cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Executing Charles Starkweather: Lethal punishment in an age of rehabilitation

In the 1950s, the use and popularity of the death penalty declined as penal welfarism pervaded political and academic approaches to crime control. Analysis of responses to the 1958 crimes and 1959 ...
Effect of Body Mass Index on Range of Motion and Manipulation After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract This study evaluates the effects of increased body mass index (BMI) on postoperative range of motion (ROM) and rate of manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in 391 primary TKAs. Range of motion and incidence of MUA were retrospectively collected and compared between 4 BMI groups (I, BMI 35) using χ 2 or Fisher exact tests. Patients with higher BMIs had a greater incidence of MUA (I, 9.7%; II, 19%; III, 20%; IV, 15%) and lower preoperative and postoperative ROM. Women had lower ROM and a higher rate of MUA. Age was not a significant predictor of ROM or rate of MUA. Patients at greater risk of complications after TKA should be counseled about realistic surgical outcomes.
Predictive 5-Year Survivorship Model of Cystic Fibrosis

The objective of this study was to create a 5-year survivorship model to identify key clinical features of cystic fibrosis. Such a model could help researchers and clinicians to evaluate therapies, improve the design of prospective studies, monitor practice patterns, counsel individual patients, and determine the best candidates for lung transplantation. The authors used information from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry (CFFPR), which has collected longitudinal data on approximately 90% of cystic fibrosis patients diagnosed in the United States since 1986. They developed multivariate logistic regression models by using data on 5,820 patients randomly selected from 11,630 in the CFFPR in 1993. Models were tested for goodness of fit and were validated for the remaining 5,810 patients for 1993. The validated 5-year survivorship model included age, forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percentage of predicted normal, gender, weight-for-age z score, pancreatic sufficiency, diabetes mellitus, Staphylococcus aureus infection, Burkerholderia cepacia infection, and annual number of acute pulmonary exacerbations. The model provides insights into the complex nature of cystic fibrosis and supplies a rigorous tool for clinical practice and research.
Pharmacodynamics in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Pharmacokinetic variability clearly influences the outcome of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but its utility as a clinical risk factor is limited when patients receive complex multiagent regimens of chemotherapy. However, judicious use of pharmacodynamic measures can increase the precision of risk assessment and guide the selection of therapy. For example, patients with slow reduction of their initial leukemic cell burden are excellent candidates for intensified chemotherapy. Also, recent studies indicate that the level of minimal residual leukemia, as measured by immunological or molecular methods at the time of remission induction, is highly predictive of treatment outcome. Patients achieving a“molecular”or“immunologic”remission, defined as leukemic involvement of less than 0.01% of mononucleated bone marrow cells, are predicted to have a better clinical outcome than those in whom remission is identified solely by blast cell morphologic criteria. A related approach is to measure specific biochemical endpoints that correlate closely with druginduced cytotoxicity.
Making a difference in recurrent erosion syndrome

One of my favorite diagnoses is recurrent ero-sion syndrome (RES) since patients withrecurrent erosions are some of the most satis-fying (for the patient an d for me) to treat. Themajority of patients I see with RES havealready been accurately diagnosed by theirreferring doctor. Patients typically have theclassic symptoms of foreign body sensation orfrank eye pain occurring suddenly in the mid-dle of the night or upon awakening in themorning. The pain can last from seconds tominutes to hours, depending on the amountof corneal epithelial disruption. Patients oftenhave obvious anterior basement membranedystrophy (ABMD) in the affected eye or ahistory of corneal trauma, most commonlyfrom a fingernail, tree branch or paper edge.Much less commonly, patients may also have areadily apparent corneal problem, such asReis-Bucklers or lattice corneal dystrophy, as areason for their erosions.Some patients have a less revealing historyand few prominent clinical findings. Occa-sionally, patients may not recall the cornealtrauma initially and may need to be askedspecifically about any ocular injury. Addi-tionally, the traumatic incident may not beall that recent. On slit lamp examination, thefindings can be quite subtle. Mild ABMDchanges are often best appreciated by using awide slit beam angled from the side. Fluores-cein dye may reveal areas of mild negativestaining, highlighting regions of ABMD orareas of recent epithelial loosening. Usingretroillumination through a dilated pupil,faint epithelial irregularities may becomemore apparent. Careful examination of thefellow eye may also demonstrate ABMDchanges.Once the diagnosis is made (or highly sus-pected), I discuss the condition and treatmentoptions with the patient
Antiplatelet Therapy and Adverse Hematologic Events During Heart Mate II Support

