cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resistance and tolerance to foreign elements by prokaryotic immune systems — curating the genome

To engage in adaptive symbioses or genetic exchange, organisms must interact with foreign, non-self elements despite the risks of predation and parasitism. By surveying the interface between self and non-self, immune systems can help ensure the benevolence of these interactions without isolating their hosts altogether. In this Essay, we examine prokaryotic restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas (clustered, regularly interspaced palindromic repeat-CRISPR-associated proteins) activities and discuss their analogy to mammalian immune pathways. We further explain how their capacities for resistance and tolerance are optimized to reduce parasitism and immunopathology during encounters with non-self.
Evaluation of sampling probes for fit testing n95 filtering facepiece respirators.

Previous studies have shown a sampling probe bias for measuring fit factors (FFs) in respirator facepieces. This study was conducted to evaluate three sampling probes for fit testing NIOSH-certified N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). Two phases of fit test experiments were conducted incorporating 'side-by-side' probe mounting: (i) flush probe versus deep probe and (ii) flush probe versus disc probe. Seven test subjects in Phase 1 and six subjects in Phase 2 were fit tested with one to three N95 FFR models for a total of 10 subject/FFR model combinations for each phase. For each experimental condition, induced faceseal leakage (IFSL) through an induced leak was measured using a PORTACOUNT® Plus model 8020A Respirator Fit Tester with a model 8095 N95-Companion™ accessory. For Phase 1, the mean IFSL of all flush probe measurements (3.6%) was significantly greater than (P 0.05) the mean IFSL of all disc probe measurements (8.3%). Results indicate that some leak site and subject/FFR model/leak site combination comparisons (flush probe versus deep probe or flush probe versus disc probe) were statistically different (P < 0.05). The overall mean IFSL for subject/FFR model/leak site combinations differed by 14 and 4% for the flush probe versus deep probe and the flush probe versus disc probe, respectively; however, from a practical standpoint, there is little difference between the flush probe tests compared with the deep probe or disc probe tests. Overall, IFSL measured using the flush probe is higher (resulting in a more conservative measure of faceseal leakage) compared with either the deep probe or disc probe. The more conservative results obtained using the flush probe provide support for its common usage for fit testing cup-shaped FFRs in the USA and potential use for fit testing FFRs in Europe.
The Limitations of LEED: A Case Study

Abstract The Xanterra houses are situated against the backdrop of one of America's most spectacular natural landscapes, just a few hundred yards from the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park...
An evidence-based discussion of heading the ball and concussions in high school soccer

Importance Soccer, originally introduced as a safer sport for children and adolescents, has seen a rapid increase in popularity in the United States over the past 3 decades. Recently, concerns have been raised regarding the safety of soccer ball heading (when an athlete attempts to play the ball in the air with his or her head) given the rise in concussion rates, with some calling for a ban on heading among soccer players younger than 14 years. Objectives To evaluate trends over time in boys’ and girls’ soccer concussions, to identify injury mechanisms commonly leading to concussions, to delineate soccer-specific activities during which most concussions occur, to detail heading-related soccer concussion mechanisms, and to compare concussion symptom patterns by injury mechanism. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective analysis of longitudinal surveillance data collected from 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 in a large, nationally representative sample of US high schools. Participants were boys and girls who were high school soccer players. Exposures Concussions sustained during high school–sanctioned soccer games and practices. Main Outcomes and Measures Mechanism and sport-specific activity of concussion. Results Overall, 627 concussions were sustained during 1 393 753 athlete exposures (AEs) among girls (4.50 concussions per 10 000 AEs), and 442 concussions were sustained during 1 592 238 AEs among boys (2.78 concussions per 10 000 AEs). For boys (68.8%) and girls (51.3%), contact with another player was the most common concussion mechanism. Heading was the most common soccer-specific activity, responsible for 30.6% of boys’ concussions and 25.3% of girls’ concussions. Contact with another player was the most common mechanism of injury in heading-related concussions among boys (78.1%) and girls (61.9%). There were few differences in concussion symptom patterns by injury mechanism. Conclusions and Relevance Although heading is the most common activity associated with concussions, the most frequent mechanism was athlete-athlete contact. Such information is needed to drive evidence-based, targeted prevention efforts to effectively reduce soccer-related concussions. Although banning heading from youth soccer would likely prevent some concussions, reducing athlete-athlete contact across all phases of play would likely be a more effective way to prevent concussions as well as other injuries.
Quantitative evaluation of pulmonary stretch receptor activity during high-frequency ventilation

