cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the jet damping effect on flight dynamics of a homing guided missile

The paper presents evaluation of the jet damping effect on spatial motion of a homing guided missile with variable mass. The mathematical model of motion including effects generated by the burning fuel are presented – changes of mass characteristics as well as the jet damping effect are taken into account. Both the influences of inertia forces/moments and changes of the position of mass center are calculated. The damping effect generating additional forces and moments acting on the missile is also determined. The obtained set of equations of motion allows one to analyze a wide spectrum of various problems, e.g. the influence of jet damping on the homing guided missile trajectory or the dynamic response of the missile to atmospheric disturbances. Exemplary results of simulations are shown.
Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism in Chronic Alcoholism

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the mitochondrial energy metabolism in chronic alcoholism. Long-term intake of large amounts of ethanol has deleterious effects on multiple organs in the body. It is associated with diseases of the liver, heart, skeletal muscle, pancreas, brain, and other tissues, and with compromised host defence mechanisms and tissue repair capacities. Almost all of the parameters that contribute to the control of mitochondrial energy conservation are affected when tissues are exposed acutely to ethanol and, depending on the tissue, changes in these components may occur in response to chronic ethanol intake. For instance, the oxidation of ethanol in the liver causes a marked change in the redox state of both cytosolic and mitochondrial NAD. This affects both the flux of electrons from other substrates, for example, fatty acids into the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycle and the metabolite transfer processes associated with the shuttling of reducing equivalents from cytosolic NADH to the respiratory chain.
Iambic-Trochaic Law Effects among Native Speakers of Spanish and English

The Iambic-Trochaic Law (Bolton, 1894; Hayes, 1995; Woodrow, 1909) asserts that listeners associate greater intensity with group beginnings (a loud-first preference) and greater duration with group endings (a long-last preference). Hayes (1987; 1995) posits a natural connection between the prominences referred to in the ITL and the locations of stressed syllables in feet. However, not all lengthening in final positions originates with stressed syllables, and greater duration may also be associated with stress in nonfinal (trochaic) positions. The research described here challenged the notion that presumptive long-last effects necessarily reflect stress-related duration patterns, and investigated the general hypothesis that the robustness of long-last effects should vary depending on the strength of the association between final positions and increased duration, whatever its source. Two ITL studies were conducted in which native speakers of Spanish and of English grouped streams of rhythmically alternating syllables in which vowel intensity and/or duration levels were varied. These languages were chosen because while they are prosodically similar, increased duration on constituent-final syllables is both more common and more salient in English than Spanish. Outcomes revealed robust loud-first effects in both language groups. Long-last effects were significantly weaker in the Spanish group when vowel duration was varied singly. However, long-last effects were present and comparable in both language groups when intensity and duration were covaried. Intensity was a more robust predictor of responses than duration. A primary conclusion was that whether or not humans’ rhythmic grouping preferences have an innate component, duration-based grouping preferences, at least, and the magnitude of intensity-based effects are shaped by listeners’ backgrounds.
Novel iron-based amorphous transparent conducting oxide

We experimentally demonstrate an amorphous ternary metal oxide of Fe, Tb, and Dy exhibiting high electronic conductivity, Hall mobility, and optical transparency driven by partly filled d- and f-subshells.
Global Share system and haptic-imprints

We implemented the idea of haptic imprints for security applications. Using the tools available at our disposal, our first priority was to provide access to information in a highly distributed environment. Global-Share project investigated the use of existing systems allowing access to information on the wearable visual displays available to us. SGI systems and a NOMAD display was available for our research. We used Vizserver software to display the output of an SGI system on the NoMAD display. We then investigated ARToolKit/spl reg/ for our experiments. Haptic-Imprints use haptic devices, such as PHANToM forcefeedback device, to create a unique simple patterns which can be used to verify the haptic-signatures on-line. The need for mobile haptic devices with high fidelity is identified.
Psychosocial Patient-Reported Outcomes in Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes: a Review and Case Example

The purpose of this review is to define psychosocial patient-reported outcomes (PROs) relevant to pediatric and adolescent diabetes populations. Potential domains for PROs include a spectrum of emotional, behavioral, social, physical, overall health, and/or care management areas. A literature review of potential PRO measures, selection criteria, and implementation strategies including a case example will be presented. Among the pediatric, adolescent, and emerging adult populations, research indicates a relative higher risk for distress, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders as compared to peers without diabetes. Use of PRO measures can expand providers’ focus beyond glycemic control, or simply hemoglobin A1c, to better appreciate the impact of diabetes on the whole child/adolescent, and provide services that address patients’ individually identified needs, which are most salient to them. Successful selection and implementation of psychosocial PRO measures should be designed to include pathways for real-time provider interaction with the patient and respective PRO data to guide clinical care.
Learning from noisy label proportions for classifying online social data

