cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Management of Urethrocutaneous Fistulas Following Hypospadias Repair

Abstract: Urethrocutaneous fistulas are one of the major causes of morbidity following hypospadias repair. No matter how well designed the initial hypospadias procedure is, how gently the tissues are handled nor how expertly the procedure is done, fistulas continue to occur at an unacceptably high rate. We review our experience with hypospadias repair, with emphasis directed to the management of urethrocutaneous fistulas. Some tiny fistulas will close on prolonged catheter drainage but our experience shows that most need a definitive closure procedure. Although many procedures have been described for the closure of urethrocutaneous fistulas we advocate use of an advancement flap. Our success rate has been excellent with this procedure. Particular attention to well established techniques of hypospadias repair will decrease the incidence of urethrocutaneous fistulas.
Teachers guide to geologic trails in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania–New Jersey

The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA) contains a rich geologic and cultural history within its 68,714 acre boundary. Following the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Delaware River has cut a magnifi cent gorge through Kittatinny Mountain, the Delaware Water Gap, to which all other gaps in the Appalachian Mountains have been compared. Proximity to many institutions of learning in this densely populated area of the northeastern United States (Fig. 1) makes DEWA an ideal locality to study the geology of this part of the Appalachian Mountains. This one-day fi eld trip comprises an overview discussion of structure, stratigraphy, geomorphology, and glacial geology within the gap. It will be highlighted by hiking a choice of several trails with geologic guides, ranging from gentle to diffi cult. It is hoped that the “professional” discussions at the stops, loaded with typical geologic jargon, can be translated into simple language that can be understood and assimilated by earth science students along the trails. This trip is mainly targeted for earth science educators and for Pennsylvania geologists needing to meet state-mandated education requirements for licensing professional geologists. The National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the New Jersey Geological Survey, and local schoolteachers had prepared “The Many Faces of Delaware Water Gap: A Curriculum Guide for Grades 3–6” (Ferrence et al., 2003). Copies of this guide will be given to trip participants and can be downloaded from the GSA Data Repository1. The trip will also be useful for instruction at the graduate level. Much of the information presented in this guidebook is modifi ed from Epstein (2006). Please note: It is illegal to collect rocks, plants, or parts of animal life in National Park lands.
‘Checking’ and googling: Stages of news consumption among young adults:

In the changing news environment, young adult audiences, often dubbed ‘the Internet generation’, have increasingly gravitated toward online sources of news and information, raising questions about ...
OG-FET: An In-Situ ${O}$ xide, ${G}$ aN Interlayer-Based Vertical Trench MOSFET

In this letter, a novel device design to achieve both low ON-resistance and enhancement mode operation in a vertical GaN FET is demonstrated. In the traditional trench MOSFET structure, a dielectric is deposited on an n-p-n trenched structure and the channel forms via p-GaN inversion at the dielectric/p-GaN interface. However, this results in a relatively high ON-resistance due to poor electron mobility in the channel. By changing the structure to include a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-regrown Un-intentionally Doped (UID)-GaN interlayer followed by an in-situ dielectric (MOCVD Al2O3) cap on the n-p-n trenched structure, a pathway (channel) for enhanced electron mobility is created, resulting in reduced ON-resistance. Preliminary results for this device design demonstrated almost 60% reduction in the ON-resistance and similar breakdown voltage compared with a traditional trench MOSFET structure while maintaining normally off operation with a threshold voltage of 2 V.
Paternal and grandpaternal ages at conception and descendant telomere lengths in chimpanzees and humans.

Telomeres are repeating DNA at chromosome ends. Telomere length (TL) declines with age in most human tissues, and shorter TL is thought to accelerate senescence. In contrast, older men have sperm with longer TL; correspondingly, older paternal age at conception (PAC) predicts longer TL in offspring. This PAC-effect could be a unique form of transgenerational genetic plasticity that modifies somatic maintenance in response to cues of recent ancestral experience. The PAC-effect has not been examined in any non-human mammals. Objectives Here, we examine the PAC-effect in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The PAC-effect on TL is thought to be driven by continual production of sperm—the same process that drives increased de novo mutations with PAC. As chimpanzees have both greater sperm production and greater sperm mutation rates with PAC than humans, we predict that the PAC-effect on TL will be more pronounced in chimpanzees. Additionally we examine whether PAC predicts TL of grandchildren. Materials and methods TL were measured using qPCR from DNA from blood samples from 40 captive chimpanzees and 144 humans. Results Analyses showed increasing TL with PAC in chimpanzees (p = .009) with a slope six times that in humans (p = .026). No associations between TL and grandpaternal ages were found in humans or chimpanzees—although statistical power was low. Discussion These results suggest that sperm production rates across species may be a determinant of the PAC-effect on offspring TL. This raises the possibility that sperm production rates within species may influence the TL passed on to offspring.
Pagan(ish) Senses and Sensibilities

