cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A4-4: Visualizing VDW Lab Results Data: Why You Should, and How You Can - Easily!

Background/Aims One of the most difficult tasks facing the VDW lab results file implementer is figuring out which records from local lab data should be included in their VDW file, and which should be left out. These decisions frequently hinge on neat points of clinical science that are often outside the expertise of the programmer. We will describe a set of graphics that implementers can use to shed light on these decisions, useful during implementation, and afterwards as indication of data quality and even as documentation.
An active intelligent decision support system—architecture and simulation

Abstract Development and implementation of decision support systems to support intelligent decision making is an area of research that has gained in importance in recent years. Due to the increased complexity of decision making, active involvement of the user and the computer in an intelligent way is necessary in the decision process. This paper presents issues in the design of an active intelligent decision support system (IDSS), develops an architectural model based on cooperative distributed problem solving, and performs a simulation of the system using object oriented programming for an example application in airfleet control.
An energy efficient hierarchical clustering algorithm for wireless sensor networks

A wireless network consisting of a large number of small sensors with low-power transceivers can be an effective tool for gathering data in a variety of environments. The data collected by each sensor is communicated through the network to a single processing center that uses all reported data to determine characteristics of the environment or detect an event. The communication or message passing process must be designed to conserve the limited energy resources of the sensors. Clustering sensors into groups, so that sensors communicate information only to clusterheads and then the clusterheads communicate the aggregated information to the processing center, may save energy. In this paper, we propose a distributed, randomized clustering algorithm to organize the sensors in a wireless sensor network into clusters. We then extend this algorithm to generate a hierarchy of clusterheads and observe that the energy savings increase with the number of levels in the hierarchy. Results in stochastic geometry are used to derive solutions for the values of parameters of our algorithm that minimize the total energy spent in the network when all sensors report data through the clusterheads to the processing center.
For God and Revolution: Priest, Peasant, and Agrarian Socialism in the Mexican Huasteca. By Mark Saad Saka. (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2013. Pp. xxi, 208. $50.00.)

Recently the study of popular collective violence and peasant rebellion in nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐century Mexico has trended strongly toward depicting humble people as active agents in their own...
Body Modification and Trans Men: The Lived Realities of Gender Transition and Partner Intimacy

Through an empirical analysis of YouTube videos, blogs, and interviews, this article explores how partners experience intimacy and desire in relation to trans men’s body modifications. Building on Salamon’s conception of trans bodies as emerging within relations of desire, I argue that partners’ experiences of trans men’s bodies are crucially shaped by their intimate bonds with trans men as people, rather than reducible to generic parts. Partners continue to experience trans men as essentially the same people through gender transition, despite fears that testosterone might alter their personalities. Their intimate bonds with trans men also open up space for new relations of desire to emerge, including attraction to bodily changes they might otherwise find unattractive. These partnerships work to expand ideas about which bodies can be desired as male or masculine, and undercut the literalness of sexual identity labels. Thus, the lived realities of gender transition, as they materialize within this context,...
Mexico Studies Sex Education

O NE of the most significant and far reaching problems confronting the Federal Department of Public Education in Mexico today is that of sex education. From the beginnings of the Republic to the creation in i9zi of the department of Public Education by constitutional amendment, the church and the home were the only agencies actively concerned in the welfare of the general population, and the attitude of the Revolutionary governments toward the church during the last decade has left the home the sole source of information and guidance in the realm of sex development. The high percentage of illegitimate births, the striking prevalence of syphilitic infection, and the acknowledged amorality and immorality of the great masses, are clear evidence of the need of sex instruction of a systematic nature. Realizing the seriousness and magnitude of the problem, the almost diametrically opposed views of experts in the field, and the ease with which such instruction could be rendered unnatural and dangerous, the Secretary of Public Education is exercising the utmost precaution in his effort to meet the demands of the situation. An advisory committee composed of five professors (one, a woman), two physicians, an attorney, and an engineer-all outstanding representatives of their respective professions-was appointed to make a thorough study of the problem, and the recommendations of this committee have recently been made public. In this way the Secretary proposes to awaken public interest and discussion and thus prepare the way for whatever action the Department may see fit to take. In the report of this committee sex education is held to be absolutely indispensable for complete and normal development, whether considered from a physiological, a moral, a sociological, or a psychological point of view. The reasons for providing sex instruction center around the nature of the child. Children reveal vivid curiosity concerning everything that has to do with the origin of life, with birth, with sex differences, and, especially during adolescence, with the functions of the sexual organs and the changes observable in the human body. Lack of timely and proper instruction in these vital matters is the chief cause of many dangerous personal habits, of that multiplicity of morbid anxieties and fears which so frequently result disastrously not only for the individual but for society as a whole. Children and adolescents are entitled to know about these things, and if the instruction provided is adequate and opportune it will go far towards insuring a balanced sex development of profound influence in the physical, mental and moral life of the community. In regard to the medium of sex education the Committee points unhesitatingly to the schools. For many parents the sex question is a matter of grave concern.
FREE VIBRATION AND BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF ANISOTROPIC SANDWICH PLATES WITH EDGES ELASTICALLY RESTRAINED AGAINST ROTATION

