cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hypnosis-associated blue-tinted vision: a case report

Background: Self-hypnosis has been taught routinely at the SUNY Upstate Medical University for treatment of pulmonary symptoms thought to be amenable to psychological therapy. While using hypnosis for relaxation, four individuals, including a patient with cystic fibrosis, reported development of blue-tinted vision. Based on a search of the literature, we believe this is the first published report of hypnosis-associated blue-tinted vision. Case presentation: The patient reported blue-tinted vision when he used hypnosis on an almost daily basis for seven years. The visual change typically occurred when he was relaxed. Moreover, a concurrent erection in the absence of sexual thoughts usually was present. The other three individuals reported blue-tinted vision after learning how to use hypnosis for relaxation as part of a group hypnosis instruction. Conclusion: The blue-tinted vision experienced by the individuals in this report may be the result of an hypnosis-induced primary change in cognitive processing. Additionally, as the relaxing effect of hypnosis can be associated with a reduction in blood pressure and increased blood flow, hypnosis-associated blue-tinted vision also may be related to retinal vasodilation.
Introducing Mobile Technology in Graduate Professional Education

The insertion of mobile technology in educational settings is becoming more prevalent, making it important to understand the effectiveness of such technology in enhancing students' learning and engagement. This article is based on research conducted to study the effects of the use of mobile technology – specifically iPads – by students in a graduate professional program in management. We describe the approach taken by the program administration to introduce mobile technology and discuss the impact of the adoption of this technology in three areas – engagement, learning, and professional development – based on surveys and interviews with students, faculty and administrative staff.
Fibromyalgia symptoms are reduced by low-dose naltrexone: a pilot study.

Objective. Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder that is characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain and sensitivity to mechanical stimulation. In this pilot clinical trial, we tested the effectiveness of low-dose naltrexone in treating the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Design. Participants completed a single-blind, crossover trial with the following time line: baseline (2 weeks), placebo (2 weeks), drug (8 weeks), and washout (2 weeks). Patients. Ten women meeting criteria for fibromyalgia and not taking an opioid medication. Interventions. Naltrexone, in addition to antagonizing opioid receptors on neurons, also inhibits microglia activity in the central nervous system. At low doses (4.5 mg), naltrexone may inhibit the activity of microglia and reverse central and peripheral inflammation. Outcome Measures. Participants completed reports of symptom severity everyday, using a handheld computer. In addition, participants visited the lab every 2 weeks for tests of mechanical, heat, and cold pain sensitivity. Results. Low-dose naltrexone reduced fibromyalgia symptoms in the entire cohort, with a greater than 30% reduction of symptoms over placebo. In addition, laboratory visits showed that mechanical and heat pain thresholds were improved by the drug. Side effects (including insomnia and vivid dreams) were rare, and described as minor and transient. Baseline erythrocyte sedimentation rate predicted over 80% of the variance in drug response. Individuals with higher sedimentation rates (indicating general inflammatory processes) had the greatest reduction of symptoms in response to low-dose naltrexone. Conclusions. We conclude that low-dose naltrexone may be an effective, highly tolerable, and inexpensive treatment for fibromyalgia.
A framework for automatic debugging

This paper presents an application framework in which declarative specifications of debugging actions are translated into execution monitors that can automatically detect bugs. The approach is non-intrusive with respect to program source code and provides a high level of abstraction for debugging activities.
The Several Steps from Icon to Symbol Using Structured Cone/Pyramids

Layered pyramids, cones and quad-trees have been developed almost always with emphasis on only one of their several possibilities. Either: 1) They are used to reduce information, usually by some simple function like averaging or differencing, so that successively less detailed representations of the original raw image are obtained. 2) They are used to converge, collect, organize, and broadcast information, as when building successively more global histograms from which a threshold is computed and then broadcast back down the pyramid. 3) They are used to effect step-by-step transformations that interpret quantitatively encoded images into qualitative identifying “features,” “compound characteristics” and other types of “labels,” with sets of lower-level “meaningless” labels successively combining into higher-level “meaningful” “external labels” such as “vertical”, “L-angle”, “enclosure”, “house”, “chair”, “Einstein”.
Quantitative Evaluation of Competing Syllable Parses

This paper develops computational tools for evaluating competing syllabic parses of a phonological string on the basis of temporal patterns in speech production data. This is done by constructing models linking syllable parses to patterns of coordination between articulatory events. Data simulated from different syllabic parses are evaluated against experimental data from American English and Moroccan Arabic, two languages claimed to parse similar strings of segments into different syllabic structures. Results implicate a tautosyllabic parse of initial consonant clusters in English and a heterosyllabic parse of initial clusters in Arabic, in accordance with theoretical work on the syllable structure of these languages. It is further demonstrated that the model can correctly diagnose syllable structure even when previously proposed phonetic heuristics for such structure do not clearly point to the correct diagnosis.
Thermal effects in polytetrafluoroethylene at high hydrostatic pressures

