cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Volatile substance misuse : clinical considerations, neuropsychopharmacology and potential role of pharmacotherapy in management

Volatile substance misuse is among the most prevalent and toxic forms of psychoactive drug use, and often results in highly deleterious social, psychological and medical consequences. The prevalence of this pernicious form of substance misuse owes in part to the fact that volatile substances of misuse are ubiquitous in the natural environment. Commonly misused commercial products include glue, shoe polish, nail polish remover, butane lighter fluid, gasoline and computer duster spray. National samples of volatile substance misusers tend to exhibit high rates of psychiatric problems and antisocial behaviour. In addition, cognitive impairments and affective dysregulation are often observed among these individuals. Volatile substances exert their complex neuropharmacological effects on dopaminergic, glutamatergic, GABAergic and serotoninergic receptor systems, as well as on cell membranes and ion channels. Concomitantly, pharmacotherapies for volatile substance abuse might profitably target a number of mechanisms, including reward circuitry in the brain, symptoms of craving and withdrawal, neuropsychiatric and emotional impairments that promote volatile substance abuse, and cognitive enhancement to rectify deficits in executive function. This review details the modes of use, subjective effects, epidemiology, adverse consequences, neuropsychopharmacology and drug treatment of volatile substance misuse, and discusses the potential role of novel forms of pharmacological intervention for this oft-overlooked public health threat of epidemic proportions.
Graphical Depictions of Toxicological Data

Guidance from expert advisory groups such as the National Academies of Science and the Risk Assessment Forum within the US Environmental Protection Agency have recommended incorporation of better and more succinct summaries of the toxicological data being used in risk assessment. One of the recommended methods for performing such summaries is the use of visual and graphic displays of the database. Displaying classical toxicological data (e.g., animal dosing and human exposure studies) ranges from a simple dose–response curve from a single study for a single effect to arrays of multiple effects from several studies across species, duration, and so on. This article presents a summary of various types of graphical depictions which visually communicate toxicological data. Particular attention is given to the use of these figures and graphs to express dose/exposure–response relationships (i.e., responses of biological systems to toxic chemicals and agents) and in the application of those data to human health risk assessment.
Acute on chronic liver failure in a patient with sickle cell anaemia (HbSS).

A man in his late 40s with sickle cell anaemia (HbSS) presented to the emergency department with 2 weeks of diffuse oedema, increased abdominal girth and dyspnoea. His anasarca was thought to be indicative of an acute decompensation of his known liver cirrhosis with transfusion-induced haemosiderosis. While his anasarca improved with diuresis, his direct hyperbilirubinaemia suddenly worsened without any signs of haemolysis, biliary disease or obstruction. He also developed an acute worsening in serum creatinine (1.17–7.0 mg/dL in 7 days) despite subsequent treatment for presumed hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). Given his clinical decline, the patient9s goals of care were transitioned to comfort measures only. His clinical presentation and rapid liver and renal deterioration were most typical of sickle cell intrahepatic cholestasis (SCIC). SCIC can lead to rapid deterioration in renal function and can be mistaken for HRS. When SCIC is suspected, consideration of exchange transfusions should be made early.
Isoflurane provides neuroprotection in neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury

Isoflurane is a volatile anesthetic that is widely used clinically as an inhalational anesthetic. In recent years, several studies have indicated that isoflurane has neuroprotective properties. This has led to the beneficial effects of isoflurane being analyzed in both cell culture and animal models, including various models of brain injury. Neonatal hypoxia ischemia may be characterized as injury that occurs in the immature brain, resulting in delayed cell death via excitotoxicity and oxidative stress. These adverse events in the developing brain often lead to detrimental neurological defects in the future. Currently, there are no well-established effective therapies for neonatal hypoxia ischemia. In line with this, isoflurane, which displays neuroprotective properties in several paradigms and has been shown to improve neurological deficits caused by brain injuries, has the capability to be an extremely relevant clinical therapy for the resolution of deficits concomitant with neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injuries. This review therefore seeks to explore and analyze the current information on isoflurane, looking at general isoflurane anesthetic properties, and the protection it confers in different animal models, focusing particularly on neuroprotection as shown in studies with neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury.
Predicate Argument Alignment using a Global Coherence Model

We present a joint model for predicate argument alignment. We leverage multiple sources of semantic information, including temporal ordering constraints between events. These are combined in a max-margin framework to find a globally consistent view of entities and events across multiple documents, which leads to improvements over a very strong local baseline.
[Formula: see text]The Relative Utility of Three English Language Dominance Measures in Predicting the Neuropsychological Performance of HIV+ Bilingual Latino/a Adults

AbstractObjective: Given the disproportionate impact of neurologic disorders such as HIV on racial/ethnic minorities, neuropsychologists are increasingly evaluating individuals of diverse linguistic backgrounds. This study compares the utility of two brief and one comprehensive language measure to account for variation in English neuropsychological performance within a bilingual population.Method: Sixty-two HIV+ English/Spanish bilingual Latino adults completed three language measures in English and Spanish: Self-Reported Language Ability; Verbal Fluency (FAS/PMR); and the Woodcock Munoz Language Survey-Revised (WMLS-R). All participants also completed an English language neuropsychological (NP) battery.Results: It was hypothesized that the comprehensive English/Spanish WMLS-R language dominance index (LDI) would be significantly correlated with NP performance, as well as the best predictor of NP performance over and above the two brief language measures. Contrary to our hypothesis, the WMLS-R LDI was not...
A quantitative evaluation of three blood culture systems.

