cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology: Informed consent for preoperative testing: pregnancy testing and other tests involving sensitive patient issues

Anesthesiologists should choose to involve children in medical decision-making with the ethical objective of enhancing the child's self-determination, while keeping the child engaged in their care. Anesthesiologists can use the patient's age as a first approximation of a patient's cognitive and emotional development. This chapter discusses the issues raised by incorporating the ethical concept of pediatric patient assent into the traditional process of parental (surrogate) informed consent. Competency is a legal term while decision-making capacity is the ability to make a specific decision at a specific time. It is important to resolve disagreements among the pediatric patient-parent-physician triad about the appropriate clinical plan. Response to requests for nondisclosure by parents must weigh the goal of the best Znterests of the patient. Emancipated minor and mature minor status pose distinct ethical and practical issues. Confidentiality must be honored, and failure to do so may be harmful to the patient.
The Method of Multiple Scales for Orbit Propagation with Atmospheric Drag

E cient space situational awareness requires trajectory propagation techniques that give direct insight into how atmospheric drag related uncertainties manifest in position and velocity errors over time. This paper uses the method of multiple scales to develop a new semi-analytic trajectory propagation technique for drag-perturbed objects that gives this necessary insight for the rst time. As opposed to other approaches, the approximate trajectories generated using this method are shown to have known error properties that directly depend on the drag parameters. These properties are essential for e ective object tracking and catalog maintenance. Simulations demonstrate the e ectiveness of the technique for several representative orbit families.
A Highly Divergent Approach for Synthesis of Metal-Binding Peptide Libraries

A highly divergent approach for the synthesis of metal-binding peptides is described. This approach builds pyridine-based chelators in a stepwise fashion on resin and provides rapid access to a diverse array of metal-binding peptides in minimal synthetic steps.
Effects of Substituted Benzylphenols on Reproduction of House Flies

2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-6-[(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl] phenol(AI3-70691) prevented all reproduction by female Musca domestica L. when fed a 1% concentration in the diet, injected at a rate of 5 μg/female or treated topically at a rate of 20 μg/female. However, sterilizing effects were impermanent. Male fertility was affected only slightly when the compound was fed at 1–2% concentrations. 5-ethoxy-6-[1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-ethyl]-1,3-benzodioxole(AI3-53060) was likewise effective when females were injected with a dose of 10 μg/female or fed a diet containing 0.1 % of the compound. At nontoxic doses, no sterility was induced in males by feeding or injection.
Strain in the lateral ligaments of the ankle

Strain was measured in the normal anterior talofibular ligament (ATF) and the calcaneofibular ligament (CF) using Hall effect strain transducers in five cadaveric ankles. These measurements were made in both ligaments with the ankle in neutral position and with the foot moving from 10 degrees dorsiflexion to 40 degrees plantarflexion in an apparatus that permits physiologic motion. The ankle ligaments were then tested with the foot placed in six different positions that combined supination, pronation, external rotation, and internal rotation. In the neutral position, through a range of motion of 10 degrees dorsiflexion to 40 degrees plantarflexion, the anterior talofibular ligament underwent an increasing strain of 3.3%. No significant strain increase was found with internal rotation. The only significant difference from the strains at the neutral position was in external rotation, which decreased strain 1.9%. In all positions, increased strain occurred with increased plantarflexion. The calcaneofibular ligament was essentially isometric in the neutral position throughout the flexion arc. The calcaneofibular ligament strain was significantly increased by supination and external rotation. However, with increasing plantarflexion in these positions, the strain in the calcaneofibular ligament decreased. Therefore, plantarflexion has a relaxing effect on the calcaneofibular ligament. Thus, the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments are synergistic, such that when one ligament is relaxed, the other is strained and vice versa.
Microcephaly and Epilepsy

The prevalence of epilepsy and learning disability among various types of microcephaly was determined in a study of 66 cases (age range from 2 to 19 years) at the National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt, and the Department of Human Genetics and Teratology, National Center for Epidemiology, Budapest, Hungary.
Inflammation and Rupture of a Congenital Pericardial Cyst Manifesting Itself as an Acute Chest Pain Syndrome

We present the case of a 63-year-old woman with a remote history of supraventricular tachycardia and hyperlipidemia, who presented with recurrent episodes of acute-onset chest pain. An electrocardiogram showed no evidence of acute coronary syndrome. A chest radiograph revealed a prominent right-sided heart border. A suspected congenital pericardial cyst was identified on a computed tomographic chest scan, and stranding was noted around the cyst. The patient was treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and the pain initially abated. Another flare-up was treated similarly. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was then performed after symptoms had resolved, and no evidence of the cyst was seen. The suspected cause of the patient's chest pain was acute inflammation of a congenital pericardial cyst with subsequent rupture and resolution of symptoms.
OUTCOMES FOLLOWING IMPLANT OF SEMI-PERMANENT PACEMAKER VERSUS TEMPORARY PACEMAKER

