cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tono-Pen XL calibration curves for cats, cows and sheep

The objective of this study was to provide calibration curves for correcting intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained using the Tono-Pen XL tonometer in cats, cows and sheep. Twelve eyes from 9 cats, 13 eyes from 7 cows, 10 eyes from 5 sheep were used. The anterior chamber of the eye was cannulated in vivo, in situ (immediately post mortem) or ex vivo with a fine needle and IOP was varied from 10 to 90 mmHg in steps of 10 mmHg by adjusting the height of a saline reservoir connected to the needle. For each pressure setting, several readings of IOP were made using the tonometer. The relationship between Tono-Pen reading and manometer setting was linear over the full range of measurement. However, the slope of the data regression line deviated significantly from 1 and indicated that the instrument systematically underestimated IOP. For cats the average slope was 0.62 and for cows and sheep it was 0.72 and 0.69, respectively. For the latter animals, the regression line also had a nonzero intercept of approximately 4.5 mmHg. Similar results were obtained from in vivo and ex vivo eyes and with different Tono-Pen XL tonometers. Although developed for use on humans, the Tono-Pen XL can provide reproducible and accurate measurement of IOP in cats, cows and sheep when suitably calibrated by manometry. The calibration curves provided here, and by implication those reported for other animals using this tonometer, differ in slope from those measured with earlier models of the Tono-Pen. The reproducibility of the curves we obtained implies that they can be used to correct IOP readings from the Tono-Pen XL when manometry is not possible.
On the origin of convention: evidence from symmetric bargaining games

We use a dynamical systems approach to model the origin of bargaining conventions and report the results of a symmetric bargaining game experiment. Our experiment also provides evidence on the psychological salience of symmetry and efficiency. The observed behavior in the experiment was systematic, replicable, and roughly consistent with the dynamical systems approach. For instance, we do observe unequal-division conventions emerging in communities of symmetrically endowed subjects.
Cross-sectional and Prospective Relationships of Interleukin-6 and C-Reactive Protein With Physical Performance in Elderly Persons MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging

Although IL-6 has been shown to predict onset of disability in older persons and both IL-6 and CRP are associated with motality risk, these markers of inflammation have only limited associations with physical performance, except for walking measures and grip strength at baseline, and do not predict change in performance 7 years later in a high-functioning subset of older adults.
Shaping synergistic pinching patterns with feedback distortion in a virtual rehabilitation environment

Individuals with chronic disabilities often use compensatory coordination patterns learned during the recovery phase, even after their individual muscular control returns. Although these compensatory movements limit their ability to complete tasks, these individuals are not able to relearn the correct synergistic coordination patterns because doing so would temporarily compromise task performance. Following our previous work using feedback distortion in a virtual rehabilitation environment to increase the strength and range of motion of disabled individuals, we address the use of this same feedback distortion environment to alter movement coordination patterns. In this paper, we present the methodology and preliminary results showing that (1) able-bodied individuals could be trained to use a different coordination pattern to produce pinching movements, and (2) feedback distortion can alter movements for individual fingers separately during a coordinated movement. These results indicate that our distorted virtual environment may be a powerful rehabilitation tool to convert compensatory movements into movements that utilize all muscles in the normal synergistic patterns.
Free radical polymerization models for simulating reactive processing

The generally accepted kinetic mechanism for free radical copolymerization was simplified by various assumptions and restrictions to give several realistic and easily evaluated models for the simulation of industrial molding. Six assumptions, including conversion-dependent rate coefficients and constant comonomer concentration ratios, were used to obtain a simplified model. Special cases of this simplified model were obtained by the following additional constraints: (1) Restriction C, consecutive inhibition and radical generation reactions; (2) Restriction I, constant initiator decomposition rate; (3) Restriction Z, zero termination rate for free radicals; and (4) Restriction K or P, all rate coefficients independent of conversion or only polymerization rate coefficient dependent on conversion. For various combinations of these restrictions, the time and concentration variables in the simplified model are separated and solved; the separate solutions are then combined in various ways to give models capable of predicting a wide variety of behavior. Many of these models have analytical solutions that greatly facilitate the evaluation of rate constants. Models based on restrictions KCI, PCI, and PCZ are shown to give good agreement with isothermal DSC data plotted as reaction rate versus time and, in a more sensitive test, as reaction rate divided by monomer concentration versus fractional conversion. Because of their predictive ability and ease of evaluating constants. Models PCI and PCZ are recommended for simulating industrial processing; they are particularly well suited for simulating compression molding of sheet molding compound.
The Varied Dimensions of Law, Policy, and Treatment of Convicted Sex Offenders: A Review and Synthesis of Three Titles

A seemingly endless struggle continues to exist over policy prescriptions for convicted sex offenders. The oversimplified answer is to enact more punitive measures, however futile they may be, to a...
Energetics of Entropic Step Doubling on W(430)