Inferring latent attributes (e.g., demographics) of social media users is important to improve the accuracy and validity of social media analysis methods. While most existing approaches use either heuristics or supervised classification, recent work has shown that accurate classification models can be trained using supervision from population statistics. These learning with label proportion (LLP) models are fit on bags of instances and then applied to individual accounts. However, it is well known that many social media sites such as Twitter are not a representative sample of the population; thus, there are many sources of noise in these label proportions (e.g., sampling bias). This can in turn degrade the quality of the resulting model. In this paper, we investigate classification algorithms that use population statistical constraints such as demographics, names, and social network followers to fit classifiers to predict individual user attributes. We propose LLP methods that explicitly model the noise inherent in these label proportions. On several real and synthetic datasets, we find that combining these enhancements together can significantly reduce averaged classification error by 7%, resulting in methods that are robust to noise in the provided label proportions.
American Studies: Culture

The study of American culture dates back to national independence and has been profoundly shaped by changes in the meaning of both national identity and culture. The concept of culture has drawn on both universalistic Enlightenment ideals and Romanticism, which introduced a strong nationalist component. The latter informed an idea of national character as a singular ‘spirit’ or ‘mind’ that survived in both humanist accounts of culture as artistic achievement and later anthropological accounts of culture as a ‘way of life’ or ‘pattern of values.’ The academic field of American studies dates back to the 1930s, and initially represented a fusion of literary analysis and the history of ideas around the problem of national character and culture. Since the 1960s, American studies has incorporated other traditions, subjects, and methods of inquiry—especially from the social sciences—that have moved it beyond its humanistic origins, although that early constellation of themes continues to exercise influence. Increasingly, American studies serves less as a distinct field of inquiry than as an umbrella term for a range of topics and approaches that are only nominally and often contentiously organized by the concept of national culture. This includes the creation of subfields around new social movements, a broad reinscription of culture in social processes, and a recognition of the ways in which culture is a contested field of identity and meaning.
26-OR : FATAL GRAFT VERSUS HOST DISEASE (GVHD) AFTER ZERO MISMATCH KIDNEY/PANCREAS TRANSPLANTATION

Aim We present a case of fatal GVHD, a rare complication of solid organ transplantation, in a highly sensitized patient who was transplanted with a zero mismatch kidney-pancreas allograft. Methods HLA typing was performed by SSO, crossmatching by flow cytometry and antibody assessments by Luminex-based single antigen beads. Chimerism studies were performed by short tandem repeats (STR) on peripheral blood lymphocytes. Results A highly sensitized, 59 year old female (cPRA = 97%; HLA-A*01:01, 02:01; B*08:01,XX, C07:01,XX; DR*03:01,XX; DQB1*02:01,XX) with type 1 Diabetes Mellitus was transplanted with a zero mismatch deceased donor (HLA-A*01:01,XX; B*08:01,XX, C07:01,XX; DR*03:01,XX; DQB1*02:01,XX) kidney- pancreas. Four months post- transplant, the patient developed features of GVHD with fever, skin lesions, elevated liver enzymes and aplastic anemia. Development of GVHD was likely due to the absence of the HLA*A02:01 antigen on the donor tissue. Chimerism studies of the bone marrow showed 100% engraftment of the allograft donor. The patient was unresponsive to standard immunosuppressive treatment for GVHD. Two months after diagnosis, the patient received an unrelated umbilical cord blood transplant. Chimerism studies performed after cord blood transplant revealed successful donor engraftment of the white cell compartments. Nonetheless, the patient suddenly expired 22 days post-cord blood transplant as a consequence of GVHD. Conclusions A single mismatched HLA-antigen (in the donor vs host direction) resulted in significant donor cell proliferation and fatal GVHD even though the patient was on high dose immunosuppression and engrafted with a cord blood transplant. It appears that while standard immunosuppressive therapy blocked the recipient’s ability to mount an effective immunologic response against the kidney/pancreas, it failed to halt the GVHD process.
A 3D model of antimicrobial action on biofilms

A three-dimensional cellular automata model of biofilm dynamics was adapted to simulate the protection from killing by antimicrobial agents afforded to microorganisms in the biofilm state. The model incorporated diffusion and simultaneous utilization of a single substrate, growth and displacement of cells, detachment, and killing by an antimicrobial agent. The rate of killing was assumed to be directly proportional to the local concentration of substrate available to the microorganisms. Some of the features predicted by this model included development of dynamic, heterogeneous biofilm structures, gradients in substrate concentration leading to regions of substrate depletion in the interior of large cell clusters, variable killing by an antimicrobial agent from one simulation to the next, greater killing of cells at the periphery of cell clusters compared to those cells which were more deeply embedded, and reduced overall antimicrobial susceptibility of cells in the biofilm. These simulations show that substrate limitation can contribute to the protection from antimicrobial agents in biofilms but cannot explain the long-term persistence of biofilm viability that is often observed in practice.
STRUCTURAL INFLUENCE ON HYPERVELOCITY INTACT CAPTURE IN UNDERDENSE MEDIA

