cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Countering imprecision in precision medicine

The goal of precision medicine (PM) is to “ensure that the right treatment is delivered to the right patient at the right time” ( 1 ). Predictive biomarker diagnostics are critical to this effort. Yet despite substantial promise, PM has been plagued with problems ( 2 ). Many commercially available biomarker diagnostics have not been adequately validated ( 3 ); the scientific literature is flooded with low-quality and unreliable reports ( 2 ); and even ostensibly successful PMs, such as trastuzumab (Herceptin) chemotherapy in HER2-expressing breast cancer, have been characterized by uncertainty about how to use and interpret diagnostic test results ( 4 ). These disappointing features of PM research can be explained by three obstacles inherent in the science: (i) Biological theories play a central role in the testing methodology; therefore, pivotal trials of PMs cannot be agnostic about underlying mechanisms. (ii) Interventions are complex with many components and degrees of uncertainty that need to be resolved before clinical use. (iii) No single stakeholder controls the biomarkers or coordinates the research program. Although some new regulatory ( 5 ) and evidence synthesis ( 6 ) efforts are designed to address these problems, we believe that meaningful progress in PM requires new mechanisms of scientific oversight.
Abstract 1040: Differential levels of glycogen in breast cancer cell lines: A potential new target

Cancer cells have been known to alter their metabolic processes in order to survive and proliferate. Normally in muscle and liver, excess glucose is stored within the cells as glycogen. Elevated levels of glycogen have also been found in various cancers, including breast cancers. Recent studies have implicated glycogen metabolism as important in promoting survival of cancer cells, suggesting targeting of glycogen metabolism as a possible treatment to inhibit cancer cell growth. In general, modulation of cancer metabolism is believed to be an attractive adjunct strategy to conventional or targeted therapies. Here we set out to investigate glycogen levels as well as levels of proteins involved in glycogen synthesis and degradation vary across different breast cancer cell lines. A glucose metabolism qPCR array found differential levels of the alpha subunit of phosphorylase kinase 1, a key enzyme involved in glycogen degradation among three different breast cancer cell lines. Expression levels of glycogen synthesis and degradation enzymes were assessed using qPCR and immunoblot in various breast cancer cell lines. Glycogen levels in these breast cancer cell lines were quantified using an amyloglucosidase reaction coupled with other enzymatic reactions to produce a fluorescent product. It was found that MDA-MB-231, SUM149, and MCF7 cell lines had increased levels of glycogen, between 6.5 and 23.5 μg glycogen per mg protein, whereas SUM190 and normal-like breast epithelial cell line MCF10A had undetectable levels of glycogen. These findings demonstrate that glycogen metabolism can vary widely amongst cancer types, indicating that therapies targeted to disrupt glycogen degradation may produce differential results and that further study of the role of glycogen metabolism in cancer is warranted. Citation Format: Joel A. Yates, Megan Altemus, Zhifen Wu, Michelle L. Wynn, Sofia D. Merajver. Differential levels of glycogen in breast cancer cell lines: A potential new target. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1040.
Orthogonal Vectors and Matrices

This chapter reviews two- and three-dimensional vectors, including computing the length of a vector. The inner product of two vectors is defined and its major properties are developed. These include the well-known fact that the inner product of two- or three-dimensional vectors u and v equals length( u ) × length( v ) × cos(angle between u and v ). This result can be used to determine if two vectors are orthogonal (perpendicular) or parallel. The orthogonal matrix is defined as a matrix for which its inverse is its transpose and its relation to the inner product is developed; in particular, a matrix is orthogonal if and only if its columns are orthogonal and of unit length (orthonormal). The chapter proves that if a matrix is symmetric and has distinct eigenvalues, it can be diagonalized. The L 2 inner product of two functions is introduced, and it is mentioned that this concept will be used with Fourier series. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality is stated and used to develop the triangle inequality. The chapter concludes by outlining the application of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality to matched filter detector techniques.
Positioning for the Future: Curriculum Revision in a Legacy Arts Administration Program

This article describes the evolution of arts administration education through the lens of Drexel University's graduate arts administration program, one of the first arts administration programs in ...
A study on the correlation between experiment and simulation board level drop test for SSD

Recently, handheld electronic products are prone to being dropped during their useful service life because of their size and weight. Board level solder joint reliability performance of IC packages during drop impact becomes a great concern to semiconductor and electronic product manufacturers. The packages are susceptible to solder joint failures, induced by a combination of PCB bending and mechanical shock during impact. Therefore, board level drop testing is an effective method to characterize the solder joint reliability performance of miniature handheld products. In this study, we examine and compare simulation the board level drop test of SSD. Applying the JEDEC (JESD22-B111) standard present a finite element modeling of the BGA package assembly was performed to study the stress and strain behavior of the solder joints during drop test. The simulation revealed that maximum stress was located at the outermost solder ball in the PCB or Package side, which consisted well with the location of crack initiation observed in the failure analysis after drop reliability tests.
Predation risk: a potential mechanism for effects of a wind energy facility on Greater Prairie-Chicken survival