We present LEED evidence from W(430) showing a phase transition from single-height steps to double-height steps occuring at 940 K. The transition is thought to be driven by the formation of kinks on double steps that are energetically lower compared to kinks on single-height steps. The doubling transition can be predicted in terms of a simple free energy model including step-step interactions.
Numerical study of adverse pressure gradient generation over a flat plate using a rotating cylinder

Abstract Generating an adverse pressure gradient (APG), using a rotating cylinder in the proximity of a plane wall under a laminar freestream flow, is studied numerically in this work. The magnitude of the generated APG is a function of the gap, G, between the cylinder and the wall, and the rotational speed of the cylinder, Ω. The flow in such a configuration is characterized by periodic transient vortex shedding at high Reynolds number. A numerical model for the computation of the transient flow for this configuration is developed using the ANSYS CFD simulation tool. The model is validated against published experimental and numerical data for similar flow configurations and excellent agreement is observed. A parametric study is carried out for different combinations of G and Ω for two different Reynolds numbers of 200 and 1000 to examine the development of the resulting separation bubble due to the generated APG. The mechanism of the boundary layer separation over the plane wall and the corresponding wake dynamics is investigated. Results are presented in terms of the distribution of the pressure coefficient as well as skin friction coefficient along the wall and flow patterns around and downstream of the cylinder in the proximity of the wall. The results of these computations confirm that using a rotating cylinder over a plane wall in a freestream flow is an effective technique to generate a controlled range of adverse pressure gradients.
The pore structure of papers wet stiffened by formaldehyde crosslinking

Abstract Kraft paper was crosslinked with formaldehyde by liquid- and gas-phase methods. The water sorption isotherms, fiber saturation points, and acetal contents were determined. From these data it was concluded that (i) crosslink effectiveness was related to the relative vapor pressure of water during the crosslinking reaction, (ii) the dimensional stabilization per crosslink decreased with increasing reaction times, and (iii) strong alkaline swelling agents could penetrate all portions of the crosslinked papers.
Capillary wave confinement-induced stabilization of polymer films.

We show that temporary confinement of polystyrene thin films by an elastomeric capping layer possessing nanoimprinted subcapillary wavelength (λ ≪ λcap (20 μm)) line channels (amplitude A ≈ 120 nm)...
A study of metalized electrode self-clearing in electroactive polymer (EAP) based actuators

Electroactive polymer (EAP) based technologies have shown promise in areas such as artificial muscles, actuator, aerospace, medical and soft robotics. Still challenges remain such as low induced forces and defects-driven electrical breakdown, which impede the practical implementation of this technology. Multilayered or stacked configuration can address the low induced force issue whereas self-clearing can be a technique to improve breakdown limit of EAP based actuators. Self-clearing refers to the partial local breakdown of dielectric medium due to the presence of impurities, which in turn results in the evaporation of some of the metalized electrode. After this evaporation, the impurity is cleared and any current path would be safely cut off, which means the actuator continues to perform. It is a widely studied concept in the capacitor community, while it has not been studied much for EAP technologies. In this paper we report a systematic approach to precondition a silver-metalized electroactive polymer (EAP), more specifically P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE) terpolymer, using self-clearing concept. First, we show improvement in the dielectric breakdown strength of EAP based unimorph actuators after pre-clearing the impurities using low electric field (lower than dielectric breakdown of the terpolymer). Inspired by this improvement, we used Weibull statistics to systematically estimate the self-clearing/ preconditioning field needed to clear the defects. Then electrical breakdown experiments are conducted with and without preconditioning the samples to investigate its effect on the breakdown strength of the sample.
Strategies to reduce neuraxial analgesia failure during labour

Abstract Labour neuraxial analgesia failure may lead to inadequate pain relief and patient dissatisfaction. This may occur due to difficulty in epidural placement during the initiation of, or during the maintenance of epidural analgesia. In this review, we investigate the risk factors associated with labour neuraxial analgesia failure and present the recent evidence to improve epidural space identification. Demographic and anaesthetic factors that may increase breakthrough pain are discussed. We also examine the effect of different regimens of local anaesthetic agents and analgesic adjuvants on the quality of analgesia. The use of patient controlled epidural analgesia and novel epidural delivery systems such as the role of intermittent epidural automated boluses are explored.
Surgical and Radiologic Intervention for Prevention of Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, down from its previously third ranking place [1]. Approximately 88 % of all strokes are ischemic, 9 % are intracerebral hemorrhages, and 3 % are subarachnoid hemorrhages [2]. The etiology of ischemic strokes can be broadly categorized into several subtypes as cardioembolic, extracranial atherosclerotic, intracranial atherosclerotic, lacunar, traumatic (e.g., dissections), inflammatory (e.g., moyamoya, vasculitis), and cryptogenic. A population-based study of incidence (per 100,000 population) for ischemic stroke subtype identified 40 cardioembolic, 27 intracranial and extracranial atherosclerosis, 25 lacunar, 4 other or uncommon cause (i.e., traumatic, inflammatory), and 52 cryptogenic [3]. This chapter focuses on thromboembolic strokes that develop from extracranial carotid atherosclerosis, identifies the preferred tools useful in the process of diagnosis and surgical or endovascular planning, and discusses particular indications for each treatment.
Light-driven carbon dioxide reduction to methane by nitrogenase in a photosynthetic bacterium

