cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Genus Prescottia (Homoptera Cicadellidae) in North America

The genus Prescottia was described by Ball in 1932[1][1] to include two species, Scaphoideus lobatus V. D., described in 1894[2][2] which he designated as the type, and brickellia Ball described at the time the genus was established. brickellia is the larger of these two species and is known only from Arizona. Lobata occurs only in the northern portion of the eastern United States, living on the Solidago caesia association in the open woodland. A third species, smaller than either of the two described, has recently been collected in Mexico. All three species have similar color markings, each bearing the white lobate spots on the clavus either side of the commissural line. The male genital characters of the three species are described and illustrated in order that they may serve to more easily separate by structural characters the two previously named species and the one which is described at this time. [1]: #fn-1 [2]: #fn-2
Postpartum family planning: current evidence on successful interventions

We reviewed existing evidence of the efficacy of postpartum family planning interventions targeting women in the 12 months postpartum period in low- and middle-income countries. We searched for studies from January 1, 2004 to September 19, 2015, using the US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations to assess evidence quality. Our search resulted in 26 studies: 11 based in sub-Saharan Africa, six in the Middle East and North Africa, and nine in Asia. Twenty of the included studies assessed health facility-based interventions. Three were focused on community interventions, two had community and facility components, and one was a workplace program. Overall quality of the evidence was moderate, including evidence for counseling interventions. Male partner involvement, integration with other service delivery platforms, such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and immunization, and innovative product delivery programs may increase knowledge and use during the postpartum period. Community-based and workplace strategies need a much stronger base of evidence to prompt recommendations.
Activation of proplasmin by a tissue fraction.

Conclusion and summaryThe data indicate that on mixing tissue pulp from the lungs of freshly killed adult rats with blood serum or fraction of blood serum containing proplasmin, fibrinolytic activity appeared in the mixture. This was presumably due to activation proplasmin of serum by a tissue kinase present in the lung tissue. The kinase activity was found to be concentrated in the microsome fraction of the tissue, while the inhibitory activity was in the supernate. The system described here may be identical with that proposed by Astrup and Permin.7 It is known also that the microsome fraction of lung tissue contains most of the thromboplastic activity of the total tissue extract,5 although this should not be construed as indicating an identity between the kinase and thromboplastin.
Pathogenesis of Shigella Diarrhea: Evidence for an N-Linked Glycoprotein Shigella Toxin Receptor and Receptor Modulation by β-Galactosidase

Pathogenic mechanisms in infectious diseases often involve specific receptor-ligand interactions of cells and soluble molecules. To further elucidate structure-function relations for shigella toxin receptors, we studied binding of purified 125I-labeled toxin and biologic response under various conditions in an experimental model using HeLa cells. Response to toxin was reversibly inhibited by treatment of cells with trypsin or tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycoprotein synthesis that also significantly inhibited toxin binding, a result indicating that the receptor is an N-linked glycoprotein. Removal of terminal beta-linked galactose from the HeLa cell surface with beta-galactosidase increased toxin binding and activity, and it also potentiated the effects of lysozyme and wheat-germ agglutinin, which recognize oligomeric beta 1----4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and inhibit toxin activity as well. Incubation of cells with beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, which cleaves terminal beta-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, inhibited toxin activity. Effects of beta-galactosidase were reversed by readdition of galactose to cell-surface oligosaccharide acceptors. The data demonstrate that alterations of a single sugar on cell-surface glycoproteins may have a dramatic effect on receptor activity and indicate that shigella toxin is a sugar-binding protein with specificity for beta 1----4-linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine.
Microbial Communities in Nature: a Postgenomic Perspective

The term microbial community often comes up in the context of natural microbial assemblages (NMAs) being analyzed. Because the majority of microbes in such NMAs show no detectable activity or growth, researchers use molecular techniques to characterize microbes in these NMA—while assuming that nucleic acids recovered in bulk from such samples represent those microbial communities.
Kidney/pancreas transplantation: A review of the current status

SUMMARY KPT has become the treatment of choice for many Type I diabetics with impending or actual end-stage renal disease. The techniques of organ procurement, surgical transplantation, and postoperative management are well established. The current 1- and 3-year patient and graft survival rates are at least equal to those obtained in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients receiving kidney transplants alone. Although there is significant associated morbidity unique to the pancreas transplant, this is usually manageable without influencing the outcome. With the improvement in quality of life and the potential for arresting diabetic complications, KPT is a procedure that should be seriously considered for many Type I diabetic patients with advanced nephropathy.
The Burden of Hepatitis C Infection–Related Liver Fibrosis in the United States

