cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adverse drug events among hospitalized Medicare patients: epidemiology and national estimates from a new approach to surveillance.

Article-at-a-Glance Background Although adverse drug events (ADEs) are a well-recognized problem among hospitalized patients, there is no system for monitoring them. Six high-alert medications and associated adverse events were selected for inclusion in the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System (MPSMS), a national surveillance system designed to identify and track over time inpatient adverse events within the hospitalized fee-for-service Medicare population. Methods Explicit chart review algorithms were used to identify medication exposures and associated adverse events from the the 2004 MPSMS sample's medical records. The associations of ADEs with patient characteristics, length of stay, mortality, and 30-day readmission were assessed with bivariate analyses and hierarchical linear regression modeling (HGLM) approaches. National ADE rates and numbers of adverse events were estimated using weighted HGLM. Results On the basis of 25,145 hospital visits in the 2004 MPSMS sample, an estimated 8.2% of patients exposed to warfarin experienced associated ADEs, as did 13.6% exposed to heparin, 10.7% exposed to insulin/hypoglycemic agents, and 0.5% exposed to digoxin. Some 0.6% of patients exposed to antibiotics experienced antibiotic-associated Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Patients with ADEs had increased length of stay and in-hospital and 30-day mortality, except that patients with antibiotic-associated CDI did not have increased in-hospital mortality, and patients with ADEs associated with heparin did not have increased 30-day mortality. An estimated 888,000 ADEs occurred in hospitalized Medicare patients from these medications alone. Discussion This new approach to detecting ADEs and estimating the national burden of ADEs from selected medications may be adapted for other types of ADEs in the Medicare population and may offer guidance to policy-makers on appropriate areas of focus for patient safety.
Target-specific M1 inputs to infragranular S1 pyramidal neurons

We examined the specificity of primary motor cortex (M1) inputs to specific classes of primary somatosensorty cortex (S1) pyramidal neurons and found that M1 axons synapse on infragranular S1 neuro...
Supplementary damping controller of grid connected dc micro-grids based on Q-learning

In this paper, a new near optimal supplementary damping controller is proposed for grid connected dc microgrids with small power capacities using the Q-learning algorithm. A novel system discretization approach is presented to formulate the power system stability problem into a Q-learning solvable format. A numerical example is provided for illustration of the performance of the proposed supplementary damping controller.
Spontaneous polyploidization in cucumber

This is the first quantitative estimation of spontaneous polyploidy in cucumber and we detected 2.2% polyploids in a greenhouse study. We provide evidence that polyploidization is consistent with endoreduplication and is an on-going process during plant growth. Cucumber occasionally produces polyploid plants, which are problematic for growers because these plants produce misshaped fruits with non-viable seeds. In this study, we undertook the first quantitative study to estimate the relative frequency of spontaneous polyploids in cucumber. Seeds of recombinant inbred lines were produced in different environments, plants were grown in the field and greenhouse, and flow cytometry was used to establish ploidies. From 1422 greenhouse-grown plants, the overall relative frequency of spontaneous polyploidy was 2.2%. Plants possessed nuclei of different ploidies in the same leaves (mosaic) and on different parts of the same plant (chimeric). Our results provide evidence of endoreduplication and polysomaty in cucumber, and that it is an on-going and dynamic process. There was a significant effect (p = 0.018) of seed production environment on the occurrence of polyploid plants. Seed and seedling traits were not accurate predictors of eventual polyploids, and we recommend that cucumber producers rogue plants based on stature and leaf serration to remove potential polyploids.
Teaching Systems Thinking in the Context of the Water Cycle

Complex systems affect every part of our lives from the ecosystems that we inhabit and share with other living organisms to the systems that supply our water (i.e., water cycle). Evaluating events, entities, problems, and systems from multiple perspectives is known as a systems thinking approach. New curriculum standards have made explicit the call for teaching with a systems thinking approach in our science classrooms. However, little is known about how elementary in-service or pre-service teachers understand complex systems especially in terms of systems thinking. This mixed methods study investigated 67 elementary in-service teachers’ and 69 pre-service teachers’ knowledge of a complex system (e.g., water cycle) and their knowledge of systems thinking. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of participants. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of content assessment data and questionnaires were conducted. Results from this study showed elementary in-service and pre-service teachers applied different levels of systems thinking from novice to intermediate. Common barriers to complete systems thinking were identified with both in-service and pre-service teachers and included identifying components and processes, recognizing multiple interactions and relationships between subsystems and hidden dimensions, and difficulty understanding the human impact on the water cycle system.
Controversies in the diagnosis and management of NAFLD and NASH