Background: Temporary pacemakers (TP) allow short-term ventricular pacing but can be unstable and become ineffective during extended use. Semi-permanent pacemakers (SPP) are active fixation leads connected to an externalized pacemaker generator and may provide a more stable pacing platform. The
Establishing Good Laboratory Practice at Small Colleges and Universities

Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) provide guidelines for proper operation of equipment, maintenance and sanitation, reporting structures, and related activities. These practices are routinely employed at large academic and research-based institutions. However, they are often overlooked or omitted at smaller colleges and universities where staff and resources are limited. Incorrect assumptions and presumed responsibilities can lead to safety hazards, damage to equipment, loss of infrastructure, and confusion regarding operations and oversight. This report addresses the development of the “who, what, when, how, and where” policies and SOPs that constitute GLP. Once established and utilized by all departmental members, these structures ensure that academic and research-related activities are conducted safely and efficiently.
Chapter 14 – Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Ocean

Publisher Summary A large number of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, and its alkyl homologs, are present in crude and refined petroleum products. Some are natural products, synthesized by many bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. A significant percentage of some crude oils comprises monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Automotive gasoline, a low-boiling distillate of crude oil, typically contains 12 to more than 50% total monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The mono-aromatic hydrocarbons of greatest concern in the environment are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and m-, p-, and o-xylenes (BTEX). BTEX are low molecular weight mono-aromatic hydrocarbons that are moderately soluble in fresh water and seawater and are highly volatile. Solubility in seawater is lower than that in fresh water because of salting out. Because of their chemical/physical properties, BTEX are not persistent in seawater, bind only weakly to marine sediments, and are not bioaccumulated to high concentrations by marine organisms. BTEX reaches the marine environment in domestic and industrial waste water effluents, runoff from land, and spills of crude and refined petroleum products. Other sources may be locally important. Although the amounts entering the marine environment are undoubtedly very large, concentrations of BTEX in seawater and estuarine waters generally are very low.
Profiles of ideological and instrumental union bonds: a test in the U.S. and Ghana contexts

Configuration or profile of commitments, a person-centered approach, is one of the approaches that have gained a foothold in the commitment research. The importance of this approach to commitment r...
NAT testing in recipients of hepatitis C aviremic donor organs.

As outcomes of transplantation have improved, the number of transplant candidates listed for deceased donor transplantation has increased significantly over the years. Organ shortage is one of the greatest challenges facing the field of organ transplantation. Until recently, organs from donors who tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been used exclusively in recipients with chronic HCV infection or were discarded at a high rate. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Anthropologist-Directed Triage: Three Distinct Mass Fatality Events Involving Fragmentation and Commingling of Human Remains

Identifying victims from mass fatality events requires the synchronization of several processes including, but not limited to, remains recovery, antemortem information collection, mortuary processes, death certification, family assistance, and finally, repatriation. Many different forensic disciplines are involved in recovering and identifying disaster victims. In particular, anthropologists have increasingly been involved with disaster victim identification in various roles from recovery and mortuary personnel to, more recently, management positions. This chapter discusses one small aspect of the mortuary process, triage, and its interplay with other aspects of identifying highly fragmented and commingled human remains. Specifically, this chapter focuses on anthropologist-directed triage and how it differed during three distinct mass fatality incidents: the World Trade Center disaster, the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, and the crash of the Staten Island Ferry. Each of these incidents involved significant variation in the number of victims, the number of recovered human remains, their degree of fragmentation, the site characteristics, and the recovery processes. Each of these considerations affected the triage teams’ composition and duties.
Taxonomy and its Pleasures

Taxonomy is our response to the proliferating variety of the natural world on the one hand, and the principle of unrelieved universality on the other. From Aristotle, through Porphyry to Linneaus, Kant and others, thinkers have struggled to develop taxonomies that could order what we know and also what we do not yet know, and this essay is a reflection on the existential desire that propels this effort. Porphyry’s tree of logic is an exhaustive account of the things we can say about the sort of beings we are; Linneaus’s system of nature reaches completion in the classification of humans; Kant discovers a way to have natural and logical forms coincide in the thought of natural purpose and purposiveness. The stakes are high. When we order the world, we order ourselves: when we enter the taxonomy, it enters us and confronts us with our judgments of kind, race and kin.
The Relationship Between the Structural Geometry of a Textile Fabric and Its Physical Properties Part IV: Interstice Geometry and Air Permeability

This paper is a study of the geometry of fabric interstices as related to air flow through cloth structures. It assumes that textile yarns act as flexible, inextensible, circular cylinders. Modes o...
Ability of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict prostate tumor heterogeneity on targeted biopsy.

113Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) can show heterogeneous histology within lesions. MRI-targeted biopsy (Tbx) of the prostate improves PCa detection, but sampling within lesions has yet to be standardized. Furthermore, Tbx results are often heterogeneous as evidenced by differing histologic grades of Tbx cores within the same lesion. This introduces potential variability in biopsy results, on which clinical decisions are made. Here we aim to characterize lesion heterogeneity and identify predictive multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) features. Methods: A cohort of men who underwent mpMRI and Tbx between 2014-2017 were selected for analysis from a prospectively maintained database. To characterize lesion heterogeneity, only men with ≥2 positive Tbx cores were included. Histologic grades were scored according to International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grades. Lesion heterogeneity, reported as a heterogeneity index (HI), was calculated as the difference of the average ISUP grades of Tbx cores per lesi...
Significance of stable carbon isotope trends in carbonate concretions formed in association with anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), Middle and Upper Devonian shale succession, western New York State, USA

Abstract Carbonate concretions are concentrated along discrete stratigraphic horizons within Middle and Upper Devonian carbonaceous black and organic-deficient gray shale of western New York State. Textural characteristics preserved throughout studied concretions, including a clay grain microfabric typical of flocculated clay and spherical algal cysts, are consistent with a model entailing the formation of low-density, compaction-resistant calcium carbonate masses at shallow burial depth, within the zone of bacterial sulfate reduction. Burial of nascent concretions to the sulfate methane transition zone (SMTZ) was accompanied by the nearly complete infilling of porosity, the diagenetic consequence of the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Each concretionary horizon, then, defines the position of the SMTZ stabilized during an episode of reduced sedimentation rate. Most analyzed concretions (75%) of the Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation into the Upper Devonian Gowanda Formation display center-to-edge profiles of increasing bulk δ13C; far fewer concretions are characterized by radial profiles of decreasing δ13C. The common radial profiles of increasing δ13C can be attributed to AOM-related kinetic carbon isotope fractionation under diagenetic conditions of limited methane, which favors the production of dissolved inorganic carbon of increasing δ13C. Less common concretions displaying center-to-edge profiles of diminishing δ13C may record the anaerobic oxidation of more strongly 13C-depleted methane produced by carbon dioxide reduction, methanogenesis related to the degradation of organic matter within and near the SMTZ, or AOM back flux, an enzyme-mediated equilibrium isotope effect. These processes are favored by sulfate-limited diagenetic conditions more typical of the lower SMTZ and immediately underlying upper methanogenic zone (MEZ). Contradictory isotope profiles of texturally similar concretions can be accounted for by diagenesis associated with an extended SMTZ (ESMTZ) comprising the methane-limited SMTZ and the underlying sulfate-deficient upper MEZ. Vertical shifts of the diagenetic horizons of the ESMTZ induced by variable methane flux would have juxtaposed concretions displaying seemingly incompatible isotopic histories.
Compressed residual-VGG16 CNN model for big data places image recognition

Deep learning has given way to a new era of machine learning, apart from computer vision. Convolutional neural networks have been implemented in image classification, segmentation and object detection. Despite recent advancements, we are still in the very early stages and have yet to settle on best practices for network architecture in terms of deep design, small in size and a short training time. In this paper, we address the issue of speed and size by proposing a compressed convolutional neural network model namely Residual Squeeze VGG16. Proposed model compresses the earlier very successful VGG16 network and further improves on following aspects: (1) small model size, (2) faster speed, (3) uses residual learning for faster convergence, better generalization, and solves the issue of degradation, (4) matches the recognition accuracy of the non-compressed model on the very large-scale grand challenge MIT Places 365-Standard scene dataset. In comparison to VGG16 the proposed model is 88.4% smaller in size and 23.86% faster in the training time. This supports our claim that the proposed model inherits the best aspects of VGG16 and further improves upon it. In comparison to SqueezeNet our proposed framework can be more easily adapted and fully integrated with the residual learning for compressing various other contemporary deep learning convolutional neural network models Broader impact of our work could improve the performance in specialized tasks such as video-based surveillance, self-driving cars, and mobile GPU applications.
A review of time scale fundamentals in the g-formula and insidious selection bias.

We review recent examples of data analysis with the g-formula, a powerful tool for analyzing longitudinal data and survival analysis. Specifically, we focus on the common choices of time scale and review inferential issues that may arise. Researchers are increasingly engaged with questions that require time scales subject to left truncation and right censoring. The assumptions necessary for allowing right censoring are well defined in the literature, whereas similar assumptions for left truncation are not well defined. Policy and biologic considerations sometimes dictate that observational data must be analyzed on time scales that are subject to left truncation, such as age. Further consideration of left truncation is needed, especially when biologic or policy considerations dictate that age is the relevant time scale of interest. Methodologic development is needed to reduce potential for bias when left truncation may occur.
Legal Briefs: Was This Case of Necrotizing Enterocolitis Preventable?

