in SAVS up to 15 postcoital days (PCD). Mean Yc DNA concentration in SAVS eluate followed an exponential decay pattern for each subject. Mean concentrations were 66.7 ng/mL at PCD-1, 20.6 ng/mL at PCD-7, and 4.5 ng/mL at PCD-15. The estimated half-life for Yc clearance was 3.83 days. Conclusion: The swab-based Yc-DNA PCR assay can detect coitus in women for a 2-week retrospective period. This can be used to validate sexual behavior-reporting and condom use in women and promises to be a useful tool in sexual behavior research. CONSISTENT CONDOM USE IS a central behavioral strategy to control the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) 1–3 . Condom promotion interventions have drawn on re
Nanosilver in Consumer Products: A Topic for Integration of Ethical & Social Implications with Biology

The controversy and uncertainty surrounding use of nanosilver in consumer products can be used to stimulate a question-based discussion that integrates ethical and social implications with biology.
A κB sequence code for pathway‐specific innate immune responses

The Toll and Imd pathways induce humoral innate immune responses in Drosophila by activating NF-κB proteins that bind κB target sites. Here, we delineate a κB site sequence code that directs pathway-specific expression of innate immune loci. Using bioinformatic analysis of expression and sequence data, we identify shared properties of Imd- and Toll-specific response elements. Employing synthetic κB sites in luciferase reporter and in vitro binding assays, we demonstrate that the length of the (G)n element in the 5′ half-site and of the central (A,T)-rich region combine to specify responsiveness to one or both pathways. We also show that multiple sites function to enhance the response to either or both pathways. Together, these studies elucidate the mechanism by which κB motifs direct binding by particular Drosophila NF-κB family members and thereby induce specialized innate immune repertoires.
Direct volume rendering with shading via three-dimensional textures

A new and easy-to-implement method for direct volume rendering that uses 3D texture maps for acceleration, and incorporates directional lighting, is described. The implementation, called Voltx, produces high-quality images at nearly interactive speeds on workstations with hardware support for three-dimensional texture maps. Previously reported methods did not incorporate a light model, and did not address issues of multiple texture maps for large volumes. Our research shows that these extensions impact performance by about a factor of ten. Voltx supports orthographic, perspective, and stereo views. This paper describes the theory and implementation of this technique, and compares it to the shear-warp factorization approach. A rectilinear data set is converted into a three-dimensional texture map containing color and opacity information. Quantized normal vectors and a lookup table provide efficiency. A new tesselation of the sphere is described, which serves as the basis for normal-vector quantization. A new gradient-based shading criterion is described, in which the gradient magnitude is interpreted in the context of the field-data value and the material classification parameters, and not in isolation. In the rendering phase, the texture map is applied to a stack of parallel planes, which effectively cut the texture into many slabs. The slabs are composited to form an image.
Comparision of Landsat and MODIS Estimates of Heat Fluxes: Effect of Surface Heterogeniety

Using remote sensing to characterize the hydrologic behavior of the land surface on a routine basis is of considerable practical interest. Technique combining information on land and atmospheric properties with remotely observed variables has improved prediction of a number of hydrological variables, such as evapotranspiration rate, which is an important parameter for water resource management especially over agricultural regions. However, spatial extent of typical field scales is not regularly resolved within the pixel resolution of satellite sensors. Therefore landscape heterogeneity will influence the estimate of surface fluxes by satellite sensors with different spatial resolutions. Data from Landsat TM/ETM+ (120/60 m) and MODIS (1 km) satellite platforms are employed to independently estimate evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration estimates derived with SEBAL at these multiple resolutions were assessed against eddy covariance flux measurements collected at two different areas, Brookings, SD with quite flat landscape and Fort Peck, MT with mountainous terrain. Altogether, these data allow a multiple scale intercomparison of remotely sensed predictions of heat fluxes. A high degree of consistency was observed between the retrievals of the net solar radiation and soil heat flux from Landsat and MODIS, while the comparison for sensible and latent heat fluxes was poor. For comparisons between satellite prediction and flux tower measurement, Landsat performs better than MODIS. The apparent degrade of agreement for both sensible and latent heat estimates with increasing spatial scale suggests that landscape heterogeneity influence the remotely sensed predictions of heat fluxes.
MIDDLE TRIASSIC CORAL GROWTH BANDS AND THEIR IMPLICATION FOR PHOTOSYMBIOSIS

