cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Making of a Neo-Ismā‘īlism

THE ĀGHĀ KHĀNS AND THEIR NEO-ISMĀ‘ĪLISM Among the many Iranian exiles attracted to Bombay was the most important figure to leave Iran for India during the nineteenth century. This was the would-be leader of the disconnected Ismā‘īlī Shi‘i Muslims of India and Iran: Āghā Khān I (d. 1298/1881) of Mahallat in central Iran. Before moving into exile in India, Āghā Khān I had served Iran's Qājār rulers as governor of the southern frontier province of Kerman, and was more widely regarded as a provincial notable and soldier than a religious figure. The last chapter showed how Iranian Sufis such as Safī ‘Alī Shāh, sponsored by the wealthy Iranian merchants who settled in Bombay and making use of the city's printing and travel opportunities to spread their authority, were able to use Bombay as a platform for their extraordinary leap to prominence in Iran in the second half of the nineteenth century. By similar means, after settling in Bombay in 1848, Āghā Khān I was able to use the city's communication, mercantile and administrative facilities to expand his authority over nominal Ismā‘īlīs to a degree without precedent in history. As with Sufi entrepreneurs, in the career of the Āghā Khān and his sons and successors, Bombay's religious economy was put to the service of an expansive mission for an Islam of living intercessors and the miraculous powers lent them by their proximity to God.
A Public Choice Perspective on the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria

This chapter begins with the life of Salem Village’s minister, Samuel Parris, before arriving in Salem Village in 1689, and continues forward through the early years of his ministry and the witchcraft hysteria that follows. The witchcraft hysteria is examined through a public choice economics lens, which combines the principles of economics with those of political science. Within this model, the witchcraft hysteria is described as a demand-pull phenomenon in the market for eternal salvation, thus following earlier research on the public choice economics of the Roman Catholic Church. The chapter concludes with an empirical examination of the relationship between Puritan church membership and participation in the Salem witch trials of 1692.
MEDICAL TREATMENT OF MENIERE'S DISEASE

The aim of this article is to review the pharmacologic therapy used in the treatment of Meniere's disease. The first portion of the article discusses the treatment of acute labyrinthine crisis, which includes medication for patients that provides relief of the nausea, vomiting, and vertigo that accompanies acute attack. The second half of the article discusses medication used to help prevent attacks of Meniere's disease.
A Model–Data Fusion Approach for Predicting Cover Crop Nitrogen Supply to Corn

One potential benefit of cover crops (CCs) is that N mineralization from decomposing CC residues may reduce the N fertilizer requirement of a subsequent crop, but predicting this credit remains a significant challenge. This study used a model–data fusion approach to calibrate a model of CC residue N mineralization and pre-emptive competition for soil NO₃– that occurs during CC growth to predict the yield response of an unfertilized corn (Zea mays L.) crop. The model was calibrated with a data set of 199 observations from four CC experiments in central Pennsylvania. The most parsimonious model explained 82% of the variation in corn yield response. Parameters representing the C humification coefficients for decomposed residues from winterkilled (ewₖ = 0.00) and winter-hardy (ewₕ = 0.40) CCs suggest that all winterkilled CCs resulted in net N mineralization, probably due to the longer period of time for decomposition of winterkilled residues. However, the yield response per unit of potentially mineralized N was greater for winter-hardy CCs (αwₕ = 0.034 with tillage, αwₕ = 0.020 with no-till) than for winterkilled CCs (αwₖ = 0.0084), probably due to the improved synchrony between corn N demand and the decomposition of winter-hardy CC residues relative to winterkilled residues. Pre-emptive competition for soil NO₃– led to a reduction in the corn yield response. Because the model is based on ecological processes and can be calibrated with data sets from simple field experiments, the model–data fusion approach could be widely used to guide adaptive management of CCs and N fertilizer applications in a subsequent corn crop.
Texton and sparse representation based texture classification of lung parenchyma in CT images

Automated texture analysis of lung computed tomography (CT) images is a critical tool in subtyping pulmonary emphysema and diagnosing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Texton-based methods encode lung textures with nearest-texton frequency histograms, and have achieved high performance for supervised classification of emphysema subtypes from annotated lung CT images. In this work, we first explore characterizing lung textures with sparse decomposition from texton dictionaries, using different regularization strategies, and then extend the sparsity-inducing constraint to the construction of the dictionaries. The methods were evaluated on a publicly available lung CT database of annotated emphysema subtypes. We show that enforcing sparse decompositions from texton dictionaries and unsupervised dictionary learning can achieve high classification accuracy (>90%). The flexibility of sparse-inducing models embedded either in the representation stage or dictionary learning stage has potential in providing consistency in classification performance on heterogeneous lung CT datasets with further parameter tuning.
Channel State Information Compression for MIMO Systems Based on Curve Fitting

