cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
e-CLV: a modelling approach for customer lifetime evaluation in e-commerce domains, with an application and case study for online auctions

E-commerce companies understand that customers are their most important asset and that it is imperative to estimate the potential value of this asset. Hence, a model for calculating customer's value is essential in these domains. We describe a general modeling approach, based on Markov chain models, for calculating customer value in the e-commerce domain. This model extends existing models from the field of direct marketing, by taking into account a new set of variables required for evaluating customers value in an e-commerce environment. In addition, we present an algorithm for generating this model from historical data, as well as an application of this modeling approach for the creation of a model for online auctions. We also describe a case study that demonstrates how our model provides more accurate predictions than existing models regarding the future income generated by customers.
Semiconducting Polymer Nanoprobe for In Vivo Imaging of Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species

Semiconducting polymer nanoparticles are utilized as a free-radical inert and light-harvesting nanoplatform for in vivo molecular imaging of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). With its RONS-sensitive fluorescence, good biodistribution and passive targeting ability to leaky inflammatory vasculature, this nanoprobe permits detection of RONS in the microenvironment of spontaneous bacterial infection following systemic administration.
Understanding of Aquifer Microbiology is Tightly Linked to Sampling Approaches

Primary samples of groundwater or core are collected and analyzed to characterize the microbiology of aquifers and to predict biogeochemical transformations. Alternative sampling devices have been developed that are incubated for some length of time in the aquifer to accrue biomass for analysis. Considering data generated from different types of aquifer samples, it appears that the type of sample collected and analyzed may strongly influence the resulting view of aquifer microbiology. Borehole artifacts need to be rigorously considered when incubated substrata are used. The indigenous attached populations in deeper, fractured rock aquifers remain understudied and await new sampling approaches.
A Group Incentive Compatible Mechanism Yielding Core Allocations

The possibilities for achieving desirable standards of economic performance in a decentralized, incentive compatible manner have recently received widespread research attention. Perhaps the most notable contribution in this area has been the remarkable paper by Groves and Ledyard [7]. They devised a mechanism for allocating resources in economies with public goods which gives agents broad opportunities for strategic behavior but under which Nash equilibrium results in Pareto optimal allocations. These allocations resulting from the Groves-Ledyard rules are not, however, guaranteed to be individually rational, so some agents may end up worse off under the operation of the mechanism than at their initial endowment points. Further, the mechanism is not group incentive compatible: if even two agents can coordinate their choices of messages, then the Nash equilibria are no longer stable and inefficiency may result [3].
Navigating Residential Attorney Approvals: Finding a Better Judicial North Star

The article traces the development of attorney approval clauses and describes the court rulings on the unauthorized practice of law that led to the development of these clauses. The article describes how a well-trained attorney can protect home buyers and sellers at the contract formation stage and thereafter far better than a broker, a title company, or a lender. Understanding what a well-trained attorney would ordinarily do when representing a party contemplating entering into a purchase and sales contract is fundamental to analyzing whether attorney approval clauses are serving their intended function.The author argues that, to the extent that attorney approval clauses were intended to provide buyers and sellers with the means to be competently and legitimately represented by an attorney, the typical wording of many attorney approval clauses and certain court interpretations of the clauses have greatly impeded this goal. The article critiques the different wording contained in attorney approval clauses and then identifies instances of judicial misapplication of contract principles when interpreting attorney approval clauses (mischaracterizing the clauses as conditional acceptances and any proposed modifications to the contract as counteroffers). The author argues that such mischaracterizations have opened the door to bad faith rejections of a contract, and have impeded an attorney’s ability to competently and legitimately represent their client. In addition, the article contends that, although courts require that attorneys act in good faith when exercising the attorney approval clause, courts’ failure to require that attorneys state the reason(s) for their disapproval of the contract or to provide proposed changes to the contract weakens the effectiveness of such a requirement and forces attorneys into real dilemmas when their clients pressure them to improperly disapprove a contract. The article asserts that courts’ failure to adequately define the “good faith-bad faith” dichotomy forces many attorneys to make shot-in-the dark type judgments on how to zealously represent their client while properly exercising the attorney approval clause.The article concludes by recommending that courts interpret these attorney approval clauses in a fashion that better comports with the public interest. It also recommends to associations of brokers and bar associations of lawyers how to draft attorney clauses for residential purchase agreements to better serve the purpose of such clauses. The author advises attorneys on how to fulfill their duty of zealous representation and, at the same time, satisfy the good faith requirement when exercising an attorney approval clause under current case law.
The Causes and Consequences of Gubernatorial Impeachment

