cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Detection: Family-Based Linkage Analysis and Case–Control Association Studies

For decades, it has been well-recognized that genetics plays a critical role in the development of prostate cancer. Numerous epidemiological and molecular biological studies have shown evidence for a significant but heterogeneous hereditary component in prostate cancer susceptibility. Linkage analysis in twin and family-based study designs provided targeted candidate regions for prostate cancer risk and cancer aggressiveness. Subsequent mapping efforts and mutation screening yielded several strong candidate genes. More recent tools allow investigation of gene–gene and gene–environment interactions in population-based designs, such as case–control or cohort studies. These analyses have identified associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms within candidate genes and prostate cancer susceptibility. Understanding the role of these genes may help in defining heterogeneity in prostate cancer etiology and eventually lead to better detection, treatment, and, ultimately, prevention of prostate cancer.
Stationary Cardinal Utility

The paper provides a representation theorem for the class of all stationary preferences in a stochastic environment. A notion of ambiguity aversion applicable to such preferences is also proposed. The analysis helps discriminate between dynamic models of ambiguity aversion and expected utility models with endogenous discounting, which, as has been observed in both applied and decision-theoretic work, share a number of predictions concerning intertemporal behavior.
Alignment of Rigid-Rod Polypeptide Chains by Solvent Quenching

We introduce a simple “solvent quenching” approach to align the rigid-rod a-helical poly(α-benzyl-L-glutamate) (PBLG) chains in the surface-grafted monolayer. By sequentially treating with a good solvent and a poor solvent, a unidirectionally aligned PBLG monolayer with an average tilt angle as small as 3° is obtained.
ACTIVE CONTROL OF INLET NOISE FROM A TURBOFAN ENGINE USING INLET WAVENUMBER SENSORS

In this paper, active control of the inlet noise from a turbofan engine is experimentally investigated with inlet-mounted sensors and actuators. The experimental work is carried out on a running JTlSD turbofan jet engine in a test stand at Virginia Tech. The control inputs were supplied by twelve acoustic sources equipped with neodymium iron cobalt magnets mounted in a single circumferential array upstream of the fan. An inlet sensing technique using an axial array of microphones mounted in the inlet and processed to observe axial wavenumbers traveling down the inlet was used to generate the error signals. The concept of combining active and passive control components together with a hybrid passive-active inlet is also investigated experimentally. The results show that the combination of active and passive control techniques is an effective means of reducing radiated noise from turbofan engines. The wavenumber sensing scheme is shown to be an effective technique for reducing the radiation towards particular directions in the far field when implemented on a passively-lined inlet.
Pharmacokinetic Interactions between Buprenorphine/Naloxone and Raltegravir in Subjects Receiving Chronic Buprenorphine/Naloxone Treatment

Background: Interactions between human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) and opioid-dependence therapies can occur. Objectives: We sought to determine whether such interactions occurred between buprenorphine/naloxone and raltegravir. Methods: We performed a within-subject open-labeled pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study in 12 HIV-seronegative subjects stabilized on at least 3 weeks of buprenorphine/naloxone therapy. Subjects underwent baseline and steady-state evaluation of the effect of raltegravir 400 mg BID on buprenorphine/naloxone parameters. Results: Compared with baseline values, buprenorphine AUC0–24 h (58.2 vs. 56.0 hr*ng/mL) and Cmax (7.37 vs. 6.60 ng/mL) did not differ significantly after achieving steady-state raltegravir. Similar analyses of norbuprenorphine, the primary metabolite of buprenorphine, demonstrated no significant difference after raltegravir administration. Naloxone concentrations were unchanged for AUC0–24 h (.595 vs. .581 hr*ng/mL), Cmax (.251 vs. .243 ng/mL) and Tmax (.75 v...
Characterization of sleep in Aplysia californica.

Study objective To characterize sleep in the marine mollusk, Aplysia californica. Design Animal behavior and activity were assessed using video recordings to measure activity, resting posture, resting place preference, and behavior after rest deprivation. Latencies for behavioral responses were measured for appetitive and aversive stimuli for animals in the wake and rest states. Setting Circadian research laboratory for Aplysia. Patients or participants A. californica from the Pacific Ocean. Interventions N/A. Measurements and results Aplysia rest almost exclusively during the night in a semi-contracted body position with preferential resting locations in the upper corners of their tank. Resting animals demonstrate longer latencies in head orientation and biting in response to a seaweed stimulus and less frequent escape response steps following an aversive salt stimulus applied to the tail compared to awake animals at the same time point. Aplysia exhibit rebound rest the day following rest deprivation during the night, but not after similar handling stimulation during the day. Conclusions Resting behavior in Aplysia fulfills all invertebrate characteristics of sleep including: (1) a specific sleep body posture, (2) preferred resting location, (3) reversible behavioral quiescence, (4) elevated arousal thresholds for sensory stimuli during sleep, and (5) compensatory sleep rebound after sleep deprivation.
Screening Tool Predicts Future Underimmunization Among a Pediatric Practice in Tennessee

The Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey for identifying vaccine-hesitant parents was recently validated in Washington State but did not include all recommended childhood vaccines. The current study compares vaccination rates for all recommended childhood vaccines and PACV scores at one pediatric practice in Tennessee. Children were enrolled at the 2-week well visit, and vaccination rates were assessed at 19 months of age. Outcomes at 19 months of age included mean percentage of days underimmunized and up-to-date status (yes/no) compared with PACV scores. The impact of provider on immunization status was assessed. Complete vaccination data were available for 158 children of 183 enrolled (86%). Higher PACV scores were associated with more days underimmunized (P < .001) and being overdue for vaccine doses at 19 months of age (P < .001). No difference was seen between providers and up-to-date status. Our study supports the predictive validity of the PACV for underimmunization.
Covalent functionalization and passivation of exfoliated black phosphorus via aryl diazonium chemistry

Functionalization of atomically thin nanomaterials enables the tailoring of their chemical, optical and electronic properties. Exfoliated black phosphorus (BP)-a layered two-dimensional semiconductor-exhibits favourable charge-carrier mobility, tunable bandgap and highly anisotropic properties, but it is chemically reactive and degrades rapidly in ambient conditions. Here we show that covalent aryl diazonium functionalization suppresses the chemical degradation of exfoliated BP even after three weeks of ambient exposure. This chemical modification scheme spontaneously forms phosphorus-carbon bonds, has a reaction rate sensitive to the aryl diazonium substituent and alters the electronic properties of exfoliated BP, ultimately yielding a strong, tunable p-type doping that simultaneously improves the field-effect transistor mobility and on/off current ratio. This chemical functionalization pathway controllably modifies the properties of exfoliated BP, and thus improves its prospects for nanoelectronic applications.
Multiple Organ Support Therapy from Blood Purification for Pediatric Critical Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome

Objective: To investigate the multiple organ support therapy (MOST) from blood purification (BP) for pediatric critical multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS) Methods: The organ functions of sixteen pediatric severe patients were compared before and after they were treated with BP in PICU of children's hospital Results: Before and after BP , there were decreased changes in inflammatory indexes, which were temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, WBC, ESR and CRP, all P 0001 There were changes in renal function (SCr, BUN and urine output), in myocardial enzymes' series(ALT, CK, CK-MB and LDH ),P 005 There were improvement happened in hepatic function(total bilirubin and serum albumin),P 0001 There were improvement in blood gases( pH value, PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2), all P 005 There were improvement in mechanical parameters for ventilation(PIP,PEEP) with both p value 005 and Vt with P 005 Conclusions: BP can contribute either renal replacement or MOST covering lung, circulation, liver and acid-base balance to pediatric critical MODS
Scaling laws for learning high-dimensional Markov forest distributions

The problem of learning forest-structured discrete graphical models from i.i.d. samples is considered. An algorithm based on pruning of the Chow-Liu tree through adaptive thresholding is proposed. It is shown that this algorithm is structurally consistent and the error probability of structure learning decays faster than any polynomial in the number of samples under fixed model size. For the high-dimensional scenario where the size of the model d and the number of edges k scale with the number of samples n, sufficient conditions on (n, d, k) are given for the algorithm to be structurally consistent. In addition, the extremal structures for learning are identified; we prove that the independent (resp. tree) model is the hardest (resp. easiest) to learn using the proposed algorithm in terms of error rates for structure learning.
Incorporating the human element in anticipatory and dynamic cyber defense

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) use sophisticated cyberattacks to disrupt a nation’s critical infrastructure. Conventional cyberattack management is response-driven, which (while important) is ineffective, especially in managing APTs. There is an immediate need for anticipatory defense measures that reflect the adaptive nature of this new breed of adversaries. This paper identifies five main research areas that need immediate attention. Using a criminological framework and empirical evidence of observations and interviews done at Industrial Control Systems Computer Emergency Response Team's (ICS-CERT) Red/Blue cybersecurity training exercise held at Idaho National Laboratory, this paper argues that understanding how adversaries adapt at various points in the intrusion chain is crucial in profiling APTs and developing anticipatory cybersecurity measures. The paper offers recommendations for further research and the relevance of multidisciplinary collaboration.
Desiring the data state in the Indus Basin