A 28 1/7 week gestational age male infant with a birthweight of 1,280 g was born to a 23-year- old gravida 3, para 0-0-2-0 woman. The pregnancy was uneventful until the night before delivery when she developed preterm labor. She received 1 dose of betamethasone 8 hours before delivery. She also received 3 doses of penicillin for unknown group B Streptococcus status. Artificial rupture of membranes occurred a few hours before birth and the amniotic fluid was clear. The birth was via normal spontaneous vaginal delivery. The placenta appeared grossly normal, but subsequent pathologic examination showed mild chorioamnionitis. The infant’s Apgar scores were 8 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes of age. The infant was clinically stable and treated with continuous positive airway pressure. The infant had a normal complete blood cell (CBC) count and was started on antibiotics because of preterm labor. The infant also received intravenous fluids at 80 mL/kg per day. On day 1, caffeine was initiated and phototherapy was started because the infant’s bilirubin was 8.1 mg/dL (138.5 μmol/L). At that time, the infant’s weight was down 11% from birthweight. On day 2, a percutaneous intravenous central catheter (PICC) was placed. On day 3, the infant’s weight loss was down 13% from birthweight and his sodium was 151 mEq/L (151 mmol/L) with a blood urea nitrogen of 30 mg/dL (10.7 mmol/L). The infant was started on trophic breast milk feedings of 1.5 mL every 3 hours. With the intravenous fluids being infused at 122 mL/kg per day, the total volume of fluids was 154 mL/kg per day. The infant did not receive probiotics. As the feedings increased, the volume infused diminished. The plaintiff neonatologist thought that the infant should have had his hydration status better managed to prevent dehydration and that it was inappropriate …
Weight control in the athlete.

Levels of fatness associated with elite performance in various sports have been identified. Such fatness levels can serve as guidelines for participants in various sport programs who wish to achieve a desired best competing weight. Steps to be taken to decrease body fat levels are detailed. In addition, modification of body composition by increasing weight through increases in muscle mass becomes important in many sports. A program of muscle weight gain is described.
Efficacy of Novel Commercial Tourniquet Systems in Extremity Hemorrhage Control - An Ultrasound and Generated Force Study

Introduction:Tourniquets (TQ) save lives. Although military-approved TQ are more effective than improvised TQ in controlling exsanguinating extremity hemorrhage, their bulk may preclude every day carry (EDC) by civilian lay-providers.Aim:The purpose of the current study was to compare the efficacy of 3 novel commercial TQ to a military-approved TQ.Methods:A convenience sample of EM residents was utilized. Four different TQ were evaluated: Gen 7 Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT; control), Stretch Wrap and Tuck Tourniquet (SWAT-T), Gen 2 Rapid Application Tourniquet System (RATS), and Tourni-Key (TK). Popliteal artery occlusion was determined using a ZONARE ZS3 ultrasound. Steady-state maximal generated force was measured for 30 seconds with a thin-film force sensor (Singletract). Opinions were solicited at the conclusion of the study.Results:Nine residents participated in the study (7 male, 2 female). Success rates for complete arterial occlusion were 89% CAT, 67% SWAT-T, 89% RATS, and 78% TK (H 0.89, p = 0.83). Mean (± SD) times to achieve occlusion were 10.4 ± 1.7 sec CAT, 23.1 ± 9.0 sec SWAT-T, 11.1 ± 3.8 sec RATS, and 20.0 ± 7.1 sec TK (F 9.71, p < 0.001). Steady-state maximal forces were 29.9 ± 1.2 N CAT, 23.4 ± 0.8 N SWAT-T, 33.0 ± 1.3 N RATS, and 41.9 ± 1.3 N TK. Participants felt that the CAT was easiest to apply (61%), followed by the RATS (33%). Participants were most likely to select the TK (44%) for EDC, followed by the RATS (33%).Discussion:In this small convenience sampling, all novel TQ systems were non-inferior to the military-approved CAT TQ. Mean application times were less than 30 seconds. The size and unique nature of these novel TQs may make them more conducive to lay-provider EDC, thereby improving the response to high threat events.
Express busways and economic development: Case study of the Miami-Dade South Express Busway