Background — Hematologic adverse events are common during continuous flow left ventricular assist device support; yet, their relation to antiplatelet therapy, including aspirin (ASA) dosing, is uncertain. Methods and Results— A single-center retrospective review of all patients supported by a continuous flow left ventricular assist device (Heart Mate II) from June 2006 to November 2014 was conducted. Patients were categorized into 3 groups: (1) ASA 81 mg+dipyridamole 75 mg daily (n=26) with a target international normalized ratio (INR) of 2 to 3 from June 2006 to August 2009; (2) ASA 81 mg daily (n=18) from September 2009 to August 2011 with a target INR of 1.5 to 2; and (3) ASA 325 mg daily from September 2011 to November 2014 with a target INR of 2 to 3 (n=70). Hemorrhagic and thrombotic outcomes were retrieved ≤365 days after implantation. Cumulative survival free from adverse events was calculated using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard ratios were generated. Hemorrhagic events occurred in 6 patients on ASA 81 mg+dipyridamole (26%; 0.42 events per patient year; mean INR at event, 2.2), 4 patients on ASA 81 mg (22%; 0.38 events per patient year; mean INR at event, 2.0), and in 38 patients on ASA 325 mg (54%; 1.4 events per patient year; mean INR at event, 2.2); P =0.004. Patients on ASA 325 mg had a higher adjusted hazard ratio of 2.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.2–7.0 versus ASA 81 mg+dipyridamole; P =0.02) and 3.4 (95% confidence interval, 1.2–9.5 versus ASA 81 mg; P =0.02) for hemorrhagic events. Thrombotic events rates were not different between groups. Conclusions— High-dose ASA in Heart Mate II patients treated concomitantly with warfarin is associated with an increased hazard of bleeding but does not reduce thrombotic events.
It’s the who not the when: An investigation of safety behavior fading in exposure to contamination

The judicious use of safety behavior may enhance the acceptability of exposure. However, practical questions concerning safety behavior fading remain. The current study compared the efficacy and acceptability of participant- and experimenter-initiated fading of safety behavior during exposure. Undergraduate students (N=100) with subclinical contamination fear were assigned to complete an exposure session under one of three fading conditions: (1) participant-initiated (PI); (2) experimenter-initiated time (ET), in which the timing of safety behavior fading was yoked to the timing observed in PI; or (3) experimenter-initiated distress (ED), in which fading was based on subjective distress ratings. Compared to ET, PI demonstrated greater reductions in obsessive beliefs and peak fear, comparable changes in anticipatory fear and behavioral approach, and marginally higher expectancy ratings. PI and ED did not differ in outcome or acceptability. Results are discussed in terms of self-efficacy theory and the potential utility of safety behavior in exposure.
Global Perspectives on Global History: Another world? Thinking globally about history in China

Patterns of Chinese historiography prior to the mid-nineteenth century In many Western societies, central currents of academic scholarship have long treated the main patterns of the European past as a largely autochthonous process. In particular, present cultures of historiography in Europe are often portrayed as outcomes of homegrown traditions and conceptual innovations. For Chinese scholars and public intellectuals, however, such professional negligence of global entanglements and influences from the outside world has no longer been possible for generations. In contrast to many popular notions of continued cultural solipsism in the East, forms of global consciousness have played much more central roles within the community of modern Chinese historians than among their peers in most Western academic systems. Since the late nineteenth century, it has been almost impossible to conceptualize Chinese history without paying attention to the wide spectrum of discontinuities and influences, which in some cases have been referred to as the “internationalization of China.” Even the most patriotic accounts of modern Chinese history cannot deny the massive impact of international powers and global transformations on the former Middle Kingdom, particularly from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. Because the ensuing waves of changes also reconfigured China's institutions of higher learning and sociologies of knowledge, it is almost impossible to argue that Chinese historical scholarship in its present state is primarily the product of endogenous developments.
Young Children Treat Robots as Informants.