At pressures of about a GPa and lower, it has been found that the shocked state of an underdense medium is dependent upon its mesostructure. Experiments on the intact capture of hypervelocity particles by polymer foams demonstrate this effect.
Glutamate-Weighted Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Magnetic Resonance Imaging Detects Glutaminase Inhibition in a Mouse Model of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Glutamate is an important metabolite of glutaminolysis, a metabolic pathway used by many aggressive cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). With the exception of the brain, in vivo detection of glutamate in tissues using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is challenging. Compared with MRS, glutamate-weighted chemical exchange saturation transfer MR imaging (GluCEST MRI) offers a more sensitive detection mechanism that is free of glutamine interference. Here, we developed a robust, highly repeatable GluCEST MRI protocol in mice bearing human TNBC xenografts and treated with a potent glutaminase inhibitor, CB-839. In paired studies, treatment with CB-839 for 2 days reduced the GluCEST asymmetry value compared with baseline (P < 0.05, n = 10). The absolute change of the GluCEST asymmetry value was -2.5 percent points after CB-839 treatment versus +0.3 after vehicle (P < 0.01). Correspondingly, treatment with CB-839 reduced tumor glutamate concentrations by 1.5 mmol/L, consistent with prior calibration between changes of the GluCEST value versus tissue glutamate concentration; CB-839, however, did not change tumor intracellular pH. These results demonstrate in a mouse model of breast cancer the utility of GluCEST MRI to detect the early response to glutaminase inhibition.Significance: A sensitive method enables noninvasive detection of tumor response to inhibitors of glutamine metabolism. Cancer Res; 78(19); 5521-6. ©2018 AACR.
Incidence, predictors, management and outcomes of coronary perforations.

OBJECTIVES We examined the contemporary incidence, types, predictors, angiographic characteristics, management and outcomes of coronary perforation. BACKGROUND Coronary perforation is a rare, but important, complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). There is lack of data on perforations stratified as large and distal vessel perforations. METHODS Retrospective, observational cohort study of all patients who underwent PCI at a high volume, tertiary hospital between the years 2009 and 2016. Angiograms of all coronary perforation cases were reviewed to determine the mechanism, type, and management of perforation. Risk-adjusted periprocedural complication rates were compared between patients with and without coronary perforation. One-year mortality outcomes of patients with large vessel vs. distal vessel perforation were also examined. RESULTS Coronary perforation occurred in 68 of 13,339 PCIs (0.51%) performed during the study period: 51 (75%) were large vessel perforations and 17 (25%) distal vessel perforations. Most (67%) large vessel perforations were due to balloon/stent inflation, whereas most (94%) distal vessel perforations were due to guidewire exit. Patients with coronary perforations had significantly higher risk for periprocedural complications (adjusted odds ratio 7.57; 95% CI: 4.22-13.50; P < 0.001). Only one patient with large vessel perforation required emergency cardiac surgery, yet in-hospital mortality was high with both large vessel (7.8%) and distal vessel (11.8%) perforations. CONCLUSIONS Coronary perforation is an infrequent, but potentially severe PCI complication. Most coronary perforations are large vessel perforations. Although coronary perforations rarely lead to emergency cardiac surgery, both distal vessel and large vessel perforations are associated with high in-hospital mortality, highlighting the importance of prevention.
Plasmodium vivax readiness to transmit: implication for malaria eradication.

The lack of a continuous long-term in vitro culture system for Plasmodium vivax severely limits our knowledge of pathophysiology of the most widespread malaria parasite. To gain direct understanding of P. vivax human infections, we used Next Generation Sequencing data mining to unravel parasite in vivo expression profiles for P. vivax, and P. falciparum as comparison. We performed cloud and local computing to extract parasite transcriptomes from publicly available raw data of human blood samples. We developed a Poisson Modelling (PM) method to confidently identify parasite derived transcripts in mixed RNAseq signals of infected host tissues. We successfully retrieved and reconstructed parasite transcriptomes from infected patient blood as early as the first blood stage cycle; and the same methodology did not recover any significant signal from controls. Surprisingly, these first generation blood parasites already show strong signature of transmission, which indicates the commitment from asexual-to-sexual stages. Further, we place the results within the context of P. vivax’s complex life cycle, by developing mathematical models for P. vivax and P. falciparum and using sensitivity analysis assess the relative epidemiological impact of possible early stage transmission. The study uncovers the earliest onset of P. vivax blood pathogenesis and highlights the challenges of P. vivax eradication programs.
Shifts of thermogenesis in the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) : Strategies for survival in a seasonal environment.

