cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Aquaporin-mediated changes in hydraulic conductivity of deep tree roots accessed via caves.

Although deep roots can contribute substantially to whole- tree water use, little is known about deep root functioning because of limited access for in situ measurements. We used a cave system on the Edwards Plateau of central Texas to investigate the physiology of water transport in roots at 18-20 m depth for two common tree species, Quercus fusi- formis and Bumelia lanuginosa. Using sap flow and water potential measurements on deep roots, we found that cal- culated root hydraulic conductivity (RHC) fluctuated diur- nally for both species and decreased under shading for B. lanuginosa. To assess whether these dynamic changes in RHC were regulated during initial water absorption by fine roots, we used an ultra-low flowmeter and hydroxyl radical inhibition to measure in situ fine root hydraulic conductiv- ity (FRHC) and aquaporin contribution to FRHC (AQPC), respectively. During the summer, FRHC and AQPC were found to cycle diurnally in both species, with peaks corre- sponding to the period of highest transpirational demand at midday. During whole-tree shade treatments,B.lanuginosa FRHC ceased diurnal cycling and decreased by 75 and 35% at midday and midnight, respectively, while AQPC decreased by 41 and 30% during both time periods. A con- trolled growth-chamber study using hydroponically grown saplings confirmed daily cycling and shade-induced reduc- tions in FRHC and AQPC. Winter measurements showed that the evergreen Q. fusiformis maintained high FRHC and AQPC throughout the year, while the deciduous B. lanuginosa ceased diurnal cycling and exhibited its lowest annual values for both parameters in winter. Adjustments in FRHC and AQPC to changing canopy water demands may help the trees maintain the use of reliable water resources from depth and contribute to the success of these species in this semi-arid environment.
CREB trans-activation of disruptor of telomeric silencing-1 mediates forskolin inhibition of CTGF transcription in mesangial cells.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) participates in diverse fibrotic processes including glomerulosclerosis. The adenylyl cyclase agonist forskolin inhibits CTGF expression in mesangial cells by...
Evaluation of the impacts of data hot-spots in disk arrays on performance and availability

This paper investigates the impacts of data hot spots on performance and system availability of disk arrays. We perform experiments on RAID 5 to show quantitatively how hot-spots affect the performance in terms of I/O throughput and availability in terms of mean time to repair, MTTR. We find that for small access workloads, the performance, and system availability, is dominated by the access pattern (read/write), with negligible change due to increases in hot-spot activity. Workloads with larger accesses see a much larger performance and availability impact with increased hot-spot activity.
Design and construction of a versatile dual volume heteronuclear double resonance microcoil NMR probe.

Abstract Improved NMR detection of mass limited samples can be obtained by taking advantage of the mass sensitivity of microcoil NMR, while throughput issues can be addressed using multiple, parallel sample detection coils. We present the design and construction of a double resonance 300-MHz dual volume microcoil NMR probe with thermally etched 440-nL detection volumes and fused silica transfer lines for high-throughput stopped-flow or flow-through sample analysis. Two orthogonal solenoidal detection coils and the novel use of shielded inductors allowed the construction of a probe with negligible radio-frequency cross talk. The probe was resonated at 1H–2D (upper coil) and 1H–13C (lower coil) frequencies such that it could perform 1D and 2D experiments with active locking frequency. The coils exhibited line widths of 0.8–1.1 Hz with good mass sensitivity for both 1H and 13C NMR detection. 13C-directly detected 2D HETCOR spectra of 5% v/v 13C labeled acetic acid were obtained in less than 5 min. Demonstration of the probe characteristics as well as applications of the versatile two-coil double resonance probe are discussed.
Mucosal healing in ulcerative colitis: surveillance or colectomy?

A 38-year-old patient presented with bloody diarrhea (7 to 8 bowel movements per day), abdominal pain and weight loss. Blood tests showed moderate anemia and an increased C-reactive protein. Stool culture and Clostridium difficile toxin were negative. Ileocolonoscopy revealed moderate-severe pancolitis: the mucosa from rectum to cecum showed superficial and deep ulcers, friability and spontaneous bleeding of mucosa. Histology showed characteristic findings of ulcerative colitis (UC). He was treated for 5 days with i.v. methylprednisolone without improvement and then he started infliximab therapy. Intestinal symptoms significantly improved after induction. One-year colonoscopy showed mucosal healing (MH) with diffuse pseudopolyps (Fig. ​(Fig.1A,1A, ​,B).B). MH has an important role in determining treatment effectiveness and long-term prognosis in patients with UC. MH in UC is linked with a lower risk of relapse, a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, a decreased need for surgery and improved quality of life [1]. Surveillance colo-noscopy is strongly recommended to control the increased risk of colorectal carcinoma in patients with long-standing UC [2]. MH in UC is currently defined as “absence of friability, blood, erosions and ulcers in all the visualized segments” [3]. In this patient, the Mayo endoscopic score is 0, but the presence of numerous large pseudopolyps raises some questions: could the endoscopic findings be defined as complete MH? How does one implement and manage surveillance in this patient: colonoscopy or colectomy? Figure 1 (A,B) Mucosal healing with diffuse pseudopolyps
TileMap: create chromosomal map of tiling array hybridizations