The purpose of this study was to determine the neural output of pulmonary stretch receptors (PSRs) in response to conditions that, in previous studies (J. Appl. Physiol. 65: 179-186, 1988 and Respir. Physiol. 80: 307-322, 1990), produced apnea in anesthetized cats. These conditions included changes in airway pressure (Paw; 2 or 6 cmH2O), stroke or tidal volume (1-4 ml/kg), frequency [conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) vs. high-frequency ventilation (HFV) at 10, 15, and 20 Hz], and levels of inspired CO2 (0, 2, and 5%). These data were needed to assess properly the specific contribution of the PSRs to the apnea found with certain combinations of the above variables. Each PSR was subjected to HFV over a range of mechanical and chemical settings, and its activity was recorded. PSRs exhibited continuous activity associated with pump stroke in 11 of 12 fibers tested. PSRs fired more rapidly when mean Paw was 6 cmH2O [45.3 +/- 0.8 (SE) impulses/s] than when it was 2 cmH2O (31.7 +/- 0.9 impulses/s, P = 0.0001). At both pressures, PSR activity increased as the volume of inflation, or tidal volume, was increased from 1 to 4 ml/kg. At Paw of 2 cmH2O, the number of impulses per second for HFV was not different from that for CMV (averaged over the respiratory cycle), under conditions previously demonstrated as apneogenic for both modes of ventilation. Therefore the absolute amount of information being sent to the brain stem processing centers via PSRs during HFV did not differ from that during CMV. Thus any PSR contribution to HFV-induced apnea must have been the result of changes in the pattern of the signal or the central nervous system's processing of it rather than an increase in the amount of inhibitory afferent signal.
Comparing Entrepreneurial Intentions among Students: The Role of Education and Ethnic Origin

Our knowledge about the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions is limited. This paper explores and evaluates entrepreneurial intentions and their antecedents among students at a US university by building on Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1975) model. In doing so, it contributes to our understanding of how education affects students’ attitudes and self-efficacy toward entrepreneurship. It also examines the role of family background, experience and ethnic origin, in affecting attitudes, norms and intentions. Findings highlight the impact of education and ethnic origin on entrepreneurial intentions, and suggest that cultural and socio-economic factors remain important to a study of entrepreneurial intent.
Male terrestrial salamanders demonstrate sequential mate choice based on female gravidity and size

In many vertebrate mating systems, mate choice evolves when signalling via visual, chemical or auditory traits is an energetically costly process. Selection may favour individuals that can discriminate among potential mates and invest in signalling to mates with particular characteristics. Most commonly, females with costly gametes are thought to be the more selective sex; however, runaway sexual selection can produce elaborate male ornaments and behaviours that are similarly costly to produce, which can lead to male mate choice. In this study, we used behavioural trials to experimentally test male mate choice in a terrestrial salamander, Plethodon shermani. We investigated whether males altered the proportion of time they spent performing a potentially costly courtship display, ‘foot dancing’, in the presence of females. Specifically, we explored male mate choice in two experiments: (1) measuring how males modified the time they invested in courtship based solely on female reproductive value, and (2) determining whether males varied the amount of time they invested in courting females of varying sizes but similar reproductive value. In the first experiment, we quantified the duration of male courtship displays when males were paired with females of differing levels of fecundity (nongravid, weakly gravid and strongly gravid). Males displayed longest for females of high reproductive value (strongly gravid females) and less for weakly gravid and nongravid females. In the second experiment, we showed that males paired sequentially with different-sized females of similar reproductive values displayed significantly more often to larger females (i.e. male effort positively correlated with female size). In conclusion, male P. shermani are one of the few vertebrates known to modify their display behaviour based on female mate quality, and visual signs, such as size, may provide honest indicators of fitness.
Immune sensitization augments epithelium-dependent spontaneous tone in guinea pig trachealis

We examined epithelial modulation of tracheal smooth muscle (TSM) responsiveness in vitro from guinea pigs receiving active immune sensitization in vivo. Initially, guinea pigs were either ovalbumin sensitized (by aerosol) or sham sensitized with normal saline; TSM responsiveness was assessed isometrically as active tension (AT) after equilibration by electrical field stimulation in vitro. For epithelium-intact (Epi+) tissues, sensitization caused an increase in baseline active spontaneous tone (1.89 +/- 0.20 g AT) vs. sham-sensitized tissues (1.18 +/- 0.28 g AT; P = 0.02). Spontaneous tone in sensitized TSM in which the epithelium was removed (Epi-) (1.01 +/- 0.14 g AT) was substantially less than from Epi+ tissues (P = 0.01) and did not differ from sham-sensitized epithelium-denuded tissues (0.82 +/- 0.24 g AT; P > 0.05). Indomethacin caused a reduction in spontaneous tone to comparable magnitude for all treatment paradigms. Immune sensitization caused physiological reduction in the ability to relax in response to isoproterenol; the concentration of isoproterenol eliciting 50% relaxation of spontaneous tone was 7.10 +/- 0.13 (-log M) for TSM from sensitized guinea pigs compared with 8.20 +/- 0.27 (-log M) for sham-sensitized tissues (P = 0.006). However, after precontraction with exogenous acetylcholine, relaxation caused by isoproterenol was not affected by either indomethacin or epithelial removal. Muscarinic responsiveness to acetylcholine was augmented by immune sensitization; however, the increase in response to acetylcholine was attenuated by epithelium removal or cyclooxygenase blockade.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hernia--masquerader of surgical disorders.