The weight-specific oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]) of prairie voles caught in winter is 24% higher at 27.5° C and 29% higher at 7.5° C than that of summer animals, thus affording a higher weight-specific thermogenesis in winter than in summer which may allow tolerance to lower thermal exposures. Coincident with the increase in weight-specific rates of oxygen consumption is a decrease in body weight. When total energetic cost to maintain an animal per unit time is calculated, the cost at 27.5° C is the same for both summer and winter animals. Further, the cost to maintain an animal at 7.5° C is less in winter than in summer. Arguments are presented suggesting that prairie voles compensate for increased weight-specific thermogenesis in winter by lowering body weight. The responses to thermal acclimation are quite different in summer and winter animals, thus implying different sorts of metabolic organization. Acclimation to 5° C effects a 26% increase in [Formula: see text] at 27.5° C of winter voles, and acclimation to 30° C does not change [Formula: see text]. In contrast, [Formula: see text] at 27.5° C of summer animals is unaffected by 5° C acclimation, and depressed 20% by 30° C acclimation. Thus, the animals are capable of considerable physiological adjustment to varying thermal conditions in different seasons.
Biocorona-induced modifications in engineered nanomaterial-cellular interactions impacting biomedical applications.

When nanoparticles (NPs) enter a physiological environment, a complex coating of biomolecules is absorbed onto their surface, known as the biocorona (BC). This coating alters nanomaterial physical properties, modulating cellular viability, internalization, and immune responses. To safely utilize NPs within medical settings, it is necessary to understand the influence of the BC on cellular responses. Due to the variety of cell types, NPs, and physiological environments, responses are variable; though trends do exist. This review article critically evaluates the currently available literature regarding the influence of the BC on NP interactions with prominent cell types that they are likely to encounter during biomedical applications. Specifically, we will examine responses related to interactions with endothelial cells, macrophages, and epithelial cells of the digestive tract and lung. Further, we will evaluate how the BC may influence interactions with bacteria and fungi, as NPs have been proposed as antimicrobial agents in medical settings. The information reviewed and discussed here may enhance the development of effective of NP-based therapeutics and diagnostic tools. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Toxicology and Regulatory Issues in Nanomedicine > Toxicology of Nanomaterials Diagnostic Tools > Diagnostic Nanodevices.
A Case of Cryptococcal Hepatitis in an HIV Patient with a Negative Serum Cryptococcal Antigen.

Infectious Cryptococcus neoformans occurs primarily in immunocompromised patients. The primary organ affected is the lungs, but the infection of the central nervous system (CNS) is also be seen. Disseminated cryptococcosis can involve any organ in the body. However, hepatic involvement is rare. Here we discuss a case of cryptococcal hepatitis in a patient who presented with persistently elevated liver enzymes. A 56-year-old Ecuadorian female with no known past medical history presented with fever, abdominal pain, nausea, unintentional weight loss, and diarrhea for two months. Her liver function tests (LFTs) revealed elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST: 415 U/L), elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT: 201 U/L), elevated alkaline phosphatase (ALP: 763 U/L), but normal total bilirubin (0.9 mg/dl). Her HIV antigen screening was reactive, and the absolute cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) helper count was 22 cell/µL. Over the course of her hospital stay, the patient's liver enzymes continued to trend upward, with negative Histoplasma antibodies and negative serum cryptococcal antigen titers. During the second week of hospitalization, her liver enzymes continued to rise with an ALP of 4046 U/L, AST of 436 U/L, and ALT of 276 U/L. With a persistent elevation of the liver enzymes without any definitive cause, an ultrasound-guided biopsy was performed. Pathology revealed cryptococcal hepatitis, and the patient was started on a 15-day course of amphotericin B with an eight-week course of fluconazole 400 mg with LFTs nearly normalizing at six weeks. This case demonstrates an unusual manifestation of cryptococcosis. Our patient did not present with the typical cryptococcal pulmonary or central nervous system infection. Additionally, our patient's serum cryptococcal antigen titers were negative, but biopsy results revealed cryptococcal hepatitis, despite a very high sensitivity and specificity of the serum cryptococcal antigen test. This case demonstrates the importance of maintaining a broad differential, specifically in immunocompromised patients.
Telemedicine: A valuable tool in neurodegenerative diseases.

The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), is rising as the global population ages. Access to specialist care, which improves outcomes, is insufficient and disease-related disability makes in-person physician visits burdensome. Telehealth is one potential means for improving access to care. The purpose of this manuscript is to review recent publications on telemedicine in AD and PD. Telemedicine is feasible in AD and PD and acceptable to patients and their caregivers. Compared with in-person visits, telemedicine reduces visit-associated travel and time. Telemedicine can be used for rehabilitative therapies, to administer cognitive tests, and to support caregivers. Access to telemedicine results in changes in patient care including medication adjustments and referrals for therapies and supports. The use of telemedicine in AD and PD stands to decrease burden on patients and increases access to specialty care. Barriers to the expansion of telemedicine care include lack of widespread broadband access, state licensure requirements, and inconsistent reimbursement. More outcome-based prospective telemedicine studies are needed.
Evaluation of the Healthcare Cost Offsets of Mend: A Family Systems Mental Health Integration Approach.