Three separate blood culture systems were evaluated by parallel culture technic using clinical blood specimens. The three systems under study were a plain brucella broth, the same base medium with polyanethol sulfonate * added in a final concentration of 0.05%, and the same base broth with the polyanethol sulfonate plus sucrose in a final concentration of 30%. After the test media had been inoculated and allowed to incubate for 4 hr., pour plates were prepared from each. The purpose of this step was to determine whether there was a differenc in a blood culture system employing either polyanethol sulfonate or sucrose, or both. The results indicated that specimens from only 74 of 121 patients demonstrated positive culture results in the flask containing only the base broth, whereas 106 were positive when polyanethol sulfonate was added, and 121 were positive when both polyanethol sulfonate and sucrose were incorporated in the base medium. The quantitative results indicated that there were 15 patients from whom recovery of organisms was accomplished only from the polyanethol sulfonate/sucrose medium and an additional 33 patients from whom the total number of organisms recovered from the polyanethol sulfonate/sucrose medium was at least 30% greater than from either the plain broth or the polyanethol sulfonate broth. The results of this study indicate clearly that polyanethol sulfonate has a beneficial effect on the recovery of organisms, possibly by preventing phagocytosis and lessening the inhibitory action of nonspecific antibodies present in the blood specimen. The results also indicate the value of using an osmotic stabilizer such as sucrose to create a better environment for bacterial cells with cell wall damage.
Norms in a Wired World: Harmful Online Personal Data Practices

[Nonconsensual website interactions are] particularly likely when incentives are asymmetrically distributed in the community, as when buyers and sellers have their own conflicting norms. The norm that results from this conflict may represent a variety of things besides consensus: superior bargaining power on the prevailing side, collective action problems on the other side, or the use of strategic behavior. Mark Lemley Introduction There is a burgeoning privacy crisis caused in large part to the explosive growth of the Internet. In large measure, this crisis has emerged in a legal vacuum, as there is little positive lawthat directly regulates the private collection of personal data. Because of this legal vacuum, informal social norms have the potential to play an especially important role in the regulation of data collection online. This chapter begins an examination of the emergence of website norms pertaining to data collection that have emerged in the past decade. This examination will provide another occasion to test the pattern conception of norms developed in Part One and further explored in Part Two. This case study will also be instructive regarding the possibilities for more effective regulation of online privacy, on a going forward basis. The vast majority of commercial websites use their interactions with consumers as the occasion to collect personal data about these consumers. The connection between the collection of personal data and personal privacy is straightforward; the more personal data that websites collect, store, and use, the less privacy that data subjects have. This reduction in privacy may be justified if the data subjects agree to exchange their personal information for something they prefer more.
Optimal Design of Hydraulic Tube for 900 mm~2 Large Cross-Section Conductors

The large cross-section conductor with a sec-tional area of 900 mm2and four-layer aluminum wires is widely used in the ±800 kV Jinping-Sunan UHVDC power transmission project for the first time. The aluminum conductor withstands relatively high tension for the large ratio of aluminum to steel, so the grip strength of the hydraulic tube designed according to traditional experiences cannot meet the requirements of the standard. The optimal design of the hydraulic tube has to be made to minimize the strength loss of aluminum conductors caused by crimping and improve the grip strength. Orthogonal test schemes based on combinations of different inner diameters and taper lengths of the tube are designed after analyzing the factors affecting the grip strength. Different tubes are fitted with the same conductor by crimping and then the grip strength test is carried out. The influencing law of the inner diameter and taper lengths on the grip strength is obtained by binary regression analysis. For the hydraulic tube matching 900/40 conductor, the increase of inner diameter and taper length in a certain range helps to improve the grip strength. Optimal sizes of the hydraulic tube are recommended for manufacture,and results of the sampling test indicate that optimal fittings achieve the expected effect.
Muscle patterns of the late fetal tongue tip.

