cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
1405 OUTCOMES FOR AGA AND SGA VERY LOW BIRTHWEIGHT INFANTS CONTROLLING FOR GESTATIONAL AGE

Follow-up of infants <1.5kg (VLBW) has focused predominantly on birthweight (BW) rather than gestational age(GA), We sought to determine the impact of intrauterine growth retardation on 3 year outcome, controlling for GA. Of 182 VLBW born in 1977-1978 and followed to 3 years of age we were able to match only 17 pairs of appropriate for GA (AGA) and small for GA (SGA) infants by: GA (within 1 week), race, sex, multiple birth and social class. SGA was defined as BW <-2SD for gestational age at birth, excluding congenital malformations or infections. No significant differences were documented in maternal age, education, perinatal risk, method of delivery or neonatal course including Apgars, RDS, apnea, jaundice and sepsis. The incidence of chronic disease(AGA 2, SGA 3), neurologic abnormality (AGA 1, SGA 0) and mean 3 yr IQ, was similar; however, more SGA children had a subnormal (<-2SD) weight (WT), height and head circumference (HC) (p<.05) at 3 years. Within the SGA group, the IQ of those(11) with a normal HC was 96±11 vs 86±12 for those(6) with a subnormal HC at 3 years. Thus, despite growth failure in 53% of SGA with differential effects of subnormal HC growth on IQ, grouped data reveals comparable neurodevelopmental outcomes among SGA and AGA infants.
Bootstrap percolation in a polluted environment

Let a low densityp of sites on the lattice Z2 be occupied, remove a proportionq of them, and call the remaining sites empty. Then update this configuration in discrete time by iteration of the following synchronous rule: an empty site becomes occupied by contact with at least two occupied nearest neighbors, while occupied and removed sites nerver change their states. Ifq/p2 is large most sites remain unoccupied forever, while ifq/p2 is small, this dynamics eventually makes most sites occupied. This demonstrates how sensitive the usual bootstrap percolation rule (theq=0 case) is to the pollution of space.
HOW DO INJURED CELLS COMMUNICATE WITH THE SURVIVING CELL MONOLAYER

Mechanically scratching cell monolayers relieves contact inhibition and induces surviving cells near the wound edge to move and proliferate. The present work was designed to test whether surviving cells passively respond to newly available space, or whether cells are actively stimulated by signals from injured cells nearby. We monitored intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) while scratching confluent monolayers of bovine pulmonary endothelial cells and mouse mammary epithelial cells. Within seconds after wounding, a transient elevation of [Ca2+]i was observed in surviving cells. In endothelial cells, the [Ca2+]i elevation propagated into the monolayer for a distance of 10 to 12 cell rows at a speed of 20 to 28 microm/second. The amplitude of the wave of [Ca2+]i was reduced as it propagated into the monolayer, but the velocity of the wave was nearly constant. Cells that experienced the [Ca2+]i elevation had intact plasma membranes, and survived for over 24 hours post wounding. Removing extracellular Ca2+ decreased the amplitude by two-thirds and reduced the propagation rate by half, suggesting that Ca2+ influx contributed to the increased [Ca2+]i. To determine how [Ca2+]i waves were stimulated, we blocked extracellular communication by fluid perfusion or intercellular communication by breaks in the monolayer. In bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cultures, the [Ca2+]i wave passed over breaks in the monolayer, and was prevented from traveling upstream in a perfusion chamber. Conditioned media from injured cells also elevated [Ca2+]i in unwounded reporter cultures. In mouse mammary epithelial monolayers with established cell-cell contacts, the [Ca2+]i wave passed over breaks in the monolayer, but was only partially prevented from traveling upstream during perfusion. These experiments showed that mechanical wounds lead to long distance, [Ca2+]i-dependent communication between the injured cells and the surviving cell monolayer through at least two mechanisms: first, extracellular release of a chemical stimulus from wounded cells that diffused to neighboring cells (present in both monolayers); second, transmission of an intercellular signal through cell-cell junctions (present in the mammary epithelial monolayers). Thus, mechanical injury provided a direct, chemical stimulus to nearby cells which have not themselves been damaged.
Downscaling daily maximum and minimum temperatures in the midwestern USA: a hybrid empirical approach

