cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conservative Whole Blood Extended Differential Method.

Abstract The neutrophilic precursors (excluding bands), blast cells and erythroblasts normally reside in the bone marrow. The presence of any of these precursors as well as atypical/variant lymphocytes in peripheral blood is indicative of a diseased or disordered state. Therefore, it is of clinical importance to identify and enumerate these atypical cell populations. In general, commercial hematology systems do not have the ability to enumerate all of the nucleated atypical cells that are traditionally identified by manual differential. However, the manual differential is labor intensive and can be highly variable between qualified readers resulting in significant cost and quality assurance issues for the laboratory. We have developed a unique fluorescent based Extended Differential method that uses a minimum number of monoclonal antibodies in combination with a cell permeant metachromatic nucleic acid dye to detect circulating atypical cells. Data will be presented comparing the results of this approach with the manual differential. The current study was comprised of 579 clinical samples containing a variety of atypical cell types as determined by morphological examination. Analysis of difference plots comparing the Extended Differential method with the manual differential revealed good agreement between the percent of immature granulocytes (IGs) and the number of nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) per 100 white blood cells (WBCs). The same analysis applied to the determination of blast percent exposed a greater frequency of disparate results. These disparate results were further investigated using a comprehensive monoclonal antibody based reference method incorporating a variety of specificities including anti-CD45 and anti-CD34. The data demonstrated that cells classified as atypical/variant lymphocytes or smudge cells by morphological examination were classified as blasts utilizing CD45 and/or CD34 expression with the Extended Differential and flow reference methods. In addition to the difference analyses, the results obtained with manual differential and Extended Differential methods were subjected to Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis in order to determine the overall analytical sensitivity and specificity using a threshold of 1% or greater as the criteria for the presence of atypical cells. The ROC analysis demonstrated areas under the curve (AUC) of 0.9743, 0.9831 and 0.9643 for IGs, blasts and NRBCs, respectively showing good agreement for the presence or absence of the respective atypical cell populations (p
A new microtubulin inhibitor with vascular disruption activity, EPC2407, enhances the antitumor activity of antiangiogenic or chemotherapeutic agents in xenograft tumor models

B4 EPC2407 is a small molecule new chemical entity vascular disruption agent (VDA) which also induces apoptosis. The biology, chemistry, and mechanism of action studies have been published previously (Mol Cancer Ther. 3: 1365 and 1375, 2004). EPC2407 is currently being evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial as a single agent to determine the MTD for later phase 1 and 2 studies. EPC2407 disrupts the tumor blood flow and causes central tumor necrosis while leaving the outer rim of the tumor viable, presumably due to oxygen and nutrients from the surrounding interstitial fluids. Also, circulating endothelial cells have been reported to repopulate tumors after VDA treatment (Shaked et al, Science 313:1785, 2007). To identify a combination therapy for preventing regrowth of tumors after EPC2407 treatment, we have examined combinations of EPC2407 with anti-angiogenic agents (bevacuzimab or sunitinib) or with the DNA damaging agent (cisplatin) in different cancer tumor xenograft models. Combination and single agent treatments of human lung (Calu 6 or H460) and breast cancer (MX1) xenografts in nude mice were carried out in the doses and schedules described below. Tumor growth inhibition (TGI) and the proportion of animals tumor free (TF) at 80 days post-treatment were assessed for each agent alone and for the combinations. Treatment of Calu 6 tumors with EPC2407 (20 mg/kg, d.1-5) alone was 78% TGI and 0% TF, with cisplatin (4 mg/kg, d. 1) was 26% TGI and 0% TF whereas combination treatment, with the same doses and schedules, was 98% TGI and increased the proportion of tumor free animals to 40% TF (p
Mental Health and Adaptation of Children Experiencing Family Homelessness

In a short-term, longitudinal study of children’s adaptation within the context of homelessness, 19 children (ages 8–11 years) and their parents participated while residing in emergency housing for families. The study had three goals: (1) examine mental health symptoms in children and parents at an initial point in time (T1), and again 1 month later (T2) to assess rates and change over time; (2) compare symptoms of children’s traumatic stress and other internalizing problems as reported by children and by parents; and (3) test whether aspects of children’s cognitive functioning and parenting warmth assessed at T1 predict mental health symptoms at T2. Results indicated high rates of traumatic stress, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms among children with little evidence of change over 1 month. Rates of clinically elevated distress in parents decreased significantly from T1 to T2. Compared to children’s self-reported traumatic stress symptoms, parents’ reports of their children’s traumatic stress symptoms were significantly lower and were associated with parents’ self-reported distress. Parenting warmth and child executive functioning predicted fewer child externalizing problems at T2. Contrary to expectations, executive functioning at T1 predicted higher scores for child traumatic stress and other internalizing problems at T2. We discuss implications of these findings for assessment of child and family functioning in the context of emergency housing.
Phase I study of nab-paclitaxel (NP) in combination with biochemotherapy (BCT) in patients (pts) with metastatic melanoma (MM).