An academic biography serves as an opportune moment for thinking about how one's research in Pagan studies fits the larger patterns of one's research and life trajectory. In this (auto)biographer's case, it informs a debate over whether Paganism is or ought to be a religion among other religions, or a set of sensibilities -- including sensorial engagements, individual and collective, with a common material world. I argue that the latter should have its place at the table of Pagan studies, as it draws on the study of Pagan religiosities to produce insights that can inform a much broader set of debates about religion, imagination, environment, identity, and even politics.
Virtual items trade in online social games

Abstract This paper studies the virtual item trades in online social games. Game players are heterogeneous in terms of gaming experience, and experienced game players are more efficient in acquiring virtual items. We find that it is possible for a contribution-maximizing platform to match the efficient player with the low-end market, depending on the interplays between social interactions and efficiency heterogeneity. The market share of each game player increases in her social influence and decreases in her propensity to be influenced . In addition, we compare different revenue management strategies to provide operational and marketing policy recommendations. We find that the instantaneous reward model could dominate the basic stage-wise reward model when the social interactions are strong and asymmetric. Furthermore, transaction taxes are double-edged swords because the gain from revenue sharing could disincentivize the game players' contributions. Our results serve as guidelines for the joint design of virtual item market and social network structures in online games.
On the solution of the three-phase load-flow in distribution networks

This paper is concerned with the Z-Bus method to solve the load-flow problem in three-phase distribution networks with wye and delta constant-power, constant-current, and constant-impedance loads (ZIP loads). The Z-Bus method is viewed as a fixed-point iteration. By leveraging the contraction mapping theorem, a set of sufficient conditions is then presented that guarantees a) the existence of a unique solution over a region that can be computed from the network parameters, and b) the convergence of the Z-Bus method to the unique solution. It is numerically illustrated that the new set of sufficient conditions holds for practical distribution networks and improves the previously reported results on the convergence of the Z-Bus method in three-phase networks.
Abstract 207: Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Reverses Inhibition on Beta-adrenergic Receptor Resensitization

Beta-adrenergic receptor (βAR) down-regulation and desensitization are hallmarks of heart failure. Agonist occupied βAR undergo desensitization through phosphorylation by G-protein coupled receptor kinases leading to βAR internalization. Phosphorylated βAR becomes resensitized following dephosphorylation by protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the endosomes and we have shown previously shown that PP2A activity is regulated by phosphoinositide3-kinaseγ (PI3Kγ). Traditionally, it has been considered that increased desensitization mechanisms underlie βAR dysfunction in heart failure but it is not known whether resensitization of βARs is altered and an integral contributor to heart failure. To test whether resensitization mechanisms are altered in heart failure and could play a role in recovery of βAR function post-LVAD, we used paired pre- and post-LVAD human heart samples along with non-failing hearts. Since resensitization occurs in endosomes, plasma membranes and endosomes were isolated from these human heart samples and assessed for PI3K activity, PP2A activity, β2AR phosphorylation and adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity as a measure of recovery in βAR function by G-protein coupling. Significant PI3Kγ activity was observed in the endosomes of pre-LVAD compared post-LVAD and non-failing human heart samples while plasma membrane PI3K activity remained similar across all samples. Similarly, AC activity was markedly reduced in plasma membranes and endosomes of pre-LVAD samples compared to post-LVAD and non-failing showing reduced ability of receptors to couple to G-proteins indicating reduced recovery of receptor function in post-LVAD heart samples. Consistent with the reduced recovery in βAR function in pre-LVAD samples, significant β2AR phosphorylation was observed in the endosomes and plasma membranes of pre-LVAD compared to post-LVAD and non-failing. Correspondingly, we observed significant reduction in endosomal PP2A activity in the pre-LVAD samples which was remarkably reversed in post-LVAD samples similar to the activity in non-failing. These studies suggest that resensitization is inhibited in end-stage human heart failure and may critically contribute to cardiac remodeling and hypertrophic response upon cardiac stress.
Spatially resolved multicolor CsPbX3 nanowire heterojunctions via anion exchange

Halide perovskites are promising semiconductor materials for solution-processed optoelectronic devices. Their strong ionic bonding nature results in highly dynamic crystal lattices, inherently allowing rapid ion exchange at the solid-vapor and solid-liquid interface. Here, we show that the anion-exchange chemistry can be precisely controlled in single-crystalline halide perovskite nanomaterials when combined with nanofabrication techniques. We demonstrate spatially resolved multicolor CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I, or alloy of two halides) nanowire heterojunctions with a pixel size down to 500 nm with the photoluminescence tunable over the entire visible spectrum. In addition, the heterojunctions show distinct electronic states across the interface, as revealed by Kelvin probe force microscopy. These perovskite heterojunctions represent key building blocks for high-resolution multicolor displays beyond current state-of-the-art technology as well as high-density diode/transistor arrays.
Éthique et mutualité: Le Care, l’indifférence et la relation fiduciaire