In living zooxanthellate corals, photosymbiosis explains increased metabolism and accelerated skeletal growth, accounting for the success of these corals in shallow-water tropical reefs. Mesozoic corals of the order Scleractinia appeared in the geologic record during the Middle Triassic, but it was not until the Late Triassic that these corals became prominent reef builders—a change hypothesized to coincide with the advent of photosymbiosis. There is considerable discussion, however, concerning algal symbiosis and the timing of their co-evolution with corals. Thus, the beginning of photosymbiosis in the earliest corals of the Middle Triassic has not been established, nor whether their paleoecology was similar to that of modern corals. Many massive colonial reef-building corals lay down thick, discrete bands in their skeletons that record annual growth. We discovered and illustrate here growth bands in Middle Triassic corals from central Nevada, in particular Ceriostella variabilis, whose skeletal structure and bands are well-preserved in Middle Triassic biostromes of central Nevada. To test the photosymbiosis hypothesis we studied colony growth forms in these fossil corals and performed a quantitative analysis of the bands, both in C. variabilis and in a morphologically similar living zooxanthellate reef coral, Montastraea faveolata. Results of these analyses revealed growth bands and colony shapes almost identical in both living and fossil corals. These findings suggest that photosymbiosis was present in Middle Triassic corals at a very early stage in their Mesozoic history. Scleractinians were also likely zooxanthellate from the onset of their Middle Triassic occurrence but for unexplained reasons were not as efficient as modern corals in building reefs.
A novel intrinsically fluorescent probe for study of uptake and trafficking of 25-hydroxycholesterol

Cholesterol homeostasis is regulated not only by cholesterol, but also by oxygenated cholesterol species, referred to as oxysterols. Side-chain oxysterols, such as 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC), regulate cholesterol homeostasis through feedback inhibition and feed-forward activation of transcriptional pathways that govern cholesterol synthesis, uptake, and elimination, as well as through direct nongenomic actions that modulate cholesterol accessibility in membranes. Elucidating the cellular distribution of 25-HC is required to understand its biological activity at the molecular level. However, studying oxysterol distribution and behavior within cells has proven difficult due to the lack of fluorescent analogs of 25-HC that retain its chemical and physical properties. To address this, we synthesized a novel intrinsically fluorescent 25-HC mimetic, 25-hydroxycholestatrienol (25-HCTL). We show that 25-HCTL modulates sterol homeostatic responses in a similar manner as 25-HC. 25-HCTL associates with lipoproteins in media and is taken up by cells through LDL-mediated endocytosis. In cultured cells, 25-HCTL redistributes among cellular membranes and, at steady state, has a similar distribution as cholesterol, being enriched in both the endocytic recycling compartment as well as the plasma membrane. Our findings indicate that 25-HCTL is a faithful fluorescent 25-HC mimetic that can be used to investigate the mechanisms through which 25-HC regulates sterol homeostatic pathways.
Distal Femoral Varus Osteotomy for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

To The Editor: With regard to “Distal Femoral Varus Osteotomy for Osteoarthritis of the Knee” (2005;87:127-33), by Wang and Hsu, the authors should be congratulated on a series of technically well-executed osteotomies. However, because orthopaedists in training use this journal as a foundation for their education, I am concerned about the message that this paper delivers. Specifically, the authors appear to have violated the traditional principle that an osteotomy about the knee should be carried out on the side of the deformity. The penalty for this violation is usually an oblique joint line, persistent pain, and a challenging knee replacement. Figures 2-A, 2-B, and 2-C show the knee of a patient in whom the valgus deformity is secondary to an impressive deficit of the lateral plateau. The distal … Corresponding author: Jun-Wen Wang, MD Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Kaohsiung 123 Ta Pei Road Niao Sung Hsiang, Kaohsiung Taiwan, Republic of China lee415{at}adm.cgmh.org.tw
Acylsugar acylhydrolases: carboxylesterase catalyzed hydrolysis of acylsugars in tomato trichomes

Glandular trichomes of cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and many other species throughout the Solanaceae produce and secrete mixtures of sugar esters (acylsugars) on the plant aerial surfaces. In wild and cultivated tomato, these metabolites consist of a sugar backbone, typically glucose or sucrose, and two to five acyl chains esterified to various positions on the sugar core. The aliphatic acyl chains vary in length and branching and are transferred to the sugar by a series of reactions catalyzed by acylsugar acyltransferases. A phenotypic screen of a set of S. lycopersicum M82 × Solanum pennellii LA0716 introgression lines identified a dominant genetic locus on chromosome 5 from the wild relative that affected total acylsugar levels. Genetic mapping revealed that the reduction in acylsugar levels was consistent with the presence and increased expression of two S. pennellii genes (Sopen05g030120 and Sopen05g030130) encoding putative carboxylesterase enzymes of the α/β-hydrolase superfamily. These two enzymes, named ACYLSUGAR ACYLHYDROLASE1 (ASH1) and ASH2, were shown to remove acyl chains from specific positions of certain types of acylsugars in vitro. A survey of related genes in M82 and LA0716 identified another trichome-expressed ASH gene on chromosome 9 (M82, Solyc09g075710; LA0716, Sopen09g030520) encoding a protein with similar activity. Characterization of the in vitro activities of the SpASH enzymes showed reduced activities with acylsugars produced by LA0716, presumably contributing to the high-level production of acylsugars in the presence of highly expressed SpASH genes.
Expression of calcineurin activity and alpha-subunit isoforms in specific segments of the rat nephron.