e19009 Background: NP has shown anti-tumor activity in MM in a phase II trial. The objective of this study was to determine MTD of NP as part of BCT, consisted of cisplatin (C), temozolomide (T), interleukin-2 (IL2) and interferon-alpha (IFN). Secondary objectives were to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of this combination in MM, and its benefit in preventing central nervous system (CNS) metastasis (mets). Methods: Previously untreated MM patients evaluable by RECIST 1.0 with no history of CNS mets between the ages of 18 and 65 and with ECOG 0-1 were enrolled. NP was given intravenously (IV) on Day (d) 1 and 5 of each cycle. The starting dose on d1 was 100 mg/ m2, and the dose on d5 was 70 mg/ m2, if toxicities permitted. The remainder of the regimen consisted of IV C 20 mg/ m2 daily d1-4, oral T 250 mg/ m2 d1-3, 9 million international units (MIU)/m2 of IL2 via continuous IV infusion for 96 hours, and IFN 5 MIU/m2 via subcutaneous injection d1-5. Treatment was repeated in cycles of 21 d to a maximum of ...
Oral factor Xa inhibitors for the treatment of left ventricular thrombus: a case series

Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) formation usually necessitates short term anticoagulation for thrombus resolution and to prevent embolic events. Historically, vitamin K antagonist therapy has been the treatment of choice. However, with the advent of direct acting anticoagulants, their role in the management of LVT is not clear. Patients were included if they had received rivaroxaban or apixaban for more than 1 day for LVT documented on imaging. The primary objective was resolution of LVT at 3 months based on assessment by an independent cardiologist review of initial and subsequent imaging results. The principle safety objective was to assess major or clinically relevant non-major bleeding using GUSTO, TIMI, and BARC bleeding criteria. During the 2-year study period seven patients were treated with rivaroxaban and three with apixaban. Two patients who had received apixaban and one on rivaroxaban were lost to follow up. In those with an initial and follow-up ECHO (n = 6) the median time to follow up imaging was 214 (IQR 33–414) days and complete LVT resolution was observed in 83% of patients. One patient on rivaroxaban had a bleeding events that was minimal (TIMI), Type 2 (BARC), or classified as mild (GUSTO) due to pulmonary hemorrhage. In those deemed not to be a candidate for vitamin K antagonist the use of rivaroxaban or apixaban may be a considered in the treatment of LVT. Further research in this area is needed to assess the efficacy and safety of using FXAI for treatment of LVT.
The Revolution That Wasn’t: The Coup D’État of 1650 in Holland

One of the key notions of historical thought for the past ten or fifteen decades has been the idea of “revolution.” In the late seventeenth century the simple metaphor of the turning wheel of fortune, which raised men high and then cast them down, was applied to the events which drove James II from his throne and put William HI in his place; but a century later the events which sent Louis XVI to the guillotine gave a new meaning to the idea of revolution. The word now came to mean not just any change of rulers but a change of regime, and not just a change of the political system but a fundamental change all across the board — economic and social, ideological and spiritual, no less than political. It is a commonplace of contemporary historiographical thinking to say that a “real” revolution cannot be anything so narrow as a political change, even one wrought by means of force and against the will of the former ruler. Yet it is becoming increasingly questionable to some historians whether the term “revolution” in this contemporary usage helps us to understand the events of European history in the early modern era; indeed, it may be a positive hindrance. This view may be tested by examining the coup d’etat of 1650 in Holland, which the distinguished historian Roger Bigelow Merriman included as one of the “six contemporaneous revolutions” of the mid-seventeenth century.1
Hydrocarbon saturation in upper Wolfcamp shale formation