Abstract This is the first study reporting the association between economic development and express bus transit (XBT) service. Using shift-share analysis applied to the South Miami-Dade express busway transit system, this study assesses differences in shift-share outcomes over three time periods: before the Great Recession (2004–2007), during the Great Recession and early recovery years (2008–2011), and after the Great Recession (2012–2014). Over the entire study period (2004–2014), total jobs grew within one-half mile of XBT stations. Using shift-share analysis, we find that (a) XBT station areas gained share of jobs relative to the central county (Miami-Dade) before the Great Recession, (b) continued to gain share albeit at a slower pace during the Great Recession, but (c) lost share during the post Great Recession period. Over the entire study period, land-extensive jobs (such as in manufacturing and non-manufacturing industry) lost share as did lower-wage retail-lodging-food service jobs. Jobs in knowledge, office, education and arts-entertainment-recreation economic groups gained share overall. Since the Great Recession, we surmise that XBT stations have shifted firm dynamics mostly by displacing land extensive or lower wage jobs away from station areas. Planning and policy implications are offered.
Beyond Density Functional Theory: The Multiconfigurational Approach To Model Heterogeneous Catalysis

Catalytic processes are crucially important for many practical chemical applications. Heterogeneous catalysts are especially appealing because of their high stability and the relative ease with whi...
UNIT 3.15 Isolation of Lipid Droplets from Cells by Density Gradient Centrifugation

Lipid droplets are organelles found in most mammalian cells, as well as in various plant tissues and yeast. They are composed of a core of neutral lipids surrounded by a membrane monolayer of phospholipids and cholesterol in which specific proteins are embedded. This unit provides protocols for isolating lipid droplets from mammalian cells by discontinuous density gradient centrifugation. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: cell cultures; mammalian; preparation of lipid droplets by centrifugation; density-gradient centrifugation; isolation of lipid droplets
Nonlinear microrheology of active Brownian suspensions

The rheological properties of active suspensions are studied via microrheology: tracking the motion of a colloidal probe particle in order to measure the viscoelastic response of the embedding material. The passive probe particle with size R is pulled through the suspension by an external force Fext, which causes it to translate at some speed Uprobe. The bath is comprised of a Newtonian solvent with viscosity ηs and a dilute dispersion of active Brownian particles (ABPs) with size a, characteristic swim speed U0, and a reorientation time τR. The motion of the probe distorts the suspension microstructure, so the bath exerts a reactive force on the probe. In a passive suspension, the degree of distortion is governed by the Peclet number, Pe = Fext/(kBT/a), the ratio of the external force to the thermodynamic restoring force of the suspension. In active suspensions, however, the relevant parameter is Ladv/ = UprobeτR/U0τR ∼ Fext/Fswim, where Fswim = ζU0 is the swim force that propels the ABPs (ζ is the Stokes drag on a swimmer). When the external forces are weak, Ladv ≪ , the autonomous motion of the bath particles leads to “swim-thinning,” though the effective suspension viscosity is always greater than ηs. When advection dominates, Ladv ≫ , we recover the familiar behavior of the microrheology of passive suspensions. The non-Newtonian behavior for intermediate values of Ladv/ is determined by /Rc = U0τR/Rc—the ratio of the swimmer's run length to the geometric length scale associated with interparticle interactions Rc = R + a. The results in this manuscript are approximate as they are based on numerical solutions to mean-field equations that describe the motion of the active bath particles.
Advanced stage primary mucinous ovarian carcinoma. Where do we stand

To evaluate factors associated with survival of patients with advanced stage mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) using a large multi-institutional database. Patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2014 with advanced stage (III–IV) MOC were identified within the National Cancer Database. Those without a personal history of another primary tumor who received cancer-directed surgery with a curative intent were selected for further analysis. Overall survival (OS) was evaluated with Kaplan–Meier curves, and compared with the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of survival. A total of 1509 patients with a median age of 59 years (IQR 20) met the inclusion criteria: stage III (n = 1045, 69.3%) and stage IV disease (n = 464, 30.7%). Patients who received chemotherapy (n = 1065, 70.6%) had better OS compared to those who did not (n = 385, 25.5%), (median OS 15.44 vs 5.06 months, p < 0.001). The type of reporting facility (p = 0.65) and the year of diagnosis (p = 0.27) were not associated with OS. Presence of residual disease was strongly associated with OS (p < 0.001). After controlling for confounders, the administration of chemotherapy (HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.55, 0.72) was associated with better survival. Advanced stage MOC has an extremely poor prognosis. Patients who received chemotherapy had a small improvement in survival. Every effort to achieve complete gross resection should be performed. Given no improvement in survival outcomes over time, there is an eminent need for novel treatment options.
The role of miRNA-155 in the immunopathogenesis of obliterative airway disease in mice induced by circulating exosomes from human lung transplant recipients with chronic lung allograft dysfunction