A study of various forms of hernia which hide occult surgical disease. Too often the obvious hernia is accepted as the major source of symptoms; experience teaches that herniorrhaphy should not be performed until complete evaluation of the patient has been made, with special reference to x-ray studies to affrim or deny the presence of any veiled intra-abdominal disease.
Getting started with cloud services: a hands-on workshop

The proliferation of high-speed (wired and wireless) networks has enabled cloud computing as a viable solution for many hosted computing needs. Beyond the hype, cloud computing provides a robust platform for large scale computing resources in a pay-as-you-need-them model. This commoditization goes beyond hosted servers, extending to storage, databases, domain name resolution, and many other aspects of a traditional IT infrastructure. In this workshop, we will use the Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings to introduce cloud computing and we as computer science educators can leverage these services in our classrooms and across the curriculum.
The Meter of Widsith and the Distant Past

In a recent article in this journal, Leonard Neidorf argues for a seventh-century date for the Old English poem Widsith, while countenancing the possibility that one portion of the poem was composed before the migration of the Angles and Saxons to Britain (adventus Saxonum). The present article disputes the possibility of a pre-adventus date for this and other portions of Widsith. Metrical considerations tend to contradict such an exceptionally early dating, with ramifications for the categorization and interpretation of the poem as a whole. After reviewing the pertinent metrical evidence, this article argues that the available metrical form of Widsith is the essential feature by which the poem, whenever and wherever it was composed, can be recognized as ‘the poem’ in the first place. This article concludes that Widsith is not an ancient poem from a pan-Germanic distant past, but an encyclopedic Old English poem that turns inherited vocabulary to its own rhetorical purposes.
Anterior Temporal Lobectomy for Refractory Status Epilepticus in Herpes Simplex Encephalitis

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a common cause of viral encephalitis that can lead to refractory seizures. The primary treatment of HSV encephalitis is with acyclovir; however, surgery sometimes plays a role in obtaining tissue diagnosis or decompression in cases with severe mass effect. We report a unique case in which anterior temporal lobectomy was successfully used to treat refractory status epilepticus in HSV encephalitis. Case report and review of the literature. We report a case of a 60-year-old man with HSV encephalitis, who presented with seizures originating from the right temporal lobe refractory to maximal medical management. Right anterior temporal lobectomy was performed for the purpose of treatment of refractory status epilepticus and obtaining tissue diagnosis, with ultimate resolution of seizures and excellent functional outcome. We suggest that anterior temporal lobectomy should be considered in cases of HSV encephalitis with refractory status epilepticus with clear unilateral origin.
Selenocysteine tRNA[Ser]Sec Mouse Models for Elucidating Roles of Selenoproteins in Health and Development

Selenium (Se), an essential element in the diet of mammals, has been known for many years to play major roles in numerous health benefits and in development. More recently, Se-containing proteins, designated selenoproteins, have been shown to be highly significant components in carrying out these health benefits and also to have essential roles in mammalian development. Se is incorporated into protein as the Se-containing amino acid, selenocysteine (Sec). Selenoprotein synthesis is dependent on Sec tRNA for the insertion of Sec, the 21st amino acid in the genetic code, into protein, providing us with a tool to modulate the expression of selenoproteins by modulating the expression of Sec tRNA. Taking advantage of this dependency, we made various mutants of the Sec tRNA gene that have been used to generate transgenic, conditional knockout, transgenic/knockout and transgenic/conditional knockout mouse models to elucidate many roles of this protein class in health and development.
Using Xenopus to understand human disease and developmental disorders.

Model animals are crucial to biomedical research. Among the commonly used model animals, the amphibian, Xenopus, has had tremendous impact because of its unique experimental advantages, cost effectiveness, and close evolutionary relationship with mammals as a tetrapod. Over the past 50 years, the use of Xenopus has made possible many fundamental contributions to biomedicine, and it is a cornerstone of research in cell biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, immunology, molecular biology, neurobiology, and physiology. The prospects for Xenopus as an experimental system are excellent: Xenopus is uniquely well-suited for many contemporary approaches used to study fundamental biological and disease mechanisms. Moreover, recent advances in high throughput DNA sequencing, genome editing, proteomics, and pharmacological screening are easily applicable in Xenopus, enabling rapid functional genomics and human disease modeling at a systems level.
Ten Tips to Avoid the Perils, Pitfalls, and Complications of Cosmetic Blepharoplasty

Cosmetic eyelid surgery complications can be divided into functional, cosmetic, or a combination of both. Included among functional issues are keratopathy/dry eyes, infection, tearing/ocular irritation, lagophthalmos, orbital hemorrhage loss of vision, and blindness. Cosmetic complications include hollowing, deep superior sulcus, and lateral canthal dystopia.
Go with the flow: perforin and CD107a in HLH.