The distribution of water between co-riparian regions in the Indus Basin has been an extremely contentious issue since at least the early 20th century. The reliability of water measurements, in particular, has caused much controversy at multiple scales. This hydropolitical tension has catalysed a key social group – the hydraulic bureaucracy or ‘hydrocracy’ – to enact strategies of depoliticisation. These strategies aim to suppress political contest by calling on external expertise and/or technology to assure the objectivity of water measurement data. This paper draws on archival data and interviews with water engineers to argue that technocratic depoliticisation operates in distinct but related ways at different scales. Further, I argue that to analyse the technocratic desire for a data state – a state that governs primarily or exclusively by number and calculation – a multi-scalar theoretical framework that connects the politics of technocracy, territory and nationalism is needed. The paper develops such a framework by situating hydrocrats and their strategies in the broader context of state formation. This framework is offered as a way for critical scholars of resources, development and expertise to engage with depoliticisation and repoliticisation of resource governance as complex geographic processes.
Mechanical and Membrane Keyboard Typing Assessment Using Surface Electromyography (sEMG)

There are many different types of keyboards available for use. However, the mechanical keyboard is becoming more popular with enthusiast computer users. Vendors and users alike proclaim that they provide increased typing speeds and that less physical effort is required to activate the keyswitches due to the additional tactile and auditory feedback from the keyswitch design. This study investigates words per minute (WPM), error percentage, and surface electromyography (EMG) of the flexor arm muscle activity during a typing task using a membrane and mechanical keyboard. Results showed statistical significance with both flexor muscles exerting less effort on a mechanical keyboard. Advantages were not limited the mechanical keyboard with WPM revealing greater typing speeds with the standard membrane keyboard.
Looking Inside the Wires: Understanding Museum Visitor Learning with an Augmented Circuit Exhibit

Understanding electrical circuits can be difficult for novices of all ages. In this paper, we describe a science museum exhibit that enables visitors to make circuits on an interactive tabletop and observe a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. Our goal is to use multiple representations to help convey basic concepts of current and resistance. To study visitor interaction and learning, we tested the design at a popular science museum with 60 parent-child dyads in three conditions: a control condition with no electron simulation; a condition with the simulation displayed alongside the circuit on the same screen; and an augmented reality condition, with the simulation displayed on a tablet that acts as a lens to see into the circuit. Our findings show that children did significantly better on a post-test in both experimental conditions, with children performing best in the AR condition. However, analysis of session videos shows unexpected parent-child collaboration in the AR condition.
Role of alloying elements on twin growth and twin transmission in magnesium alloys

Abstract A spatially-resolved crystal plasticity Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)-based model is employed to study the effect of alloying addition on twin thickening and twin transmission in hexagonal close packed (HCP) magnesium. In the simulations, the influence of alloying additions is represented through the differences in the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) of different slip and twinning modes. The results show that for the same grain orientation, twin type and boundary conditions, anisotropy in the CRSS values have a significant effect on twin thickening and twin transmission. Those with large differences in CRSS favor both twin thickening and twin transmission, and vice versa for those with small differences. However, less difference among the CRSS values enhances the dependence of thickening and transmission on the neighboring grain orientation.
Efficient Parallel Transport in the Group of Diffeomorphisms via Reduction to the Lie Algebra

This paper presents an efficient, numerically stable algorithm for parallel transport of tangent vectors in the group of diffeomorphisms. Previous approaches to parallel transport in large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping (LDDMM) of images represent a momenta field, the dual of a tangent vector to the diffeomorphism group, as a scalar field times the image gradient. This “scalar momenta” constraint couples tangent vectors with the images being deformed and leads to computationally costly horizontal lifts in parallel transport. This paper uses the vector momenta formulation of LDDMM, which decouples the diffeomorphisms from the structures being transformed, e.g., images, point sets, etc. This decoupling leads to parallel transport expressed as a linear ODE in the Lie algebra. Solving this ODE directly is numerically stable and significantly faster than other LDDMM parallel transport methods. Results on 2D synthetic data and 3D brain MRI demonstrate that our algorithm is fast and conserves the inner products of the transported tangent vectors.
Very Young Child Well-being in Military Families: A Snapshot

Since the September 11th attacks on the U.S., more than 2 million children have experienced parental deployment during their early years, with potentially lasting impact. When a parent is deployed, a number of factors may affect the well-being of the service member and his/her family. One parental factor—posttraumatic stress disorder or distress—might be particularly powerful in its effect on young children and the family system. We analyzed baseline data from an intervention development project which focused on supporting military families with very young children during post-deployment. The purpose of this research is to understand the relationships between parental mental health status, parenting stress, couple functioning, and young child well-being. The effects of mental health status of home-front and service member parents and the role of couple functioning on parent–child interactions and behavioral problems of young children were examined in a sample of military families during the post-deployment period. Findings suggest that service member posttraumatic stress symptoms are associated with higher parental report of child behavior problems. Higher quality of the couple relationship appears to lessen the impact of parental posttraumatic stress but is not related to parent perceptions of child behavior concerns. Implications for future research with military families are discussed.
Visualizing Transitions and Structure for High Dimensional Data Exploration