A new hybrid empirical downscaling technique is presented and applied to assess 21st century projections of maximum and minimum daily surface air temperatures (Tmax, Tmin) over the Midwestern USA. Our approach uses multiple linear regression to downscale the seasonal variations of the mean and standard deviation of daily Tmax and Tmin and the lag-0 and lag-1 correlations between daily Tmax and Tmin based on GCM simulation of the large-scale climate. These downscaled parameters are then used as inputs to a stochastic weather generator to produce time series of the daily Tmax and Tmin at 26 surface stations, in three time periods (1990–2001, 2020–2029, and 2050–2059) based on output from two coupled GCMs (HadCM3 and CGCM2). The new technique is demonstrated to exhibit better agreement with surface observations than a transfer-function approach, particularly with respect to temperature variability. Relative to 1990–2001 values, downscaled temperature projections for 2020–2029 indicate increases that range (across stations) from 0.0 K to 1.7 K (Tmax) and 0.0 K to 1.5 K (Tmin), while increases for 2050–2059 relative to 1990–2001 range from 1.4 K to 2.4 K (Tmax) and 0.8 to 2.2K (Tmin). Although the differences between GCMs demonstrate the continuing uncertainty of GCM-based regional climate downscaling, the inclusion of weather-generator parameters represents an advancement in downscaling methodology. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society
Experimental Demonstration of a Holographic Demultiplexer With Low Polarization-Dependence Loss Using a Long-Period Diffraction Grating

We describe the results of a holographic demultiplexer (DeMux) focused on the low polarization-dependence loss (PDL) using long-period volumetric diffraction grating. A 0.8-nm-spaced 21-channel holographic DeMux with PDL of less than -0.38 dB, channel uniformity of 0.495 dB, and channel crosstalk of -13 dB has been demonstrated
The education of mathematically gifted students: Some complexities and questions

In this paper I analyze some complexities in the education of mathematically gifted students. The list of issues presented in this paper is not inclusive; however, all of them seem to be typical on the international scope. Among these issues are: (1) the gap between research in mathematics education and the research in gifted education; (2) the role of creativity in the education of the gifted and the theoretical perspective on the relationship between creativity and giftedness, and (3) teaching the gifted and the teachers of gifted, including relationships between the equity principle in mathematics education and views on the education of gifted. In the paper I outline some actual research questions in the field of education of mathematically gifted.
Blood Glucose Evaluation in the Dental Office

Focused Clinical Question: What role does the dental office play in evaluating blood glucose?Summary: Diabetes and prediabetes are highly prevalent conditions. Although a diagnosis of diabetes or prediabetes can only be done with laboratory glucose testing, the use of in-office glucose testing may be beneficial. Such testing has been recommended as a means of screening patients for undiagnosed diabetes and for evaluating perioperative glucose levels to minimize risk for medical emergencies during dental treatment. This article reviews the issues that dentists should consider in deciding whether to do glucose testing in the dental office. It focuses on the factors that determine glucose dynamics in people with and without diabetes, provides information to enable interpretation of glucose readings, and offers guidelines for action after glucose testing. This article also discusses regulatory issues related to in-office glucose testing, a discussion commonly absent from articles on this topic.Conclusions: Ev...
Multivariate analysis of variance test for gene set analysis

Motivation: Gene class testing (GCT) or gene set analysis (GSA) is a statistical approach to determine whether some functionally predefined sets of genes express differently under different experimental conditions. Shortcomings of the Fisher's exact test for the overrepresentation analysis are illustrated by an example. Most alternative GSA methods are developed for data collected from two experimental conditions, and most is based on a univariate gene-by-gene test statistic or assume independence among genes in the gene set. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) approach is proposed for studies with two or more experimental conditions. Results: When the number of genes in the gene set is greater than the number of samples, the sample covariance matrix is singular and ill-condition. The use of standard multivariate methods can result in biases in the analysis. The proposed MANOVA test uses a shrinkage covariance matrix estimator for the sample covariance matrix. The MANOVA test and six other GSA published methods, principal component analysis, SAM-GS, analysis of covariance, Global, GSEA and MaxMean, are evaluated using simulation. The MANOVA test appears to perform the best in terms of control of type I error and power under the models considered in the simulation. Several publicly available microarray datasets under two and three experimental conditions are analyzed for illustrations of GSA. Most methods, except for GSEA and MaxMean, generally are comparable in terms of power of identification of significant gene sets. Availability: A free R-code to perform MANOVA test is available at http://mail.cmu.edu.tw/~catsai/research.htm Contact:jamesj.chen@fda.hhs.gov; catsai@mail.cmu.edu.tw Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Efficient filter design for IS-95 CDMA systems

An efficient filter design method for the design of a relatively complex low pass filter specified in the IS-95 code division multiple access (CDMA) standard is presented The described circuit details and algorithm have been tested by means of computer simulation and hardware experimental result. Using field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, a low power and gate count finite impulse response (FIR) filter design for the transmitter is realized. For the receiver, canonical digit representation of signed numbers are used to reduce the complexities in multiply operations. The critical spectral degradation due to quantization error of the sample and due to truncation of coefficient accuracy is simulated. Practical design guidelines are provided. The described design details demystify the challenging concept and difficulty in an IS-95 standardized filter. In addition, through the use of the implemented filter hardware for the modulator, spectral regrowth in nonlinear amplified IS-95 CDMA is demonstrated and is shown to correlate very closely with computer simulation. This work leads to a cross-correlative technique that will improve spectral regrowth for CDMA systems. Similar methods are being employed in Feher's (1995) family of PSK modulation schemes, a technique which yields lower spectral regrowth in nonlinearly amplified channels.
Life history and allozyme diversification in regional ecomorphs of the Hyalella azteca (Crustacea: Amphipoda) species complex