Recent expansion of the wind energy industry has raised concerns about the potential effects of wind energy facilities on prairie grouse. For example, efforts have been made to evaluate indirect effects on prairie grouse survival, but it is also critical to investigate the underlying mechanisms to direct conservation strategies. The objective of this study was to investigate the indirect effects of a wind energy facility on the survival of female Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) and on the occupancy of avian and mammalian predators. Between March and July of 2013 and 2014, we investigated spatial variation in predation risk by sampling occupancy of mammalian and avian predators within 10 km of a wind energy facility constructed in 2005 in Brown County, Nebraska, USA. During the same period, we assessed spatial variation in daily survival of radio-marked females within the same area. We found little evidence that probability of site occupancy (Ψ) of avian predators was lower near the wind energy facility (within 2 km: Ψ = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.22–0.95; beyond 2 km: Ψ = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.02–1.00), suggesting that avian predators did not display local-scale avoidance behavior around wind turbines. Mammalian predators were documented at all of our sample locations, but the capture index for all mammals was lower at sample sites near the wind turbines (P = 0.004). Occupancy of coyotes (Canis latrans), the likely main mammalian predator of adult prairie-chickens in the area, did not vary significantly throughout our study site (within 0.5 km of wind energy facility: Ψ = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.07–0.98; beyond 0.5 km: Ψ = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.04–1.00), although trends were in the direction expected if coyotes were avoiding the wind energy facility. Distance to wind turbine had no effect on daily survival (SD) of female prairie-chickens (SD = 0.9948, SE = 0.0015). The potential for predators to avoid wind energy facilities, and thus affect predation risk, underscores the complexity of planning to address potential impacts of wind energy as variation in predation risk may have consequences for the population viability of a wide range of species at risk from wind energy development.
Endocrine crises. Hyperkalemia.

Clinical disorders causing hyperkalemia require a basic understanding of normal K homeostasis, which consists of external and internal K balances. The kidney is predominant in maintaining the external balance of K, and a number of mechanisms exist to provide a renal adaptation to defend against K excess. Likewise, several factors are known to modulate internal K balance--i.e., its distribution within the body. Some of these factors may provide defense against hyperkalemia before the kidneys have time to adapt. Potassium retention by the kidney causes hyperkalemia when renal failure is advanced, or earlier in the face of impaired tubular function in a variety of disorders. Hyperkalemia out of proportion to loss of renal function also occurs in the syndrome of hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism. Drug-induced hyperkalemia is increasingly common and usually is caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, cyclosporine, or K-sparing diuretics. Clinical disorders of internal K imbalance include diabetes mellitus, systemic acidosis, and use of beta-blockers. Hyperkalemia is usually asymptomatic, but the danger of cardiac arrest or arrhythmia in severe hyperkalemia forces prompt clinical attention. Available treatment choices include agents that antagonize the effect of K on membrane potentials, redistribute it internally into cells, and remove it altogether from the body. The diagnostic work-up can then proceed, first by distinguishing renal and extrarenal causes, then by examining the roles of specific factors outlined in the section on normal K homeostasis.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement for stenotic bicuspid aortic valves: Systematic review and meta analyses of observational studies.

Objective The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analyses of observational studies of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for bicuspid aortic valve stenosis (BcAV). Background TAVR for BcAV stenosis has been associated with an increased incidence of paravalvular leaks, valve malposition, pacemaker placement and all-cause mortality. The conclusions drawn have been limited by small sample sizes. The use of TAVR for BcAV stenosis remains controversial. Methods We searched multiple databases from the inception of the databases through September 30, 2016 for studies of TAVR for BcAV stenosis. We included all observational studies with more than one patient and at least 1 month of outcomes. Results We analyzed 13 observational studies with 758 patients. Meta analyses showed device success rate of 95% [95% confidence interval (CI) 90.2% to 98.5%] and an early safety event in 16.9% [95% CI 12.2% to 22%]. At 30 days, moderate to severe paravalvular leak was seen in 12.2% [95% CI 3.1% to 24.8%] and new pacemaker implantation in 17.9% [95% CI 14.2% to 22%]. All-cause mortality was 3.7% [95% CI 2.1% to 5.6%], which should be viewed in the context of an STS PROM of 5.0%. Conclusions This analysis suggests that TAVR for BcAV is not associated with excess mortality. The incidence of paravalvular leaks and pacemaker implant is increased compared to tricuspid aortic valve cohorts undergoing TAVR, and operators should weigh these potential complications against the clinical benefit provided by TAVR for BcAV patients at high risk for surgical valve replacement.
Ultrasonic Communication Using Consumer Hardware