The temperature changes as a result of rapid hydrostatic pressure applications are reported for polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE, Teflon) in the reference temperature range from 294° to 381°K and in the pressure range from 13.8 to 200 MN/m2. The thermal effects were found to be higher at the reference temperature approximating the transition temperatures of 19° and 30°C than at higher reference temperature. The data were analyzed by determining the predicted thermoelastic coefficients derived from the Thomson equation (∂T/∂P = αT/ρCp). A curvefitting analysis showed that the empirical curve, (∂T/∂P) = ab(ΔP)b−1, described the experimental thermoelastic coefficients obtained from the experiments. The fact that no agreement was found between the predicted and the experimental coefficients is due to the physical changes in PTFE at the transition temperatures. The relationship between the thermal effects and the chain molecular motion is discussed by including dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry DSC measurements for the PTFE samples.
Kinetic study of the Jaffé reaction for quantifying creatinine in serum: 2. Evaluation of buffered reagent and comparison of different data-processing options.

Here we describe the evaluation of several data-processing options for the kinetic determination of creatinine by use of the Jaffe reaction. Data-processing options evaluated include initial-rate, two-point fixed-time, rate at t = k-1, and multipoint curve-fitting predictive methods. We evaluated these options for a buffered formulation of the Jaffe reagent and studied the effects of potential interferents, including glucose, acetoacetate, bilirubin, and albumin, on each option. To reduce effects of bilirubin, we evaluated the inclusion of a preoxidation step with ferricyanide. All the data-processing options gave good precision and linearity between the measurement objective and creatinine concentration. However, differences between slopes of calibration plots in aqueous and serum matrices ranged from a high of +60% for the two-point, fixed-time method to a low of -11% for the curve-fitting, predictive method. Standard additions of creatinine to sera were quantified reliably (yielding 96% to 102% of target values) by the predictive method and less reliably (62% to 102%) by the other methods. We conclude that the predictive method has the potential to yield the most reliable results for creatinine.
Analysis of heart rate variability in a rabbit model of heart failure using Karhunen-Loeve expansion

A long-term experiment was conducted by the use of a doxorubicin rabbit model of heart failure. Heart failure was progressively induced in two groups of animals by weekly administrating doxorubicin in amount of 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg, respectively. Control animals were injected saline. The ECG was continuously recorded for three weeks prior to treatment and up to ten weeks post-treatment. In analysis, eleven time-domain and frequency-domain heart rate variability (HRV) parameters were computed for every usable 5-minute segment for the entire period of recordings. Karhunen-Loeve expansion was utilized to track the changes of HRV as heart failure develops. The concept is extracting basis components of pretreatment HRV by using singular value decomposition and determining change of these basis components in posttreatment HRV by observing its coefficients. The results show changes in coefficient values in treatment animals, while it remains unchanged in control animals.
Lost in translation? Moving contingency management and cognitive behavioral therapy into clinical practice

In the treatment of addictions, the gap between the availability of evidence-based therapies and their limited implementation in practice has not yet been bridged. Two empirically validated behavioral therapies, contingency management (CM) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exemplify this challenge. Both have a relatively strong level of empirical support but each has weak and uneven adoption in clinical practice. This review highlights examples of how barriers to their implementation in practice have been addressed systematically, using the Stage Model of Behavioral Therapies Development as an organizing framework. For CM, barriers such as cost and ideology have been addressed through the development of lower-cost and other adaptations to make it more community friendly. For CBT, barriers such as relative complexity, lack of trained providers, and need for supervision have been addressed via conversion to standardized computer-assisted versions that can serve as clinician extenders. Although these and other modifications have rendered both interventions more disseminable, diffusion of innovation remains a complex, often unpredictable process. The existing specialty addiction-treatment system may require significant reforms to fully implement CBT and CM, particularly greater focus on definable treatment goals and performance-based outcomes.
Functional analysis of frog pectoral girdles. The epicoracoid cartilages

Two types of pectoral girdles occur among frogs. Arciferal girdles have overlapping epicoracoid cartilages; in firmisternal girdles the epicoracoid cartilages are fused along the ventral midline. Cineradiographic experiments of jumping frogs show that the epicoracoid cartilages of arciferal girdles move relative to each other at the time of landing. Recordings of landings on a force platform reveal that the pectoral girdle of frogs is loaded compressively through the glenoid. This loading regime coupled with differential mobility between firmisternal and arciferal girdles results in differences in stress distribution in the two girdles during landing. The patterns of stress distribution suggest that variation seen among frogs in other aspects of pectoral morphology in addition to the condition of the epicoracoid cartilages may be best understood when analysed from a biomechanical perspective.
Chromosome surface area. Further evidence for autosomal sexual dimorphism.