Calcineurin activity and alpha-subunit expression were studied in microdissected proximal tubules (S2), medullary thick ascending limbs (MTAL), cortical collecting ducts (CCD), connecting tubules (CNT), and outer medullary collecting ducts (OMCD). We have shown that cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK-506 inhibit sodium-potassium-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na-K-ATPase) activity in CCD, OMCD, and MTAL but did not uncover the mechanism for resistance of proximal tubule segments to these drugs. Because cells expressing high calcineurin activity are relatively resistant to the biological effects of CsA and FK-506, we hypothesized that the resistance of proximal tubules may be linked to increased calcineurin expression. Consequently, we measured calcineurin activity in microdissected tubules using a calcineurin-specific substrate. Calcineurin activity in S2 proximal tubule segments was 10-fold higher than in CCD, CNT, OMCD, or MTAL. FK-506 (6.0 ng/ml) inhibited calcineurin activity in CCD, CNT, and MTAL but not S2; 250 n...
Association of Sleep Apnea and Snoring With Incident Atrial Fibrillation in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

The association between sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation (AF) has not been examined in a multiethnic adult population in prospective community-based studies. We prospectively (2000-2011) investigated the associations of physician-diagnosed sleep apnea (PDSA), which is considered more severe sleep apnea, and self-reported habitual snoring without PDSA (HS), a surrogate for mild sleep apnea, with incident AF in white, black, and Hispanic participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) who were free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline (2000-2002). Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations, with adjustment for socioeconomic status, traditional vascular disease risk factors, race/ethnicity, body mass index, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, alcohol intake, and lipid-lowering therapy. Out of 4,395 respondents to a sleep questionnaire administered in MESA, 181 reported PDSA, 1,086 reported HS, and 3,128 reported neither HS nor PDSA (unaffected). Over an average 8.5-year follow-up period, 212 AF events were identified. As compared with unaffected participants, PDSA was associated with incident AF in the multivariable analysis, but HS was not (PDSA: hazard ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 3.02; HS: hazard ratio = 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 0.72, 1.44). PDSA, a marker of more severe sleep apnea, was associated with higher risk of incident AF in this analysis of MESA data.
New directions in GaN photonics

We have developed a novel conductivity based selective electrochemical etching to introduce nanometer sized pores into GaN. By controlling the doping and electrochemical etching bias, we are able to control the pore morphology. The nanoporous (NP) GaN can be considered a new form of GaN with an unprecedented tunability in optical index We show the potential of this NPGaN to overcome the optical and epitaxial limitations of AlGaN, which has been the bottleneck for GaN-based laser diodes for decades. The advantages of NP-GaN for both vertical surfaceemitting laser diodes (VCSEL) and edge-emitting laser diodes are exhibited in subsequent sections. We first demonstrate the record high reflectances (R > 99.5 %) from epitaxial NP-GaN mirrors, which are used in a low threshold optically pumped VCSEL. We then show a two-fold increase of modal gain in an edge-emitting waveguide geometry with optical confinement Γ engineering. The increase of the Γ also leads to a two-fold reduction in the threshold power density under optical pumping with a threshold material gain of 400 cm-1, which is more than two times lower than previously reported (> 1,000 cm-1).
Agglutinogens in Fetal Erythrocytes

Summary and ConclusionsAgglutination tests with the heart's blood of 19 fetuses show that with ordinary technic, i. e., using sera and testing fluids with agglutinin titers of at least 1:8 and not too strong cell suspensions, agglutinations for A, B, M, N, and Rh can be obtained. This indicates that the agglutinogens are developed long before birth in sufficient strength for reliable examination.
The Death and Life of American Labor: Toward a New Workers’ Movement

Stanley Aronowitz's critique of American labor unions is searing without being cynical. The reversal of the natural order of life and death in the title indicates that his is not a deathwatch, not ...
Influence of Anesthesia upon Pancreatic Function.20

ConclusionsFollowing ether in man, there is a definite increase in blood amylase which does not occur after avertin or spinal anesthesia. According to the results obtained in dogs with fistulas, th...
Feasibility and Acceptability of Smartphone Assessment in Older Adults with Cognitive and Emotional Difficulties