Motivation: Tiling array is a new type of microarray that can be used to survey genomic transcriptional activities and transcription factor binding sites at high resolution. The goal of this paper is to develop effective statistical tools to identify genomic loci that show transcriptional or protein binding patterns of interest. Results: A two-step approach is proposed and is implemented in TileMap. In the first step, a test-statistic is computed for each probe based on a hierarchical empirical Bayes model. In the second step, the test-statistics of probes within a genomic region are used to infer whether the region is of interest or not. Hierarchical empirical Bayes model shrinks variance estimates and increases sensitivity of the analysis. It allows complex multiple sample comparisons that are essential for the study of temporal and spatial patterns of hybridization across different experimental conditions. Neighboring probes are combined through a moving average method (MA) or a hidden Markov model (HMM). Unbalanced mixture subtraction is proposed to provide approximate estimates of false discovery rate for MA and model parameters for HMM. Availability: TileMap is freely available at http://biogibbs.stanford.edu/~jihk/TileMap/index.htm Contact: whwong@stanford.edu Supplementary information:http://biogibbs.stanford.edu/~jihk/TileMap/index.htm (includes coloured versions of all figures)
Nursing Science and Chronic Illness: Articulating Suffering and Possibility in Family Life

Families living with a member who has a chronic illness vacillate between hope and despair, suffering and possibility. How this living "between" evolves in families and how family relations are affected has received insufficient attention. As nurses we can learn families' experiences of suffering and situated possibility through family narratives about and reflections on the everyday. Articulating this experience in thick, alive, complex, and practical texts promises to enhance our understanding, our practice with families, and our own lived possibilities.
Landscape community genomics: understanding eco-evolutionary processes in complex environments

Extrinsic factors influencing evolutionary processes are often categorically lumped into interactions that are environmentally (e.g., climate, landscape) or community-driven, with little consideration of the overlap or influence of one on the other. However, genomic variation is strongly influenced by complex and dynamic interactions between environmental and community effects. Failure to consider both effects on evolutionary dynamics simultaneously can lead to incomplete, spurious, or erroneous conclusions about the mechanisms driving genomic variation. We highlight the need for a landscape community genomics (LCG) framework to help to motivate and challenge scientists in diverse fields to consider a more holistic, interdisciplinary perspective on the genomic evolution of multi-species communities in complex environments.
Preliminary criteria for clinical remission in rheumatoid arthritis

A study was conducted to develop criteria for clinical remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Data were provided by 35 rheumatologists on 175 RA patients considered to be in complete remission (with or without antirheumatic therapy) and 169 RA patients in partial remission or with active disease. Six criteria yielded optimal discrimination: morning stiffness absent or not exceeding 15 minutes, no fatigue, no joint pain by history, no joint tenderness, no joint or tendon sheath swelling, and no elevation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate. In this study sample, the presence of five or more of these criteria in an individual patient yielded 72% sensitivity for clinical remission and 100% specificity in discriminating RA patients with active disease. In a population sample, it is estimated that the overall accuracy of these criteria would be more than 90% in RA patients.
Near-Real-Time Applications of a Mesoscale Analysis System to Complex Terrain

Abstract Several mesoscale data analysis systems are reviewed, of which one is then adapted and applied to the complex terrain of northwest Utah and the western United States. The analysis system relies on the simple, but computationally efficient, successive correction methodology. Near-real-time three-dimensional mesoscale analyses are produced hourly over northwest Utah at 1-km horizontal resolution while analyses are produced every 15 min for surface fields over northwest Utah and the western United States. Surface analyses over the western United States are also generated at 0000 and 1200 UTC to help to initialize 36-h mesoscale model forecasts. Comparisons between the 1-km three-dimensional analyses and the background three-dimensional analysis provided by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Rapid Update Cycle, version 2 (RUC-2), indicate that, where surface and upper-air observations are abundant, the local analysis adds information beyond that of simply interpolating the background (...
Constitution-Reading Through Tocqueville's Eyes

In this essay I argue that the method of constitutional analysis used by French magistrate, philosopher, and statesman Alexis de Tocqueville is a highly useful guide for rethinking the nature and purposes of constitutions, and the United States Constitution in particular. Tocqueville is frequently cited by American lawyers, both on particular points of law and on the general nature of American legal and political culture. I seek to take this appreciation a step further by setting forth the manner in which Tocqueville bases his discussion of our constitution on his analysis of our culture. The result, I argue, is a nuanced understanding of our constitution as responding to rather than shaping pre-existing institutions and laws. Serious consideration of this Tocqueville’s method would produce an approach to constitutional analysis more accurately reflecting the document’s purposes and more likely to produce judicial decisions in keeping with that document’s intrinsic relationship to American society and culture
Functioning, Forgetting, or Failing Health: Which Factors Are Associated With a Community-Based Move Among Older Adults?