BACKGROUND Knowledge of the estimated proportion of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected persons with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis is critical to estimating healthcare needs. METHODS We analyzed HCV-related testing conducted by Quest Diagnostics from January 2010 through December 2013. Tests included hepatitis C antibody, HCV RNA, HCV genotype (nucleic acid tests [NAT]), liver function tests, and platelet counts; patient age was also determined. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)-to-platelet ratio (APRI) was calculated as = 100*(aspartate aminotransferase [AST]/upper limit of AST)/platelet. Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) was calculated as (age × AST)/(platelet ×√ alanine aminotransferase [ALT]). Persons were "currently infected" if they had ≥1 positive HCV NAT; "in care" if a positive RNA test was followed <6 months by ≥1 additional NAT(s), or ALT, AST, and platelets <90 days, or any test ordered by an infectious diseases or gastroenterology specialist; and "evaluated for treatment" if they had a genotype test. RESULTS Approximately 10 million HCV test results were analyzed, representing 5.6 million unique patients. Of the 2.6 million patients with data to estimate liver disease, 5% were currently infected. Among those currently infected, APRI and FIB-4 scores indicated that 23% overall-and 27% among the cohort born during 1945-1965-had advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis at first diagnosis. A total of 54% of infected were in care and 51% of infected with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis were evaluated for treatment. CONCLUSIONS Testing from a large US commercial laboratory indicates that about 1 in 4 HCV-infected persons have levels of liver disease put them at highest risk for complications and could benefit from immediate antiviral therapy.
Deep Joint Image Filtering

Joint image filters can leverage the guidance image as a prior and transfer the structural details from the guidance image to the target image for suppressing noise or enhancing spatial resolution. Existing methods rely on various kinds of explicit filter construction or hand-designed objective functions. It is thus difficult to understand, improve, and accelerate them in a coherent framework. In this paper, we propose a learning-based approach to construct a joint filter based on Convolutional Neural Networks. In contrast to existing methods that consider only the guidance image, our method can selectively transfer salient structures that are consistent in both guidance and target images. We show that the model trained on a certain type of data, e.g., RGB and depth images, generalizes well for other modalities, e.g., Flash/Non-Flash and RGB/NIR images. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed joint filter through extensive comparisons with state-of-the-art methods.
Curriculum Weaving: Developing Creative Curricular Opportunities for Pre-Service Teachers and Elementary Students through Project-Based Learning

Curriculum Weaving uses multi-layered goal planning designed to activate the students' prior knowledge, connect thestudent to student competencies and encourage them to engage in professionally-based, project management activitiesthat will cultivate effective professional in the field classroom teacher. The focus of weaving these elements togetherthrough a project based event fosters a shift to a more holistic and contextualized perspective of the learner. In ourmodel of Curriculum Weaving, we see this process as one that describes the uniting of daily theoretical requirements,student lived experiences, and intangible skill sets into a larger perspective of learning as represented by holisticthinking. The following article describes the Curriculum Weaving Model as it was applied to a children’s book authorvisit.
Endovascular Management of Recurrent Spontaneous Hemarthrosis After Arthroplasty

Recurrent spontaneous hemarthrosis is an infrequent but debilitating late complication of joint replacement, affecting up to 1.6% of patients with arthroplasty of the affected joint. Repeated episodes of bleeding result in an inflammatory cascade that further propagates bleeding events. Open and arthroscopic synovectomy are often performed when conservative treatments fail. Transarterial embolization is increasingly utilized as a less invasive option; however, its role is not widely established. We performed a systematic literature review to report the safety and efficacy of transarterial embolization in treating recurrent hemarthrosis in the setting of prior arthroplasty. A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. A structured search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and SCOPUS databases of patients undergoing embolization for recurrent hemarthrosis after arthroplasty. Patients immediately post-operative, those embolized at first bleeding episode, and those with hemophilia were excluded. Demographic data, clinical information, angiographic findings, treatment, and outcomes were tabulated. The search identified 119 titles of which 24 were deemed relevant, comprising 91 patients undergoing 99 embolization procedures. Mean time from prosthesis implantation was 32.2 months. Technical success was 99%. Mean follow-up time was 24.9 months. There were 10 recurrences (10%). Two cases were complicated by joint infection requiring arthroplasty revision. Transarterial embolization for recurrent spontaneous hemarthrosis may be safe and effective in patients having undergone arthroplasty of the affected joint.
Preliminary study of the effect of Incremental Rehearsal with a morphological component for teaching Chinese character recognition

The current study examined the effectiveness of Incremental Rehearsal (IR) for teaching Chinese character recognition using a single-case experimental design. In addition, a morphological component...
The role of formal social control mechanisms in deterring sex offending as part of the desistance process

AbstractThis study explored the role of sex offender laws, particularly registration and community notification, in deterring individuals from sexual offending. Through qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with 77 registrants, findings suggest that the threat of prison and probation/parole serve as deterrents for some, even though they did not speak this directly. The majority of registrants stated the registry was not influential in stifling reoffending, however, they subsequently discussed how these policies made them cognizant of the rules and regulations associated with their situation, prompting compliance. Notably, the possibility of punishment due to registration violations acted as a stronger deterrent than public notification. In contrast, the threat of civil commitment negatively affects seeking therapeutic help when needed by registered citizens, and thus likely interferes with the desistance process.
Participation of Women in Behavior Analysis Research: Some Recent and Relevant Data.