Free vibration and elastic buckling analysis of rectangular sandwich plates with anisotropic face sheets and orthotropic core is presented. Plate boundaries are considered to be rigidly supported against transverse displacement and elastically restrained against rotation. The simple support and clamped edge conditions rise as special cases in the analysis procedure. The approach presented here is an extension of the general smalldeflection theory developed for simply-supported sandwich plates. Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to solve for each of the plate's in-plane buckling loads and transverse natural frequencies. Numerical results for several example problems are included which illustrate the effects of edge support conditions and face sheet ply pattern on the fundamental natural frequencies and buckling loads.
Biology and Control of the Grape Bud Beetle, Glyptoscelis squamulata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), in Southern California Table Grapes

Glyptoscelis squamulata, often called the grape bud beetle (GBB), is indigenous to North America. During the 1920’s and into the late 1940’s this univoltine species was considered the major pest of fresh table grapes in the Coachella Valley of southern California. Adult beetles feed on emerging buds and eat the immature leaves and flower cluster primordia. The larval stages are spent in the soil feeding on roots. The beetle has reappeared recently as a major pest of grapes. Adult emergence from the soil was monitored in five Coachella Valley vineyards. Peak emergence occurs in the last three weeks of March. Early-budding varieties such as ‘Perlette,’ ‘Cardinal,’ and ‘Beauty Seedless’ may suffer less damage than the late-developing ‘Thompson Seedless.’ Adults are active at night, making detection difficult with a flashlight. We found that the beetles glow a bright silver blue under ultraviolet light; detection can be made in seconds. Feeding and oviposition studies were conducted. Phosmet, azinphosmethyl, and dimethoate were applied for control of adult beetles at 1.41, 1.41, and 2.25 kg (AI)/ha, respectively. They gave statistically similar results and caused significantly higher mortality than diazinon and carbaryl, which were both applied at 1.80 kg (AI)/ha.
Water-Catalyzed Activation of H2O2 by Methyltrioxorhenium: A Combined Computational–Experimental Study

The formation of peroxorhenium complexes by activation of H2O2 is key in selective oxidation reactions catalyzed by CH3ReO3 (methyltrioxorhenium, MTO). Previous reports on the thermodynamics and kinetics of these reactions are inconsistent with each other and sometimes internally inconsistent. New experiments and calculations using density functional theory with the ωB97X-D and augmented def2-TZVP basis sets were conducted to better understand these reactions and to provide a strong experimental foundation for benchmarking computational studies involving MTO and its derivatives. Including solvation contributions to the free energies as well as tunneling corrections, we compute negative reaction enthalpies for each reaction and correctly predict the hydration state of all complexes in aqueous CH3CN. New rate constants for each of the forward and reverse reactions were both measured and computed as a function of temperature, providing a complete set of consistent activation parameters. New, independent meas...
Climatic conditions and child height: Sex-specific vulnerability and the protective effects of sanitation and food markets in Nepal.

Environmental conditions in early life are known to have impacts on later health outcomes, but causal mechanisms and potential remedies have been difficult to discern. This paper uses the Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys of 2006 and 2011, combined with earlier NASA satellite observations of variation in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at each child’s location and time of birth to identify the trimesters of gestation and periods of infancy when climate variation is linked to attained height later in life. We find significant differences by sex: males are most affected by conditions in their second trimester of gestation, and females in the first three months after birth. Each 100-point difference in NDVI at those times is associated with a difference in height-for-age z-score (HAZ) measured at age 12–59 months of 0.088 for boys and 0.054 for girls, an effect size similar to that of moving within the distribution of household wealth by close to one quintile for boys and one decile for girls. The entire seasonal change in NDVI from peak to trough is approximately 200–300 points during the 2000–2011 study period, implying a seasonal effect on HAZ similar to one to three quintiles of household wealth. This effect is observed only in households without toilets; in households with toilets, there is no seasonal fluctuation, implying protection against climatic conditions that facilitate disease transmission. We also use data from the Nepal Living Standards Surveys on district-level agricultural production and marketing, and find a climate effect on child growth only in districts where households’ food consumption derives primarily from their own production. Robustness tests find no evidence of selection effects, and placebo regression results reveal no significant artefactual correlations. The timing and sex-specificity of climatic effects are consistent with previous studies, while the protective effects of household sanitation and food markets are novel indications of mechanisms by which households can gain resilience against adverse climatic conditions.
Effect of Headache on Academic Performance