We have implemented a near-ultrasonic communication protocol in the 18.5–20 kHz band, which is inaudible to most humans, using commodity smartphone speakers and microphones to transmit and receive signals. The protocol described in this paper is a component of Google's Nearby platform, where near-ultrasound signals are used to establish copresence between nearby devices by transmitting a short token. High-frequency sound does not pass through walls (most energy is reflected), so identified devices are constrained to approximately the same room, “within earshot” of one another. Our protocol has a raw data rate of 94.5 b/s, and we find in real indoor environments that transmission between mobile devices is reliable at 2 m distance and often works at 10 m. We use direct-sequence spread spectrum modulation, which makes it highly robust to multipath, motion, and narrowband noise. We use a 127-chip pseudorandom code, repeating once per data symbol, and modulate its amplitude with orthogonal sine waveforms encoding 4-bit symbol values. We add the orthogonal sines to a constant “pedestal,” which is inefficient in an information-theoretic sense, but makes synchronization easier. We describe a robust and computationally efficient transmitter and receiver implementations and show experiments on real and simulated data.
Cell Invasion and Pyruvate Oxidase-Derived H2O2 Are Critical for Streptococcus pneumoniae-Mediated Cardiomyocyte Killing.

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is the leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia and is now recognized to be a direct contributor to adverse acute cardiac events. During invasive pneumococcal disease, S. pneumoniae can gain access to the myocardium, kill cardiomyocytes, and form bacterium-filled “microlesions” causing considerable acute and long-lasting cardiac damage. While the molecular mechanisms responsible for bacterial translocation into the heart have been elucidated, the initial interactions of heart-invaded S. pneumoniae with cardiomyocytes remain unclear. In this study, we used a model of low multiplicity of S. pneumoniae infection with HL-1 mouse cardiomyocytes to investigate these early events. Using adhesion/invasion assays and immunofluorescent and transmission electron microscopy, we showed that S. pneumoniae rapidly adhered to and invaded cardiomyocytes. What is more, pneumococci existed as intravacuolar bacteria or escaped into the cytoplasm. Pulse-chase assays with BrdU confirmed intracellular replication of pneumococci within HL-1 cells. Using endocytosis inhibitors, bacterial isogenic mutants, and neutralizing antibodies against host proteins recognized by S. pneumoniae adhesins, we showed that S. pneumoniae uptake by cardiomyocytes is not through the well-studied canonical interactions identified for vascular endothelial cells. Indeed, S. pneumoniae invasion of HL-1 cells occurred through clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) and independently of choline binding protein A (CbpA)/laminin receptor, CbpA/polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, or cell wall phosphorylcholine/platelet-activating factor receptor. Subsequently, we determined that pneumolysin and streptococcal pyruvate oxidase-derived H2O2 production were required for cardiomyocyte killing. Finally, we showed that this cytotoxicity could be abrogated using CME inhibitors or antioxidants, attesting to intracellular replication of S. pneumoniae as a key first step in pneumococcal pathogenesis within the heart.
Extended Adjuvant Aromatase Inhibitor Therapy in Post-Menopausal Women

The purpose of this review is to understand the evidence for extending adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy from 5 to 10 years in post-menopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer. Multiple large trials have investigated this question. The two trials most representative of the dilemma faced in clinical practice are the MA.17R and NSABP-B42 trials, which both investigated the benefit of continuing versus stopping AI therapy beyond 5 years. Both trials showed that extended AI therapy led to a reduction in new or recurrent breast cancers, but had no effect on survival outcomes when death from any cause was included. The decision to extend AI therapy beyond 5 years remains a personalized one based on a discussion of the projected risk of recurrence, the expected benefits of prolonged AI treatment, and the patient’s ability to tolerate side effects so that quality of life is preserved.
Dance Steps, Nationalist Movement: How Hindu Extremists Claimed Garba-raas

In the fall of 2014, I drove two hours from my little college town of Manhattan, Kansas, for a participatory Garba-raas (a Gujarati dance form) event at a big convention center outside Kansas City....
Segmentation of anatomical structures in cardiac CTA using multi-label V-Net