An examination of article authorship and editorial board membership for 7 behavior–analytic journals from 2014 to 2017 revealed that, compared to findings from prior years, women’s participation has increased substantially. This finding is heartening and shows the value of persistent efforts to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed in, and be served by, behavior analysis.
"Home Away from Home"? How International Students Handle Difficult and Negative Experiences in American Higher Education

International students attending American universities often receive confusing messages: on one hand, for their contribution to the U.S. economy and fostering of domestic students’ multicultural awareness; on the other, they are often targets of hostility and bias on and off campus. This qualitative phenomenological study examined 12 international students’ perceptions of difficult and negative experiences in the context of American culture and a reputedly friendly Midwestern university. Four major themes emerged: (a) their on-campus experiences; (b) the off-campus experiences; (c) their reasons for unpleasant experiences, and (d) their suggestions for professors and peers to be more inclusive. Besides these students’ struggles with administrators, faculty, and domestic students, their off-campus challenges sometimes dimmed their hopes for truly having a “home away from home.”
Eros as Transformation

If conscious beings are sometimes motivated to intensify their consciousness through expressive activity, rather than merely to reduce homeostatic drives, then the prevalent assumption that erotic love is ultimately derivative from a reductive sexual drive is far from self-evident. For this reason, our inquiry here will begin not with sexuality per se, but with a question that has proven much more difficult to even formulate, let alone answer, in terms of traditional psychological theories: Why do people experience the intense, turbulent, and all-consuming passion which I designated above as a feeling of ‘erotic love,’ or ‘eros in the full sense,’ rather than merely feeling sexually attracted to each other?
Nitrite reduction by CoII and MnII substituted myoglobins: Towards understanding necessary components of Mb nitrite reductase activity

Abstract Nitrite reduction to nitric oxide by heme proteins is drawing increasing attention as a protective mechanism to hypoxic injury in mammalian physiology. Here we probe the nitrite reductase (NiR) activities of manganese(II)- and cobalt(II)-substituted myoglobins, and compare with data obtained previously for the iron(II) analog wt Mb II . Both Mn II Mb and Co II Mb displayed NiR activity, and it was shown that the kinetics are first order each in [protein], [nitrite], and [H + ], as previously determined for the Fe II analog wt Mb II . The second order rate constants ( k 2 ) at pH 7.4 and T = 25 °C, were 0.0066 and 0.015 M − 1 s − 1 for Co II Mb and Mn II Mb, respectively, both orders of magnitude slower than the k 2 (6 M − 1 s − 1 ) for wt Mb II . The final reaction products for Mn II Mb consisted of a mixture of the nitrosyl Mn II Mb(NO) and Mn III Mb, similar to the products from the analogous NiR reaction by wt Mb. In contrast, the products of NiR by Co II Mb were found to be the nitrito complex Co III Mb(ONO − ) plus roughly an equivalent of free NO. The differences can be attributed in part to the stronger coordination of inorganic nitrite to Co III Mb as reflected in the respective M III Mb(ONO − ) formation constants K nitrite : 2100 M − 1 (Co III ) and − 1 (Mn III ). We also report the formation constants (3.7 and 30 M − 1 , respectively) for the nitrite complexes of the mutant metmyoglobins H64V Mb III (NO 2 − ) and H64V/V67R Mb III (ONO − ) and a K nitrite revised value (120 M − 1 ) for the nitrite complex of wt metMb. The respective K nitrite values for the three ferric proteins emphasize the importance of a H-bonding residue, such as His64 in the Mb III distal pocket or the Arg67 in H64V/V67R Mb III , in stabilizing nitrite coordination. Notably, the NiR activities of the corresponding ferrous Mbs follow a similar sequence suggesting that nitrite binding to these centers are analogously affected by the H-bonding residues.
Vertical Price Restraints after Leegin

n Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., the Supreme Court by a vote of 5-4 overruled the century old per se ban on resale price maintenance (“r/p/m”) enunciated in the Dr. Miles case. The Court did not rule that r/p/m is lawful per se but rather held that vertical price restraints should be adjudged under the broader rule of reason analysis. The decision was not unexpected; and, indeed, it was welcomed in many quarters. From one perspective, Leegin is a long overdue ruling that simply
Speech perception as a multilevel processing system