Behavioral and physical health integration has been shown to be beneficial for overall health outcomes, as well as financial benefits. The current research clearly shows benefits, but lacks evidence specific to couples and family therapy (CFT) as a medium or profession within mental health integrated sites. This study tests the cost offsets of Mastering Each New Directions (MEND), a family system psychosocial approach to chronic illness (CI). Using retrospective charges from 107 CI adult patients, MEND (with an average of 25 sessions) was estimated to produce a 12-month cost savings of $16,684 or a 34.3% reduction in healthcare costs. This reduction significantly outweighed the cost of the intervention for a total net savings of $9,251 per participant in 12 months. Variations in cost reductions by demographic and treatment dosage are explored, and results suggest that a family systems psychosocial intervention can offer a health system an overall cost savings.
Carbon budgets for soil and plants respond to long-term warming in an Alaskan boreal forest

The potential consequences of global warming for ecosystem carbon stocks are a major concern, particularly in high-latitude regions where soil carbon pools are especially large. Research on soil and plant carbon responses to warming are often based on short-term (< 10 year) warming experiments. Furthermore, carbon budgets from boreal forests, which contain at least 10–20% of the global soil carbon pool, have shown mixed responses to warming. In this study, we measured carbon and nitrogen budgets (i.e., soil and understory vegetation carbon and nitrogen stocks) from a 13-year greenhouse warming experiment in an Alaskan boreal forest. Although there were no differences in total aboveground + belowground pools, the carbon in the moss biomass and in the soil organic layer significantly decreased with the warming treatment (− 88.3% and − 19.1%, respectively). Declines in moss biomass carbon may be a consequence of warming-associated drying, while shifts in the soil microbial community could be responsible for the decrease in carbon in the soil organic layer. Moreover, in response to warming, aboveground plant biomass carbon tended to increase while root biomass carbon tended to decrease, so carbon allocation may shift aboveground with warming. Overall these results suggest that permafrost-free boreal forests are susceptible to soil carbon loss with warming.
Electric-field-assisted modulation of surface thermochemistry

Conventional catalyst design has enhanced reactivity and product selectivity through the control of surface thermochemistry by tunable surface composition and the surrounding environment (e.g., por...
Tough but Effective: Exploring the use of Remote Participatory Design in an Inclusive Design Course Through Student Reflections

Accessibility is a topic that is recognized as increasingly important in both industry and academia. In industry, there is a growing awareness of the importance of designing technologies that provide an optimal user experience regardless of the user's ability or impairment. At the university level, this awareness of the need for accessibility minded future technologists has encouraged the incorporation of accessibility and inclusive design content into a wide range of computer science and related courses. Despite this growing awareness, the actual process of teaching students about the needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities remains challenging. Within this paper we report on our experience teaching a graduate course on inclusive design with a specific focus on our experience incorporating a participatory design (PD) activity involving older adults as the course's concluding design activity. While students responded favorably to much of the course's content, learning was enhanced through the design activity which mirrored a real-world project and included three older adult (80+) co-designers. Despite the benefits of PD, students were at times overwhelmed by the workload and the logistical difficulties of working within a remote participatory design process. We believe that a review of our experience and student reflections may prove beneficial to those similarly teaching inclusive design and accessibility.
WebLens: Towards Web-scale Data Integration, Training the Models

Schema matching, historically, is a sub-area of Data Integration, responsible for matching relational or semi-structured schemas to facilitate further data integration process. In a standard schema matching scenario, with two schemas, a semi-supervised matching algorithm would generate pairwise table and attribute matches. Having a correct mapping between two schemas enables many data integration scenarios, such as schema integration, data translation, schema evolution, mediated/global schema, reverse-engineering, and others [18], [20], [23], [29], [30].For Web scale datasets with millions of tables from hundreds of thousands of sources, for example WEBTABLES [11], schema matching in its classical format becomes computationally infeasible due to its quadratic complexity in the number of schemas. We make a step forward, by noticing, that such brute-force matching is no longer feasible, and is also not needed at scale. Instead, a scalable solution would be to match only the semantically relevant tables, which are much less numerous.WebLens, a scalable data integration system, first, trains Deep Learning models to find and match semantically similar tables, then derives mediated schemas for these subsets to enable uniform access to all relevant data. In this paper, we focus on a high-level description of the entire process and give an example of query processing. For all experiments in the paper, we use a large-scale structured dataset having more than 15 million of relational Web tables in English coming from more than 248 thousand of Web sources.
Distal femoral replacement versus ORIF for severely comminuted distal femur fractures.