Abstract Water saturation ( S w ) and hydrocarbon saturation ( S hc = 1 - S w ) estimates in hydrocarbon-bearing formations are generally derived from Dean-Stark core measurements, NMR log, and electromagnetic (EM) logs, such as induction log, galvanic resistivity (laterolog), or dielectric dispersion logs. In-situ estimation of hydrocarbon saturation in conventional reservoirs primarily rely on the deep-sensing or high-resolution EM logs. However, in the hydrocarbon-bearing shale formations, hydrocarbon saturation estimates obtained from EM logs tend to be unreliable. Conventional EM-log-interpretation models tend to break down for shale formations because they neglect the interfacial polarization effects and the dispersive behavior of EM properties of such geomaterials. This can be addressed by jointly processing the subsurface galvanic resistivity, induction, propagation and dielectric dispersion logs using an integrated model that accounts for the interfacial polarization mechanisms. One galvanic resistivity (laterolog) and dielectric dispersion logs, comprising 4 conductivity and 4 dielectric permittivity logs measured at four distinct frequencies, were acquired in a 520-feet depth interval of a well drilled in the upper Wolfcamp shale formation. We implement a novel log interpretation technique for the improved estimation of water saturation ( S w ), brine conductivity (Cw), textural index/cementation exponent (m), and saturation exponent (n) in the upper Wolfcamp shale. Log processing was performed with an integrated mechanistic model, which combines Complex Refractive Index (CRI) model to analyze the conductivity and permittivity logs acquired at 1 GHz, Stroud-Milton-De (SMD) model to analyze the 3 conductivity dispersion and 3 permittivity dispersion logs in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 0.3 GHz, and Waxman-Smits (WS) model to analyze the deep galvanic resistivity log (RLA5) measured by the EM laterolog tool at 1 kHz. In the upper Wolfcamp shale, estimates derived from the joint inversion were robust in the presence of pyrite, low water saturation, and low porosity as compared to estimates from the inversion of only four-frequency dielectric dispersion logs. Formation brine conductivity and saturation-exponent estimates are more reliable compared to water saturation and cementation exponent estimates. Water saturation estimates obtained using the proposed methodology are compared against those obtained using multi-mineral inversion and those derived using CRIM model. Average relative errors in fitting the 1 laterolog resistivity and 8 dielectric dispersion logs using the estimates obtained from the proposed method are 10% and 20%, respectively, and their extreme values are 55% and 60%, respectively, in the 520-ft depth interval of the upper Wolfcamp shale formation.
Validating Conspiracy Beliefs and Effectively Communicating Scientific Consensus

AbstractA central challenge to effectively communicating scientific consensus is that people often reject information counter to their prior beliefs. People who believe that human-induced climate change is a hoax, for instance, may dismiss scientific consensus messages that human activity is a primary cause of climate change. We argue that such people can be persuaded, however. We hypothesize that validating an individual’s belief about the existence of conspiracies makes him or her more likely to accept contrary scientific consensus information. We present experimental evidence that such validation leads individuals who previously believed human-induced climate change is a hoax to become more believing in human-induced climate change following exposure to scientific consensus information.
Management of Diabetic Foot Complications

Diabetic foot complications are the result of an interplay between impaired wound healing, peripheral vascular disease and neuropathy. The peripheral neuropathy seen with diabetes mellitus affects sensory, motor and autonomic neurons and results in increased susceptibility to pathology. The most common problem is the presence of wounds that are difficult to heal. Therefore, the prevention of the formation of these wounds is of paramount importance in patients who are identified as being at risk for forming these wounds. Treatment involves a multidisciplinary approach and requires adequate perfusion, proper wound care, and appropriate protection of the wound from pressure or offloading. Neuroosteoarthropathy or Charcot’s disease of the foot is also common in diabetic neuropathic patients. The main underlying cause is neuropathy which often results in the musculoskeletal disruption of the architecture of the foot and leads to severe deformity. Management of this condition is a challenge and failure may result in limb loss. The present chapter will review the pathophysiology of diabetic foot problems and the currently established therapeutic approaches.
Virion-liposome interactions identify a cholesterol-independent coronavirus entry stage.

Entry of enveloped viruses depends on several cellular components, including protein or carbohydrate receptors and oftentimes co-receptors that both bind viruses to cells and catalyze the initial stages of viral surface protein refolding. Endocytosis is a common prerequisite to successful entry; both the acidic pH and the proteases of the endosome can create further structural changes in the viral proteins mediating cell receptor binding and virus-cell membrane fusion. Finally, an appropriate lipid environment, often abundant in sterols, is also frequently necessary to achieve facile fusion of viral and cellular membranes. In numerous seminal investigations, each of these steps has been dissected by blocking virus entry with mutant transgenes or with drugs that alter receptors or endosome or lipid environments. Although these are powerful approaches, the findings can be complicated when the transgenes or drugs create untoward pleiotropic changes in cellular functions. A complementary reductionist approach involves in vitro virus entry in which enveloped viruses are bound to and then fused into synthetic liposomes. In these test-tube reactions, receptors, pH, proteases and liposome bilayer compositions can be precisely defined and freely altered in ways not achievable in living cells. Such systems are useful adjuncts to understanding the biochemistry of enveloped virus entry. In vitro virus-liposome binding assays have been recently developed for the murine coronaviruses. In these studies, purified MHV particles acquired hydrophobic character by incubation with soluble MHV receptors or by exposures to elevated pH, thus causing a small proportion of the virus population to associate with liposomes. We aimed to advance these studies by creating liposomes that more closely reflect authentic MHVsusceptible cells. To this end, we created synthetic liposomes containing nickelnitriloacetic acid (NiNTA) adducts on a fraction of lipid head groups. Soluble MHV receptors containing engineered polyhistidine tags could then be attached to the liposomes, thereby creating artificial targets for virus binding. These liposomes with
Structure-activity relationship and pharmacokinetic studies of 3-O-substitutedflavonols as anti-prostate cancer agents.