To date fourteen American governors have been impeached. This analysis indicates that impeachments occur during periods of extensive polarization when when politically well established governors are removed from office by significant political opponents. The analysis also finds that impeachment fails to remove governors from office in about one third of the cases and that most removed governors are never subsequently convicted of crimes. It also indicates that impeachment does not affect the political fortunes of other candidates for election from the governor's party.
Discriminatively reranking abductive proofs for plan recognition

We investigate the use of a simple, discriminative reranking approach to plan recognition in an abductive setting. In contrast to recent work, which attempts to model abductive plan recognition using various formalisms that integrate logic and graphical models (such as Markov Logic Networks or Bayesian Logic Programs), we instead advocate a simpler, more flexible approach in which plans found through an abductive beam-search are discriminatively scored based on arbitrary features. We show that this approach performs well even with relatively few positive training examples, and we obtain state-of-the-art results on two abductive plan recognition datasets, outperforming more complicated systems.
The Randomness of Remainders

The Monte Carlo simulation technique, used for statistical predictions of numerical data in complex models of scientific situations, depends on a constant supply of a long stream of random numbers. Highly sophisticated computer programs have been devised to generate such a supply and (sometimes after long usage) the numbers generated by the program often prove to be not so random after all. For example, in an article in Physics Review Letters a few years ago (December 7, 1992), it was reported that five of the most widely-used random number generators produced errors when applied to a model of the behavior of atoms in a magnetic ciystal. Some random number generators contain a process wherein a stream of digits is added together, then divided into some large number, and the remainder used to compute further digits in the next step of the process. A little experimentation might well convince the casual observer of the unpredictability (and hence, presumably, the randomness) of this sort of calculation. For example, if 1,000,001 is divided by the integers 1234, 1235,...,1250, the following remainders result: 461, 886, 77, 505, 935, 128, 561, 996, 191, 629, 1069, 266, 709, 1159, 353, 801 and 1. These numbers appear to be spread quite uniformly over the interval [0, 1250], even though the divisors are so regular. A few computations such as this might lead the experimenter astray.
Representations of Sl (2, p)

(1975). Representations of Sl (2, p) The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 82, No. 1, pp. 21-39.
Memory for Gist: Some Relevant Variables

Using sentences of the form: A is X, B is not X, C is X and D is not X (where X and X are antonyms) a study of gist memory was carried out concerned with evaluating two alternative proposals as to ...
Research on the genomic characteristics of Enterovirus 71 isolates in Ningbo area

Objective:To understand the genetic evolution origin of Enterovirus 71 strains isolated in Ningbo area in 2010.Methods:The genome were amplified and sequenced with eight fragments with RT-PCR.Then the amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences of VP1,VP2,VP3,VP4,P1,P2 and P3 sequences were analyzed by DNA-STAR.Results:The full-length of NB10 strain was 7406bp,had the most similarities with the strains FJ606448 isolated in Beijing in 2008.The similarity was 99%.The Amino acid sequences of the Structural protein were the same between the two strains.The similarities of genomes between strain NB10 with other EV71 stains of C4 subtype such as Anhui strain CQ994988 FY08,Shenzhen strain FJ607337.ISHEZH08,were all more than 98%,while the similarities between NB10 and the standard stains BrCr and MS-7423-87 were far.In area of p1,p2 and p3,the similarities between NB10 and other strains of C4 subtype were more than 94%.Only in P3 area,the similarities of amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences between NB10 and Beijing strain FJ606450.1 were 96.7% and 87.9%.Conclusion:The genetic relationship between NB10 and other reference strains of C4 subtype from mainland was near,while the genetic relationship between NB10 and Beijing strain FJ606450.1 was far.Maybe NB10 and Beijing strain FJ606450.1 origined from different EV71 strains.
Retrospective analysis of surgical treatment in 15 cases of vulval carcinoma

Objective:To observe the efficacy of surgical operation for carcinoma of the vulva and study the prevention of postoperative complications.Methods:Fifteen patients were operated for vulvar carcinoma.The clinical data was analyzed retrospectively.Results:Fifteen patients,with a median age 60 years,median symptomatic duration of 10 months.The lesions were located on the labia majora in 10 cases,which accounted for 66.7% of all cases.The size of tumor was less than 2 cm in 1 case,2-5 cm in 12 cases,and greater than 5 cm in 2 cases.The histologic type of 13 patients was squamous cell carcinoma and the other 2 patients were adnocarcinoma.Inguinal lymph node metastasis were found in 4 cases(16.7%).According to FIGO stage,there were 1(6.7%),10(66.7%),3(20.0%),and 1(6.7%)in stage I,II,III,and IV,respectively.The patterns of operation included radical vulvectomy plus bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy in 10 cases,modified vulvectomy plus ipsilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy in 4 cases,and simple vulvectomy in 1 case.The majority of postoperative complications were wound dehiscence,with a rate of 53.3%.Conclusion:Surgical resection is the primary treatment of vulvar carcinoma,but with a high incidence of wound dehiscence.
Biocatalytic Oxidation of Acylglycerol and Methyl Ester

