cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Native Language Identification: A Key N-gram Category Approach

This study explores the efficacy of an approach to native language identification that utilizes grammatical, rhetorical, semantic, syntactic, and cohesive function categories comprised of key n-grams. The study found that a model based on these categories of key n-grams was able to successfully predict the L1 of essays written in English by L2 learners from 11 different L1 backgrounds with an accuracy of 59%. Preliminary findings concerning instances of crosslinguistic influence are discussed, along with evidence of language similarities based on patterns of language misclassification.
On numerical aspects of different updating schedules for tracking fracture path in strain localization modeling

A comparative study is performed that investigates numerical features of different schedules, end-of-step vs. within iterations, for updating fracture path by employing the local and global tracking strategies. Embedded strong discontinuities within an enhanced finite element framework are used to model propagating discontinuities and fracture behavior of quasi-brittle materials. It is shown that end-of-step updating, which is a standard, can cause inaccuracies in peak strength and fracture energy for large time steps. Updating within iterations rectifies the accuracy issues, but at the expense of an increased computational cost. Both schedules yield comparable performance as the step size is refined.
NASDAQ REITs and Optimal Investment Policy: Evidence from 1995 to 2005

Executive Summary.Naive and scientific strategies for portfolio management are presented and are tested empirically using NASDAQ-listed real estate investment trusts. Using standard portfolio techniques, scientific strategies such as Markowitz optimization and stochastic dominance are shown to produce better results on a risk-adjusted basis than naive strategies do. Stochastic dominance is shown to produce the greatest growth in capital on a non-risk-adjusted basis.
Short-Run Beef Supply Response

It is hypothesized that the frequently observed zero or negative supply elasticity for beef is not the result of poor data or faulty statistical analysis. Theoretical specification of supply functions for the separate components of beef slaughter—steers, cows, and heifers—leads to an expected positive sign for the supply elasticity of steer slaughter, and an expected negative sign for the supply elasticity of cow slaughter. For heifer slaughter the sign cannot be ascertained from a priori considerations. The empirical evidence from statistical analyses of time‐series data is consistent with and confirms the theoretical expectations. Total beef slaughter was disaggregated into three major components—steers, heifers, and cows. The estimated parameters in the regressions imply positive elasticity for steers and negative elasticity for cows. Only the heifer equation seems unsatisfactory. The parameter estimates fluctuate widely with slight changes in the estimating equation. Also the high autocorrelation of the errors implies inadequate specification of the heifer model.
Patient Selection for Long-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support: Is It Ever too Early for the NYHA Class III Patient?

Heart failure is a common condition with significant morbidity and mortality. Pharmacologic and device therapies have resulted in substantial improvements in heart failure outcomes. Despite optimal therapy, 10 % of patients progress to advanced HF, characterized by progressive symptoms, poor quality of life, and poor prognosis. The “gold-standard” treatment of advanced heart failure remains cardiac transplantation. However, the number of patients with advanced heart failure far exceeds available donor organs. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) were initially developed to bridge patients with hemodynamic collapse to transplantation. Their use resulted in marked improvements in survival and quality of life in select patients giving rise to increased and expanded overall implantation. Despite these improvements, patient selection and timing for LVAD therapy is still evolving. In this article, we will review a brief history of LVADs, examine patient selection, and explore the currently debated expansion of LVADs to “less sick” patients.
Body-in-white material systems: A life-cycle cost comparison

To be competitive in the global automobile industry, it is no longer enough to understand manufacturing cost alone. The growing emphasis on environmental impact has forced life-cycle cost issues to the forefront. This article defines the life cycle of automotive structures and exterior panels—the body-in-white—to include manufacturing, operation, and post-use. These body-in-white life-cycle costs are assessed for a midsize, four-door sedan using an implementation of a technique called technical cost modeling. This article describes the life-cycle cost-assessment methodology and applies it for alternative body-in-white structure and exterior panel materials. These include steel stampings; aluminum stampings, extrusions, and castings; and resin/glass composite and thermoplastic moldings. The life-cycle costs are presented and analyzed for varying manufacturing scenarios. Although life-cycle costs currently do not drive the decision-making process in the automotive industries, legislative and consumer pressures could one day give them added weight.
Teaching future nurses in the clinical setting: the clinical nurses' perspective.