Human lung transplant recipients undergoing rejection induce circulatory exosomes with lung self-antigens (SAgs), K-alpha 1 Tubulin and Collagen V, and immunization of C57BL/6 mice with exosomes induced obliterative airway disease (HEI-OAD). We analyzed whether exosomes with SAgs induced immunity in microRNA-155 knockout mice (miR-155KO), as microRNA-155 is an immune regulator. C57BL/6 and miR-155KO were immunized with exosomes from stable or chronic rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and on day 30, induction of exosomes, antibodies (Abs) to SAgs and cellular immunity were determined. C57BL/6 immunized with exosomes from BOS developed OAD. These immunized animals also developed Abs to SAgs and increased frequency of SAg-specific IFNγ and IL17- producing cells. In contrast, Abs to SAgs did not develop in miR-155KO and there was reduction in frequency of cells producing IL10. Upregulation of suppressor of cytokine signaling for lung inflammation was also noted resulting in abrogation of induction of exosomes with SAgs OAD.
Embedding Activism in a STEM EdD Program

This article shares an example of how one STEM EdD program embeds activism throughout their program. The authors share examples of readings and assignments across the program geared towards helping students think about and enact activism within the STEM disciplines. The STEM EdD mission offers insight into the foundations of the program. Then, specific examples from the following courses or course sequences are given: Action Research, Project-Based Learning, Research Methods in STEM Education, Advanced Readings in Mathematics Education, and Principles of Engineering in STEM Education. A conclusion offers some final thoughts about the ongoing development of the STEM EdD program to help our students grow as graduates who focus on equity and diversity in STEM education.
A Tale of Two Outcomes: Understanding and Countering Extremist Narratives

This chapter considers conceptualizations of extremism; discuss a variety of processes that can lead to extreme beliefs and extremist actions; explains how extreme beliefs and behaviors are often embedded within narratives that are grounded in strong motives and amplified by particular intense emotions (using narratives employed by Donald Trump as an example); and concludes by offering suggestions for countering extremist views.
Toward Near-Real-Time Training With Semi-Random Deep Neural Networks and Tensor-Train Decomposition

In recent years, deep neural networks have shown to achieve state-of-the-art performance on several classification and prediction tasks. However, these networks demand undesirable lengthy training times coupled with high computational resources (memory, I/O, processing time). In this work, we explore semi-random deep neural networks to achieve near real-time training and less computational resource usage. Although many works enhance the underlying hardware for real-time training, this work focuses on algorithmic optimization. It is shown that random projection networks with additional skipped connectivity and randomly weighted layers can boost the overall network performance while enabling for real-time training. Additionally, a tensor-train decomposition technique is leveraged to further reduce the model complexity of these networks. Our investigation accomplishes the following: 1) Tensor-train decomposition decreases the complexity of random projection networks, 2) compression of the fully connected hidden layer leads to a minimum $\sim40\times$ decrease in memory size, and 3) training under random projection networks can be achieved in near-real time.
Reconceptualization of Intra-Team Trust: Shared Origins of Trust Perceptions Within a Team

This paper argues that current conceptualization of team trust seems deficient due to the questionable assumptions of the construct. Unlike the assumptions underlying the team trust construct, trus...
Mobile shopping intensity: Consumer demographics and motivations

Abstract Purpose To investigate how consumer demographics and motivations may influence their mobile shopping intensity. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was developed to collect data using SurveyMonkey's online shopper panel. The final sample consisted of 937 mobile shoppers. Linear regression analysis was performed to test the hypotheses. Findings Consumers' education and income levels significantly increase their number of mobile purchases, their frequency of purchases, and the amount of money spent on mobile purchases. Males have been found to spend more on mobile shopping than females, while younger people made more mobile purchases than older people. This study also identifies six types of motivations that drive consumers’ mobile shopping intensity, including convenience seeking, bargain hunting, enjoyment seeking, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and innovativeness. Research limitations/implications Future research may examine additional motivational measures and situational factors and conduct cross-cultural studies. Practical implications Findings from this study can help businesses develop their mobile shopping strategies. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate how consumer demographics and motivations may influence their mobile shopping intensity.
Increased RNA Polymerase Activity and Pausing at CTCF binding sites on the Epstein Barr Virus Genome During Reactivation from Latency

The ability of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) to switch between latent and lytic infection is key to its long-term persistence, yet the molecular mechanisms behind this switch remain unclear. To investigate transcriptional events during the latent to lytic switch we utilized Precision nuclear Run On followed by deep Sequencing (PRO-Seq) to map cellular RNA polymerase (Pol) activity to single-nucleotide resolution on the host and EBV genome in latently infected Mutu-I cells at 1, 4 and 12 h post-reactivation. During latency, Pol activity was primarily limited to the EBNA1 transcript initiating at the Qp promoter, the EBER and RPMS1/BART regions and the BHLF1 transcript. Unexpectedly at early time-points post-reactivation, the EBV transcripts with the largest increase in Pol activity were LMP-2A, EBER-1 and RPMS1. Closer analysis of the PRO-Seq data at these regions revealed a distinct pattern of high Pol activity with bidirectional transcription and strong peaks indicative of Pol pausing. Alignment to ChIP-Seq data revealed a strong correlation with CTCF binding sites on the EBV genome. In addition, alignment to ATAC-Seq data indicated that many of these transcription regulatory regions were sites of accessible chromatin. Similar features were observed in Akata cells activated from latency with anti-IgG. Overall, these data suggest that during reactivation, EBV recruits RNA polymerase to CTCF binding sites where it transcribes short distances and pauses. These activities likely help open chromatin on the viral genome to initiate productive replication.
Comment on André Icard: Monetary Policy and Exchange Rates: The French Experience