Abstract In the era of ‘Big Data’ there is a pressing need for tools that provide human interpretable visualizations of emergent patterns in high-throughput high-dimensional data. Further, to enable insightful data exploration, such visualizations should faithfully capture and emphasize emergent structures and patterns without enforcing prior assumptions on the shape or form of the data. In this paper, we present PHATE (Potential of Heat-diffusion for Affinity-based Transition Embedding) - an unsupervised low-dimensional embedding for visualization of data that is aimed at solving these issues. Unlike previous methods that are commonly used for visualization, such as PCA and tSNE, PHATE is able to capture and highlight both local and global structure in the data. In particular, in addition to clustering patterns, PHATE also uncovers and emphasizes progression and transitions (when they exist) in the data, which are often missed in other visualization-capable methods. Such patterns are especially important in biological data that contain, for example, single-cell phenotypes at different phases of differentiation, patients at different stages of disease progression, and gut microbial compositions that vary gradually between individuals, even of the same enterotype. The embedding provided by PHATE is based on a novel informational distance that captures long-range nonlinear relations in the data by computing energy potentials of data-adaptive diffusion processes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the produced visualization in revealing insights on a wide variety of biomedical data, including single-cell RNA-sequencing, mass cytometry, gut microbiome sequencing, human SNP data, Hi-C data, as well as non-biomedical data, such as facebook network and facial image data. In order to validate the capability of PHATE to enable exploratory analysis, we generate a new dataset of 31,000 single-cells from a human embryoid body differentiation system. Here, PHATE provides a comprehensive picture of the differentiation process, while visualizing major and minor branching trajectories in the data. We validate that all known cell types are recapitulated in the PHATE embedding in proper organization. Furthermore, the global picture of the system offered by PHATE allows us to connect parts of the developmental progression and characterize novel regulators associated with developmental lineages.
Thoughts on Secular Trends in Growth And Development

Changes in body size, fatness, rate of growth, and timing of maturation have been occurring over the past 150 years. We also are witnessing a decline in mortality, an increase in life expectancy and a large increase in the proportion of the population that is elderly in both industrialised and developing countries.
The Theory of Queues

Queueing theory is a generic term for mathematical structures inspired by and descriptive of service systems with random features such as random delay, randomly arriving customers, etc.† Such systems can be classified in two ways: according to the structure and postulates which characterize the operation, on the one hand, and according to the random variable of interest, on the other. Table 6.1. with some of the important random variables, together with associated notation, is given on p. 228.
Everything Happens at Once – Deconvolving Systematic Effects in X-ray Data Processing

Diffraction intensities measurements are influenced by random errors and complex patterns of systematic effects. The systematic effects can be physically modeled if their sources are known, resulting in deconvolution of experimental data into: the signal arising from crystal structure, other signals, for instance absorption or specific radiation-induced changes, and experimental errors. The systematic effects that are not properly modeled contribute to the error estimates, effectively decreasing the, already low, phasing signal-to-noise ratio. Data processing programs, for instance Denzo and Scalepack, have built-in hierarchy that allows for optimal deconvolution of signals and errors. Their analysis relies on comparing the intensities of symmetry-equivalent reflections using multivariate statistics methods. Multicomponent modeling of variance is particularly useful for correcting the diffraction data affected by radiation damage.
Wind-Generated Waves

The most apparent and usually the most important waves in the spectrum of waves at sea (see Figure 5.2) are those generated by the wind. Wind-generated waves are much more complex than the simple monochromatic waves considered to this point. We must briefly look into how these waves are generated by the wind and some of the important characteristics that result. It is important to have a means to quantify wind-generated waves for use in various engineering analyses. It is also important to be able to predict these waves for a given wind condition both wave hindcasts for historic wind conditions and wave forecasts for predicted impending wind conditions. Finally, we also need to look at procedures for extreme wave analysis, i.e., to predict those extreme wind-generated wave conditions that will be used as the limit for engineering design.
Abstract 3149: Collagen XIII induces β1-integrin activation and triple-negative breast cancer metastasis