SUMMARY The karyotypes of 76 males and 84 females, each assembled by the trypsin banding method, are examined in a study designed to investigate sex differences among autosomes. It is shown that female autosomes have consistently larger surface areas than the males, with respect to both the short and long arm measurements. In addition, discriminant function analysis is used to distinguish between the male and female karyotypes. We find that, using autosomal measurements alone, this can be done with a high probability of success. In a recent paper we showed that female autosomes were consistently longer than male autosomes [5]. The karyotypes of 100 males and 100 females, each assembled by the trypsin banding method, were used in this and the average lengths of each of the autosomes were computed separately for each sex. We found the average value for the female cells to be consistently longer than that of the male cells, and that this was mirrored in both the short and long arms. With the single exception of the short arm of chromosome number 19, the arms of the female autosomes were longer than the corresponding arms of the male autosomes. Analysis of the arm ratios and centromere indices of these chromosomes also revealed certain shape differences, but the pattern of these differences proved to be more diffcult to characterize. Discriminant function analysis was also used to differentiate between male and female cells. Depending on which set of measurements was used in the discriminant function analysis, some 75 % of the cells could be correctly classified as either male or female on the basis of autosomal measurements alone. The purpose of the present paper is to report analogous results obtained on the basis of surface area measurements. It is shown that female autosomes have consistently larger surface areas than the male autosomes. Certain “shape” differences also exist, when these are defined in the obvious way using arm ratios and centromere indices. In addition, the technique of discriminant function analysis is used to classify karyotypes as either male or female. Using only autosomal surface area measurements, we again find that this identifica
Public Process Inheritance for Business-to-Business Integration

Trading partners exchanging Business-to-Business (B2B) messages like purchase orders in context of B2B integration over networks like the Internet or value added networks (VANs) follow the concept of public processes for the definition and execution of B2B message exchange sequences. Experience shows that in most cases trading partners specialize them slightly to accommodate their specific needs. Currently, there is no language support for the structured modification or specialization of public processes. This paper applies the concept of public process inheritance that allows a trading partner to specialize public processes without loosing the modification path starting from the public process as defined by a standard.
Glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor-binding characteristics in obese (ob/ob) mice

Adrenalectomy prevents development of obesity in genetically obese (ob/ob) mice. Replacement studies have shown that these mice exhibit hypersensitivity to corticosterone. This study was conducted to determine if this increased sensitivity was associated with alterations in corticoid receptor number or binding affinity. Cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor numbers were lower by 26% in liver, 23% in brain, and 26% in brown adipose tissue of 8-wk-old male ob/ob mice when compared with lean mice. Cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor numbers were similar in liver and brain of 4-wk-old lean and ob/ob mice is likely secondary to elevated plasma corticosterone concentrations in these older mice. Adrenalectomy increased cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor numbers in liver and brain of 8-wk-old ob/ob mice to values comparable to those in lean mice. Injection of dexamethasone (0.5 or 5 micrograms/g body wt) equally lowered cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor numbers in liver and brain of adrenalectomized ob/ob and lean mice. Brain mineralocorticoid receptor numbers and response to dexamethasone were similar in ob/ob and lean mice. These results suggest that the site responsible for increased sensitivity of ob/ob mice to corticosterone is postreceptor binding.
Needle Grasp and Entry Port Selection for Automatic Execution of Suturing Tasks in Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery

This paper presents algorithms for selection of needle grasp and for selection of entry ports of robotic instruments, for autonomous robotic execution of the minimally invasive surgical suturing task. A critical issue for automatic execution of surgical tasks, such as suturing, is the choice of needle grasp for the robotic system. Inappropriate needle grasp increases operating time requiring multiple regrasps to complete the desired task. In robotic minimally invasive surgery, the entry port that the surgical robot goes through into the patient’s body has a significant role on the performance of the robot. Improper entry port affects the robot’s dexterity, manipulability and reachability. The proposed methods use manipulability, dexterity and torque metrics for needle grasp selection, and employ needle grasp robustness and target location robustness metrics for port selection. The results of a case study simulation in thoracoscopic surgery is also presented to demonstrate the proposed methods.
Linked Primes and Orders in Artinian Rings

It is shown that prime ideals of a Noetherian ring are linked if and only if certain corresponding prime ideals are linked in an associated Artinian ring. Furthermore, it is shown that there is a canonical linking ideal, which can be found by using a construction based on middle annihilator ideals.
Bubble mechanics and oxygen transfer.