Nitrogenase is an ATP-requiring enzyme capable of carrying out multielectron reductions of inert molecules. A purified remodeled nitrogenase containing two amino acid substitutions near the site of its FeMo cofactor was recently described as having the capacity to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4). Here, we developed the anoxygenic phototroph, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, as a biocatalyst capable of light-driven CO2 reduction to CH4 in vivo using this remodeled nitrogenase. Conversion of CO2 to CH4 by R. palustris required constitutive expression of nitrogenase, which was achieved by using a variant of the transcription factor NifA that is able to activate expression of nitrogenase under all growth conditions. Also, light was required for generation of ATP by cyclic photophosphorylation. CH4 production by R. palustris could be controlled by manipulating the distribution of electrons and energy available to nitrogenase. This work shows the feasibility of using microbes to generate hydrocarbons from CO2 in one enzymatic step using light energy.
PR1 Vaccine Elicited Immunological Response after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Is Associated with Better Clinical Response and Event-Free Survival.

Abstract Background: PR1 peptide has been established as a human myeloid leukemia-associated antigen. We studied PR1 peptide vaccine in a phase I/II clinical trial in HLA-A2 + patients with AML, MDS and CML. To address whether prior HSCT or prior use immunosuppressive drugs would prevent PR1-induce cytotoxic T lymphocyte (PR1-CTL) immunity after vaccination with PR1 peptide vaccine, we studied the outcome in 20 patients with a prior HSCT, who were treated on the PR1 vaccine trial. Methods: Twenty patients (13 with AML or MDS, 7 with CML) were vaccinated at a median time of 9.5 months (range: 1–220) after HSCT. Sixteen patients had received a prior allogeneic HSCT (12 had allogeneic related, 3 had allogeneic unrelated, and 1 had syngeneic) and 4 patients had a prior autologous HSCT. At the time of vaccination, 5 patients were in CR, and 15 had measurable disease. Patients could not receive systemic immunosuppressive therapy for at least 4 weeks prior to vaccination, and had to be free of acute or chronic GVHD requiring systemic therapy. The vaccine was given subcutaneously every 3 weeks for a total of 3 injections at one of three dose levels: 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg. GM-CSF at a dose of 75 mg was injected subcutaneously into the same site. Immune response to the vaccine (IRV) was defined as > 2-fold increase in PR1-CTL by PR1/HLA-A2 tetramer assay. Results: After a median follow up of 56.5 months (range: 27–89), toxicity was limited to grade I/II injection site reactions in 7 (35%) patients. IRV were observed in 11/20 (55%) patients. Nine of 11 (82%) IRV+ patients versus 1 of 9 (11%) IRV- patients had clinical responses (p = .005). Median event-free survival (EFS) was 23.8 months in IRV+ patients versus 1.9 months in IRV- patients (p=0.03). Median overall survival (OS) in IRV+ patients has not yet been reached vs. 40 months in IRV- patients (p = 0.08). Only 2 patients with pre-existing, limited chronic GVHD experienced a mild exacerbation within 3 months of vaccination, which was controlled with topical steroids. PR1-CTL were enriched in central memory phenotype (TCM) that persisted up to 4 years in clinical responders. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses showed a low pre-vaccine bone marrow blast count ( Conclusion: PR1 vaccine produced PR1-CTL in 11/20 (55%) patients after HSCT. IRV was associated with significantly better clinical response and longer EFS. Download : Download high-res image (64KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure
Efficient electroluminescence from III/V quantum-well-in-nanopillar light emitting diodes directly grown on silicon

We have grown and fabricated InGaAs active region, InP clad nanopillar diodes at deterministic positions on silicon using selective area epitaxy. Room temperature radiative dominant electroluminescence at 1460 nm wavelength is reported from these devices.
Climate Changes Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity

Climatic changes have affected and will continue to affect human health, water supply, agriculture, transportation, energy, coastal areas, and many other sectors of society, with increasingly adverse impacts on the Nile Basin Riparian economy and quality of life.
A Resident’s Perspective of Ovarian Cancer

Identifying, understanding, and curing disease is a lifelong endeavor for any medical practitioner. Equally as important is to be cognizant of the impact a disease has on the individual suffering from it, as well as on their family. Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies. Symptoms are vague, and the disease is generally at an advanced stage at diagnosis. Efforts have been made to develop methods to identify ovarian cancer at earlier stages, thus improving overall mortality. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS), with and without laboratory tests, can be used to screen for ovarian cancer. For over thirty years, the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center Ovarian Cancer Screening Program has been studying the efficacy of TVUS for detecting early stage ovarian cancer. After 285,000+ TVUS examinations provided to over 45,000 women, the program has demonstrated that regular TVUS examinations can detect ovarian cancer at early stages, and that survival is increased in those women whose ovarian cancer was detected with screening and who undergo standard treatment. These results demonstrate the utility of TVUS as an efficacious method of ovarian cancer screening.
Potential Applicability of Impact Echo Method on Pavement Base Materials as a Nondestructive Testing Technique