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is recognized as the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the United States. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) occurs in a subset of patients with NAFLD and is characterized by the presence of hepa-tocellular injury, which is progressive in a substantial proportion of cases and can lead to cirrhosis and all of its complications. Although the diagnosis of NAFLD can be made through imaging studies or liver biopsy, the diagnosis of NASH still requires histologic confirmation. Liver biopsy should be performed in the presence of risk factors for advanced disease. Measures aimed at promoting weight loss, a healthier lifestyle, and optimization of metabolic risk factors remain the cornerstone of management of NAFLD. Therapeutic agents that are presently considered the most promising in NAFLD are effective in less than 50% of patients. Among patients with biopsy-proven NASH, treatment with pharmacologic agents should be considered; however, the role of specific agents in NASH still needs further study. Despite a wealth of research over the past 15 years, many controversies remain with respect to the diagnosis and management of NAFLD and NASH as well as the influence of alcohol on liver disease progression in these patients.
Data visualization tool for monitoring transit operation and performance

Using the automated vehicle location data combined with other technologies such as automated incident reporting, transit decision makers can now execute a variety of real-time strategies and performance evaluations. In this study, we show that it is possible to develop an easy to use but powerful web-based tool which acquires, stores, processes, and visualizes bus trajectory data. The developed web-based tool makes it easy for the end users to access stored data and to query it without any delay or external help. Moreover, the tool allows the users to conduct a series of data visualization and analysis operations demonstrating the potential of a such web-based tool for future applications.
Inhibitors and Poisons of Mammalian Type II Topoisomerases

Abstract Topoisomerases are critical cellular enzymes involved in the regulation of DNA topology. These enzymes generate transient single- (type I) and double-strand (type II) DNA breaks in order to relieve topological strain due to replication, transcription, and chromosome segregation. Disruption of topoisomerase activity has been used as a target of antineoplastic therapy for several decades. While some agents have been used for over 30 years, many new compounds continue to be explored. This chapter will focus on reviewing the function, mechanism, and targeting of mammalian type II topoisomerases. In particular, we will highlight newer compounds that are under examination and explore new strategies for targeting topoisomerase II in humans that may provide alternatives to existing therapies.
Design and analysis of high performance crypt-NoSQL

NoSQL databases have become popular with enterprises due to their scalable and flexible storage management of big data. Nevertheless, their popularity also brings up security concerns. Most NoSQL databases lacked secure data encryption, relying on developers to implement cryptographic methods at application level or middleware layer as a wrapper around the database. While this approach protects the integrity of data, it increases the difficulty of executing queries. We were motivated to design a system that not only provides NoSQL databases with the necessary data security, but also supports the execution of query over encrypted data. Furthermore, how to exploit the distributed fashion of NoSQL databases to deliver high performance and scalability with massive client accesses is another important challenge. In this research, we introduce Crypt-NoSQL, the first prototype to support execution of query over encrypted data on NoSQL databases with high performance. Three different models of Crypt-NoSQL were proposed and performance was evaluated with Yahoo! Cloud Service Benchmark (YCSB) considering an enormous number of clients. Our experimental results show that Crypt-NoSQL can process queries over encrypted data with high performance and scalability. A guidance of establishing service level agreement (SLA) for Crypt-NoSQL as a cloud service is also proposed.
First-Principles Study of Spinel MgTiS2 as a Cathode Material

Spinel intercalation hosts are well known to to facilitate high rate capability and high voltage Li-ion batteries. A recent experimental study has shown that Mg can reversibly intercalate in spinel TiS2, demonstrating the viability of Li intercalation host crystal structures for Mg-ion batteries [Sun, X.; Energy Environ. Sci. 2016, 9, 2273−2277]. We report on a first-principles statistical mechanics study of Mg insertion into spinel TiS2, accounting for occupancy on both octahedrally and tetrahedrally coordinated interstitial sites. In contrast to Li-containing spinels, we predict mixed octahedral and tetrahedral site occupancy at nondilute Mg concentrations consistent with the recent experimental study of Sun et al. The onset of mixed occupancy is correlated with an increase in the spinel volume upon Mg insertion, which is more pronounced in MgxTiS2 than in its Li counterpart. The results in this study suggest that the degree of mixed occupancy could be controlled through the volume of the host with addi...
Shining Light on Social Learning Circuits

Learning from others powerfully shapes our lives, yet the circuit-specific mechanisms underlying social learning in the brain remain unclear. A recent study in mice provides evidence that direct neuronal projections from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) play a critical role in observational fear learning.
A method to study drug concentration-depth profiles in tissues: mitomycin C in dog bladder wall.