Distal femoral replacement (DFR) and open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) are surgical options for comminuted distal femur fractures. Comparative outcomes of these techniques are limited. The aims of this study were to compare implant survivorship, perioperative factors, and clinical outcomes of DFR vs. ORIF for comminuted distal femur fractures. Ten patients treated with rotating hinge DFRs for AO/OTA 33-C fractures from 2005 to 2015 were identified and matched 1:2 based on age and sex to 20 ORIF patients. Patients treated with DFR and ORIF had similar ages (80 vs. 76 years, p = 0.2) and follow-up (20 vs. 27 months, p = 1.0), respectively. Implant survivorship, length of stay (LOS), anesthetic time, estimated blood loss (EBL), ambulatory status, knee range of motion (ROM), and Knee Society scores (KSS) were assessed at final follow-up. Survivorship free from any revision at 2 years was 90% and 65% for the DFR and ORIF groups, respectively (p = 0.59). Survivorship free from any reoperation at 2 years was 90% for the DFR group and 50% for the ORIF group (p = 0.16). Three ORIF patients (15%) went on to nonunion and two went on to delayed union. Mean EBL and LOS were significantly higher for the DFR group: 592 mL vs. 364 mL, and 13 vs. 6.5 days, respectively. Knee ROM (p = 0.71) and KSSs (p = 0.36) were similar between groups. Comminuted distal femur fractures treated with DFR trended toward lower revision and reoperation rates, with similar functional outcomes when compared to ORIF. We noted a trend toward increased EBL and LOS in the DFR group. Level IV
Bimatoprost drug delivery with fractional laser and microneedling for the management of COVID-19 prone positioning-induced facial atrophy and hypopigmentation.

Prone positioning, a postural adjuvant therapy for improving ventilation, has been widely used to treat COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome that can reduce mortality when used for at least 12 hours a day.1 The extensive time needed for prone positioning to be effective may result in prolonged pressure points on the face leading to facial ulcers. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, facial pressure ulcers due to prone positioning in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome had already been described.1 These facial ulcers frequently occur at the level of the bony structures, including the forehead, cheekbone, and chin.1 It has been hypothesized that in the context of severe COVID-19 pneumonia, hypoxemia, microvascular injury, and thrombosis may increase the risk of pressure ulcers.1 Once healed, these wounds can have a lasting impact on the patient as they may lead to scarring, dyspigmentation, and atrophy. Patients find hypopigmented scars to be more bothersome than hyperpigmented scars.2 These scars are particularly stigmatizing distressing when in the cervicofacial region and in patients of color who represent more than 60% of the world's population.2, 3, 4 Hypopigmented scars are difficult for dermatologists to treat because there are limited effective and practical treatment options available that yield long-lasting results. Treatment options implicated in the management of hypopigmented scars include cosmetic camouflage, microneedling, dermabrasion, chemical peels, skin excision, and laser therapy. Herein, we report our success in achieving repigmentation in the setting of atrophic, depigmented, and hypopigmented scars using CO2 laser drug delivery of bimatoprost and microneedling.
Systemic Inflammation in the First 2 Weeks after Birth as a Determinant of Physical Growth Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants with Extremely Low Gestational Age

Objective To examine associations of systemic inflammation with growth outcomes at neonatal intensive care unit discharge or transfer among infants with extremely low gestational ages. Study design We studied 850 infants at born at 23-27 weeks of gestation. We defined inflammatory protein elevation as the highest quartile of C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-∝, or IL-8 on postnatal days 1, 7, and 14. We compared z-scores of weight, length, and head circumference at neonatal intensive care unit discharge or transfer between infants with vs without inflammatory protein elevation, adjusting in linear regression for birth size z-score, sex, gestational age, diet, comorbidities, medications, and length of hospitalization. Results The mean gestational age was 25 weeks (range, 23-27 weeks) and birth weight z-score 0.14 (range, −2.73 to 3.28). Infants with a high CRP on day 7 had lower weights at discharge or transfer (−0.17 z-score; 95% CI, −0.27 to −0.06) than infants without CRP elevation, with similar results on day 14. Infants with CRP elevation on day 14 were also shorter (−0.21 length z-scores; 95% CI, −0.38 to −0.04), and had smaller head circumferences (−0.18 z-scores; 95% CI, −0.33 to −0.04) at discharge or transfer. IL-6 elevation on day 14 was associated with lower weight (−0.12; 95% CI, −0.22 to −0.02); IL-6 elevation on day 7 was associated with shorter length (−0.27; 95% CI, −0.43 to −0.12). Tumor necrosis factor-∝ and IL-8 elevation on day 14 were associated with a lower weight at discharge or transfer. Conclusions Postnatal systemic inflammation may contribute to impaired nutrient accretion during a critical period in development in infants with extremely low gestational ages.
Machine learning tensile strength and impact toughness of wheat straw reinforced composites