Soybean lipoxygenase (LOX; linoleate, oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.13.11.12) generates fatty acid hydroperoxides from polyunsaturated fatty acids and oxygen. In earlier work the high pH form of soybean LOX was shown to strongly prefer free fatty acid as a substrate, rather than esterified acid (1). However experimental evidence with structural analogues suggests that 15(S)-lipoxygenases, such as soybean LOX, recognize and bind their substrates through the methyl end, and therefore modification to the carboxylic end of the substrate should have a minimal impact upon substrate reactivity (2). In support of this contention, recently it was shown that LOX acted upon esterified fatty acids in phosphoglycerides when a bile salt surfactant was present (3–5). Phosphoglyceride oxidation was highly positionally and stereochemically specific and therefore was not merely an enzyme promoted radical-mediated autoxidation (4,5). There is a single report demonstrating the action of LOX upon fatty amide (6).
A 'major revolution' in Texas.

The future of charity care in Texas is uncertain, despite recent legislation regulating nonprofit hospitals.
Transfusion Therapy in Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

This article describes the autoimmune hemolytic anemias (AIHA), warm reactive AIHA, cold reactive AIHA or cold agglutinin disease (CAD), paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, and drug induced hemolytic anemia. Pathogenesis and clinical presentation are discussed with focus on serologic diagnosis and practical considerations regarding transfusion therapy.
The reflux from internal carotid artery of posterior circulation: variation of anatomy versus pathology.

A. Reflux: from the anterior to the posterior circulation (or vice-versa) may occur in the presence of of favorable configuration of the Circle of Willis consisting of a combination of a wide diameter of the PCCA and P1. — A fetal type of PCA will not necessarily allow a reflux into the tip of the BA (importance of P1). — B. Reflux: should be definitely considered a pathological event after a favorable configuration of the Circle of Willis has been ruled out.
Performance and Persistence Outcomes of GEAR UP Students: Leveling the Playing Field in Higher Education.

Given the major investment in the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant, rising postsecondary access, trends in poor persistence and retention rates, and ...
A High-Fat Diet Promotes Mammary Gland Myofibroblast Differentiation through MicroRNA 140 Downregulation

Human breast adipose tissue is a heterogeneous cell population consisting of mature white adipocytes, multipotent mesenchymal stem cells, committed progenitor cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells. Dependent on external stimulation, adipose-derived stem cells differentiate along diverse lineages into adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, fibroblasts, and myofibroblasts. It is currently not fully understood how a high-fat diet reprograms adipose-derived stem cells into myofibroblasts. In our study, we used mouse models of a regular diet and of high-fat-diet-induced obesity to investigate the role of dietary fat on myofibroblast differentiation in the mammary stromal microenvironment. We found that a high-fat diet promotes myofibroblast differentiation by decreasing microRNA 140 (miR-140) expression in mammary adipose tissue through a novel negative-feedback loop. Increased transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in mammary adipose tissue in obese mice activates SMAD3 signaling, causing phospho-SMAD3 to bind to the miR-140 locus and inhibit miR-140 transcription. This prevents miR-140 from targeting SMAD3 for degradation, resulting in amplified TGF-β1/SMAD3 signaling and miR-140 downregulation-dependent myofibroblast differentiation. Using tissue and coculture models, we found that myofibroblasts and the fibrotic microenvironment created by myofibroblasts impact the stemness and proliferation of normal ductal epithelial cells and early-stage breast cancer invasion and stemness.
Multi-agent coordination in dynamic networks

We present guidelines for multi-agent coordination in dynamic networks. Using a contraction approach, we derive a connection between an agent's intra-dynamics and those of its neighboring agents. We introduce the notion of ∈-coordination to quantify how well agents are being coordinated to collectively regulate a network and we present a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of ∈-coordination schemes. We show that this condition manifests as a linear feasibility problem and we then investigate many implications of our main result. We conclude by using our main result to regulate a 6-agent network.
Making Prefabrication American: The Work of A. Lawrence Kocher

This article discusses the work of A. Lawrence Kocher in order to capture the relationship between the social and technical commitments of early twentieth-century architectural modernism in the United States. It analyzes Kocher's professional activity, scholarship, policy advocacy, design-build pedagogy, and editorship at Architectural Record (1927–1938). In these realms, Kocher helped introduce prefabrication and standardized detailing to the American architectural profession. He emphasized the accessibility of prefabrication in both historical research and cutting-edge material experimentation. In so doing, Kocher provided a version of modernism that appealed to an American audience. While his vision of design as a social good differed from that of his European social democratic contemporaries, it represents an important and too little studied conception of the potential of building technology to support democracy and the fair distribution of housing for all.
Developing a Patient-Centered mHealth App: A Tool for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes and Their Parents