Determination of the depth of penetration of locally applied drug therapy and evaluation of possible mechanisms of drug transport require knowledge of drug concentration-versus-tissues depth profiles. A method to determine the drug concentration–depth profile is needed. We have devised such a method and used it to determine the penetration of mitomycin C (MMC) in the dog bladder wall after intravesical drug instillation. This method is based on sectioning of frozen tissue into 40-µm segments, followed by drug extraction and high-pressure liquid chromatography analysis. Tissue concentrations could be detected with a sensitivity of 1 ng/sample, or 20 ng/g for tissue samples of approximately 2 × 2 cm. This sensitivity was sufficient to describe the penetration of MMC in the bladder wall of dogs, using an identical instillation technique, dwell time, and MMC concentration as in human patients. Tissue concentrations were expressed relative to tissue weight or tissue protein contents. For MMC, standardization to tissue weight yielded a better mathematical fit of the concentration-versus-depth profiles than standardization to protein content. The time interval between tissue harvesting and freezing was critical. The MMC concentration at the urothelial side of dog bladders was 2- to 10-fold higher in samples processed immediately after harvesting, compared to samples processed after 1 hr or longer. This significant decrease was not due to drug metabolism in situ. In separate in vitro experiments, we found that the degradation of MMC in 8% tissue homogenate was relatively slow, with only a 30% decline in concentration over 24 hr. We speculate that the decrease in concentration was due to passive diffusion of MMC, away from the urothelial side. In summary, the present study demonstrates that determination of drug penetration into tissues in vivo is feasible.
Engineering triterpene metabolism in the oilseed of Arabidopsis thaliana

Squalene and botryococcene are linear, hydrocarbon triterpenes that have industrial and medicinal values. While natural sources for these compounds exist, there is a pressing need for robust, renewable production platforms. Oilseeds are an excellent target for heterologous production because of their roles as natural storage repositories and their capacity to produce precursors from photosynthetically-derived carbon. We generated transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants using a variety of engineering strategies (subcellular targeting and gene stacking) to assess the potential for oilseeds to produce these two compounds. Constructs used seed-specific promoters and evaluated expression of a triterpene synthase alone and in conjunction with a farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FPS) plus 1-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS). Constructs directing biosynthesis to the cytosol to harness isoprenoid precursors from the mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway were compared to those directing biosynthesis to the plastid compartment diverting precursors from the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. On average, the highest accumulation for both compounds was achieved by targeting the triterpene synthase, FPS and DXS to the plastid (526.84 μg/g seed for botryococcene and 227.30 μg/g seed for squalene). Interestingly, a higher level accumulation of botryococcene (a non-native compound) was observed when the biosynthetic enzymes were targeted to the cytosol (>1000 μg/g seed in one line), but not squalene (natively produced in the cytosol). Not only do these results indicate the potential of engineering triterpene accumulation in oilseeds, but they also uncover some the unique regulatory mechanisms controlling triterpene metabolism in different cellular compartments of seeds.
Effect of Iron in the Determination of Residual Chlorine

In the determination of residual chlorine with orthotolidine ferric iron has been regarded as not causing appreciable interference, unless present in relatively large amounts. Kinnicutt in 1908, as noted by Monfort (1) concluded that about 7.0 p.p.m. ferric iron must be present to produce a color with orthotolidine. Ellms and Hauser (2) noted no color until 1.0 p.p.m. was present. Buswell and Boruff (3) observed no color other than the natural color of the solution with as much as 6.0 p.p.m. McCrumb (4) found that 10.0 p.p.m. of ferric iron gave a color no greater than that produced by 0.10 p.p.m. of residual chlorine. After noting large false tests in waters almost free from nitrite and manganese and with total iron contents not exceeding 1.0 p.p.m., a study was made of the effect of ferric iron. It was observed that in distilled water quite small amounts, added as ferric sulphate gave false tests on prolonged standing with ortho-tolidine, using 1.0 cc. of the standard reagent to 100.0 cc. of sample (table 1). To note comparative results with a natural water, Scioto River water was used; this had stood bottled for several months, the supernatant was then free from turbidity, iron and manganese and contained only 0.001 p.p.m. nitrite nitrogen. The color was recorded as 18.0 p.p.m., approximately equivalent to that of 0.01 p.p.m. chlorine with orthotolidine; this amount has been deducted in the tabulated data following. On adding graded amounts of ferric sulphate solution it was found that false tests with ortho-tolidine developed at once and to a much greater extent than in distilled water, 0.1 p.p.m. ferric iron giving a significant false test (table 2). With Columbus tap water and added iron, results intermediate between distilled and river waters were noted (table 3).
Recent Advances in Fiber Optics Components for High Speed Data Transmission

The concept of guided lightwave communication along optical fibers has stimulated a major new technology over the past two decades. This technology profoundly impacts communication and instrumentation systems as well as computer interconnections and system architecture.
Exploiting High Dimensionality in Big Data