ABSTRACTThis feasibility study assessed perceived acceptability, adherence rates, and reasons for nonadherence to smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA). At two sites, participants (n = 103) ages 65 years or older with diagnosed anxiety or depressive disorder and cognitive concerns responded three times daily to smartphone-based EMA questions assessing clinical outcomes for two 10-day periods. Quantitative and qualitative measures followed both 10-day EMA periods. Overall, 76% of participants completed surveys on ≥ 10 of the 20 assessment days, and 70% of participants completed at least 30% of the total surveys. Reasons for nonadherence included technical, logistical, physiological, and cognitive issues. Smartphone-based EMA is feasible in older adults with cognitive and emotional difficulties. EMA tools should be responsive to the needs and preferences of participants to ensure adequate acceptability and adherence in this population. Our findings can inform the design, development, and im...
On Western Marxist Ethical Ideology of Consumption

Western Marxism criticized alienated consumerism as an instrument of political rule,a means of survival and the source of ecological crisis. It pointed out that the harm of values of consumerism lay in its digestion of people’s ability of criticism and negation and political consciousness and causing non-productive sick personality and ecological crisis. Unlike applied ethics which regards consumptive ethics as a sort of economic ethics,western Marxism based its values of consumptive ethics on philosophic ontology and criticism of capitalist system,emphasizing the importance of getting rid of consumerist ideology to the realization of human freedom and emancipation.
Chronicles of a Robotic Musical Companion.

As robots become more pervasive in the world we think about how this might influence the way in which people experience music. We introduce the concept of a “robotic musical companion” (RMC) in the form of Shimi, a smartphone enabled five degree-of-freedom (DoF) robotic platform. We discuss experiences individuals tend to have with music as consumers and performers and explore how these experiences can be modified, aided, or improved by the inherent synergies between a human and robot. An overview of several applications developed for Shimi is provided. These applications place Shimi in various roles and enable humanrobotic interactions (HRIs) that are highlighted by more personable social communications using natural language and other forms of communication.
BSW Students' Experiences With the Deaths of Clients: An Exploratory Study

This study explored the experiences of undergraduate social work students who had faced the death of a client in their senior field placements. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected by survey, the study examined how the incidents of client death affected these students and how personnel in their practicum settings and university programs assisted them in coping with and processing these incidents. Results indicated that whereas students coped with the clients' deaths relatively well, their perception of support and assistance provided in their field sites and academic programs was mixed. The article concludes with recommendations for helping students cope with client death and implications for future research.
Three new sesterterpenoid antibiotics from the marine sponge Luffariella variabilis (polejaff)

Abstract Structures of three new sesterterpenoid antibiotics 2, 3, and 4, isolated from a marine sponge have been determined by spectral analysis and chemical transformations.
Living in sympatry via differentiation in time, space and display characters of courtship behaviors of bioluminescent marine ostracods

Distinguishing among courtship signals can be extremely important for individuals in regions where related species co-occur, including among sympatric species pairs and along hybrid zones. Reef habitats off the coast of Belize are shared by bioluminescent ostracods that perform nightly bioluminescent displays used in courtship. These displays vary in light pulse durations, interpulse distances and intervals, and direction. Here, we test how six sympatric species of marine ostracods (three described and three undescribed species) partition the display arena in time and space. Males from all six species can be differentiated based on morphology and species-specific luminescent display traits. Timing of nightly courtship display initiation and peak display timing differed among species by 5–25 min, and the order of appearance for each species was consistent across nights. In addition to varying temporally, species used different microhabitats (grassbed, sand channels, reef slopes and reef crest) for their courtship displays. Our findings support the hypothesis that species with more similar display traits (pulse duration, interpulse distance, number of pulses) differ most in the time and space used for courtship. The large number of axes for displacement of both luminescent display traits and spatio-temporal habitat use for courtship suggests that ostracods have the genetic toolkit for rapid diversification. This species complex living in sympatry yields a rich system for testing how genetic determination of behavioral traits relates to sexual selection and speciation.
Estimating Lung Respiratory Motion Using Combined Global and Local Statistical Models

In image-guided therapy of lung cancer, discrepancies between pre-procedural 3D or 4D-CT and patient’s current lung shape could reduce the accuracy for guidance. While real-time imaging is often not available, it is necessary to estimate the lung motion from real-time measurable signals such as on-chest/abdominal fiducials or surface. Traditional regression models take the entire lung motion deformation as a whole and perform the estimation in a global manner. Given high dimensionality and complexity of the lung motion patterns, the correlation of lung motion in different local areas with the surface motion could be different. Therefore, we propose a combined global and local statistics-based estimation to improve the estimation accuracy because local deformations have similar patterns and could have higher correlation with the surface motion. Results with 37 4D-CT datasets suggest local motion estimation further improves the performance for lung respiratory motion modeling.
Reducing human impacts on central Californian intertidal gastropods: are marine protected areas effective?