Abstract Thirty-eight 3-O-substituted-3′,4′-dimethoxyflavonols and twenty-five 3-O-substituted-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavonols have been synthesized for systematic investigation on the structure-activity relationships of 3-O-substituted-3′,4′-dimethoxyflavonols in three human prostate cancer cell models. Our findings indicate that incorporation of an appropriate amino group to 3-OH of 3′,4′-dimethoxyflavonol and 3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavonol through a 3- to 5-carbon linker can substantially improve the in vitro antiproliferative potency in three human prostate cancer cell models, but not in two non-neoplastic human epithelial cell models (MCF 10A and PWR-1E). 1-Methylpiperazine, pyrrolidine, and dibutylamine are optimal terminal amine groups that, in combination with a 3- to 5-carbon linker, are notably beneficial to the anti-proliferative potency of 3-O-substituted-3′,4′-dimethoxyflavonols. It is worth noting that 3-O-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)propyl-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavonol (76) induces PC-3 cell death in a completely different way from 3-O-pyrrolidinopentyl-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavonol (81) even though they belong to 3-O-substituted-3′,4′,7-trimethoxyflavonols and exhibit similar potency in inhibiting PC-3 cell proliferation, suggesting that the mechanism of action for each specific 3-O-substitutedflavonol varies with different amino moiety. 3-O-(N,N-Dibutylamino)propyl-3′,4′-dimethoxyflavonol (42) emerged as the most promising derivative due to its substantially improved potency in cell models, superior bioavailability in rats, and good selectivity of inhibiting prostate cancer cell proliferation over non-neoplastic human epithelial cell proliferation.
Mindfulness : Diverse Perspectives on its Meaning, Origins and Applications

Mindfulness-based approaches to medicine, psychology, neuroscience, healthcare, education, business leadership, and other major societal institutions have become increasingly common. New paradigms are emerging from a confluence of two powerful and potentially synergistic epistemologies: one arising from the wisdom traditions of Asia and the other arising from post-enlightenment empirical science. This book presents the work of internationally renowned experts in the fields of Buddhist scholarship and scientific research, as well as looking at the implementation of mindfulness in healthcare and education settings. Contributors consider the use of mindfulness throughout history and look at the actual meaning of mindfulness whilst identifying the most salient areas for potential synergy and for potential disjunction. Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on its Meanings, Origins and Applications provides a place where wisdom teachings, philosophy, history, science and personal meditation practice meet. It was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Buddhism.
Neurotransmitter Systems: Dopamine

Dopamine is a major catecholamine neurotransmitter that acts both inside and outside the central nervous system. It has been implicated in many psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidation of dopamine by endogenous or exogenous factors creates toxic metabolites that can result in cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), a glutathione precursor and antioxidant, has been studied as an agent to protect cells and animal models against the potential toxic effects of dopamine and its metabolites. This chapter systematically reviews the literature to summarize such studies. Overall NAC has been studied in relation to dopamine in cellular and animal models of disease that affects the central nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, ischemic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders as well as cellular and animal models of nonnervous system diseases such as vitiligo, renal disease, and pituitary tumors. Studies have also examined the effect of NAC in protecting the brain from alterations in dopamine metabolism by the toxicants tungstate and polychlorinated biphenyls. The studies reviewed demonstrate that NAC can prevent and/or reverse many of the toxic effects of dopamine mediated by oxidative stress. NAC also reversed changes in dopamine levels induced by behavioral manipulations such as social isolation rearing in animal models of schizophrenia. The protective effects of NAC were mediated by its action as an antioxidant as well as a glutathione precursor.
Antifreeze Hydrogels from Amphiphilic Statistical Copolymers

Prevention of ice formation is a critical issue for many applications, but routes to overcome the large thermodynamic driving force for crystallization of water at significant supercooling are limited. Here, we demonstrate that supramolecular hydrogels formed from statistical copolymers of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and 2-(N-ethylperfluorooctane sulfonamido)ethyl methacrylate (FOSM) exhibit a degree of ice formation suppression unprecedented in a synthetic material. The mechanisms of ice prevention by these hydrogels mimic two methods used by nature: (1) hydrogen bonding of water to highly hydrophilic macromolecular chains and (2) nanoconfinement of water between hydrophobic moieties. From systematic variation in the copolymer composition to control the nanoscale (<4 nm) separation of the self-assembled hydrophobic nanodomains, the main mechanism by which these supramolecular hydrogels inhibit large amounts of water from freezing appears to be soft nanoconfinement. Nearly complete ice inhibition was ac...
Multiple environmental gradients influence the distribution and abundance of a key forest-health indicator species in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA

The effects of global climate change are threatening biodiversity, with particular concern for amphibians, whose survival often depends on specific abiotic conditions. To predict how future climate change will affect amphibian populations, it is first necessary to understand how patterns of abundance are shaped by multiple environmental conditions at both local and regional scales. Plethodontid salamander are a group of lungless ectotherms that require cool and moist habitats to survive. While the broad elevational distribution and abundance patterns are well-understood, other important abiotic gradients exist within montane systems that are contributing to fine-scale spatial abundance patterns. We aim to assess the fine-scale spatial abundance of a plethodontid salamander across two key environmental gradients: temperature and moisture. We conducted area-constrained repeated point-count surveys at plots situated across temperature and moisture gradients in western North Carolina. Each plot was surveyed on 4 occasions, and site and survey-level covariates were measured. We found heterogeneous abundance patterns across these two gradients whereby warmer low elevations contain the greatest abundance near stream sides, where conditions are cooler and wetter than the regional landscape. At cooler, higher elevations, salamanders are distributed more uniformly across the broader landscape, likely as a result of the suitable regional climate. Fine-scale habitat associations of plethodontids are driven by temperature and moisture, and the spatial patterns of suitable microhabitats drive regional scale patterns. Incorporating multiple environmental gradients provides a more biologically relevant prediction of abundance patterns, which will help inform conservation and management strategies especially in the context of climate change.
Pilot test of an adapted intervention to improve timeliness of referrals to hospice and palliative care for eligible home health patients

Background: Casarett et al. tested an intervention to improve timeliness of referrals to hospice. Although efficacious in the nursing home setting, it was not tested in other settings of care for seriously ill patients. We, therefore, adapted Casarett's intervention for use in home health (HH). Objective: To assess feasibility, acceptability, and patient outcomes of the adapted intervention. Design: We conducted a nine-week observational pilot test. Setting/Subjects: We conducted our pilot study with two HH agencies. Eligible patients included those who were high risk or frail (identified by the agencies' analytic software as being moderate to high risk for hospitalization or a candidate for hospice referral). Clinical managers identified eligible patients and registered nurses then delivered the intervention, screening patients for hospice appropriateness by asking about care goals, needs, and preferences and initiating appropriate follow-up for patients who screened positive. Measurements: We collected quantitative data on patient enrollment rates and outcomes (election of hospice and/or palliative care). We collected qualitative data on pilot staff experience with the intervention and suggestions for improvement. Results: Pilot HH agencies were able to implement the intervention with high fidelity with minimal restructuring of workflows; 14% of patients who screened positive for hospice appropriateness elected hospice or palliative care. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the adapted intervention was feasible and acceptable to enhance timeliness of hospice and palliative care referral in the HH setting. Additional adaptations suggested by pilot participants could improve impact of the intervention.
Cellular Mediators of Anti-Microbial Resistance

Most members of the normal gut microflora which accidentally gain entry to the tissues will be immediately taken up and killed by the resident macrophages before they can cause anything more than a localized inflammatory reaction. However, some of these commensal organisms have the ability to elude these normal cellular defenses allowing them to colonize (at least temporarily) the intestinal sub-mucosa and its associated lymphoid tissues (Collins, 1987). These organisms are often referred to as’ opportunistic pathogens’ because they can cause active disease if the normal cellular defenses have been depleted as a result of aging, immunosuppressive chemotherapy or HIV infection (Collins, 1990). Once these normally benign organisms become established within the immunodepleted tissues, they quickly assume life-threatening proportions, involving virtually every organ of the body.
Hydraulic and photosynthetic responses of big sagebrush to the 2017 total solar eclipse

The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 created a path of totality ~115 km in width across the United States. While eclipse observations have shown distinct responses in animal behavior often emulating nocturnal behavior, the influence of eclipses on plant physiology are less understood. We investigated physiological perturbations due to rapid changes of sunlight and air temperature in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana), a desert shrub common within the path of eclipse totality. Leaf gas exchange, water potential, and chlorophyll a fluorescence were monitored during the eclipse and compared to responses obtained the day before in absence of the eclipse. On the day of the eclipse, air temperature decreased by 6.4 °C, coupled with a 1.0 kPa drop in vapor pressure deficit having a 9-minute lag following totality. Using chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements, we found photosynthetic efficiency of photosystem II (Fv’/Fm’) recovered to near dark acclimated state (i.e., 87%), but the short duration of darkness did not allow for complete recovery. Gas exchange data and a simple light response model were used to estimate a 14% reduction in carbon assimilation for one day over sagebrush dominated areas within the path of totality for the Western United States.
Treatment of pemphigus vulgaris: part 1 – current therapies

Introduction: While biologic agents that can be used for treating pemphigus vulgaris (PV) are increasing, themajority of the world's PV patients can afford only corticosteroids (CS) and some immunosuppressive agents (ISA). Areas covered: The spectrum of side effects encountered when PV patients receive high-dose, long-term CS and ISA are presented based on total dose and duration of therapy. The steroid-sparing effect of individual ISA as documented in published studies and their clinical outcomes, in terms of duration of remissions, frequency of relapses and time to relapse, are presented, so that comparisons are possible. Thus, rational choices can be made for the individual patient. Expert opinion: In 2019, the majority of PV patients globally will continue to be treated with CS and ISA. This review will help clinicians and patients become aware of when to anticipate which side effects and if possible, to prevent or avoid them. It provides guidelines to maximize the clinical benefits of ISA in inducing and maintaining remission and minimizing side effects by monitoring them.
Impact of stressors in the aviation environment on xenobiotic dosimetry in humans: physiologically based prediction of the effect of barometric pressure or altitude.