OBJECTIVE To examine whether the health and functioning of middle-aged and older adults are associated with an increased likelihood of community-based moves. METHOD Biennial data from adults aged 51 and older in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and discrete-time survival models were used to assess the likelihood of community-based moves from 2000 to 2010 as a function of 11 measures of health and functioning. RESULTS Respondents diagnosed with heart disease, stroke, hypertension, lung disease, and psychiatric problems were more likely to move during the study period than those with no such diagnosis. Changes in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living functioning, cognitive impairment, and falls were also related to a greater likelihood of moving during the study period. Cancer and diabetes were not related to overall moves, although diabetes was associated with an increased likelihood of local moves. For the most part, it was longstanding not recent diagnoses that were significantly related to the likelihood of moving. DISCUSSION Although some health conditions precipitate moves among middle-aged and older adults, others do not. This work has important implications for understanding the role of different aspects of health and functioning in the likelihood of migration among older adults.
The modulated expression of Mo5, a human myelomonocytic plasma membrane antigen.

Mo5 is a 94-kd protein antigen expressed by human peripheral blood monocytes. neutrophils. and by all bone marrow myeloperoxidase-positive myeloid precursors (promyelocytes, myelocytes, metamyelocytes. and bands). Mo5 is borne by the malignant cells of 74% of patients (N = 27) with acute monocytic leukemia (French-AmericanBritish [FAB] group M4, M5), and 50% of patients (N = 38) with acute granulocytic leukemia (FAB Ml . M2, and M3). Nonmyeloid cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow are Mo5-negative. The surface expression of Mo5 by myeloid cells is modulated by several experimental conditions: Exposure of neutrophils to calcium ionophore (1 �omol/L. 37 ‘C. ten minutes) under conditions resulting in degranulation of specific granules produces a three- to fourfold increase in the plasma membrane density of Mo5 antigen. This suggests that, in neutrophils, there is an intracellular M ONOCLONAL ANTI BODY technology has facilitated the development of antibodies directed against specific cell surface antigens. We and others have taken advantage of these techniques and have directed our efforts toward identifying antigenic markers on the surface of human myeloid cells.”2 In many cases, these plasma membrane determinants exhibit a distribution of expression that makes them useful in the study of myeloid differentiation, ie, antigenic expression restricted to the human myeloid lineage or to morphologically/functionally distinguishable subsets along the differentiation pathway in bone marrow and circulating compartments. In addition, certain myeloid-associated antigens have been found to reside on macromolecules demonstrating receptor activity, thus allowing the use of monoclonal reagents as specific probes of receptor expression and function.3 6 In this paper, we report the identification of a myeloid antigen, Mo5, that is expressed by virtually all myeloperoxidase-positive myeloid precursors in human
Characterization of sputtered nickel-titanium shape memory alloy and microfabricated thermal actuators

We report on the microfabrication and thermal characterization of shape memory alloy (SMA) thin film nickel-titanium (NiTi) bimorph cantilever actuators, which actuate between nearly flat and 1.2 mm radius of curvature states upon heating from room temperature to above 60°C. Through the use of thin film platinum (Pt) in conjunction with high temperature deposition of equiatomic NiTi, we have enabled in-situ crystallization, partially circumventing problems associated with many high temperature, post-process anneals reported in other MEMS SMA demonstrations. We have validated shape memory effects using wafer bow measurements for NiTi films down to thicknesses of 270 nm, and predicted folding of released structures down to 100 nm. We also optically actuated 1.4 μm thick devices with a 440 mW, 532 nm laser at 1.44–7.2 W/cm2.
Fluorescence imaging of near infrared diffusive wave with a priori information

In this paper, a dual-mesh imaging method is extended into fluorescent imaging. The image quality is highly dependent upon source and detector distributions, and a circular source distribution around a target region provides superior images.
Surface Water Withdrawals for Marcellus Shale Gas Development: Performance of Alternative Regulatory Approaches in the Upper Ohio River Basin