Children ranging from 3 to 5 years were introduced to two anthropomorphic robots that provided them with information about unfamiliar animals. Children treated the robots as interlocutors. They supplied information to the robots and retained what the robots told them. Children also treated the robots as informants from whom they could seek information. Consistent with studies of children's early sensitivity to an interlocutor's non-verbal signals, children were especially attentive and receptive to whichever robot displayed the greater non-verbal contingency. Such selective information seeking is consistent with recent findings showing that although young children learn from others, they are selective with respect to the informants that they question or endorse.
Bovine thrombin: history, use, and risk in the surgical patient.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Patients with massive PE have a high mortality rate, with two of every three deaths occurring in the first hour. The mainstay of treatment for PE is anticoagulation. However, when the patient is in extremis, intravenous lysis of the clot is indicated. Recently, mechanical fragmentation with or without pharmacologic thrombolysis has been shown to have a role in therapy for patients with massive PE, as well as in those patients who have a contraindication to anticoagulation. We discuss our experience with mechanical fragmentation in the treatment of PE and review the literature.
Exquisitely Specific Bisubstrate Inhibitors of c-Src Kinase

We have developed a modular approach to bisubstrate inhibition of protein kinases. We apply our methodology to c-Src and identify a highly selective bisubstrate inhibitor for this target. Our approach has yielded the most selective c-Src inhibitor to date, and the methodology to render the bisubstrate inhibitor cell-permeable provides a highly valuable tool for the study of c-Src signaling. In addition, we have applied our bisubstrate inhibitor to develop a novel screening methodology to identify non-ATP-competitive inhibitors of c-Src. Using this methodology, we have discovered the most potent non-ATP-competitive inhibitor reported to date. Our methodology is designed to be general and could be applicable to additional kinases inhibited by the promiscuous ATP-competitive fragment used in our studies.
Identification and Management of a “Short Esophagus” and a Complex Hiatus

Normally, several centimeters of the distal esophagus and the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) lie below the hiatus within the abdomen. When the GEJ, the fundus of the stomach, or both migrate into the chest above the hiatus, a hiatal hernia is present. Intrinsic to the repair of a hiatal hernia is the need to bring the GEJ, stomach, and distal esophagus back into the abdomen. In some patients, the esophagus has shortened related to chronic reflux injury or a large hiatal hernia, and in these patients, a Collis gastroplasty can be useful to reduce tension on the repair and hopefully prevent a recurrent hernia. The original Collis gastroplasty was a transthoracic procedure, but techniques have been developed to allow a Collis gastroplasty to be done as part of a laparoscopic operation with good outcomes.
Giant piezoelectric voltage coefficient in grain-oriented modified PbTiO 3 material

A rapid surge in the research on piezoelectric sensors is occurring with the arrival of the Internet of Things. Single-phase oxide piezoelectric materials with giant piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g, induced voltage under applied stress) and high Curie temperature (Tc) are crucial towards providing desired performance for sensing, especially under harsh environmental conditions. Here, we report a grain-oriented (with 95% texture) modified PbTiO3 ceramic that has a high Tc (364 °C) and an extremely large g33 (115 × 10-3 Vm N-1) in comparison with other known single-phase oxide materials. Our results reveal that self-polarization due to grain orientation along the spontaneous polarization direction plays an important role in achieving large piezoelectric response in a domain motion-confined material. The phase field simulations confirm that the large piezoelectric voltage coefficient g33 originates from maximized piezoelectric strain coefficient d33 and minimized dielectric permittivity ɛ33 in [001]-textured PbTiO3 ceramics where domain wall motions are absent.
Understanding the Developing Persuasive Writing Practices of an Adolescent Emergent Bilingual through Systemic Functional Linguistics: A Case Study