This is the report of an experiment that emphasized how variability in voice characteristics will affect a listener's ability to process sentences. Consideration is also given to the description of a possible model for the processing of continuous speech. As part of the experiment, use was made of a number of speakers, each of whom recorded the same set of sentences. The recorded sentences were used in order to form a pair of experimental tapes. On one tape, sentences were arranged randomly such that the listener could predict neither the content of a sentence nor the voice of the speaker who had produced it. On a second tape, sentences were arranged in blocks by speakers such that there was uncertainty as to content but not with respect to voice. Four groups of subjects listened to these tapes, with each tape being processed under a low and high condition of background noise. In interpreting the data, emphasis was placed on the idea that the speech signal contains a variety of characteristics or features and that these features are processed by three interacting subsystems. One is a prosodic system, responsible for the segmentation of continuous speech into sentences, phrases, and words. It attempts to establish a context within which a second system, responsible for the processing of words and syllables, can operate. However, this pair of systems is speaker-dependent in that it makes use of features that need to be adjusted on the basis of an assessment of voice characteristics. Thus, the model also provides for the inclusion of a third system, responsible for the assessment of voice characteristics. In effect, this third subsystem is responsible for “training” the two primary systems in order to normalize for differences in individual voice characteristics. We had predicted that performance would be uniformly more accurate in the blocked condition than in the unblocked condition since one type of uncertainty would have been eliminated. The results confirm this hypothesis only in part since there is an interaction with variations in backgroud noise. However, a plausible explanation is offered for these findings and for a variety of related results.
Degeneracy in Efficiency Testing in Bicriteria Integer Programming

This paper presents the theory underlying certain implementation features in an interactive solution framework for solving bicriteria integer programming problems. The solution framework is developed in (Ramesh et al., 1987). In this framework, a decision maker is assumed to have only an implicit utility function of the two objectives he wishes to maximize. The problem is solved by an interactive branch-and-bound method in which the decision-maker’s preference structure is explored and determined using pairwise comparison questions.
Robust Diagnosis of Switching Systems

Abstract This paper presents an approach for robust diagnosis of switching systems based on an extended version of the timed failure propagation graph model. The extended failure propagation graph model is a labeled graph used for the representation of failure conditions and their propagation modeled as causal relations with timing properties for a general class of systems with both timebased and event-driven dynamics such as hybrid and discrete event systems. We introduce the extended model and describe the structure and main components of the failure detection and isolation system based on the proposed model.
A randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial shows that intranasal vasopressin improves social deficits in children with autism

The social impairments of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a major impact on quality of life, yet there are no medications that effectively treat these core social behavior deficits. Preclinical research suggests that arginine vasopressin (AVP), a neuropeptide involved in promoting mammalian social behaviors, may be a possible treatment for ASD. Using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study design, we tested the efficacy and tolerability of a 4-week intranasal AVP daily treatment in 30 children with ASD. AVP-treated participants aged 6 to 9.5 years received the maximum daily target dose of 24 International Units (IU); participants aged 9.6 to 12.9 years received the maximum daily target dose of 32 IU. Intranasal AVP treatment compared to placebo enhanced social abilities as assessed by change from baseline in this phase 2 trial’s primary outcome measure, the Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd Edition total score (SRS-2 T score; F1,20 = 9.853; P = 0.0052; ηp2 = 33.0%; Cohen’s d = 1.40). AVP treatment also diminished anxiety symptoms and some repetitive behaviors. Most of these findings were more pronounced when we accounted for pretreatment AVP concentrations in blood. AVP was well tolerated with minimal side effects. No AVP-treated participants dropped out of the trial, and there were no differences in the rate of adverse events reported between treatment conditions. Last, no changes from baseline were observed in vital signs, electrocardiogram tracings, height and body weight, or clinical chemistry measurements after 4 weeks of AVP treatment. These preliminary findings suggest that AVP has potential for treating social impairments in children with ASD.
Abstract 401: Polyploidy Increases in Murine Cardiomyocytes Following Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: De novo cardiomyogenesis versus polyploidy in myocardial homeostasis, aging, and response to injury is a controversial research area of intense investigation. Our lab recently created...
Single-Molecule Analysis and Engineering of DNA Motors

Molecular motors are diverse enzymes that transduce chemical energy into mechanical work and, in doing so, perform critical cellular functions such as DNA replication and transcription, DNA supercoiling, intracellular transport, and ATP synthesis. Single-molecule techniques have been extensively used to identify structural intermediates in the reaction cycles of molecular motors and to understand how substeps in energy consumption drive transitions between the intermediates. Here, we review a broad spectrum of single-molecule tools and techniques such as optical and magnetic tweezers, atomic force microscopy (AFM), single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET), nanopore tweezers, and hybrid techniques that increase the number of observables. These methods enable the manipulation of individual biomolecules via the application of forces and torques and the observation of dynamic conformational changes in single motor complexes. We also review how these techniques have been applied to study various motors such as helicases, DNA and RNA polymerases, topoisomerases, nucleosome remodelers, and motors involved in the condensation, segregation, and digestion of DNA. In-depth analysis of mechanochemical coupling in molecular motors has made the development of artificially engineered motors possible. We review techniques such as mutagenesis, chemical modifications, and optogenetics that have been used to re-engineer existing molecular motors to have, for instance, altered speed, processivity, or functionality. We also discuss how single-molecule analysis of engineered motors allows us to challenge our fundamental understanding of how molecular motors transduce energy.
Lsh-sampling Breaks the Computation Chicken-and-egg Loop in Adaptive Stochastic Gradient Estimation.