Segmenting anatomical structures in the chest is a crucial step in many automatic disease detection applications. Multi-atlas based methods are developed for this task, however, due to the required deformable registration step, they are often computationally expensive and create a bottle neck in terms of processing time. In contrast, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with 2D or 3D kernels, although slow to train, are very fast in the deployment stage and have been employed to solve segmentation tasks in medical imaging. A recent improvement in performance of neural networks in medical image segmentation was recently reported when dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was used to optimize the weights in a fully convolutional architecture called V-Net. However, in the previous work, only the DSC calculated for one foreground object is optimized, as a result the DSC based segmentation CNNs are only able to perform a binary segmentation. In this paper, we extend the V-Net binary architecture to a multi-label segmentation network and use it for segmenting multiple anatomical structures in cardiac CTA. The method uses multi-label V-Net optimized by the sum over DSC for all the anatomies, followed by a post-processing method to refine the segmented surface. Our method takes averagely less than 3 sec to segment a full CTA volume. In contrast, the fastest multi-atlas based methods published so far take around 10 mins. Our method achieves an average DSC of 76% for 16 segmented anatomies using four-fold cross validation, which is close to the state-of-the-art.
Deep Networks and Continuous Distributed Representation of Protein Sequences for Protein Quality Assessment

Computational protein structure prediction is very important for many applications in bioinformatics. In the process of predicting protein structures, it is essential to accurately assess the quality of generated models. Although many single-model quality assessment (QA) methods have been developed, their accuracy is not good enough for most real applications. In this paper, a new approach, called DeepCon-QA, based on deep convolutional neural networks and continuous distributed representation of protein sequences is proposed for single-model QA problem. By combining novel features of protein vector representation with existing features of profile information, together with the power of deep networks, our method shows promising results in solving the problem of protein quality assessment. In experiments on selected targets from the Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP) competition, DeepCon-QA obtained similar performance with the best state-of-the-art QA method MQAPmulti while outperforming other QA method.
SMS Compared and Contrasted with FOL

Eventually it may be demonstrated that everything that can be said can be said in FOL. If methods are developed to resolve problems associated with the treatment of mental and emotional objects, adverbials, and event individuation, it would seem that FOL would be well on its way to achieving expressive complete- ness. This book takes no position on whether this will come about, but the writer’s personal belief is that if FOL does not achieve full completeness, it will come so close to doing so that the lack of completeness will hardly be noticed.
On narcissism and veiled innocence:: Prolegomena to a critique of criminal law

It is a fundamental assumption of the criminal law that we are by and large free and responsible beings.’ Absent such excusing conditions as insanity and duress, we hold those who transgress the law accountable for their actions and subject them to condemnation and punishment. The metaphysics of freedom which the criminal law embodies reflects our own phenomenology. We generally experience ourselves as free agents who are perpetually presented with alternative courses of action from which to choose. Our natural tendency is to project our own experience of choice into the actions of others and infer that they could have done otherwise. This is why we are inclined to praise individuals for their good actions and blame them for their bad ones. Attributions of criminal responsibility are an institutionalized expression of blame. We view the criminal as someone who had a choice but did the wrong thing. There has, however, been a perennial concern with whether we are in fact free and responsible. Philosophers have long debated whether we can reconcile a mechanistic picture of the universe with free will, and theologians still ponder the compatibility of free will and divine foreknowledge. Our freedom has more recently been placed into question by, inter alia, Freud’s and other psychoanalysts’ depictions of the unconscious workings of the mind, by sociologists and behaviorists who offer accounts of how we are formed by our environment, and by the findings of neurophysiologists which some believe demonstrate that all mental states are determined by the physico-chemical processes of the brain. Each of these varieties of determinism share the view that we are shaped by forces which transcend our own apparent agency. The experience of choice as issuing from a free spontaneity is seen as illusory. Every intentional act has a long and complex history, and the more thorough the narrative we are able to
Philadelphia as a Re-Emerging Immigrant Gateway: An Exploration of Mexican Entrepreneurship & its Economic Value

This report describes and explains the economic development of Mexican immigrant entrepreneurs in South Philadelphia. Research examines the strategies, challenges, and achievements of small business owners in an emerging ethnic economy that has revitalized commercial corridors. The study serves as a voice for Mexican entrepreneurs as it relates to their specific obstacles in opening an establishment and sustaining a successful business operation. The author presents recommendations for local government officials and other public and community organizations devoted to the advancement of the South Philadelphia economy. Furthermore, the results provide other cities with a growing Latin American immigrant population with an opportunity to learn from this case study in order to introduce and assess community initiatives and government support that will assist immigrant entrepreneurs maximize their entrepreneurial potential.
The effect of alloxan on the permeability of isolated pancreatic islets to horseradish peroxidase.