De l’ethique, nous interrogeons d’abord ses rapports a l’indifference (I), ensuite sa critique de l’esprit d’entrepreneur (II) et enfin la colere et la sollicitude (III) avec comme cadre d’expression de l’ethique l’Afrique. La question ethique qui se pose a propos de l’indifference et de ses declinaisons est celle qui lie la dette aux notions de devoir, de responsabilite et de reciprocite. Nos societes post-postmodernes fonctionnent avec le mythe de l’horizontalite. Tout doit devenir equivalent comme les articles mis en vente. Cette horizontalite refuse la verticalite qui lie les etres humains a l’humanite passee et future et conduit a une sorte d’indifference. L’esprit entrepreunarial a aussi surgi en Afrique, a travers la question de la gouvernance. La gouvernance, fut-elle bonne, n’est qu’un autre nom de la dictature des actionnaires et des financiers et, dans le cas des Etats africains, la bonne gouvernance est l’expression de la dictature des marches financiers sous le couvert de la democratie. Il se profile a l’horizon un modele social ou tout s’achete et se vend. La marchandise devient ainsi le nouveau totem. La bonne gouvernance est ainsi ce qui assure au marche sa fluidite et ses caprices. En fait, la gouvernance s’accompagne souvent aussi par un autre slogan a savoir la reduction de la presence de l’Etat au profit des investisseurs prives. Tout cela convoque la colere. Mais, l’indignation suffit-elle a donner des reponses a la deconfiture morale qui semble intimer ces mots d’ordre a l’Afrique : moins d’Etat et plus de commerce, moins de critiques et plus de consommation ? Qu’apporte la colere au moment ou la nouvelle theologie du marche semble s’appuyer sur et/ou se justifier a la fois par les conflits regionaux et les risques ecologiques ? Que peut la colere devant l’expression d’un marche international qui est regle sur les desiderata de la speculation des interets internationaux ?
Comparison of posture and balance in cancer survivors and age-matched controls

Abstract Background The combination of peripheral neuropathy and other treatment-associated side effects is likely related to an increased incidence of falls in cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to quantify differences in postural stability between healthy age-matched controls and cancer survivors. Methods Quiet standing under four conditions (eyes open/closed, rigid/compliant surface) was assessed in 34 cancer survivors (2 males, 32 females; age: 54(13) yrs., height: 1.62(0.07) m; mass: 78.5(19.5) kg) and 34 age-matched controls (5 males, 29 females; age: 54(15) yrs.; height: 1.62(0.08) m; mass: 72.8(21.1) kg). Center of pressure data were collected for 30 s and the trajectories were analyzed (100 Hz). Three-factor (group*surface*vision) mixed model MANOVAs with repeated measures were used to determine the effect of vision and surface on postural steadiness between groups. Findings Cancer survivors exhibited larger mediolateral root-mean square distance and velocity of the center of pressure, as well as increased 95% confidence ellipse area (P Interpretation Cancer survivors exhibit decreased postural steadiness when compared with age-matched controls. For cancer survivors undergoing rehabilitation focused on existing balance deficits, a small subset of the center of pressure measures presented here can be used to track progress throughout the intervention and potentially mitigate fall risk.
The Impact of Regulatory Structures on African Remittance Flows

In many African countries, remittances play a central role in stabilizing economies and enhancing human security. There are a variety of mechanisms through which an individual in one country transfers funds to family members in another country. Some transfers occur through formal institutions, such as banks, and some through informal channels, such as hawala common throughout North Africa. One of the leading issues that impacts an individual’s choices is the regulatory structure governing money transfers. This issue is important in the remittance sending and receiving countries. On both ends of the transactions, there are compliance issues associated with money laundering or terrorism financing concerns. But there are also taxes and other regulatory burdens that often drive remittances into informal channels. What regulatory structures, then, pose the greatest challenges to remittances, and what regulatory structures promote the greatest benefits to all stakeholders? The paper explores these questions with regards to remittances flowing into Africa from developed countries, but also considering regional remittance flows within Africa, building on comparative research on remittance regulations throughout the continent. With the proper regulatory mechanisms, these flows can be greatly increased and enhance the well being of individuals and communities throughout Africa.
A 19.4 nJ/decision 364K decisions/s in-memory random forest classifier in 6T SRAM array

This paper presents IC realization of a random forest (RF) machine learning classifier. Algorithm-architecture-circuit is co-optimized to minimize the energy-delay product (EDP). Deterministic subsampling (DSS) and balanced decision trees result in reduced interconnect complexity and avoid irregular memory accesses. Low-swing analog in-memory computations embedded in a standard 6T SRAM enable massively parallel processing thereby minimizing the memory fetches and reducing the EDP further. The 65nm CMOS prototype achieves a 6.8× lower EDP compared to a conventional design at the same accuracy (94%) for an 8-class traffic sign recognition problem.
Positive reading attitudes of low-income bilingual latinos