There are two aspects of data that make them big: sample size and dimensionality. The advantages of large sample size have long been touted. In contrast, high dimensionality has typically been seen as an obstacle to successful analysis. In this talk, using the area of genomics as an example, I will illustrate some of the advantages of high dimensionality.
Differences in creep response of GBM cells migrating in confinement

Using a microfluidic platform to apply negative aspiration pressure (-20, -25, -30, -35 and -40 cm H2O), we compared the differences in creep responses of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) cells while migrating in confinement and at a stationary state on a 2D substrate. Cells were either migrating in a channel of 5 x 5 μm cross-section or stationary at the entrance to the channel. In response to aspiration pressure, we found actively migrating GBM cells exhibited a higher stiffness than stationary cells. Additionally, migrating cells absorbed more energy elastically with a relatively small dissipative energy loss. At elevated negative pressure loads up to - 30 cm H2O, we observed a linear increase in elastic deformation and a higher distribution in elastic storage than energy loss, and the response plateaued at further increasing negative pressure loads. To explore the underlying cause, we carried out immuno-cytochemical studies of these cells and found a polarized actin and myosin distribution at the front and posterior ends of the migrating cells, whereas the distribution of the stationary group demonstrated no specific regional differences. These differences in creep response and cytoskeletal protein distribution demonstrate the importance of a migrating cell's kinematic state to the mechanism of cell migration.
The influence of mobile technologies on preschool and elementary children’s literacy achievement: a systematic review spanning 2007–2019

The presence of mobile technologies within preschool and elementary classrooms has been increasing, yet review studies which measure the effectiveness of mobile technologies to support children’s literacy achievement remains scarce. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review to examine the influence of mobile technologies on pre-kindergarten—5th grade students’ literacy achievement between 2007 and 2019. Findings are reported according to study characteristics, followed by the patterns and trends related to achievement within and across literacy domains (phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing). We provide mobile device and app use strategies for teachers, while mapping clear research pathways for educational researchers and digital designers, with the ultimate goal of advancing the use of mobile technology to improve children’s literacy achievement.
Mixed-signal vector-by-matrix multiplier circuits based on 3D-NAND memories for neurocomputing

We propose an extremely dense, energy-efficient mixed-signal vector-by-matrix-multiplication (VMM) circuits based on the existing 3D-NAND flash memory blocks, without any need for their modification. Such compatibility is achieved using time-domain-encoded VMM design. We have performed rigorous simulations of such a circuit, taking into account non-idealities such as drain-induced barrier lowering, capacitive coupling, charge injection, parasitics, process variations, and noise. Our results, for example, show that the 4-bit VMM of 200-element vectors, using the commercially available 64-layer gate-all-around macaroni-type 3D-NAND memory blocks designed in the 55-nm technology node, may provide an unprecedented area efficiency of 0.14 pm2/byte and energy efficiency of ~11 fJ/Op, including the input/output and other peripheral circuitry overheads.
Influence of dissolved organic matter on carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide formation from cysteine during sunlight photolysis

Carbonyl sulfide (COS) and carbon disulfide (CS2) are important atmospheric gases that are formed from organic sulfur precursors present in natural waters when exposed to sunlight. However, it remains unclear how specific water constituents, such as dissolved organic matter (DOM), affect COS and CS2 formation. To better understand the role of DOM, irradiation experiments were conducted in O2-free synthetic waters containing four different DOM isolates, acquired from freshwater to open ocean sources, and the sulfur-based amino acid, cysteine (CYS). CYS is a known natural precursor of COS and CS2. Results indicated that COS formation did not vary strongly with DOM type, although small impacts were observed on the kinetic patterns. COS formation also increased with increasing CYS concentration but decreased with increasing DOM concentration. Quenching experiments indicated that ˙OH was not involved in the rate-limiting step of COS formation, whereas excited triplet states of DOM (3CDOM*) were plausibly involved, although the quenching agents used to remove 3CDOM* may have reacted with the CYS-derived intermediates as well. CS2 was not formed under any of the experimental conditions. Overall, DOM-containing synthetic waters had a limited to no effect towards forming COS and CS2, especially when compared to the higher concentrations formed in sunlit natural waters, as examined previously. The reasons behind this limited effect need to be explored further but may be due to the additional water quality constituents present in these natural waters. The findings of this study imply that multiple variables beyond DOM govern COS and CS2 photoproduction when moving from freshwaters to open ocean waters.
A multidisciplinary investigation of chronic animal abuse: Collaboration between veterinary forensics and forensic anthropology

An unknown juvenile female mixed breed dog was found non-ambulatory on a dead-end street in an urban setting adjacent to a public park. During initial veterinary examination, she was assessed to have untreatable injuries and was humanely euthanized. The forensic veterinarian requested consultation from a forensic anthropologist to assist with documenting antemortem skeletal trauma. Analyses of skeletal tissues indicated numerous injuries in various stages of healing diagnostic of non-accidental injuries. Veterinary forensic cases may benefit from collaborative analysis of bony remains by forensic anthropologists.
Automated Travel History Extraction From Clinical Notes for Informing the Detection of Emergent Infectious Disease Events: Algorithm Development and Validation.