A bubble oxygenation system was designed which controlled bubble size, the boundary layer of the bubble's surface, and bubble travel path. Experiments with this system showed how these parameters effect the mass transfer of oxygen.
Early prediction of coronary artery calcification levels using machine learning

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death worldwide. In the U.S. CHD is responsible for approximated 1 in every 6 deaths with a coronary event occurring every 25 seconds and about 1 death every minute based on data current to 2007. Although a multitude of cardiovascular risks factors have been identified, CHD actually reflects complex interactions of these factors over time. Today's datasets from longitudinal studies offer great promise to uncover these interactions but also pose enormous analytical problems due to typically large amount of both discrete and continuous measurements and risk factors with potential long-range interactions over time. Our investigation demonstrates that a statistical relational analysis of longitudinal data can easily uncover complex interactions of risks factors and actually predict future coronary artery calcification (CAC) levels -- an indicator of the risk of CHD present subclinically in an individual -- significantly better than traditional non-relational approaches. The uncovered long-range interactions between risk factors conform to existing clinical knowledge and are successful in identifying risk factors at the early adult stage. This may contribute to monitoring young adults via smartphones and to designing patient-specific treatments in young adults to mitigate their risk later.
Diabetes: Still a geneticist's nightmare.

The largest DNA-sequencing study of type 2 diabetes conducted so far concludes that, contrary to expectation, low-frequency and rare genetic variants do not contribute significantly to disease risk. See Article p.41 Common variants at more than 80 genomic loci have been associated with susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, but together explain only a small fraction of the estimated heritability. Studies have hypothesized that rare or low-frequency genetic variation may explain a large proportion of the remaining disease risk. These authors now provide a test of this hypothesis in a large-scale sequencing study for type 2 diabetes conducted as part of the GoT2D and T2D-GENES projects. This work provides the most comprehensive view to date of the overall genomic architecture for disease risk, with the ability to examine the role for rare and low-frequency genetic variation. They find that most of the identified genetic risk variants were common and found in regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies.
Out on the bookshelves and in the files: Libraries and archives as places for social change: A review of Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays on Outreach, Service, Collections, and Access

AbstractEllen Greenblatt's (2010) Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays on Outreach, Service, Collections, and Access extends previous work on ways to make libraries and archives more inclusive and friendly places. This edited collection provides deeper understanding of how libraries and archives engage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ) resources and related research services and new directions for this engagement in the 21st century.
Galaxy Formation With Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Eliptical and bulge galaxies share a tight correlation of velocity distribution to both luminosity and black hole mass. There are similar orbital speeds for all galaxies of a given luminosity including dark matter (DM) at large radii. The halo surface density of DM is constant for almost all types of galaxies and ranges 14 mag. down to dwarf spherical galaxies. There are supermassive black holes or giant, pure disk galaxies at high redshift inexplicable with hierarchical clustering or collapse dynamics. These and a myriad of other galaxy formation problems are explainable by an initial shell which caused the Planck cosmic microwave background radiation. A reduction in the energy-density of primordial galactic black holes is necessary to explain dark energy.
Testing parity-violating physics from cosmic rotation power reconstruction

We study the reconstruction of the cosmic rotation power spectrum produced by parity-violating physics, with an eye to ongoing and near future cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments such as BICEP Array, CMBS4, LiteBIRD and Simons Observatory. In addition to the inflationary gravitational waves and gravitational lensing, measurements of other various effects on CMB polarization open new window into the early Universe. One of these is anisotropies of the cosmic polarization rotation which probes the Chern-Simons term generally predicted by string theory. The anisotropies of the cosmic rotation are also generated by the primordial magnetism and in the Standard Model extention framework. The cosmic rotation anisotropies can be reconstructed as quadratic in CMB anisotropies. However, the power of the reconstructed cosmic rotation is a CMB four-point correlation and is not directly related to the cosmic-rotation power spectrum. Understanding all contributions in the four-point correlation is required to extract the cosmic rotation signal. Assuming inflationary motivated cosmic-rotation models, we employ simulation to quantify each contribution to the four-point correlation and find that (1) a secondary contraction of the trispectrum increases the total signal-to-noise, (2) a bias from the lensing-induced trispectrum is significant compared to the statistical errors in, e.g., LiteBIRD and CMBS4-like experiments, (3) the use of a realization-dependent estimator decreases the statistical errors by 10%--20%, depending on experimental specifications, and (4) other higher-order contributions are negligible at least for near future experiments.
Tunnel transport and interlayer excitons in bilayer fractional quantum Hall systems