Background: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) afflicts approximately 154,000 people under 20 years of age. Three-quarters of adolescents are not achieving glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) targets, which leads to negative health outcomes. Mobile health (mHealth), the use of technology in health, has been used successfully to improve health in many chronic conditions, including diabetes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to use patient-centered research methods to inform and improve the design and functionality of our T1D app, MyT1DHero, and to provide insight for others who are designing a health app for adolescents and parents. Methods: This study included data from focus groups with participants recruited from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) southeast Michigan’s family network. All data collected during the sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded. Results: Four key themes were identified: (1) diabetes is unpredictable, (2) negative and frustrated communication, (3) motivations to use an app, and (4) feedback specific to our app. Conclusions: A patient-centered approach was used to assist in the development of an app for adolescents with T1D. Participants were satisfied with overall app design; customization, interactivity, and tangible rewards were identified as being necessary for continued use. Participants believed the app would help improve the communication between parents and adolescents. Many apps developed in the health context have not used a patient-centered design method or have seen vast improvements in health. This paper offers suggestions to others seeking to develop apps for adolescents and their parents.
Rac and Cdc42 effectors.

Rac and Cdc42, like all members of the Ras superfamily, act as molecular switches, cycling between an inactive GDP-bound state and an active GTPbound state. Until recently, members of the Rho-subfamily were believed to be primarily involved in the regulation of cytoskeletal organization in response to extracellular growth factors. However, studies from numerous groups over the past few years have revealed that the Rho-GTPases play crucial roles in a wide variety of biological processes such as transcriptional regulation, cell growth control, membrane trafficking including endocytosis, exocytosis and phagocytosis, as well as development (Fig. 1). The signal transduction pathways mediating these biological phenomena are complex and intricately interwoven. A major challenge has been the identification of downstream effector molecules by which Rac and Cdc42 mediate these activities. Numerous targets of Rac and Cdc42 have been identified (Fig. 2) and further characterization of some of them has led to a better understanding of the function Rac and Cdc42 display at the molecular level. The different Rac and Cdc42 specific effectors and our current understanding of their physiological roles are the major focus of this chapter.
Development and classification of a robust inventory of near real-time outcome measurements for assessing information technology interventions in health care.

Abstract Objective To develop and classify an inventory of near real-time outcome measures for assessing information technology (IT) interventions in health care and assess their relevance as perceived by experts in the field. Materials and methods To verify the robustness and coverage of a previously published inventory of measures and taxonomy, we conducted semi-structured interviews with clinical and administrative leaders from a large care delivery system to collect suggestions of outcome measures that can be calculated with data available in electronic format for near real-time monitoring of EHR implementations. We combined these measures with the most commonly reported in the literature. We then conducted two online surveys with subject-matter experts to collect their perceptions of the relevance of the measures, and identify other potentially relevant measures. Results With input from experienced health care leaders and informaticists, we developed an inventory of 102 outcome measures. These measures were classified into a taxonomy of commonly used measures around the categories of quality, productivity, and safety. Safety measures were rated as most relevant by subject-matter experts, especially those measuring medication processes. Clinician satisfaction and measures assessing mean time to complete tasks and time spent on electronic documentation were also rated as highly relevant. Discussion By expanding the coverage of our previously published inventory and taxonomy, we expect to help providers, health IT vendors and researchers to more effectively and consistently monitor the impact of EHR implementations in near real-time, and report more standardized outcomes in future studies. We identified several measures not commonly assessed by previous studies of IT implementations, especially those of safety and productivity, which deserve more attention from the broader informatics community. Conclusion Our inventory of measures and taxonomy will help researchers identify gaps in their measurement approaches and report more standardized measurements of IT interventions that could be shared among researchers, hopefully facilitating comparison across future studies and increasing our understanding of the impact of IT interventions in health care.
Comparison of Methods for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Ocular Adenovirus Type 3 Infection

In this volunteer study of an induced adenovirus type 3 infection, fluorescent antibody staining, and the examination of conjunctival cytology by Giemsa and Papan'colaou stains were not diagnostically useful. Virus isolations and antibody rises were the only suitable laboratory indications of infection.
Facilitators and Barriers to Preparedness Partnerships: A Veterans Affairs Medical Center Perspective.