We propose CSIFit, an algorithm that compresses the Channel State Information (CSI) of Wi-Fi networks with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). CSIFit achieves high compression ratio by finding a sinusoidal representation of the CSI, usually with very few sinusoids such as 3, while using common frequencies and amplitudes for different transmitting and receiving antenna pairs. CSIFit is inspired by the fact that a physical path results in a sinusoid in the CSI, however with the key insight that for the purpose of compression, not every path needs to reproduced. That is, the data model can be relaxed to allow the parameters to take values with no explicit physical meanings, as long as it helps to achieve higher compression ratio. Viewing the problem as a curve-fitting problem, CSIFit is built on top of the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm with many optimizations to improve the convergence speed and accuracy, including dividing the problem into smaller sub-problems and light- weight methods to find good initial guess. We evaluate CSIFit with both experimental and synthesized CSI data and the results show that CSIFit can achieve high compression ratio with little loss of accuracy. We also implement CSIFit in C++ and find that the median execution time for typical experimental data is only around 8 ms on typical computers and around 65 ms on a slower computer.
Investigating controls on boron isotope ratios in shallow marine carbonates

The boron isotope-pH proxy has been widely used to reconstruct past ocean pH values. In both planktic foraminifera and corals, species-specific calibrations are required in order to reconstruct absolute values of pH, due to the prevalence of so-called vital effects — physiological modification of the primary environmental signals by the calcifying organisms. Shallow marine abiotic carbonate (e.g. ooids and cements) could conceivably avoid any such calibration requirement, and therefore provide a potentially useful archive for reconstructions in deep (pre-Cenozoic) time. However, shallow marine abiotic carbonates could also be affected by local shifts in pH caused by microbial photosynthesis and respiration, something that has up to now not been fully tested. In this study, we present boron isotope measurements from shallow modern marine carbonates, from the Bahama Bank and Belize to investigate the potential of using shallow water carbonates as pH archives, and to explore the role of microbial processes in driving nominally ‘abiogenic’ carbonate deposition. For Bahama bank samples, our boron-based pH estimates derived from a range of carbonate types (i.e. ooids, peloids, hardground cements, carbonate mud, stromatolitic micrite and calcified filament micrite) are higher than the estimated modern mean-annual seawater pH values for this region. Furthermore, the majority (73%) of our marine carbonate-based pH estimates fall out of the range of the estimated pre-industrial seawater pH values for this region. In shallow sediment cores, we did not observe a correlation between measured pore water pH and boron-derived pH estimates, suggesting boron isotope variability is a depositional rather than early diagenetic signal. For Belize reef cements, conversely, the pH estimates are lower than likely in situ seawater pH at the time of cement formation. This study indicates the potential for complications when using shallow marine non-skeletal carbonates as marine pH archives. In addition, variability in δ11B based pH estimates provides additional support for the idea that photosynthetic CO2 uptake plays a significant role in driving carbonate precipitation in a wide range of shallow water carbonates.
Survival outcomes based on systemic agent used concurrently with radiation in human-papillomavirus associated oropharyngeal cancer.

// Vikas Mehta 1 , Tara Moore-Medlin 1 , Jose M. Flores 2 , Xiaohui Ma 1 , Oleksandr Ekshyyan 1 and Cherie-Ann O. Nathan 1 1 Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Health and Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, Shreveport, LA, USA 2 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA Correspondence to: Cherie-Ann O. Nathan, email: cnatha@lsuhsc.edu Keywords: oropharyngeal carcinoma, human papillomavirus, cetuximab, cisplatin, survival outcomes Received: March 14, 2017 Accepted: July 17, 2017 Published: August 10, 2017 ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate survival outcomes of patients treated with concurrent cetuximab and radiotherapy for primary management of both HPV positive and negative OPSCC, and compare the results to traditional platinum-based therapy. We hypothesize that the use of cetuximab in the HPV positive OPSCC patients will result in inferior survival based on tumor biological differences. Study design: A single institution retrospective analysis of 304 patients. The primary outcomes of interest were 1) overall survival and 2) relapse free survival. Pearson Chi-square tests were used to compare proportions between subgroups. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the continuous variable age between subgroups. Kaplan–Meier method was used to produce survival curves, and comparisons between survival curves were made using the log-rank test. The survival functions comparing subgroups of chemotherapy were analyzed using semi-parametric (i.e. Cox proportional hazards models) and fully parametric regression with Weibull distributions. Multivariable models were adjusted for age at diagnosis, gender, race, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and cancer stage. Results: In the multivariable analysis, the hazard ratio for cetuximab compared to cisplatin or carboplatin/paclitaxel was HR=0.77[95% CI = 0.67, 0.90] in the HPV - group, suggesting more favorable outcomes for the patients on cetuximab in this group. However, in the HPV + cohort, the hazard ratio was 1.88 [95% CI = 1.42, 2.50] for those patients treated with cetuximab vs platinum-based therapy. Conclusions: Our data suggest that cetuximab may have inferior outcomes in HPV-associated OPSCC compared to traditional platinum-based therapy.
Carbon dioxide insufflation is associated with increased serrated polyp detection rate when compared to room air insufflation during screening colonoscopy.