Researchers at University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil interviewed 344 randomly selected, university, social communication students to determine the 1-year prevalence of headache, types of headache, and the effects on academic performance.
The effect of leading edge tubercles on dynamic stall

The effects of leading-edge tubercles, based on the flippers of humpback whales, on the flow field around an airfoil undergoing large-amplitude dynamic changes in the angle of attack have been studied experimentally. Airfoils were pitched from an initial angle of attack of at constant pitch rates with a chord Reynolds number of 12 000. Velocity and vorticity fields around a standard NACA 0012 airfoil and NACA 0012 modified with leading-edge tubercles were quantified using molecular tagging velocimetry. Vortex dynamics were characterized by tracking the location, core radius and circulation. The resulting velocity fields showed that the dynamics of the formation and separation of the leading-edge vortex were fundamentally different between the straight leading-edge airfoil and the tubercled airfoil. The tubercled airfoil also showed spanwise variation in dynamics of the dynamic stall vortex (DSV) formation. The characteristics of the DSV, specifically the circulation and proximity of the DSV to the airfoil suction surface, are known to have an impact on lift during dynamic pitching. The results showed that the DSV was stronger and remained closer to the airfoil longer for the modified airfoil. The baseline DSV convected away from the airfoil faster than the DSV on the tubercled airfoil once it began to separate from the airfoil. Shear-layer vortices, which form during dynamic stall near the mid-cord region, appeared to affect the convective behaviour of the DSV. The results suggest that the leading-edge tubercles observed on Humpback whale flippers act as passive flow-control mechanisms to control or delay dynamic stall.
An Overview of Cancer Genes

Although environmental factors certainly play a role, the dominant view regarding the molecular basis of human cancer currently rests on the concept that the accumulation of multiple mutations within genes of a single cell drives neoplastic transformation, ultimately leading to tumorigenesis. Mutations confer some form of selective advantage for cell growth, thereby contributing to the initiation of carcinogenesis and progression of human malignancies. Neoplastic transforming mutations typically affect three major classes of genes: (1) proto-oncogenes, (2) tumor suppressor genes, and (3) DNA repair genes. The purpose of this chapter is to serve as an introduction to proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, with the intent of providing both background information and a conceptual framework for the reader to gain a general understanding of the types of genes involved in tumorigenesis, their mechanisms of activation or inactivation, and their normal cellular function(s).
381. Prohypertrophic Agents Enhance the Response to Gene Therapy in Pompe Disease

Pompe disease causes a progressive myopathy resulting from acid α-glucosidase (GAA) deficiency in the heart and skeletal muscle. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with recombinant human (rh) GAA has prolonged the survival of patients. However, complete reversal neuromuscular involvement has not been possible in Pompe disease by treating with ERT. The paucity of cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor (CI-MPR) in skeletal muscle, where it is needed to take up rhGAA, correlated with a poor response to ERT by muscle in Pompe disease. Clenbuterol, a selective β2 receptor agonist, enhanced the CI-MPR expression in striated muscle, and increased the efficacy of either ERT or gene therapy in murine Pompe disease. The underlying mechanism of clenbuterol's therapeutic action is Igf-1 mediated muscle hypertrophy, which has correlated with increased CI-MPR (also the Igf-2 receptor) expression. In this study we have evaluated 4 new drugs in GAA knockout (KO) mice in combination with an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector encoding human GAA. The dosage for each drug was selected to induce muscle hypertrophy with an associated increased expression of CI-MPR, analogous to clenbuterol's effects. Three alternative β2 agonists and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were evaluated in combination with gene therapy in GAA-KO mice. Mice were transgenic for a liver-specific human GAA transgene to induce immune tolerance to introduced GAA. The 3 new β2 agonists were chosen to be long-acting like clenbuterol. Furthermore, DHEA caused muscle hypertrophy similar to the β2 agonists, is available in the US, and was well-tolerated in rodent experiments. Mice were injected with AAV2/9-CBhGAA (1E+11 vector particles) at a dose previously found to be partially effective at clearing glycogen storage from the the heart. Heart GAA activity was significantly increased by either salmeterol (p 0.001), salmeterol (p<0.05), formoterol (p<0.01), or clenbuterol (p<0.01) in combination with the AAV vector, in comparison with untreated mice. Functional testing was performed subsequently, and the wirehang test at 18 weeks following vector administration revealed that the combination of salmeterol and the AAV vector significantly increased latency in comparison with untreated mice (p<0.01), AAV vector alone (p<0.001). Similarly, salmeterol with the vector increased latency significantly more than either DHEA (p<0.001), formoterol (p<0.05), fenoterol (p<0.05), or clenbuterol (p<0.05) with the vector. An important consideration with regard to adjunctive therapy is whether any effects are due to the adjuvant rather than the combined treatment. The most effective individual drugs were evaluated by themselves, and no significant effect upon GAA activity of heart, glycogen content of heart, or wirehang latency was observed, in comparison with untreated mice. Thus, salmeterol should be further developed as adjunctive therapy in combination with either ERT or gene therapy for Pompe disease.
Abstract B14: Human Mut T homolog 1 (MTH1) as a novel facilitator of KRAS-driven lung cancer

Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), a chemoresistant form of lung cancer, is characterized by oncogenic KRAS mutations that confer multiple tumor-promoting traits. Several of these traits are mediated by oncogene-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, oncogenic ROS also produce DNA damage, a major effector of tumor suppressor mechanisms. We previously reported overexpression of the mammalian 8-oxo-dGTP triphosphatase, human MutT Homolog 1 (MTH1), inhibits RAS oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) and any associated DNA damage without substantially affecting ROS levels. Here we report that MTH1 expression is elevated in NSCLC tumors relative to adjacent normal tissue, particularly in tumors with high KRAS expression. We show that MTH1 overexpression facilitates transformation of lung epithelial cells by oncogenic KRAS. We further report that MTH1 suppression in NSCLC cell lines reduces proliferation and tumorigenicity either via DNA strand break-induced elevation of the p53/p21 pathway or by inhibition of Akt activation in p53-nonfunctional tumor cells. Collectively our results indicate MTH1 as a novel potential chemotherapeutic target in NSCLC with activating KRAS mutations. Citation Format: Asmita Patel, Katherine Halvorsen, Wayne Balkan, Alexander Cohen, Teresita Reiner, David Robbins, Dao Nguyen, Priyamvada Rai. Human Mut T homolog 1 (MTH1) as a novel facilitator of KRAS-driven lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on RAS Oncogenes: From Biology to Therapy; Feb 24-27, 2014; Lake Buena Vista, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B14. doi: 10.1158/1557-3125.RASONC14-B14
Tradeoff Between Distributed Social Learning and Herding Effect in Online Rating Systems: Evidence From a Real-World Intervention

We investigated how social diffusion increased client participation in an online rating system and, in turn, how this herding effect may affect the metrics of client feedback over the course of yea...
Strategic Decision-Making: Models and Methods in the Face of Complexity and Time Pressure:

The aim of this paper is to organise decision-making models and methods into one coherent matrix, using complexity (high to low) and time pressure (high to low) dimensions as relevant axes. Eight c...
Reentrant Phase Transition Drives Dynamic Substructure Formation in Ribonucleoprotein Droplets

Intracellular ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are membrane-less droplet organelles that are thought to regulate posttranscriptional gene expression. While liquid-liquid phase separation may drive RNP granule assembly, the mechanisms underlying their supramolecular dynamics and internal organization remain poorly understood. Herein, we demonstrate that RNA, a primary component of RNP granules, can modulate the phase behavior of RNPs by controlling both droplet assembly and dissolution in vitro. Monotonically increasing the RNA concentration initially leads to droplet assembly by complex coacervation and subsequently triggers an RNP charge inversion, which promotes disassembly. This RNA-mediated reentrant phase transition can drive the formation of dynamic droplet substructures (vacuoles) with tunable lifetimes. We propose that active cellular processes that can create an influx of RNA into RNP granules, such as transcription, can spatiotemporally control the organization and dynamics of such liquid-like organelles.
Contextual effects and cancer outcomes in the United States: a systematic review of characteristics in multilevel analyses.

Abstract Purpose There is increasing call for the utilization of multilevel modeling to explore the relationship between place-based contextual effects and cancer outcomes in the United States. To gain a better understanding of how contextual factors are being considered, we performed a systematic review. Methods We reviewed studies published between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2016 and assessed the following attributes: (1) contextual considerations such as geographic scale and contextual factors used; (2) methods used to quantify contextual factors; and (3) cancer type and outcomes. We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science and initially identified 1060 studies. One hundred twenty-two studies remained after exclusions. Results Most studies utilized a two-level structure; census tracts were the most commonly used geographic scale. Socioeconomic factors, health care access, racial/ethnic factors, and rural-urban status were the most common contextual factors addressed in multilevel models. Breast and colorectal cancers were the most common cancer types, and screening and staging were the most common outcomes assessed in these studies. Conclusions Opportunities for future research include deriving contextual factors using more rigorous approaches, considering cross-classified structures and cross-level interactions, and using multilevel modeling to explore understudied cancers and outcomes.
First-Generation Linear Absorption Spectrometer for the Optical Trace-Detection of Radiocarbon

We present our first-generation cavity ring-down spectrometer for the optical trace-detection of radiocarbon (14C) as well as define an absolute 14C scale based on ab initio 14C16O2 intensities and linear absorption principles.
Role of Cyclic Nucleotides in Regulation of Differentiation of Nerve Cells