Almost all of the water used for developing Marcellus Shale gas is withdrawn from surface water sources. State environmental and interstate water authorities take different approaches to managing these withdrawals. In the Upper Ohio River Basin, which covers the western third of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requires that all water sources used for development have an approved water management plan. For surface water sources the plans stipulate the amount and timing of withdrawals from each source as a function of annual streamflow statistics. Neighboring regulatory authorities and some environmental groups now favor the use of monthly streamflow statistics to establish the conditions for water withdrawals. Our analysis indicates that, given the state of flow measurement data in the Upper Ohio River Basin, the annual streamflow statistics are more likely to prevent water withdrawals during the driest times of the year when aquatic ecosystems are most stressed, and t...
Physiological Contraction of Double Hearts in Rabbit Embryos

SummaryRabbit embryos, removed during the ninth day of gestation, were cultured in hanging drops. Studies of the heart show that the 2 primitive lateral heart tubes beat regularly for some hours before they fuse to form one heart. There are marked differences between the 2 sides both morphologically and physiologically. The hearts develop considerably before fusing, as evidenced by the movement of cellular elements within the vessels. At early stages the contractions involve only the ventricles, but before fusion to form a single heart the impulses may be seen to originate in the respective atria.
Characterisation of Ion Implanted and Thin Epitaxial Layer Structures Using Photoluminescence

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements of thin rapidly annealed As implants have been made. The experimental conditions required to enhance the PL signal from the implant region have been established. Our data suggest that residual defects within the implanted volume can completely quench the PL signal. For the range of anneal times investigated (0.3s to 10s) we find that temperatures above 1050°C are needed to remove these defects. Anneal temperatures of 1350°C remove the defects sufficiently to allow us to observe strong PL from the implanted volume..
A curvature based approach using long-gage fiber optic sensors

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors offer a significant advantage for structural health monitoring due to their ability to simultaneously monitor both static and dynamic strain while being durable, lightweight, capable of multiplexing, and immune to electro-magnetic interference. Drawing upon the benefits of FBG sensors, this research explores the use of a series of long-gage fiber optic sensors for damage detection of a structure through dynamic strain measurements and curvature analysis. Typically structural monitoring relies upon detecting structural changes through frequency and acceleration based analysis. However, curvature and strain based analysis may be a more reliable means for structural monitoring as they show more sensitivity to damage compared to modal parameters such as displacement mode shapes and natural frequency. Additionally, long gage FBG strain sensors offer a promising alternative to traditional dynamic measurement methods as the curvature can be computed directly from the FBG strain measurements without the need for numerical differentiation. Small scale experimental testing was performed using an aluminum beam instrumented with a series of FBG optical fiber sensors. Dynamic strain measurements were obtained as the aluminum beam was subjected to various loading and support conditions. From this, a novel normalized parameter based on the curvature from the dynamic strain measurements has been identified as a potential damage sensitive feature. Theoretical predictions and experimental data were compared and conclusions carried out. The results demonstrated the potential of the novel normalized parameter to facilitate dynamic monitoring at both the local and global scale, thus allowing assessment of the structures health.
Integrated cTAKES for Concept Mention Detection and Normalization.

We participated Task 1 using an existing system MedTagger implemented in integrated cTAKES (icTAKES). The concept mention detection is based on Conditional Random Fields (CRF) and the concept mention normalization is based on a greedy dictionary lookup algorithm. A distinctive feature in MedTagger compared to other concept mention detection systems is the incorporation of dictionary lookup results into a machine learning framework for sequential labeling. Dictionary lookup results of MedLex and semantic vectors representing distributed semantics were used as features. Overall, the precision, recall, and F-measure of our best run for concept mention are 0.8, 0.573, and 0.668 respectively for strict evaluation and 0.939, 0.766, and 0.844 for relaxed evaluation. The accuracy of our best run for concept mention normalization is 54.6% and 87.0% for strict and relaxed mapping, respectively.
Computed tomography of the lower urinary tract.

SUMMARY CT can be helpful in staging bladder and prostate cancer as described previously. The limitations are significant in certain aspects of staging. It is important for the future to compare state-of-the-art computed tomographic scanning with newer imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging, which is currently being evaluated for staging these particular tumors.
INFO-U FAXBACK: Delivering Consumer Information through Fax-on-demand Technology

Fax-on-demand technology is an excellent match for extension programs, providing customers immediate access to print information, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With the multiplier effect of a totally automated system, large audiences can be reached with reduced staff time compared to answering calls on a one-to-one basis. Fax-on-demand technology can become a significant cost savings to extension programs. Each fax sent by INFO-U FAXBACK saves the Minnesota Extension Service (MES) $2.50 in postage, printing, and handling costs. Fax-on-demand can be a delivery means for printed materials when funds for printing are limited. Industry figures estimate that currently 7% of American households have fax capacity, with numbers increasing by 30% a year. Many have accessibility to fax at their work site. Fax service is available in communities through local businesses. Businesses and agencies can serve as collaborators in an extension fax-on-demand system. For example, a local nursery and garden store can provide fax-on-demand as a customer service.
Art and Argument in Sybil