The effect of alloxan on the permeability of isolated pancreatic islets to horseradish peroxidase was studied by a perifusion system, which allowed simultaneous monitoring of glucose-induced insulin secretion. Rat islets were perifused with a 5 mg/ml glucose solution containing horseradish peroxidase for ten or thirty minutes, with or without prior exposure to alloxan (20 mg%) for five minutes. Control islets without alloxan treatment showed few necrotic beta cells diffusely infiltrated with exogenous peroxidase; and, the majority were intact beta cells containing numerous peroxidase-positive vesicles. Islets perifused with alloxan in a 1 mg/ml glucose solution showed many damaged beta cells loaded with peroxidase; whereas, intact beta cells contained few peroxidase-positive vesicles. In islets perifused with alloxan in a 5 mg/ml glucose solution, the features seen in the control islets and the islets perifused with alloxan in a 1 mg/ml glucose solution were observed-namely, degenerated beta cells loaded with peroxidase and intact beta cells with numerous peroxidase-positive vesicles. As the guinea pig is known to be relatively resistant to the effect of alloxan, the effect of alloxan was examined in the isolated islets of guinea pig. The degenerated peroxidase-positive beta cells were not observed in guinea pig islets, which had been exposed to alloxan (20 mg%). It is concluded that the direct alloxan action on rat beta cells is at least partially to damage beta cell membranes with resultant enhanced permeability to horseradish peroxidase.
Neutron Irradiated Mechanical Properties of Some Rapidly Solidified Austenitic Stainless Steels

The development of several rapidly solidified 316SS-type alloys for possible application in the first wall of fusion reactors is described. One series is based on titanium additions leading to fine TiC precipitates, and another on oxide dispersion strengthening through addition of yttrium oxide. These materials were irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory at doses up to 34 dpa with associated high helium production of 3100 appM. Post-irradiation mechanical properties derived from the MIT Miniaturized Disk Bend Test are reported. It is concluded that post-irradiation yield strength is not a problem for this class of alloy, but helium embrittlement leading to intergranular fracture is a critical issue. This first generation of rapidly solidified alloys is found to behave similarly to ingot processed material; nevertheless rapid solidification is expected to be a highly useful tool in future efforts to improve grain and grain boundary microstructures. Such improvements may lead to mitigation of radiation-induced helium embrittlement effects and other negative structural factors.
The architecture of microprocessor-based systems

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the fundamentals of the operation of a microprocessor-based system, such as a microcomputer or a programmable industrial controller. The word ‘fundamentals’ should be emphasized, since it is not possible in one chapter to cover the range of topics that should be included for a full understanding of microprocessors and microcontrollers. However, for those readers who have not had a full course on this subject, this chapter will be sufficient to give an understanding of this very important and interesting technology.
Performance evaluation of OpenMP's target construct on GPUs - exploring compiler optimisations

OpenMP is a directive-based shared memory parallel programming model and has been widely used for many years. From OpenMP 4.0 onwards, GPU platforms are supported by extending OpenMP's high-level p...
Expectant long-term follow-up of patients with chronic urinary retention.

Aims To describe urologic complications in patients with chronically elevated post-void residual (PVR) volumes and to evaluate other related risk factors during a long-term follow-up in patients managed conservatively. Methods Non-neurogenic patients who refused surgical intervention of the prostate and had PVR volumes >300 mL on two or more separate occasions at least 6 months apart were included. We followed this cohort over time, recorded complications and evaluated risk factors for complications. Results Twenty-eight men with a mean age of 74 were followed for a median of 56 months (IQR: 26-101 months); 26 had benign prostatic hyperplasia with a median prostate size of 55 cc. Baseline median PVR was 468 cc (IQR: 395-828) and follow-up median PVR was 508 cc (IQR: 322-714). During follow-up, 13 patients (46%) had at least one complication with acute urinary retention being the most common occurring in 10 patients (36%) with 15 episodes. Other complications presented in less than 15%, and no patients developed permanent renal insufficiency. Patients with prostate size ≥ 100 cc had significantly higher total number of acute retention episodes (P-value: 0.01). Conclusions Although the presence of CUR could commonly predispose to episodes of acute retention, severe complications are infrequent although present. Additionally, prostate size may play a role in increasing some adverse outcomes. With proper counseling about different complications, patients with retention who denied surgical treatment can be safely followed for at least 5 years without renal deterioration.
Blood Doubles: A Renegotiation of Sheridan le Fanu’s Carmilla on Film

Sheridan le Fanu’s 1872 lesbian vampire novella Carmilla has attracted so much scholarly attention that it comes as something of a surprise that the numerous film adaptations of the tale have received little to none. This essay analyzes the international archive of Carmilla adaptations, in particular those belonging to the genre of Euro horror, as a recuperation of the very themes and characteristics that negate their scholarly value: violence, sexually explicit content, low production budgets, and their supposed pandering to the male gaze and attack on lesbian subjectivity. As texts that queer traditional cinematic narrative, these films are revived as sites for a feminist recuperation of the horror film genre.
3520 Neural connectivity mechanisms linking off-time pubertal development and depression risk in adolescence