The possible involvement of adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) in neural differentiation became apparent when it was demonstrated that an elevation of the intracellular level of cAMP in neuroblastoma cells induces, as well as increases, the expression of many differentiated functions characteristic of mature neurons.1 The process of neural differentiation involves many steps, including induction, cell migration, regulation of induced differentiated functions, and inhibition of cell division. However, neuroblastoma cells in many ways are differentiated already and possess several features of mature neurons which are expressed mostly at low levels. Therefore, neuroblastoma cells in culture may be suitable primarily for studying the regulation of differentiated functions, which are induced already, and in identifying genetic and structural features modified experimentally. To study the involvement of cAMP in neural induction, the experimental system developed by early embryologists or embryoid cells of teratocarcinoma must be used. Indeed, by using explants of gastrulae of amphibia, it has been shown2 that cAMP induces neural differentiation. An extensive modification of gene expression, associated with structural organization, must occur during the period of differentiation. Genetic and structural modifications occur sequentially, with each differentiated function becoming detectable at a precise time and for a defined purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the role of cAMP in regulating differentiated functions of nerve cells.
Chasing the Lost Oceans of Venus

NASA astrobiologist David Grinspoon introduces us to the alien seas that may once have washed across the shores of ancient Venus. Orbiting spacecraft have detected high amounts of chemicals pointing to vast amounts of water in the Venusian past. Earth’s sister world may have harbored a host of lakes and seas.
The Fight Against Inflation: A Comment

The development of rational expectations is one of the most important, and intellectually exciting, developments of economic theory in recent decades. Implications for economic theory, econometric theory and practice and for economic policy continue to flow, and it is both safe — and rational — to expect that we are nearer to the beginning than to the end of these developments.
Populists and Foreign Policy: Evidence from Latin America

Populists enact dramatic change, does this penchant extend to foreign policy? While the literature assumes increasing nationalism and protectionism, few studies directly test whether populists produce tangibly different foreign policies. I analyze defense and trade policy to ascertain the substantive consequences of populist presidencies, using an innovative longitudinal cohort study (LCS) from contemporary Latin America. After discussing three populist waves (classical, neo-populist, and Bolivarian), I compare neo- and Bolivarian populists with their non-populist counterparts. The quasi-experimental research design includes six cases that are broadly representative of Latin America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, splitting countries into cohorts of similar economic and social development. Among cohorts, there is a control group and a treatment group, permitting comparison among non-populists and populists. While I find little evidence of divergent military policies, populists occupy economic extremes of the policy spectrum, particularly when compared with non-populists. Policy variation among populists reflects the structural position of their country in the international economic system. In more developed countries, populists from both the left- and right-wing are more likely to reduce trade openness and erect tariffs. In less developed, smaller countries, the opposite occurs as populists embrace international trade and lower tariffs.
The Stochastic Knapsack

The classical deterministic knapsack problem involves a knapsack of capacity C resource units and K classes of objects, with class-k objects having size b κ . Objects may be placed into the knapsack as long as the sum of their sizes does not exceed the knapsack capacity. A reward is r κ accrued whenever a class-k object is placed into the knapsack. The problem is to place the objects into the knapsack so as to maximize the total reward.
Exploring experiential opportunity impacts on undergraduate outcomes in the geosciences

Undergraduate research is a highly valued and increasingly critical component of STEM undergraduate education, as it is a key strategy in effective student development (National Academies of Scienc...
Researching Contemporary Handwork: Stitching as Renewal, Remembrance, and Revolution

Contemporary handwork, including all forms of stitching, provides a reflective outlet and is rich in social, cultural, and political history. The desire to connect to the handmade and the tactile t...
Indole-3-acetic acid from Azosprillum brasilense promotes growth in green algae at the expense of energy storage products

Abstract Plant growth-promoting bacteria, such as Azospirillum brasilense, have the potential to significantly increase algal growth rates through a variety of mechanisms including the production of indole-3-acetic acid, an auxin hormone. A. brasilense promotion of growth in Chlorella sorokiniana is well-established for co-cultures suspended in alginate bead structures, however, its impacts on other types of green algae grown in suspended cultures is not well-understood. The objective of this research was to determine the impact of A. brasilense and indole-3-acetic acid on growth promotion and energy storage product accumulation in suspended cultures of C. sorokiniana and Auxenochlorella protothecoides. Suspended cultures were grown in lab-scale photobioreactors under the following conditions: algae grown on chemical medium (control), in co-culture with A. brasilense, chemical medium supplemented with exogenous indole-3-acetic acid, and algae grown on spent medium from A. brasilense. The results showed that co-cultures and exogenous indole-3-acetic acid stimulated growth in both algae types but the effect was stronger in C. sorokiniana. These same treatments also suppressed neutral lipids (particularly triacylglycerol) and starch during exponential growth of C. sorokiniana. Indole-3-acetic acid and co-cultures suppressed starch in A. protothecoides. Spent medium resulted in slight growth promotion in C. sorokiniana but significant growth suppression in A. protothecoides. It also led to significantly different compositional changes compared to using live A. brasilense, indicating that bioactive constituents in A. brasilense secretions are transient or that physical cell attachment is important for ensuring adequate mass transfer of these constituents. Overall, the findings suggest that indole-3-acetic acid and live A. brasilense mobilize cellular energy resources for growth.
Predicting Risk of Recurrence After Colorectal Cancer Surgery in the United States: An Analysis of a Special Commission on Cancer National Study