Abstract No Abstract Available. From the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.
Total lymphoid irradiation to prevent graft rejection in recipients of HLA non-identical T cell-depleted allogeneic marrow

Patients who undergo transplantation with genotypically non-identical T cell-depleted bone marrow are at high risk of graft failure. We have previously shown that graft failure in this setting is an active immunologic process in which CD3+ CD8+ host T cells specifically cytotoxic for donor hematopoietic cells mediate rejection of the graft. In order to reduce the incidence of graft rejection in these patients, we conducted a pilot trial of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) as an adjunct to total body irradiation (TBI) in an attempt to suppress the activity of residual host derived alloreactive lymphocytes capable of mediating rejection. Ten adults (ages 17-42 years) with hematologic malignancies were treated with TLI prior to hospitalization for allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The BMT preparative regimen consisted of cyclophosphamide (60 mg/kg x 2) followed by TBI. The majority of patients received 750 cGy TLI delivered to two complementary radiation ports in five equal 150 cGy fractions. Nine of 10 recipients of genotypically non-identical CD6-depleted marrow who were pre-treated with TLI experienced full hematologic engraftment compared with none of four similar patients previously transplanted without TLI (p = 0.001). TLI induced significant lymphopenia in patients prior to marrow infusion, but had no suppressive effects on the reconstitution of donor lymphocytes. TLI, in combination with T cell depletion of donor marrow, may decrease the rate of graft rejection in individuals who lack perfectly matched HLA-identical sibling donors.
Equilibrium Queue Distributions; n = 2; μ1 < μ0 , μ2 ; c1 , c2 → ∞

In Chapter VI we dealt exclusively with the queue distributions for a system with μ0 < μ1, μ2 and c1 = c2 = ∞. If μ2 < μ1, μ0 there is a tendency for both storages to fill. It is natural, therefore, to consider the distribution of holes rather than customers, as discussed in sections I 3 and III 5. Since a system with parameters μ0, ∆0 c1, μ1, ∆1; c2, μ2, ∆2 is equivalent to one with parameters μ2, ∆2; c2, μ1, ∆1; c1, μ0, ∆0 but with Qj replaced by Q’j = cj — Qj, the family of queue distributions with μ0 < μ1, μ2 can be mapped into a family of distributions for holes with μ2 < μ1, μ0 . In particular, the queue distributions of Chapter VI for μ0 < μ1, μ2 and c1, c2 sufficiently large that the storages hardly ever fill (c1, c2 → ∞) map into distributions of holes for a system with μ2 < μ1, μ0 and c1, c2 sufficiently large that the storages hardly ever empty. There is no reason to consider separately the queue distributions for μ2 < μ0, μ1; they are determined easily from those with μ0 < μ1, μ2.
The Idea of the Self: The ego and the world: Fichte, Novalis, and Schelling

Out of the combined legacy of Kantian philosophy and the organic vision of Bildung espoused by Herder and Goethe there developed a project that would leave a deep impress on modern thinking, namely to constitute the self as the means through which the whole world could be apprehended. The project was carried out in differing but related ways by some of the most remarkable figures in German thinking in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in particular Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. It required both a certain image of the self and a certain image of the world, rooted partly in the isomorphism of self and world instanced in Leibniz's universe of monads, and in its offspring, Herder's world of individuated life-forms nurturing their developing powers on the sympathetic world around them. But Leibniz and Herder were not the main impetus. On one level what both provided were modern versions of the classical universe of ordered substances animated by soul-forms, giving new life to the ancient homology between microcosm and macrocosm. Post-Kantian Idealism departed from that model, taking its bearings from Kant's “Copernican revolution,” which grounded human knowledge and morality in the structure of the rational ego, and not in the supposed architecture of the universe. Kant's successors drew on Leibniz, Herder, and Goethe, but their point of departure was the Kantian epistemological and moral centrality of the ego.
Chapter 13 – Practical Nucleic Acid Hybridization

Publisher Summary This chapter emphasizes the parameters that govern nucleic acid hybridization and studies the factors influencing hybridization kinetics and duplex stability. The factors that influence the rate, specificity, fidelity, and probable utility of hybridization probes include: temperature, ionic strength pH, the organic solvent formamide, urea, guanine and cytosine content of probe, probe length, probe concentration, probe complexity degree of complementarity between probe and target sequences, the degree of mismatching, and the viscosity of the system. It is important to realize that the influence of each of these variables is also dependent on the mobility of the probe and target molecules, specifically solution hybridization, where both probe and target molecules move randomly in an application-specific hybridization cocktail, as in the nuclease protection assays and PCR; or mixed-phase hybridization in which the target sequences are immobilized on a solid support. The attempted hybridization between nucleic acid probe and target sequences consists of three major components: prehybridization, hybridization, and posthybridization washing. Depending on the nature of the probe and the stability of the hybrid, the investigator may need to adjust the exact posthybridization washing conditions for each probe. It is very important to keep in mind that in the context of posthybridization washes, stringency is a function of ionic strength, temperature, and time; thus, it may not be suitable to cut down on the washing time by increasing the temperature and/or lowering the salt.
The Homol'ovi Research Program