Disraeli returned to fiction with the specific purpose of arguing the political viewpoint of Young England. He wanted the ideas of Young England, the group which recognised him as its leader after years as an outsider, to have impact upon the governing class. Disraeli wished to use Sybil not only to explain but to justify his political philosophy; to do this, he needed to expose the condition of England. He believed that as a potential leader he had to be identified with clearly defined theoretical positions: ‘My conception of a great statesman is of one who represents a great idea — an idea which may lead him to power; an idea with which he might identify himself; an idea he may develop; an idea which he may and can impress upon the nation.’1 In the 1849 preface to the fifth edition of Coningsby, he recalled his realisation that he could ‘adopt the form offiction as the instrument to scatter his suggestions … [and] avail himself of a method which, in the temper of the times, offered the best chance of influencing opinion’. Published in 1845, Sybil: or the Two Nations was one of the most inclusive novels of English life to have been written since Tom Jones (1749). Sybil’s space is co-extensive with England, its time is England’s history, and its subject is the political and social circumstances of English life.
Selected Topics in Aerobic Bacteriology

Aerobic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria can be important pathogens in the immunocompromised host. These bacteria can be found in many environments, as part of the normal microbiota of the human host and animals, in soil and water, on plants, on fomites in the hospital, and on hospital equipment. This review provides information from relevant studies about what are the most common aerobic bacteria associated with patients who have cancer and/or are being treated for it, or who have other diseases which lead to immunodeficiencies, such as HIV, multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia, chronic diseases, and aging. A discussion of the appropriate laboratory tests needed for diagnosis of aerobic infections and information about antibiotics and susceptibility testing are also included.
Challenges and considerations of analog front-ends design for portable ultrasound systems

High performance portable ultrasound imaging system is demanded by a wide variety of point of care applications. Ultrasound system minimization and improvement have been proven in the past several years. One of the main driving forces for portable ultrasound system minimization and improvement is the advanced semiconductor technology. Besides, transducer technology is further enhancing system sensitivity and reducing system cost. Corresponding silicon processes were selected for achieving low power, low noise and compact size in ultrasound analog front-end (AFE) design. The combination of bipolar and CMOS processes achieves significant power, noise and size reduction, as well as superior CW performance. Key considerations of ultrasound analog front-end were discussed and analyzed. Standard test procedures were developed to assist the design.
ePython: An Implementation of Python for the Many-Core Epiphany Co-processor

The Epiphany is a many-core, low power, low on-chip memory architecture and one can very cheaply gain access to a number of parallel cores which is beneficial for HPC education and prototyping. The very low power nature of these architectures also means that there is potential for their use in future HPC machines, however there is a high barrier to entry in programming them due to the associated complexities and immaturity of supporting tools.In this paper we present our work on ePython, a subset of Python for the Epiphany and similar many-core co-processors. Due to the limited on-chip memory per core we have developed a new Python interpreter and this, combined with additional support for parallelism, has meant that novices can take advantage of Python to very quickly write parallel codes on the Epiphany and explore concepts of HPC using a smaller scale parallel machine. The high level nature of Python opens up new possibilities on the Epiphany, we examine a computationally intensive Gauss-Seidel code from the programmability and performance perspective, discuss running Python hybrid on both the host CPU and Epiphany, and interoperability between a full Python interpreter on the CPU and ePython on the Epiphany. The result of this work is support for developing Python on the Epiphany, which can be applied to other similar architectures, that the community have already started to adopt and use to explore concepts of parallelism and HPC.
Augmented personalized health: How smart data with IoTs and AI is about to change healthcare

Healthcare as we know it is in the process of going through a massive change — from episodic to continuous, from disease focused to wellness and quality of life focused, from clinic centric to anywhere a patient is, from clinician controlled to patient empowered, and from being driven by limited data to 360-degree, multimodal personal-public-population physical-cyber-social big data driven. While ability to create and capture data is already here, the upcoming innovations will be in converting this big data into smart data through contextual and personalized processing such that patients and clinicians can make better decisions and take timely actions for augmented personalized health. This paper outlines current opportunities and challenges, with a focus on key AI approaches to make this a reality. The broader vision is exemplified using three ongoing applications (asthma in children, bariatric surgery, and pain management) as part of the Kno.e.sis kHealth personalized digital health initiative.
Latinos, Class, and the U. S. Political Economy

Few studies analyze the mechanisms that cause inequality in earnings, employment, and occupational achievement between Latino and non-Latino populations. Compared to analyses of income for blacks, relatively little attention has been devoted to the study of income determination among Latino populations. Previous studies consider income inequalities from the perspective of human capital theory. In this chapter, we will consider two dominant theoretical perspectives for explaining income inequality: the human capital model and the class/structural model. Then we will review related empirical studies of Latino populations. After critiquing the human capital and class/structural perspectives, we will discuss policy initiatives emerging from these two competing models on income inequality. Lastly, we will consider future research directions for the analysis of income determination and employment among Latinos in the United States and conclude with some thoughts on the challenges we face in the post-Reagan era in constructing policy alternatives and initiating a movement that secures economic and political justice.
Bowing of elements and changes in radial coolant temperature profile over subassembly lifetime