In North America, several species in the freshwater amphipod genus Hyalella occur as one of two alternative phenotypic types, or ‘ecomorphs’, each possessing life history traits that allow success in alternative habitats that differ in predation regime. This study documents life history diversification, reproductive isolation and allozyme differentiation of Hyalella ecomorphs in Oklahoma, and compares these results to previously reported patterns of phenotypic and systematic diversification in Michigan. As in Michigan, two ecomorphs are common in Oklahoma, with an early maturing, small sized ecomorph found in habitats containing Lepomis sunfish, which prey on Hyalella, and a late reproducing, large sized ecomorph found in fishless habitats and in very shallow margins of large reservoirs. Allozyme analysis and laboratory interbreeding trials demonstrated that ecomorphs in Oklahoma are reproductively isolated species. Phenotypically, these species are very similar to species of the same ecomorph in Michigan. Large ecomorph species in the two regions differ substantially in allozyme allele composition in a pattern consistent with reproductive isolation, yet these species did not differ in a comparison of phenotype. The small ecomorph in Oklahoma is similar in phenotype to two of three small ecomorph species in Michigan. Overall, this study supports the hypothesis that Hyalella diversification in North America is characterized by the evolution of similar phenotypic solutions to comparable ecological challenges. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 84, 161–175.
Ionic Self‐Assembly Provides Dense Arrays of Individualized, Aligned Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Wrap and stack: Polyanionic [arylene]ethynylene polymers that helically wrap single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) enable the production of functionalized SWNTs that are soluble in organic solvents. These SWNTs can assemble into structures featuring aligned nanotubes that maintain the optoelectronic properties of individual SWNTs.
Migration of technology between US Army aviation and ground systems

In October 1999, at the Annual convention of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), the Chief of Staff of the Army unveiled his vision to transform the US Army into a smaller and lighter, yet more lethal and deployable force. Some of the implied objectives to achieve this goal are to create systems that utilize common components, reduce the size and weight of components, standardize configurations, enhance flexibility and reduce the power required to operate these systems. The Project Office for Tactical Operation Centers/Air and Missile Defense Command and Control System (PM TOCs/AMDCCS) established two objectives in support of the Chief's vision: 1) create a set of common equipment between air and ground systems; and 2) migrate the best of the existing technologies, or variants of same, between air and ground platforms. Implications of this strategy are obvious, tactical ground platforms and operations centers need to maintain functionality for future systems but must do so with smaller, lighter and more power efficient systems. At the same time, airborne equipment must be functionally identical to ground equipment to enable soldiers to move seamlessly between ground and airborne operations.
Modeling shared resource contention using a hybrid simulation/analytical approach

Future Systems-on-Chips will include multiple heterogeneous processing units, with complex data-dependent shared resource access patterns dictating the performance of a design. Currently, the most accurate methods of simulating the interactions between these components operate at the cycle-accurate level, which can be very slow to execute for large systems. Analytical models sacrifice accuracy for speed, and cannot cope with dynamic data-dependent behavior well. We propose a hybrid approach combining simulation with piecewise evaluation of analytical models that apply time penalties to simulated regions. Our experimental results show that for representative heterogeneous multiprocessor applications, simulation time can be decreased by 100 times over cycle-accurate models, while the error can be reduced by 60% to 80% over traditional analytical models to within 18% of an ISS simulation.
Code-timing estimation for long-code CDMA systems with bandlimited chip waveforms

In this paper, we present a code-timing estimation scheme for asynchronous direct-sequence (DS) code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems with aperiodic (long) spreading codes and bandlimited chip waveforms. The proposed scheme first converts the observed signal to the frequency domain by fast Fourier transform (FFT). Then, a nonlinear least-squares (NLS) criterion is invoked to fit the unknown parameters to the frequency-domain data. While the exact minimizer of the NLS criterion requires computationally prohibitive searches over a multidimensional parameter space, we propose an efficient approach that iteratively estimates one user/path at a time via simple linear processing and, furthermore, combines successive interference suppression (SIC) with parameter re-estimation for improved code acquisition performance. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves a significantly larger user capacity and faster acquisition time than the SIC and standard matched-filter based code acquisition techniques in time-varying fading channels.
Mind control? Creating illusory intentions through a phony brain–computer interface