ABSTRACTThe Homol'ovi Research Program of the Arizona State Museum is a multidisciplinary venture that studies the prehistoric occupation of a portion of the middle Little Colorado River Valley in northeastern Arizona. Research focuses on the analysis of aggregation of the Homol'ovi pueblos: how and why it occurred, what the consequences were, and how it was maintained. This paper discusses the research that has been conducted to date in an attempt to understand the aggregation process. Also discussed are the history of research in the area and the history of the development of the Homolovi Ruins State Park, which offers an interpretive program centered on the late prehistoric, aggregated pueblos.
Degree Calculations — The Hilbert Space Case

In this chapter, we consider situations in addition to those in Chapter 3, in which we can calculate the degrees of the operators in the homogenized variational inequalities (3.6). We find conditions that guarantee a change of degree as λ varies. Together with Theorem 3.2, these conditions, then, will imply the existence of global, nontrivial solution continua for (3.1), which bifurcate from the trivial solution.
Observation of negative bias temperature instabilities in parasitic p-channel MOSFETs occurring during high-temperature reverse-bias stressing of trench-gated n-channel MOSFETs

High-temperature reverse-bias (HTRB) stress in a dry or a humid ambient is applied to power n-channel U-shaped trench-gated MOSFET (UMOSFETs). The HTRB is shown to induce negative-bias temperature instabilities (NBTI) in a parasitic p-channel MOSFET occurring in the n-channel UMOSFET during the stress. The manifestations of the NBTI were gate-controlled shifts in the threshold voltage, V th , and in the drain-to-source leakage current, I DSS , following only humid HTRB stress. SEM inspection of UMOSFETs deprocessed to passivation showed the presence of passivation cracks on the edge termination only in devices that degraded with the HTRB stressing. Our results lead us to conclude that only humid HTRB/NBTI stress causes changes in V th and I DDS . During the stress water or hydrogen species diffuse into the gate oxide through passivation cracks at the edge of the UMOSFET, and react with the gate oxide in the presence of holes and release protons. The protons are not confined to the gate oxide at the trench-bottom and are able to migrate up the oxide on the trench sidewalls.
Carboxyl-Terminal Thrombospondin-Type 1 (TSP-1) Repeats of ADAMTS13 Inhibits Platelet Adhesion to Collagen-Coated Surface Under Shear Stress, Independent of Proteolytic Activity

Abstract Abstract 195 ADAMTS13 contains multiple free thiols on its surface, which may form disulfide bonds with surface-exposed free thiols on plasma-derived von Willebrand factor (VWF). This interaction may prevent lateral association of apposed VWF under arterial shear stress. However, the functional consequence of ADAMTS13-VWF interaction without proteolysis is not known. We hypothesize that the interaction between the C-terminus of ADAMTS13 and the C-terminus of VWF inhibits thrombus formation under shear stress. Using a BioFlux microfluidic system, we showed that under arterial shear stress, 10 dyn/cm2, fluorescein-labeled platelets from PPACK (thrombin inhibitor) anti-coagulated human whole blood adhered to collagen (type I)-coated surface in a time-dependent manner. Addition of human recombinant full-length ADAMTS13 (10 nM) into whole blood dramatically reduced the surface coverage of fluorescein-labeled platelets. Conversely, addition of an inhibitory polyclonal anti-ADAMTS13 IgGs (150 ug/ml) to whole blood dramatically accelerated the accumulation of fluorescein-labeled platelets. These results suggest that this microfluidic system is highly sensitive for the assessment of anti-thrombotic function of ADAMTS13. Under the same conditions, we were able to further show that addition of recombinant C-terminal fragment of ADAMTS13 comprising of the 5th to 8th thrombospondin type 1 (TSP1) repeats and two CUB domains (T5C) or the 2nd to 8th TSP1 repeats and two CUB domains (T2C) into whole blood also inhibited the surface coverage of fluorescein-labeled platelets on collagen-coated surface in a concentration-dependent manner. In the presence of 0.1 μM and 0.5 μM of recombinant T2C or T5C, the surface coverage of fluorescein-labeled platelets was reduced by ∼40% and ∼60%, respectively. The inhibitory activity of these recombinant C-terminal fragments was nearly abolished if pre-treated with 40 mM of N-ethylmaleimide which blocked surface-exposed free thiols. Moreover, recombinant CUB domains at the highest concentration tested (1.0 μM) did not appear to alter the surface coverage of fluorecein-labeled platelets under the same conditions. These results suggest that the C-terminal TSP1 repeats of ADAMTS13 inhibit platelet adhesion and aggretion or thrombus formation through thiol-thiol interactions between ADAMTS13 and VWF (or other proteins). We conclude that the C-terminal TSP1 repeats may modulate thrombus formation independent of proteolytic activity. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Health information seeking in the digital age: An analysis of health information seeking behavior among US adults