Many assume low-income, emergent bilingual Latinos have poor reading attitudes. To investigate this issue, we surveyed 1,503 Texas public high school students through stratified cluster sampling to determine their reading attitudes. Most represented Latinos and mixed-race Latinos/Whites who heard Spanish at home and whose mother tongue was Spanish. Sources included the valid and reliable Rhody Reading Attitude Assessment (RRAS), demographic questions added to the RRAS, and campus summary data. Frameworks were social justice and linguistic funds of knowledge. Significant overall-reading attitude differences appeared in individual and school background variables. Regarding the former, the Latino/White blended group displayed significantly higher reading attitudes than Whites. Though insignificant, those who spoke Spanish and Spanish/English as mother tongues and those hearing Spanish and Spanish/English combinations at home demonstrated higher reading attitudes. Advanced program students had significantly h...
How Climate Change Can Affect Where People Live? Evidence from Flood Surprises

This paper examines the extent to which flood-risk revisions, on their own, can affect the size of the community and real estate values over time. I compile a new measure of insured and uninsured losses for 4,147 communities and identify relatively small flood events that occur in places with different flood history. I show that flood history determines the extent to which events are anticipated and covered by insurance. Only locations with flood surprises experience declines in population. These occur in attractive communities with high pre-flood growth where real estate prices do not compensate for higher flood risk. Flood surprises in communities where housing prices decrease and compensate for higher risk have stable population.
Pharmacometrics of Hyperlipidemia

Arteriosclerosis of the coronary and peripheral vasculature is the undisputed leading cause of death worldwide resulting from cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke. Lipoproteins represent a surrogate for one of the significant cardiovascular risk factors, and mathematical models to understand lipoprotein kinetics have been investigated for the past 50 years. Existing therapies with different mechanisms of action help patients reach clinical goals by modulating lipoprotein metabolism with the goal of reducing cardiovascular risk. The application of pharmacometrics in hyperlipidemia is an emerging area. In this chapter, we review the application of pharmacometrics in hyperlipidemia highlighting examples of the novel application of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) models to characterize the efficacy of a wide variety of drugs including statins, cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, and ezetimibe. Empirical and semi-mechanistic models have been used to characterize dose response and the time course of effects of hyperlipidemia therapies. In conclusion, pharmacometrics will continue to be an important tool to facilitate the development of new drug therapies to alleviate the burden of cardiovascular disease.
Brief reports from the pain management symposium. Nonopioid analgesics.

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. This definition clearly includes pain states not associated with tissue damage, such as headache and phantom pain. These and other chronic pain conditions have been treated with nonopioid analgesics, such as anticonvulsants and antidepressants. In 1990, the World Health Organization proposed an analgesic ladder for the treatment of cancer pain. The first step of the ladder calls for the use of acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with or without an adjuvant medication. The second step suggests a weak opioid analgesic with or without adjuvants, and the third step suggests a strong opioid analgesic with or without adjuvant drugs. The use of this analgesic ladder has been extrapolated to noncancer pain states, but little is known regarding the efficacy of combinations of analgesics, antidepressants, or anticonvulsants. This report summarizes some data on the efficacy of nonopioid analgesics in various pain syndromes.
ENTROPY BACKGROUND IN ENGINEERING AND ECONOMICS

Every actual physical or chemical process causes ah increase in the entropy of the physical world. Mining, agriculture and industry all contribute. Unlimited recycling, of high entropy waste for reuse as low entropy raw material is not practical. Earth's minerals will be depleted. Crises must be expected in the economy. International cooperation and a large scale solar economy must replace the present political struggle and the mineral economy.
Introducing a New Editorial Series in Public Integrity: “The State of the Republic”

In 1968, I graduated from Cal Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science. Now, after five years with the federal government and 45 as a public university professor, I look back at the places I've be...
Role of CYP2C19 alleles in the management of recurrent ischemic stroke.

Purpose of review CYP2C19 is the primary enzyme involved in the activation of clopidogrel, an antiplatelet agent used for secondary stroke prevention. An individual9s CYP2C19 alleles are used to understand their CYP2C19 -clopidogrel metabolizer phenotype. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the CYP2C19 gene result in altered metabolism of this prodrug. Recent findings Three ischemic stroke cases were treated with clopidogrel. Despite confirming adequate drug exposure, medication adherence, and ruling out drug-drug interactions, all had recurrent ischemic stroke. Each case had a CYP2C19 *2/*17 genotype, categorizing them as intermediate clopidogrel metabolizers. Even with the gain-of-function allele, the loss-of-function allele resulted in lack of prodrug activation, leading to decreased efficacy in platelet inhibition. Summary These cases illustrate the importance of a thoughtful approach to secondary stroke prevention and demonstrate the utility of pharmacogenomic testing in clopidogrel hyporesponders. Recognition of the importance of CYP2C19 genotyping has the potential to enable better selection of appropriate secondary prevention strategies.
PCAOT: A Manhattan Point Cloud Registration Method Towards Large Rotation and Small Overlap