This article shares the findings of a qualitative study exploring clinical nurses’ perceptions of teaching nursing students as a preceptor. The results will inform program design and nurse executives in supporting these relationships.
Acute oxalate nephropathy associated with orlistat

Background: Obesity is a major world-wide epidemic which has led to a surge of various weight loss-inducing medical or surgical treatments. Orlistat is a gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor used as an adjunct treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus to induce clinically significant weight loss via fat malabsorption. Case Presentation:We describe a case of a 76-year-old female with past medical history of chronic kidney disease (baseline serum creatinine was 1.5-2.5 mg/dL), hypertension, gout and psoriatic arthritis, who was admitted for evaluation of elevated creatinine, peaking at 5.40 mg/dL. She was started on orlistat 120 mg three times a day six weeks earlier. Initial serologic work-up remained unremarkable. Percutaneous kidney biopsy revealed massive calcium oxalate crystal depositions with acute tubular necrosis and interstitial inflammation. Serum oxalate level returned elevated at 45 mm/l (normal <27). Timed 24-hour urine collection documented increased oxalate excretion repeatedly (54-96 mg/24 hour). After five renal dialysis sessions in eighth days she gradually regained her former baseline kidney function with creatinine around 2 mg/dL. Given coexisting proton-pump inhibitor therapy, only per os calcium-citrate provided effective intestinal oxalate chelation to control hyperoxaluria. Conclusions: Our case underscores the potential of medically induced fat malabsorption to lead to an excessive oxalate absorption and acute kidney injury (AKI), especially in subjects with pre-existing renal impairment. Further, it emphasizes the importance of kidney biopsy to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.
Superselective Intra-Arterial Ethanol Sclerotherapy of Feeding Artery and Nidal Aneurysms in Ruptured Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations

In the endovascular treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations, ethanol sclerotherapy is seldom used due to safety concerns. However, when limited reflux of an embolic agent is permissible or when there is a long distance to the target, ethanol may be preferable. We reviewed 10 patients with 14 cerebral AVM feeding artery aneurysms or intranidal aneurysms treated with intra-arterial ethanol sclerotherapy at our institution between 2005 and 2014. All patients presented with acute intracranial hemorrhage. Thirteen of 14 aneurysms were treated primarily with 60%-80% ethanol into the feeding artery. Complete target feeding artery and aneurysm occlusion was seen in all cases; 8/13 (62%) were occluded by using ethanol alone. No retreatments or recurrences were seen. One permanent neurologic deficit (1/13, 7.7%) and no deaths occurred. In a subset of ruptured cerebral AVMs, ethanol sclerotherapy of feeding artery aneurysms and intranidal aneurysms can be performed with a high degree of technical success and a low rate of complication.
Application of clinical nursing pathway in patients with hand-foot-mouth disease associated with viral encephalitis

Objective:To investigate the nursing application of clinical nursing pathway in pediatric hand-foot and mouth disease associated with viral encephalitis.Methods:88 patients were randomly divided into control and experimental groups.The control group kept conventional pediatric nursing.On the basis of the general nursing model,experimental group applied clinical nursing path model to assess patients,and different care systems were used according to assessment.Results:Analyzing by using statistics test,two groups of hospital stay,quality of nursing and the satisfaction of both nurses and patients were significantly different(P0.05).Conclusion:The clinical nursing pathway was applied to HFMD associated with viral encephalitis patients,which can prevent nosocomial infection,shorten hospital stay,and improve quality of nursing or satisfaction of both nurses and patients.
Abstract A096: Myeloid cells are required for pancreatic carcinogenesis and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint activation

Myeloid cells, including both macrophages and immature myeloid cells/myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), accumulate during the progression of pancreatic cancer. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of myeloid cell depletion on the onset and progression of pancreatic cancer, and to understand the relationship between myeloid cells and T cell-mediated immunity within the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. Primary mouse pancreatic cancer cells were transplanted into CD11b-DTR mice. Alternatively, the iKras* mouse model of pancreatic cancer was crossed into CD11b-DTR mice. CD11b+ cells were depleted by Diphtheria Toxin treatment during tumor initiation or in established tumors. Depletion of myeloid cells prevented KrasG12D driven pancreatic cancer initiation. Myeloid cells are required for sustained MAPK signaling in pancreatic epithelial cells during the onset of carcinogenesis, notwithstanding the expression of oncogenic Kras. In pre-established tumors, myeloid cell depletion arrested tumor growth and in some cases, induced tumor regressions that were dependent on CD8+ T cells. We found that myeloid cells inhibited CD8+ T cell anti-tumor activity by inducing the expression of Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumor cells in an EGFR/MAPK dependent manner. Treatment with MEK inhibitors lowers the intratumoral expression of PD-L1 and renders the tumor susceptible to PD-1 blockade. Our results show that myeloid cells support immune evasion in pancreatic cancer through EGFR/MAPK dependent regulation of PD-L1 expression on tumor cells. Derailing this cross-talk between myeloid cells and tumor cells is sufficient to restore anti-tumor immunity mediated by CD8+ T cells, a finding with implications for the design of immune therapies for pancreatic cancer. Note: This abstract was not presented at the conference. Citation Format: Yaqing Zhang, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Esha Mathew, Dongjun Li, Flor M. Mendez, Kevin Flannagan, Andrew D. Rhim, Diane M. Simeone, Gregory L. Beatty, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Myeloid cells are required for pancreatic carcinogenesis and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint activation [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A096.
Recapitulation of the First Three Dimensions: Realities, Semiotics, Communication

