cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Probing articular cartilage damage and disease by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease that reflects a complex interplay of biochemical, biomechanical, metabolic and genetic factors, which are often triggered by injury, and mediated by inflammation, catabolic cytokines and enzymes. An unmet clinical need is the lack of reliable methods that are able to probe the pathogenesis of early OA when disease-rectifying therapies may be most effective. Non-invasive quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) techniques have shown potential for characterizing the structural, biochemical and mechanical changes that occur with cartilage degeneration. In this paper, we review the background in articular cartilage and OA as it pertains to conventional MRI and qMRI techniques. We then discuss how conventional MRI and qMRI techniques are used in clinical and research environments to evaluate biochemical and mechanical changes associated with degeneration. Some qMRI techniques allow for the use of relaxometry values as indirect biomarkers for cartilage components. Direct characterization of mechanical behaviour of cartilage is possible via other specialized qMRI techniques. The combination of these qMRI techniques has the potential to fully characterize the biochemical and biomechanical states that represent the initial changes associated with cartilage degeneration. Additionally, knowledge of in vivo cartilage biochemistry and mechanical behaviour in healthy subjects and across a spectrum of osteoarthritic patients could lead to improvements in the detection, management and treatment of OA.
Selective feeding by ducklings of different species

A T the Delta Waterfowl Research Station at the south end of Lake Mani.L L toba, where this work was done, conditions are very favorable for the study of young ducklings. Eggs of various species are collected from the surrounding marshes and hatched in the laboratory incubator. Thus, newly hatched young of wild heritage were available to us for further study. We studied the diet and feeding behavior of Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Pintail (A. acuta), Blue-winged Teal (A. discors), American Widgeon (Mareca americana), Gadwall (A. strepera), Shoveler (Spatula clypeata), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), Redhead (Aythya americana ), Lesser Scaup (A. ajfinis), and Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), both in the laboratory and in the field, and attempted to concentrate our effort on the behavior of downy ducklings during their first week after hatching. An abstract of some of our results and conclusions has been published (Collias and Collias, 1958) . The general ecology of the Delta area, with special reference to waterfowl, has been described by Hochbaum (1944). For identification of invertebrates in the marsh we relied mainly on the book by Pennak (1953). Evidence for selective feeding in the field.-We managed to make some general observations on the mode of feeding in the marsh of from two to six broods each, of several of the above-mentioned species of ducklings in their first week. Ruddy Duck and Lesser Scaup broods of this age fed mostly by diving and straining, Blue-winged Teal by pecking and surface-straining, while Redheads and Mallards quite often used all of these methods. Differences in feeding methods are associated with differences in bill structure, the extremes being represented by the Ruddy Duck and by the Blue-winged Teal and Wood Duck. Ducklings of the first-named species have very broad flat bills with many well-developed ridges for straining, while in the latter two species the bill is relatively narrow, with poorly developed internal ridges. In ducklings that are more general feeders, such as the Mallard, the bill conformation and structure show an intermediate condition from that seen in the specialists for straining or pecking. Cottam (1939) and Mendall (1949) examined stomach contents of certain species of ducks, and found that the percentage of animal matter eaten is greatest in the young, and that a much greater proportion of vegetable matter is eaten as the duck grows older. Our examinations of stomach contents (we included proventriculus as well as gizzard in our observations), combined with those of others, suggest possible species differences in diet during the first week, post-hatching. Seven Blue-winged Teal from three different broods
Clinical Efficacy of Trimebutine Maleate Combined with Alprazolam and Bifid Triple Viable in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of trimebutine maleate combined with alprazolam and bifid triple viable in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Methods 120 cases with intestinal bowel syndrome were randomly divided into observation group and control group, 60 cases in each group. The control group received conventional treatment with trimebutine maleate, and on this basis, the observation group was treated with alprazolam and bifid triple viable for 4 weeks. The clinical efficacies of the two groups were evaluated after the treatment. Results The clinical total effective rate of the observation group was 90%, and the clinical total effective rate of the observation group was 63.33%, the difference of the clinical efficacies of the two groups was significant(P0.05). Conclusion The clinical efficacy of rimebutine maleate combined with alprazolam and bifid triple viable in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome is notable, the method can significantly improve the efficacy.
149 ADOLESCENT WEIGHT PERCEPTIONS, CONCERNS, AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.