Stochastic Gradient Descent or SGD is the most popular optimization algorithm for large-scale problems. SGD estimates the gradient by uniform sampling with sample size one. There have been several other works that suggest faster epoch-wise convergence by using weighted non-uniform sampling for better gradient estimates. Unfortunately, the per-iteration cost of maintaining this adaptive distribution for gradient estimation is more than calculating the full gradient itself, which we call the chicken-and-the-egg loop. As a result, the false impression of faster convergence in iterations, in reality, leads to slower convergence in time. In this paper, we break this barrier by providing the first demonstration of a scheme, Locality sensitive hashing (LSH) sampled Stochastic Gradient Descent (LGD), which leads to superior gradient estimation while keeping the sampling cost per iteration similar to that of the uniform sampling. Such an algorithm is possible due to the sampling view of LSH, which came to light recently. As a consequence of superior and fast estimation, we reduce the running time of all existing gradient descent algorithms, that relies on gradient estimates including Adam, Ada-grad, etc. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposal with experiments on linear models as well as the non-linear BERT, which is a recent popular deep learning based language representation model.
Insider-outsider as process: drawing as reflexive feminist methodology during fieldwork

This article illustrates the potential of drawing as a creative method to document and analyse the shifting insider-outsider status of the researcher during fieldwork. I draw on my experiences cond...
TGFβ-Induced Phosphorylation of Usp9X Stabilizes Ankyrin-G and Regulates Dendritic Spine Maintenance

Signaling by the cytokine TGFβ has been implicated in a multitude of biological functions outside and within the nervous system. While canonical TGFβ signaling is mediated by Smad-dependent regulation of gene expression, non-canonical TGFβ signaling, in particular in the central nervous system, remains largely unexplored. ANK3 variants (encoding ankyrin-G) are associated with bipolar disorder, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder, while mutations in USP9X, which encodes a deubiquitinase, are associated with X-linked intellectual disability and autism in humans. Here we show that TGFβ signaling promotes Usp9X phosphorylation, which enhances its interaction with ankyrin-G, and stabilizes ankyrin-G in spines, leading to spine enlargement. Using in situ proximity ligation combined with structured illumination super-resolution microscopy we characterize the postsynaptic spatial organization of phosphorylation-dependent regulation of Usp9X/ankyrin-G interaction in dendrites and its quantitative relationship with spine morphology and number. These data reveal a cytokine-mediated mechanism regulating protein stability in spines, and suggest a role for deubiquitination and TGFβ signaling in neurodevelopmental disorder pathogenesis and treatment.
Disease, drugs, or dinner? Food histology can mimic drugs and parasites in the gastrointestinal tract

Microscopic foreign objects are sometimes found in gastrointestinal (GI) tract specimens. Some signify important diagnostic findings, such as parasitic or bacterial organisms and some medication resins. Partially digested fruits and vegetables can also be present, and some have been described in the literature as potential mimickers of clinically important findings. While animal protein appears as skeletal muscle on histologic examination, fruits and vegetables can show a wide variation under the microscope. To our knowledge, a thorough histologic examination of commonly eaten fruits and vegetables has not been published in the pathology literature. Herein, we present key morphologic features of fruits and vegetables that might be found in GI specimens, emphasizing potential mimics of significant pathologic findings.
Pregnancy and health in the age of the Internet: A content analysis of online "birth club" forums.

Background Although studies report that more than 90% of pregnant women utilize digital sources to supplement their maternal healthcare, little is known about the kinds of information that women seek from their peers during pregnancy. To date, most research has used self-report measures to elucidate how and why women to turn to digital sources during pregnancy. However, given that these measures may differ from actual utilization of online health information, it is important to analyze the online content pregnant women generate. Objective To apply machine learning methods to analyze online pregnancy forums, to better understand how women seek information from a community of online peers during pregnancy. Methods Data from seven WhatToExpect.com “birth club” forums (September 2018; January-June 2018) were scraped. Forum posts were collected for a one-year period, which included three trimesters and three months postpartum. Only initial posts from each thread were analyzed (n = 262,238). Automatic natural language processing (NLP) methods captured 50 discussed topics, which were annotated by two independent coders and grouped categorically. Results The largest topic categories were maternal health (45%), baby-related topics (29%), and people/relationships (10%). While pain was a popular topic all throughout pregnancy, individual topics that were dominant by trimester included miscarriage (first trimester), labor (third trimester), and baby sleeping routine (postpartum period). Conclusion More than just emotional or peer support, pregnant women turn to online forums to discuss their health. Dominant topics, such as labor and miscarriage, suggest unmet informational needs in these domains. With misinformation becoming a growing public health concern, more attention must be directed toward peer-exchange outlets.
Facial dog bites treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital over a 20-year period