In this issue of Blood , Rubin et al describe the diagnostic accuracy of measuring perforin and CD107a expression in patients with primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and compare the performance of these assays to quantification of natural killer cell cytotoxicity. 1 Data from this study support the incorporation of these assays into future diagnostic algorithms for primary HLH.
Smart load-balancer for web applications

A resource distribution helps to improve the scalability and fault-tolerance of many types of information systems, and can offer the responsiveness needed by smart environments. When more than one information source is available, a load balancer distributes the user workload among the multiple sources. However, deciding the best server assignment for each user request is a difficult task when the system contains heterogeneous elements and operates in a dynamic environment. We develop an automata-based approach to the load balancing problem that continuously adjusts the selection rate of servers based on observed information retrieval performance. We evaluate different reinforcement methods to identify the most suitable one for this task, including the P-model Reward-Penalty-e (RP-e), and S-model Reward-Penalty-epsilon (SRP-e). We develop a plug-in for Apache Traffic Server and use a testbed to evaluate the performance of these methods compared to common load-balancing approaches: random, round robin, least connection, and greedy selection.
Explaining the adoption of security measures by places of worship: perceived risk of victimization and organizational structure

Many law enforcement agencies and religious communities are trying to bolster the security measures taken by places of worship. While research has examined the effectiveness or consequences of organizational security, little research has attempted to understand variation in the adoption of security measures. This study derives hypotheses from the criminological and organizational literatures to understand why places of worship vary in their security. The study then assesses those hypotheses using data generated from a survey of places of worship located in the United States. The analysis shows that a place of worship’s perception of future victimization risk significantly increases the odds of security measures being present. Organizational variables, such as size, resources, and role specialization, however, also have significant effects on the odds of a place of worship having security measures. These findings show the importance of considering both organizational and criminological dynamics when examining security and crime in organizational populations.
Review symposium: multimethod research, causal mechanisms, and case studies

The use of multimethod research is becoming increasingly widespread in the social sciences, including political science, and it is part of a broader movement that has moved beyond the single focus on either qualitative or quantitative studies. In Multimethod Research, Causal Mechanisms, and Case Studies: An Integrated Approach, Gary Goertz lays out a comprehensive approach to multimethod research and to the use of case studies. The aim is to integrate qualitative and quantitative research—for instance through case studies—and to show the advantages of combining the two. Goertz does so by bringing together causal mechanisms, cross-case causal inference and within-case causal inference into what he calls the research triad of this integrated approach to social science research. In their reviews of Goertz’ book, David Waldner, Jennifer Cyr and Kendra Koivu take issues with particular aspects of Goertz’ case for multimethod and case study research, while also addressing larger methodological issues surrounding political science research.
The Historico-poetic Materialism of Benjamin and Celan

This article explores the relationship between the historical materialism of Walter Benjamin and the poetics of Paul Celan, and claims that within Celan’s poetics, we find a form for thinking Benja...
Problems in Dimension N = 2

I want to expand on this important point, since those who do not perceive the boundary between what is understood and what is not are often lured by pseudo-logic arguments: a game A implies a result B, which looks like something observed, and one postulates that nature plays game A. Besides showing a total ignorance of the scientific method in general and logic in particular, it shows a curious lack of imagination.2 It reminds me of others, who put in their hypotheses what is observed, and are quite naive then to be enthusiastic about the efficiency of their game to predict observations!
The effect of amorphous selenium thickness on imaging performance of contrast enhanced digital breast tomosynthesis

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) and contrast enhancement (CE) for both DBT (CEDBT) and planar mammography (CEDM) are being investigated to increase conspicuity of malignant lesions. To image above the k-edge of iodine (33 keV), CEDBT requires x-ray energies higher than those of typical mammograms (˜28 kVp). Increasing the thickness of the detector's amorphous selenium (a-Se) layer improves x-ray absorption and detective quantum efficiency (DQE), particularly at higher energies. For DBT, where systems are often designed with partially isocentric geometries, thicker a-Se layers may result in degradation of the modulation transfer function (MTF) for oblique views. We employed a cascaded linear system model to analyze the effect of oblique entry on MTF. Also, the model was experimentally validated using 200 and 300 μm a-Se flat panel imagers. Finally, we use an ideal-observer SNR model for projection and DBT imaging to optimize a-Se layer thickness for detectability of iodinated objects.
Schema selection and stochastic inference in modular environments