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Earlier pubertal timing has been associated with risk for depression, particularly in girls (e.g., Keenan etal., 2014). Evidence suggests pubertal timing in girls also relates to alterations in the microstructural properties of brain white matter tracts in late adolescence (Chahal etal., 2018), and structural connectivity of cingulate and frontal regions (Chahal etal., in prep), though differences in pubertal development in both boys and girls have not been examined in the context of brain functional connectivity (FC). Individual differences in the course of puberty may have enduring effects on functional coupling among brain regions that may contribute to the risk for psychopathology. To address this question, we explored the relation between pubertal timing and tempo with depression symptoms (age 16). Then, we examined whether brain network FC (age 16) associates with pubertal indices and predicts concurrent and later depressive symptoms (age 18). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Sixty-eight adolescents (37 females) completed the Mini-Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ; Clark & Watson, 1995) at ages 14-18. Gompertz growth curve modelling of pubertal development (age 10-15; Waves 1-6) was used to estimate pubertal timing and tempo per individual, separately for males and females (e.g., Chahal etal., 2018). Resting-state MRI data (age 16) were parcellated into 264 cortical and subcortical regions to create region-to-region FC matrices based on correlations of time-series. Individual matrices were fed to the GraphVar program (Kruschwitz etal., 2015) to assess the interaction of pubertal timing and pubertal tempo with functional network connectivity using Network-based statistic (NBS; Zalesky etal., 2010). Subnetworks showing alterations in relation to pubertal timing and tempo were then examined in association with concurrent (age 16) symptoms and used to predict future depressive symptoms (age 18). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In all youth, earlier pubertal timing was associated with higher depressive symptoms at age 16 (p
Peripheral Refraction and Eye Lengths in Myopic Children in the Bifocal Lenses In Nearsighted Kids (BLINK) Study.

Purpose Provide a detailed assessment of peripheral refractive error and peripheral eye length in myopic children. Methods Subjects were 294 children aged 7 to 11 years with -0.75 to -5.00 diopter (D) of myopia by cycloplegic autorefraction. Peripheral refraction and eye length were measured at ±20° and ±30° horizontally and vertically, with peripheral refraction also measured at ±40° horizontally. Results Relative peripheral refraction became more hyperopic in the horizontal meridian and more myopic in the vertical meridian with increasing field angle. Peripheral eye length became shorter in both meridians with increasing field angle, more so horizontally than vertically with correlations between refraction and eye length ranging from -0.40 to -0.57 (all P < 0.001). Greater foveal myopia was related to more peripheral hyperopia (or less peripheral myopia), shorter peripheral eye lengths, and a consistent average asymmetry between meridians. Conclusions Peripheral refractive errors in children do not appear to exert strong local control of peripheral eye length given that their correlation is consistently negative and the degree of meridional asymmetry is similar across the range of refractive errors. The BLINK study will provide longitudinal data to determine whether peripheral myopia and additional peripheral myopic defocus from multifocal contact lenses affect the progression of myopia in children. Translational Relevance Local retinal control of ocular growth has been demonstrated numerous times in animal experimental myopia models but has not been explored in detail in human myopia development. These BLINK baseline results suggest that children's native peripheral optical signals may not be a strong stimulus for local growth responses.
PATIENT REPORTED OUTCOMES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ISOMETRIC STRENGTH DEFICITS EARLY AFTER ACL RECONSTRUCTION IN ADOLESCENTS

Background:Quadriceps Femoris (QF) strength has been identified to impact patient reported function following ACL reconstruction (ACLR) at time of return to sport. Patients with higher subjective r...
COVID-19 and Cancer Patients

COVID-19 has now been declared a global pandemic with evolving incidence rates and fatalities. It is important to identify vulnerable populations who will be impacted most by this pandemic leading to higher mortality rates compared to the general healthy population. Although older patients and patients with co-morbidities fall into this vulnerable group, patients with hematologic and oncologic malignancies on active cytotoxic treatments are at even greater risk as they are both myelosuppressed and immunosuppressed. In addition to following the universal guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is important to also institute guidelines for cancer centers to help protect this vulnerable population. We review the current data, risks, and recommendations for COVID-19 in cancer patients.
Parental report of cognitive and social-emotionality traits in school-age children with autism and Williams syndrome

The majority of the research examining children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS) focus on the social domain while few have examined cognitive style and emotionality. A...
Chapter 30 – Reproductive Behavior