In a bilayer system consisting of a composite-fermion Fermi sea in each layer, the tunnel current is exponentially suppressed at zero bias, followed by a strong peak at a finite bias voltage V_(max). This behavior, which is qualitatively different from that observed for the electron Fermi sea, provides fundamental insight into the strongly correlated non-Fermi liquid nature of the CF Fermi sea and, in particular, offers a window into the short-distance high-energy physics of this state. We identify the exciton responsible for the peak current and provide a quantitative account of the value of V_(max). The excitonic attraction is shown to be quantitatively significant, and its variation accounts for the increase of V_(max) with the application of an in-plane magnetic field. We also estimate the critical Zeeman energy where transition occurs from a fully spin polarized composite fermion Fermi sea to a partially spin polarized one, carefully incorporating corrections due to finite width and Landau level mixing, and find it to be in satisfactory agreement with the Zeeman energy where a qualitative change has been observed for the onset bias voltage [Eisenstein et al., Phys. Rev. B 94, 125409 (2016)]. For fractional quantum Hall states, we predict a substantial discontinuous jump in V_(max) when the system undergoes a transition from a fully spin polarized state to a spin singlet or a partially spin polarized state.
Clearinghouses for Over-the-Counter Derivatives

Part I provides an overview of the exchange-traded and OTC derivative markets, their regulation prior to the recent financial crisis and subsequent passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), risks posed by and the eventual institutional collapses that occurred due to unregulated OTC derivative markets, and global policymakers’ post-financial crisis framework of reforms for the OTC derivative markets. Part II focuses on clearinghouses, the centerpiece of global policymakers’ post-financial crisis reforms to the OTC derivative markets. It discusses their history, structure, risk management function, ownership models, and regulation/supervision. Part III then turns to salient systemic risk and risk-management issues surrounding these institutions, including risk concentrations, the increasing interconnectedness of systemically important institutions, problems of market fragmentation, risk-management standards and practices, investment practices, and cybersecurity concerns. Part IV examines the most important, current area of policy focus surrounding these institutions: clearinghouse recovery and resolution. Part V highlights potential policy options going forward and concludes.
Global Negative Effects of the Technological Change on Human Health: The High Incidence of Cancers in the Anthropocene

Interesting problems for the studies of the Anthropocene are the analysis of effects of the predominant impact of human activities on ecosystems and population. This study considers the technological change as the human activity that generates a huge impact on ecosystems and also causes environmental disorders in human societies. In particular, technical change supports the industrialization and human development, which by population growth, mass production and consumption, and resources depletion, engenders anthropogenic environmental change and pollution of ecosystems conducive to carcinogens. A main effect of this critical impact of the human activity, by technological change, on ecosystems is the high cancer incidence of population living in industrialized areas. Statistical evidence endeavours to explain and generalize, whenever possible the global interaction between technological development, ecosystems and health of human population.
Inflammatory markers and onset of cardiovascular events: results from the Health ABC study.

Background— Inflammation plays an important role in cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive value of several inflammatory markers on the incidence of cardiovascular events in well-functioning older persons. Methods and Results— The subjects were 2225 participants 70 to 79 years old, without baseline cardiovascular disease, who were enrolled in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Incident coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and congestive heart failure (CHF) events were detected during an average follow-up of 3.6 years. Blood levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were assessed. After adjustment for potential confounders, IL-6 was significantly associated with all outcomes (CHD events, per IL-6 SD increase: RR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.48; stroke events, per IL-6 SD increase: RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.86; CHF events, per IL-6 SD increase: RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.12). TNF-α showed significant asso...
Characteristics and Outcomes of In-Hospital Palliative Care Consultation among Patients with Renal Disease Versus Other Serious Illnesses.

Background and objectives Despite significant morbidity and mortality associated with ESRD, these patients receive palliative care services much less often than patients with other serious illnesses, perhaps because they are perceived as having less need for such services. We compared characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized patients in the United States who had a palliative care consultation for renal disease versus other serious illnesses. Design, setting, participants, & measurements In this observational study, we used data collected by the Palliative Care Quality Network, a national palliative care quality improvement collaborative. The 23-item Palliative Care Quality Network core dataset includes demographics, processes of care, and clinical outcomes of all hospitalized patients who received a palliative care consultation between December of 2012 and March of 2016. Results The cohort included 33,183 patients, of whom 1057 (3.2%) had renal disease as the primary reason for palliative care consultation. Mean age was 71.9 (SD=16.8) or 72.8 (SD=15.2) years old for those with renal disease or other illnesses, respectively. At the time of consultation, patients with renal disease or other illnesses had similarly low mean Palliative Performance Scale scores (36.0% versus 34.9%, respectively; P=0.08) and reported similar moderate to severe anxiety (14.9% versus 15.3%, respectively; P=0.90) and nausea (5.9% versus 5.9%, respectively; P>0.99). Symptoms improved similarly after consultation regardless of diagnosis (P≥0.50), except anxiety, which improved more often among those with renal disease (92.0% versus 66.0%, respectively; P=0.002). Although change in code status was similar among patients with renal disease versus other illnesses, from over 60% full code initially to 30% full code after palliative care consultation, fewer patients with renal disease were referred to hospice than those with other illnesses (30.7% versus 37.6%, respectively; P Conclusions Hospitalized patients with renal disease referred for palliative care consultation had similar palliative care needs, improved symptom management, and clarification of goals of care as those with other serious illnesses. Podcast This article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2017_07_05_Grubbs.mp3
Long-term outcomes and transmission rates in hepatitis C virus-positive donor to hepatitis C virus-negative kidney transplant recipients: Analysis of United States national data.