Given a set of stimuli presenting views of some environment, how can one characterize the natural modules or "objects" that compose the environment? Should a given set of items be encoded as a collection of instances or as a set of rules? Restricted formulations of these questions are addressed by analysis within a new mathematical framework that describes stochastic parallel computation. An algorithm is given for simulating this computation once schemas encoding the modules of the environment have been selected. The concept of computational temperature is introduced. As this temperature is lowered, the system appears to display a dramatic tendency to interpret input, even if the evidence for any particular interpretation is very weak.
The Feminine Mystique: The Initiation of Sex Determination in Drosophila

Publisher Summary In organisms where the genetic basis for sex determination has been investigated, a small number of genes appear to act as binary switches to bring about the sexual differentiation that is appropriate to the chromosomal sex of the individual. The default pathway for sex determination in Drosophila is male. The chromosomal signal (XX) for female development must activate a genetic switch to impose a female identity on an embryo that would otherwise develop as a male. Thus, when the genetic switch is ON, the female developmental pathway is selected; if the switch defaults to the OFF mode, male development ensues. The primary switch that initiates sex determination in Drosophila controls the major aspects of sexual cell fate: sexual differentiation and X-chromosomal dosage compensation. Through sexual differentiation, the sexes diverge with respect to structural, behavioral, and tissue-specific physical characteristics. The process of X-chromosome dosage compensation maintains a molecular similarity between the sexes at the cellular level: Transcriptional hyperactivation of the single X chromosome in the male ensures that both sexes are provided with the same levels of most X-linked gene products.
Understanding Collaborative Writing Practices of People with Visual Impairments

Collaborative writing has been a common activity in different professions for many years. Researchers from multiple disciplines, including from HCI and CSCW, have experimented and evaluated a number of collaborative writing tools. However, with the emergence of more modern technologies like cloud-based Google Docs, newer versions of Microsoft Word etc., collaborative writing practices are gaining in popularity and use. Yet, we know little about the accessibility of these systems and how they should be designed to best support the increasingly common collaborative practices that constitute everyday work groups and collaboration. Our research goal is to study how people with visual impairments collaboratively write with other sighted and/or visually impaired peers in practice, whether and how they use computer-mediated collaborative tools, and design new assistive technologies to facilitate collaboration among a group of writers with visual impairments or mixed abilities.
Reality-inspired voter models: A mini-review

Abstract This mini-review presents extensions of the voter model that incorporate various plausible features of real decision-making processes by individuals. Although these generalizations are not calibrated by empirical data, the resulting dynamics are suggestive of realistic collective social behaviors.
Breeding bird response to season of burn in an upland hardwood forest

Abstract Upland hardwood forest managers are increasingly burning during the growing-season in hopes of improving wildlife habitat and attaining or accelerating other restoration goals, highlighting the need for research addressing how season of burning affects wildlife, including breeding birds. We used 1-ha strip transects in nine units before (2011) and after (2013–2016) treatments to experimentally assess how breeding birds respond to early growing-season (26 April 2013; GSB) and dormant-season (5 March 2014; DSB) burns, and controls (C). Burn effects on forest structure were minor and transitory, regardless of burn season. Burns did not affect overstory or midstory tree basal area or density; shrub cover did not significantly differ among treatments, but within GSB and DSB it decreased for 1–2 years post-burn. A trend of reduced leaf litter depth immediately following both burn treatments was apparent, and recovery was rapid. Percent canopy cover decreased slightly in GSB within four years post-burn. Total bird species richness and density did not differ among treatments or years, and no treatment × year interaction effects were detected. A treatment effect was detected for one of the 10 species tested; Red-bellied woodpecker density was greater in GSB than C in 2013 and 2015. No treatment × year interaction effect was detected for any tested species. Density of birds within the tree-, cavity-, and shrub and midstory-nesting guilds were not detectably affected by either burn treatment, but ground-nester density was lower in GSB and DSB than C in 2014. Our results indicate that single, low-intensity burns, regardless of burn season, are not an effective tool in creating suitable forest structure for disturbance-dependent breeding bird species, or changing breeding bird community composition. In the short-term, substantial forest overstory reduction by timber harvests or high-severity burns will likely be required to improve forest conditions for disturbance-dependent species, and to increase species richness and abundance of breeding birds.
The risk of death from prostate cancer in men with Gleason Score 3+4 prostate cancer treated using brachytherapy with or without a short course of androgen deprivation therapy.