Background Adolescents at risk for overweight, who would benefit from long-term lifestyle changes, may resist weight management counseling if they consider their weight to be healthy or are not concerned about their weight. The purpose of this study was to examine the self-perceptions and concerns of adolescents related to their weight and weight management. Methods We surveyed 100 adolescent health-fair participants, 14-19 years old, in an urban minority community. This sample was primarily African American (95%) and female (74%). Participants completed a one-page survey consisting of questions about height, weight, family history of obesity-related conditions, self-description of their weight, and methods to manage their weight. Results Calculated from self-reported heights and weights, 40% of the adolescents had a body mass index (BMI) $ 85thpercentile for age, gender, and height, though only 27% of the population described themselves as overweight. Diabetes (58%) and hypertension (62%) were the most prevalent conditions reported by family history. The most popular methods for weight management were increasing physical activity (58%) and eating more fruits and vegetables (55%). Although 58% of the youth considered themselves to have a healthy weight, the 70% of the sample were trying to do something about their weight. Adolescents in the overweight category (BMI $ 85th percentile), as compared to those in the normal weight category, were more likely to report a family history of high cholesterol (p = .029), described themselves as overweight (p = .001), described their weight as unhealthy (p = .034), were concerned about their weight (p = .015), were trying to do something about their weight (p = .0001), and used eating less sweets as a method of weight control (p = .01). Conclusions Our findings suggest that overweight and normal weight youth are concerned about their weight and using weight management strategies, although those at risk for overweight do not perceive themselves to have this risk. Health care professionals can educate youth about their personal health risks related to overweight, encourage already existing healthful weight management methods, and point adolescents toward other healthy lifestyle changes in counseling adolescents regarding weight management practices.
Periodic health examination of university students. Results of reevaluation.

(1963). Periodic Health Examination of University Students. Archives of Environmental Health: An International Journal: Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 573-578.
MO‐FG‐CAMPUS‐JeP3‐02: A Novel Setup Approach to Improve C‐Spine Curvature Reproducibility for Head and Neck Radiotherapy Using Optical Surface Imaging with Two Regions of Interest

Purpose: To develop a novel approach to improve cervical spine (c-spine) curvature reproducibility for head and neck (HN) patients using optical surface imaging (OSI) with two regions of interests (ROIs). Methods: The OSI-guided, two-step setup procedure requires two ROIs: ROI-1 of the shoulders and ROI-2 of the face. The neck can be stretched or squeezed in superior-inferior (SI) direction using a specially-designed sliding head support. We hypothesize that when these two ROIs are aligned, the c-spine should fall into a naturally reproducible position under same setup conditions. An anthropomorphous phantom test was performed to examine neck pitch angles comparing with the calculated angles. Three volunteers participated in the experiments, which start with conventional HN setup using skin markers and room lasers. An OSI image and lateral photo-picture were acquired as the references. In each of the three replicate tests, conventional setup was first applied after volunteers got on the couch. ROI-1 was aligned by moving the body, followed by ROI-2 alignment via adjusting head position and orientation under real-time OSI guidance. A final static OSI image and lateral picture were taken to evaluate both anterior and posterior surface alignments. Three degrees of freedom can be adjusted if an open-face mask was applied, including head SI shift using the sliding head support and pitch-and-roll rotations using a commercial couch extension. Surface alignment was analyzed comparing with conventional setup. Results: The neck pitch angle measured by OSI is consistent with the calculated (0.2±0.6°). Volunteer study illustrated improved c-spine setup reproducibility using OSI comparing with conventional setup. ROI alignments with 2mm/1° tolerance are achieved within 3 minutes. Identical knee support is important to achieve ROI-1 pitch alignment. Conclusion: The feasibility of this novel approach has been demonstrated for c-spine curvature setup reproducibility. Further evaluation is necessary with bony alignment variation in patient studies. This study is in part supported by the NIH (U54CA137788).
Quality Measures in Clinical Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Improved Performance Is Associated With Improved Survival.

Background National organizations have recommended quality measures for operations in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The outcomes of adherence to these guidelines are unknown. Methods Information about patients who underwent an operation for clinical stage I NSCLC was abstracted from the National Cancer Database. After reviewing current guidelines, the following quality measures were selected: anatomic resection, operation within 8 weeks of diagnosis, achievement of negative surgical margins, and sampling of 10 or more lymph nodes. Multivariate models identified variables independently associated with receiving quality measures and a Cox model created to evaluate overall survival. Results Between 2004 and 2013, 133,026 of 133,366 (99.7%), 126,598 of 133,366 (94.9%), 91,472 of 133,366 (68.6%), and 30,041 of 133,366 (22.5%) patients met one, two, three, or four measures. Income of at least $38,000/year (odds ratio [OR] 1.20, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.24), insurance type (private insurance: OR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.36; Medicare: OR 1.16, 95% CI:1.04 to 1.30), centers with at least 38 cases/year (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.22), academic institutions (OR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.27 to 1.35), and clinical stage IB patients (OR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.40 to 1.60) were more likely to meet all four measures; whereas increasing age (OR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99 to 0.99), women (OR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91 to 0.96), non-Caucasian race (OR 0.83, 95% CI: 0.79 to 0.87), and increasing Charlson/Deyo comorbidity score (1: OR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.87 to 0.93; ≥2: OR 0.82, 95% CI: 0.79 to 0.86) were associated with lower likelihood. Pathologic upstaging (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84, 95% CI: 1.78 to 1.89) and meeting all four measures (HR 0.39, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.48) were most powerfully associated with overall survival. Conclusions National adherence to quality measures in stage I NSCLC resection is suboptimal. Guideline compliance is strongly associated with survival, and vigorous efforts should be instituted by national societies to improve adherence.
Standard Essential Patents at the United States International Trade Commission