Reproductive behavior refers to the orderly sequence of behavioral events that are associated with reproduction, and it includes courtship, copulation, nest building, oviposition, incubation, and parental behavior. Reproductive behavior in vertebrates is thought to have evolved long before the ascent of birds. Presumably as a result of this ancient origin and the adaptation of birds to living in most terrestrial ecosystems, avian reproductive behavior as a whole and its individual components are extremely diverse with regard to complexity, duration, seasonality, and control mechanisms. Despite this diversity, avian reproductive behavior is proximately regulated by a large, but in many instances rather conserved, set of (neuro)hormones. This chapter draws from a variety of avian models to address aspects of this regulation. It emphasizes the fact that in addition to being controlled by (neuro)hormones, reproductive behavior is influenced by an array of environmental factors and social interactions. A major impetus of research on avian reproductive behavior is to identify the mechanisms by which internal and external factors govern the expression of this behavior, and to determine how organisms integrate the influence of these factors and transduce this integrated information into time- and context-appropriate behavioral responses.
Bolstering biculturals: Self-affirmation reduces contrastive responses to identity primes

Abstract Bicultural individuals often must select between different responses to a task implied by their dual identities. When one identity has been situationally primed, one strategy is to assimilate to the situational demand. However, another strategy is contrastive, to express their other identity. This second strategy has been called ethnic affirmation (Yang & Bond, 1980) and cultural contrast (Mok & Morris, 2013). It has been primarily explained as a defense against perceived threat to the specific identity that is excluded. The present studies posit that contrastive responses to cultural priming also may reflect a defense of biculturals' global self-integrity. We provide the first direct test of this mechanism by examining the effect of self-affirmation on the contrastive response tendency. In two experiments that varied self-affirmation and cultural priming, non-affirmed Chinese Americans showed contrastive responses—they exhibited greater extraversion in response to Chinese primes than to American primes in Study 1 or than to neutral primes in Study 2, but this pattern was significantly attenuated among Chinese Americans who engaged in self-affirmation. Theoretical implications are discussed.
A Simple Set Model of Requirements Representation

A successful information systems development (ISD) depends on a complete, correct, and consistent set of requirements specification. In this paper, we present a set model of requirements representation to present functional and non-functional requirements in a systematic and schematic manner. Because the nature of the set operation is mathematical and methodological, requirements representation becomes scholastic and structured. In this paper, we first describe an incremental and iterative process model of requirements analysis where a spiral of requirements acquisition, articulation, and analysis is defined. We then depict a set-oriented data and process model to abstract the analyzed require­ ments into a hierarchical structure. We further delineate the set model to represent the
Testing a Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner in the Surtsey Facility.

Performance tests of a scaled passive autocatalytic recombine (PAR) were performed in the Surtsey test vessel at Sandia National Laboratories. Measured hydrogen depletion rate data were obtained and compared with previous work. Depletion rate is most likely proportional to PAR scale. PAR performance in steamy environments (with and without hydrophobic coating) was investigated. The tests determined that the PAR startup delay times decrease with increasing hydrogen concentrations in steamy environments. Tests with placement of the PAR near a wall (as opposed to a center location) yielded reduced depletion rates. Tests at low oxygen concentrations also showed a reduced recombination rate. The PAR repeatedly ignited hydrogen at about 6 mol% concentration with a catalyst temperature near 940 K. Velocity data at the PAR exhaust were used to calculate the volumetric flow rate through the PAR as a function of the vessel hydrogen concentration.
A Quantitative Assessment of Buffers among Temperature Variations, Livestock, and the Human Population of Iceland, 1784 to 1900

In this study two statistical techniques were used to assess buffers within the farm food chain in late preindustrial Iceland. Both methods arrived at similar quantitative assessments. The chain's tangible links were grass, livestock, and the human population, but it began with temperature, the primary determinant of grass yield and a proxy for grass yield in this study. The buffers were large in spite of the marginal nature of cattle, sheep, and horse farming in the subarctic climate, and the poverty of much of the population. One method of study involved comparison of livestock reductions and human population decrease in seven crises between 1784 and 1888, with attention to temperature data for crises after 1823, when continuous systematic meteorological observations began. The other method is time-series analysis using temperature observations, livestock counts which began in 1817, and several human demographic variables. The discussion focuses on likely buffers, notably alternative sources of winter fodder for livestock and of food for the human population.
Slit2 suppresses tumor development and metastasis