Standard health risks from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are generally interpreted at ambient environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a strategy for using physiologically...
Inter-triggering hybrid automata: a formalism for responsibility-sensitive safety

This paper introduces inter-triggering hybrid automata, a formalism to represent multi-agent systems where each agent is represented as a hybrid automaton and agents interact by triggering discrete transitions (jumps and resets) on their "neighboring" agents. Using this formalism, we define responsibility-sensitive safety as respecting one another's invariances while triggering jumps and resets. This allows us to make a formal connection between responsibility and robust controlled invariant sets for individual agents, therefore leading to a compositional verification framework for the safety of the overall multi-agent system. We discuss several advantages of this viewpoint and illustrate it on a highway driving example.
SURVEILLANCE INFRASTRUCTURES IN AND FOR CRISES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISOF CHINA AND SOUTH KOREA’S DEVELOPMENT OF QUARANTINE SURVEILLANCE MOBILE APPLICATIONSDURING COVID-19

This article examines China and South Korea’s health surveillance infrastructures that are being developed and deployed during COVID19. To control the outbreak and maintain the state, the Chinese government implemented the "Alipay Health Code” in collaboration with technology giants like Alibaba, while South Korea launched a “self-quarantine safety protection app” to enforce home isolation to suspected carriers and monitor their health statuses. By comparatively analyzing these quarantine surveillance mobile applications that the Chinese and South Korean governments are utilizing in pandemic control, we investigate how these two different governmental regimes - one authoritarian and the other democratic - construct and propagate what their state-of-the-art surveillance technologies can offer to the public in moments of emergency. Through a mixture of walk-through method and situational analysis, this article aims to unpack the processes in which these technologies become developed and examine the politics around their deployment. More broadly, we argue that analyzing them offers new opportunities to investigate the relationship between state surveillance and personal privacy in the context of a national crisis. As surveillance tactics that were deemed oppressive and undemocratic in ordinary times get easily normalized in crisis situations, these moments allow us to reveal the precarious and flexible nature of surveillance and privacy while destabilizing the West-oriented, dichotomic understanding of these concepts. This article tackles this question by observing the relationships among relevant actors – the state officials, industry professionals, and general users – and various contestations/negotiations involved in the processes of designing and deploying these quarantine surveillance apps.
Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Regression by siRNA Delivered Through Exosomes That Display EGFR RNA Aptamer

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women and is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The development of drug resistance to commonly used chemotherapeuti...
An Automated Semantic Planning Framework applied in a Cloud Manufacturing Domain

Cloud manufacturing is a new manufacturing concept, where manufacturing companies offer their production resources in a networked environment. It is of vital importance to match capacities with available customer orders. However, a unifying approach, able to provide appropriate resource allocation as well as to facilitate the general understanding in such distributed and heterogeneous environments is required. This paper presents an automatic mechanism that integrates semantic representations of a cloud manufacturing system with a planner that generates a concrete structured sequence of tasks, which map production capacities and required order constraints. The proposed Semantic Planning Framework is evaluated using a generic dataset to assess the flexibility and generalizability of the system.
The effects of group keyboard music making on the mood states of college students

Our pilot study explored the effects of a new, five-session group keyboard music-making protocol on the mood states of non-musician college students. Twenty-five math and engineering students parti...
Transitional Justice in the Wake of the Arab Spring

In this paper, we provide an overview of transitional justice in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain. We begin each section with a brief overview of the violence and repression that gave rise to transitional justice demands. Then, we outline transitional justice processes to date, offering some preliminary conclusions on their strengths and weaknesses. We conclude by examining some of the factors shaping transitional justice in each country and offer some thoughts on the likely future course of transitional justice.
The Unauthorized Residency Status Myth: Health Insurance Coverage and Medical Care Use among Mexican Immigrants in California

Informed by recent developments in the behavioral model of medical care use and social epidemiology, this article employs survey data to estimate whether unauthorized residency status among non-elderly Mexican and other-Latino immigrant adults in California influenced the probability of having had health insurance and having received medical care. Unauthorized residency status is estimated to have decreased the probability of having been insured, and augmented the probability of having relied on public health insurance. However, after controlling for other individual characteristics, neighborhood context, and social capital, neither insurance nor residency status appears to have influenced whether a person obtained needed medical care. Rather, neighborhood context, difficulty locating a medical care facility, and civic engagement appear to be more important for understanding use of medical services.
Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance of Marine Mammals