OBJECTIVE This study sought to understand facilitators and barriers faced by local US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) emergency managers (EMs) when collaborating with non-VA entities. METHODS Twelve EMs participated in semi-structured interviews lasting 60 to 90 minutes discussing their collaboration with non-VAMC organizations. Sections of the interview transcripts concerning facilitators and barriers to collaboration were coded and analyzed. Common themes were organized into 2 categories: (1) internal (ie, factors affecting collaboration from within VAMCs or by VA policy) and (2) external (ie, interagency or interpersonal factors). RESULTS Respondents reported a range of facilitators and barriers to collaboration with community-based agencies. Internal factors facilitating collaboration included items such as leadership support. An internal barrier example included lack of clarity surrounding the VAMC's role in community disaster response. External factors noted as facilitators included a shared goal across organizations while a noted barrier was a perception that potential partners viewed a VAMC partnership with skepticism. CONCLUSION Federal institutions are important partners for the success of community disaster preparedness and response. Understanding the barriers that VAMCs confront, as well as potential facilitators to collaboration, should enhance the development of VAMC-community partnerships and improve community health resilience. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:431-436).
Facial Cosmetic Surgery.

Facial cosmetic surgery is becoming popular in our society. In order to provide the most predictable surgical procedure, it is imperative for the surgeon to be able to define elements of facial aesthetics as well as the signs of an aging face. The surgeon must able to objectively and systematically analyze facial features preoperatively in order to correctly identify areas of concern and to arrive at an appropriate treatment plan for each patient. This chapter will review how to properly work up the facial cosmetic surgery patient. Clinical assessment and evaluation will be reviewed.
Simulation-Aided Inference in Cosmology

In this paper we describe two Bayesian statistical approaches for combining large-scale computational models with physical observations to make inferences about cosmological parameters. The first method is a Bayesian calibration approach adapted from Kennedy and O’Hagan (J R Stat Soc B 68:425–464, 2001) and Higdon et al. (J Am Stat Assoc 103:570–583, 2008). It makes use of a response surface model that approximates the simulation output at untried input settings. The second approach uses the ensemble Kalman filter (Evensen, IEEE Control Syst Mag 29:83–104, 2009), which makes use of an ensemble of simulations and physical observations to update the prior parameter distribution using standard equations from Kalman filtering. We apply these methods to large-scale structure simulations and observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
FDG-PET/CT Imaging of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecologic malignancy (after cervical cancer), with a lifetime risk of 1.7 %. Although its incidence has decreased slightly over the past 30 years, it is currently the most common cause of death among women with gynecologic malignancies.
Abstract 28: Role of CSF in facilitating synaptic plasticity in breast-to-brain metastasis

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and 10-30% of all breast cancer patients eventually develop brain metastases. Breast-to-brain metastases (BBMs) in stage IV breast carcinoma are concurrent with poor prognosis, neurological degeneration, We treated EMT Her2+ BBM cells with choroid plexus derived artificial CSF. Both mRNA and protein analysis showed enhanced expression of Reelin in treated BBMs, compared to controls. Reelin is an extracellular matrix protein that mediates maturation and synaptic communication (plasticity) in neurons. It has also been shown to be a negative regulator of invasive properties in tumor cells. mRNA expression analysis also showed that the increase in Reelin in the CSF-treated BBMs was correlated with a marked reduction in the expression of invasive EMT markers, and enhanced expression of genes involved in neuronal synaptic plasticity. Correspondingly, through immunofluorescence studies on surgically resected brain metastases from patients, we were able to show to for the first time, that Her2+ metastases in the brain parenchyma display enhanced expression of markers of neuronal synaptic plasticity (SNAP25, NLGN1/2, ENAH, Neurexin). We were also able to show that Her2+ BBMs express high levels of Reelin, its receptor ApoER2 (LRP8) and intracellular mediator Dab1. This suggests that metastatic breast cancer cells mimic their immediate microenvironment to establish themselves in the brain. Our data indicates that the CP/CSF microenvironment aids in establishing tumor synaptic plasticity by inducing Reelin expression, and altering EMT profiles in BBMs. The contribution of the choroid plexus/CSF in the establishment of brain metastases in breast cancer has not been singularly explored, and this study provides novel insights into understanding its role as a microenvironmental niche. Citation Format: Krutika Deshpande, Alex Julian, Behnaz Saatian, Josh Neman. Role of CSF in facilitating synaptic plasticity in breast-to-brain metastasis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 28.
Space mapping based derivative-free optimization framework for supply chain optimization

Abstract Derivative-free optimization (DFO) addresses the problem of optimizing over simulations where a closed form of the objective function is not available. Developments in the theory of DFO algorithms have made them useful for many practical applications. However, most of the existing DFO algorithms do not show satisfactory performance on high-dimensional problems. One contributor to this difficulty is the accuracy of the surrogate models used to guide the search for the optimum. Space mapping approach exploits a simplified simulation, which is a physical surrogate of the original problem at hand. As the simplified simulation is computationally efficient, a larger number of samples can be collected for guiding the search. This work aims to assess the potential of space mapping for derivative-free optimization, understand the difficulties and display its performance on a supply chain simulation optimization problem for identifying optimal inventory allocation. Computational results illustrate the potential of this approach.
Acute HIV Infection in Youth: Protocol for the Adolescent Trials Network 147 (ATN147) Comprehensive Adolescent Research and Engagement Studies (CARES) Study