Background and study aims Sessile serrated adenomas (SSA) and traditional serrated adenomas (TSA) have been increasingly recognized as precursors of colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of carbon dioxide insufflation (CO2I) vs. room air insufflation (AI) on serrated polyp detection rate (SPDR) and to identify factors associated with SPDR. Patients and methods Single-center retrospective cohort study of 2083 screening colonoscopies performed with AI (November 2011 through January 2013) or CO2I (February 2013 to June 2015). Data on demographics, procedure characteristics and histology results were obtained from a prospectively maintained endoscopy database and chart review. SPDR was defined as proportion of colonoscopies in which ≥ 1 SSA, TSA or hyperplastic polyp (HP) ≥ 10 mm in the right colon was detected. Multi-variate analysis (MVA) was performed to identify predictors of SPDR. Results A total of 131 histologically confirmed serrated polyps (129 SSA, 2 TSA and 0 HP ≥ 10 mm) were detected. SPDR was higher with CO2I vs. AI (4.8 % vs. 1.4 %; P Conclusion CO2I is associated with higher SPDR when compared to AI during screening colonoscopy. While the mechanism remains unknown, we speculate that the favorable gas characteristics of CO2 compared to room air results in improved polyp detection by optimizing bowel insufflation. These findings suggest an additional reason to prefer the use of CO2I over AI during colonoscopy.
Phospholipid Remodeling and Cholesterol Availability Regulate Intestinal Stemness and Tumorigenesis

Summary Adequate availability of cellular building blocks, including lipids, is a prerequisite for cellular proliferation, but excess dietary lipids are linked to increased cancer risk. Despite these connections, specific regulatory relationships between membrane composition, intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation, and tumorigenesis are unclear. We reveal an unexpected link between membrane phospholipid remodeling and cholesterol biosynthesis and demonstrate that cholesterol itself acts as a mitogen for ISCs. Inhibition of the phospholipid-remodeling enzyme Lpcat3 increases membrane saturation and stimulates cholesterol biosynthesis, thereby driving ISC proliferation. Pharmacologic inhibition of cholesterol synthesis normalizes crypt hyperproliferation in Lpcat3-deficient organoids and mice. Conversely, increasing cellular cholesterol content stimulates crypt organoid growth, and providing excess dietary cholesterol or driving endogenous cholesterol synthesis through SREBP-2 expression promotes ISC proliferation in vivo . Finally, disruption of Lpcat3-dependent phospholipid and cholesterol homeostasis dramatically enhances tumor formation in Apc min mice. These findings identify a critical dietary-responsive phospholipid-cholesterol axis regulating ISC proliferation and tumorigenesis.
Project Career: Technological Accommodations for Postsecondary Students with Traumatic Brain Injury

Project Career, a five-year interdisciplinary demonstration project (2013-2018) funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, provides technological supports, combining Cognitive Support Technology (CST) and rehabilitation counseling, to improve postsecondary and employment outcomes for veteran and civilian undergraduate students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of this demonstration project is to provide a technology- and service-driven program to improve career and employment outcomes for undergraduate 2-year and 4-year college students with TBI. Project staff assess students' needs relative to assistive technology, academic achievement, and career preparation; provide CST training to students; match students with mentors; provide vocational case management; deliver job development and placement assistance. Participating students receive cognitive support technology training, academic supports, and career assistance from trained professionals at three sites. Staff address cognitive challenges using the 'Matching Person with Technology' assessment to accommodate CST use (iPad and selected applications). JBS International (JBS) provides the project's evaluation. To date, 117 students participate in the project. Of all participants, 63% report improved life quality and 75% report improved academic performance. Project Career provides national guidelines based on best practices for empowering postsecondary students with TBI to attain academic, employment, and career goals.
Slow calcium waves mediate furrow microtubule reorganization and germ plasm compaction in the early zebrafish embryo

Zebrafish germ plasm ribonucleoparticles (RNPs) become recruited to furrows of early zebrafish embryos through their association with astral microtubules ends. During the initiation of cytokinesis, microtubules are remodeled into a furrow microtubule array (FMA), which is thought to be analogous to the mammalian midbody involved in membrane abscission. During furrow maturation, RNPs and FMA tubules transition from their original distribution along the furrow to enrichments at the furrow distal ends, which facilitates germ plasm mass compaction. We show that nebel mutants exhibit reduced furrow-associated slow calcium waves (SCWs), caused at least in part by defective enrichment of calcium stores. RNP and FMA distal enrichment mirrors the medial-to-distal polarity of SCWs, and inhibition of calcium release or downstream mediators such as Calmodulin affects RNP and FMA distal enrichment. Blastomeres with reduced or lacking SCWs, such as early blastomeres in nebel mutants and wild-type blastomeres at later stages, exhibit medially bundling microtubules similar to midbodies in other cell types. Our data indicate that SCWs provide medial-to-distal directionality along the furrow to facilitate germ plasm RNP enrichment at the furrow ends.
Critical pedagogy and Veblen's pecuniary interests of higher education