Can one be fooled into believing that one intended an action that one in fact did not intend? Past experimental paradigms have demonstrated that participants, when provided with false perceptual feedback about their actions, can be fooled into misperceiving the nature of their intended motor act. However, because veridical proprioceptive/perceptual feedback limits the extent to which participants can be fooled, few studies have been able to answer our question and induce the illusion to intend. In a novel paradigm addressing this question, participants were instructed to move a line on the computer screen by use of a phony brain–computer interface. Line movements were actually controlled by computer program. Demonstrating the illusion to intend, participants reported more intentions to move the line when it moved frequently than when it moved infrequently. Consistent with ideomotor theory, the finding illuminates the intimate liaisons among ideomotor processing, the sense of agency, and action production.
Dating Violence Among College Students: Key Issues for College Counselors

The authors present a review of literature examining dating violence among college students. They describe 6 key issues related to dating violence among college students that affect college counselors' work. These key issues relate to the incidence and prevalence of physical, sexual, and psychological violence in college students' dating relationships, risk factors and relationship dynamics associated with dating violence, and counseling issues—including related psychological symptoms and college students' reporting of dating violence to professionals.
A three-decade review of thermal injuries among the elderly at a regional burn centre.

Abstract Aim To review trends in incidence and treatment of thermal injuries among the elderly. Method A 3-year retrospective review of medical records of people aged 65 years and older admitted to our burn centre over July 2003–June 2006. Results Elderly people with burns continued to have significant comorbidities. They were often burned because they were inappropriately trying to live alone. Thus discharge was often complicated. Conclusions At our burn centre, survival among elderly people with burns has increased, probably as a result of more sophisticated medical, surgical and nursing care, as well as more extensive rehabilitation.
Survey of microbial populations within Lake Michigan nearshore waters at two Chicago public beaches.

Lake Michigan is a critical resource for the residents of Chicago, providing drinking water to its 9+ million area residents. Along Chicago׳s 26 miles of public beaches the populous urban environment and this freshwater environment meet. While city-led monitoring initiatives investigate pathogenic bacteria in these nearshore waters, very little is known about other microbial species present. We collected surface water samples from two Chicago public beaches – Montrose Beach and 57th Street Beach – every ten days from June 5 through August 4, 2013 as well as once in early Fall (October 4, 2013). Sixteen bacterial communities in total were surveyed through targeted sequencing of the V4 16S rRNA gene. Taxa were identified using Mothur. Raw sequence data is available via NCBI׳s SRA database (part of BioProject PRJNA245802). OTU calls for each read are also available at our online repository: www.lakemichiganmicrobes.com/bacteria/.
The dth linear polarization constant of Rd

In [C. Benitez, Y. Sarantopoulos, A. Tonge, Lower bounds for norms of products of polynomials, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 124 (3) (1998) 395–408] it was conjectured that for all unit vectors u1,…,ud in Rd, X(u1,…,ud):=supx∈Rd,|x|2=d∏i=1d〈x,ui〉2⩾1 with equality occurring iff u1,…,ud are orthonormal. We relate this to a conjecture about solutions of Ay=y−1, where A=(〈ui,uj〉), and show that if the conjecture fails then the u1,…,ud minimizing X must be linearly dependent. We also show X(u1,…,ud)⩾1 for certain families of u1,…,ud.
2 His Nobel Lecture and his speculative commentary on “What does the Future Hold”?

On Wednesday, June 10 2015, at 8:00 PM, Nobel Laureate Martin Karplus will show a video of his Nobel Lecture. The Nobel Lecture (35 minutes) traces the development of molecular dynamics simulations...
Prostatic Maldevelopment in the Prune Belly Syndrome: A Defect in Prostatic Stromal-epithelial Interaction

AbstractThe prune belly syndrome consists of a triad of abdominal wall musculature deficiency, cryptorchidism and urinary tract anomalies. A rarely described but fairly constant component of the syndrome is the lack of development of the epithelial elements of the prostate. We wish to suggest that this is a further expression of a postulated arrest in mesenchymal development responsible for other features of the syndrome.
Evaluation in Man and Animals of Tests for the Detection of Population Exposures to Genotoxic Chemicals

Over the past several decades, our increasing use of and reliance upon fossil fuels and synthetic chemicals have resulted in rapidly increasing human contact with chemicals not previously found in the environment. Acute toxic effects of chemical exposure have usually been recognized quickly and steps taken to minimize hazards. The effects of chronic exposures or delayed effects of exposure have been more difficult to recognize.
‘Tickling’ seizures originating in the left frontoparietal region

We report a 10-year-old boy with mild developmental delay and epilepsy with new events of right back tickling and emotional upset. These initially appeared behavioral, causing postulation of habit behaviors or psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Several ictal and interictal EEGs were unrevealing. Continuous EEG revealed only poorly localized frontal ictal activity. Given that his clinical symptoms suggested a parietal localization, double-density EEG electrodes were placed to better localize the epileptogenic and symptomatogenic zones. These revealed evolution of left greater than right frontoparietal discharges consistent with seizures at the time of the attacks. Medical management has significantly reduced the patient's seizures.
An Overview of California Agricultural Mechanization, 1870-1930