Author(s): Nielsen-Saines, Karin; Mitchell, Kate; Kerin, Tara; Fournier, Jasmine; Kozina, Leslie; Andrews, Brenda; Cortado, Ruth; Bolan, Robert; Flynn, Risa; Rotheram, Mary Jane; Abdalian, Sue Ellen; Bryson, Yvonne; Adolescent Medicine Trials Network (ATN) CARES Team; Mobilizing Minds Research Group | Abstract: BackgroundEarly treatment studies have shown that prompt treatment of HIV with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) can limit the size of latent viral reservoirs, thereby providing clinical and public health benefits. Studies have demonstrated that adolescents have a greater capacity for immune reconstitution than adults. Nevertheless, adolescents who acquired HIV through sexual transmission have not been included in early treatment studies because of challenges in identification and adherence to cART.ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify and promptly treat with cART youth aged 12 to 24 years in Los Angeles and New Orleans who have acute, recent, or established HIV infection, as determined by Fiebig stages 1 to 6 determined by viral RNA polymerase chain reaction, p24 antigen presence, and HIV-1 antigen Western blot. The protocol recommends treatment on the day of diagnosis when feasible. Surveillance and dedicated behavioral strategies are used to retain them in care and optimize adherence. Through serial follow-up, HIV biomarkers and response to antiretroviral therapy (ART) are assessed. The study aims to assess viral dynamics, decay and persistence of viral reservoirs over time, and correlate these data with the duration of viral suppression.MethodsA total of 72 youth (36 acutely infected and 36 treatment naive controls) are enrolled across clinical sites using a current community-based strategy and direct referrals. Youth are prescribed ART according to the standard of care HIV-1 management guidelines and followed for a period of 2 years. Assessments are conducted at specific time points throughout these 2 years of follow-up for monitoring of adherence to ART, viral load, magnitude of HIV reservoirs, and presence of coinfections.ResultsThe study began enrolling youth in July 2017 across study sites in Los Angeles and New Orleans. As of September 30, 2018, a total of 37 youth were enrolled, 12 with recently acquired, 16 with established HIV infection as determined by Fiebig staging, and 9 pending determination of Fiebig status. Recruitment and enrollment are ongoing.ConclusionsWe hypothesize that the size of the HIV reservoir and immune activation markers will be different across groups treated with cART, that is, those with acute or recent HIV infection and those with established infection. Adolescents treated early who are virally suppressed will have diminished HIV reservoirs than those with established infection. These youth may be potential candidates for a possible HIV vaccine and additional HIV remission intervention trials. Our study will inform future studies of viral remission strategies.International registered report identifier (irrid)DERR1-10.2196/10807.
Investigation and Source Apportionment of Air Pollutants in a Large Oceangoing Ship during Voyage

The aims of this study were to determine compartmental air pollution during navigation of a large oceangoing ship and to identify preliminarily the major pollution sources. During the voyage of a bulk carrier ship, air samples were collected at 18 selected sites using a stratified sampling method. The concentrations of 15 pollutants were determined using gas chromatography. Results showed the concentrations of these pollutants varied significantly among the sampling sites, indicating major pollution sources at or nearby those locations. Five common factors extracted using factor analysis explained 89.092% of the total variance. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed the contributions to air pollution of these five common factors, i.e., the volatilization of ship paint, volatilization of ship-based oil, cooking activities, high-temperature release of rubber components on the ship and daily use of chemical products, and the application of deodorant and insecticide, were 41.07%, 25.14%, 14.37%, 11.78%, and 7.63%, respectively. Three significant groups were determined using cluster analysis based on their similarity, i.e., high, medium, and low pollution of sampling sites. This study established that the air of the bulk carrier ship was heavily polluted, and that effective identification of pollution sources could provide a scientific basis for its control.
Inhaled Nitric Oxide as an Adjunct to Thrombolytic Therapy in a Patient with Submassive Pulmonary Embolism and Severe Hypoxemia