This paper seeks to explore these questions: 1) what are the goals of the institution of education? 2) How do the underlying forces in a contemporary capitalist system promote the institution of education and to what ends? 3) How is technical change driven by the underlying dynamics between capitalism and the educational process? Specifically, what does the introduction of online learning mean for the future of critical thought, this paper will discuss the work of social philosophy, specifically pedagogical philosophers identifying with the 'critical pedagogy' school of thought originating in Brazil in the early 1960s. The paper will then argue that to understand the increased employment of new technologies in education, such as online learning, one must consider Veblen's delineation of pecuniary and instrumental motives within the business enterprise, as well as his understanding of the place of the 'higher learning' in a modern pecuniary culture.
Age Differences in Children’s Attributions for Deviant Behaviors

Previous research has described age-related changes in children's attributions for deviant behaviors. This research has suggested that children begin to develop a social psychiatric theory of deviant behavior by the end of the elementary school years. The current study extended this line of investigation to examine attributions for deviance by early and middle adolescents. Results suggested that adolescents view deviant behavior as caused not only by social and environmental factors but also by nonrational internal psychological states.
Surface Motion Changes of Tympanic Membrane Damaged by Blast Waves.

Eardrum or tympanic membrane (TM) is a multi-layer soft tissue membrane located at the end of the ear canal to receive sound pressure and transport the sound into the middle ear and cochlea. Recent studies reported that the TM microstructure and mechanical properties varied after the ear was exposed to blast overpressure. However, the impact of such biomechanical changes of the TM on its movement for sound transmission has not been investigated. This paper reports the full-field surface motion of the human TM using the scanning laser Doppler vibrometry in human temporal bones under normal and post-blast conditions. An increase of the TM displacement after blast exposure was observed in the posterior region of the TM in four temporal bone samples at the frequencies between 3-4 kHz. A finite element model of human TM with multilayer microstructure and orthogonal fiber network was created to simulate the TM damaged by blast waves. The consistency between the experimental data and the model-derived TM surface motion suggests that the tissue injuries were resulted from a combination of mechanical property change and regional discontinuity of collagen fibers. This study provides the evidences of surface motion changes of the TM damaged by blast waves and possible fiber damage locations.
Ideal and cooperative bond-lattice representations of excitations in glass-forming liquids: excitation profiles, fragilities, and phase transitions

We use the one-component equivalent of an ideal solution to show how an “elementary excitations” treatment of the thermal behavior of a glass-forming liquid can reproduce the observations of experiments and computer simulations on the excitation of simple liquids and also provide a testable explanation of the origin of so-called “fragile-liquid” behavior. We then introduce a treatment of interacting excitations in the one-component system, which is formally similar to the regular-solution treatment of nonideal binary solutions, in order to model co-operativity in the excitation process. This refinement permits us to understand the changes in liquid properties in covalently bonded binary systems such as Ge-Se, which occur as the average number of bonds per atom exceeds the value of 2.4. The bond density of 2.4 has been identified by the constraint-counting theory as the rigidity percolation threshold, and overconstraining at higher bond densities induces cooperativity in the thermal excitation process. The treatment further predicts a liquid-liquid phase transition for strongly overconstrained networks, which we identify with the amorphous-phase “melting” phenomenon reported by experimentalists for Ge and Si. The treatment suggests that glasses formed in these systems by various routes, of which cooling through the liquid-liquid transition is only one, may be in very low states of configurational excitation, which would correlate with the remarkable absence of the “ubiquitous” boson peaks and tunneling excitations from such glasses.
Pregnancy-associated cardiac dysfunction and the regulatory role of microRNAs

Many crucial cardiovascular adaptations occur in the body during pregnancy to ensure successful gestation. Maladaptation of the cardiovascular system during pregnancy can lead to complications that promote cardiac dysfunction and may lead to heart failure (HF). About 12% of pregnancy-related deaths in the USA have been attributed to HF and the detrimental effects of cardiovascular complications on the heart can be long-lasting, pre-disposing the mother to HF later in life. Indeed, cardiovascular complications such as gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and peripartum cardiomyopathy have been shown to induce cardiac metabolic dysfunction, oxidative stress, fibrosis, apoptosis, and diastolic and systolic dysfunction in the hearts of pregnant women, all of which are hallmarks of HF. The exact etiology and cardiac pathophysiology of pregnancy-related complications is not yet fully deciphered. Furthermore, diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction in pregnancy is often made only after clinical symptoms are already present, thus necessitating the need for novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Mounting data demonstrates an altered expression of maternal circulating miRNAs during pregnancy affected by cardiovascular complications. Throughout the past decade, miRNAs have become of growing interest as modulators and biomarkers of pathophysiology, diagnosis, and prognosis in cardiac dysfunction. While the association between pregnancy-related cardiovascular complications and cardiac dysfunction or HF is becoming increasingly evident, the roles of miRNA-mediated regulation herein remain poorly understood. Therefore, this review will summarize current reports on pregnancy-related cardiovascular complications that may lead to cardiac dysfunction and HF during and after pregnancy in previously healthy women, with a focus on the pathophysiological role of miRNAs.
CHAPTER FOUR – SEMANTICS