ABSTRACTThe central California coast is visited by millions of people every year, many of whom collect intertidal gastropods for food, bait or recreation in near-shore marine environments. The harvesting of these animals has caused a decline in body size because humans preferentially take the largest individuals. Marine protected areas (MPAs) may serve to protect gastropods from this impact. The average body size and frequency of four gastropod species from eight study locations along the central California coast were determined. Five study locations were in MPAs and three study locations were in non-MPA zones. Gastropods in four California museums were measured and compared to specimens collected in the field. Three of the four species studied were larger and/or more frequent in MPAs than outside MPAs, including both harvested species and one unharvested species. For three of the four species, the average size of individuals from MPA sites was significantly smaller than museum specimens, but this may be ...
Plow & Hearth: Double Acquisition

This case concerns a vice president of Human Resources who faces the task of integrating two recent catalogue-business acquisitions in the least amount of time. Plow & Hearth must consider market synergies, internal operations, and the existing cohesive corporate culture and esprit de corps.
California Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) habitat use patterns in a burned landscape

ABSTRACT Fire is a dynamic ecosystem process of mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, but there is limited scientific information addressing wildlife habitat use in burned landscapes. Recent studies have presented contradictory information regarding the effects of stand-replacing wildfires on Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis) and their habitat. While fire promotes heterogeneous forest landscapes shown to be favored by owls, high severity fire may create large canopy gaps that can fragment the closed-canopy habitat preferred by Spotted Owls. We used radio-telemetry to determine whether foraging California Spotted Owls (S. o. occidentalis) in Yosemite National Park, California, USA, showed selection for particular fire severity patch types within their home ranges. Our results suggested that Spotted Owls exhibited strong habitat selection within their home ranges for locations near the roost and edge habitats, and weak selection for lower fire severity patch types. Although owls selected high contrast...
Topographies of the future: urban and suburban visions in Edward Bellamy’s utopian fiction

ABSTRACTIn Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897), Edward Bellamy offered two distinct but interrelated visions of a utopian future. The first and more famous book was set in a luxuriant, centralized metropolis. The sequel detailed decentralized, suburbanized infrastructures. Within the literature on Bellamy these emendations have been treated as evidence of regressive anti-urbanism. This paper argues instead that Bellamy used correlations between topography and technology to mediate an evolving approach to social reform. The discrepancies between the two texts did not represent abandonment of the city but rather an expansion of the scale and scope necessary to ensure social progress. While Looking Backward has often been invoked in relation the Garden City and City Beautiful movements, a new reading of Equality offers opportunities to rethink Bellamy’s relationship to planning history.
Frequency selectivity in macaque monkeys measured using a notched-noise method.

Abstract The auditory system is thought to process complex sounds through overlapping bandpass filters. Frequency selectivity as estimated by auditory filters has been well quantified in humans and other mammalian species using behavioral and physiological methodologies, but little work has been done to examine frequency selectivity in nonhuman primates. In particular, knowledge of macaque frequency selectivity would help address the recent controversy over the sharpness of cochlear tuning in humans relative to other animal species. The purpose of our study was to investigate the frequency selectivity of macaque monkeys using a notched-noise paradigm. Four macaques were trained to detect tones in noises that were spectrally notched symmetrically and asymmetrically around the tone frequency. Masked tone thresholds decreased with increasing notch width. Auditory filter shapes were estimated using a rounded exponential function. Macaque auditory filters were symmetric at low noise levels and broader and more asymmetric at higher noise levels with broader low-frequency and steeper high-frequency tails. Macaque filter bandwidths (BW3dB) increased with increasing center frequency, similar to humans and other species. Estimates of equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB) and filter quality factor (QERB) suggest macaque filters are broader than human filters. These data shed further light on frequency selectivity across species and serve as a baseline for studies of neuronal frequency selectivity and frequency selectivity in subjects with hearing loss.
Real-time studies of epitaxial film growth using surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD)

Abstract: We review recent results in the study of pulsed laser deposition growth kinetics using real-time surface X-ray diffraction. interlayer transport as the primary driving force behind formation of atomically sharp layers is analyzed quantitatively from the measurements of time constants and shot-to-shot changes in single laser shot time dependent coverages in the growth of the model perovskite srTiO3. The results show that direct deposition into the open layers and very fast interlayer transport driven by energetic species during the arrival of the laser plume are the main components of layer growth per laser shot in both homo-and heteroepitaxy of complex oxides.
Exploring Association Rules by Interactive Graphics