Abstract The wheat straw reinforced composite is considered as a “green composite” as it utilizes biodegradable and recyclable food waste materials as reinforcing materials. Mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and impact toughness, are greatly dependent on the composite content and processing parameters. While compression molding is one of popular methods to fabricate the wheat straw/polypropylene composite, experimental trials to achieve targeted mechanical properties can be time-consuming and expensive. In this work, we develop the Gaussian process regression model to present the relationship among the fiber content, processing parameters of the compression molding, and mechanical performance of wheat straw reinforced polypropylene composites. The model achieves a correlation coefficient of 99.13% (95.68%), a root mean square error of 0.0857 (0.4369), and a mean absolute error of 0.0693 (0.3265) for tensile strength (impact toughness). The models are simple and fast to implement, produce predictions with high accuracy, and thus might be considered as efficient tools for mechanical property estimations. Should data become available, the model may be extended to include other descriptors, such as the wheat straw length, size distribution, and chemical treatment parameters.
Some Industrial Applications of Soft Condensed Matter in High-Performance Polymers Processing

Soft condensed matter is of paramount importance both as final product and processing intermediate. This paper describes the role of this unusual state of matter, in the form of polymeric liquid crystals and gels, as processing intermediates, or precursors, in manufacturing technologies of high-performance polymer materials. The unique structure of soft condensed matter intermediates allows particular conformational changes, rearrangement and packing of long chain molecules, yielding materials with exceptional mechanical properties. Of practical importance and scientific interest is that the structure of these soft intermediates can be controlled in a detailed manner, which is dramatically reflected in their processing characteristics and properties of the final materials. The correlation between the structure of the soft condensed matter and the properties of the resulting high-performance materials will be elucidated. In addition, some recent uses and an unusual synthesis of this unique state of matter will be presented.
Convergence and Divergence of Cotransmitter Systems in the Crab Stomatogastric Nervous System

Many neurons contain multiple cotransmitters, including neuropeptides. In the stomatogastric nervous system a number of different neuropeptides are found colocalized with small molecule neurotransmitters. Three proctolin-containing projection neurons contain different cotransmitters, and modulate the stomatogastric ganglion motor patterns differently. A number of neuropeptides, including proctolin, found in inputs to the stomatogastric ganglion, converge onto the same membrane current. This includes colocalized peptides. Studying the peptidergic modulation of the stomatogastric ganglion provides a unique opportunity to uncover general principles of organization of peptidergic control systems.
Scorekeepers vs First Principles

In 1962, I stood in the stands of the National Stadium in Meiji Memorial Park in Tokyo and surveyed the arena where athletes from many nations will be participating in October, 1964. As I looked at the empty stands to be filled by thousands of cheering people, the urn where the Olympic flame will be lighted, and the expressway to speed spectators to the contests, I thought of how this great international sports festival had the potential, not only for improved East-West relations, but also as an instrument for peace and better understanding among the nations of the world. Then thinking back to Rome, Melbourne, and Helsinki, I remembered how the scorekeepers with their point systems, designed to establish an international winner, were threatening the Greek Olympic Ideal which has guided and made worthy this athletic gathering down through the centuries.
Selenium Proteins Containing Selenocysteine

Selenium is incorporated in the form of the nonstandard amino acid selenocysteine into selected proteins of organisms belonging to all three lines of descent. The majority of these proteins, which contain selenocysteine in the active site, catalyze oxidation–reduction reactions and are involved in numerous biochemical and regulatory processes, which in many cases are indispensable for the organism. Because of significant differences in the chemical reactivity of selenocysteine in comparison to cysteine, selenoenzymes display a greatly increased rate of catalysis and, in some cases, have an extended substrate specificity. Apart from its biochemical function, selenocysteine is also unique since its incorporation is DNA-encoded and its cotranslational insertion follows a route independent in many features from the path of insertion of the 20 classical amino acids. Selenocysteine, therefore, can be considered the 21st amino acid. Keywords: selenoproteins; selenoenzymes; nonstandard amino acid; tRNASec; translation factor SelB; selenocysteine synthesis; selenophosphate
Factors affecting ionic liquids based removal of anionic dyes from water

Liquid−liquid extraction with imidazolium based ionic liquids[C4mim][PF6], [C6mim][PF6], [C6mim][BF4], and [C8mim][PF6]is proposed for removal of anionic dyes including methyl orange, eosin yellow, and orange G from aqueous solutions. The effects of extraction time, pH of aqueous phase, structure of the ionic liquids, temperature, and KCl concentration on the extraction efficiencies have been studied. Extraction efficiencies of dyes were strongly affected by the pH of the aqueous phase. Under the optimized pH condition, 85−99% of methyl orange, almost 100% eosin yellows, and 69% of orange G in tested water samples were transferred into the ionic liquids in a single extraction. Extraction efficiency for a given dye was found to increase with increasing temperature and increasing alkyl chain length of cation of the ionic liquids. Presence of a small amount of KCl in the aqueous phase did not considerably improve the extraction efficiency of the dyes. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the extraction proces...
The encoding of perceptual information in the organization of individual stimulus patterns