Several factors can affect the risk of recurrence after curative resection of colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to develop a risk model for recurrence after definitive treatment of Stage I–III CRC using data from a nationally representative database and to develop an individualized web-based risk calculator. A random sample of patients who underwent resection for Stage I–III CRC between 2006 and 2007 at Commission on Cancer (CoC) accredited centers were included. Primary data regarding first recurrence was abstracted from medical records and merged with the National Cancer Database. Multivariable cox regression analysis was used to test for factors associated with cancer recurrence, stratified by stage. Model performance was tested by c statistic and calibration plots. Hazard Ratios were utilized to develop an individualized web-based recurrence prediction tool. A total of 8249 patients from 1175 CoC centers were included. Of these, 1656 (20.1%) patients had a recurrence during 5 years of follow-up. Median time to recurrence was 16 months. The final predictive models displayed excellent discrimination and calibration with concordance indexes of 0.7. The online calculator included 12 variables, including tumor site, stage, time since surgery, and surveillance intensity. Output is displayed numerically and graphically with an icon array. Using primarily abstracted recurrence data from a random sample of patients treated for CRC at CoC accredited centers across the United States, we successfully created an individualized CRC recurrence risk assessment tool. This web-based calculator can be used by physicians and patients in shared decision making to guide management discussions. ClinicalTrials.gov Registration Number: NCT02217865.
Pills to Powder: A 17-Year Transition From Prescription Opioids to Heroin Among US Adolescents Followed Into Adulthood.

Objectives To examine the longitudinal relationships between US adolescents' prescription opioid use and misuse and any subsequent heroin use in adulthood. Methods Nationally representative samples of adolescents from 25 independent cohorts were surveyed via self-administered questionnaires and followed from ages 18 to 35 (n = 11,012). Adolescents were divided into 5 subgroups based on survey responses at age 18: no lifetime exposure to prescription opioids (population controls), medical prescription opioid use without a history of nonmedical misuse (medical use only), medical use followed by nonmedical misuse, nonmedical misuse followed by medical use, and nonmedical misuse only. These 5 subgroups were compared on their risk for any heroin use through age 35 (1993-2017). Adolescents who reported lifetime heroin use at age 18 were excluded. Results Adolescents who reported nonmedical prescription opioid misuse followed by medical use or nonmedical misuse only had greater odds of any heroin use in adulthood than population controls. More recent cohorts of adolescents who reported nonmedical misuse or medical use only (compared to older cohorts) had greater odds of any heroin use in adulthood relative to population controls. Nearly 1 in 3 adolescents in recent cohorts who reported nonmedical prescription opioid misuse transitioned to any heroin use. Conclusions There is increased risk for heroin use among adolescents who initiated nonmedical misuse or adolescents prescribed opioids in more recent cohorts. These findings indicate historical variation and reinforce the critical role of vigilant monitoring and drug screening to detect high-risk individuals who would benefit from an intervention to reduce later heroin use.
Correlating Processing Conditions to Short- and Long-Range Order in Coating and Drying Lithium-Ion Batteries

Processing conditions of battery slurries into electrodes are known to affect final battery performance. However, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of how the relationships between proce...
Claiming Martin Luther King, Jr. for the right: The Martin Luther King Day holiday in the Reagan era:

The article traces how American conservatives laid claim to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. We focus on a key moment in that process, when Republicans in the early 1980s battled other Republi...
Online Appendix for Controlling Unobserved Heterogeneity in Repeat Sales Models: Application to Anchoring to Purchase Price

This is the Online Appendix for: Controlling Unobserved Heterogeneity in Repeat Sales Models: Application to Anchoring to Purchase Price Stocks, art, automobiles, housing, corporate bonds and other assets are often studied in a repeat sales framework in order to control unobserved heterogeneity. But unobserved variables that influence both first and second sales remain a troubling source of omitted heterogeneity for a large group of two-stage repeat sales models. We develop a simulation algorithm to correct omitted variable bias. Our algorithm is based on a function of the variance of the unobserved as a proportion of a measurable value: the total variance of unobserved plus random noise associated with the first sale. We illustrate our model with an application to seller anchoring to the price paid for a house. Our simulation results suggest that premiums on expected losses are reduced by about 50% compared to conventional models, as expected if our algorithm reduces unobserved heterogeneity. We use property tax assessed value data to control endogeneity and to validate our simulation algorithm. Our algorithm can be estimated with standard hedonic data and it is relevant to many two-stage studies, including boundary effects models, studies of credit spreads in bond markets and firm acquisitions.
Music Embedding: A Tool for Incorporating Music Theory into Computational Music Applications.