Point cloud registration is a popular research topic and has been widely used in many tasks, such as robot mapping and localization. It is a challenging problem when the overlap is small, or the rotation is large. The problem has not been well solved by existing methods such as the iterative closest point (ICP) and its variants. In this paper, a novel method named principal coordinate alignment with overlap tuning (PCAOT) is proposed based on the Manhattan world assumption. It solves two key problems together, the transformation estimation and the overlap estimation. The overlap is represented by a 3D cuboid and the transformation is computed only within the overlap region. Instead of finding point correspondence as in traditional methods, we estimate the rotation by principal coordinates alignment, which is faster and less sensitive than ICP and its variants to small overlaps and large rotations. Evaluations demonstrate that our method achieves much better results than the ICP and its variants when the overlap ratio is smaller than 50%, or the rotation angle is larger than 60°. Especially, it is effective when the overlap ratio is less than 30%, or the rotation angle is larger than 90°.
Cholesterol in patients with coronary heart disease: how low should we go?

CLINICAL PROBLEM: To examine the evidence supporting the recent National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommendation that low to moderate levels of cholesterol should be aggressively managed in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).
Pharmacological and Genetic Inhibition of Caveolin-1 Promotes Epithelialization and Wound Closure.

Chronic wounds—including diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers—represent a major health problem that demands an urgent solution and new therapies. Despite major burden to patients, health care professionals, and health care systems worldwide, there are no efficacious therapies approved for treatment of chronic wounds. One of the major obstacles in achieving wound closure in patients is the lack of epithelial migration. Here, we used multiple pre-clinical wound models to show that Caveolin-1 (Cav1) impedes healing and that targeting Cav1 accelerates wound closure. We found that Cav1 expression is significantly upregulated in wound edge biopsies of patients with non-healing wounds, confirming its healing-inhibitory role. Conversely, Cav1 was absent from the migrating epithelium and is downregulated in acutely healing wounds. Specifically, Cav1 interacted with membranous glucocorticoid receptor (mbGR) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in a glucocorticoid-dependent manner to inhibit cutaneous healing. However, pharmacological disruption of caveolae by MβCD or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Cav1 knockdown resulted in disruption of Cav1-mbGR and Cav1-EGFR complexes and promoted epithelialization and wound healing. Our data reveal a novel mechanism of inhibition of epithelialization and wound closure, providing a rationale for pharmacological targeting of Cav1 as potential therapy for patients with non-healing chronic wounds.
Glass-boxing Science: Laboratory Work on Display in Museums:

Museum displays tend to black-box science, by displaying scientific facts without explanations of how those facts were made. A recent trend in exhibit design upends this omission by putting scienti...
Social Media Analysts and Sell-Side Analyst Research

We examine how research posted by “social media analysts” (SMAs), individuals posting equity research online via social media investment platforms, is related to research subsequently produced by professional sell-side equity analysts. Using data from Seeking Alpha, we find that the market reaction to sell-side analyst research is substantially reduced when preceded by the report of an SMA, and this is particularly true for sell-side analysts’ earnings forecasts. We further find that this effect is more pronounced when SMA reports contain more decision-useful language, are produced by SMAs with greater expertise, and relate to firms with greater retail investor ownership. We also provide evidence that the attenuated response to sell-side research is most likely explained by SMA research preempting information in sell-side research and that analysts respond to SMA preemption with bolder and more disaggregated forecasts. Collectively, our results suggest that equity research posted online by SMAs provides investors with information similar to but earlier than sell-side equity research and speak to the connected and evolving roles of information intermediaries in capital markets.
Use patterns for ebooks: The effects of subject, age and availability on rate of use

Abstract This article shares the results of a study of subject use of nearly 100,000 ebooks over 10 years in the OhioLINK academic library consortium. The study reveals information about how quickly ebooks in different subjects are found and used, how long they remain in use, and how consortial use by subject compares to use at individual institutions. Taken in the context of the literature about print obsolescence, the data reveals that the use of ebooks follows patterns established for print monographs, including that prior use predicts future use, use declines as titles age, and ebooks have their greatest chance of being used when they are new. Even so, this study shows that ebooks do not drop in use dramatically as they grow older; rather, the majority are used for many years. Rate of use of ebook content is, in general, highest for subjects in the sciences and lowest for humanities subjects, but these patterns may differ greatly for individual user groups.
Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Plant Operation Optimization