330Background: We evaluated whether the intermediate-risk factors of percentage of positive biopsies (PPB), clinical tumor category, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, in addition to age, w...
Bolívar in Bolivia: On Fathers and Creators

In the nation that paid tribute to Bolivar by taking his name, first as the Republica Bolivar, then as Bolivia, the battle to define his meaning for the present has occurred against many backdrops, including liberalism and constitutionalism, militarism, race thinking, Pan Americanism, Venezuela-centered Bolivarianism, socialist politics, the Cold War, populist movements, and even Mexico’s Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). In the nineteenth century, there was much interest in Bolivar, at the same time that national figures were celebrated. They ranged from Pedro Domingo Murillo, who led the Bolivian independence movement and was executed in 1809, to Casimiro Olaneta, a royalist who was secretary to his infamous father but who went on to join the army of Antonio Jose de Sucre and become an important legislator and minister in the Bolivian republic, to Jose Ballivian, the general who defeated Peru in 1841.
Validation and Assessment of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (Elisa) for Use in Monitoring and Managing Neurotoxic Shellfish Poisoning

Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning caused by the ingestion of shellfish contaminated with brevetoxins threatens human health and economies reliant on the Gulf of Mexico. In the United States, the only federally approved method to test shellfish for brevetoxins is a mouse bioassay. Although effective in protecting public health, this assay has considerable shortcomings, including low throughput, lack of sensitivity and specificity, and reliance on live animal testing. Here, a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (MARBIONC) was validated, and results of field samples tested using ELISA and the mouse bioassay were compared. In this validation of the ELISA method for eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica and clams (Mercenaria spp. and sunray venus Macrocallista nimbosa), ELISA demonstrated strong recoveries, specificity, and ruggedness. Quantitative results were obtained for more than 90% of the 526 field samples tested by ELISA compared with only 26% of the samples tested by mouse bioassay. When quantitative data were available for both assays, significant correlations across methods were found. Based on this work, in 2017, the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference approved the limited use of the MARBIONC ELISA in neurotoxic shellfish poisoning management.
The past and present: A push toward the good life

In this article, we contemplate how African communities, based on their unique experiences and backgrounds, can increasingly become producers and participants in the technology development process; a step beyond just being end-users.
Low-cost MPI Multithreaded Message Matching Benchmarking

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard allows user-level threads to concurrently call into an MPI library. While this feature is currently rarely used, there is considerable interest from developers in adopting it in the near future. There is reason to believe that multithreaded communication may incur additional message processing overheads in terms of number of items searched during demultiplexing and amount of time spent searching because it has the potential to increase the number of messages exchanged and to introduce non-deterministic message ordering. Therefore, understanding the implications of adding multithreading to MPI applications is important for future application development.One strategy for advancing this understanding is through ‘low-cost’ benchmarks that emulate full communication patterns using fewer resources. For example, while a complete, ‘real-world’ multithreaded halo exchange requires 9 or 27 nodes, the low-cost alternative needs only two, making it deployable on systems where acquiring resources is difficult because of high utilization (e.g., busy capacity-computing systems), or impossible because the necessary resources do not exist (e.g., testbeds with too few nodes). While such benchmarks have been proposed, the reported results have been limited to a single architecture or derived indirectly through simulation, and no attempt has been made to confirm that a low-cost benchmark accurately captures features of full (non-emulated) exchanges. Moreover, benchmark code has not been made publicly available.The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to quantify how accurately the low-cost benchmark captures the matching behavior of the full, real-world benchmark. In the process, we also advocate for the feasibility and utility of the low-cost benchmark. We present a ‘real-world’ benchmark implementing a full multithreaded halo exchange on 9 and 27 nodes, as defined by 5-point and 9-point 2D stencils, and 7-point and 27-point 3D stencils. Likewise, we present a ‘low-cost’ benchmark that emulates these communication patterns using only two nodes. We then confirm, across multiple architectures, that the low-cost benchmark gives accurate estimates of both number of items searched during message processing, and time spent processing those messages. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of the low-cost benchmark by using it to profile the performance impact of state-of-the-art Mellanox ConnectX-5 hardware support for offloaded MPI message demultiplexing. To facilitate further research on the effects of multithreaded MPI on message matching behavior, the source of our two benchmarks is to be included in the next release version of the Sandia MPI Micro-Benchmark Suite.
Argument Gapping in Coordinate Conjunction Constructions in Japanese

When two clauses are conjoined by a coordinate conjunction (e.g. and), an argument of a verb in the second clause which corresponds to an argument of the verb in the first clause can be deleted. Traditionally, the condition for this phenomenon (ARGUMENT GAPPING) is recoverability of the deleted argument from the first clause. However, in Japanese, recoverability is not the sole condition affecting the gapping in coordinately conjoined clauses. Based on a data analysis including sentences with verbs of various patterns, it was found that verbs keep their marked (undeletable) arguments even when they are recoverable from the context.
Patients Admitted with Metabolic Syndrome and Atrial Fibrillation Have Greater Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Events and Clinical Outcomes