The use of both recycled asphalt pavement and recycled concrete aggregates is increasing considerably in pavement construction. These materials are relatively weak and have to be stabilized with cement or other stabilizers. However, because of product variability and lack of strength and stiffness, their applicability has to be evaluated extensively. Traditionally practiced methods of evaluation might be unreasonable in terms of time, cost, reliability, and applicability. Rapid nondestructive methods, such as the spectral analysis of surface wave, impact echo, pulse velocity, and so forth, have the potential to be inexpensive and less time-consuming, as well as offering low variability of the test results. The objective of the study was to assess the potential applicability of the impact echo method in evaluating recycled pavement base materials. Six combinations (0%–100%, 10%–90%, 30%–70%, 50%–50%, 70%–30%, and 100%–0%) of recycled asphalt pavement and recycled concrete aggregates, respectively, treated ...
Getting Connected: Speech and Language Pathologists’ Perceptions of Building Rapport via Telepractice

Building rapport with families (parents and children) is recognized as an important feature of effective intervention. In telepractice service delivery, activities and practices that shape speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) rapport with children and families can take different forms of engagement and interaction. Identifying which SLP practices facilitate the establishment and nurturing of rapport is important and may provide keys to successful service delivery via telepractice. In this article, we present results from a qualitative study exploring SLPs’ perceptions of building rapport with the children and families they serve via telepractice and the strategies they use to establish and maintain rapport with them.
Role of Notch-1 in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-induced erlotinib resistance of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells.

e22136 Background: Primary and secondary resistance in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) such as erlotinib is a major lim...
600.67 Changes in Left Ventricular Mass, Volume, and Function After Successful Alcohol Septal Ablation (ASA) in Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM)

Alcohol septal ablation (ASA) produces a targeted infarction of the septum, thereby relieving the outflow obstruction in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). There are several changes in the left ventricle with the relief of outflow obstruction. We sought to determine the medium-term
Heart Transplantation Survival and the Use of Traumatically Brain-Injured Donors

Purpose The transplantation of hearts from traumatically brain-injured (TBI) donors has been associated with inferior long-term survival. The purpose of this study was to explore the outcomes of heart transplantation using TBI donors in a large national registry. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of the OPTN/UNOS registry encompassing years 1987 to 2018 for adult candidates (>18 years) waitlisted for isolated heart transplantation. Recipients were stratified into two groups, TBI and non-TBI donors. Propensity score matching was performed across key baseline demographic variables and a 1:1 match was done. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate survival post-transplant. Cox Proportional Hazards modeling was performed to identify independent predictors of survival. Results A total of 58,474 candidates met inclusion criteria. TBI was the leading cause of death in the donor population. Non-TBI donors (N=27,483) were more likely female (41.6% vs 18.8%, p Conclusion In the largest analysis of heart transplants and their survival according to the type of donor injury: TBI vs non-TBI, we found similar survival in heart transplant recipients. These findings should relieve concerns regarding using this unique donor population in heart transplantation.
I'm Not Dead Yet!: The Role of the Operating System in a Kernel-Bypass Era

Researchers have long predicted the demise of the operating system [21, 26, 41]. As datacenter servers increasingly incorporate I/O devices that let applications bypass the OS kernel (e.g., RDMA [12] and DPDK [15] network devices or SPDK storage devices), this prediction may finally come true. While kernel-bypass devices do eliminate the OS kernel from the I/O path, they do not handle the kernel's most important job: offering higher-level abstractions. This paper argues for a new high-level, device-agnostic I/O abstraction for kernel-bypass devices. We propose the Demikernel, a new library OS architecture for kernel-bypass devices. It defines a high-level, kernel-bypass I/O abstraction and provides user-space library OSes to implement that abstraction across a range of kernel-bypass devices. The Demikernel makes applications easier to build, portable across devices, and unmodified as devices continue to evolve.
A strategy for stabilizing the catalyst Co4O4 in a metal-organic framework.