Advancements in the digital technologies have enabled researchers to develop a variety of Computational Music applications. Such applications are required to capture, process, and generate data related to music. Therefore, it is important to digitally represent music in a music theoretic and concise manner. Existing approaches for representing music are ineffective in terms of utilizing music theory. In this paper, we address the disjoint of music theory and computational music by developing an opensource representation tool based on music theory. Through the wide range of use cases, we run an analysis on the classical music pieces to show the usefulness of the developed music embedding.
An Epistemic Model-Based Tutor for Imperative Programming.

We developed a tutor for imperative programming in C++. It covers algorithm formulation, program design and coding – all three stages involved in writing a program to solve a problem. The design of the tutor is epistemic, i.e., true to real-life programming practice. The student works through all the three stages of programming in interleaved fashion, and within the context of a single code canvas. The student has the sole agency to compose the program and write the code. The tutor uses goals and plans as prompts to scaffold the student through the programming process designed by an expert. It provides drill-down immediate feedback at the abstract, concrete and bottom-out levels at each step. So, by the end of the session, the student is guaranteed to write the complete and correct program for a given problem. We used model-based architecture to implement the tutor because of the ease with which it facilitates adding problems to the tutor. In a preliminary study, we found that practicing with the tutor helped students solve problems with fewer erroneous actions and less time.
Data First – Tax Next: How Fiji’s Technology Can Improve New Zealand’s 'Netflix Tax' (Part 2)

This is the second in a four-part series addressing VAT/GST avoidance schemes involving remote sales of services. These schemes have been growing in importance. The IMF reports that the services component of cross-border trade has been on the rise for fifty-years or more, making the Internet a serious threat to revenue. Technology has accelerated tax avoidance. Statutory draftsmen in New Zealand have looked at this problem directly with what has been called the Netflix Tax. Technologist in Fiji have been struggling with similar problems and have developed technology-based security systems that would seem to address remote sales of services more effectively than traditional approaches. Fighting technology with technology has some distinct advantages over a traditional statute and regulation approach. In a very real sense, computer code can be law, and can function as a tax regulation. Three additional aspects of the New Zealand Netflix Tax will be considered in this part: (a) threshold rules; (b) remote enforcement; and (c) double taxation of remote services. In each case the New Zealand rules will be considered, followed by an overlay of Fiji’s technological solution to show how inherent problems with traditional statutory solutions adopted by New Zealand can be mitigated with technology. The two papers following this part will consider four remaining issues: (a) placing tax responsibility for reporting and collecting VAT/GST with an electronic marketplace; (b) how to deal with domestic agents of remote service providers; (c) how to detect and respond to false information sent to the tax administration; and (d) how to deal with dual-status taxpayers.
Acute RhoA/Rho Kinase Inhibition Is Sufficient to Restore Phagocytic Capacity to Retinal Pigment Epithelium Lacking the Engulfment Receptor MerTK

The diurnal phagocytosis of spent photoreceptor outer segment fragments (POS) by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is essential for visual function. POS internalization by RPE cells requires the assembly of F-actin phagocytic cups beneath surface-tethered POS and Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK) signaling. The activation of the Rho family GTPase Rac1 is necessary for phagocytic cup formation, and Rac1 is activated normally in MerTK-deficient RPE. We show here that mutant RPE lacking MerTK and wild-type RPE deprived of MerTK ligand both fail to form phagocytic cups regardless of Rac1 activation. However, in wild-type RPE in vivo, a decrease in RhoA activity coincides with the daily phagocytosis burst, while RhoA activity in MerTK-deficient RPE is constant. Elevating RhoA activity blocks phagocytic cup formation and phagocytosis by wild-type RPE. Conversely, inhibiting RhoA effector Rho kinases (ROCKs) rescues both F-actin assembly and POS internalization of primary RPE if MerTK or its ligand are lacking. Most strikingly, acute ROCK inhibition is sufficient to induce the formation and acidification of endogenous POS phagosomes by MerTK-deficient RPE ex vivo. Altogether, RhoA pathway inactivation is a necessary and sufficient downstream effect of MerTK phagocytic signaling such that the acute manipulation of cytosolic ROCK activity suffices to restore phagocytic capacity to MerTK-deficient RPE.
The Constitution of Black Abolitionism: Re-Framing the Second Founding