Abstract Introduction The prevalence of both metabolic syndrome (MetS) and atrial fibrillation (AF) are on the rise. Studies investigating the association between MetS and AF on clinical outcomes remains limited. Methods We queried the 2017-2018 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for adult patients with MetS as primary diagnosis with and without AF as a secondary diagnosis. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality, while secondary outcomes were length of stay (LOS), total hospital cost (THC), cardiac arrest (CA), NSTEMI, cardiogenic shock (CS), respiratory failure (RF), need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and congestive heart failure (CHF). A multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the clinical outcome. A p-value of Results A total of 97,420 patients with MetS were admitted, of which 15.38% had AF. AF vs No AF cohorts included a mean age of 69.7 years [CI 69.2-70.1] vs 55.6 years [CI 55.0-56.1]), males (59.8% vs 44.8%); white (83.1% vs 69.4%), black (8.2% vs 13.7%), and Hispanic (5.1% vs 11.6%). AF was significantly associated with multiple adverse clinical outcomes (Table 1) including mortality, CA, NSTEMI, HF, RF, CS, need for IMV, and greater LOS (p Conclusion We observed that MetS patients with AF had worse clinical outcomes. Possible reasons for these differences include a greater burden of atherosclerosis, adverse cardiac remodeling and chronic kidney disease. Further research into biomarkers of risk may help predict adverse clinical outcomes.
Lie-toe-tease: double negatives and unexcluded middles

Litotes, “a figure of speech in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary” (OED) has had some tough reviews. For Pope and Swift (“Scriblerus” 1727), litotes—stock examples include “no mean feat”, “no small problem”, and “not bad at all”—is “the peculiar talent of Ladies, Whisperers, and Backbiters”; for Orwell (1946), it is a means to affect “an appearance of profundity” that we can deport from English “by memorizing this sentence: A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field.” But such ridicule is not without equivocation, given that litotes, or “logical” (non-concordial) double negation, may or may not be semantically redundant. When the negation of a logical contrary yields an unexcluded middle, it contributes to expressive power: someone who is not unhappy may not be happy either, and an occurrence may not be infrequent without being frequent. But if something is not possible, what can it be but possible? Why does Crashaw’s “not impossible she” survive rhetorically while Orwell’s “not unsmall rabbit” is doomed? How is Robbie being “not not friends” with Mary on 7th Heaven distinct from being friends with her, if not not-p reduces to p? The key is recognizing in litotes a corollary of MaxContrary, the tendency for contradictory (wide-scope) sentential negation ¬p to strengthen (at least) pragmatically to a contrary ©p, as when the formal contradictory Fr. “Il ne faut pas partir” (lit. ‘It is not necessary to leave’) is reinterpreted as expressing a contrary (‘one must not-leave’). Just as the Law of Excluded Middle can apply where it “shouldn’t”, resulting in pragmatically presupposed disjunctions between semantic contraries, so that “p v ©p” amounts to an instance of “p v ¬p”, the Law of Double Negation can fail to apply where it “should”. When not not-p conveys ¬©p, the negation of a virtual contrary, the middle between p and not-p is no longer excluded, rendering the Fregean dictum that “Wrapping up a thought in double negation does not alter its truth value” not unproblematic.
Measuring the Net Migration of Immigrants to U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Net migration of immigrants to U.S. metropolitan areas cannot be measured directly because many immigrants by some estimates as high as 30% subsequently emigrate from the U.S. thus escaping the ability of federal authorities to locate their whereabouts. Without an accurate measure of immigrant out-migration net migration cannot be calculated. This study employs cohort survival techniques to indirectly estimate immigrant and native net migration 1970-1980 for 119 specific metropolitan areas. Several checks are performed to confirm the accuracy of the estimates which appear to be reasonable. (EXCERPT)
Can bill-and-keep peering be mutually beneficial?

We analyze “Bill-and-Keep” peering between two providers, where no money exchanges hands. We assume that each provider incurs costs from its traffic traversing its as well as the peer’s links, and compute the traffic levels in Nash equilibrium. We show that Nash strategies are not blind, i.e., they are neither pure hot-potato nor pure cold-potato strategies. Rather, the Nash strategies involve strategically splitting traffic between a provider’s own links and its peer’s. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for both the providers to be better (or worse) off in Nash equilibrium compared to the blind strategies. We also analyze society’s performance as a whole and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the society to be better (or worse) off. In particular we establish that, under Bill-and-Keep peering, while it is not possible for two asymmetric providers to be both worse off, it is certainly possible for both to be better off.
Abstract 17423: Unique Features of Cortical Bone Stem Cells Associated With Enhanced Cardiac Repair

Rationale: Adoptive transfer of bone marrow and cardiac derived stem cells (CDCs) into failing human hearts has been shown to be safe, yet these cells have induced modest improvements in myocardial function. Recently we have shown in a mouse model that cortical bone derived stem cells (CBSCs) induced a greater enhancement of cardiac function after myocardial infarction than CDCs, possibly through enhanced paracrine signaling and transdifferentiation of the transplanted cells. However, the relative reparative potential of CBSCs relative to other known stem cell types including bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cardiac derived stem cells (CDCs) is not known. Objective: To characterize surface marker expression, proliferation, survival and differentiation capacity of swine CBSCs relative to MSCs and CDCs. Methods and Results: CBSCs, MSCs and CDCs were isolated from cortical bone, bone marrow and heart (left ventricle) of Gottingen miniswine. CBSCs were morphologically distinct from MSCs a...
Abstract 16341: Application of Genomic Markers to Predict Outcome in Patients Receiving Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Therapy