Increased collagen expression and deposition is a risk factor for breast cancer development. Collagen XIII is a type II transmembrane protein within the collagen superfamily. Experiments in tissue culture and knockout mouse model show that collagen XIII is involved in cell adhesion and differentiation of certain cell types. However, function of collagen XIII in cancer development and progression largely remains to be determined. We found that collagen XIII expression is significantly induced during breast cancer development, especially in triple negative breast cancer. Increased collagen XIII mRNA level is associated with poor prognosis. Importantly, silencing collagen XIII expression in MDA MB 231 cells slow down xenograft growth and significantly reduced cancer metastasis in mice. Using gain- and loss-of function approaches, we showed that collagen XIII enhanced cell migration, invasion, and mammosphere/tumorsphere formation. We also found that collagen XIII induced integrin-β1 activation, and subsequently enhanced TGF-β signaling. Blocking integrin-β1 activation with AIIB2 antibody significantly reduced collagen XIII-induced cell migration and mammosphere formation. These findings demonstrate a novel function of collagen XIII in promoting cancer metastasis through enhancing β1 integrin-dependent cell migration and invasion Citation Format: Hui Zhang, Tricia Fredericks, Ren Xu. Collagen XIII induces β1-integrin activation and triple-negative breast cancer metastasis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3149.
The biomechanical effect of warm-up stretching strategies on landing mechanics in female volleyball athletes.

Female volleyball athletes incorporate dynamic and static stretching into a warm-up, with evidence generally supporting dynamic stretching to improve performance. However, the effects of these stretching practices on injury risk during subsequent volleyball manoeuvres have yet to be fully elucidated in the warm-up literature. Three-dimensional kinematic data associated with non-contact, lower extremity injury were recorded on 12 female collegiate club volleyball athletes during unilateral landing tasks on the dominant and non-dominant limb. Participants performed landings as part of a volleyball-simulated manoeuvre prior to and post-dynamic (DWU) and combined dynamic-static (CDS) warm-ups. A significant reduction in non-dominant hip adduction angle was found at 15 min post CDS warm-up (p = 0.016; d = 0.38), however, no other warm-up differences were detected. The non-dominant limb demonstrated greater knee abduction (p = 0.006; d = 0.69) and internal rotation angle (p = 0.004; d = 0.88), suggesting that this limb demonstrates more risky landing patterns that are potentially due to altered trunk positioning upon landing. The results show that the majority of selected landing kinematics are unaffected by additional static stretching to a dynamic warm-up and that the non-dominant limb may be at a higher injury risk in female volleyball athletes.
Survival of Whirling-Disease-Resistant Rainbow Trout Fry in the Wild: A Comparison of Two Strains.

Introduced pathogens can affect fish populations, and three main factors affect disease occurrence: the environment, host, and pathogen. Manipulating at least one of these factors is necessary for controlling disease. Myxobolus cerebralis, the parasite responsible for salmonid whirling disease, became established in Colorado during the 1990s and caused significant declines in wild Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss populations. Attempts to re-establish Rainbow Trout have focused on manipulating salmonid host resistance. A Rainbow Trout strain known as GR × CRR was developed for stocking in Colorado by crossing a whirling-disease-resistant strain known as the German Rainbow Trout (GR) with the Colorado River Rainbow Trout (CRR). The GR × CRR fish exhibit resistance similar to that shown by GR, and survival and reproduction were expected to be similar to those of CRR. One disadvantage of stocking GR × CRR is that outcrossing and backcrossing could decrease resistance, and laboratory studies have indicated that this can occur. A potential disadvantage of stocking pure GR is lower survival due to domestication. To compare fry survival between the strains, a field experiment was conducted in 1.6-km reaches of nine Colorado streams. Each stream was stocked in August 2014 with 5,000 GR × CRR and 5,000 GR individuals. In October 2014, April 2015, and August 2015, apparent survival was assessed. Two laboratory predation experiments were also conducted. The field experiment revealed that short-term apparent survival was influenced by stream, and growth rate was influenced by strain and stream. However, after 12 months, there was no difference in apparent survival or growth rate between the GR and GR × CRR strains. Laboratory experiments showed that survival did not differ between the strains when confronted with Brown Trout Salmo trutta predation. Our results indicate that the GR strain is a viable option for stocking in streams where M. cerebralis is enzootic. Further evaluation is needed to determine whether GR fish will survive to maturity and reproduce.
Comparative study of geometrical configuration at the thermal performances of an agricultural greenhouse