Today California is by far the nation's leading agricultural state, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the total value of the agricultural output produced in the United States. No other region can boast its superb combination of climate, soils, institutions, and highly educated farmers. In the nineteenth century this advantageous mixture of agricultural inputs transformed California from a frontier society in 1860 into a virtual cornucopia by 1900. A hallmark of California agriculture has been its highly mechanized farms. Nineteenth-century observers watched in awe as cumbersome steam tractors and giant combines worked their way across vast fields. In the twentieth century California farmers led the nation in the adoption of gasoline tractors, mechanical cotton pickers, tomato harvesters, and dozens of less well-known machines. This paper will analyze the evolution of mechanization on California farms emphasizing developments in power sources and in the mechanization of small grain production. We argue that California's distinctive role as an innovator and early user of new technologies represented a rational response by the state's farmers and mechanics to the area's peculiar economic and geographical conditions. In addition, we argue that there was a dynamic process whereby early innovations paved the way for subsequent developments. First, we will show that many innovations were complementary in that the extra horsepower acquired to power one device was avail-
Effect of Triton X-100 on the stability of titania nanoparticles against agglomeration and sedimentation: A masked depletion interaction

Abstract The sedimentation half-times t s of suspensions of polydisperse titania particles in aqueous Triton X-100 (TX100) solutions with concentrations c TX 100 ranging from 0.05 to 250 mM were measured. Three regions of TX100 concentrations with different settling behavior were observed. In region A, or for c TX 100 below its cmc (ca. 0.24 mM in water at 25 °C), the t s -values increase with increasing surfactant concentration. In region B, or for cmc ≤ c TX 100 c * * , where c * * was determined to be 30 mM experimentally, the t s -values do not vary with the surfactant concentration. In region C, or for c TX 100 ≥ c * * , as c TX 100 increases, the t s -values increase. In regions A and B, little or no viscosity effect on the sedimentation was observed. By contrast, in region C, the viscosity of the micellar solution increases with increasing c TX 100 and accounts partially for the slower particle sedimentation rate. The surface densities of adsorbed TX100 molecules on the particle surfaces were measured to probe their effects on the steric interactions, which are responsible for the increase in the t s -values in region A. The maximum adsorbed densities on the particle surfaces, which are presumed to be hydrophilic, were found to be much smaller than those on other hydrophobic surfaces, as expected. Nonetheless, the adsorbed densities are high enough to induce strong steric interactions in region B, preventing the particles from agglomerating. In region C, the increase in viscosity slows down not only the particle sedimentation, but also the particle agglomeration, resulting in an apparently weaker micellar depletion effect. Our inference is that depletion-induced flocculation in region C is masked by the high solution viscosity. This inference is supported by several different lines of evidence. First, the once corrected half-times, t s I , which are the measured half-times divided by the relative viscosities, start to decrease at c TX 100 ≅ 160 mM, suggesting the formation of particle clusters, and reveals a micelle-induced depletion effect. The twice corrected half-times, t s II , which are t s I divided by the viscosity of the solution to account for the effect of viscosity on the agglomeration rate, are consistent with these inferences. In addition, the DLS data support our inference that the clusters in region C are flocs, which can be de-agglomerated with some mild agitation. A recently published model of agglomeration and sedimentation (Yang et al., 2016) is used to fit the data for estimating the effective Fuchs-Smoluchowski stability ratio W for flocculation. W -values are inferred to be over 106 at c TX 100 160 mM, but only ca. 500–1000 at higher concentrations, supporting the hypothesis of a depletion-induced flocculation that is masked by the solution viscosity.
120. Generation of Transgene-Only Gene-Modified Human Cells Via Transposition