Introduction: LVADs are now used as a bridge to heart transplantation, or destination therapy in patients with advanced heart failure. LVAD therapy reverses left ventricular (LV) remodeling and improves survival in 50% of patients. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that patients with poor prognosis after LVAD therapy will have a different genomic profile as compared to patients with higher survival rate. We propose to use genome-wide expression analysis to determine the mRNA and microRNA profiling of LV tissue and peripheral blood and identify probes that predicts outcome in patients receiving LVAD therapy. Methods: Genome-wide RNA expression profiling of the LV apex core tissue, and blood samples of patients receiving LVAD were performed using Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChip, to study the expression of 47000 mRNA and micro-RNA transcripts. Follow up echocardiographic parameters were used to determine the patients’ clinical response to LVAD therapy. We proposed that ≥10% reduction in LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) at 3 months is considered a responder to LVAD therapy. The results of the gene expression analysis were integrated with clinical outcomes to identify RNA expression patterns that differentiate LVAD responders from non-responders. Results: The percent change in LVEDD at 3 months ranged from +12 to -44 (mean -12±0.21), and 45% of the patients were responders to LVAD therapy (n=35). We used GeneSpring GX12 to identify the differentially expressed transcripts, and filtered the probes by their correlation to % change in LVEDD as a continuous numerical measurement with correlation stringency of 0.85 Conclusions: The myocardial transcriptome can predict the outcome in patients receiving LVAD therapy. The genetic markers, predictive of LV recovery after mechanical unloading, can help build new hypotheses for candidate pathways of LV remodeling.
Genetic heterogeneity among blue-cone monochromats.

Thirty-three unrelated subjects with blue-cone monochromacy or closely related variants of blue-cone monochromacy were examined for rearrangements in the tandem array of genes encoding the red- and green-cone pigments. In 24 subjects, eight genotypes were found that would be predicted to eliminate the function of all of the genes within the array. As observed in an earlier study, the rearrangements involve either deletion of a locus control region adjacent to the gene array or loss of function via homologous recombination and point mutation. One inactivating mutation, Cy[sup 203]-to-Arg, was found in 15 probands who carry single genes and in both visual pigment genes in one subject whose array has two genes. This mutation was also found in at least one of the visual pigment genes in one subject whose array has multiple genes and in 2 of 321 control subjects, suggesting that preexisting Cys[sup 203]-to-Arg mutations constitute a reservoir of chromosomes that are predisposed to generate blue-cone-monochromat genotypes by unequal homologous recombination and/or gene conversion. Two other point mutations were identified: (a) Arg[sup 247]-to-Ter in one subject with a single red-pigment gene and (b) Pro[sup 307]-to-Leu in one subject with a single 5[prime] red-3[prime] green hybrid gene. The observed heterogeneitymore » of genotypes points to the existence of multiple one- and two-step mutational pathways to blue-cone monochromacy. 28 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.« less
Fan fiction metadata creation and utilization within fan fiction archives: Three primary models

Issues related to searchability and ease of access have plagued fan fiction since its inception. This paper discusses the predominate forms of fan-mediated indexing and descriptive metadata, commonly referred to as folksonomy or tagging, and compares the benefits and disadvantages of each model. These models fall into three broad categories: free tagging, controlled vocabulary, and hybrid folksonomy. Each model has distinct advantages and shortcomings related to findability, results filtering, and creative empowerment. Examples for each are provided. Possible ramifications to fan fiction from improved metadata and access are also discussed.
Phase I trial of iodine 131-labeled COL-1 in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies: influence of serum carcinoembryonic antigen and tumor bulk on pharmacokinetics.

PURPOSECOL-1 is a high-affinity murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). A phase I trial was conducted in which a uniform quantity of antibody labeled with escalating doses of iodine 131 (131I) was administered to patients with advanced gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies to evaluate tolerance and pharmacokinetics.PATIENTS AND METHODSEighteen patients with advanced, assessable GI malignancies (16 colon, one pancreas, and one gastric) previously treated with conventional chemotherapy (but no pelvic radiation) received 20 mg of COL-1 labeled with 131I, with doses from 10 mCi/m2 to 75 mCi/m2. In this cohort, the baseline serum CEA level ranged from 6 to 2,739 ng/mL (mean +/- SD, 500 +/- 639).RESULTSNuclear imaging detected at least one tumor site in all 18 patients; 82% of all tumor involved organs were positive and 58% of all lesions > or = 1.0 cm were detected. Immune complexes were detected in 89% of patients 5 minutes after completion of infusion, and levels correlated...