Introduction. Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator with limited indications in adults. We present a patient with hypoxemia and right ventricular dysfunction due to submassive acute pulmonary emboli where iNO was used as a bridge to thrombolysis. Case. A 29-year-old male was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for alcohol intoxication complicated with aspiration pneumonia and acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. His medical history included morbid obesity (BMI 43) and alcohol dependence syndrome. Nine days after admission, he developed severe acute hypoxia and tachycardia with arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) of 52 mmHg requiring a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 14 cmH2O and fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) of 1. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a large embolus in the right main pulmonary artery and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) reported new right ventricular dilatation with decreased right ventricular function. Due to the severe hypoxemia, he was started on iNO via the breathing circuit of the ventilator at a concentration of 20 parts per million (ppm) with steady improvement in oxygenation after 1 hour with a PaO2 of 81 mmHg on the same ventilator setting. The patient was given thrombolysis with alteplase and the iNO was slowly tapered off during the subsequent four days with concomitant successful tapering of PEEP to 8 cmH2O and FiO2 of 0.45. Conclusion. Inhaled NO has been used to improve ventilation-perfusion matching and also to reduce pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Its effects on PVR may be useful in the setting of acute pulmonary emboli where vascular obstruction and vasoconstriction contribute to increased pulmonary arterial pressure and PVR which can present as acute right heart failure. We suggest that iNO, if available, could be considered in those patients with acute pulmonary emboli associated with significant hypoxemia as an adjunctive therapy or bridge to thrombolysis or thrombectomy.
The dilemma of aspirin resistance in obese patients

Aspirin resistance (AR) commonly refers to the concept of reduced aspirin efficacy in preventing cardiovascular disease and platelet inhibition. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease three- to four-fold and has been associated with AR. Aspirin is used as a tool for both primary and secondary prevention, but recent studies suggest that its lack of efficacy for primary prevention is partly attributable to obesity. Several mechanisms have been described that contribute to AR in obese patients using pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. AR may be attenuated through weight loss, alternative dosing regimens, and different drug formulations. With the global rise of obesity, it is imperative to find preventive therapies that adequately address atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk in this population.
An Attenuated Zika Virus Encoding Non-Glycosylated Envelope (E) and Non-Structural Protein 1 (NS1) Confers Complete Protection against Lethal Challenge in a Mouse Model

Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus, emerged in the last decade causing serious human diseases, including congenital microcephaly in newborns and Guillain-Barre syndrome in adults. Although many vaccine platforms are at various stages of development, no licensed vaccines are currently available. Previously, we described a mutant MR766 ZIKV (m2MR) bearing an E protein mutation (N154A) that prevented its glycosylation, resulting in attenuation and defective neuroinvasion. To further attenuate m2MR for its potential use as a live viral vaccine, we incorporated additional mutations into m2MR by substituting the asparagine residues in the glycosylation sites (N130 and N207) of NS1 with alanine residues. Examination of pathogenic properties revealed that the virus (m5MR) carrying mutations in E (N154A) and NS1 (N130A and N207A) was fully attenuated with no disease signs in infected mice, inducing high levels of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, and protecting mice from subsequent lethal virus challenge. Furthermore, passive transfer of sera from m5MR-infected mice into naive animals resulted in complete protection from lethal challenge. The immune sera from m5MR-infected animals neutralized both African and Asian lineage viruses equally well, suggesting that m5MR virus could be developed as a potentially broad live virus vaccine candidate.
Imitation Nation: Red, White, and Blackface in Early and Antebellum US Literature: by Jason Richards, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017, Pp. 244, $45.00 (hbk), $45.00 (e-book), ISBN 9780813940649, ISBN 9780813940656

In Imitation Nation, Jason Richards takes up the well-established topic of blackface performance in early and antebellum American literature, and he makes a valuable contribution to the scholarship...
Present Status of the Interacting Boson-Fermion Model

Since its introduction in 1974, considerable effort has gone into the investigation of the properties of the interacting boson model, both from the theoretical and from the experimental point of view. The investigations carried out up to 1978 are summarized in the first book of this series1, while the investigations carried out in the last two years are presented in the first part of the present volume. These investigations have provided a relatively clear view of the successes and limitations of the interacting boson model in the description of even-even nuclei.
Potential-Based TDIEs for Dielectric Regions Using Magnetic Currents

A new potential-based TDIE formulation for dielectric regions is proposed that directly uses magnetic current densities as unknowns. This new formulation avoids the use of inconvenient integral operators that complicate the discretization, while also providing simpler computation of far-field results due to direct access to the magnetic current density. Appropriate marching-on-in-time discretization schemes are discussed so that stable results can be achieved at middle frequencies. Overall, this results in the improved performance of these new equations compared to previous formulations. The accuracy and stability of this new formulation is demonstrated through numerical results.
Overview of the Integrative Review