DNA transposons such as piggyBac and Sleeping Beauty employ a cut-and-paste mechanism of transposition that has proven effective for numerous gene transfer and cellular reprogramming applications. Therapeutic transposons are carried into cells usually on plasmid DNA vectors either on the same plasmid as the transposase expression cassette in “cis” or on another plasmid in “trans.” We examined the fate of the remaining plasmid backbone after transposition. It has been assumed that the recircularized plasmid backbone remains episomal and is quickly lost from dividing cells. We delivered transposons containing a neomycin resistance gene and the transposase in either “cis” or “trans” to human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells, then selected the cells for 8 weeks and evaluated transposase expression by immunoblot. All of the piggyBac and 5 out of 6 of the Sleeping Beauty “cis” transfections resulted in transposase-positive clones. In contrast, none of the piggyBac “trans” transfections resulted in transposase-positive clones. We were concerned that the prolonged expression of the transposase might result in some instability of the transgenes delivered “cis” in vivo; however, we found that mice that received a piggyBac “cis” luciferase transposon vector by hydrodynamic injection had long-term luciferase values that were not statistically different from mice receiving the plasmids in “trans.” We next evaluated if piggyBac “trans” delivery could be modified to reduce the amount of backbone integration and found that clones that were transfected with lower amounts of transposase showed a decrease in the frequency of backbone integrations. We found no evidence that transposition increases the frequency of integration of co-delivered linear DNA. We sequenced backbone integration events and found that that the majority of the time, once the transposon is excised from its parent plasmid, the plasmid backbone is repaired by re-ligation and integrated into the genome at a site other than the excision site. Alternatively, a rare event may occur in which the linearized plasmid backbone can be integrated without excision repair. None of the integration events occurred at the TTAA tetranucleotide sequence, indicating that they are not directly mediated by piggyBac transposase. We next devised a strategy to measure and eliminate the backbones from human cells. We created a plasmid containing the neomycin-resistance gene in the transposon portion of the plasmid and the eGFP marker in the backbone. Transfected HEK-293 cells were selected with geneticin and sorted for eGFP. While the selected cells contained approximately ten copies of the transposon per diploid cell, unsorted cells typically had one to two copies of plasmid backbone per diploid genome. eGFP sorting effectively eliminated recovery of backbone-negative transgene-only cells. We expect further improvements to improve recovery of transgene-only cells. We will also investigate the extent of backbone integration in therapeutically relevant cell types and in vivo.
Blood Flow in the Lung

We shall now apply the general principles discussed in the preceding chapters to one organ, the lung. The purpose is to illustrate, in one concrete example, the use of physical principles to an organ with a specific anatomy, histology, and mechanical properties to explain and predict the function of that organ in quantitative terms.
A phase 2 study incorporating sorafenib into the chemotherapy for older adults with FLT3-mutated acute myeloid leukemia: CALGB 11001

The Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), now part of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, conducted a multicenter, single-arm, phase 2 study in patients ≥60 years with FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3)-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this study, sorafenib was added to daunorubicin and cytarabine-based induction and consolidation chemotherapy and was also continued for 12 months of maintenance therapy. The primary end point of the study was overall survival (OS) at 1 year in the FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) cohort. Fifty-four patients with a median age of 67 years (range, 60.3-82.7 years) were enrolled; 39 were FLT3-ITD patients (71%) and 15 were FLT3-TKD (29%) patients. The observed 1-year OS (95% confidence interval [CI]) was 62% (45%-78%) for the FLT3-ITD patients (meeting the primary end point 62% vs 30% for a historical control group, P < .0001) and 71% (42%-92%) for the FLT3-TKD patients. The median disease-free survival and OS were 12.2 months (95% CI, 5-16.9) and 15.0 months (95% CI, 10.4-20.1), respectively, in the FLT3-ITD group and 9.6 (95% CI, 1.9 to not available [NA]) and 16.2 months (95% CI, 5.0 to NA) for the FLT3-TKD group. This study suggests that the addition of sorafenib to chemotherapy for FLT3-ITD AML is feasible and may improve the survival of older adults with FLT3-mutated AML. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01253070.
Deciphering neuronal population codes for acute thermal pain.

OBJECTIVE Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Current pain research mostly focuses on molecular and synaptic changes at the spinal and peripheral levels. However, a complete understanding of pain mechanisms requires the physiological study of the neocortex. Our goal is to apply a neural decoding approach to read out the onset of acute thermal pain signals, which can be used for brain-machine interface. APPROACH We used micro wire arrays to record ensemble neuronal activities from the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in freely behaving rats. We further investigated neural codes for acute thermal pain at both single-cell and population levels. To detect the onset of acute thermal pain signals, we developed a novel latent state-space framework to decipher the sorted or unsorted S1 and ACC ensemble spike activities, which reveal information about the onset of pain signals. MAIN RESULTS The state space analysis allows us to uncover a latent state process that drives the observed ensemble spike activity, and to further detect the 'neuronal threshold' for acute thermal pain on a single-trial basis. Our method achieved good detection performance in sensitivity and specificity. In addition, our results suggested that an optimal strategy for detecting the onset of acute thermal pain signals may be based on combined evidence from S1 and ACC population codes. SIGNIFICANCE Our study is the first to detect the onset of acute pain signals based on neuronal ensemble spike activity. It is important from a mechanistic viewpoint as it relates to the significance of S1 and ACC activities in the regulation of the acute pain onset.
Topographies of Belonging: Territory, Citizenship, and Political Patronage in Coastal Ghana

In 2013, Ghana’s Lands Commission leased land in an estuary fishing village of Ada Foah to Trasacco Estates Development Company Ltd. (TEDC) for development of a high-class tourist resort and marina. Though the promise of relocation continues to loom, residents have remained steadfast and refused to leave. This paper is based on six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2016 investigating territorial claims sparked by this conflict. I call these claims territorial in recognition of the work they do in drawing and policing boundaries of belonging. Tracing rumors, jokes, and speculations, I will explore the ways residents assert citizenship, political patronage, and ancestry as they struggle to maintain their claim on the land.
Comparative constitutional law as a window on democratic institutions