Data Mining (DM) works with very computer-intensive methods and uses automated techniques from various fields of data analysis. Getting some results is a (comparatively) fast process, yet, filtering the results in terms of their usefulness and importance is not quite as straightforward. It has been already proposed in the DM literature, to analyse the full X – Y data table, whenever a rule X → Y has been found (Kardaun and Alanko, 1999). Mosaicplots provide analysts with exactly this possibility in a graphical way. Enhanced with standard interactive features they represent a powerful tool to “look at” multidimensional categorical data. It will be shown in this paper, how Association Rules and a variation of Mosaicplots, the so-called Doubledecker plots, fit together, and, how visualization techniques can be used to filter interesting rules.
Das klassische Transportproblem

Eine wichtige Klasse linearer Programmierungsprobleme wirtschaftlichen und physikalischen Ursprungs last sich mit Hilfe eines Netzwerks formulieren, das aus Punkten (Knoten) zusammengesetzt ist, die durch Strecken (Kanten) verbunden sind, uber die verschiedene Arten von Transport (Flus) stattfindet (siehe Kapitel 19).
Periodic Epileptiform Discharges Associated With Increased Cerebral Blood Flow

Periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges are associated with a variety of acute neurological disorders such as stroke, encephalitis and intracerebral hemorrhage. This particular EEG pattern may also be seen in association with status epilepticus. There is a debate in the neurology literature whether this pattern represents ongoing seizure activity or is an interictal pattern. Researchers are now beginning to utilize functional imaging studies such as SPECT to help differentiate whether this EEG pattern is ictal or interictal. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of literature regarding this topic.
Forecast-Informed Energy Storage Utilization in Local Area Power Systems

Distributed energy storage is beneficial to energy consumers and system operators, but it is expensive to install and requires careful management. To improve the viability of demand-side energy storage, this study presents a new method of obtaining optimal control actions for a demand-side energy storage system in the presence of distributed generation. The optimal usage policy is determined by framing the selection of charge and discharge actions as a stochastic optimization problem, which is conveniently represented as a Markov decision process. The proposed method uses short-term forecasts of loads and local generation to represent the time-dependence and nonstationarity of the net load profile. In contrast to previous studies, the forecast information is used to restrict the problem state space, reducing the computational complexity of the policy calculation. The method is tested using historic load and generation data with real time-of-use rate schedules and achieves substantial reductions in energy costs over similar existing methods.
Altered Amniotic Fluid Levels of Hyaluronic Acid in Fetal Rats with Myelomeningocele: Understanding Spinal Cord Injury

Myelomeningocele (MMC) is a devastating congenital neural tube defect that results in the exposure of spinal cord to the intrauterine environment, leading to secondary spinal cord injury and severe impairment. Although the mechanisms underlying the secondary pathogenesis are clinically relevant, the exact cause of in utero-acquired spinal cord damage remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether the hyaluronic acid (HA) concentration in amniotic fluid (AF) in the retinoic acid-induced model of MMC is different from that in normal controls and whether these differences could have an impact on the viscosity of AF. Our data shows that the concentration of HA in AF samples from fetuses with MMC (MMC-AF) and normal control samples (Norm-AF) were not significantly different at embryonic day 18 (E18) and E20. Thereafter, the HA concentration significantly increased in Norm-AF but not in MMC-AF. Compared with Norm-AF, the concentration of HA in MMC-AF and the viscosity of MMC-AF were significantly lower at E21. Agarose gel electrophoresis confirmed a significant reduction in the HA level of MMC-AF compared with Norm-AF at E21. No HA-degrading activity was detected in MMC-AF. In summary, we identified a deficiency in the AF level of HA and the viscosity of AF in fetal rats with MMC. These data are discussed in relation to a potential role the reduction in the AF viscosity due to the low level of HA may play in the exacerbating effects of mechanical trauma on spinal cord damage at the MMC lesion site.
The impact of major league baseball on the incidence of operative hand and facial trauma at a level 1 trauma center.

BACKGROUND Professional affiliation between medical centers and professional sports teams can be mutually beneficial in the provision of healthcare and marketing strategy. Anecdotal evidence suggests a link between trauma volume and sporting events; however, there is limited data. This study aims to characterize the incidence of operative hand and facial trauma during professional baseball home games. METHODS A retrospective review of surgical cases for traumatic hand or facial injuries at a level 1 center between 1999 and 2012 was performed. Demographic information including date of injury, admission status, and operative repair were collected. Patients were grouped based on whether their trauma occurred on the date of a home game. RESULTS Operative hand and facial trauma occurred at a rate of 33.4 injuries per 100 days with home games, compared to 22.2 injuries per 100 days (incidence rate ratios, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.34-1.69). When home games were played, patients were more likely to present as a result of motorcycle accidents (3.1% vs. 1.5%; P=0.04) or bicycle accidents (5.0% vs. 2.6%; P=0.01). Other mechanisms of trauma were not statistically different. There was an increase incidence of injuries during home games in August; weekly variability showed an increased incidence during the weekends. CONCLUSIONS There was an increased rate of operative hand and facial injuries on dates with professional home games. The incidence of injuries during home games was higher in the late summer and on the weekends. Further analysis may allow improved resource allocation and strategies for injury prevention and treatment.
Leverage points to improve smoking cessation treatment in a large tertiary care hospital: a systems-based mixed methods study.