The aims objective of this work consists to study the storage system effects on the thermal performance of a tunnel agricultural greenhouse. The study focus on the use of the data climate analysis to predict the outside needs as comparison with another without storage system. The obtained results indicate that the outside needs are less than the no heated with 3 to 5°c during winter night. The thermal behavior of the greenhouse was study numerically and the results are corroborating with the literature. In addition, we conducted a comparative study designed to identify the optimal form of the greenhouse; two geometrical configuration are considered.
Practice Variance in Thyroid Screening of Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background Variance between current American Diabetes Association (ADA) and International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) guidelines and in clinical practice exists for the use of thyroid antibody and thyroid function screening in pediatric patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods North American Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES) members were surveyed regarding their thyroid screening practices of euthyroid youth with T1D. An institutional analysis of the ability of antithyroid peroxidase (aTPO) and antithyroglobulin antibodies (aTG) to predict the subsequent use of levothyroxine was performed. Results Forty-eight percent of 374 survey respondents tested both aTPO and aTG at diagnosis of T1D, but 35% performed no baseline antibody testing. If antibodies were positive, 89% of the respondents would perform annual thyroid function testing, but if antibodies were negative, 62% would follow thyroid function annually and 29% biannually. Institutionally, aTPO had significantly greater sensitivity (p = 0.04) but lower specificity (p = 0.008) than aTG for predicting the use of levothyroxine. Conclusions Variance exists among North American PES members regarding thyroid disease screening for pediatric patients diagnosed with T1D, and this appears to reflect differences between ADA and ISPAD guidelines. A prospective multicenter observational study which shares electronic medical record data and compares aTPO and TSH as primary screening tests may allow for more uniform guidelines and address the possibility of using TSH alone.
“TCR transgenic, gp100 reactive T cells to target lymphangioleiomyomatosis”

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare lung disease presenting with benign tumors, affecting premenopausal women. LAM is diagnosed by HMB45 staining. We questioned whether gp100 expression by lesional cells lends opportunities to treat LAM by adoptive T cell transfer. As LAM tumors are sparsely infiltrated by T cells, we looked to melanoma and vitiligo as sources of gp100-reactive TCRs. The gp100-reactive TCRs T4H2, R6C12 and SILv44 were cloned into retro-and lentiviral vectors and introduced into primary human CD8 + T cells. Transgenic T cells were combined with melanoma cells, melanocytes and LAM cells and responses were measured by ELISA detecting IFN-γ, IL-17, TNF or IL-4 after 48 hrs. Cytotoxicity was measured by 51 Cr release and CD107a expression, and in vivo using SCID/Beige mice challenged with 10 6 888A2 human melanoma cells and treated twice with 10 6 SILv44 transduced T cells. Transgenic T cells conferred specific reactivity to HLA-A2 + , gp100 + cells, including human LAM10224 cells, in vitro . The SILv44 TCR mediated most IL-17a expression whereas INF-γ secretion was greatest in T4H2 transduced cells. Surprisingly, IL17a expression decreased with increasing peptide concentrations. IL17a + , SILv44 + T cells conferred most anti-tumor protection in mice. LAM10224 cells can form tumors in immunodeficient mice, and SILv44 transgenic T cells should likewise contain such tumors. Thus, SILv44 transgenic T cells may serve as a viable treatment for LAM.
Toward the Estimation of Unbiased Disease Prevalence Estimates Using Administrative Health Records.

Data are information. And what we do with that information, how we process it, and interpret it can be complicated. It should not come as a surprise that these days there is a lot of talk about “big data” – about its promise, its potential, and its pitfalls. Big data (e.g., administrative, birth certificates, claims, electronic health records, registers) are growing in size, accessibility, and application. However, repurposing data from their original use to the research environment requires careful attention. Truthfully, whether we are talking about statistical analysis of small clinical datasets or supervised learning algorithms in big datasets, some of the same principles apply. No matter what, understanding where our data come from informs our design, our analysis, and most importantly, our interpretation. There are 3 major sources of bias that determine whether inferences from a dataset are a close approximation of the truth: confounding, selection, and information. Confounding occurs when an association between 2 factors can be explained by an (often unmeasured) extraneous factor. Confounding often limits our ability to make truthful inferences about causality. Selection bias may occur when the choice of dataset limits the ability to generalize findings to the population affected by a disease. For example, using only drug claims data or hospitalization data to infer the prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) may underestimate the condition because there may be individuals who may not need medication or have not been hospitalized in the time window evaluated. Information bias (often referred to as misclassification or … Address correspondence to J.F. Simard, Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford School of Medicine, HRP Redwood Building, Room T152, 259 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305-5405, USA. E-mail: jsimard{at}stanford.edu
Pilot Test of the Trisensor, A New Generation Sonar Sensory Aid:

This report describes the results of a pilot study undertaken to assess systematically the usability of the Trisensor in near space, object localization tasks. In general, findings support the cont...
Collaborating with Psychosocial Colleagues in the Hospital Setting