Performers communicate content from various levels. In regards to music, this content is surmised of the score, its analysis, and its expressive meaning. The medium between a performer and their audience is through some sort of physical interface, such as a musical instrument. To produce the desired sounds, performers must execute precise gestures, using their training, knowledge of the score, and overall sensibility. This brings us to the peak of our discussion. All of the theoretical topics we’ve covered thus far can be summarily combined through gestures. There are many ways of making; thinking is a way of making. Listening is a very creative way of making, too. Gestures are another tool of creation. We say that they have a double ontology, existing inside the mental reality and also the physical reality. There is also a brain connection to the psychological reality. In this chapter we will explain how to contextualize gestures in the frame of realities, semiotics and communication.
Fundamental organometallic chemistry under bimetallic influence: driving β-hydride elimination and diverting migratory insertion at Cu and Ni

Bimetallic effects on stoichiometric β-hydride elimination and migratory insertion reactions were examined. Bimetallic reaction conditions drove β-hydride elimination at Cu, while bimetallic C–B elimination occurred in the absence of β-hydrogens. The inherent migratory insertion chemistry of alkynes at Ni was diverted under bimetallic reaction conditions to favor C–H deprotonation.
Mapping Neurodegenerative Disease Onset and Progression

Brain networks have been of long-standing interest to neurodegeneration researchers, including but not limited to investigators focusing on conventional prion diseases, which are known to propagate along neural pathways. Tools for human network mapping, however, remained inadequate, limiting our understanding of human brain network architecture and preventing clinical research applications. Until recently, neuropathological studies were the only viable approach to mapping disease onset and progression in humans but required large autopsy cohorts and laborious methods for whole-brain sectioning and staining. Despite important advantages, postmortem studies cannot address in vivo, physiological, or longitudinal questions and have limited potential to explore early-stage disease except for the most common disorders. Emerging in vivo network-based neuroimaging strategies have begun to address these issues, providing data that complement the neuropathological tradition. Overall, findings to date highlight several fundamental principles of neurodegenerative disease anatomy and pathogenesis, as well as some enduring mysteries. These principles and mysteries provide a road map for future research.
Familial aggregation of focal seizure semiology in the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project

Objective: To improve phenotype definition in genetic studies of epilepsy, we assessed the familial aggregation of focal seizure types and of specific seizure symptoms within the focal epilepsies in families from the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project. Methods: We studied 302 individuals with nonacquired focal epilepsy from 149 families. Familial aggregation was assessed by logistic regression analysis of relatives’ traits (dependent variable) by probands’ traits (independent variable), estimating the odds ratio for each symptom in a relative given presence vs absence of the symptom in the proband. Results: In families containing multiple individuals with nonacquired focal epilepsy, we found significant evidence for familial aggregation of ictal motor, autonomic, psychic, and aphasic symptoms. Within these categories, ictal whole body posturing, diaphoresis, dyspnea, fear/anxiety, and deja vu/jamais vu showed significant familial aggregation. Focal seizure type aggregated as well, including complex partial, simple partial, and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Conclusion: Our results provide insight into genotype–phenotype correlation in the nonacquired focal epilepsies and a framework for identifying subgroups of patients likely to share susceptibility genes.
Gender Differences in Leadership Aspirations and Job and Life Attribute Preferences among U.S. Undergraduate Students

The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in constructs associated with leadership aspirations in a sample of 467 undergraduate students because these might contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment. The results demonstrated that female participants perceived themselves as having less leadership ability than male participants, and viewed their attainment of leadership roles as less likely than male participants did, which could reflect anticipated discrimination. Female participants reported less interest than male participants in elite leadership positions (e.g., CEO, senator), and associated positive characteristics with such roles less than male participants. They were also less likely than male participants to indicate a willingness to accept a promotion that would require them to sacrifice enjoyable work. Male and female participants ranked the importance of a variety of job and life attribute preferences similarly, though female participants emphasized the importance of life attribute preferences (e.g., family, good health), whereas male participants emphasized the importance of job attribute preferences (e.g., high salary). Finally, male participants were more likely than female participants to expect and prefer that they would out-earn their future spouses. These results highlight the need for greater consideration of how young women’s and men’s leadership aspirations and job/life preferences contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment.
Upright Fronds of Dryopteris intermedia Suffer Frost Damage and Breakage during Winter