Post-World War II, much of international law and comparative law has been directed to the question of securing human rights. As rights jurisprudence developed, so too did a focus on national and international courts as the source of the basic guarantees owed to citizens by all states. As a result, much of comparative constitutional law turned to a search for universal commands based either on human rights law or socio-economic rights deemed essential for civilized existence. Also following the war came another institutional development, perhaps less noted, yet of great significance, particularly for the democracies that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union. The postwar model of strong constitutional courts, modeled on Germany and Italy, has been a linchpin of newly minted and frequently fragile democracies. Unlike the human rights concerns, the role of these courts in stabilizing democracies has been less examined. The aim here is to outline an approach to comparative constitutional law that is court-centered but not rights-oriented. A focus on the institutional role that courts can play in weak democracies allows a comparative overview without trying to mandate the resolution of particular cases according to acontextual abiding principles. In this overview, I highlight four questions that comparative constitutional analysis may elucidate, without in any conclusive way trying to resolve these issues in this short presentation. The four are: 1) establishing the role of new constitutional courts and their powers of judicial review; 2) how the role is used in new constitutional democracies; 3) how courts survive confrontations with political power; and 4) the prospects for success of court-centered constitutionalism as a strategy to protect democracies.
Photocatalytic Aerobic Thiol Oxidation with a Self-Sensitized Tellurorhodamine Chromophore

Aerobic oxidation of thiols to disulfides was achieved photocatalytically using a tellurorhodamine chromophore (9-mesityl-3,6-bis(dimethylamino)telluroxanthylium hexafluorophosphate) as both the sensitizer and catalyst. The proposed mechanism, supported experimentally and computationally with DFT, involves the formation of a tellurorhodamine telluroxide from reaction with water and singlet oxygen generated by irradiation of the tellurorhodamine. The oxidation to the telluroxide is accompanied by the formation of hydrogen peroxide. The telluroxide oxidizes thiols to regenerate the tellurorhodamine and the disulfide plus water. Mechanistically, DFT suggests adding two thiols to the telluroxide with the loss of H2O to give a trigonal-bipyramidal Te(IV), which undergoes concerted loss of disulfide to regenerate 1. Oxidation of thiophenol and 2-naphthalenethiol was complete after 2 h of irradiation with visible light under atmospheric conditions. Oxidation of the electron-poor 2,6-dichlorothiophenol, the steri...
A Streaming PCA VLSI Chip for Neural Data Compression

Neural recording system miniaturization and integration with low-power wireless technologies require compressing neural data before transmission. Feature extraction is a procedure to represent data in a low-dimensional space; its integration into a recording chip can be an efficient approach to compress neural data. In this paper, we propose a streaming principal component analysis algorithm and its microchip implementation to compress multichannel local field potential (LFP) and spike data. The circuits have been designed in a 65-nm CMOS technology and occupy a silicon area of 0.06 mm $^2$ . Throughout the experiments, the chip compresses LFPs by 10 $\times$ at the expense of as low as 1% reconstruction errors and 144-nW/channel power consumption; for spikes, the achieved compression ratio is 25 $\times$ with $\sim$ 8% reconstruction errors and 3.05- $\mu$ W/channel power consumption. In addition, the algorithm and its hardware architecture can swiftly adapt to nonstationary spiking activities, which enables efficient hardware sharing among multiple channels to support a high-channel count recorder.
Indicators of buy-in to gauge evaluation success

In order for novice evaluators to gauge the success of their evaluations, the ability to identify and recognize indicators of buy-in is an essential skill. While much is written in the evaluation l...
Posterior Left pericardiotomy for the prevention of postoperative Atrial fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery (PALACS): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication following cardiac surgery. POAF is associated with increased morbidity and hospital costs. We herein describe the protocol for a randomized controlled trial to determine if performing a posterior left pericardiotomy prevents POAF after cardiac surgery. All patients submitted to cardiac surgery at our institution will be screened for inclusion into the study. The study will consist of two parallel arms with random allocation between groups to either receive a posterior left pericardiotomy or serve as a control. Masking will be done in a single-blinded fashion to the patient. Patients will be continuously monitored postoperatively for the occurrence of atrial fibrillation until discharge. At the follow-up clinic visit (15–30 days after surgery), the primary endpoint (atrial fibrillation) and other secondary endpoints, such as pleural or pericardial effusion, will be assessed. A total sample size of 350 subjects will be recruited. POAF is associated with increased morbidity, prolonged hospital stay, and increased costs after cardiac surgery. Several strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of POAF have been investigated, including beta-blockers, amiodarone, and statins, all with suboptimal results. Posterior left pericardiotomy has been associated with a reduction of POAF in previous series. However, these studies had limited sample sizes and suboptimal methodology, so that the efficacy of posterior pericardiotomy in preventing POAF remains to be definitively proven. Our randomized trial aims to determine the effect of a posterior left pericardiotomy on the incidence of POAF. ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02875405 , protocol record 1502015867. Registered on July 2016.
Calibrating multibody ulno-humeral joint cartilage using a validated finite element model