Objective The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with facial dog bites and discuss prevention strategies. Study Design This is a retrospective analysis of facial dog bites treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) from 1997to 2018. Patients were identified through the Research Patient Data Registry. The predictor variables included demographic characteristics, circumstantial information regarding the injury, and dog characteristics. Other study variables were wound and treatment specifics and follow-up. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed. Results In total, 321 patients were identified (mean age 29.5 years; range 0.7–81 years). There were 141 males and 180 females. The majority of patients were adults (age > 18 years; n = 223 [69.5%]). Most dogs (n = 281 [87.5%]) were known (P Conclusions The results of this study suggest that education of dog owners, parents, and children should focus on avoidance of known provoking behaviors. This may help decrease the incidence of these devastating injuries.
Identification of significant design factors for diesel spray combustion control through comprehensive experiments with various multi-hole nozzle internal geometries:

It is well known that nozzle internal geometries affect the characteristics of diesel spray and combustion. However, despite a number of studies, the effects are difficult to generalize. It is also...
Self-Organized Evasive Fountain Maneuvers with a Bioinspired Underwater Robot Collective

Several animal species self-organize into large groups to leverage vital behaviors such as foraging, construction, or predator evasion. With the advancement of robotics and automation, engineered multi-agent systems have been inspired to achieve similarly high degrees of scalable, robust, and adaptable autonomy through decentralized and dynamic coordination. So far however, they have been most successfully demonstrated above ground or with partial assistance from central controllers and external tracking. Here we demonstrate an underwater robot collective that realizes full spatiotemporal coordination. Using the example of fish-inspired evasive maneuvers, our robots display alignment, formation control, and coordinated escape, enabled by real-time on-board multi-robot tracking and local decision making. Accompanied by a custom simulator, this robotic platform advances the physically- validated development of algorithms for collective behaviors and future applications including collective exploration, tracking and capture, or environmental sampling.
Indigenous Nations and Modern States: The Political Emergence of Nations Challenging State Power

Introduction 1. Emerging Modern Nations 2. Fourth World Geopolitics 3. Four Nations and the U.S.A. 4. First Nations and Canada 5. The Laboratory of Internal Political Change 6. The Laboratory of External Political Change 7. Fourth World Wars in the Shadows 8. Dispatches from the Fourth World 9. The Global Movement of Nations 10. A World of Nations and States
TREAT neutron-radiography facility

The TREAT reactor was built as a transient irradiation test reactor. By taking advantage of built-in system features, it was possible to add a neutron radiography facility. This facility has been used over the years to radiograph a wide variety and large number of preirradiated fuel pins in many different configurations. Eight different specimen handling casks weighing up to 54.4 t (60 T) can be accommodated. Thermal, epithermal and track-etch radiographs have been taken. Neutron radiography service can be provided for specimens from other reactor facilities, and the capacity for storing preirradiated specimens also exists.
TU-CD-BRB-12: Radiogenomics of MRI-Guided Prostate Cancer Biopsy Habitats

Purpose: Diagnostic prostate biopsies are subject to sampling bias. We hypothesize that quantitative imaging with multiparametric (MP)-MRI can more accurately direct targeted biopsies to index lesions associated with highest risk clinical and genomic features. Methods: Regionally distinct prostate habitats were delineated on MP-MRI (T2-weighted, perfusion and diffusion imaging). Directed biopsies were performed on 17 habitats from 6 patients using MRI-ultrasound fusion. Biopsy location was characterized with 52 radiographic features. Transcriptome-wide analysis of 1.4 million RNA probes was performed on RNA from each habitat. Genomics features with insignificant expression values (<0.25) and interquartile range <0.5 were filtered, leaving total of 212 genes. Correlation between imaging features, genes and a 22 feature genomic classifier (GC), developed as a prognostic assay for metastasis after radical prostatectomy was investigated. Results: High quality genomic data was derived from 17 (100%) biopsies. Using the 212 ‘unbiased’ genes, the samples clustered by patient origin in unsupervised analysis. When only prostate cancer related genomic features were used, hierarchical clustering revealed samples clustered by needle-biopsy Gleason score (GS). Similarly, principal component analysis of the imaging features, found the primary source of variance segregated the samples into high (≥7) and low (6) GS. Pearson’s correlation analysis of genes with significant expression showed two main patterns of gene expression clustering prostate peripheral and transitional zone MRI features. Two-way hierarchical clustering of GC with radiomics features resulted in the expected groupings of high and low expressed genes in this metastasis signature. Conclusions: MP-MRI-targeted diagnostic biopsies can potentially improve risk stratification by directing pathological and genomic analysis to clinically significant index lesions. As determinant lesions are more reliably identified, targeting with radiotherapy should improve outcome. This is the first demonstration of a link between quantitative imaging features (radiomics) with genomic features in MRI-directed prostate biopsies. The research was supported by NIH- NCI R01 CA 189295 and R01 CA 189295; E Davicioni is partial owner of GenomeDx Biosciences, Inc. M Takhar, N Erho, L Lam, C Buerki and E Davicioni are current employees at GenomeDx Biosciences, Inc.
Mitogenic Activity of Purified Capsular Polysaccharide A from Bacteroides fragilis: Differential Stimulatory Effect on Mouse and Rat Lymphocytes In Vitro