Background: Patient travel history can be crucial in evaluating evolving infectious disease events. Such information can be challenging to acquire in electronic health records, as it is often available only in unstructured text. Objective: This study aims to assess the feasibility of annotating and automatically extracting travel history mentions from unstructured clinical documents in the Department of Veterans Affairs across disparate health care facilities and among millions of patients. Information about travel exposure augments existing surveillance applications for increased preparedness in responding quickly to public health threats. Methods: Clinical documents related to arboviral disease were annotated following selection using a semiautomated bootstrapping process. Using annotated instances as training data, models were developed to extract from unstructured clinical text any mention of affirmed travel locations outside of the continental United States. Automated text processing models were evaluated, involving machine learning and neural language models for extraction accuracy. Results: Among 4584 annotated instances, 2659 (58%) contained an affirmed mention of travel history, while 347 (7.6%) were negated. Interannotator agreement resulted in a document-level Cohen kappa of 0.776. Automated text processing accuracy (F1 85.6, 95% CI 82.5-87.9) and computational burden were acceptable such that the system can provide a rapid screen for public health events. Conclusions: Automated extraction of patient travel history from clinical documents is feasible for enhanced passive surveillance public health systems. Without such a system, it would usually be necessary to manually review charts to identify recent travel or lack of travel, use an electronic health record that enforces travel history documentation, or ignore this potential source of information altogether. The development of this tool was initially motivated by emergent arboviral diseases. More recently, this system was used in the early phases of response to COVID-19 in the United States, although its utility was limited to a relatively brief window due to the rapid domestic spread of the virus. Such systems may aid future efforts to prevent and contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Sparse Coding-Based Failure Prediction for Prudent Operation of LED Manufacturing Equipment

A sudden failure of a critical component in light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing equipment would result in unscheduled downtime, leading to a possibly significant loss in productivity for the manufacturer. It is therefore important to be able to predict upcoming failures. A major obstacle to failure prediction is the limited amount of equipment lifecycle data available for training, as equipment failure is not expected to be frequent. This calls for machine learning techniques capable of making accurate failure predictions with limited training data. This paper describes such a method based on sparse coding. We demonstrate the prediction performance of the method on a real-world dataset from LED manufacturing equipment. We show that sparse coding can draw out salient features associated with failure cases, and can thus produce accurate failure predictions. We also analyze how sparse coding-based failure prediction can lead to significant efficiency improvements in equipment operation.
Perfusion and Permeability MRI Predicts Future Cavernous Angioma Hemorrhage and Growth.

BACKGROUND Cerebral cavernous angioma (CA) is a capillary vasculopathy affecting more than a million Americans with a small fraction of cases demonstrating lesional bleed or growth with major clinical sequelae. Perfusion and permeability are fundamental features of CA pathophysiology, but their role as prognostic biomarkers is unclear. PURPOSE To investigate whether perfusion or permeability lesional descriptors derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced quantitative perfusion (DCEQP) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can predict subsequent lesional bleed/growth in the year following imaging. STUDY TYPE Single-site case-controlled study. SUBJECTS Two hundred and five consecutively enrolled patients (63.4% female). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE Three-Tesla/T1 -mapping with contrast-enhanced dynamic two-dimensional (2D) spoiled gradient recalled acquisition (SPGR) sequences. ASSESSMENT Prognostic associations with bleed/growth (present or absent) in the following year were assessed in 745 CA lesions evaluated by DCEQP in the 205 patients in relation to lesional descriptors calculated from permeability and perfusion maps. A subgroup of 30 cases also underwent peripheral blood collection at the time of DCEQP scans and assays of plasma levels of soluble CD14, IL-1β, VEGF, and soluble ROBO4 proteins, whose weighted combination had been previously reported in association with future CA bleeding. STATISTICAL TESTS Mann-Whitney U-test for univariate analyses. Logistic regression models minimizing the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), testing sensitivity and specificity (receiver operating characteristic curves) of weighted combinations of parameters. RESULTS The best prognostic biomarker for lesional bleed or growth included brainstem lesion location, mean lesional permeability, and low-value perfusion cluster mean (BIC = 201.5, sensitivity = 77%, specificity = 72%, P < 0.05). Adding a previously published prognostic plasma protein biomarker improved the performance of the imaging model (sensitivity = 100%, specificity = 88%, P < 0.05). DATA CONCLUSION A combination of MRI-based descriptors reflecting higher lesional permeability and lower perfusion cluster may potentially predict future bleed/growth in CAs. The sensitivity and specificity of the prognostic imaging biomarker can be enhanced when combined with brainstem lesion location and a plasma protein biomarker of CA hemorrhage. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 5.
Impact of early life stress on reward circuit function and regulation.