My comment on Mr. Icard’s paper will address broad issues about the conduct of French monetary policy and about exchange rate stability. I will sharply question several of the main themes emphasized in the paper.
Learning to distinguish between representations of data: a cognitive tutor that uses contrasting cases

Students often fail to learn crucial distinctions between different representations of data. For instance, many students learning about scatterplots consistently create representations which have the surface features of scatterplots but with informational content more appropriate for discrete bar graphs. Schwartz and Bransford (1998) have found that combining feature-based conceptual instruction with contrasting cases is an effective way to help students make conceptual distinctions. We adapt their approach to the domain of data representation and incorporate it into a cognitive tutoring curriculum. We show that this new curriculum improves learning more than a curriculum where the contrasts are not present.
Executing jobs with deadline constraints in a privately owned workstation environment

A system that considers users' deadlines when scheduling background jobs is described which will enhance the quality of the computing environments it serves by exploiting underutilized workstation capacity without interfering with an owner's local workstation stage. By developing and evaluating a simulation model of the structure, the author shows that this scheduler can effectively schedule jobs according to their deadline constraints to improve the quality of service for the users. In the proposed approach, adaptive techniques for estimating the amount of capacity available for sharing in a workstation cluster are combined with user supplied information of the expected demand of their jobs. The improvement in deadline miss ratio due to the proposed structure was evaluated by means of simulation. The scheduling structure showed improvements over a wide range of user loads and tightness of deadlines. >
Abstract 2597: Direct inhibition of oncogenic KRAS by hydrocarbon-stapled SOS1 helices

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Activating mutations in KRAS represent the most frequent oncogenic driving force among the RAS homologs K-, N- and H-RAS, and are associated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance. KRAS mutations are present in approximately 30% of tumors, and at even higher frequencies in cancers of the pancreas, lung, thyroid gland, colon, and liver. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), which carries a 5-year survival rate of less than 5%, activating KRAS mutations are present in over 90% of tumors. Moreover, these mutations have been causally linked to the initiation and progression of PDAC. Despite the mechanistic insights into KRAS-mediated oncogenesis, development of high affinity targeted inhibitors remains a formidable challenge. Here, we report the synthesis and application of hydrocarbon-stapled peptides as prototype therapeutics for blocking wild type and mutant KRAS in vitro and in cancer cells. Stabilized Alpha-Helices of SOS1 (SAH-SOS1) were generated by inserting hydrocarbon staples into SOS1 peptide sequence to recapitulate the alpha-helical structure of the native KRAS-interaction domain. SAH-SOS1 peptides, but not negative control analogs, bound to a variety of KRAS constructs with nanomolar affinity, inhibiting nucleotide exchange. This sequence-specific biochemical activity correlated with impairment of KRAS-driven cancer cell viability and signal transduction. These studies provide proof-of-concept for the utility of SAH-SOS1 peptides in dissecting and targeting the oncogenic KRAS pathway in human cancer. Citation Format: Elizaveta Leshchiner, Joseph Bellairs, Gregory H. Bird, Kwadwo Opoku-Nsiah, Marina Godes, Lored D. Walensky. Direct inhibition of oncogenic KRAS by hydrocarbon-stapled SOS1 helices. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2597. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2597
Activation requirements for antigen- and mitogen-induced interferon-γ release from cytotoxic T lymphocytes

We have studied the activation signals that regulate interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion from murine cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) upon binding mitogen or antigen. CTL clones were found to require at least 1 hr of stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A) in order to produce detectable levels of IFN-gamma. Full activation of IFN-gamma synthesis in CTL clones occurred after stimulation for 2 hr or more, and in those cultures CTL continued to produce high levels of IFN-gamma even after the effects of Con A had been neutralized. Splenic T cells and uncloned long-term CTL lines required a longer period of stimulation than cloned CTL for Con A-induced IFN-gamma secretion. The relationship between IFN-gamma secretion and cytotoxic activity was studied in an antigen-specific system. These studies reveal marked differences in the types of effector responses generated by CTL upon contact with antigen, demonstrating that some antigen-bearing cells promote high levels of IFN-gamma secretion and are poorly lysed by CTL, whereas other cell lines are lysed with high efficiency by CTL but induce low levels of IFN-gamma secretion.
Extending limits of resection for metastatic colorectal cancer: risk benefit ratio