Abstract The most abundant fern species in northeast United States forests are wintergreen. These ferns keep their fronds for one year before replacing them in the spring. The wintergreen fronds soften at their base in fall and survive the winter under snow, allowing vernal photosynthesis and providing an energetic benefit to the plant. This study addressed whether or not the softening of the stipe is critical to the evolutionary adaptiveness of the wintergreen leaf habit. I kept the fronds of 12 Dryopteris intermedia plants upright through the winter of 2015–2016 and left those of 12 other plants prostrate as controls. In the spring of 2016, a greater proportion of the frond surface area had frost damage on the upright fronds than on the control plants, and a greater proportion of the fronds were broken in the upright plants than in the control plants. The softening of the stipe was probably a critical step in the evolution of the wintergreen habit in D. intermedia.
CONICS integrates scRNA-seq with DNA sequencing to map gene expression to tumor sub-clones

Motivation Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) has enabled studies of tissue composition at unprecedented resolution. However, the application of scRNA-seq to clinical cancer samples has been limited, partly due to a lack of scRNA-seq algorithms that integrate genomic mutation data. Results To address this, we present. Conics COpy-Number analysis In single-Cell RNA-Sequencing. CONICS is a software tool for mapping gene expression from scRNA-seq to tumor clones and phylogenies, with routines enabling: the quantitation of copy-number alterations in scRNA-seq, robust separation of neoplastic cells from tumor-infiltrating stroma, inter-clone differential-expression analysis and intra-clone co-expression analysis. Availability and implementation CONICS is written in Python and R, and is available from https://github.com/diazlab/CONICS. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Radioimmunoassay of antibiotic/drug residues in foods of animal origin

Radioimmunoassays have been utilized for the detection and quantification of antibiotic/drug residues in food products of animal origin. This type of immunological assay is a specific and sensitive analytical technique. Radioimmunoassays have extended the capability of assays to detect microgram to nanogram per kilogram quantities of antibiotic/drug residues. Correlation of results obtained with radioimmunoassay to chromatographic methods has been demonstrated. This paper will review the development of radioimmunoassays for the detection and quantification of penicillin and chloramphenicol, as examples, and will discuss the application of the technique to food products of animal origin.
Lattice Completion Algorithms for Distributed Computations

A distributed computation is usually modeled as a finite partially ordered set (poset) of events. Many operations on this poset require computing meets and joins of subsets of events. The lattice of normal cuts of a poset is the smallest lattice that embeds the poset such that all meets and joins are defined. In this paper, we propose new algorithms to construct or enumerate the lattice of normal cuts. Our algorithms are designed for distributed computing applications and have lower time or space complexity than those of existing algorithms. We also show applications of this lattice to the problems in distributed computing such as finding the extremal events and detecting global predicates.
High Throughput Lung and Lobar Segmentation by 2D and 3D CNN on Chest CT with Diffuse Lung Disease

Deep learning methods have been widely and successfully applied to the medical imaging field. Specifically, fully convolutional neural networks have become the state-of-the-art supervised segmentation method in a variety of biomedical segmentation problems. Two fully convolutional networks were proposed to sequentially achieve accurate lobar segmentation. Firstly, a 2D ResNet-101 based network is proposed for lung segmentation and 575 chest CT scans from multicenter clinical trials were used with radiologist approved lung segmentation. Secondly, a 3D DenseNet based network is applied to segment the 5 lobes and a total of 1280 different CT scans were used with radiologist approved lobar segmentation as ground truth. The dataset includes various pathological lung diseases and stratified sampling was used to form training and test sets following a ratio of 4:1 to ensure a balanced number and type of abnormality present. A 3D CNN segmentation model was also built for lung segmentation to investigate the feasibility using current hardware. Using 5-fold cross validation a mean Dice coefficient of 0.988 ± 0.012 and Average Surface Distance of 0.562 ± 0.49 mm was achieved by the proposed 2D CNN on lung segmentation. 3D DenseNet on lobar segmentation achieved Dice score of 0.959 ± 0.087 and Average surface distance of 0.873 ± 0.61 mm.
Developing an evidence-based program sustainability training curriculum: a group randomized, multi-phase approach.

The emergence of dissemination and implementation (DI however, to our knowledge, no evidence-based sustainability training curriculum program exists. Therefore, systematic methods are needed to develop, test, and disseminate a training that improves the sustainability of evidence-based programs. NCT03598114 . Registered 25 July 2018—retrospectively registered.
Improving Interlayer Adhesion in 3D Printing with Surface Segregating Additives: Improving the Isotropy of Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene Parts