A reviewer selects literature on a topic and synthesizes and disseminates review findings to a targeted discipline. There are many review methods available for a reviewer to consider. The review question(s) will determine which review method is most appropriate to use. If the reviewer seeks to examine a topic broadly and wants to identify the current state of science on a particular phenomenon, an integrative review would be the method chosen. There are limited resources available to a reviewer to access when seeking guidance on how to conduct an integrative review. This chapter provides an overview of the integrative review method and provides a framework for the different steps that are recommended when conducting such a review.
Trajectory planning and control

Trajectory planning converts a description of the desired motion, such as move P1 (Figure 9.1) to a trajectory defining the time sequence of intermediate configurations of the manipulator between the start point P0 and the destination point P1.
The Emperor and His People at the Chariot Races in Byzantium

The hippodrome, where Byzantine chariot races took place, was central to the relationship between the emperor and his people. They all watched races and cheered for their favorite racing teams, wit...
Major Elements and Developmental Status of the Energy Ship Concept

In this chapter the major elements needed to implement the “energy ship concept” are described, and the current status of the development of these elements is summarized.
Right ventricular insertion promotes reinitiation of ventricular fibrillation in defibrillation failure

Background Shocks near defibrillation threshold (nDFT) strength commonly extinguish all ventricular fibrillation (VF) wavefronts, but a train of rapid, well-organized postshock activations (PAs) typically appears before sinus rhythm ensues. If one of the PA waves undergoes partial propagation block (wavebreak), reentry may be induced, causing VF to reinitiate and the shock to fail. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine whether wavebreak leading to VF reinititation following nDFT shocks occurs preferentially at the right ventricular insertion (RVI), which previous studies have identified as a key site for wavebreak. Methods We used panoramic optical mapping to image the ventricular epicardium of 6 isolated swine hearts during nDFT defibrillation episodes. After each experiment, the hearts were fixed and their geometry scanned with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI and mapping datasets were spatially coregistered. For failed shocks, we identified the site of the first wavebreak of a PA wave during VF reinitiation. Results We recorded 59 nDFT failures. In 31 of these, the first wavebreak event occurred within 1 cm of the RVI centerline, most commonly on the anterior side of the right ventricular insertion (aRVI) (23/31). The aRVI region occupies 16.8% ± 2.5% of the epicardial surface and would be expected to account for only 10 wavebreaks if they were uniformly distributed. By χ2 analysis, aRVI wavebreaks were significantly overrepresented. Conclusion The anterior RVI is a key site in promoting nDFT failure. Targeting this site to prevent wavebreak could convert defibrillation failure to success and improve defibrillation efficacy.
A demonstration of spatial heterodyne spectrometers for remote LIBS, Raman spectroscopy, and 1D imaging

Abstract Three spatial heterodyne Raman spectrometers, one free standing, the others monolithic, have been used for remote Raman and LIBS for samples at a distance of 4.5 m and 1D Raman imaging. The wide area measurement capability of the SHS was demonstrated and shown to reduce sample photodegradation in the case of Raman, using large laser spots on the sample, without loss of signal or decreased spectral resolution. 1D Raman imaging using a free standing SHRS and a monolithic SHRS was demonstrated and shown to provide better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) spectra for heterogenous samples than spectra measured without imaging. Improved SNR using 1D imaging is the result of spatial separation of the signal from different areas of the sample, which reduces the contribution of shot noise from stronger scattering sample regions to more weakly scattering adjacent sample regions. For 1D imaging of adjacent samples, within the field-of-view (FOV) of the spectrometer, the SNR improved up to four times, with no loss of spectral resolution or spectral range, and a spatial resolution of 280 μm was demonstrated for samples located at 4.5 m from the spectrometer.
The human virome: assembly, composition and host interactions.

The human body hosts vast microbial communities, termed the microbiome. Less well known is the fact that the human body also hosts vast numbers of different viruses, collectively termed the ‘virome’. Viruses are believed to be the most abundant and diverse biological entities on our planet, with an estimated 1031 particles on Earth. The human virome is similarly vast and complex, consisting of approximately 1013 particles per human individual, with great heterogeneity. In recent years, studies of the human virome using metagenomic sequencing and other methods have clarified aspects of human virome diversity at different body sites, the relationships to disease states and mechanisms of establishment of the human virome during early life. Despite increasing focus, it remains the case that the majority of sequence data in a typical virome study remain unidentified, highlighting the extent of unexplored viral ‘dark matter’. Nevertheless, it is now clear that viral community states can be associated with adverse outcomes for the human host, whereas other states are characteristic of health. In this Review, we provide an overview of research on the human virome and highlight outstanding recent studies that explore the assembly, composition and dynamics of the human virome as well as host–virome interactions in health and disease. The human body hosts vast numbers of different viruses, collectively termed the virome. In this Review, Liang and Bushman provide an overview of research on the human virome and highlight recent studies that explore the assembly and composition of the human virome as well as host–virome interactions in health and disease.