Artificial photosynthesis provides a basis for storing solar energy in chemical bonds (1, 2), with water oxidation a critical step (3, 4). The half reaction for the oxidation of water, 2H2O → O2 + 4e− + 4H+, provides protons and electrons for the production of a fuel at a cathode (4, 5). In carrying out the reaction, it is necessary to develop highly stable molecular catalysts that cycle through multiple oxidation states during water oxidation cycles. Better mechanistic understanding of water oxidation is an important element in the correlation of structure and function in the design of high efficiency catalysts for long-term water oxidation. Since the first molecular water oxidation catalyst, the “blue dimer,” described (6), many examples, based largely on complexes of Ru and Ir, have appeared that demonstrate catalytic water oxidation, including mechanistic details about how the reactions occur (7, 8). Recently, catalysts based on earth-abundant elements like Fe or Co have also been prepared with the thought of scale-up at the device level in artificial photosynthetic schemes (9⇓–11). A structure of interest has been the Co4O4 cluster, with a structure related to the reaction center in natural photosynthesis, the latter based on the Mn … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: tjmeyer{at}unc.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Masculinity ideology and racism as indicators of obesity risk among Black men.

Abstract Background Racial inequities in health continue to persist and one major controllable and preventable risk factor is obesity. This study examined whether psychosocial factors such as masculinity ideology and frequency of experiences with racism may be significantly associated with Black men's obesity risk. Method Participants were 125 Black men aged 20–39 years old (M = 23.0, SD = 3.43). They completed surveys to measure masculinity ideology and experiences with racism. In addition, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio and systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings were collected. Results showed low negative correlations between experiences with racism and masculinity ideology. Results Results showed significant correlations between experiences with racism and masculinity ideology. There were significant interaction effects between masculinity ideology and experiences with racism for body mass index scores, waist-to-hip ratio and blood pressure. Conclusion Findings indicated that experiences with racism and masculinity ideology interact to impact obesity risk and prevention.
A toggle MRAM bit modeled in Verilog-A

A physically-based behavioral model for a toggle mode magnetic random access memory (MRAM) cell, developed in Verilog-A, is presented. The model describes the magnetic behavior of two single-domain, magnetic free-layers coupled through exchange and magnetostatic interactions. The model also includes spin-dynamic effects. The external interface to the model is electrical in nature, consisting of input currents on the word and bit lines and an output in the form of a magnetoresistance based on the orientation of one of the free layers. The model faithfully reproduces toggling of the magnetic state (reversal of magnetization directions of the two layers through an intermediate spin-flop state) in response to the conventional box-field stimulus. The model will facilitate the design and analysis of complex spintronic or hybrid spintronic-electronic circuits in a simulation environment that is familiar to most circuit designers.
Subscapularis integrity, function and EMG/nerve conduction study findings following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.

Background During reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, the functionality of the subscapularis remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the integrity and function of the repaired subscapularis after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty using ultrasound, electromyography (EMG), and nerve conduction studies (NCS) to assess postoperative tendon healing, muscle, and nerve function. Materials and methods Patients who underwent reverse total shoulder arthroplasty and repair with minimum 6-month follow-up were included in the study. Patient-reported outcome, physical examination, ultrasound examination of the subscapularis tendon, subscapularis EMG, and lower subscapular NCS were performed. In addition, contralateral subscapularis ultrasound, EMG, and lower subscapular nerve nerve NCS were performed to establish normative values (abnormal defined at >20% increased latency or >50% decreased amplitude). Phi coefficients of association and point biserial coefficients were used to correlate the ultrasound examination, EMG, and NCS results with the functional outcomes. Results A total of 20 patients were included. Four patients had abnormal but intact subscapularis tendons on ultrasound. Nine patients had abnormal lower subscapular NCS compared with the contralateral shoulder. All patients had normal subscapularis EMGs. No significant correlation was found between the ultrasound and NCS results. No significant correlations were found between the ultrasound or the NCS results and any of the independent outcome variables. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the subscapularis remains neurologically functional after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, based on EMG and NCS findings. Although side-to-side differences in lower subscapular NCS were identified in 45% of the postoperative shoulders, these abnormalities did not correlate with functional outcomes.
Trends of Inpatient Palliative Care Use Among Hospitalized Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Abstract Introduction Palliative care in Parkinson's Disease (PD) is an effective intervention to improve quality of life, although historically, access and availability have been very restricted. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data from 2007 to 2014. Diagnostic codes were used to identify patients with PD and palliative care referral. Trends were calculated and logistic analysis performed to identify predictors of palliative care use. Results We identified 397,963 hospitalizations from 2007 to 2014 for patients with PD. Of these, 10,639 (2.67%) were referred to palliative care. The rate of consultation increased from 0.85% in 2007 to 4.49% in 2014. For 1 unit in year increase, there was 1.23 time the odds of receiving palliative consultation (OR 1.23, CI 1.21–1.25, p Conclusion There has been a significant increase in palliative care referrals among hospitalized patients with PD in the US, although the overall rate remains low. After controlling for confounders, racial and ethnic disparities were not found. Women, patients with Medicare/Medicaid, and those with lower income were less likely to be referred to palliative care.
Risk Factors for Cytomegalovirus Viremia following Liver Transplantation With a Seropositive Donor and Seronegative Recipient Receiving Antiviral Therapy.