Abstract : The long-term goal of this project is to improve understanding of how effects of marine sound on marine mammals transfer between behavior and life functions, and between life functions and vital rates. This understanding will facilitate assessment of the population-level effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals. In 2005, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences convened a National Research Council (NRC) committee that examined how the behavior of marine mammals responds to anthropogenic sound. The committee provided a conceptual framework to structure future studies of the potential population-level effects of changes in behavior of marine mammals. Developments since the committee issued its report, and advances in research that were not considered explicitly by the committee, made it possible to transform the conceptual framework into a more formal model structure. In particular, evolutionary biologists developed an approach for investigating trait-mediated interactions, which describe how the behavior of individuals affects the dynamics of interacting populations. Additionally, new developments in computationally intensive analytic methods made it possible to fit trait-mediated interactions to empirical data with techniques such as hierarchical Bayesian analysis. The NRC committee identified several levels at which anthropogenic sound may affect marine mammals, including behavior (e.g., diving, resting, orientation), life functions (e.g., feeding, breeding, migrating), vital rates (e.g. adult survival, reproduction), and populations (e.g., growth rate, structure, extirpation). The Office of Naval Research is addressing the potential behavioral response of animals to sound exposure through controlled-exposure experiments. Knowledge of how effects transfer between behavior and life functions, and between life functions and vital rates, is limited.
Les déterminants traductifs dans les champs source et cible : le cas du roman policier traduit de l’américain en français en Série Noire après 1945

Les relations qu’entretiennent la litterature comparee et la traductologie sont delicates et cet article propose d’envisager la question en analysant un cas, celui du roman policier americain traduit dans la culture francaise a partir de 1945 en Serie Noire (Gallimard). Le courant du roman policier hard-boiled de Dashiell Hammett et, plus tard, de Raymond Chandler est ne dans le pulp Black Mask a partir de 1922. Un bref historique des pulps montre que les recits publies dans ces revues au papier bon marche devaient repondre a des exigences strictes. Apres avoir esquisse les habitus de Hammett et de Chandler, est analysee la facon dont Marcel Duhamel acclimate les auteurs hard-boiled americains dans la Serie Noire et dont le champ francais du roman policier conditionne les textes. Il apparait que la concurrence directe entre la Serie Noire et la collection Un Mystere des Presses de la Cite est egalement l’un des determinants majeurs de la traduction du roman de « durs-a-cuire », comme le montrent des documents d’archives de la Serie Noire. Le roman policier traduit illustre comment la traduction est partout dans le passage traductif, aussi bien dans le champ source que dans le champ cible et que le paradigme de la traduction est un element incontournable dans l’analyse des contacts entre litteratures.
Features and Growth of Nonlinear Crystals of m-NA and DAN

We report on the growth and features of the nonlinear organic crystals of m-NA (meta- nitroaniline) and DAN (4-(N, N-dimethyl- amino)-3-acetamidonitrobenzene), where both bulk (6 x 20 mm) and cored-fiber (0.2x30 mm) single crystals of DAN and bulk (25x35x45 mm) m-NA were grown. Characterization of these crystals was performed for doubling Nd:YAG laser operated at 1.064 μm and 1.32 μm, where favor orientation of the Bridgman-grown DAN was demonstrated. Phase-matching loci were measured and compared with the calculated data. Conditions for single-mode cored-fiber of DAN are analyzed.
Using Item Response Theory to Improve Locally-Constructed Multiple

Current science education reform efforts emphasize teaching K-12 science using hands-on, inquiry activities. For maximum learning and probability of implementation among inservice teachers, these strategies must be modeled in college science courses for preservice teachers. About a decade ago, Morehead State University revised their science content courses to follow an inquiry approach. As part of the courses’ assessment, a locally-made, diagnostic pre- and post-test was prepared. The main purpose of this “ex post facto” study was to demonstrate how concepts from Item Response Theory can be used to detect and remove psychometrically faulty items, and how the remaining items can be used by teachers to determine science learning gains in an inquiry-based physical science course that implemented two different curricula, “Physics and Everyday Thinking” and “Interactions in Physical Science”.
DataJoiner: a practical approach to multi-database access

Summary form only given. As a result of the trend towards client/server and open systems over the last decade, businesses are finding that they have useful data distributed across multiple DBMSs. DataJoiner is a new database middleware product that provides client applications with a unified view of this diverse data. It will enable and simplify the development of complex decision support applications. DataJoiner, in its first release, will provide client applications with transparent SQL access to heterogeneous, distributed data. DataJoiner also enables data migration from one DBMS to another. It simplifies customer application environments because they no longer have to generate and maintain several versions of similar applications, one for every DBMS in the enterprise. Finally, DataJoiner gives a workstation look and feel to host data. The paper describes the basic architecture of DataJoiner. It touches upon the approach that DataJoiner used to solve some key technical challenges, practical considerations of developing such a technology and the limitations that will need to be overcome in order to gain widespread acceptability. The paper addresses what lies in the future for relational database middleware technologies. >
Developmental expression of muscarinic cholinergic receptors and coupling to phospholipase C in rat sweat glands are independent of innervation