We live in a digital age and this has changed the landscape of health information. With the changing US demographic, otherwise acute diseases morphing into chronic diseases as a result of treatment...
Management of Intrauterine Contraception in Early Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES Women with rare intrauterine contraception (IUC) failures are advised to have their IUC removed because of the risk of poor obstetric outcomes with a retained IUC. Specifics regarding IUC removal in early pregnancy including techniques for removal, rates of success, and immediate pregnancy outcomes following removal are not well described, however. The objective of this study was to identify women with an IUC in early pregnancy examined at a tertiary care center with the primary objective of describing IUC removal attempts, IUC removal successes, and pregnancy outcomes at 20 weeks following IUC removal. METHODS Case series of women with concurrent IUC and early pregnancy who presented to a tertiary care ultrasound center by 12 weeks' gestation. RESULTS A total of 3116 women had an early pregnancy ultrasound during the study period. Nineteen (19/3116, 0.61%) women underwent ultrasounds that identified a pregnancy before 12 weeks and an IUC in the uterus. A copper IUC was identified in 11 women (11/19, 58%) on their first ultrasound, and a levonogestrel IUC was identified in 5 women (5/19, 26%). Seventeen (17/19, 88%) women attempted to remove their IUC; 11 of 69 (69%) were successfully removed on the first attempt. Fourteen (14/19; 74%) women with an IUC examined by 12 weeks' gestation had an ongoing pregnancy at 20 weeks compared with 1782 (1782/2678, 67%; P = 0.209) women without an IUC. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy with IUC is rare. Among the 19 women who were found to have an in situ IUC and early pregnancy, most had a successful IUC removal and had an ongoing pregnancy at 20 weeks' gestation. In our case series, IUC removal in the first trimester was a straightforward procedure and likely successful.
Grid-connected microgrid participation in frequency-regulation markets via hierarchical coordination

The large integration of renewable energy into the power grid requires frequency regulation and ancillary services support. Grid-connected microgrids, which naturally include a portfolio of distributed energy resources and flexible loads, are a promising tool that can provide this utility by adapting their tie-line power to track frequency regulation signals. In this paper, we propose a framework by which grid-connected microgrids can participate in a frequency-regulation market and respond to a frequency-regulation request by leveraging their distributed energy resources and loads. The proposed framework is hierarchical, with a central and lower layers focusing on a microgrid. The central layer solves an energy dispatch problem that aims to match the tie-line power to the reference signal from the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO). The lower layer post-adjusts the optimum of the central layer through distributed optimization with consideration of the power flow constraints and uncertain loads in the microgrid. The framework combines recent progress on distributed algorithms, optimal power flow solvers, and regulation market in a novel way. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
Development of new platforms for hydrodynamic instability and asymmetry measurements in deceleration phase of indirectly driven implosions on NIF

Hydrodynamic instabilities and asymmetries are a major obstacle in the quest to achieve ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) as they cause pre-existing capsule perturbations to grow and ultimately quench the fusion burn in experiments. This paper reviews the development of two new experimental techniques to measure high-mode instabilities and low-mode asymmetries in the deceleration phase of indirect drive inertial confinement fusion implosions. In the first innovative technique, self-emission from the hot spot was enhanced with an argon dopant to “self-backlight” the shell in-flight, imaging the perturbations in the shell near peak velocity. Experiments with pre-imposed two-dimensional perturbations showed hydrodynamic instability growth of up to 7000× in areal density. These experiments discovered unexpected three-dimensional structures originating from the capsule support structures. These new 3-D structures became one of the primary concerns for the indirect drive ICF program that requires their origin to be understood and their impact mitigated. In a second complementary technique, the inner surface of the decelerating shell was visualized in implosions using x-ray emission of a high-Z dopant added to the inner surface of the capsule. With this technique, low mode asymmetry and high mode perturbations, including perturbations seeded by the gas fill tube and capsule support structure, were quantified near peak compression. Using this doping method, the role of perturbations and radiative losses from high atomic number materials on neutron yield was quantified.Hydrodynamic instabilities and asymmetries are a major obstacle in the quest to achieve ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) as they cause pre-existing capsule perturbations to grow and ultimately quench the fusion burn in experiments. This paper reviews the development of two new experimental techniques to measure high-mode instabilities and low-mode asymmetries in the deceleration phase of indirect drive inertial confinement fusion implosions. In the first innovative technique, self-emission from the hot spot was enhanced with an argon dopant to “self-backlight” the shell in-flight, imaging the perturbations in the shell near peak velocity. Experiments with pre-imposed two-dimensional perturbations showed hydrodynamic instability growth of up to 7000× in areal density. These experiments discovered unexpected three-dimensional structures originating from the capsule support structures. These new 3-D structures became one of the primary concerns for the indirect drive ICF program that requires...
The Marianne Moore Digital Archive and Feminist Modernist Digital Humanities