BACKGROUND The risk factors for development of viremia in high-risk donor cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seropositive and recipient CMV-seronegative (D+R-) transplant recipients are incompletely defined. METHODS The study population comprised patients in the preemptive therapy (PET) arm of a randomized, controlled trial of PET versus prophylaxis using valganciclovir in D+R- liver transplant recipients. Weekly surveillance monitoring for viremia for 100 days was performed using a sensitive CMV-DNA polymerase chain reaction assays. Risk factors for viremia and time to onset (≤4 vs >4 weeks) of viremia were examined using logistic regression models. RESULTS Viremia developed in 84% (79/94) of recipients and older donor age was the only independent factor associated with viremia (odds ratio, 2.20 for each quartile increase in donor age; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-4.52; P = .031). Recipients who developed early-onset viremia (within 4 weeks) also had significantly older donors than those with later-onset viremia (difference in age 10.1 years; 95% CI, 2-19; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS Older donor age was an independent predictor of viremia and earlier-onset of viremia in D+R- liver transplant recipients. Future studies should assess the mechanistic links underlying this novel association. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT01552369.
Palestinian Chicago: identity in exile

In Palestinian Chicago: Identity in Exile, Loren D. Lybarger provides a rich and detailed examination of how multiple factors including immigration, nationality and a religious identity all come to...
Guest Editor. Special Issue

People with disabilities are vulnerable. They carry high risk for poor health and health outcomes. As a group, they experience social disadvantages such as poverty, underemployment and unemployment, isolation, and discrimination at a higher rate than the general population. They also face multiple barriers to quality health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. This Special Issue will explore the key health disparities and barriers to health care experienced by people with disabilities, and explore the legal, ethical, and social issues they raise. It will investigate the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities and other antidiscrimination laws as they apply to health and health care, the implications of health care reform efforts affecting people with disabilities, and other uses of law and policy to promote health determinants, such as access to education and work opportunities, a life in a community, and full participation in society for people with disabilities.
Meta-Adaptive Nonlinear Control: Theory and Algorithms

We present an online multi-task learning approach for adaptive nonlinear control, which we call Online Meta-Adaptive Control (OMAC). The goal is to control a nonlinear system subject to adversarial disturbance and unknown $\textit{environment-dependent}$ nonlinear dynamics, under the assumption that the environment-dependent dynamics can be well captured with some shared representation. Our approach is motivated by robot control, where a robotic system encounters a sequence of new environmental conditions that it must quickly adapt to. A key emphasis is to integrate online representation learning with established methods from control theory, in order to arrive at a unified framework that yields both control-theoretic and learning-theoretic guarantees. We provide instantiations of our approach under varying conditions, leading to the first non-asymptotic end-to-end convergence guarantee for multi-task adaptive nonlinear control. OMAC can also be integrated with deep representation learning. Experiments show that OMAC significantly outperforms conventional adaptive control approaches which do not learn the shared representation.
Credit-Informed Tactical Asset Allocation - 10 Years On

This paper takes a look back at the original Credit-Informed Tactical Asset Allocation paper published in June 2011 and extends the model to address some of the weaknesses identified in the original paper.
Transvenous Approach to Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations: Challenging the Axioms of Arteriovenous Malformation Therapy?

Abstract : A compartmental conceptualization of intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) allows recognition of feeding arteries, an intervening plexiform nidus, and draining veins. AVM therapy involves eliminating the nidus, which is the source of hemorrhage, without compromising normal arterial and venous drainage of the brain. Traditional methods of AVM therapy through microsurgery and endovascular embolization involve arterial devascularization, with preservation of AVM venous drainage, until the nidus is excluded. The transvenous approach in treating vascular malformations was popularized by successful treatment models for dural arteriovenous fistulas. More recently, high-flow intracranial AVMs are being managed with transvenous endovascular approaches, although this novel technique has its challenges and perils. We review the current literature on transvenous AVM therapy and highlight its role for AVM therapy in the present day.
Malignant Transformation by Ultraviolet and Ionizing Radiations

There has been considerable recent interest in the use of in vitro techniques for studying the neoplastic transformation of mammalian cells. These are techniques whereby cells of normal growth characteristics and morphology may be converted to those with characteristics of tumor cells including the ability to form invasive cancers in syngeneic hosts. Most quantitative studies of transformation have been carried out with established mouse embryo-derived cell lines, notably the C3H10T1/2 and BALB/3T3 cell systems. Although these cell lines are already immortal and aneuploid, they can be transformed to fully malignant, tumorigenic cells in vitro by exposure to various physical and chemical carcinogens.
Hospital discharge decisions, health outcomes, and the use of unobserved information on case-mix severity.