Nowadays, with the help of the IoT sensor network, we can adopt optimization techniques to support real-time engineering operations over a time horizon. In this optimization problem, the main challenges are twofold. First, we have to consider engineering constraints and capacity into the problem formulation, as well as multiple and often conflicting objectives need to be taken into consideration. Second, we need to solve the optimization within minutes to match the needs of the operation. The solution should contain recommendations of multiple operation steps of the plant-wide transformation processes. In our work we apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as an add-on method of traditional management of plant optimization objectives. This approach allows dealing with both subjective and objective aspects of a decision-making process. As a result, it allows creating an objective function in a more configurable way that can be optimized within a reasonable time. To validate this approach, we compare our results from the AHP versus multiple steps optimization as well as the traditional weighted approach. We demonstrate advantages of the AHP approach in terms of its simplicity, performance, and flexibility.
急性髓细胞白血病治疗新进展:第51届美国血液学年会热点

急性髓细胞白血病(AML)是成年人急性白血病中最常见的类型.近20年来,有关AML的发病机制和预后研究都取得了革命性的进展.患者的完全缓解(CR)率明显提高,但仍然只有1/3成年AML患者可以达到治愈,难治、复发、老年AML仍是当前临床治疗的难点.我们依据第51届美国血液学年会(ASH 2009)的最新资料,对AML治疗的最新进展及新药应用作一介绍。
Co-occurrence of apathy and impulse control disorders in Parkinson disease.

Objective To empirically test whether apathy and impulse control disorders (ICDs) represent independent, opposite ends of a motivational spectrum. Methods In this single-center, cross-sectional study, we obtained retrospective demographics and clinical data for 887 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) seen at a tertiary care center. Mood and motivation disturbances were classified using recommended cutoff scores from self-reported measures of apathy, ICD, anxiety, and depression. Results Prevalence rates included 29.0% of patients with PD with depression, 40.7% with anxiety, 41.3% with apathy, 27.6% with ICDs, and 17.0% with both apathy and ICD. The majority (61.6%) of people reporting clinically significant ICDs also reported clinically significant apathy, and more than a third of patients with apathy (41.3%) also reported elevated ICD. Anxiety and depression were highest in patients with both apathy and ≥1 ICDs. Dopamine agonist use was higher in people with only ICD compared to people with only apathy. Mood significantly interacted with demographic variables to predict motivational disturbances. Conclusions Motivational disturbances are common comorbid conditions in patients with PD. In addition, these complex behavioral syndromes interact with mood in clinically important ways that may influence the design of future clinical trials and the development of novel therapies. This study challenges the concept of apathy and ICD in PD as opposite ends of a spectrum.
Functional testicular torsion secondary to an incarcerated inguinal hernia in a 4-month old: complete recovery at 18-hours

One of the most common urological emergencies encountered in pediatric patients in the emergency department (ED) is the acute scrotum. We present the case of a 4-month-old male that presented to our community ED with scrotal swelling and vomiting of 16-hours duration. He was diagnosed with a functional testicular torsion from an incarcerated inguinal hernia, transferred to a hospital with pediatric urological capabilities and was taken to the operating room ~2 hours later. His hospital course was unremarkable, and he was discharged on day 3, having made a full recovery without any loss of bowel or testicle. There have only been a handful of cases in the literature of a pediatric patient presenting with a functional testicular torsion as a result of spermatic cord compression from an indirect inguinal hernia, with no reported cases of complete salvage at nearly 18 hours since symptom onset.
Psychological Processes Involved in Life Skill Transfer: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Youth Recognized as Being Socially Vulnerable

The development and transfer of life skills is seen as a critical outcome for sport-based PYD programs. Life skills enable youth to manage the challenges of everyday life and are recognized as being particularly important for youth who are socially vulnerable and at-risk for behavioral health problems. Even with the advancement of sport-based PYD research o, the psychological processes of youth who experience transfer remains understudied. Using the Life Skills Transfer Model (Pierce et al. in Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol 10(1):186–211, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2016.1199727 ) as a theoretical framework, the current study explored eight psychological processes that have been proposed to contribute to the transfer of life skills. Further, as a way to meet the call for longitudinal integrated qualitative approaches that advance one-shot interviews, the current study used photo-elicitation methods to establish prolonged engagement in the research while empowering youth to share their unique lived experiences related to participation in a sport-based PYD program. Twelve youth participated in the current study, which included seven boys and five girls from the ages of nine to 14, the majority of whom identified as Black. Findings provide support for the eight psychological processes related to life skill transfer and help to illustrate a more nuanced understanding of how and why youth transfer life skills from sport to other life domains. With this knowledge, other sport-based PYD programs, particularly those serving socially vulnerable youth, have a variety of programmatic decisions to consider.
Female Outperformance in Voluntary Running Persists in Dystrophin-Null and Klotho-Overexpressing Mice.