In order to address the complex social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of children and families in the hospital setting, pediatric psychologists collaborate with a number of psychosocial colleagues, including but not limited to social workers, child life specialists, chaplains, educators, and creative arts therapists. Psychologists’ collaboration with other healthcare and psychosocial providers is consistent with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Ethics Code and the APA’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice in Health Care Delivery Systems. Although psychosocial teams differ across institutions in size and composition, they all work to integrate their individual expertise and provide the highest quality care for patients and families. In this chapter, we first present models of engagement between providers, discussing differences between multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional healthcare teams and overall benefits of healthcare team collaboration. Essential elements of successful psychosocial collaboration are presented, including (1) shared goals, (2) role clarity, and (3) effective communication. For each of these elements, we suggest specific strategies for promoting collaboration (both for individual providers and for team leaders) while highlighting common barriers that may interfere with successful teamwork and patient care. Finally, given current limited research on interprofessional collaboration among psychosocial teams, directions for future research are provided.
The negative impact of wearing personal protective equipment on communication during coronavirus disease 2019.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 personal protective equipment has been reported to affect communication in healthcare settings. This study sought to identify those challenges experimentally. Method Bamford–Kowal–Bench speech discrimination in noise performance of healthcare workers was tested under simulated background noise conditions from a variety of hospital environments. Candidates were assessed for ability to interpret speech with and without personal protective equipment, with both normal speech and raised voice. Results There was a significant difference in speech discrimination scores between normal and personal protective equipment wearing subjects in operating theatre simulated background noise levels (70 dB). Conclusion Wearing personal protective equipment can impact communication in healthcare environments. Efforts should be made to remind staff about this burden and to seek alternative communication paradigms, particularly in operating theatre environments.
Operational Techniques for Dealing with Long Eclipses during the MMS Extended Mission

Launch window design for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission ensured that no excessive eclipses would be encountered during the prime mission. However, no orbit solutions exist that satisfy the eclipse constraints indefinitely: most extended mission years contain 1–3 eclipses long enough to potentially damage either the spacecraft or its scientific instruments. Two steps were taken to improve the situation. Firstly, raising apogee radius from 25 to 29.34 Earth radii altered the Sun-Earth-MMS phasing, so efficiently achieving reductions in the long eclipse durations. These maneuvers were performed in February 2019, in preparation for the first pair of long eclipses during the subsequent August. Secondly, a set of operational steps were taken around the time of the eclipses to help maintain spacecraft and instrument temperatures while preventing power load shedding. These steps included raising key onboard temperatures through adjusting the spacecraft attitude to tilt the instrument deck towards the Sun, and engaging select heaters prior to going into eclipses. In addition, all scientific instruments were turned off, as well as high-power, non-critical spacecraft systems, to conserve energy. These steps each came with trade-offs which will be discussed in the paper. Finally, the results that were obtained when the spacecraft experienced the first set of extremely long eclipses will be discussed, as will lessons learned for future long eclipses.
The economics of misreporting and the role of public scrutiny

Abstract This paper examines how the ex ante level of public scrutiny influences a manager's subsequent decision to misreport. The conventional wisdom is that high levels of public scrutiny facilitate monitoring, suggesting a negative relation between scrutiny and misreporting. However, public scrutiny also increases the weight that investors place on earnings in valuing the firm. This in turn increases the benefit of misreporting, suggesting a positive relation. We formalize these two countervailing forces–“monitoring” and “valuation”–in the context of a parsimonious model of misreporting. We show that the combination of these two forces leads to a unimodal relation. Specifically, as the level of public scrutiny increases, misreporting first increases, reaches a peak, and then decreases. We find evidence of such a relation across multiple empirical measures of misreporting, multiple measures of public scrutiny, and multiple research designs.
Quasi-Adiabatic External State Preparation of Ultracold Atoms in Microgravity

The Cold Atom Laboratory on the International Space Station produces ultracold gases of rubidium and potassium in a tight magnetic trap near the surface of a magnetic chip. In order to use these samples in long-duration field-free experiments, the atoms must be moved away from the chip, expanded to larger volume, and released from the trap. We describe how these goals can be achieved using quasi-adiabatic techniques. For rubidium atoms, we demonstrate a displacement of 0.6 mm and expansion into a trap with a mean oscillation frequency of 6.4 Hz. The center-of-mass release velocity and the condensate expansion velocity are about 0.2 mm/s each. An unexpectedly large background magnetic field gradient is observed, which limits the usable interaction time for the released atoms.
Design, Simulation, and Development of a BioSensor for Viruses Detection Using FPGA