A time-temperature history of in-core thermocouples has been kept for an instrumented subassembly irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II). This paper presents some of the data which indicate that (a) the radial coolant temperatures tend to flatten out with irradiation, (b) this flattening is gradual, with time, after a short incubation period, and (c) these changes are caused by element bowing and redistribution.
Prisms and Pyramids of Shelling Components

We study how the shelling components behave under the pyramid and prism operations. As a consequence we obtain a concise recursion for the cubical shelling contributions.
Identification of retinal homeobox (rax) gene–dependent genes by a microarray approach: The DNA endoglycosylase neil3 is a major downstream component of the rax genetic pathway

Background The retinal homeobox (rx/rax) gene is a transcription factor expressed in the developing eye field that is necessary for normal eye development. rax is necessary for retinal specification and stem cell development. The genetic program of early retinal development, including rax expression, can be induced in naive ectoderm by activation of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling. We have undertaken a microarray-based approach to identify rax-dependent IGF-induced genes. Results We identified 21 IGF-induced genes that exhibit at least a two-fold decrease in expression when rax expression is knocked down. Ten of these genes were expressed in the developing eye, eight were expressed in the ciliary marginal zone of the mature tadpole retina, and four could significantly rescue the rax knockdown phenotype. One of these, the nei endonuclease VIII-like 3 (neil3) gene, rescued the rax knockdown phenotype to a remarkable degree. We found that neil3 is necessary for normal retinal lamination and retinal neuron differentiation. Conclusions We have identified neil3 as a component of the rax genetic pathway necessary for normal retinal progenitor cell development. neil3 is involved in the base excision DNA repair pathway, suggesting that this pathway is essential for normal rax-dependent progenitor cell development in the mature retina. Developmental Dynamics 247:1199-1210, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Single-Molecule Sensing Using Nanopores in Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Carbide (MXene) Membranes

Label-free nanopore technology for sequencing biopolymers such as DNA and RNA could potentially replace existing methods if improvements in cost, speed, and accuracy are achieved. Solid-state nanopores have been developed over the past two decades as physically and chemically versatile sensors that mimic biological channels, through which transport and sequencing of biomolecules have already been demonstrated. Of particular interest is the use of two-dimensional (2D) materials as nanopore substrates, since these can in theory provide the highest resolution readout (<1 nm of a biopolymer segment) and opportunities for electronic multiplexed readout through their interesting electronic properties. In this work, we report on nanopores comprising atomically thin flakes of 2D transition metal carbides called MXenes. We demonstrate a high-yield (60%), contamination-free, and alignment-free transfer method that involves their self-assembly at a liquid–liquid interface to large-scale (mm-sized) films composed of ...
Role of Radiation Therapy in the Management of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma: A Systematic Review

Abstract Purpose Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is the most aggressive primary pediatric brain tumor, with Methods and Materials A literature search for studies published up to March 10, 2018 was conducted using the PubMed database. We identified 384 articles using search items “diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma” and 221 articles using search items “diffuse brainstem glioma radiotherapy.” Included studies were prospective and retrospective series that reported outcomes of DIPG treatment with RT. Results We identified 49 studies (1286 patients) using upfront conventionally fractionated RT, 5 studies (92 patients) using hypofractionated RT, and 8 studies (348 patients) using hyperfractionated RT. The mean median overall survival (OS) was 12.0 months, 10.2 months, and 7.9 months in patients who received conventional, hyperfractionated, and hypofractionated RT regimens, respectively. Patients undergoing radiosensitizing therapy had a mean median OS of 11.5 months, and patients who did not receive concomitant systemic therapy had an OS of 9.4 months. In patients who received salvage RT, the mean median OS from initial diagnosis was 16.3 months. Conclusions As one of the largest systematic reviews examining RT for DIPG, this report may serve as a useful tool to help clinicians choose the most appropriate treatment approach, while also providing a platform for future investigations into the utility of RT and systemic therapy.
The Effect of Temporary Changes and Expectations on Individuals' Decisions: Evidence from a Tax Compliance Setting

Based on prospect theory's value function, we predict how reference points adapt to influence individuals' tax evasion choices during and after experiencing temporary tax changes. Results from a mu...
An effective, low-cost approach to improving medication adherence among immigrant and refugee populations