BACKGROUND Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a degenerative muscle disease that results from impairment of the dystrophin gene. The disease causes progressive loss in muscle mass and function. OBJECTIVE The anti-aging protein, α-klotho, has been implicated in the regulation of muscle regeneration. We previously discovered that mice harboring reduced α-klotho levels exhibited a decline in muscle strength and running endurance. METHOD To investigate the ability of α-klotho to improve overall endurance in a dystrophin null murine model, we examined the voluntary wheel running performance of dystrophin-null, mdx4cv mice overexpressing an α-klotho transgene. RESULTS As expected, compared to wild type, both male and female dystrophic mice exhibited reduced running ability that was characterized by shorter running duration and longer periods of rest between cycles of activity. While our results did not detect an improvement in running performance with α-klotho overexpression, we identified distinct differences in the running patterns between females and males from all mouse strains analyzed (i.e., mdx4cv, mdx4cv overexpressing α-klotho, α-klotho overexpressing, α-klotho hypomorph, and wild type). For all strains, male mice displayed significantly reduced voluntary running ability compared to females. Further analysis of the mdx4cv strains demonstrated that male mice ran for shorter lengths of time and took longer breaks. However, we did not identify gender-associated differences in the actual speed at which mdx4cv mice ran. CONCLUSION Our data suggest key differences in the running capabilities of female and male mice, which are of particular relevance to studies of dystrophin-null mice.
Spontaneous Mutants of Streptococcus sanguinis with Defects in the Glucose-PTS Show Enhanced Post-Exponential Phase Fitness

Genetic truncations in a gene encoding a putative glucose-PTS protein (manL, EIIABMan) were identified in subpopulations of two separate laboratory stocks of Streptococcus sanguinis SK36; the mutants had reduced PTS activities on glucose and other monosaccharides. Using an engineered mutant of manL and its complemented derivative, we showed that the ManL-deficient strain had improved bacterial viability in stationary phase and was better able to inhibit the growth of the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans. Transcriptional analysis and biochemical assays suggested that the manL mutant underwent reprograming of central carbon metabolism that directed pyruvate away from production of lactate, increasing production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and excretion of pyruvate. Addition of pyruvate to the medium enhanced the survival of SK36 in overnight cultures. Meanwhile, elevated pyruvate levels were detected in the cultures of a small, but significant percentage ([~]10%), of clinical isolates of oral commensal bacteria. Furthermore, the manL mutant showed higher expression of the arginine deiminase system than the wild type, which enhanced the ability of the mutant to raise environmental pH when arginine was present. Significant discrepancies in genome sequence were identified between strain SK36 obtained from ATCC and the sequence deposited in GenBank. As the conditions that are likely associated with the emergence of spontaneous manL mutations, i.e. excess carbohydrates and low pH, are those associated with caries development, we propose that the glucose-PTS strongly influences commensal-pathogen interactions by altering the production of ammonia, pyruvate, and H2O2. ImportanceA health-associated dental microbiome provides a potent defense against pathogens and diseases. Streptococcus sanguinis is an abundant member of a health-associated oral flora that antagonizes pathogens by producing hydrogen peroxide. There is a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms that allow bacteria to survive carbohydrate-rich and acidic environments associated with the development of dental caries. We report the isolation and characterization of spontaneous mutants of S. sanguinis with impairment in glucose transport. The resultant reprograming of central metabolism in these mutants reduced the production of lactic acid and increased pyruvate accumulation; the latter enables these bacteria to better cope with hydrogen peroxide and low pH. The implications of these discoveries in the development of dental caries are discussed.
Voluntary and Instrumental Information Security Policy Compliance: An Integrated View of Prosocial Motivation, Self-Regulation and Deterrence

Abstract Understanding employees’ motivations and behaviors toward compliance with information security policies (ISPs) remains a theoretical and practical challenge. Although previous information security researchers have investigated different motivational factors related to ISP compliance, most have not recognized different forms of ISP compliance behaviors characterized by their levels of willingness and persistence, nor have they noted the importance of adopting an other-oriented lens to examine such behaviors. In this paper, we propose and test an integrated model that investigates how various motivational factors affect different ISP compliance behaviors. Specifically, the model anchors on the prosocial motivational perspective in addition to the instrumental and self-regulatory motivational perspectives and investigates two types of compliance behaviors (voluntary ISP compliance and instrumental ISP compliance). We tested our model using survey data collected from 407 employee respondents. Our results show that the three sets of motivational factors have different effects on the two types of ISP compliance behaviors. Prosocial motivation and self-regulatory motivation positively affect voluntary ISP compliance behavior. Deterrence as an instrumental control leads to instrumental ISP compliance behavior but undermines voluntary ISP compliance behavior. Our study highlights that, to foster employees’ voluntary ISP compliance, organizations need to take a more holistic approach by integrating the prosocial approach with the instrumental and self-regulatory approaches in managing voluntary compliance behaviors, while being mindful of the negative effects of instrumental controls (e.g., deterrence) on such behaviors.
Dynamics and Nonlinear Control of Integrated Process Systems