The United States International Trade Commission (“ITC”) investigates alleged trade violations of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1337) including importation of products infringing patents. This paper seeks to explore the role of the ITC in protecting domestic industry when infringement of standard essential patents is alleged. The ITC exists to protect domestic industry, and not the patent. The holder of a patent that proves injury to domestic industry must be able to obtain an exclusion order from the ITC, unless the exclusion order is contrary to the public interest, regardless of whether the patent is found subject to licensing requirements as a standard essential patent. An exclusion order is a statutory mandate that can be overcome only by evidence that the statutorily enumerated public interest factors are frustrated. A determination that a patent is a standard essential patent does not preempt the statute. The availability of an exclusion order remains critical to a continuing balance of encouraging contribution to standard setting bodies, while still allowing access to standards, preventing unfair competition and protecting our domestic industry.
Scalable wideband speech coding for IP networks

Voice communication over IP networks is inherently less reliable and thus high robustness to packet loss is one of the key features of speech coder for voice over IP (VoIP) applications. This paper presents a scalable wideband speech coder designed especially for IP networks to achieve high packet-loss robustness. The coder adopts a split-band structure, where the input signal sampled at 16 kHz is split into two subbands. Both the lower- and higher-band signals are encoded by the scalable multi-rate internet Low Bit-rate Codec (iLBC). The iLBC inherently possesses high robustness to packet loss and therefore is considered to be more suited for a core-layer coding scheme of scalable wideband coders on VoIP networks. Based on the objective evaluation, the proposed codec provides high robustness to packet loss and achieves slightly higher voice quality than G.729.1 at the bit rate higher than about 24 kbps under clean channel condition.
Public Service Motivation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In this paper, the author examines public service as depicted in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS). First, she shows how slaying meets the economist’s definition of a public good, using the BtVS episode “Flooded” (6.04). Second, she discusses public service motivation (PSM) to determine whether or not Buffy, a public servant, operates from a public service ethic. Relying on established measures and evidence from shooting scripts and episode transcripts, the author concludes Buffy is a public servant motivated by a public service ethic. In this way, BtVS informs scholarship on public service by broadening the concept of PSM beyond the public sector; prompting one to wonder whether it is located in a sector, an occupation, or in the individual. These conclusions allow the author to situate Buffy alongside other idealized public servants in American popular culture.
Semiconductor optical amplifiers at 2.0‐µm wavelength on silicon

A semiconductor optical amplifier at 2.0-µm wavelength is reported. This device is heterogeneously integrated by directly bonding an InP-based active region to a silicon substrate. It is therefore compatible with low-cost and high-volume fabrication infrastructures, and can be efficiently coupled to other active and passive devices in a photonic integrated circuit. On-chip gain larger than 13 dB is demonstrated at 20 °C, with a 3-dB bandwidth of ∼75 nm centered at 2.01 µm. No saturation of the gain is observed for an on-chip input power up to 0 dBm, and on-chip gain is observed for temperatures up to at least 50 °C. This technology paves the way to chip-level applications for optical communication, industrial or medical monitoring, and non-linear optics.
Meaningful Use and Hospital Performance on Post-Acute Utilization Indicators.

Objectives To examine trends in hospital post-acute utilization indicators and to determine whether improvement in these indicators is associated with attesting to meaningful use (MU). Data Sources Medicare claims-based, repeated measures on 30-day hospital-wide all-cause readmission and emergency department (ED) utilization rates for 160 short-stay hospitals (2009–2012); Medicare EHR Incentive Program Payments files (2011–2012); and other hospital and market data. Study Design Interrupted time series with concurrent comparison group. Principal Findings Propensity score-weighted multilevel models for change demonstrate that 30-day readmission rates (unadjusted) fell from 13.4 percent in 2009 to 12.1 percent in 2012. Similarly, 30-day ED utilization declined from 18.9 percent to 17.3 percent during the same period. However, MU and non-MU hospitals were indistinguishable vis-a-vis performance. Controlling for hospital and market characteristics, MU was unrelated to 30-day readmission. In contrast, 30-day ED utilization deteriorated. Conclusions Hospitals with MU Stage 1 designation did not show significantly higher improvement on post-acute utilization compared to their counterparts without. To achieve gains in quality and safety, potentially associated with EHRs, and to advance care coordination and patient engagement, the regulators should strengthen accountability by linking comprehensive, outcomes-based performance measures to specific MU objectives.
Concussion Management Plan Compliance: A Study of NCAA Power 5 Conference Schools.