Medication adherence among children is complex, requiring an adherent caregiver. Low educational level, low socioeconomic status and language barrier are factors influencing adherence. In presented case, the primary reason for non-adherence was the mother’s poor communication skills due to a language barrier. We overcame the problem with a simple, virtually cost-free technique, which includes color labels and saw dramatic changes in medication adherence for our patient. This approach can be especially useful for immigrant and refugee populations, and we believe it can also complement existing interpretation services and other approaches to improve medication adherence for all patients.
X-Ray Standing Waves

One of the more fascinating aspects of dynamical Bragg diffraction of x-rays is the excitation of standing wave fields inside the crystal. Direct experimental manifestations of standing wave effects were evident in the discovery of anomalous transmission in the case of the Laue geometry by (1941) and in studies of fluorescent scattering in the Bragg geometry initiated by (1964). Experiments in the Bragg geometry (i.e., the diffracted beam exits the crystal through the same face that the incident beam enters) had the peculiar advantage that only a single standing wave-type eigenfunction is excited in the crystal and this field could be manipulated experimentally to probe atom sites in the diffracting crystal. It was later pointed out by (1974) that studies directly within the Bragg band gap could lead to comprehensive atom-location information. Subsequent work has demonstrated that both surface and near-surface impurities can be localized to approximately one hundredth of a lattice constant (Andersen, Golovchenko and Mair, 1976).
Quantification of the effect of bindersource on flexibility of long-term ged asphalt concrete

Asphalt concrete (AC) aging reduces the resistance of flexible pavements to fatigue, thermal, and block cracking. Therefore, it is critical to understand the effects of AC aging on flexible pavemen...
Simplified MethylRAD Sequencing to Detect Changes in DNA Methylation at Enhancer Elements in Differentiating Embryonic Stem Cells

Differential DNA methylation is characteristic of gene regulatory regions, such as enhancers, which mostly constitute low or intermediate CpG content in their DNA sequence. Consequently, quantification of changes in DNA methylation at these sites is challenging. Given that DNA methylation across most of the mammalian genome is maintained, the use of genome-wide bisulfite sequencing to measure fractional changes in DNA methylation at specific sites is an overexertion which is both expensive and cumbersome. Here, we developed a MethylRAD technique with an improved experimental plan and bioinformatic analysis tool to examine regional DNA methylation changes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) during differentiation. The transcriptional silencing of pluripotency genes (PpGs) during ESC differentiation is accompanied by PpG enhancer (PpGe) silencing mediated by the demethylation of H3K4me1 by LSD1. Our MethylRAD data show that in the presence of LSD1 inhibitor, a significant fraction of LSD1-bound PpGe fails to gain DNA methylation. We further show that this effect is mostly observed in PpGes with low/intermediate CpG content. Underscoring the sensitivity and accuracy of MethylRAD sequencing, our study demonstrates that this method can detect small changes in DNA methylation in regulatory regions, including those with low/intermediate CpG content, thus asserting its use as a method of choice for diagnostic purposes.
SATIRE AND THE LIE OF POLITICS: EL MONO(MÉXICO, 1833).

espanolEl Mono fue un semanario mexicano conservador que, en 1833, ataco consistentemente el gobierno liberal de Valentin Gomez Farias. A partir de un modo satirico que tomo de una novela italiana, El Mono critico los cimientos de la politica liberal: la soberania popular, la opinion publica y la accion politica. Sus editores insistieron que la politica liberal no respondia a la razon, sino a vicios privados. Por ello, los unicos basamentos estables para la sociedad debian ser la moral, la tradicion y la costumbre. Este trabajo muestra como esta critica dependio del uso de la satira juvenaliana. EnglishEl Mono was a short-lived conservative satirical newspaper in Mexico that, in 1833, consistently attacked the liberal government of Valentin Gomez Farias. Sustained by a mode of satire that it drew from an Italian 1749 satirical novel, El Mono’s editors undermined the conceptual foundations of liberal politics: popular sovereignty, public opinion and political action. Ultimately, for the editors, liberal politics responded neither to logic nor rational ideas, but to private vices. Thus, they held that the only stable grounds for society was morality, tradition and custom. This paper shows how this critique was developed through the use of Juvenalian satire.
Mindfulness Meditation for Hospitalized Pediatric Patients: A Pilot Study

Background: Hospitalized pediatric patients often suffer from acute pain and anxiety. Medications or distraction methods are frequently the first line therapeutics for such symptoms. Many studies have demonstrated the benefit of meditation for adult patients, however limited data exists regarding the role of meditation in hospitalized pediatric patients. We hypothesize that providers from various professional backgrounds can be trained to lead a bedside mindfulness meditation, which can be an effective and safe modality to decrease anxiety and pain in hospitalized pediatric patients. Methods: One nurse and one …
Impact of the Season of Birth on the Development of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in the United States: A Nationwide Registry-based Study.