Printed 3D objects built by fused deposition modeling (FDM) are well-known to exhibit large anisotropic mechanical properties. This anisotropy is due to poor diffusion and entanglement of chains between filaments during the deposition process. A weak interlayer bond is thus formed. To combat anisotropy in FDM printed parts, our group has utilized bimodal blends of a chemically identical low molecular weight surface segregating additive (LMW-SuSA) blended with a bulk, commercially available poly(lactide) (PLA). Drastic improvements to the interlayer adhesion and a reduction in the anisotropic character are realized with the introduction of the LMW-SuSA. To expand our understanding of the mechanism responsible for this improvement, we report the introduction of LMW-SuSAs of miscible styrene-co-acrylonitrile (SAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and immiscible PLA to ABS and their impact on the mechanical properties of printed FDM parts. Decreases in the anisotropy of mechanical properties of ABS blends c...
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans with fibrosarcomatous transformation: our experience, molecular evaluation of selected cases, and short literature review

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans with fibrosarcomatous transformation (DFSP-FS) is a higher grade tumor arising from dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP). Recent literature highlights its impact on recurrence rates, metastatic rates, and survival. In this article, we aim to describe our experience with 13 cases of DFSP-FS in terms of pathologic findings, molecular alterations, clinical outcomes, management, and also perform a short recent literature review.
The conundrum of < 2-cm pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: A preoperative risk score to predict lymph node metastases and guide surgical management.

Abstract Background Management of Methods We analyzed all patients who underwent resection of primary nonfunctional 20% were excluded. Our primary aim was to create a lymph node risk score that predicted lymph node metastases accurately for Results Of 695 patients with resected pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, 309 were 3%, and only 8% were moderately differentiated. Also, only 9% of all Conclusion This simple and novel lymph node risk score utilizes readily available preoperative factors (tumor location and Ki-67) to stratify risk of lymph node metastases accurately s for
Invariant and stationary measures for the action on Moduli space

We prove some ergodic-theoretic rigidity properties of the action of on moduli space. In particular, we show that any ergodic measure invariant under the action of the upper triangular subgroup of is supported on an invariant affine submanifold. The main theorems are inspired by the results of several authors on unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces, and in particular by Ratner’s seminal work.
Air pollution, particulate matter composition and methylation-based biologic age.

Abstract Background Epigenetic age, as defined by DNA methylation, may be influenced by air pollution exposure. Objective To evaluate the relationship between NO2, particulate matter (PM), PM components and accelerated epigenetic age. Methods In a sample of non-Hispanic white women living in the contiguous U.S. (n = 2747), we estimated residential exposure to PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 using a model incorporating land-use regression and kriging. Predictive k-means was used to assign participants to clusters representing different PM2.5 component profiles. We measured DNA methylation (DNAm) in blood using the Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip and calculated DNAm age using the Hannum, Horvath and Levine epigenetic clocks. Age acceleration was defined based on residuals after regressing DNAm age on chronological age. We estimated associations between interquartile range (IQR) increases in pollutants and age acceleration using linear regression. For PM2.5, we stratified by cluster membership. We examined epigenome-wide associations using robust linear regression models corrected with false discovery rate q-values. Results NO2 was inversely associated with age acceleration using the Hannum clock (β = −0.24, 95% CI: −0.47, −0.02). No associations were observed for PM10. For PM2.5, the association with age acceleration varied by PM2.5 component cluster. For example, with the Levine clock, an IQR increase in PM2.5 was associated with an over 6-year age acceleration in a cluster that has relatively high fractions of crustal elements relative to overall PM2.5 (β = 6.57, 95% CI: 2.68, 10.47), and an almost 2-year acceleration in a cluster characterized by relatively low sulfur fractions (β = 1.88, 95% CI: 0.51, 3.25). In a cluster distinguished by lower relative nitrate concentrations, PM2.5 was inversely associated with age acceleration (β = −1.33, 95% CI: −2.43, −0.23). Across the epigenome, NO2 was associated with methylation at 2 CpG sites. Conclusion Air pollution was associated with epigenetic age, a marker of mortality and disease risk, among certain PM2.5 component profiles.
Three-Dimensional Inflation Response of Porcine Optic Nerve Head Using High-Frequency Ultrasound Elastography.

Characterization of the biomechanical behavior of the optic nerve head (ONH) in response to intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation is important for understanding glaucoma susceptibility. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound elastographic technique to obtain mapping and visualization of the 3D distributive displacements and strains of the ONH and surrounding peripapillary tissue (PPT) during whole globe inflation from 15 to 30 mmHg. 3D scans of the posterior eye around the ONH were acquired through full tissue thickness with a high-frequency ultrasound system (50 MHz). A 3D cross-correlation-based speckle-tracking algorithm was used to compute tissue displacements at ∼30,000 kernels distributed within the region of interest (ROI), and the components of the strain tensors were calculated at each kernel by using least square estimation of the displacement gradients. The accuracy of displacement calculation was evaluated using simulated rigid-body translation on ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) data obtained from a porcine posterior eye. The accuracy of strain calculation was evaluated using finite element (FE) models. Three porcine eyes were tested showing that ONH deformation was heterogeneous with localized high strains. Substantial radial (i.e., through-thickness) compression was observed in the anterior ONH and out-of-plane (i.e., perpendicular to the surface of the shell) shear was shown to concentrate in the vicinity of ONH/PPT border. These preliminary results demonstrated the feasibility of this technique to achieve comprehensive 3D evaluation of the mechanical responses of the posterior eye, which may provide mechanistic insights into the regional susceptibility in glaucoma.
Toric Spines at a Site of Learning