Improvements in treatment strategies and a better knowledge of tumor biology have contributed to an increase in the number of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM) who are candidate for surgery. These progresses are on going and the introduction of effective systemic therapy agents contributes further to the increase in the resectability of patients with advanced CLM.
Turbo decoding of hidden Markov sources with unknown parameters

We describe techniques for joint source-channel coding of hidden Markov sources using a modified turbo decoding algorithm. This avoids the need to perform any explicit source coding prior to transmission, and instead allows the decoder to utilize the a priori structure due to the hidden Markov source. In addition, we present methods that allow the decoder to estimate the parameters of the Markov model. In combination, these techniques allow the decoder to identify, estimate, and exploit the source structure. The estimation does not degrade the performance of the system, i.e. the joint estimation/decoding allows convergence at the same noise levels as a system in which the decoder has perfect a priori knowledge of the source parameters.
The New Retiree Health VEBAs

This article examines the recent trend of transferring employer retiree health care liabilities to VEBAs. After providing a brief history of retiree health benefits and an overview of the basic tax rules governing VEBAs, the article explains the difference between traditional VEBAs and the new retiree health VEBAs. The article then discusses the advantages and limitations of the new VEBAs. The article concludes that the new VEBAs may be an appropriate vehicle for pre-funding retiree health benefits for some employers, particularly financially distressed employers with significant retiree health liabilities and large union forces, but they are not a panacea for the country's health care financing woes.
Nitrogenase IX. Effect of the MgATP generator on the catalytic and EPR properties of the enzyme in vitro.

Abstract Nitrogenase (nitrogen:(acceptor) oxidoreduction, EC 1.7.99.2)of Clostridium pasteuranium is very sensitive to the ratio of MgADP/MgATP in dithionite oxidation assays. Variation of concentration of creatine kinase, an ATP-regenerating enzyme, can be used to control the ratio of ADP/ATP and thereby the dithionite oxidation activity of nitrogenase. The in vitro properties of nitrogenase support the suggestion of Haaker (Haaker, H., deKok, A. and Veeger, C. (1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 357, 344–357) that in vivo the nucleotide ratio and not the electron supply normally regulates nitrogenase activity. In EPR experiments it has been shown that the “steady state” varies as a function of the concentration of creatine kinase. The spectral differences are interpreted as being a function of the ratio of MgADP/MgATP obtained in the pseudo steady-state condition, which occurs as a result of variation in relative rates of ATP-utilizing and ATP-generating reactions, that is, the relative nitrogenase and creatine kinase activities. Implications of these finding for interpretation of previously reported kinetic and EPR studies are discussed.
The combined effectiveness of unimodular transformations, tiling, and software prefetching

Unimodular transformations, tiling, and software prefetching are loop optimizations known to be effective in increasing parallelism, reducing cache miss rates, and eliminating processor stall time. Although these optimizations individually are quite effective, there is the expectation that even better improvements can be obtained by combining them together. In this paper we show that indeed this is the case when unimodular transformations are combined with either tiling or software prefetching. However, our results also show that although combining tiling with prefetching tends to improve the performance of tiling alone, it is also the case that in some situations tiling can degrade the cache performance of software prefetching. The reasons for this unexpected behavior are three fold: 1) tiling introduces interference misses inside the localized space which are difficult to characterize with current techniques based on locality analysis; 2) prefetch predicates are computed using only estimates on the amount of capacity misses, so the latency induced by cache interference is not completely covered; and 3) tiling limits the maximum amount of latency that can be masked with prefetching.
Using Conditional Random Fields for Decision-Theoretic Planning

We propose a means of extending Conditional Random Field modeling to decision-theoretic planning where valuation is dependent upon fully-observable factors. Representation is discussed, and a comparison with existing decision problem methodologies is presented. Included are exact and inexact message passing schemes for policy making, examples of decision making in practice, extensions to solving general decision problems, and suggestions for future use.
Worksite Health Promotion Programs: The Effect of the Social and Physical Environment

Introduction: Worksite health promotion programs (HPPs) are effective in providing health benefits to participating employees. However, participation rates are traditionally low. Therefore, health promotion professionals implement a variety of strategies to encourage participation, which may include attending to the physical and social environment. However, little is known about how the physical and social environment influences participation in HPPs and physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine if the physical and social environment of the workplace is associated with participation in HPPs and physical activity. Methods: The Environmental Assessment Tool (EAT) was administered at four university campuses, and university employees were sent an electronic survey that inquired about program and physical activity participation. Participation in a HPP was analyzed using a chi-square test for independence.