Early life stress - including experience of child maltreatment, neglect, separation from or loss of a parent, and other forms of adversity - increases lifetime risk of mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. A major component of this risk may be early life stress-induced alterations in motivation and reward processing, mediated by changes in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Here, we review evidence of the impact of early life stress on reward circuit structure and function from human and animal models, with a focus on the NAc. We then connect these results to emerging theoretical models about the indirect and direct impacts of early life stress on reward circuit development. Through this review and synthesis, we aim to highlight open research questions and suggest avenues of future study in service of basic science, as well as applied insights. Understanding how early life stress alters reward circuit development, function, and motivated behaviors is a critical first step toward developing the ability to predict, prevent, and treat stress-related psychopathology spanning mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders.
Reports of Accommodation's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

In The Hobby Lobby Moment, Professor Paul Horwitz argues that the contraceptive mandate controversy undid thirty years of public support for religious accommodation (and even religion) virtually overnight. Horwitz lays the responsibility for the end of this consensus at the feet of political liberals and progressives. In this Response, I argue that Horwitz mistakes what our social and legal consensus was and misidentifies the cause of its collapse. The national consensus has long been against granting religious exemptions from generally applicable laws to commercial entities and to for-profit corporations in particular. It instead favors equal citizenship of individuals and, as a result, limited rights for powerful commercial actors. Hobby Lobby threatens this consensus.I further propose that while the marriages of same-sex couples may have added fuel to the fire, it was the union of religious and economic conservatives that threw the marketplace into flux. Their religious libertarian arguments persuaded the Court to extend accommodations into the commercial sphere in an unprecedented and potentially expansive way.
Role of epidermal growth factor in embryonic development.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the question whether keratinization process is adult or embryonic. The embryonic development of the secondary palate (roof of the mouth) provides an excellent model system to understand the cellular and molecular biology of the keratinization process. There are three cell types that initially constitute the palatal epithelium, and it is the oral cell type that is of greatest interest in the chapter. The oral epithelial cells are somehow programmed differently during embryogenesis from the nasal and medial palatal epithelial cells and they become the squamous keratinizing cells that line the roof of the mouth. Without this essential programming during development, the palate will not form normally and a cleft palate is formed as a result. The developing secondary palate constitutes an ideal morphogenetic system because its development occurs towards the end of embryogenesis in the rodent, and the palate is easily accessible and large enough for a number of experimental manipulations including cell and organ culture. The growth and differentiation of the oral epithelium are especially dependent upon epidermal growth factor (EGF); hence, most of the chapter focuses on the details of the studies that have convinced that EGF or a related growth factor found in the embryo (transforming growth factor-α) is a very important regulatory molecule in the palate.
The Psychology and Pedagogy of Reading Processes

The chapter reviews selected research related to basic reading processes, instructional practices, and policy contexts as they account for the development of expert readers. It begins with an account of the word- and text-level processes and understandings that account for skilled reading, including phonemic awareness, word recognition, decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, awareness of text structure, and various sorts of knowledge, including knowledge about language, the world, and school disciplines. The chapter then shifts to an account of research related to the pedagogical practices that have been used to promote the development of expert readers in K-12 classrooms. The chapter ends with a short journey into the world of policy, with a discussion of how curriculum, pedagogy and even the science of reading research are shaped by political forces operating at the national, regional, and local level in modern societies. Keywords: reading; literacy; word reading; text difficulty; reading comprehension; reading policy
Validation of recent shear wave velocity models in the United States with full‐wave simulation

Interpretations of dynamic processes and the thermal and chemical structure of the Earth depend on the accuracy of Earth models. With the growing number of velocity models constructed with different tomographic methods and seismic data sets, there is an increasing need for a systematic way to validate model accuracy and resolution. This study selects five shear wave velocity models in the U.S. and simulates full-wave propagation within the 3-D structures. Surface-wave signals extracted from ambient seismic noise and regional earthquakes are compared with synthetic waveforms at multiple-frequency bands. Phase delays and cross-correlation coefficients between observed and synthetic waveforms allow us to compare and validate these models quantitatively. In general, measurements from regional earthquakes are consistent with ambient noise results, but appear more scattered, which may result from uncertainty of the earthquake source location, origin time, and moment tensor. Our results show the improvement of model prediction with the increase of seismic data sets and implement of advanced methods. There exists a positive linear trend between phase delay and interstation distance for three models, indicating that on average, these models are faster than the real Earth structure. The phase delays from the jointly inverted model of ambient noise and receiver function have negative means at all periods while without obvious dependence on the interstation distance. The full-wave ambient noise tomographic model predicts more accurate phase arrivals compared to other models. This study suggests a need for an integrated model constructed with multiple seismic waveforms and consideration of anisotropy and attenuation.
Beyond CD34+ cell dose: impact of method of peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell mobilization (granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF], G-CSF plus plerixafor, or cyclophosphamide G-CSF/granulocyte-macrophage [GM]-CSF) on number of colony-forming unit-GM, engraftment, and Day +100 hematopoietic graft function.