Background:In response to concerns over concussions and repeated head impacts that occur during sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mandated that all member institutions ena...
Noncoherent SIMO detection by expectation propagation

An algorithm based on expectation propagation (EP) is proposed for noncoherent symbol detection in large-scale SIMO systems. It is verified through simulation that in terms of symbol error rate (SER), the proposed detector outperforms the pilotbased coherent MMSE detector for blocks as small as two symbols. This makes the proposed detector suitable for fast fading channels with very short coherence times. In addition, the SER performance of this detector converges to that of the optimum ML receiver when the size of the blocks increases. Finally it is shown that for Rician fading channels, knowledge of the fading parameters is not required for achieving the SER gains.
High potential thermoelectric figure of merit in ternary La 3 Cu 3 X 4 (X = P, As, Sb and Bi) compounds

We investigate the thermoelectric properties of the relatively unexplored rare-earth ternary compounds La3Cu3X4 (X = Bi, Sb, As, and P) using first principles electronic structure and Boltzmann transport calculations. These compounds, of which the La3Cu3Sb4 and La3Cu3Bi4 have previously been synthesized, are all predicted to be semiconductors and present a wide range of bandgaps varying from 0.24 eV (for the Bi compound) to 0.87 eV (for the P compound). We further find a mixture of light and heavy bands, which results in a high thermoelectric power factor. In addition, as discussed in our previous study (Phys. Rev. B 95 (22), 224306, 2017) at high temperatures of 1000 K these compounds exhibit lattice thermal conductivity less than 1 W/mK. The combination of low thermal conductivity and good transport properties results in a predicted ZT as high as ~1.5 for both La3Cu3P4 and La3Cu3As4, under high p-type doping. This predicted high performance makes these compounds promising candidates for high temperature thermoelectric applications and thus merits further experimental investigation.
Offloading in fog computing for IoT: Review, enabling technologies, and research opportunities

Abstract The digital world is expanding rapidly and advances in networking technologies such as 4G long-term evolution (LTE), wireless broadband (WiBro), low-power wide area networks (LPWAN), 5G, LiFi, and so on, all of which are paving the way for the emergence of sophisticated services. The number of online applications is increasing along with more computation, communication, and intelligent capabilities. Although current devices in use today are also getting more powerful in terms of features and capabilities, but they are still incapable of executing smart, autonomous, and intelligent tasks such as those often required for smart healthcare, ambient assisted living (AAL), virtual reality, augmented reality, intelligent vehicular communication, as well as in many services related to smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), Tactile Internet, Internet of Vehicles (IoV), and so on. For many of these applications, we need another entity to execute tasks on behalf of the user’s device and return the results - a technique often called offloading, where tasks are outsourced and the involved entities work in tandem to achieve the ultimate goal of the application. Task offloading is attractive for emerging IoT and cloud computing applications. It can occur between IoT nodes, sensors, edge devices, or fog nodes. Offloading can be performed based on different factors that include computational requirements of an application, load balancing, energy management, latency management, and so on. We present a taxonomy of recent offloading schemes that have been proposed for domains such as fog, cloud computing, and IoT. We also discuss the middleware technologies that enable offloading in a cloud-IoT cases and the factors that are important for offloading in a particular scenario. We also present research opportunities concerning offloading in fog and edge computing.
Logik der Forschung oder Psychologie der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit

Meine Aufgabe auf diesen Seiten ist, die Ansichten, die uber die wissenschaftliche Entwicklung in meinem Buch The Structure of Scientific Revolutions [= Die Struktur der wissenschaftlichen Revolutionen] skizziert wurden, mit den besser bekannten Ansichten unseres Vorsitzenden Sir Karl Popper2) zu vergleichen. Gewohnlich hatte ich diese Aufgabe nicht auf mich genommen, weil ich von der Nutzlichkeit solcher Gegenuberstellungen nicht so sehr uberzeugt bin wie Sir Karl. Auserdem habe ich sein Werk allzu lange bewundert, um jetzt plotzlich zu seinem Kritiker zu werden. Aber ich sehe doch ein, das der Versuch aus diesem Anlas gemacht werden soll. Schon bevor mein Buch veroffentlicht worden war, begann ich eine spezielle und oft uberraschende Beziehung zwischen seinen Ansichten und den meinigen zu entdecken. Diese Beziehung und die verschiedenen Reaktionen darauf, denen ich begegnet bin, lassen mich vermuten, das ein ernstgenommener Vergleich der beiden manches interessant beleuchten konnte. Warum ist dies der Fall?
The Archaeology of Temporary Construction Devices on Historic Building Sites in the Southeast