Two experiments compared the effectiveness of variable physical dimensions and relationships among the components of individual stimulus patterns as means for encoding perceptual information. Four different codes were constructed in which letters (A through P) were represented by redundant combinations of the shape and brightness of the four component forms in each stimulus pattern. Three of the codes differed in terms of the physical variables that were redundant, and a fourth code was designed to simplify the relationships within individual stimulus patterns. Ss were asked to identify each pattern by naming its letter label as rapidly as possible. Differences in the speed of identification between codes and between individual patterns within codes indicated that perceptual information was effectively encoded by the organization of relationships within individual stimulus patterns. The representation of stimulation in terms of relationships among components has several implications for models of human information processing.
Effect of mask 3D and scanner focus difference on OPC modeling and verification

A robust optical proximity correction (OPC) model must include process variation to be effective in volume manufacturing. Often, calibration of an OPC model is based on data from a single scanner. However, scanner and mask three dimension (3D) effects have been found to affect printing performance and OPC model effectiveness [1]. OPC model robustness is improved if the fingerprints of different scanners are matched as closely as possible. Scanner source map or boundary condition variations can cause isolated and dense feature focus differences between different scanners. The scanner used to build a robust OPC model should have a minimum focus difference between isolated and dense features. Mask 3D effects must be included in OPC model building. Even if the design data is the same, mask 3D effects will vary by different advanced blank film stacks and model fitting will lead to different results. In this work, the effects of focus differences between nested and isolated features for OPC model building are quantified. In addition, mask 3D effect contributions to OPC models will also be illustrated. OPC model tolerance to variation is shown using data from multiple scanners and mask topographies and methodologies to optimize OPC models are presented. The data confirms that different absorber thickness, and n and k values, for advanced binary masks will influence the boundary conditions and effect lithographic performance. A thinner absorber demonstrated better CD prediction than thicker blanks in semi-dense and isolated patterns for both CDTP and inverse CDTP. It also shows that the thinner absorber has better inverse linearity in small isolated features, and has much better prediction for large isolated patterns. The generation of OPC models must include variations due to mask material properties and scanner optical variations to provide robust performance in manufacturing.
Nitric Oxide Inhibits Preterm Labor in the Rhesus Monkey

Progression of mammalian pregnancy requires relaxation of uterine smooth muscle until parturition, but the mechanism that maintains uterine relaxation during pregnancy is unknown. Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical with a variety of physiologic functions including smooth muscle relaxation. We hypothesized that NO may relax uterine smooth muscle and inhibit preterm labor. In chronically catheterized rhesus monkeys, NO administered as S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) ablated the uterine electromyographic and mechanical contraction components of established preterm labor. These preliminary studies suggest that NO may be important in maintaining uterine quiescence during pregnancy, and exogenous NO may be useful in controlling preterm labor.
Regulation of type I plasminogen activator inhibitor synthesis by protein kinase C and cAMP in bovine aortic endothelial cells.

Abstract The second messengers and protein kinases involved in the induction of type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) synthesis by various agents were evaluated in cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) induced PAI-1 in these cells implicating the protein kinase C (PK-C) pathway. However, bradykinin, which also activates PK-C in bovine aortic endothelial cells, did not induce PAI-1. Moreover, when PK-C was down-regulated by PMA pretreatment, subsequent induction of PAI-1 by transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) was unaltered, and induction by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was decreased by only 50%. LPS increased phospholipid second messengers which can activate PK-C but TGFβ and TNFα did not. Agents which increase cAMP, (e.g., forskolin and isobutylmethylxanthine) blocked the indication of PAI-1 synthesis by PMA, LPS, TGFβ and TNFα suggesting that induction may occur by lowering cAMP. This possibility seems unlikely since cAMP levels did not change in response to any of these agents. Moreover, somatostatin lowered cAMP but did not induce PAI-1. PAI-1 was not induced by treating the cells with cGMP, Na + /H + ionophore and calcium ionophore or arachidonic acid.
Broad Dispositions, Broad Aspirations: The Intersection of Personality Traits and Major Life Goals

Do personality traits predict the goals a person chooses to pursue in life? The present study examined the relation between personality traits and major life goals, which are broad, far-reaching agendas for important life domains (N = 672). The authors used both theoretical and empirical procedures to organize a set of life goals into thematic content clusters (economic, aesthetic, social, relationship, political, hedonistic, religious); the resulting goal clusters constitute a preliminary taxonomy of motive units based on the fundamental value domains identified in the literature. The authors examined gender differences on each goal cluster and related the goal clusters to individual differences in the Big Five and narcissism. High extraversion and low agreeableness (e.g., narcissism) was the most common profile associated with major life goals, and neuroticism was essentially unrelated to the importance of major life goals. Findings confirmed expectations derived from previous research and from Socioana...