Part I. Preliminaries: 1. Introduction 2. Singular perturbation theory Part II. Process Systems with Material Integration: 3. Process systems with significant material recycling 4. Process systems with purge streams 5. Dynamics and control of generalized integrated process systems Part III. Process Systems with Energy Integration: 6. Process systems with energy recycling 7. Process systems with high energy throughput References Part IV. Appendices: A. Definitions B. Systems with multiple time scale dynamics C. MATLAB code.
Alternatives to consider in fluorescence decay analysis.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the global analysis of fluorescence decay rate distributions. The chapter illustrates that a “global” (simultaneous, multicurve) least-squares analysis can be of benefit both in identifying the number of species present and in confining the distributions. Global analysis more correctly recovers the centers and widths of the actual lifetime distributions. In particular, although several models can be used, a Gaussian distribution was employed for each term ( j ) to produce an impulse response f j . Decay analysis, whether discrete or distributed, should exploit the multidimensional nature of luminescence data. In conclusion, global analysis can be of benefit for decay distribution recovery. More important, the functional linkages (for example, spectra) directly serve as signatures for states in the system. In fluorescence decay analysis, the maximum entropy method (MEM) has made a significant contribution and is likely to remain a useful tool for visualizing the difficult Laplace inversion.
Locating Security in the Womb

The discourse surrounding US family planning policies has evolved into a highly moralistic one that mirrors US domestic debates surrounding abortion rights. However, the original intent of ‘population control’ was to protect US access to raw resources and maintain US global supremacy. US family policies did not first identify woman as the object to be controlled, but policies have changed such that women's bodies have become a symbolic representation of – and site of resistance to – the power relationships between the US and developing states. The change in the rhetoric – from population control to family planning, women's empowerment, environmental sustainability and human rights – does not mean the ‘rules’ enforced by the hegemon have changed so much as it indicates a process of identity formation occurring through the implementation of these rules.
Properdin Contributes to Allergic Airway Inflammation through Local C3a Generation

Complement is implicated in asthma pathogenesis, but its mechanism of action in this disease remains incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated the role of properdin (P), a positive alternative pathway complement regulator, in allergen-induced airway inflammation. Allergen challenge stimulated P release into the airways of asthmatic patients, and P levels positively correlated with proinflammatory cytokines in human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). High levels of P were also detected in the BAL of OVA-sensitized and challenged but not naive mice. Compared with wild-type (WT) mice, P-deficient (P(-/-)) mice had markedly reduced total and eosinophil cell counts in BAL and significantly attenuated airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine. Ab blocking of P at both sensitization and challenge phases or at challenge phase alone, but not at sensitization phase alone, reduced airway inflammation. Conversely, intranasal reconstitution of P to P(-/-) mice at the challenge phase restored airway inflammation to wild-type levels. Notably, C3a levels in the BAL of OVA-challenged P(-/-) mice were significantly lower than in wild-type mice, and intranasal coadministration of an anti-C3a mAb with P to P(-/-) mice prevented restoration of airway inflammation. These results show that P plays a key role in allergen-induced airway inflammation and represents a potential therapeutic target for human asthma.
Characterization of a gene from Zea mays related to the Arabidopsis flowering-time gene LUMINIDEPENDENS.

The molecular biology of flowering has been most extensively studied in the quantitative long-day plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The Arabidopsis LUMINIDEPENDENS (LD) gene encodes a potential transcriptional regulator that acts as a positive effector of flowering, at least in part through suppression of the floral inhibitor gene FLC. As an initial step to explore the conservation of the molecular mechanisms of flowering among plants of various flowering habits, and to further investigate the molecular action(s) of LD, we have identified a gene from maize (Zea mays) that is closely related to Arabidopsis LD. The major product of this gene, which we have designated ZmLD for Zea mays LUMINIDEPENDENS, contains four conserved regions that may constitute functionally important components of the LD proteins. One of these regions closely resembles the canonical homeodomain. The ZmLD gene exists as a single copy in the maize genome, and generates a major ca. 4.0 kb transcript, and a minor ca. 2.6 kb transcript that results from alternative transcriptional termination. The 4.0 kb ZmLDα transcript accumulated to highest levels in proliferative tissues, including the shoot apex and developing inflorescences. Expression of ZmLDα under control of the Arabidopsis LD promoter in transgenic Arabidopsis caused developmental defects similar to those conferred by loss-of-function mutations in a class of genes involved in maintaining the proliferative nature of the shoot, inflorescence, and floral meristems. These effects were not influenced markedly by the activities of the Arabidopsis LD or FLC genes. We consider the implications for the conservation of LD function between maize and Arabidopsis.
Transitioning expert system technology: case studies at the Navy Center for applied research in artificial intelligence

Three case studies in expert or knowledge-based system technology development and transition at the US Navy Center for applied research in artificial intelligence are discussed. The systems share a common development philosophy, i.e., to construct prototypes as specialized, reusable tools or shells rather than as simple technology demonstrations tailored to a particular application. A number of critical issues in technology transition drawn from experiences with these efforts are identified and discussed. >