Distinctive archaeological features can be attributed to the life cycle of buildings from construction to destruction. One group of features that has not been closely examined on historic sites are those resulting from the erection of construction devices such as derricks and scaffolding. Descriptions of these devices in the literature are provided. Archaeological features of derricks and scaffolds on house sites in Tennessee and Virginia are compared to those in the literature. Attributes such as distance from the building, spacing, and feature fill that differentiates them from other earthfast features are discussed. The identification of such temporary construction features is important for understanding the level of technology employed in American construction, dating buildings under construction, origins, and possible ethnic affiliation of these devices.
Maruja Mallo y Raquel Forner: la búsqueda de un nuevo humanismo a través de la pintura

Maruja Mallo (Viveiro, Galicia 1902–Madrid, 1995) fue una de las artistas mas destacadas y modernas de la vanguardia espanola. Debido a su apoyo a la causa Republicana, al estallar la Guerra civil, se exilio en Buenos Aires. En la capital portena fue recibida entusiastamente por el grupo de intelectuales y artistas que se reunia en el famoso Cafe Tortoni situado en la Avenida de Mayo. Si bien el contacto que Mallo tuvo con los pintores conectados con el grupo del Tortoni, ha sido mencionado por la critica, la influencia que la interaccion entre ellos, especialmente los puntos en comun entre su obra y la de la pintora argentina Raquel Forner (1902–1988), no ha sido hasta ahora nunca estudiada. El presente trabajo analizara los estrechos paralelos que se establecen entre la serie que Forner comienza en la decada de los cincuenta bajo el titulo general El espacio y la ultima serie de Mallo, titulada Los viajeros del Eter, que comienza alrededor de los anos setenta. En las telas de estas series ambas artistas expresan un nuevo ideal humano basado en la capacidad de conciliar los avances tecnologicos junto con una vision del mundo equilibrada, armonica e incluyente.
Airway Smooth Muscle-Specific Transcriptomic Signatures of Glucocorticoid Exposure.

Glucocorticoids, commonly used asthma controller medications, decrease symptoms in most patients, but some remain symptomatic despite high-dose treatment. The physiological basis underlying the glu...
Agent-Based Simulations for Multi-Robot Systems Exploration of Tree-Like Environments

In this paper, an agent-based simulation model is proposed to explore an unknown tree with arbitrary edge distances by a set of robots which are initially located at the root of the tree and expected to return back to the root after all nodes are explored. The proposed algorithm depends only on local information stored at nodes using a bookkeeping token left at nodes by robots. It is shown that the proposed algorithm with the Earliest Selection Policy (ESP) is superior to using Random Selection Policy (RSP). The proposed agents-based simulation can be used to study general cases of network and tree exploration problems by multiple robots.
Dithizone-induced Paneth cell disruption significantly decreases intestinal perfusion in the murine small intestine.

Abstract Purpose Necrotizing enterocolitis is associated with decreased intestinal perfusion and ischemia. Paneth cells, specialized epithelial cells, have been shown to regulate the intestinal vasculature and disruption of these cells has been associated with NEC. We hypothesized that Paneth cell disruption in immature mice intestine would decrease the perfusion of the intestinal microvasculature. Methods Paneth cells were disrupted in P14–16 mice using chemical (dithizone) and transgenic (diphtheria toxin) methodology. Six hours after Paneth cell disruption, Dylight 488 was injected directly into the left ventricle and allowed to perfuse for 5 minutes prior to intestinal harvesting. Tissue samples were evaluated with confocal fluorescence microscopy to quantify intestinal perfusion and samples were quantified by real time RT-PCR for gene expression. Results Dithizone treatment significantly decreased intestinal perfusion compared to controls (p 0.21). Intestines from all treatment groups had similar PECAM staining, but intestines treated with dithizone had significantly decreased nNOS and iNOS gene expression compared to controls (p Conclusions Paneth cell disruption significantly decreases the perfusion of the small intestinal microvasculature in a dithizone-specific manner. Dithizone has no effect on the amount of microvasculature, but does impact genes critical to nitric oxide signaling likely contributing to mesenteric vasoconstriction.
Time to relapse after a single administration of intravenous ketamine augmentation in unipolar treatment-resistant depression.