We discovered a new type of dendritic spine. It is found on space-specific neurons in the barn owl inferior colliculus, a site of experience-dependent plasticity. Connectomic analysis revealed dendritic protrusions of unusual morphology including topological holes, hence termed "toric" spines (n = 76). More significantly, presynaptic terminals converging onto individual toric spines displayed numerous active zones (up to 49) derived from multiple axons (up to 11) with incoming trajectories distributed widely throughout 3D space. This arrangement is suited to integrate input sources. Dense reconstruction of two toric spines revealed that they were unconnected with the majority (∼84%) of intertwined axons, implying a high capacity for information storage. We developed an ex vivo slice preparation and provide the first published data on space-specific neuron intrinsic properties, including cellular subtypes with and without toric-like spines. We propose that toric spines are a cellular locus of sensory integration and behavioral learning.
Validation of the Elderly Risk Assessment Index in the Emergency Department.

Abstract Objectives The Elderly Risk Assessment (ERA) score is a validated index for primary care patients that predict hospitalizations, mortality, and Emergency Department (ED) visits. The score incorporates age, prior hospital days, marital status, and comorbidities. Our aim was to validate the ERA score in ED patients. Methods Observational cohort study of patients age ≥ 60 presenting to an academic ED over a 1-year period. Regression analyses were performed for associations with outcomes (hospitalization, return visits and death). Medians, interquartile range (IQR), odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Results The cohort included 27,397 visits among 18,607 patients. Median age 74 years (66–82), 48% were female and 59% were married. Patients from 54% of visits were admitted to the hospital, 16% returned to the ED within 30 days, and 18% died within one year. Higher ERA scores were associated with: hospital admission (score 10 [4–16] vs 5 [1–11], p Conclusion The ERA score can be automatically calculated within the electronic health record and helps identify patients at increased risk of death, hospitalization and return ED visits. The ERA score can be applied to ED patients, and may help prognosticate the need for advanced care planning.
Mild sleep restriction increases 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in premenopausal women with no indication of mediation by psychological effects.

Abstract Background Studies assessing the impact of sleep restriction (SR) on blood pressure (BP) are limited by short study length, extreme SR ( Methods A community-based cohort was assembled with 237 women (age 34.1 ± 13.5 years; body mass index 25.4 ± 5.4 kg/m2), and a randomized, crossover, intervention study was conducted in 41 women (24 completed: age 30.2 ± 6.5 years; body mass index 24.3 ± 2.8 kg/m2) to determine the causal effect of SR on BP. Sleep was maintained as usual (HS) or reduced by 1.5 hours a night (SR) for 6 weeks. In the cohort, associations between sleep and psychosocial factors were evaluated using multivariable models adjusted for demographic and clinical confounders. In the intervention study, in-office BP was measured weekly; ambulatory BP was measured at end point. Psychological factors were assessed at baseline and end point. Mixed-model analyses with total sleep time (TST, main predictor), week and fraction of time spent in physical activity (covariates), and subject (random effect) were performed. Results Among the community cohort, higher perceived stress, stressful events and distress, and lower resilience were associated with shorter sleep, worse sleep quality, and greater insomnia symptoms (P Conclusions These results suggest that SR influences CVD risk in women via mechanisms independent of psychological stressors.
Rhinovirus and Respiratory Disease

Human rhinovirus (HRV) has long been known to infect the upper respiratory tract, i.e., nasal passages, paranasal sinuses, and pharynx. However, it has recently become clear that HRV infection also causes exacerbations of chronic respiratory diseases affecting the lower respiratory tract, i.e., the larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. Recent data hint at the possibility that HRV infections not only cause exacerbations of asthma but also influence the severity of the disease, and they may even be involved in its initial pathogenesis. Eosinophils and eosinophil cationic protein have been detected in the airways following experimental HRV infection, and asthma patients show more eosinophils than controls. In vitro studies have noted attachment of HRV to peripheral blood monocytes and airway macrophages, with subsequent secretion of numerous proinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and IFNs. Cultured HeLa cells were infected with lung homogenates from HRV1B-treated mice. Together, these results strongly suggest that HRV1B causes viral RNA replication with a productive infection in wild- type mice. HRV has been detected in secretions and epithelial cells of the segmental bronchial epithelium and is associated with exacerbations of chronic respiratory diseases affecting the lower airways, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis (CF). New animal models demonstrate that HRV infection and allergen exposure have synergistic effects on bronchial inflammation and hyperreactivity. The large number of serotypes of HRV indicates that a novel strategy may be necessary for generating an effective vaccine.
The Oxfordian Era on the Supreme Court