Bacteroides fragilis, a Gram-negative colonic bacterium, induces the formation of abscesses associated with intra-abdominal sepsis in humans. The singular ability of this organism to modulate abscess formation in experimental rodent models resides in the structurally distinct and ionically charged capsular polysaccharides A (PS A) and B (PS B). The regulation of abscess formation in animals is dependent on T lymphocytes. However, the manner in which PS A interacts with T cells remains unknown. We therefore tested the T cell stimulatory capacity of purified PS A on mouse and rat lymphocytes in cellular proliferation assays and found that the PS A molecule possesses mitogenic characteristics distinguishable from those of the polyclonal B cell activator LPS, the T cell mitogen Con A, and staphylococcal enterotoxin A superantigen. Further, PS A stimulated proliferation of normal mouse and rat lymphocytes differentially. Mouse B cells responded to PS A in a fashion that did not require exogenous APC function, while rat T lymphocyte responses to PS A required APC function derived from autologous or xenogenic feeder cells. Cellular depletion experiments showed that the CD4+ subset of rat spleen cells was the primary responder cell type to PS A in vitro. The differential stimulatory effects of PS A on mouse and rat lymphocytes may reflect its ability to stimulate different lymphocyte subsets in vivo through the activities of receptor/counter-receptor pairs present on responder lymphocytes and cognate APC.
Blockade of PD-1/B7-H1 Interaction Restores Effector CD8+ T Cell Responses in a Hepatitis C Virus Core Murine Model

The impaired function of CD8+ T cells is characteristic of hepatitis C virus (HCV) persistent infection. HCV core protein has been reported to inhibit CD8+ T cell responses. To determine the mechanism of the HCV core in suppressing Ag-specific CD8+ T cell responses, we generated a transgenic mouse, core(+) mice, where the expression of core protein is directed to the liver using the albumin promoter. Using a recombinant adenovirus to deliver Ag, we demonstrated that core(+) mice failed to clear adenovirus-LacZ (Ad-LacZ) infection in the liver. The effector function of LacZ-specific CD8+ T cells was particularly impaired in the livers of core(+) mice, with suppression of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and granzyme B production by CD8+ T cells. In addition, the impaired CD8+ T cell responses in core(+) mice were accompanied by the enhanced expression of the inhibitory receptor programmed death-1 (PD-1) by LacZ-specific CD8+ T cells and its ligand B7-H1 on liver dendritic cells following Ad-LacZ infection. Importantly, blockade of the PD-1/B7-H1 inhibitory pathway (using a B7-H1 blocking antibody) in core(+) mice enhanced effector function of CD8+ T cells and cleared Ad-LacZ-infection as compared with that in mice treated with control Ab. This suggests that the regulation of the PD-1/B7-H1 inhibitory pathway is crucial for HCV core-mediated impaired T cell responses and viral persistence in the liver. This also suggests that manipulation of the PD-1/B7-H1 pathway may be a potential immunotherapy to enhance effector T cell responses during persistent HCV infection.
Optimization and Decision Making under Interval and Fuzzy Uncertainty: Towards New Mathematical Foundations