We have a definition of observer, but not of the observed. A theory of perception cannot be complete without some account of the objects of perception. Parsimony suggests that we not postulate a new ontological category for these objects. We therefore explore the possibility that the objects of perception are themselves observers. We develop this proposal in the context of an investigation of the meaning and truth conditions of conclusion measures. To this end, we introduce a “primitive semantics” and an “extended semantics” for the representations appearing in the definition of observer.
Surveillance and sociological factors of schistosomiasis among mobile populations in Haining City

Objective To investigate the correlation between the source of Schistosoma japonicum infections and sociological factors among mobile populations in Haining City, so as to provide insights into the management of schistosomiasis among mobile populations in Haining City. Methods A total of 12 villages were randomly sampled from 8 townships and 4 subdistricts in Haining City. The mobile populations from schistosomiasis-endemic areas were detected for S. japonicum infections using serological tests. In addition, the awareness of schistosomiasis prevention and control knowledge was investigated using a questionnaire survey. Results A total of 1 019 mobile populations were investigated in 12 villages from Haining City, and 23 sero-positives were found, with a positive rate of 2.26%; however, no egg-positives were detected. Logistic regression analysis showed that the mobile populations with original occupations of aquaculture and husbandry were more likely to be sero-positive. The mobile populations had an overall low awareness rate of schistosomiasis prevention and control knowledge, and a higher rate was seen in sero-positive than in sero-negatives. Conclusions The mobile populations with original occupations of aquaculture and husbandry were the key for the surveillance of source of S. japonicum infections. The health education should be intensified to improve the awareness of schistosomiasis prevention and control knowledge among mobile populations.
Community inclusion as a human right and medical necessity for individuals with serious mental illnesses

Community inclusion refers to equal opportunities for people to participate in the community and willingness to welcome and active community attitude. The opportunity to participate in the community is both a medical necessity and a rights issue. This concept provides a novel theoretical framework for the advancement of mental health policies, programs, and global practices that enable the development of the well-being and health of people with mental disorders. Eleven fundamentals for promoting community inclusion of individuals with serious mental illnesses that are supported by key conceptual, theoretical, and research evidence. These fundamentals reflect beliefs and schemas that need to be present to truly prioritize and facilitate inclusion, intervention strategies and achieve the most impactful objectives that were expected. The greater inclusion, greater community participation, which includes work, education, religion and spiritual participation, and other domains associated with having a life that makes sense, all of which generates physical, cognitive and mental benefts for anyone, disregarding the presence or absence of a mental disorder. The concept of community inclusion offers a transformative next step in the delivery of mental health services that clearly articulates community participation in meaningful areas as the target for promoting full health and wellness.
A novel MEMS triboelectric energy harvester and sensor with a high vibrational operating frequency and wide bandwidth fabricated using UV-LIGA technique

Abstract A novel triboelectric energy harvesting (TEH) and sensing system scaled down to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) size is presented. The design is structurally optimized for harvesting the highest average power and power density while ensuring the structural robustness. Unlike traditional triboelectric energy harvesters, this design results in a high operating frequency with a wide bandwidth. Adoption of MEMS fabrication techniques including the use of spin-coated Teflon AF rather than a Teflon sheet, adaptation of UV-LIGA (Ultra-Violet Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung) with modifications and implementation of a thick polyimide sacrificial layer make the fabrication process unique. If excited by ±9.33 g external vibration with a frequency of 1.15 kHz, the TEH can generate 0.179 μW average power and 0.597 μW peak power at an optimum resistive load of 256 kΩ. The peak surface power density, volumetric power density and acceleration-normalized volumetric power density reach 3.98 μWcm−2, 2.64 mWcm-3 and 30.3 μWcm-3/g2, respectively. While the surface power density of the presented TEH is moderate, the volumetric power density and acceleration-normalized volumetric power density are quite competitive among the state-of-the-art designs. The TEH also demonstrates a wide operating frequency bandwidth of 920 Hz. If operated as an accelerometer, the device shows a linear sensitivity of 43 mV/g. Although the simulation predicts the optimum operating frequency and load resistance of the system to be at 800 Hz and 10 MΩ, respectively, the experimental results demonstrate these values to be at 1150 Hz and 256 KΩ. A few fabrication anomalies, most notably the notching in the Teflon layer and bowing of the proof-mass, are responsible for this deviation. In addition, a distortion is observed in the simulated output voltage profile which is not present in the experimental output voltage profile due to the presence of the parasitic capacitance in the experimental circuit. The aforementioned triboelectric energy harvester can have specific applications in the sensor and actuator systems in the aircraft industry as well as in the automobile industry, micro-robotic systems, prosthetic systems, and sensor nodes in the internet of things (IoT) due to its operating frequency and bandwidth range.
The luminosity density of red galaxies