Correct prediction of contact characteristic in multibody models is a challenging issue, which requires both employing an appropriate contact model and choosing its corresponding contact parameters. This study employed two subject specific multibody models of the ulno-humeral joint where the humerus cartilage was discretized and interacted with the ulna cartilage through a deformable contact. Parameters for the deformable contact were optimized by matching the maximum predicted contact pressure in the multibody models with contact pressures predicted in identical finite element models under axial 110 N compressive load. The performance of the optimized contact parameters and employed approach was evaluated under two other loading conditions of 80 and 140 N. Moreover, the effect of discretized element size on the contact prediction was also addressed. After optimization of the contact parameters, the difference between the multibody and FE models in terms of peak and average contact pressure, and contact area was significantly reduced (more than a factor of 10). Smaller discretization size of the humerus cartilage in the multibody models resulted in better predictions especially on highly curved regions. However, the optimized parameters of our study were different between the two elbows. This indicates that optimized contact parameters can be different not only among different joints, but also among different specimens and optimization conditions. Therefore, in order to improve contact predictions, separate contact optimization should be performed for each subject.
Meckel's Diverticulum in Crohn's Disease Revisited: A Case of Meckel's Diverticulitis in a Patient with Stricturing Crohn's Disease.

According to anecdotal reports in literature, encountering Meckel’s diverticulum in a patient with Crohn’s disease is not uncommon, but differentiating between the overlapping complications of Mickel’s diverticulum and the natural manifestations of Crohn’s disease can be challenging and may impact lifelong therapy. In this report, we present a case of Meckel’s diverticulitis in a patient with stricturing ileocolonic Crohn’s disease. A 29-year-old male has been suffering from recurrent bouts of abdominal pain and diarrhea which were initially thought to be due to recurrent flares of Crohn’s disease. The patient was started on different medical regimens to control his disease, but complete remission was not achieved. He was found to have an inflamed Meckel’s diverticulum during laparotomy with sections of transmural inflammation extending into the diverticulum with absence of heterotopic mucosa. Although Meckel’s diverticulum and Crohn’s disease involve separate disease processes and different pathogenesis, several hypotheses to explain a correlation have been suggested. We believe it is important to consider the presence of an inflamed Meckel’s diverticulum in the differential diagnosis for patients with refractory Crohn’s disease who do not have an adequate response to medical therapy.
Rapid Solder Interconnect Fatigue Life Test Methodology for Predicting Thermomechanical Reliability

A rapid reliability test methodology was devised for simulating mechanical stresses induced from thermal expansion induced shear in temperature cycling of flip-chip devices in order to de-convolute shear stress from thermal effects in typical environmental tests. Using controlled force application according to spring deflection, a test stand was created to mechanically apply shear stress to solder interconnects in flip chip devices at isothermal conditions. The shear stress was applied cyclically using a tribometer to simulate the mechanical stresses induced in the interconnects of a device during a thermal cycle while in operation or accelerated testing. In the mechanical application of shear, the control of loading and cyclic rate can be precisely controlled while monitoring key factors for observing crack propagation and damage. In doing so, this novel approach introduces the ability to directly correlate shear stress and plastic work accumulation (damage) to fatigue life in a generic device, utilizing help from finite element models alongside data acquisition. Using the obtained correlations, lifetime predictions through early stage design analysis are possible, paving the way for a-priori optimized design for thermomechanical reliability in flip-chip devices. The methodology presented herein creates the opportunity to eliminate costly lifetime testing on multiple electronic device designs/configurations, while also expediting any data collection needed for new materials or process related impacts to reliability.
Predicting Forgiveness in Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

A recent study found that women's intent to return to abusive partners is related to their forgiveness of the abuse; however, few studies have identified predictors of forgiveness in this population. Consequently, this study aims to identify factors related to forgiveness of intimate partner violence (IPV). It was hypothesized that commitment would predict forgiveness and that minimization of aggression would mediate this relation, as women may be more likely to minimize the severity of the IPV to reduce the dissonance that arises from being committed to unhealthy relationships. Results generally supported hypotheses and findings; limitations and future directions are discussed.
Early Thiamine Deficiency

Early thiamine deficiency studies were performed on pigeons because these birds were uniquely sensitive to polished rice. Symptoms frequently were evident by 21 days, which was as early as or earlier than any other animal model. This sensitivity also took the form of pronounced symptoms and certain death when not reversed with thiamine. The reversal feature was key in determining the significance of biochemical changes. If symptoms reversed with thiamine treatment along with key substrates such as decreased lactate, then this implied a role for lactate in the generation of the symptoms (Fig. 1).