With the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court lost one of its most brilliant and controversial justices, and "Oxfordians" lost one of the most distinguished figures ever to support the theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), was the true author of the works published under the name "William Shakespeare."What is even more interesting, and not especially well known among lawyers, legal scholars, or otherwise, is that Justice Scalia was only one of several Supreme Court justices to embrace Oxfordian, or at least "non-Stratfordian" views, on the Shakespeare authorship question (SAQ). "Stratfordian" refers to the prevailing orthodox theory that the author was William Shakspere (as his name was spelled in birth and death records) of Stratford-upon-Avon (1564-1616). Oxfordians (and other non-Stratfordians, some of whom favor other possible authorship candidates) believe that "Shakespeare" was a pseudonym for the true author.Justice Scalia's 30-year tenure on the Supreme Court coincides with an Oxfordian (or non-Stratfordian) era in which as many as five (and possibly more) justices have embraced such unorthodox views about the authorship of what many view as the greatest canon of literary work in human history.
Comparing the pharmacokinetics of extended-release tacrolimus (LCP-TAC) to immediate-release formulations in kidney transplant patients.

Introduction One of the most commonly used immunosuppressants in organ transplant, tacrolimus exhibits wide interpatient and intrapatient variability and narrow therapeutic index that necessitates routine concentration monitoring and dosage adjustments. Availability of prolonged-release tacrolimus capsules (PR-TAC) and extended-release tacrolimus tablets (LCP-TAC) offer once-daily dosing options. The objective of this review is to highlight and compare available pharmacokinetic (PK) data of LCP-TAC to immediate-release tacrolimus (IR-TAC) in kidney transplant recipients. Areas covered A review of the literature was performed using PubMed and Embase search to identify relevant articles evaluating PK data for LCP-TAC compared to IR-TAC in kidney transplant patients including special populations. Expert opinion LCP-TAC's unique PK profile may be more favorable than IR-TAC. While the clinical impact of these PK differences have not been established, several outcomes are being evaluated in ongoing studies. Results of these studies will add information incrementally to care for kidney transplant patients. Larger prospective studies evaluating kidney and patient survival differences are needed but it is unlikely that they will be conducted. Given that the patent exclusivity of LCP-TAC for the next several years and imminent loss of exclusivity of PR-TAC, our opinion is the use of LCP-TAC will be increasing, especially in Europe.
Classical Analysis of a Mechanism with Two Dyads

The planar motion of a mechanism with three moving links is analyzed. Symbolical and numerical MATLAB are used for the kinematics and dynamics of the system. The classical vectorial equations for velocity and acceleration of the rigid body are used. The joint reaction forces and the moment applied to the driver link are calculated for a given position with Newton-Euler equations for inverse dynamics.
The challenge of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in women and children

Physicians in the field of reproductive health care have a special interest in reducing the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in women and their offspring. The majority of women with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) acquired infection through needle sharing. Sexual transmission of HIV appears to be less effective than transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases. The risk of male-to-female transmission from an infected partner has been estimated at 7-21%. The risk of perinatal transmission from the infected mother to her infant is far higher however--at least 65%. There is also evidence that the immunosuppression of pregnancy may accelerate progression to AIDS in asymptomatic HIV carriers. In the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment prevention of AIDS requires education about safe behaviors. A sizable decrease in the rate of transmission of HIV could occur if persons considered whether their partner might be infected before initiating sexual contact. Prevention of pediatric AIDS depends on the prevention of infection in women and the prevention of transmission from infected women. Women infected with HIV should be advised to avoid pregnancy and given highest priority for family planning services. Since many infected women are asymptomatic HIV antibody testing is the only reliable way to determine whether a woman is actually infected. Such testing however should be limited to women believed at risk of HIV infection. Prenatal testing if done early can allow more options in the management of pregnancy yet studies have found that women with positive HIV antibody tests do not elect to terminate their pregnancies at a higher rate than women whose test results are negative.
Regulation of Acetyl CoA Carboxylase by Insulin and Other Hormones