During development, the innervation of rat sweat glands undergoes a striking change from noradrenergic to cholinergic function. The acquisition of secretory responsiveness by the glands is temporally correlated with the appearance of cholinergic properties. In addition, responsiveness fails to appear in the absence of innervation. To investigate the basis of the onset of functional transmission and secretory responsiveness and its possible relationship to innervation, we analyzed the development of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in sweat glands, examined their expression in the glands of adult rats sympathectomized at birth, and assayed the ability of muscarinic agonists to increase phosphoinositide (PI) turnover. Autoradiographic and in situ hybridization analysis revealed that muscarinic ligand binding sites were first detectable as glands begin to form on postnatal day 4 (P4). Between P4 and P14, receptor concentration increased in parallel with mRNA for the m3 receptor subtype. On P14, the concentration of ligand binding sites approached adult levels, although only a small proportion of glands at this age secrete in response to nerve stimulation or cholinergic agonists. When the pharmacological properties of muscarinic receptors in sweat glands of adult rats sympathectomized at birth were compared to those of normal glands, the concentration and affinity determined with [N-methyl-3H]- scopolamine and the Ki values determined with the subtype-selective muscarinic antagonists 4-DAMP, pirenzepine, and AF DX-116 were similar. In addition, the molecular subtype was unchanged as was the level of m3 message. Studies of PI turnover in response to muscarinic stimulation indicated that the receptors expressed in sweat glands isolated from sympathectomized and acutely denervated, as well as control, rats were functionally coupled to phospholipase C. The absence of sympathetic innervation therefore does not appear to influence either the development of muscarinic receptors or their coupling to PI turnover. Our results suggest that functional sympathetic cholinergic innervation plays a central role in the development and maintenance of secretory function at a step distal to signal transduction across the cell membrane.
Initial ride quality of hot-mix asphalt pavements

Ride quality assessed with an inertial profiler on flexible pavement was used to provide initial information on the following key issues: repeatability associated with international roughness index (IRI) values for a wide range of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) material variables, timing of acceptance testing for initial ride quality, IRI changes with type of roadway, influence of stops and starts in the paving operation on ride quality, identification of “bump,” and effect of grinding on IRI. IRI was calculated for 25-ft intervals instead of the standard 0.1 mi (528 ft) for all testing to highlight local anomalies such as bumps due to paving stoppages. Results indicate that the standard deviation of three replicate passes with an inertial profiler is 5 in./mi (includes 46 HMA mixes on the Auburn University National Center for Asphalt Technology test track). IRI measurements with time suggest that initial acceptance testing can be conducted within 7 days, which allows more flexibility in scheduling by the agency. Limited traffic also slightly reduces the IRI values, which is to the contractor’s advantage. IRI values are suggested for two-lane county roads and medium- to high-traffic facilities. Separate IRI ranges are indicated for each of these categories on the basis of the type of HMA construction: new, repair and overlay, and mill and overlay. These ranges are set for best and good practices (continuous paving, no stoppages; consistent supply of trucks, very short stops). IRI values greater than 125 in./mi in any given 25-ft interval indicate a bump; bumps can be ground so that these areas have IRI values of less than 100 in./mi.
RIG‐I is required for VSV‐induced cytokine production by murine glia and acts in combination with DAI to initiate responses to HSV‐1

A defining feature of viral central nervous system (CNS) infection is the rapid onset of severe neuroinflammation. However, the mechanisms underlying glial responses to replicative neurotropic viruses are only now becoming apparent with the discovery of a number of cytosolic sensors for viral nucleic acids. We have described the expression by murine and human glial cells of two disparate pattern recognition receptors, retinoic acid inducible gene-I (RIG-I) and DNA-dependent activator of interferon regulatory factors (DAI), receptors for viral RNA and DNA moieties, respectively. In the present study, we demonstrate the functional significance of RIG-I expression in primary murine microglia and astrocytes. Our data indicate that murine glial immune responses to a model neurotropic RNA virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, are RIG-I dependent and independent of levels of DAI expression or RNA polymerase III activity. In contrast, maximal glial inflammatory and antiviral responses to the DNA virus herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) are dependent on the expression of both RIG-I and DAI, and require RNA polymerase III activity. These findings indicate that the RNA sensor, RIG-I, acts in parallel with DAI in an RNA polymerase III-dependent manner to initiate glial responses to HSV-1. We therefore suggest that RIG-I plays a significant role in the detection of both RNA and DNA pathogens by microglia and astrocytes.