Objectives To generate system insights on patient and provider levers and strategies that must be activated to improve hospital-based smoking cessation treatment. Design Mixed methods study including a series of in-depth group model building sessions, which informed the design of an online survey completed by healthcare providers and a structured interview protocol administered at the bedside to patients who smoke. Setting Large, tertiary care hospital in the Midwestern United States. Participants Group model building: 28 healthcare providers and 22 previously-hospitalised patients; Online survey: 308 healthcare providers; Bedside interviews: 205 hospitalised patients. Primary and secondary outcome measures Hypothesis-generating, participatory qualitative methods informed the examination of the following quantitative outcomes: patient interest versus provider perception of patient interest in smoking cessation and treatment; patient-reported receipt versus provider-reported offering of inpatient smoking cessation interventions; and priority ratings of importance and feasibility of strategies to improve treatment. Results System insights included patients frequently leaving the floor to smoke, which created major workflow disruption. Leverage points included interventions to reduce withdrawal symptoms, and action ideas included nurse-driven protocols for timely administration of nicotine replacement therapy. Quantitative data corroborated system insights; for instance, 80% of providers reported that patients frequently leave the floor to smoke, leading to safety risks, missed assessments and inefficient use of staff time. Patients reported significantly lower rates of receiving any smoking cessation interventions, compared with provider reports (mean difference=17.4%–33.7%, p Conclusions Engaging hospital providers and patients in participatory approaches to develop an implementation strategy revealed discrepant perceptions of patient interest and frequency of hospital-based treatment for smoking. These findings spurred adoption of standardised point-of-care treatment for cigarette smoking, which remains highly prevalent yet undertreated among hospitalised patients.
Intravenous fluid resuscitation is associated with septic endothelial glycocalyx degradation

Intravenous fluids, an essential component of sepsis resuscitation, may paradoxically worsen outcomes by exacerbating endothelial injury. Preclinical models suggest that fluid resuscitation degrades the endothelial glycocalyx, a heparan sulfate-enriched structure necessary for vascular homeostasis. We hypothesized that endothelial glycocalyx degradation is associated with the volume of intravenous fluids administered during early sepsis resuscitation. We used mass spectrometry to measure plasma heparan sulfate (a highly sensitive and specific index of systemic endothelial glycocalyx degradation) after 6 h of intravenous fluids in 56 septic shock patients, at presentation and after 24 h of intravenous fluids in 100 sepsis patients, and in two groups of non-infected patients. We compared plasma heparan sulfate concentrations between sepsis and non-sepsis patients, as well as between sepsis survivors and sepsis non-survivors. We used multivariable linear regression to model the association between volume of intravenous fluids and changes in plasma heparan sulfate. Consistent with previous studies, median plasma heparan sulfate was elevated in septic shock patients (118 [IQR, 113–341] ng/ml 6 h after presentation) compared to non-infected controls (61 [45–79] ng/ml), as well as in a second cohort of sepsis patients (283 [155–584] ng/ml) at emergency department presentation) compared to controls (177 [144–262] ng/ml). In the larger sepsis cohort, heparan sulfate predicted in-hospital mortality. In both cohorts, multivariable linear regression adjusting for age and severity of illness demonstrated a significant association between volume of intravenous fluids administered during resuscitation and plasma heparan sulfate. In the second cohort, independent of disease severity and age, each 1 l of intravenous fluids administered was associated with a 200 ng/ml increase in circulating heparan sulfate (p = 0.006) at 24 h after enrollment. Glycocalyx degradation occurs in sepsis and septic shock and is associated with in-hospital mortality. The volume of intravenous fluids administered during sepsis resuscitation is independently associated with the degree of glycocalyx degradation. These findings suggest a potential mechanism by which intravenous fluid resuscitation strategies may induce iatrogenic endothelial injury.
A high-throughput system to identify inhibitors of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus transcription regulators.

Citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing (HLB), is the most devastating disease of Citrus worldwide. This incurable disease is caused primarily by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and spread by feeding of the Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri. Ca. L. asiaticus cannot be cultured; its growth is restricted to citrus phloem and the psyllid insect. Management of infected trees includes use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which have disadvantages. Recent work has sought to identify small molecules that inhibit Ca. L. asiaticus transcription regulators, based on a premise that at least some regulators control expression of genes necessary for virulence. We describe a synthetic, high-throughput screening system to identify compounds that inhibit activity of Ca. L. asiaticus transcription activators LdtR, RpoH, and VisNR. Our system uses the closely related model bacterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, as a heterologous host for expression of a Ca. L. asiaticus transcription activator, the activity of which is detected through expression of an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene fused to a target promoter. We used this system to screen more than 120,000 compounds for compounds that inhibited regulator activity, but not growth. Our screen identified several dozen compounds that inhibit regulator activity in our assay. This work shows that, in addition to providing a means of characterizing Ca. L. asiaticus regulators, an S. meliloti host can be used for preliminary identification of candidate inhibitory molecules.
Political preferences and threat perception: opportunities for neuroimaging and developmental research

Author(s): Landau-Wells, M; Saxe, R | Abstract: People have preferences for how their social environment is organized and governed. One influential explanation of variation in these preferences focuses on individual differences in sensitivity to threats. Recent research demonstrates that this relationship is a function not only of the degree of sensitivity (greater or lesser), but also of the danger in question (i.e. immigration or climate change) and the kind of potential harm it poses (i.e. physical pain or contamination). Since many political issues are not unambiguously of one kind, the structure of an individual's reactions to perceived political threats is also uncertain. We argue that future research should (i) use functional neuroimaging to test these structures and (ii) investigate the role of social learning in their transmission.
Developing a Multi-variate Logistic Regression Model to Analyze Accident Scenarios: Case of Electrical Contractors

The ability to identify factors that influence serious injuries and fatalities would help construction firms triage hazardous situations and direct their resources towards more effective interventions. Therefore, this study used odds ratio analysis and logistic regression modeling on historical accident data to investigate the contributing factors impacting occupational accidents among small electrical contracting enterprises. After conducting a thorough content analysis to ensure the reliability of reports, the authors adopted a purposeful variable selection approach to determine the most significant factors that can explain the fatality rates in different scenarios. Thereafter, this study performed an odds ratio analysis among significant factors to determine which factors increase the likelihood of fatality. For example, it was found that having a fatal accident is 4.4 times more likely when the source is a "vehicle" than when it is a "tool, instrument, or equipment". After validating the consistency of the model, 105 accident scenarios were developed and assessed using the model. The findings revealed which severe accident scenarios happen commonly to people in this trade, with nine scenarios having fatality rates of 50% or more. The highest fatality rates occurred in "fencing, installing lights, signs, etc." tasks in "alteration and rehabilitation" projects where the source of injury was "parts and materials". The proposed analysis/modeling approach can be applied among all specialty contracting companies to identify and prioritize more hazardous situations within specific trades. The proposed model-development process also contributes to the body of knowledge around accident analysis by providing a framework for analyzing accident reports through a multivariate logistic regression model.
Preoperative Skin Cultures Predict Periprosthetic Infections in Revised Shoulder Arthroplasties: A Preliminary Report.

Current approaches do not provide a practical method for the accurate prediction of a Cutibacterium periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in failed arthroplasties. Thus, surgeons revising failed arthroplasties must decide whether to exchange the implants and to institute antibiotic treatment without knowing the results of cultures of deep specimens obtained at the revision procedure. This study tests the hypothesis that the results of preoperative culture specimens of the skin surface obtained in the clinic can predict the presence of culture-positive Cutibacterium PJIs. Methods Revision shoulder arthroplasties performed between October 3, 2017, and February 4, 2020, that had both preoperative clinic culture specimens and surgical culture specimens were included in this analysis. Culture results were assigned a value from 0 to 4. The percentage of the total skin bacterial load contributed by Cutibacterium (Cutibacterium percentage) was determined. To reduce concern about contamination, a robust criterion for culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI was applied: ≥2 surgical specimens with a Cutibacterium value of ≥1. The predictive values for a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI were determined for a clinic skin culture Cutibacterium value of >1 and a clinic skin percentage of Cutibacterium of ≥75%. Results Eighteen cases met the inclusion criteria; of these, 7 (6 male patients) met our criterion for a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI. For all patients, a preoperative clinic skin Cutibacterium value of >1 predicted the presence of a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI with an accuracy of 89%, and a clinic skin Cutibacterium percentage of ≥75% predicted the presence of a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI with an accuracy of 94%. For male patients, a preoperative clinic skin Cutibacterium value of >1 predicted the presence of a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI with an accuracy of 91%, and a clinic skin Cutibacterium percentage of ≥75% predicted the presence of a culture-positive Cutibacterium PJI with an accuracy of 100%. Conclusions A simple culture specimen of the unprepared skin surface obtained in a clinic prior to revision shoulder arthroplasty may provide valuable assistance to surgeons planning a revision arthroplasty. Level of evidence Prognostic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.