Abstract Although implementation of the Medicare prospective payment system has been accompanied by significant decreases in hospital length of stay, the early discharge of some patients may lead to worse health outcomes, particularly if sufficient aftercare services following hospitalization are not available. This article develops an empirical model of the relationship between the choice of length of stay and patient outcome. The model incorporates information on the severity of a patient's medical condition known by the physician who chooses length of stay for a patient but generally not known by a researcher interested in the factors that affect length of stay and health outcome. Joint estimation of equations for length of stay and health outcome controls for unmeasured aspects of case severity that affect both variables. The ratio of nursing home beds to Medicare enrollees in the county is included as an exogenous variable in both equations to assess whether variation in nursing home bed availability is correlated with length of stay or health outcome. The model is estimated using billing data for Medicare patients admitted with congestive heart failure to New Jersey hospitals during 1982 and 1983. Two measures of outcome are used: (1) a discrete measure of survival time following admission, and (2) a categorical measure of whether or not the patient was discharged dead or died within six months after discharge. Empirical results show no evidence that longer lengths of stay for congestive heart failure patients lead to lower postadmission mortality. However, greater availability of nursing home beds may reduce length of stay and may shift the provision of terminal care away from a hospital setting. Therefore, policies to expand the nursing home bed supply may enable further decreases in hospital length of stay without deleterious effect on patient outcome.
Incorporating data movement into grid task scheduling

Task Scheduling is a critical design issue of distributed computing. The emerging Grid computing infrastructure consists of heterogeneous resources in widely distributed autonomous domains and makes task scheduling even more challenging. Grid considers both static, unmovable hardware and moveable, replicable data as computing resources. While intensive research has been done on task scheduling on hardware computing resources and on data replication protocols, how to incorporate data movement into task scheduling seamlessly is unrevealed. We consider data movement as a dimension of task scheduling. A dynamic data structure, Data Distance Table (DDT), is proposed to provide real-time data distribution and communication information. Based on DDT, a data-conscious task scheduling heuristics is introduced to minimize the data access delay. A simulated Grid environment is set up to test the efficiency of the newly proposed algorithm. Experimental results show that for data intensive tasks, the dynamic data-conscious scheduling outperforms the conventional Min-Min significantly.
Abstract CT-06: The combination of bortezomib (BOR) and decitabine (DEC): A phase I trial in patients (pts) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) targeting FLT3 expression

Most pts with AML are not cured with conventional chemotherapy regimens. Gain of function mutations & overexpression of tyrosine kinase (TK) receptors (ie KIT & FLT3) are associated with leukemogenesis and poor outcome & represent therapeutic targets. The use of TK inhibitors in AML has been disappointing. Recently we showed that BOR downregulates KIT in AML cells by upregulating miR-29b that disrupts a KIT transactivating complex comprising SP1 and NFκB (p65). In silico we found SP1 & p65 binding sites also in the FLT3 promoter region & speculated that FLT3 may be regulated similarly. Utilizing chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) in MV4-11 cells expressing high FLT3 levels we showed enrichment of SP1 (1.6 fold) & p65 (3.1 fold) vs IgG control on the FLT3 promoter. Cotransfection of a luciferase reporter harboring the FLT3 promoter with SP1 or p65 vectors in 293T cells increased luciferase activity (3.1 & 3.0. fold); siRNA mediated knock-down of SP1 or p65 decreased activity (0.5 & 0.7 fold). In KG1 cells with low FLT3 levels, overexpression of SP1 or p65 increased FLT3 (1.7 & 1.6 fold); in MV4-11 cells siRNA-mediated knockdown of SP1 or p65 decreased FLT3 (0.05 & 0.3 fold) mRNA & protein. Since miR-29b can disrupt the SP1/p65 complex we overexpressed miR-29b in MV4-11 cells, which consequently downregulated FLT3 mRNA & protein level in MV4-11 cells to barely detectable levels. Both BOR & DEC can upregulate miR-29b; thus these drugs potentially decrease FLT3. Indeed BOR (60nM at 24h) or DEC (2.5µM at 48h) led to decreased FLT3 in MV4-11 cells ( 60 years with previously untreated disease received DEC at 20mg/m 2 IV daily on days 1-10. BOR was gradually dose escalated to 1.3 mg/m 2 given on days 5, 8, 12 & 15. Cycles were repeated every 28 days. Pretreatment and day 26 expression levels of FLT3 and miR-29b were assessed. 19 patients were enrolled with a median age of 69 years (range: 32-83). Pts received a median of 2 cycles of therapy (range, 1-14 cycles). Febrile neutropenia & infectious complications were frequent. BOR & DEC at target doses were tolerable; neuropathy following repetitive cycles of BOR limited its administration. 7 pts achieved disease remission. Consistent with our preclinical results, miR-29b expression increased (median fold change: 3.9) and FLT3 expression levels decreased (median fold change: 0.4). As the FLT3 targeting results are encouraging a phase II study of BOR & DEC combination is being planned with modifications of BOR dosing to avoid neuropathy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr CT-06. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-CT-06
Non-linear flexural oscillations of a partially tapered annular plate