Abstract Objective To examine the rate and time to relapse for remitters and responders to ketamine in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods Subjects with TRD were randomized to a single infusion of one of several doses of intravenous ketamine, or midazolam. Using Kaplan-Meier survival function, the current report examines the rate and time to relapse, defined as MADRS ≥ 22, over a period of 30 days, in subjects who achieved remission (MADRS ≤ 10) or response (≥ 50% reduction in MADRS) on day three post-infusion of intravenous ketamine 0.1, 0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg. Results Of the 60 randomized participants who received a single ketamine (0.1, 0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg) infusion, 19 (34%) met criteria for remission and 27 (48%) for response, on day 3 post-infusion. A numerical dose-response relationship was observed, with remitters/responders on ketamine 1.0 mg/kg having the lowest relapse rate, followed by ketamine 0.5 mg/kg and 0.1 mg/kg, respectively (% of remitters who relapsed by day 14: 38% with 1.0 mg/kg, 50% with 0.5 mg/kg, 100% with 0.1 mg/kg;% of responders who relapsed by day 14: 30% with 1.0 mg/kg, 50% with 0.5 mg/kg, 80% with 0.1 mg/kg). Limitations The sample size was small. No MADRS measurements at day one post-infusion. The study was not powered to assess differences in relapse prevention between different doses of ketamine. Conclusion Time to relapse after successful treatment with a single infusion of ketamine appears to follow a dose-response relationship, where higher dosage leads to increased time to relapse.
Medical Management Strategies in Acute and Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Chronic rhinosinusitis, historically, has been considered to be caused by upper airway anatomical abnormalities. However, today that concept has changed, for it is now recognized as an inflammatory disorder of the nasal and sinus mucosa. Acute rhinosinusitis is usually caused by a viral infection, whereas chronic rhinosinusitis is a persistent and heterogeneous inflammatory disorder with increased expression of type 1, 2, or 17 cytokines in the nasal and sinus mucosa, similar to that which occurs in asthma. Exacerbations are caused by aeroallergens in the allergic individual and irritants, pollutants, and viral/bacterial infections in all subjects. It may be categorized by phenotypes, examples of which include chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps or chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps. Defined endotypes are based on underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Knowledge of chronic rhinosinusitis endotypes will optimize management by employing targeted medical therapies. Understanding that rhinosinusitis is a heterogeneous inflammatory disease has led to the identification of a variety of different predisposing conditions, new medical treatment options, and the concept that rhinosinusitis is primarily a medical problem.
The impact of the lordosis distribution index on failure after surgical treatment of adult spinal deformity.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND CONTEXT Proximal junctional failure (PFJ) is a common and dreaded complication of adult spinal deformity. Previous research has identified parameters associated with the development of PJF and the search for radiographic and clinical variables continues in an effort to decrease the incidence of PFJ. The lordosis distribution index (LDI) is a parameter not based on pelvic incidence. Ideal values for LDI have been established in prior literature with demonstrated association with PJF. PURPOSE The purpose of this study is compare PJF and mechanical failure rates between patients with ideal and nonideal LDI cohort. STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective, single-center case-controlled study. PATIENT SAMPLE Adult patients who underwent surgical treatment for spinal deformity as defined by the SRS-Schwab criteria between 2001 and 2016 were included. Furthermore, fusion constructs spanned at least four vertebral segments with the upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) T9 or caudal. Patients who were under the age of 18, those with radiographic data less than 1 year, and those with neoplastic or trauma etiologies were excluded. Prior thoracolumbar spine surgery was not an exclusion criterion. OUTCOME MEASURES The outcome measures were physiologic in nature: The primary outcome was defined as PFJ. The International Spine Study Group (ISSG) definition for PJF was used, which includes postoperative fracture of the UIV or UIV+1, instrumentation failure at UIV, PJA increase greater than 15° from preoperative baseline or extension of the construct needed within 6 months. Secondary outcomes included extension of the construct after 6 months or revision due to instrumentation failure, pseudarthrosis or distal junctional failure. METHODS A portion of this project was funded through National Institute of Health Grant 5UL1TR001067-05. The authors have no conflict of interest related to this study. The records of patients meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed. Clinical and radiographic data were extracted and analyzed. Univariate cox proportional hazard models were used to identify factors associated with mechanical failure and included in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS There were 187 patients that met the inclusion criteria. Univariate analysis demonstrated the number of levels fused, instrumentation to the sacrum or pelvis, PI-LL difference between pre- and postoperative states, T1-SPI, T9-SPI, and postoperative LDI (treated as a continuous variable). When LDI was treated as a categorical variable using an LDI cutoff of less than 0.5 for hypolordotic, 0.5 to 0.8 for aligned and greater than 0.8 for hyperlordotic, there was no difference in failure rates between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Lumbar lordosis is an important parameter in adult deformity. However, the LDI is an imperfect variable and previously developed categories did not show differences in failure rates in this cohort.
Affordability of Course Materials: Reactive and Proactive Measures at the Ohio State University Libraries.