ABSTRACTThe Marianne Moore Digital Archive (MMDA) is making the 122 working notebooks kept by Marianne Moore readily accessible to scholarly, classroom, and non-academic readers for the first time, in ways that will be fully searchable and include annotations, features contextualizing Moore’s writing and life, and access to both the original source texts and diplomatic transcriptions. Moore’s notebooks are unique among modernist archives in their non-biographical documentation of her intellectual, personal, social, and artistic life across sixty years; these are not diaries but records of reading, correspondence, travel, finances, cultural events she attended, and early drafting of poems (including some that have never been published). These notebooks, and other features of the MMDA, enrich studies of Moore and of the modernist period generally, by illuminating personal, political, historical, and cultural contexts for her compositions and by providing source information for the many quotations and allusi...
The Role of Adult-Born Dentate Granule Neurons in the Regulation of Mood

There is growing recognition that the dentate gyrus (DG) subregion of the hippocampus contributes to both cognition and regulation of mood. Because adult hippocampal neurogenesis provides a source of new neurons throughout life in mammals, it represents a unique form of neural plasticity that may be targeted to restore or rejuvenate DG functions when compromised, such as in different disease states and during normal ageing. In this review, we address whether the role of adult-born neurons in modulation of anxiety and depression-like behaviors is dependent on their proposed function in pattern separation. Towards this goal, we discuss evidence for adult-born neurons in pattern separation and mood regulation. We suggest that the functions of adult-born neurons in pattern separation may be particularly relevant for anxiety disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that antidepressants may engage both pattern separation-dependent and pattern separation-independent functions of adult-born neurons to produce therapeutic effects.
Community Service and Voting Among Veterans and Nonveterans Using a National Sample of College Undergraduates

Research studies have shown an association between military service and later civic involvement, largely defined as political activities. The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2008 (N = 95,6...
The association between neighborhood racial composition and menthol cigarette pricing in Boston, MA.

Abstract Objectives To examine the relationship between neighborhood demographics and pack prices of four brands of mentholated and non-mentholated cigarettes in Boston, Massachusetts. Methods Using tobacco pricing survey data collected July 2015 to June 2016, we examined cigarette prices in tobacco retailers (n = 689) located in block groups (n = 325) of Boston. Multilevel models examined both the association of menthol and non-menthol cigarette prices, and the percentage of retailers selling cigarettes below established minimum price in relation to neighborhood demographics. Results Each 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of black residents per block group was associated with a price decrease of 3 cents for menthol cigarettes (p Conclusion Mentholated cigarettes were priced significantly lower in neighborhoods of color in Boston. Strengthened pricing laws, with consideration given to menthol products in the retail environment, may be needed to address environmental contributors to smoking disparities.
The Soundtrack of Social Movements among Kurdish Alevi Immigrant from Turkey in Germany

Based on a multi-sited ethnographic research between 2010 and 2013, this article asserts that Kurdish and Alevi social movements in Turkey and in the transnational space have relied heavily on music and activist musicians to engage community members. This article marks several key songs, musicians, and events that effectively formed the soundtrack for these movements. Kurdish Alevi cultural entrepreneurs in Germany and Istanbul have established a transnational social field in which they can relate to members from those communities living in multiple locations. This multiplicity results from simultaneous politicization processes of Alevi and Kurdish movements that have allowed old and new actors to engage with political and social capital along with symbolic capital through cultural and religious activism around multiple identities. The transnational space has allowed new actors to employ different means to serve their main political goals: cultural, musical, and those of other art forms, along with public campaigns to mobilize activists. Therefore, cultural entrepreneurs and other religio-political actors have been navigating in this transnational space while reformulating their political demands.
Examining the Operator Learning Curve for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention of Chronic Total Occlusions.

Background: Advances in chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention (CTO PCI) techniques have led to increased procedural success rates among operators. While utilization of CTO PCI ...
College student perceptions of institutional responses to sexual assault reporting and general help-seeking intentions

College students are a high-risk population for sexual assault exposure. This study examines 1) sociodemographic differences in student perceptions of institutions of higher education (IHEs) respon...
Inhibition of Hyaluronic Acid Synthesis Decreases Endometrial Cell Attachment, Migration, and Invasion

To characterize the effects of 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) on expression of the hyaluronic acid (HA) system and on attachment, migration, and invasion of endometrial epithelial (EECs) and stroma cells (ESCs) to peritoneal mesothelial cells (PMCs), this in vitro study was performed in an Academic Center. De-identified endometrial tissue samples used were from reproductive-aged women. EECs and ESCs isolated from menstrual endometrial biopsies were treated with 4-MU or vehicle. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to assess expression of HA synthases (HAS), hyaluronidase, and standard CD44. Established in vitro assays were used to assess attachment, migration, and invasion with and without treatment with 4-MU. Chi square and Student's t-test were used to analyze the results as appropriate. The addition of 4-MU decreased mRNA and protein expression of HAS 2, HAS 3, and CD44 in EECs and ESCs compared to control. Treatment with 4-MU also decreased attachment, migration, and invasion of EECs and ESCs to PMCs compared to control. 4-MU decreases endometrial cell adhesion, migration, and invasion to PMCs. This effect appears to be mediated by a decrease in HAS 2, HAS 3, and CD44. 4-MU is a potential treatment for endometriosis. Future in vivo studies are needed to evaluate 4-MU as a therapeutic agent for endometriosis.
RNA interference-mediated control of Asian citrus psyllid, the vector of the huanglongbing bacterial pathogen

Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is the natural vector of the Huanglongbing (HLB) pathogen that presents an unparalleled challenge to citrus production. RNA interference (RNAi) has already shown great potential for insect pest management owing to its high specificity. RNAi technique relies on the delivery of exogenous double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) that target essential genes in insects. The D. citri genome possesses three dsRNase homologs and all core RNAi machinery genes, aside from the R2D2 that functions as a cofactor of Dicer-2 in the siRNA pathway. Nevertheless, ever-increasing research on the application of RNAi to suppress D. citri population has promulgated outstanding progress. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the recent literature, and summarize the current understanding of RNAi mechanisms and advances in the applications of RNAi in D. citri. The major challenges including the potential of dsRNA degradation, target gene selection, and dsRNA delivery methods, as well as the implications of using RNAi for D. citri control are reviewed.
The effect of III:V ratio on compositional and microstructural properties of GaAs1-xBix (0 0 1)

Abstract Compound semiconductors alloyed with Bi have many interesting properties, but the low solubility of Bi in these materials leads to effects such as Bi segregation and the formation of surface droplets. To study these effects, a series of GaAsBi films were grown as a function of growth conditions, namely the Bi:As and As:Ga flux ratios. Four surface morphologies emerged—surfaces that were free of droplets, contained Bi droplets, Ga droplets, or biphasic Ga/Bi droplets—as a function of flux ratio. Further analysis with X- ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Atomic Probe Tomography revealed specific microstructures corresponding to the types of droplets present. Finally, we propose a model to explain each microstructure that takes into consideration factors including Ga adatom diffusion, bulk Bi diffusion, Bi droplet mobility, and film growth rate.
An interview with Harold Kooden, PhD

Harold Kooden, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, a graduate of the University of Chicago and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA). He is a founder and Board Member of the Nationa...
Cultural Adaptation of Evidence-Based Lifestyle Interventions for African American Men With Prostate Cancer: A Dyadic Approach:

Although a number of lifestyle interventions have been developed for cancer survivors, the extent to which they are effective for African American men with cancer is unclear. Given that African American men have the highest prostate cancer burden and the lack of proven interventions, this study developed a culturally-tailored lifestyle intervention for African American men with prostate cancer and their partners that aimed to improve healthy lifestyle behaviors (physical activity and healthy eating) and quality of life. The aim of the present study is to provide a detailed overview of the model-based process of intervention adaptation. Based on the IM Adapt approach (Highfield et al., 2015) and Typology of Adaptation (Davidson et al., 2013), the present study adapted existing, evidence-based interventions to address African American prostate cancer survivors' and their partners' potential unmet needs including anxiety/uncertainty about cancer progression, communication between partners, cultural sensitivity, and concordance/discordance of motivation and behaviors between partners. The intervention adaptation was a comprehensive and fluid process. To the best knowledge of the author, this is the first couple-based lifestyle intervention specifically developed for African American men with prostate cancer. The present study will be highly informative to future investigators by providing flexible and detailed information regarding lifestyle intervention adaptation for racial/ethnic minority men with prostate cancer and their partners.
The Economics of a Secondary Market for Variable Annuities

This article demonstrates that a secondary market for U.S. variable annuity policies may be immediately welfare enhancing to all parties involved: the insurer, the original policyholder, and a thir...
Effect of the Triaxial State of Stress in the Hydraulic Fracturing Processes of Granite: Part 1—Visual Observations and Interpretation

A set of hydraulic fracturing tests were conducted in prismatic granite specimens to investigate the influence of the triaxial state of stress on the cracking processes. The tests considered three states of stress, in which the horizontal and out-of-plane loads were 2 MPa, while the vertical loads were either 1 MPa, 2 MPa, or 4 MPa. A hydraulic pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws was increased at a constant injection rate until hydraulic fractures initiated and propagated. In order to materialize this state of stress, a test setup was developed to independently apply and control three orthogonal stresses in the prismatic granite specimens while simultaneously applying a hydraulic pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws. More importantly, the setup also allowed one to observe the damage processes visually and through acoustic emission monitoring. This paper (the first of two) looks into the visual (macroscopic) observations, whereas the companion paper focuses on the acoustic emission monitoring. In particular, the present paper looks into the white patching (micro-damage) development, crack initiation, propagation and coalescence, and relates these with fracture initiation and breakdown pressures. From the tests, it was observed that the initiation of visible cracks is, generally, preceded by white patching and occurs at or near the pre-fabricated flaws. The visual analysis showed that the induced fractures were primarily intragranular when the triaxial stresses were same in the three orthogonal directions and intergranular otherwise. Additionally, micro-fracture initiation pressures were obtained based on white patch initiation pressures (visually) and using a graphical method which relates the changes in pressurization rate to fracture initiation. It was observed that the graphical method identifies when the initial damage occurred significantly earlier than the visual method, which indicates that important micro-damage processes may occur without macroscopic evidence. Most importantly, the coalescence patterns and the ratio between the breakdown pressure and the vertical stress are stress-state dependent. In fact, for lower vertical loads (VL = 1 MPa), the ratio between the breakdown pressure and vertical load is approximately 10 and for higher vertical loads (VL = 4 MPa) approaches 1.0, which is in agreement with data observed in the field.
Reconsidering the Relation Between Profit Efficiency and Noninterest Income