A complete sample of $7.7\times 10^4$ galaxies with five-band imaging and spectroscopic redshifts from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is used to determine the fraction of the optical luminosity density of the Local Universe (redshifts $0.02<z<0.22$) emitted by red galaxies. The distribution in the space of rest-frame color, central surface brightness, and concentration is shown to be highly clustered and bimodal; galaxies fall primarily into one of two distinct classes. One class is red, concentrated and high in surface brightness; the other is bluer, less concentrated, and lower in central surface brightness. Elliptical and bulge-dominated galaxies preferentially belong to the red class. Even with a very restrictive definition of the red class that includes limits on color, surface brightness and concentration, the class comprises roughly one fifth of the number density of galaxies more luminous than $0.05 \Lstar$ and produces two fifths of the total cosmic galaxy luminosity density at $0.7 \mathrm{\mu m}$. The natural interpretation is that a large fraction of the stellar mass density of the Local Universe is in very old stellar populations.
Heart rate variability as a biobehavioral marker of diverse psychopathologies: A review and argument for an "ideal range"

Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of the variability in intervals between subsequent heart beats, is now widely considered an index of emotion regulatory capacity and the ability to adapt flexibly to changing environmental demands. Abnormalities in HRV are implicated in a host of psychopathologies, making it a potentially powerful transdiagnostic biobehavioral change mechanism in treatment interventions. While most mental illnesses are associated with low HRV, eating disorders have been linked to elevated HRV. We examined 62 research articles on HRV in psychopathology to test the hypothesis that there is an "ideal range" of HRV that predicts optimal functioning. Relationships between symptom severity and parameters that quantify HRV were examined graphically. More extreme time-domain HRV measures, both high and low, were associated with psychopathology, whereas healthy controls displayed mid-range values. Findings preliminarily support the hypothesis that there is an "ideal range" of HRV that could be targeted in biofeedback interventions.
Ichthyosiform sarcoidosis: Report of a case and comprehensive review of the literature

Sarcoidosis is a disease that can affect a multitude of organs and manifest as cutaneous disease. Cutaneous manifestations of sarcoidosis vary widely in morphology, earning the nickname of "great imitator," and the diagnosis often requires clinicopathologic correlation and additional laboratory and radiographic workup. We present the case of a 42-year-old African American woman with ichthyosiform sarcoidosis on the bilateral lower extremities. As one of the rarest specific variants of cutaneous sarcoidosis, ichthyosiform is understudied and has been primarily documented in case reports and series. We undertake a comprehensive review of the literature to identify key clinicopathologic features including the characterization of sites of cutaneous and systemic involvement, as well as typical histopathological findings. Lower extremities were the most involved body site (85.7%). Extracutaneous organ involvement centered around pulmonary (65.7%), lymph node (57.1%), and ocular (31.4%) involvement. Of the histopathological features reported, hyperkeratosis (51.4%) and diminished stratum granulosum (62.9%) were most frequently reported in conjunction with dermal granulomas (100%). We hope that these findings will serve to aid clinicopathological correlation and accurate diagnosis of ichthyosiform sarcoidosis.
Performing at the Boundaries: Narratives of Early Career Engineering Practice

The realities of engineering practice remain opaque and constantly evolving, often leaving graduates underprepared for the workplace and employers dissatisfied with new employees. In this study we ...
Changes and mediators of survival disparity among Black liver transplant recipients in the United States

A landmark 2002 study identified Black liver transplant (LT) recipients as having lower post-LT survival compared to other races. While persistent disparities exist, changes over time and mediating factors are understudied. Capturing LT recipients between 2002 and 2018 in UNOS, we used logistic regression and Cox proportional-hazard models to calculate differences in post-LT mortality among races. We examined interactions between transplant year and race. A mediation analysis assessed biologic and environmental factors potentially associated with race differences in post-LT survival. The cohort included 46,997 LT recipients (3898 Black;36,560 White;6539 Hispanic). In most years, Black (vs. White) LT recipients had a higher probability of age-adjusted mortality, not observed among Hispanics. In multivariable analysis, Blacks (vs. Whites) had higher (aHR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.07-1.24), whereas Hispanics had lower (aHR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.72-0.83) risk of mortality. Differences in post-LT mortality among Blacks (vs. Whites) narrowed between 2002 and 2009, were similar between 2010 and 2013, and may have worsened between 2014 and 2018. Race differences were larger for mortality beyond 1-year post-LT (vs. within 1-year), and among non-HCV (vs. HCV). Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) was the strongest mediator (13.9%, 95% CI 8.7-32.7%) of the Black-White disparity in 2010-2018. Our analyses suggest disparities may worsen with longer follow-up, as HCV recedes with elimination efforts, and with further increases in ALD.
Nocardia Species as an Etiologic Agent in Parkinson's Disease: Serological Testing in a Case-Control Study