The Ohio State University Libraries has been working on affordability issues related to course materials for some time. This article details some of those efforts, going into detail about moving fr...
DEA under big data: data enabled analytics and network data envelopment analysis

This paper proposes that data envelopment analysis (DEA) should be viewed as a method (or tool) for data-oriented analytics in performance evaluation and benchmarking. While computational algorithms have been developed to deal with large volumes of data (decision making units, inputs, and outputs) under the conventional DEA, valuable information hidden in big data that are represented by network structures should be extracted by DEA. These network structures, e.g., transportation and logistics systems, encompass a broader range of inter-linked metrics that cannot be modelled by conventional DEA. It is proposed that network DEA is related to the value dimension of big data. It is shown that network DEA is different from standard DEA, although it bears the name of DEA and some similarity with conventional DEA. Network DEA is big data enabled analytics (big DEA) when multiple (performance) metrics or attributes are linked through network structures. These network structures are too large or complex to be dealt with by conventional DEA. Unlike conventional DEA that are solved via linear programming, general network DEA corresponds to nonconvex optimization problems. This represents opportunities for developing techniques for solving non-linear network DEA models. Areas such as transportation and logistics system as well as supply chains have a great potential to use network DEA in big data modeling.
Room-temperature superconductivity in a carbonaceous sulfur hydride

One of the long-standing challenges in experimental physics is the observation of room-temperature superconductivity1,2. Recently, high-temperature conventional superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials has been reported in several systems under high pressure3–5. An important discovery leading to room-temperature superconductivity is the pressure-driven disproportionation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to H3S, with a confirmed transition temperature of 203 kelvin at 155 gigapascals3,6. Both H2S and CH4 readily mix with hydrogen to form guest–host structures at lower pressures7, and are of comparable size at 4 gigapascals. By introducing methane at low pressures into the H2S + H2 precursor mixture for H3S, molecular exchange is allowed within a large assemblage of van der Waals solids that are hydrogen-rich with H2 inclusions; these guest–host structures become the building blocks of superconducting compounds at extreme conditions. Here we report superconductivity in a photochemically transformed carbonaceous sulfur hydride system, starting from elemental precursors, with a maximum superconducting transition temperature of 287.7 ± 1.2 kelvin (about 15 degrees Celsius) achieved at 267 ± 10 gigapascals. The superconducting state is observed over a broad pressure range in the diamond anvil cell, from 140 to 275 gigapascals, with a sharp upturn in transition temperature above 220 gigapascals. Superconductivity is established by the observation of zero resistance, a magnetic susceptibility of up to 190 gigapascals, and reduction of the transition temperature under an external magnetic field of up to 9 tesla, with an upper critical magnetic field of about 62 tesla according to the Ginzburg–Landau model at zero temperature. The light, quantum nature of hydrogen limits the structural and stoichiometric determination of the system by X-ray scattering techniques, but Raman spectroscopy is used to probe the chemical and structural transformations before metallization. The introduction of chemical tuning within our ternary system could enable the preservation of the properties of room-temperature superconductivity at lower pressures. Room-temperature superconductivity is observed in a photochemically synthesized ternary carbonaceous sulfur hydride system at 15 °C and 267 GPa.
Hormonal Regulation of Semaphorin 7a in ER + Breast Cancer Drives Therapeutic Resistance.

Approximately 70% of all breast cancers are estrogen receptor positive (ER+BC) and endocrine therapy has improved survival for patients with ER+BC. However, up to half of these tumors recur within 20 years. Recurrent ER+BCs develop resistance to endocrine therapy; thus, novel targets are needed to treat recurrent ER+BC. Here we report that semaphorin 7A (SEMA7A) confers significantly decreased patient survival rates in ER+BC. SEMA7A was hormonally regulated in ER+BC, but its expression did not uniformly decrease with anti-estrogen treatments. Additionally, overexpression of SEMA7A in ER+ cell lines drove increased in vitro growth in the presence of estrogen-deprivation, tamoxifen, and fulvestrant. In vivo, SEMA7A conferred primary tumor resistance to fulvestrant and induced lung metastases. Pro-survival signaling was identified as a therapeutic vulnerability of ER+SEMA7A+ tumors. We therefore propose that targeting this pathway with inhibitors of survival signaling such as venetoclax may prove efficacious for treating SEMA7A+ tumors.
FERMAT: FPGA-Accelerated Heterogeneous Computing Platform Near NVMe Storage