Eric Foner has observed that historians of the Thirteenth Amendment have struggled “to find ways to get the voice of African Americans into discussions of the Amendment’s original meaning, scope, and limitation.” This article is part of a project to answer Professor Foner’s challenge to recover nineteenth-century African American constitutionalism. While there are many sources for accessing the views of African American writers, speakers, and activists, this article focuses on the rich contributions of the Black Convention Movement. Despite its importance in helping to set the terms for Reconstruction, the Black Convention Movement and the Black public sphere more generally have been under-utilized and under-studied as a part of our constitutional history. The documents from the state and national conventions of African Americans that took place from 1831 through the 1860s provide evidence of how African Americans understood constitutional ideals, principles, interpretations, and text in the period of time when significant constitutional change was about to take place. As we will see, the conventions included debates and statements about a range of constitutional ideas, from the meaning of freedom in a society infused with slavery and race prejudice, to complex views about the meaning of national citizenship, to fundamental questions about the validity and morality of the constitution itself. By the 1860s, as the Civil War revealed the possibility of an America freed from slavery, African American Conventions began to present a broad vision of civil society where constitutionally protected freedom and citizenship encompassed everything from suffrage to employment to property to education. This vision, while shared intermittently by some white abolitionist allies, was both more insistent and more encompassing than those ideas of freedom most often articulated in the white public sphere. This vision, I argue, is the lost meaning of African American constitutionalism and is one well worth exploring as we consider how and whether American constitutionalism in the twenty-first century can speak to us.
Topological Implications of Global Hypoellipticity

I collect here some results concerning implications of a topological nature of conditions such as ellipticity or hypoellipticity of a differential or pseudodifferential operator. Results of this kind help to better understand the scope of hypotheses of such essentially analytic conditions. This is of interest, in particular, in the case of complexes of differential operators, whether elliptic or not (for example, CR complexes).
Knowledge Based Control System for Automated Production and Assembly

This paper describes an experimental investigation into the routing of jobs in an automated production and assembly facility using a knowledge based system.
Rationale, development, implementation, and initial results of a fast track protocol for transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)

Background The care pathway for patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), particularly in the US, was initially based on open surgical techniques and often includes general anesthesia, transesophageal echocardiographic monitoring, and cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU) stays. Whether a subgroup of patients could benefit from early extubation, fewer days in the ICU, and early ambulation in terms of both cost and effectiveness is unknown. Methods and Results A fast track (FT) protocol was initiated at two institutions in our health system with specific inclusion criteria. Patients with complications or morbidity post procedure deemed ineligible to continue on the FT pathway were designated as deviations. Baseline characteristics, success and deviations, subsequent course, and direct costs were compared for FT eligible and ineligible patients over a 6-month study period. Among 99 patients undergoing Transfemoral TAVR, 39 (39%) met FT inclusion criteria. The mean age of eligible and ineligible patients was similar at 85 years, but by design, eligible patients had fewer co-morbid conditions. Successful completion of the FT protocol was achieved in 28 patients (72%). Patients on the FT had shorter ICU stays (28 ± 103 vs 45 ± 46 hours, P < 0.0001) and post-operative length of stay (4.3 ± 4.4 vs 7.2 ± 5.3 days, P < 0.0001), and incurred lower direct costs ($44,923 ± $14,187 vs $56, 339 ± 17,808, P < 0.0001). Conclusions It is feasible to identify a large percentage of suitable patients preprocedure who are eligible for a FT postprocedure care pathway. There was no evidence for compromise of care and successful completion of the pathway was associated with shorter length of stay and fewer direct costs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Smart Warriors: A Rationale for Educating Air Force Academy Cadets in the History of Science, Technology, and Warfare.

A crucial pedagogical issue facing instructors of History of Science and Technology (HST) at a military institution like the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is enhancing the judgment of cadets through education so that they can make informed and intelligent decisions as officers. Fundamental understanding of relationships between HST and warfare provides much needed context for making decisions in the complex technical milieu cadets inhabit. A related goal is to instill in cadets a critical attitude towards technology. Getting cadets to examine the value of new weapons technology is sometimes difficult, however. Cadets identify closely with the Air Force and the technology of flight; a critical attitude towards this technology may seem unhealthy to them, or even a form of betrayal or institutional disloyalty. Cadets nevertheless need to gain an appreciation for the context of HST, especially the dialectical interaction of science and technology with military doctrine. This paper discusses the experience of helping cadets to meet such challenges in learning HST in the context of professional military training.
A Review of “Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque: The Living, Dead and Undead in Japan's Imperialism, 1895–1945”

Mark Driscoll's Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque offers the reader a powerful and original history of Japan's empire through an examination of its capitalist development. Informed by Marx's noti...