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 14-18, 2007; Los Angeles, CA 2181 Slit genes are a family of extracellular glycoproteins that function as chemorepellents in axon guidance and neuronal cell migration. The activity of Slits is mediated by membrane receptors roundabout (ROBO) molecules. Slit2 is expressed by normal endothelial and epithelial cells in many tissues. Recent studies indicate that Slit2 gene is frequently inactivated in lung, breast, colorectal and glioma tumors, suggesting that Slits may have tumor suppressive activities. However, it remains to be determined whether Slit2 suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. In this study, we first detected Slit2 mRNA expression in cancerous and normal tissues of 339 surgical specimens from cancer patients by in situ hybridization. The result indicated that Slit2 mRNA was deceased or abolished in esophagus, stomach, and breast cancers compared to normal tissues. To determine the effect of Slit2 on tumors, Slit2 gene was transfected into human fibrosarcoma HT1080 and squamous carcinoma A431 cells which did not express Slit2. Stable transfectants that produced Slit2 were established. The forced expression of Slit2 had little effect on cell growth in tissue culture plates but inhibited the formation of tumor colonies in soft agar cultures compared to parental and control vector transfected controls. The growth of Slit2 transfected HT1080 and A431 tumors was reduced in athymic nude mice compared to control tumors. Further studies showed that the transfection of Slit2 inhibited the migration and invasion of tumor cells, as assessed by wound healing and matrigel invasion assays. Moreover, the metastasis of HT1080 tumor cells in lungs following intravenous inoculation was suppressed by Slit2 transfection. TUNEL assay showed increased numbers of apoptotic cells in Slit2 transfected tumor tissues compared to controls. Further analysis of tumor tissues showed that anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-xl was down-regulated in Slit2 transfected tumors. Additionally, cell cycle regulatory molecules cdk6 and cyclin D1 were found to be decreased in Slit2 transfected tumors. In summary, our studies have demonstrated that Slit2 suppresses tumor development and metastasis. Enhancement of apoptosis and regulation of cell cycle may be important mechanisms for Slit2 mediated effects on tumors. Further studies are required to delineate specific mechanisms for Slit2 mediated effects on tumor growth and metastasis, which may lead to new therapeutic strategies for tumors.
Bonding in liquid Tl x Te1−x alloys

Abstract The electronic structure of liquid Tl2Te has been calculated for its recently determined ionic structure. The valence band differs significantly from that of a molecular structure. However, it is argued that this may not affect many of the electronic properties of the Te-rich alloys because these alloys must still contain chain molecules.
Exploring the Optimization Space of Dense Linear Algebra Kernels

Dense linear algebra kernels such as matrix multiplication have been used as benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of many automated compiler optimizations. However, few studies have looked at collectively applying the transformations and parameterizing them for external search. In this paper, we take a detailed look at the optimization space of three dense linear algebra kernels. We use a transformation scripting language (POET) to implement each kernel-level optimization as applied by ATLAS. We then extensively parameterize these optimizations from the perspective of a general-purpose compiler and use a stand-alone empirical search engine to explore the optimization space using several different search strategies. Our exploration of the search space reveals key interaction among several transformations that must be considered by compilers to approach the level of efficiency obtained through manual tuning of kernels.
Substitution of Fingertip Blood for Venous Blood in the Measurement of Hematocrit and Hemoglobin following Exercise

Abstract The purposes of this study were twofold: to determine if fingertip blood could be used to provide a valid estimate of venous blood hematocrit (hct) and hemoglobin (hgb) following maximal and submaximal work; and to determine if the Coulter counter is an appropriate instrument for the determination of hct following relatively short-term maximal work in normally hydrated subjects. Twenty-two male subjects performed a continuous incremental work task to voluntary cessation on a bicycle ergometer, during which [Vdot]O2 was continuously monitored. Subjects also exercised for 15 min at 1/3 and at 2/3 of [Vdot]O2 max. Before and after each work protocol, samples of fingertip and venous blood were drawn simultaneously, and hct and hgb were determined on a Coulter counter. Regression equations for prediction of venous blood values from fingertip blood after exercise are presented. Hct from antecubital venous blood following maximal exercise in each of 12 additional subjects was determined by the Coulter c...
Internal localization of Micrococcus lysodeikticus membrane ATPase by iodination with 125I

Abstract Micrococcus lysodeikticus membrane ATPase is inacessible to 125I labeling when stabilized protoplasts are reacted with the lactoperoxidase—Na125I system or with 125ICl. Membranes isolated from protplasts or by the standard procedures used in this laboratory when labeled with 125I yield a major labeled peak in sodium dodecyl sulfate—polyacrylamide gels which is identifiable as ATPase subunit protein. The results are in accord with the location of the ATPase on the inner face of the membrane. Lipid extracted by the Bligh and Dyer (Bligh, E.G. and Dyer, W.J. (1959) Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 37, 911–917) method is also labeled by the iodination procedures.
Putting the subjective back into intersubjective: The importance of person-specific, distributed, neural representations in perception-action mechanisms

The shared circuits model (SCM) relies on well-regarded theories of perception-action, mirror neurons, and forward models, but the functional/informational level of the model limits its ability to explain complex behavior such as true imitation. Data from our lab and others confirm the more general details of the model, accepted by most, but specify the neural mechanisms involved in perception-action processes.
Evaluation of predictive variables in locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients receiving definitive chemoradiation

Purpose To analyze a single-center experience with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) patients treated with chemoradiation (CRT) and to evaluate predictive variables of outcome.