The use of kidneys from hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive (D+) deceased donors for HCV negative recipients (R-) might increase the donor pool. We analyzed the national OPTN registry from 1994-2014 to compare the outcomes of HCV D+/R- (n=421) to propensity matched HCV donor negative (D-)/R- kidney transplants, as well as with, wait listed patients who never received a transplant, in a 1:5 ratio (n = 2105, per matched group). Both 5-year graft (44% vs. 66%; p < 0.001) and patient survival (57% vs. 79%; p < 0.001) were inferior for D+/R- group compared to D-/R-. Nevertheless, five-year patient survival from the time of wait listing was superior for D+/R- when compared to wait listed controls (68% vs. 43%; p<0.001). Of the 126 D+/R- with available post-transplant HCV testing, HCV seroconversion was confirmed in 62 (49%), likely donor-derived. Five-year outcomes were similar between D+/R- that seroconverted vs. D+/R- that did not (n = 64). Our analysis shows inferior outcomes for D+/R- patients although detailed data on pre-transplant risk factors was not available. Limited data suggests that HCV transmission occurred in half of HCV D+/R- patients, although this might not have been the primary factor contributing to the poor observed outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Cardiac and systemic rejuvenation after cardiosphere-derived cell therapy in senescent rats

Aim The aim is to assess the effects of CDCs on heart structure, function, gene expression, and systemic parameters in aged rats. Diastolic dysfunction is characteristic of aged hearts. Cardiosphere-derived cell (CDC) therapy has exhibited several favourable effects on heart structure and function in humans and in preclinical models; however, the effects of CDCs on aging have not been evaluated. Methods and Results We compared intra-cardiac injections of neonatal rat CDCs to vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline, PBS) in 21.8 ± 1.6 month-old rats (mean ± standard deviation; n = 23 total). Ten rats 4.1 ± 1.5 months of age comprised a young reference group. Blood, echocardiographic, haemodynamic and treadmill stress tests were performed at baseline in all animals, and 1 month after treatment in old animals. Histology and the transcriptome were assessed after terminal phenotyping. For in vitro studies, human heart progenitors from older donors, or cardiomyocytes from aged rats were exposed to human CDCs or exosomes secreted by CDCs (CDC-XO) from paediatric donors. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that CDCs, but not PBS, recapitulated a youthful pattern of gene expression in the hearts of old animals (85.5% of genes differentially expressed, P < 0.05). Telomeres in heart cells were longer in CDC-transplanted animals (P < 0.0001 vs. PBS). Cardiosphere-derived cells attenuated hypertrophy by echo (P < 0.01); histology confirmed decreases in cardiomyocyte area (P < 0.0001) and myocardial fibrosis (P < 0.05) vs. PBS. Cardiosphere-derived cell injection improved diastolic dysfunction [lower E/A (P < 0.01), E/E' (P = 0.05), end-diastolic pressure-volume relationship (P < 0.05) compared with baseline), and lowered serum brain natriuretic peptide (both P < 0.05 vs. PBS). In CDC-transplanted old rats, exercise capacity increased ∼20% (P < 0.05 vs. baseline), body weight decreased ∼30% less (P = 0.05 vs. PBS) and hair regrowth after shaving was more robust (P < 0.05 vs. PBS). Serum biomarkers of inflammation (IL-10, IL-1b, and IL-6) improved in the CDC group (P < 0.05 for each, all vs. PBS). Young CDCs secrete exosomes which increase telomerase activity, elongate telomere length, and reduce the number of senescent human heart cells in culture. Conclusion Young CDCs rejuvenate old animals as gauged by cardiac gene expression, heart function, exercise capacity, and systemic biomarkers.
On the road towards the global analysis of human synapses

Synapses are essential units for the flow of information in the brain. Over the last 70 years, synapses have been widely studied in multiple animal models including worms, fruit flies, and rodents. In comparison, the study of human synapses has evolved significantly slower, mainly because of technical limitations. However, three novel methods allowing the analysis of molecular, morphological, and functional properties of human synapses may expand our knowledge of the human brain. Here, we briefly describe these methods, and evaluate how the information provided by each unique approach may contribute to the functional and anatomical analysis of the synaptic component of human brain circuitries. In particular, using tissue from cryopreserved human brains, synaptic plasticity can be studied in isolated synaptosomes by fluorescence analysis of single-synapse long-term potentiation (FASS-LTP), and subpopulations of synapses can be thoroughly assessed in the ribbons of brain tissue by array tomography (AT). Currently, it is also possible to quantify synaptic density in the living human brain by positron emission tomography (PET), using a novel synaptic radio-ligand. Overall, data provided by FASS-LTP, AT, and PET may significantly contribute to the global understanding of synaptic structure and function in both healthy and diseased human brains, thus directly impacting translational research.
Nodule-Enriched GRETCHEN HAGEN 3 Enzymes Have Distinct Substrate Specificities and Are Important for Proper Soybean Nodule Development