BACKGROUND: The dose of CD34+ cells/kg in the mobilized peripheral blood product is the main determinant of neutrophil and platelet (PLT) engraftment after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT). Whether the method of mobilization, namely, granulocyte–colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) alone (G), G-CSF plus plerixafor (G+P), or cyclophosphamide + G/granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF (Cy+G/GM), independently affects number of colony-forming unit (CFU)-GM, engraftment, and hematopoietic graft function is unknown. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We used a database of AHSCT patients with multiple myeloma or lymphoma to identify three groups with different mobilization strategies receiving transplantation with similar CD34+ cell doses. Groups were compared in terms of CFU-GM, ratio of CFU-GM/CD34+, engraftment of neutrophils and PLTs, and hematopoietic graft function on Day +100. RESULTS: Ninety-six patients were included in the analysis, 26 G, 32 G+P, and 38 Cy+G/GM, with median cell doses of 4.21 × 106, 4.11 × 106, and 4.67 × 106 CD34+/kg, respectively (p = 0.433). There was no significant difference in number of CFU-GM between the three groups; however, the ratio of CFU-GM/CD34+ was significantly lower for G+P (p = 0.008). Median time for neutrophil engraftment was 13 days in G+P and 12 days in G and Cy+G/GM (p = 0.028), while PLT engraftment happened at a median of 14.5 days in G+P versus 12 days in G and 11 days in Cy+G/GM (p = 0.012). There was no difference in hematopoietic graft function at Day +100. CONCLUSION: Plerixafor-based mobilization is associated with slightly reduced number of CFU-GM and minimal delay in engraftment that is independent of CD34+ cell dose. Hematopoietic graft function on Day 100 is not affected by mobilization strategy.
Bacterial Pili and Fimbriae

Bacterial pili and fimbriae are hairlike structures extending from the cell surface that are involved in conjugation, adherence and twitching motility. Keywords: pili; fimbriae; conjugation; adhesins; phase variation
Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman. Malidoma Patrick Somee. New York: G.P Putnam's Sons, 1994. 311pp. $22.95 (cloth).
A Randomized Trial of the Effect of E-cigarette TV Advertisements on Intentions to Use E-cigarettes

Introduction Adolescents' use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and exposure to e-cigarette TV advertising have increased in recent years, despite questions about their safety. The current study tests whether exposure to e-cigarette TV advertisements influences intentions to use e-cigarettes in the future and related attitudes. Methods A parallel-group randomized controlled experiment was conducted and analyzed in 2014 using an online survey with a convenience sample of 3,655 U.S. adolescents aged 13–17 years who had never tried e-cigarettes. Adolescents in the treatment group viewed four e-cigarette TV advertisements. Results Adolescents in the treatment group reported a greater likelihood of future e-cigarette use compared with the control group. ORs for the treatment group were 1.54 ( p =0.001) for trying an e-cigarette soon; 1.43 ( p =0.003) for trying an e-cigarette within the next year; and 1.29 ( p =0.02) for trying an e-cigarette if a best friend offered one. Adolescents in the treatment group had higher odds of agreeing that e-cigarettes can be used in places where cigarettes are not allowed (OR=1.71, p p p =0.01); and are less toxic (OR=1.16, p =0.03). Conclusions Exposure to e-cigarette advertising had relatively large and consistent effects across experimental outcomes. Together with the simultaneous increase in e-cigarette advertising exposure and e-cigarette use among adolescents, findings suggest that e-cigarette advertising is persuading adolescents to try this novel product. This raises concerns that continued unregulated e-cigarette advertising will contribute to potential individual- and population-level harm.
High-frequency scattering by a bent half-plane

The scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave incident on a metallic structure consisting of a half-plane with a metallic strip of constant width b attached to its edge and oriented perpendicular to the half-plane is considered, in the frequency domain. Rather than introducing a high-frequency technique such as the UTD, we analyze the problem in terms of the closed-form, exact scattering by a half-plane whereby the total field is expressed in terms of Fresnel integrals. This formulation implicitly accounts for the corner-reflector effects, but does not account for the interactions between the edge of the strip and the right-angle corner/wedge. The analysis conducted for the 2D case is extended to the 3D case of a semi-infinite strip of finite width with a right-angle bend, by utilizing a technique due to Siegel. The 3D result thus obtained is compared to the physical optics result.
A new memetic approach for the classification rules extraction problem

This paper presents a memetic algorithm applied to the classification rules extraction problem. In our new approach, our aim is to obtain a better results accuracy relatively to that obtained by a standard genetic algorithm (GA). A memetic algorithm is based on a GA which is improved by hybridising a local search approach. We made a hybrid method to compute a model of classification. In the literature, there are many hybridisation forms: in this paper, we have chosen to make our local search algorithm also based on a genetic approach so our hybridisation is purely evolutionary.
Growth retardation and elemental differences in juvenile Armadillidium vulgare Latreille exposed to lead nitrate.