Objective: Impedance based biosensing provides a unique, highly sensitive electrical approach to biomolecule detection, cell growth, and other biological events. To date, an impedance change due to the cell growth has been considered as a solution to detect some changes in a cell’s behavior. The impedance change detection is normally measured via an impedance analyzer which is expensive and also cumbersome. Rapid and definitive diagnosis of viral infections is imperative in patient treatment process. Early detection followed by appropriate lifestyle and treatment may result to a longer, healthier life. Certain patients require continues monitoring that may require regular visits to hospitals which is not practical. Therefore, a continuous home healthcare device is needed to monitor and detect any change in a patient’s health condition. Methods & Results: In this research, a novel sensor and healthcare monitoring system is modeled, simulated, developed, and tested to detect viruses by detecting the change in the impedance due to antibodies and antigens binding. First, COMSOL simulation tool is used to develop a model to prove the concept. The model predicts increasing impedance during functionalization of electrodes with antibodies and after antigen binding steps. Second, to understand how nanoscale electrode size and spacing would affect biosensing assay (antibody-based affinity binding of a protein antigen), a model using COMSOL is developed. Third, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) based signal processing system is developed as well to be connected to analog to digital converter (ADC) to acquire the current and voltage readings of the sensors over time. This healthcare monitoring system is used to continuously monitoring a patient’s condition and reports any changes in the impedance readings which represents virus detection or at least change in the cell’s behavior. Conclusions: The proposed sensor model is simulated, tested and verified via COMSOL and the FPGA prototype is tested and it verified the COMSOL model. This work reports that the proposed sensor can be used to detect viruses via detecting a change in the impedance.
TurboBFS: GPU Based Breadth-First Search (BFS) Algorithms in the Language of Linear Algebra

Graphs that are used for modeling of human brain, omics data, or social networks are huge, and manual inspection of these graph is impossible. A popular, and fundamental, method used for making sense of these large graphs is the well-known Breadth-First Search (BFS) algorithm. However, BFS suffers from large computational cost especially for big graphs of interest. More recently, the use of Graphics processing units (GPU) has been promising, but challenging because of limited global memory of GPU’s, and irregular structures of real-world graphs. In this paper, we present a GPU based linear-algebraic formulation and implementation of BFS, called TurboBFS, that exhibits excellent scalability on unweighted, undirected or directed sparse graphs of arbitrary structure. We demonstrate that our algorithms obtain up to 40 GTEPs, and are on average 15.7x, 5.8x, and 1.8x faster than the other state-of-the-art algorithms implemented on the SuiteSparse:GraphBLAS, GraphBLAST, and gunrock libraries respectively. The codes to implement the algorithms proposed in this paper are available at https://github.com/pcdslab.
Geographic barriers to prenatal care access and their consequences.

BACKGROUND Although prenatal care has long been viewed as an important strategy toward improving maternal morbidity and mortality, limited data exist that support the premise that access to prenatal care impacts perinatal outcomes. Furthermore, little is known about geographic barriers that impact access to care in an underserved population and how this may influence perinatal outcomes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to (1) evaluate perinatal outcomes among women with and without prenatal care and (2) examine barriers to receiving prenatal care according to block-level data of residence. We hypothesized that women without prenatal care would have worse outcomes and more barriers to receiving prenatal care services. STUDY DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women delivering at ≥24 weeks’ gestation in a large inner-city public hospital system. Maternal and neonatal data were abstracted from the electronic health record and a community-wide data initiative data set, which included socioeconomic and local geographic data from diverse sources. Maternal characteristics and perinatal outcomes were examined among women with and without prenatal care. Prenatal care was defined as at least 1 visit before delivery. Outcomes of interest were (1) preterm delivery at RESULTS Between January 1, 2019, and October 31, 2019, 9488 women received prenatal care and 326 women did not. Women without prenatal care differed by race and were noted to have higher rates of substance use (P=.004), preterm birth (P CONCLUSION Women without prenatal care were at a significantly increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. In a large inner city, women without prenatal care resided in areas with significantly higher demands for public transportation. Alternative resources, including telemedicine and ridesharing, should be explored to reduce barriers to prenatal care access.
Acoustic neuromas

Patients with acoustic neuromas have several treatment options that include observation, surgical resection, stereotactic radiosurgery, and fractionated radiotherapy. Resection is indicated for patients with larger tumors that have caused major neurologic deficits from brain compression. Surgeons perform stereotactic radiosurgery as the main alternative to acoustic tumor resection with the goals of preserved neurologic function and prevention of tumor growth. The long-term outcomes of radiosurgery, particularly with gamma knife technique, have proven its role in the primary or adjuvant management of this disease. Radiotherapy can be offered to selected patients with larger tumors in whom radiosurgery may not be feasible. Patients with neurofibromatosis type-2 pose specific challenges, particularly in regard to preservation of hearing and other cranial nerve function. The primary clinical issues include avoiding tumor-related or treatment-related mortality, prevention of further tumor-related neurologic disability, minimizing treatment risks such as spinal fluid leakage, infections, or cardiopulmonary complications, maintaining regional cranial nerve function (facial, trigeminal, cochlear, and glossopharyngeal/vagal), avoiding hydrocephalus, maintaining quality of life and employment, and reducing cost. All treatment choices should strive to meet all of these goals.