Legume root nodules develop as a result of a symbiotic relationship between the plant and nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria in soil. Auxin activity is detected in different cell types at different stages of nodule development; as well as an enhanced sensitivity to auxin inhibits, which could affect nodule development. While some transport and signaling mechanisms that achieve precise spatiotemporal auxin output are known, the role of auxin metabolism during nodule development is unclear. Using a soybean root lateral organ transcriptome data set, we identified distinct nodule enrichment of three genes encoding auxin-deactivating GRETCHEN HAGEN 3 (GH3) indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) amido transferase enzymes: GmGH3-11/12, GmGH3-14 and GmGH3-15. In vitro enzymatic assays showed that each of these GH3 proteins preferred IAA and aspartate as acyl and amino acid substrates, respectively. GmGH3-15 showed a broad substrate preference, especially with different forms of auxin. Promoter:GUS expression analysis indicated that GmGH3-14 acts primarily in the root epidermis and the nodule primordium where as GmGH3-15 might act in the vasculature. Silencing the expression of these GH3 genes in soybean composite plants led to altered nodule numbers, maturity, and size. Our results indicate that these GH3s are needed for proper nodule maturation in soybean, but the precise mechanism by which they regulate nodule development remains to be explained.
Variation in Amputation Risk for Black Patients: Uncovering Potential Sources of Bias and Opportunities for Intervention.

Background Differences in amputation rates for limb ischemia between white and black patients have been extensively studied. Our goal was to determine whether biases in provider decision-making contribute to the disparity. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the disparity is affected by surgeon and hospital factors. Study Design Analysis of the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database was performed for 1999 to 2014. Black and white patients with ICD9 codes for peripheral vascular disease, who received either an amputation or salvage procedure, were included. The primary endpoint was treatment choice. Results We analyzed 215,480 inpatient admissions. The overall amputation rate was 38.0%, and blacks were significantly more likely to receive amputations than whites on unadjusted (42.6% vs 28.6%, p Conclusions Black patients are significantly more likely to receive an amputation than a salvage procedure when presenting with significant peripheral vascular diseases. High procedural volume does not seem to reduce unequal treatment; diversity of surgeon practice does.
A Dubious Achievement: Mapping Catheter Fracture and Embolization During Cryoballoon Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

We present a unique complication occurring during cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation [(1)][1]. A 51-year-old woman with a history of coronary artery bypass and mechanical aortic valve replacement was referred for cryoballoon (Arctic Front Advance Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter System, Medtronic Inc
Current practice in management of exudative pleural effusions-a survey of American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (AABIP).

Background: With increased availability of techniques to address pleural effusions including medical thoracoscopy (MT) and tunneled pleural catheter (TPC), we anticipate there has been an evolution in the practice pattern. We sought to evaluate the current practice patterns in the management of exudative pleural effusion in the interventional pulmonary (IP) community. Methods: A questionnaire was developed and was disseminated to all listed American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (AABIP) members. Survey addressed the approach to the management of recurrent exudative pleural effusions with emphasis on the roles of Semi-rigid and rigid thoracoscopy. Results: Of 388 members who opened the survey, 165 (43%) completed it. The majority were interventional pulmonologists representing academic and private practice in the United States (US), with approximately one third of respondents from other countries. Almost two thirds (61%) of them perform thoracoscopy. For those who do perform thoracoscopy, 93% would perform thoracoscopy for recurrent undiagnosed exudate. Equal numbers perform rigid and semi-rigid thoracoscopy and 31 (44%) perform both procedures, there was no statistically significant difference. There was a slight preference for Semi-rigid thoracoscopy although opinion was skewed slightly in favor of rigid thoracoscopy when asked about diagnostic yield. TPCs play a large role in management patterns, sometimes without and sometimes after thoracoscopy, 59% of the respondents chose a TPC alone for the management of known malignant effusion, while a 16% would combine it with MT (P value Conclusions: Thoracoscopy is accepted as the diagnostic procedure of choice for undiagnosed exudative effusion. TPCs play a dominant role in management even when thoracoscopy is performed.
Left Posterior Retroperitoneoscopic Adrenalectomy and Adrenal Vein Sampling

Abstract Introduction: Primary hyperaldosteronism is a surgically treatable disease that may be more common than previously recognized.1 It is important to confirm the laterality of the aldosterone...
Loss of tolerance to amphetamine-induced hypophagia in rats: homeostatic readjustment vs. instrumental learning.