Although it is well established that isopods store heavy metals, especially zinc, cadmium, lead and copper, there is relatively little known about the effects of these metals on the isopod. The literature is sparse relating to the effects of non-essential heavy metals on concentrations of essential elements in isopods. The contaminated isopods assimilated insignificant concentrations of lead in their tissues. In a recent study adult A. vulgare exposed to lead sequestered copper and zinc in the hepatopancreas to levels far above the controls. In the present study, the effect of lead nitrate on A. vulgare recently released from the brood pouch was examined.
The treatment of intussusception: Thirty years' experience at Gothenburg's Children's Hospital

Abstract 428 cases of acute intussusception were treated at the Gothenburg's Children's Hospital during the years 1936–1966. 221 cases were treated by hydrostatic reduction alone with simultaneous roentgen control, and 207 were operated upon. There were 11 deaths before 1953. There has been no mortality since 1954. This combined treatment is highly recommended, and the necessity of preoperative fluid balance is underlined.
Evaluating Integrated Treatment Within Assertive Community Treatment Programs: A New Measure

Assertive community treatment (ACT) is an evidence-based practice that consists of a multidisciplinary team of professionals who provide intensive and comprehensive services to people with serious mental disorders living in the community. ACT has been shown to be effective in reducing hospital days and increasing housing stability for service recipients. However, more than half of the people in these programs typically have a co-occurring substance use disorder, and evidence for the model's effectiveness in treating dual disorders is less consistent. One reason cited for this shortcoming is the apparent failure to provide care consistent with the principles and practices of integrated dual disorders treatment, itself an evidence-based practice with demonstrated effectiveness. This is a problem of treatment fidelity, one that is addressed in a new ACT fidelity measure, the Tool for Measurement of Assertive Community Treatment (TMACT), which assesses not only the structural features of ACT but also the qual...
Editorial: Do You See What I See?: Quality, Reliability, and Reproducibility in Biomedical Research

Like many other scientists, I believe that science is one of the greatest of all human enterprises. The discipline satisfies our innate curiosity, benefits the world in real and tangible ways, and unites people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The unique self-critical and self-correcting nature of science has allowed the synthesis of the most accurate view of the natural world known to human kind—a view that has been so integrated into our daily lives that we sometimes fail to recognize its provenance. As noted by the science philosopher Karl Popper, “science is one of the very few human activities – perhaps the only one – where errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected” (1). Therein lies its strength. Both Science (with a capital S), “a reliable body of knowledge about how the world works” (2), and science (with a lower case s) the process of accumulating knowledge carried out by individual scientists (2), are built upon a foundation of trust and verification—trust among scientists, who rely on each others' data and conclusions, and trust between scientists and the public, which funds much of the science and relies on Science to improve the quality of our lives.
Production of new cells in the rat dentate gyrus over the lifespan: relation to cognitive decline

The identification of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of adult mammals has sparked much interest in a functional role for these new neurons in hippocampal-dependent cognition. The current investigation used a model of age-related cognitive decline in rodents to study the relationship between changes in markers of neurogenesis and hippocampal function. New cell production in the granule cell layer was progressively reduced across the lifespan of male Long Evans rats, with a 40% reduction at middle age (13 months) and a reduction in excess of 80% in advanced age (25 months), compared with young mature adults (7 months). These effects of aging were not, however, predictive of cognitive status. In particular, the pronounced decrease in new cell production during aging did not distinguish among rats that varied over a wide range of cognitive abilities.
Rules and Representation: The Virtues of Constancy and Fidelity Put in Perspective

In this paper I will argue that the widely accepted theory of perceptual constancy, and the equally widely held account of fidelity in representation rest on the same mistake. My argument (which derives from and extends Nelson Goodman’s, in Languages of Art) is that this theory of perceptual constancy is based on a theory of vision which is false, namely, the standard theory which interprets vision on the model of Euclidean geometrical optics. Further, I will argue that the view which takes the rules of linear perspective to be the norm for fidelity in pictorial representation is based on the same false theory (or on its mirror image, that is, on the theory that pictorial representation’s norm for fidelity is the mirror image).