To test the hypothesis that Nocardia spp. may be an etiologic factor in Parkinson's disease (PD), we used a serodiagnostic panel to determine if PD patients had antibodies specific for Nocardia spp. To validate the serological test panel, sera from healthy volunteers and from patients with culture-proven nocardiosis (n = 307) were compared in part 1 of the study. The sensitivity of the panel was 88% for detection of culture-proven nocardial infections, and specificity was 85% (excluding cross-reactive leprosy cases). In part 2, no difference in seropositivity was found when PD patients were compared with their age- and gender-matched controls (n = 140). We found a high exposure rate of humans to nocardial antigens, especially among men and older individuals. Our results offer no support to the hypothesis that Nocardia spp. are causative in PD; however, it is possible that serological testing may not be optimal for detection of nocardial central nervous system infection.
The Separation of the Phosphodiesterase and Deoxyribonuclease II Activities of Bovine Spleen

Abstract Deoxyribonuclease II (Deoxyribonucleate 3'-nucleotidohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.6) was purified 1250-fold from bovine spleen. The specific activity of the final preparation was 408. It was free of phosphatase and alkaline ribonuclease, and almost free of nonspecific phosphodiesterase, acid ribonuclease, and adenosine triphosphatase. Chromatography on carboxymethyl cellulose prior to heating caused the bulk of the deoxyribonuclease to be eluted early, in a symmetrical peak containing phosphodiesterase (orthophosphoric diester phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.4.1). After the crude preparation was heated at 60°, the symmetrical peak disappeared and was replaced by separate phosphodiesterase and deoxyribonuclease peaks. Repeated chromatography of the unheated preparation or mild heating (37°, with or without 2-mercaptoethanol) of the symmetrical peak caused changes similar to those seen after heat treatment of the crude preparation. The chromatographic data, heat inactivation, pH optimum, and activity on a number of phosphodiesters support the contention that the phosphodiesterase and deoxyribonuclease activities of the unheated preparation are on separate proteins.
Surviving Ebola virus infection.

The immune response to Ebola virus infection in victims and survivors of two Gabon outbreaks provides insight into immunologic determinants of resistance ( pages 423–426 )
A measurement-based study of concurrency in a multiprocessor

A systematic measurement-based methodology for characterizing the amount of concurrency present in a workload, and the effect of concurrency on system performance indices such as cache miss rate and bus activity are developed. Hardware and software instrumentation of an Alliant FX/8 was used to obtain data from a real workload environment. Results show that 35% of the workload is concurrent, with the concurrent periods typically using all available processors. Measurements of periods of change in concurrency show uneven usage of processors during these times. Other system measures, including cache miss rate and processor bus activity, are analyzed with respect to the concurrency measures. Probability of a cache miss is seen to increase with concurrency. The change in cache miss rate is much more sensitive to the fraction of concurrent code in the worklaod than the number of processors active during concurrency. Regression models are developed to quantify the relationships between cache miss rate, bus activity, and the concurrency measures. The model for cache miss rate predicts an increase in the median miss rate value as much as 300% for a 100% increase in concurrency in the workload.
Molecular Targeting of Photosensitizers

The sections in this article are Introduction Molecular Modifications of Photosensitizers Small Molecules, Peptides, and Aptamers Proteins Delivering Photosensitizers via Targeted Nanoconstructs Target Modification/Cellular Activation Conclusion Keywords: photosensitizers; photodynamic therapy; molecular targeting; nanoparticles; cellular activation; cancer
The DNA-Delay Mutants of Bacteriophage T4

Abstract Mutants of phage T4 defective in genes 39, 52, 58-61, and 60 (the DNA delay or DD genes) are characterized by a delay in phage DNA synthesis during infection of a nonpermissive Escherichia coli host. Amber (am) mutants defective in these genes yield burst sizes varying from 30 to 110 at 37 C in E. coli lacking an am suppressor. It was found that when DD am mutants are grown on a non-permissive host at 25 C, rather than at 37 C, phage yield is reduced on the average 61-fold. At 25 C incorporation of labeled thymidine into phage DNA is also reduced to 3 to 10% of wild-type levels. Mutants defective in the DD genes were found to promote increased recombination as well as increased base substitution and addition-deletion mutation. These observations indicate that the products of the DD genes are necessary for normal DNA synthesis. The multiplication of the DD am mutants on an Su− host at 37 C is about 50-fold inhibited if prior to infection the host cells were grown at 25 C. This suggests that a compensating host function allows multiplication of DD am mutants at 37 C in the Su− host, and that this function is active in cells grown at 37 C prior to infection, but is inactive when the prior growth is at 25 C. Further results are described which suggest that the products of genes 52, 60, and 39 as well as a host product interact with each other.
National Guideline Clearinghouse. URL: www.guideline.gov/index.asp.