Abstract According to the homeostatic model, the loss of tolerance to amphetamine-induced hypophagia requires a period of unrestricted feeding in the drug-free state, which transforms the compensatory response mediating tolerance (”hyperhunger”) into a functional disturbance to homeostasis. In the absence of such a disturbance, tolerance should be retained. To test this prediction, rats tolerant to amphetamine's hypophagic effect were given a 4-week tolerance retention period during which milk intakes were restricted and deprivation levels held relatively constant. During this period the rats were assigned to one of the following drug treatment conditions: 1) saline injections both before and after daily milk tests (saline group); 2) saline injections before, and amphetamine injections after, daily milk tests (after group); 3) no injections and no milk tests (no-treatment group); or 4) amphetamine injections before, and saline injections after, milk tests (before group). Despite the restricted feeding regimen, both the saline and after groups lost tolerance. These results do not support the homeostatic model, but are consistent with the instrumental learning model, which views drinking milk in the undrugged state as analogous to receiving noncontingent reinforcement.
Description of the Zooplankton Community

The complete list of zooplankton species is given in Table 4-1 and Figure 4-1 shows the species and developmental stages on a common scale. The number of species is surprisingly small, particularly by comparison with some familiar temperate lakes. For example, Nauwerck (1963) lists 36 rotifer species, 16 cladoceran species, and 12 copepod species for Lake Erken, Sweden. The great majority of these species are quantitatively insignificant, however. In small lakes such as Erken, species lists may be deceptively long due to the greater likelihood of inclusion of littoral species in the list. This and other factors make comparisons difficult.
Vortex Motion on a Sphere

The problem of N-point vortices moving on the surface of a sphere is not as well understood as the corresponding planar problem, yet in some sense it is more general, since the planar problem can be obtained from the spherical problem in the limit as the radius of the sphere becomes large. This limit will be discussed in more detail later in the chapter. The spherical model is used in geophysical fluid dynamics when considering large-scale atmospheric and oceanographic flows with coherent structures that persist over long periods of time and move over such large distances that the spherical geometry of the earth’s surface becomes important. In addition, when considering the streamline patterns generated by a given vorticity field, the spherical geometry is important to take into account if one wants to make statements that are relevant to atmospheric weather patterns. These issues are discussed later in the chapter. For a general introduction to geophysical fluid dynamics, see Pedlosky (1987) or Gill (1982).
Brain imaging reveals covert consciousness during behavioral unresponsiveness induced by propofol

Detecting covert consciousness in behaviorally unresponsive patients by brain imaging is of great interest, but a reproducible model and evidence from independent sources is still lacking. Here we demonstrate the possibility of using general anesthetics in a within-subjects study design to test methods or statistical paradigms of assessing covert consciousness. Using noninvasive neuroimaging in healthy volunteers, we identified a healthy study participant who was able to exhibit the specific fMRI signatures of volitional mental imagery while behaviorally unresponsive due to sedation with propofol. Our findings reveal a novel model that may accelerate the development of new approaches to reproducibly detect covert consciousness, which is difficult to achieve in patients with heterogeneous and sometimes clinically unstable neuropathology.
Selection of β‐Blocker in Patients With Cirrhosis and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A 13‐Year Nationwide Population‐Based Study in Asia

Background It is not clear whether β1‐selective or nonselective β‐blockers should be used in patients with cirrhosis and acute myocardial infarction. Methods and Results Medical records were retrie...
Gamification: A cognitive-emotional view

Abstract Successful gamified systems engage players by eliciting their positive and negative emotions. However, prior literature provides little guidance on how to create emotional experiences through gamified design. This paper reviews work in psychology and neuroscience to examine the interactive processes of cognition and emotion and connect them to gamification. More specifically, it draws upon a model of the cognitive structure of emotions and the mechanics–dynamics–emotions framework for gamification to advance a cognitive–emotional view of gamification.
Tuning the formal potential of ferrocyanide over a 2.1 V range

We report the synthesis and characterization of homoleptic borane adducts of hexacyanoferrate(ii). Borane coordination blueshifts d-d transitions and CN IR and Raman frequencies. Control over redox properties is established with respect to borane Lewis acidity, reflected in peak anodic potential shifts per borane of +250 mV for BPh3 and +350 mV for B(C6F5)3. Electron transfer from [Fe(CN-B(C6F5)3)6]4- to photogenerated [Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)3]3+ is very rapid, consistent with voltammetry data. Coordination by Lewis acids provides an avenue for selective modification of the electronic structures and electrochemical properties of cyanometalates.