Summary. In many industrial engineering problems, we must select a design, select parameters of a process, or, in general, make a decision. Informally, this decision must be optimal, the best for the users. In traditional operations research, we assume that we know the objective function f (x) whose values describe the consequence of a decision x for the user. Optimization of well-defined functions is what started calculus in the first place: once we know the objective function f (x), we can use differentiation to find its maximum, e.g., as the point x at which the derivative of f with respect to x is equal to 0. In real life, we often do not know the exact consequence f (x )o f each possible decision x, we only know this consequence with uncertainty. The simplest case is when we have tolerance-type (interval) uncertainty, i.e., when all we know is that the deviation between the the actual (unknown) value f (x) and the approximate (known) value f0(x) cannot exceed the (known) bound ∆(x). In precise terms, this means that f (x) belongs to the interval [f0(x) − ∆(x) ,f 0(x )+ ∆(x)]. In other situations, in addition to the interval that is guaranteed to contain f (x), experts can also provide us with narrower intervals that contain f (x) with certain degree of confidence α; such a nested family of intervals is equivalent to a more traditional definition of fuzzy set. To solve the corresponding optimization problems, in this paper, we extend differentiation formalisms to the cases of interval and fuzzy uncertainty.
Viscoelastic Waves in Layered Media: General SII Waves Incident on Multiple Layers of Viscoelastic Media

The response of a stack of multiple layers of viscoelastic media to waves incident at the base of the stack is of special interest in seismology. Solutions of the problem for elastic media with incident homogeneous waves have proven useful in understanding the response of the Earth's crust and near-surface soil and rock layers to earthquake-induced ground shaking. Solutions are provided here for general (homogeneous or inhomogeneous) SII waves incident at the base of a stack of viscoelastic layers. The derivations of solutions for the problems of incident general P and SI waves are similar, but more cumbersome. The method for deducing solutions of the incident P and SI wave problems will be illustrated by those developed here. The results provided here for viscoelastic media include those derived for elastic media (Haskell, 1953, 1960). The method used here to derive the solutions for viscoelastic waves uses a matrix formulation similar to that initially used by Thompson (1950) and implemented with the correct boundary condition for elastic media by Haskell (1953). To set up the mathematical framework for multilayered media consider a stack of n – 1 parallel viscoelastic layers in welded contact underlain by a viscoelastic half space. Spatial reference for the layers is provided by a rectangular coordinate system designated by ( x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) or ( x, y, z ) as shown in Figure (4.1.3) with the plane x 3 = z = 0 chosen to correspond to the boundary at the free surface. The layers are indexed sequentially with the index of each layer corresponding to that of its lower boundary as indicated in Figure (9.1.1).
Progressive Reform and the Academy in an Age of Fracture

Atop the list of today's major challenges are rising economic inequality, continuing ecological decline, and the ominous influence of concentrated wealth on government, the media, and the framing of public issues. Exacerbating these ills are the various social, cultural, and intellectual trends that have led historian Daniel Rodgers to call ours an "age of fracture," trends worsened and made less tractable by a persistent tendency to confine public normative debates to issues of process and individual liberties. This essay -- delivered as an investiture address -- considers how the era's fragmentation and thin normative thinking have weakened society's ability to perceive, assess, and confront its most acute problems. It responds by sketching a new intellectual and moral direction, based on revived engagement with substantive justice and a wide-awake recognition of our many forms of interdependence.
Optimal linear reconstruction of dark matter from halo catalogues

We derive the weight function w(M) to apply to dark-matter haloes that minimizes the stochasticity between the weighted halo distribution and its underlying mass density field. The optimal w(M) depends on the range of masses being used in the estimator. While the standard biasedPoisson model of the halo distribution predicts that bias weighting is optimal, the simple fact that the mass is comprised of haloes implies that the optimal w(M) will be a mixture of mass-weighting and bias-weighting. In N-body simulations, the Poisson estimator is up to 15× noisier than the optimal. Implementation of the optimal weight yields significantly lower stochasticity than weighting haloes by their mass, bias or equal weighting in most circumstances. Optimal weighting could make cosmological tests based on the matter power spectrum or cross-correlations much more powerful and/or cost effective. A volume-limited measurement of the mass power spectrum at k = 0.2h Mpc −1 over the entire z 6 × 10 13 h −1 M� (1 × 10 13 )a tz = 0( z = 1); this is 5× fewer than what the Poisson model predicts. Using halo occupancy distributions (HODs) we find that uniformly weighted catalogues of luminous red galaxies require 3× more redshifts than an optimally weighted halo catalogue to reconstruct the mass to the same accuracy. While the mean HODs of galaxies chosen to lie above a threshold luminosity are fortuitously very similar to the optimal w(M), the stochasticity of the halo occupation degrades the mass estimator. Blue or emission-line galaxies are ≈100× less efficient at reconstructing mass than an optimal weighting scheme. This suggests an efficient observational approach of identifying and weighting haloes with a deep photo-z survey before conducting a spectroscopic survey. The optimal w(M) and mass-estimator stochasticity
Sensor based planning. II. Incremental construction of the generalized Voronoi graph

This paper prescribes an incremental procedure to construct the generalized Voronoi graph (GVG) and the hierarchical generalized Voronoi graph (HGVG) detailed in the companion paper. The procedure requires only local distance sensor measurements, and therefore the method can be used as a basis for sensor based planning algorithms.