This paper proposes FERMAT, a versatile FPGA-accelerated near-storage computing platform that aims at significantly reducing data latency and energy consumption for data-intensive applications running on a heterogeneous computing system. Two key ideas are contributing to FERMAT’s success. Firstly, FERMAT, through creating direct and parallel I/O channels between a processor and NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) storage with reconfigurable digital fabric as well as bypassing all OS software stack, can significantly reduce unnecessary data movements in order to deliver low-latency and high- bandwidth I/O. Secondly, FERMAT, through "pre-computing" a large amount of data near NVMe storage with FPGA-based computing engines, can effectively shift part of computing in a target application to the data source. To further facilitate the deployment of FERMAT, we provide general system-level support and an effective abstraction to the near-storage computing such that FERMAT can be used on any platform equipped with an NVMe storage and achieve overall higher performance.To fully validate this proposed approach, in hardware, we have designed and implemented an open-source FPGA-based self-managed NVMe controller that 1) directly connects an FPGA-based accelerator with the storage while bypassing all software stacks, and 2) transforms an FPGA device into an in-line computing engine, where multiple user-programmable streaming accelerators concurrently process file streams, that greatly improves data-intensive applications’ performance. In software, 3) we designed a dedicated software stack equipping FPGA-accelerated storage with a user-space filesystem supporting all the common file operations on modern Linux systems and a flexible and thread-safe compute engine programming interface to ease user control on the compute engine’s functionality. We measured the performance of FERMAT against the baseline with five benchmarks from three categories: security, graph query, and graph analysis. FERMAT demonstrated significant speedups ranging from 1.8x to 782.5x in processing throughput.
Vortex Motion in Type II Superconductors

Analogies have been drawn between the motion of vortex lines in the classical perfect fluid and some of the non-equilibrium phenomena in type II superconductors. We consider here a few of the difficulties encountered in such an approach.
Increased DNA methylation in the livers of patients with alcoholic hepatitis

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression has been suggested to play a critical role in the development of alcoholic hepatitis (AH). Although it has been shown that ethanol-induced damage in hepatocytes resulted from a change in methionine metabolism causes global gene expression changes in hepatocytes, the role of the epigenetic machinery in such processes has, however, been barely investigated. 5-Methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) are major molecules of epigenetic DNA modification that play an important role in the control of gene expression. Using antibodies against 5mC and 5hmC, the DNA methylation in patients with AH was examined by immunohistochemistry and quantified by morphometric image analysis. The immunoreactivity intensity of 5mC in patients with AH was significantly higher than that seen in normal controls. While there was a trend of decreased 5-hmC in patients with AH, the difference between patients with AH and normal control was not significant. Our study suggests that aberrant DNA-methylation is associated with pathogenesis of AH.
The effect of smoking on clinical, laboratory, and radiographic status in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective (1) To determine the degree to which rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity is associated with smoking; (2) to determine the quantitative effect of smoking and smoking length on the concentration of RF in all patients, and, in the seropositive patients separately, determining if a "dose-response" effect exists; (3) to investigate these relationships in men and women to clarify whether the effect of smoking is similar in both sexes; (4) to determine the effect of smoking, controlling for RF, on a variety of measures of disease status, severity, and activity. Methods Six hundred ten consecutive patients with rheumatoid arthritis seen for routine clinical care provided information on their smoking history. All underwent a complete joint examination, completed a series of health status questionnaires, provided information concerning pulmonary illnesses, underwent determinations for RF and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and had hand radiographs. Results RF concentration was linearly related to the number of years smoked. This association was present in both sexes, but was stronger in men. Smoking was similarly related to rheumatoid nodule formation. A nonlinear relationship was found between smoking and radiographic abnormalities as determined by the Larsen method, even controlling for RF. Similarly, pulmonary illness was independently related to smoking and RF. No effect of smoking was seen on disease process variables such as ESR, pain, joint count, global severity, or functional ability. Conclusion Quantitative relationships exist between smoking extent and RF positivity, RF concentration, nodule formation, radiographic progression, and pulmonary disease. These 3 latter effects are independent of RF positivity or concentration. Smoking does not contribute to alterations in disease activity measures, but appears to play a role in overall severity of disease.
A Proposed Framework for Collaborative Design in a Virtual Environment

This paper describes a proposed framework for a collaborative design in a virtual environment. The framework consists of components that support a true collaborative design in a real-time 3D virtual environment. In support of the proposed framework, a prototype application is being developed. The authors envision the framework will have, but not limited to the following features: (1) real-time manipulation of 3D objects across the network, (2) support for multi-designer activities and information access, (3) co-existence within same virtual space, etc. This paper also discusses a proposed testing to determine the possible benefits of a collaborative design in a virtual environment over other forms of collaboration, and results from a pilot test.