Objective Autoimmune disorders result from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Many autoimmune disorders are associated with specific seasons of birth, implicating a role for environmental determinants in their etiopathology. We investigated if there is an association between the season of birth and the development of juvenile idiopathic arthritis ( JIA). Methods Birth data from 10,913 children with JIA enrolled at 62 Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Registry sites was compared with 109,066,226 US births from the same period using a chi‑square goodness-of-fit test. Season of birth of the JIA cohort was compared to the US population estimate using a 2-sided 1-sample test for a binomial proportion and corrected for multiple comparisons. Secondary analysis was performed for JIA categories, age of onset, and month of birth. Results A greater proportion of children with JIA were born in winter (January–March) compared to the US general population (25.72% vs 24.08%; corrected P 6 yrs). When analyzed by the month of birth, a greater proportion of children with JIA were born in January compared to the US population (9.44% vs 8.13%; corrected P Conclusion Relative to the general population, children with JIA are more often born in the winter, and specifically in the month of January. These observations support the hypothesis that seasonal variations in exposures during the gestational and/or early postnatal periods may contribute to development of JIA.
U.S. v. Microsoft: Where Did the Time Go?

Antitrust law enforcement is sometimes criticized for taking too long to obtain results. On the one hand, slowness has potentially harmful consequences for market competition, consumers and business. On the other hand, fast outcomes are perhaps more likely to contain errors in fact and assessment and less likely to form good precedent. To provide a detailed examination of length of process and potential market consequences, the U.S. v Microsoft antitrust case is examined. The case took more than six years between the government receiving a complaint and the end of the last court proceeding. During the investigations and court proceedings, Microsoft’s market share of browser usage rose from less than 20% to above 90%. After the conclusion of the case, its market share declined relatively consistently for many years. A structural breakpoint is found near the end of proceedings, consistent with the long-run efficacy of competition law.
Letter regarding:How much will a catheter tip expand in aspiration thrombectomy?

We read with great interest the recent paper by Li et al , which concluded that the tip of an aspiration catheter can expand to 115–125% of its original inner diameter (ID) when corked by a clot analog, creating an ‘aspiration force’ 61–99% higher than the theoretical value based on the labelled ID.1 We want to congratulate the authors on this novel finding, but also want to respectfully present our disagreement on the method to quantify the expansion of catheter tip ID and the interpretation of the measured force. The authors hypothesized that firm clots, when being aspirated into soft aspiration catheters, may actually expand the catheter tips. If correct, this expansion would lead to enhanced aspiration force, which is proportional to tip area, and thus potentially increase efficacy of clot extraction. However, instead of directly measuring catheter tip diameter when aspirating firm clots, the authors applied an indirect measure of tip area using a stiff cone-shaped 3D-printed resin clot analog. First, the authors measured the force required to …
Statins and clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with and without Diabetes Mellitus: a retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching.

The pleiotropic effects of statins may reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease. This study aims to determine the association between inpatient statin use and severe disease outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, especially those with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). A retrospective cohort study on hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. The primary outcome was mortality during hospitalization. Patients were classified into statin and non-statin groups based on the administration of statins during hospitalization. Analysis included multivariable regression analysis adjusting for confounders and propensity score matching to achieve a 1:1 balanced cohort. Subgroup analyses based on presence of DM were conducted. In the cohort of 922 patients, 413 had a history of DM. About 27.1% patients (n = 250) in the total cohort (TC) and 32.9% patients (n = 136) in DM cohort received inpatient statins. Atorvastatin (n = 205, 82%) was the most commonly prescribed statin medication in TC. On multivariable analysis in TC, inpatient statin group had reduced mortality compared to the non-statin group (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42–0.90; p = 0.01). DM modified this association between inpatient statins and mortality. Patients with DM who received inpatient statins had reduced mortality (OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.21–0.61; p < 0.001). However, no such association was noted among patients without DM (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.67–2.17; p = 0.52). These results were further validated using propensity score matching. Inpatient statin use was associated with significant reduction in mortality among COVID-19 patients especially those with DM. These findings support the pursuit of randomized clinical trials and inpatient statin use appears safe among COVID-19 patients.
The Three-Boson System at Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order

We discuss effective field-theory treatments of the problem of three particles interacting via short-range forces (range R ≪ a2, with a2 the two-body scattering length). We show that forming a once-subtracted scattering equation yields a scattering amplitude whose low-momentum part is renormalization-group invariant up to corrections of O(R3/a23). Since corrections of O(R/a2) and O(R2/a22) can be straightforwardly included in the integral equation’s kernel, a unique solution for 1 + 2 scattering phase shifts and three-body bound-state energies can be obtained up to this accuracy. We use our equation to calculate the correlation between the binding energies of Helium-4 trimers and the atom-dimer scattering length. Our results are in excellent agreement with recent three-dimensional Faddeev calculations that used phenomenological inter-atomic potentials.