Abstract The free finite amplitude axisymmetric oscillations of an isotropic annular plate with partially tapered thickness are investigated. The time variable is eliminated by a Ritz-Kantorovich averaging method. The von Karman plate equations are then reduced to two non-linear ordinary differential equations, which form a non-linear eigenvalue problem. Solutions to the problem are obtained by utilizing a direct computational method. The results reveal the effects of large amplitude upon the dynamic responses. Also, an annulus of constant thickness, which has the same boundary conditions and the same volume as the partially tapered one, is investigated. Their results, which may shed light on the optimal design of annular plates, are compared.
Production of white tone from white noise and voiced speech from whisper

A new class of tonal sounds can be generated by repeating brief sections of noise over and over without intervening silence. When the repeated waveform is white noise, a “white tone” with a rich distinctive timbre and no noise-like quality is heard over a considerable range of repetition rates. If the noise is a whispered vowel rather than white noise, repetition of a sample equal in duration to a single glottal pulse during voicing can generate a “whisper tone” sounding like a voiced version of the vowel. Whispered discourse can be converted to an intelligible voiced monotone by repetition of regularly spaced samples drawn from the whis- pered speech.
A Systems Study and the Fallacy of Perseus

Considers a systems model of changes in industrial structure, employment and income levels. A country subsidizes imported resources to augment its existing resource base and to develop an export promotion strategy. This is leveraged with borrowed money. According to neo‐classical economic theory, factors of production are paid in proportion to their output contribution. Economic growth occurs when the return from a higher rate of factor utilization exceeds the cost of subsidization. In the study of ordinary differential equations, simultaneous changes in variables can be treated as part of a dynamic system subject to constraints. At any moment resources are fixed, and we may assume D'Alembert's principle of virtual work with respect to the internal constraints of the system. Subsidized economic growth shares a paradigm with analytical dynamics, the stability of motion around the neighbourhood of a singular point. The classical analytical‐topological methods which describe asymptotic stability are used to investigate economic policy.
Rethinking multimedia search in the "clients + cloud" era

The emergence of cloud computing is presenting us with unprecedented opportunities to redefine how people search for and interact with multimedia on client devices (such as PC, TV, and phone). In this talk, I will introduce some key trends in computing and discuss how these trends are creating both new opportunities and new challenges for large-scale multimedia analysis and search. I will also talk about some of Microsoft's latest research efforts in building a new kind of search engine - one that aims to empower people with knowledge and facilitate their decision making during various online activities.
Multiple tumor-suppressor genes on chromosome 3p contribute to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumorigenesis.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. There has been a great interest in finding specific genomic changes which contribute to HNSCC tumorigenesis, especially within the chromosome 3p area, where high frequency of LOH (loss of heterozygosity) has been reported. However, tumorsuppressor genes that may account for the frequent LOH remain to be identified. Recently, one systematic study of genomic sequencing was performed on breast and colorectal cancers and 189 candidate cancer genes (CAN-genes) were reported. Among those CAN-genes, 13 genes are located on chromosome 3p. To investigate whether any of the 13 CAN-genes on chromosome 3p is relevant to HNSCC tumorigenesis, we examined their mutational profiles in eight HNSCC cell lines and 12 tumor-normal pairs of human HNSCC in this study. Three of the 13 CAN-genes, ALS2CL, EPHA3 and CMYA1, each was found to harbor a missense mutation (1/20, 5% for each of the three genes). The mutations appeared hemizygous and SNP array analyses showed that these missense mutations are accompanied by LOH on the remaining allele. In summary, our data offer further support that ALS2CL, EPHA3 and CMYA1 are bona-fide tumor-suppressor genes and contribute to the tumorigenesis of HNSCC. Our data suggest that multiple tumor-suppressor genes are likely to be involved in accounting for the high LOH on chromosome 3p in HNSCC.
ELABORAÇÃO DE BASE CARTOGRÁFICA E LEVANTAMENTO GEOAMBIENTAL, COMO SUBSÍDIOS PARA CRIAÇÃO DA UNIDADE DE CONSERVAÇÃO DE USO SUSTENTÁVEL NO MUNICÍPIO DE ARAGOMINAS, NORTE DO TOCANTINS

A grande problematica relativa a degradacao ambiental provem da falta de praticas conservacionistas e politicas ambientais comprometidas com a realidade local. A presenca de recursos ambientais e a necessidade de proteger os ecossistemas locais do impacto das atividades humanas culminaram na proposta de criacao de uma Area de Protecao Ambiental (APA) no municipio de Aragominas, norte do estado do Tocantins. Foi realizada uma caracterizacao das unidades geoambientais e elaboracao das bases cartograficas. Para tal, foi necessaria a compreensao do ambiente fisico atraves das relacoes que se estabelecem entre seus elementos, como: o relevo, geologia, solo, vegetacao, em associacao com as atividades humanas. A criacao da APA Pe do Morro permitira a conservacao de uma porcao significativa da biodiversidade local. A fim de, melhorar a qualidade de vida das populacoes residentes atraves da orientacao e disciplina das atividades economicas locais e preservacao da cultura e tradicao da regiao.