Acetyl CoA carboxylase (E.C. 6.4.1.2.) catalyzes the first committed step of fatty acid synthesis, namely, the biotin-dependent conversion of acetyl CoA to malonyl CoA by the fixation of bicarbonate. Given this pivotal position, the modulation of its activity serves as an important locus for the regulation of the rate of fatty acid synthesis. It seems clear that it is not the only potential locus, for several other more proximal steps leading to the generation of cytoplasmic acetyl CoA are also subject to acute regulation. These include the uptake of glucose and other precursor molecules, as well as the reactions catalyzed by phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, and pyruvate dehydrogenase.(l) However, the study of the regulation of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) has proved an excellent reporter system for detailing the mechanisms by which several hormones, including insulin, regulate enzyme activity. This chapter first reviews the current information regarding the complexities of the overall regulation of ACC activity and then focuses on the specific issue of acute regulation by hormones.
Collaborative Institutional Agency: How Peer Learning in Communities of Practice Enables and Inhibits Micro-Institutional Change

Research on micro-institutional change typically characterizes agents as being involved in social conflicts to defend the institutional status quo or to mobilize against it. However, agency inside organizations can be precipitated by the need to resolve practice dilemmas in uncertain and ambiguous institutional contexts. The findings from a comparative case study of two public schools in the United States undergoing state-mandated reform demonstrate that, when agency is born of uncertainty and ambiguity rather than political conflict and struggle, micro-institutional change depends on the dynamics of agents’ peer learning in communities of practice. In some cases, agents’ communities are organized to effectively seed new ideas and generate social pressures needed to encourage the uptake of new ideas. In other cases, the pattern of agents’ interactions in communities results in persistent cognitive and social disorganization so that newly seeded ideas cannot take root or spread. I refer to the particular d...
A Knowledge-Based System for the Detection and Diagnosis of Out-of-Control Events in Manufacturing Processes

In this paper, we discuss a system which combines statistical process control principles and knowledge of the process to automatically arrive at a comprehensive detection and diagnosis of out-of-control conditions in a manufacturing process. This approach consists of capturing data from the process and passing selected signals from it through a two level decision-making system. The first level of this system employs nonlinear filtering techniques to detect three features (peaks, steps, and ramps) of the input signals. These features are examined to produce a set of out-of-control events. The second level of the process applies a ruleset to each event using a backward chaining algorithm to attempt to diagnose a process cause that led to the event. Status reports of diagnosed and undiagnosed events are generated by the system. A detailed description of the entire system and some discussion of its use in an actual aluminum rolling mill will be presented.
Enzymatic synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid. 28. The pyrophosphate exchange and pyrophosphorolysis reactions of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase.

The pyrophosphate (PPi) exchange reaction catalyzed by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase is identical with the polymerization reaction in its requirements for a template, strict specificity in base pairing, and a 3′-hydroxyl-terminated primer strand. However, in contrast to polymerization, appreciable exchange is obtained in the absence of a full complement of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. Inhibition of synthesis by PPi as measured by the difference between PPi release and nucleotide incorporation from deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, can be accounted for by PPi exchange. The PPi exchange reaction appears to represent the removal by PPi of the newly incorporated nucleotide prior to its complete stabilization by the entry of the next triphosphate. The degradation of DNA by PPi (pyrophosphorolysis) appears to differ from the PPi exchange reaction in that it is inhibited by deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, attains a steady state plateau, and has a lower pH optimum and a slower rate. Some of these differences may depend on the requirement that progressive pyrophosphorolysis places on progressive movement of the DNA chain relative to the enzyme. The results are discussed in relation to the mechanism of the PPi exchange reaction and to all polymerase functions in a model with a single active center for the enzyme.
Ray tracing within a data parallel framework

Current architectural trends on supercomputers have dramatic increases in the number of cores and available computational power per die, but this power is increasingly difficult for programmers to harness effectively. High-level language constructs can simplify programming many-core devices, but this ease comes with a potential loss of processing power, particularly for cross-platform constructs. Recently, scientific visualization packages have embraced language constructs centering around data parallelism, with familiar operators such as map, reduce, gather, and scatter. Complete adoption of data parallelism will require that central visualization algorithms be revisited, and expressed in this new paradigm while preserving both functionality and performance. This investment has a large potential payoff: portable performance in software bases that can span over the many architectures that scientific visualization applications run on. With this work, we present a method for ray tracing consisting of entirely of data parallel primitives. Given the extreme computational power on nodes now prevalent on supercomputers, we believe that ray tracing can supplant rasterization as the work-horse graphics solution for scientific visualization. Our ray tracing method is relatively efficient, and we describe its performance with a series of tests, and also compare to leading-edge ray tracers that are optimized for specific platforms. We find that our data parallel approach leads to results that are acceptable for many scientific visualization use cases, with the key benefit of providing a single code base that can run on many architectures.
Playing the regulatory game: Network modernization

Abstract This Comment examines the relationship between regulatory processes and technological innovation in the USA, using games theory to analyse three regulatory proceedings. It suggests that, by creating new market opportunities and competitive dynamics, technological innovation drives regulatory reform at least as much as regulatory structures influence the deployment of technological innovations. It emphasizes the significance of the political dimension of regulatory processes, both within and beyond formal proceedings.