Profit efficiency is closely related to value creation, and researchers have found noninterest income to be a major determinant of profit efficiency. But DeYoung and Rice suggest that some banks have an excessive reliance on NII, pointing out that 1% of banks generate 18% of fee income, and that these are not the most profitable banks. Other studies support this view. This suggests that there is some optimal range of NII/Assets, and beyond that point bank profit efficiency declines. We test the hypothesis that NII reduces profit efficiency at some point and find no support for the hypothesis. Specifically, considering bank holding companies (BHCs) from 1996 through 2018, for all size groups, profit efficiency increases as NII increases. A significant source of NII for some BHCs is the provision of correspondent banking services, and these have been found to exhibit economies of scale. They have low variable cost once the correspondent relationship has been established (often many years in the past). This point helps explain the concentration of NII at a small number of banks and reconciles our results with others.
Concatenation of paired-end reads improves taxonomic classification of amplicons for profiling microbial communities.

Taxonomic classification of genetic markers for microbiome analysis is affected by the numerous choices made from sample preparation to bioinformatics analysis. Paired-end read merging is routinely used to capture the entire amplicon sequence when the read ends overlap. However, the exclusion of unmerged reads from further analysis can result in underestimating the diversity in the sequenced microbial community and is influenced by bioinformatic processes such as read trimming and the choice of reference database. A potential solution to overcome this is to concatenate (join) reads that do not overlap and keep them for taxonomic classification. The use of concatenated reads can outperform taxonomic recovery from single-end reads, but it remains unclear how their performance compares to merged reads. Using various sequenced mock communities with different amplicons, read length, read depth, taxonomic composition, and sequence quality, we tested how merging and concatenating reads performed for genus recall and precision in bioinformatic pipelines combining different parameters for read trimming and taxonomic classification using different reference databases. The addition of concatenated reads to merged reads always increased pipeline performance. The top two performing pipelines both included read concatenation, with variable strengths depending on the mock community. The pipeline that combined merged and concatenated reads that were quality-trimmed performed best for mock communities with larger amplicons and higher average quality sequences. The pipeline that used length-trimmed concatenated reads outperformed quality trimming in mock communities with lower quality sequences but lost a significant amount of input sequences for taxonomic classification during processing. Genus level classification was more accurate using the SILVA reference database compared to Greengenes. Merged sequences with the addition of concatenated sequences that were unable to be merged increased performance of taxonomic classifications. This was especially beneficial in mock communities with larger amplicons. We have shown for the first time, using an in-depth comparison of pipelines containing merged vs concatenated reads combined with different trimming parameters and reference databases, the potential advantages of concatenating sequences in improving resolution in microbiome investigations.
National U.S. Patient and Transplant Data for Krabbe Disease

Krabbe disease (KD) is a leukodystrophy caused by mutations in the galactosylceramidase gene. Presymptomatic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is associated with improved outcomes, but most data is from single center studies. Our objective was to characterize national patterns of HSCT for KD including whether there were disparities in HSCT utilization and outcomes. We conducted a retrospective study of KD patients ≤ age 18 years from November 1, 2015, through December 31, 2019, using the U.S. Children’s Hospital Association’s Pediatric Health Information System database. We evaluated outcomes for HSCT, intensive care unit days, and mortality, comparing age, sex, race/ethnicity, rural/urban location, and median household income. We identified 91 KD patients. HSCT, performed in 32% of patients, was associated with reduced mortality, 31% versus 68% without HSCT (p <0.003). Trends included that more males than females had HSCT (39% versus 23%); more Asian and White patients had HSCT compared to Black or Hispanic patients (75%, 33%, 25%, 17%, respectively); and that patients from households with the lowest income quartile (<$25,000) had more HSCT compared to higher income quartiles (44% versus 33%, 30%, 0%). Overall, receiving HSCT was associated with reduced mortality. We noted trends in patient groups who received HSCT. Our findings suggest that disparities in receiving HSCT could affect outcomes for KD patients.