Viral hepatitis is one of the current “hot topics” in medical circles, among clinical laboratory professionals, and even among the general public. Newly heightened awareness of the magnitude of the problem of hepatitis C viral infections in the United States population, together with the availability of new therapies for hepatitis C, have stimulated initiatives designed to identify and treat the large numbers of patients infected with this agent. At the same time, demands for the elimination of hepatitis viruses from the blood supply in the United States have led over the past year to the onset of nucleic acid-based testing of blood products and the appearance of solvent-detergent-treated plasma. Still more recently, press reports of the discovery of a new viral agent, Sen V, which is being touted as the long-sought agent responsible for most cases of non-A, non-E hepatitis have stirred both excitement and controversy within the medical and laboratory communities. Thus, the appearance of a new book devoted to the known hepatitis viruses and the diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of viral hepatitis is both topical and timely. This book begins with a short introduction by the editor, Steven Specter, which summarizes the major characteristics of the known hepatitis viruses and the diseases they cause. The next six chapters, each written by internationally recognized experts in their respective fields, provide detailed discussions of the biology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical description, and diagnosis of hepatitis viruses A through E and the GB viruses (including the hepatitis G agent). The eighth chapter, which should be of particular interest and value to clinical chemists and other laboratory professionals, provides a comprehensive discussion of the laboratory procedures currently available for the diagnosis of viral hepatitis. The final three chapters are devoted to the …
Suppression of human papillomavirus gene expression in vitro and in vivo by herpes simplex virus type 2 infection

Abstract Recent epidemiological studies have found that women infected with both herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 or HPV-18 are at greater risk of developing cervical carcinoma compared to women infected with only one virus. However, it remains unclear if HSV-2 is a cofactor for cervical cancer or if HPV and HSV-2 interact in any way. We have studied the effect of HSV-2 infection on HPV-11 gene expression in an in vitro double-infection assay. HPV transcripts were down-regulated in response to HSV-2 infection. Two HSV-2 vhs mutants failed to reduce HPV-16 E1^E4 transcripts. We also studied the effect of HSV-2 infection on preexisting experimental papillomas in a vaginal epithelial xenograft model. Doubly infected grafts demonstrated papillomatous transformation and the classical cytopathic effect from HSV-2 infection. HPV and HSV DNA signals were mutually exclusive. These studies may have therapeutic applications for HPV infections and related neoplasms.
Expectations for Medical Student Work Hours in Inpatient Clinical Clerkships

Background: No standards regarding what should be learned during medical school exist. Purpose: We investigated what medical students and clerkship directors (CDs) believe students are, and should be, doing during clerkships. Methods: From January to June 2011, Mount Sinai School of Medicine CDs (n = 4) and 3rd-year students (n = 132) estimated how students spend time and should spend time during clerkships. Mann-Whitney U-tests compared students’ and CDs’ replies. Results: All CDs and 105 of 132 students (79.5%) participated. Medicine CDs believed that students did more rounding and studying, and surgery CDs perceived that students did more note writing and studying and less waiting than students reported. Medicine CDs felt students should round more, whereas surgery CDs felt students should spend more total time in the hospital as well as in educational activities and studying than students did ( p < .05). Conclusions: Students and CDs disagree about how students allocate (and should allocate) time duri...
Bilirubin Uridine Diphospho-glucuronyltransferase in Rat Liver Microsomes: Genetic Variation and Maturation

Extract: Optimal conditions for the in vitro assay of bilirubin uridine diphospho- (UDP) glu-curonyltransferase activity in rat liver microsomes are described. Solvent partitioning was used to separate the conjugated from nonconjugated bilirubin, thus avoiding dependency on the rate of coupling with diazotized sulfanilic acid for the distinction between bilirubin and its conjugated form. The inclusion of uridine diphospho-N-ace-tylglucosamine (UDPNAG) in the reaction mixture permitted the rate of conjugation of bilirubin by fresh rat liver homogenates and microsomes to occur at greater saturation of the available enzyme with the substrates bilirubin and UDP-glucuronic acid. Liver microsomes, isolated in 0.15 M KC1, increased their activity for bilirubin conjugation and decreased their dependency on UDPNAG during the first 10 days of storage at — 15°. Chromatographic separation of the azo pigments of the conjugated bilirubin gave evidence to suggest that bilirubin monoglucuronide was the initial product and bilirubin diglucuronide appeared in increasing amounts in more prolonged incubations. These results suggested that bilirubin monoglucuronide can be intermediate to the formation of bilirubin diglucuronide. Bilirubin UDP-glucuronyltrans-ferase activity in hepatic microsomes of adult homozygous Gunn rats was not demonstrable. In microsomes of heterozygous Gunn rats and normal Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats bilirubin UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity was found to be 31.0 and 58.0 μg bilirubin conjugated/mg microsomal N/30 min, respectively. Measurements in developing rats indicated that the maturation in enzyme activity occurred by at least two distinct means: increase of specific activity of the microsomes, and an increase in the content of microsomes per gram of liver (Table IV). Speculation: A method for quantitative measurement of bilirubin UDP-glucuronyltransferase activity applicable to samples obtained by needle biopsy has been needed. The method described in this report meets this need and may permit more precise differential diagnosis of retention jaundice of infancy and childhood and especially the “physiologic” jaundice of the newborn.
Automated solid-phase synthesis of a branched Leishmania cap tetrasaccharide.

Described is the first automated solid-phase synthesis of a branched oligosaccharide by stepwise assembly from monosaccharides. Cap tetrasaccharide 1, found as part of the cell surface lipophosphog...