This article presents the findings of a qualitative case study which stems from a teacher action-research project that analyzes the persuasive academic writing practices of an adolescent, beginning-level English language learner (ELL) and the teaching practices of a veteran English as second language teacher (the author). The author, who is also the teacher and researcher, details the implementation of a Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL)-based pedagogy designed to support ELLs in increasing their control of the linguistic resources necessary to write persuasive texts in school contexts. The SFL analysis of written persuasive arguments composed by the focal student before and after the implementation of the SFL-based pedagogy indicates the student’s increased control of both discourse structure and register. This purpose of the study is twofold: to present a detailed exploration of SFL pedagogy in practice and to demonstrate how teachers can use SFL to understand the developing writing practices of their emergent bilingual students.
Preparing Florida Pasture for Grassland Restoration: Seedling Establishment after Herbiciding and Tilling

ABSTRACT: Nonnative pasture grasses established for agriculture and livestock husbandry have replaced countless acres of natural habitat in the last century of Florida history. Many endemic species, such as cutthroat grass (Coleataenia abscissa), are now endangered and may not return to areas until the dominant pasture grass has been removed. To determine the best strategy for native revegetation, we examined the effects of two soil preparations (tilling and no tilling) in pasture plots dominated by bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) on the Archbold Reserve in south-central Florida. In preparation for the experiment, the No-Till and Till plots were first herbicided with glyphosate and burned to remove bahiagrass cover and expose the seed bank, then the Till plots were disked to a depth of 5–10 cm. Reference plots were left undisturbed to provide a pre-restoration baseline. The pre-tilling herbicide application and burn reduced bahiagrass cover in experimental plots to an average of 24% compared to 80% in refer...
The Role of the Rhythm Step on Pro-Agility Test Performance in Division I Football Players.

Purpose: The pro-agility test is a common test in multiple sports. A common way to start is the crossover step (CS) where athletes start the drill by crossing one leg over the other. However, the r...
A liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for quantitating total and unbound ceritinib in patient plasma and brain tumor.

Abstract A rapid, sensitive, and robust reversed-phase liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of total and unbound ceritinib, a second-generation ALK inhibitor, in patient plasma and brain tumor tissue samples. Sample preparation involved simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column using a 4-min gradient elution consisting of mobile phase A (0.1% formic acid in water) and mobile phase B (0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile), at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Ceritinib and the internal standard ([13C6]ceritinib) were monitored using multiple reaction monitoring mode under positive electrospray ionization. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) was 1 nM of ceritinib in plasma. The calibration curve was linear over ceritinib concentration range of 1–2000 nM in plasma. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were within the generally accepted criteria for bioanalytical method (
Do Mutual Fund Investors Care About Auditor Quality

We study the influence of perceived auditor quality on investment decisions by bond mutual fund investors. Audits of bond mutual funds require significant auditor expertise. Fund managers estimate daily the fair market values of holdings that are often opaque and illiquid. Managers can use their discretion to manipulate their fund's performance results. While it is known that investment flows into funds that report good past performance, little evidence exists about whether investors’ confidence in the reliability of fund financial reports is influenced by auditor quality. Using hand-collected data from SEC filings, we find that the positive association between reported performance and investment flows is stronger for funds with auditors who are industry specialists and are longer-tenured, as well as for funds that pay higher audit fees. We do not find that auditor office size strengthens the association. We also find that the presence of industry-specialist auditors, long-tenured auditors, and higher audit fees lead to additional disclosure in the form of emphasis-of-matter. This study contributes to the streams of research investigating perceived audit quality, fund investment decisions, and auditing for financial services. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Engineering: Reclusive genius who connected the world

W. Bernard Carlson relishes a biography of a self-taught engineer who revolutionized telecommunications.
Multi-Scale Pull-Out Resistance of Steel Reinforcing Bar Embedded in Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Concrete (HYFRC)

This paper investigates the pull-out resistance of a steel reinforcing bar embedded in a strain hardening hybrid fiber reinforced concrete that utilizes both polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microfibers and hooked-end steel macrofibers. Both unconfined and specimens confined with transverse steel spiral reinforcements were investigated. Pull-out tests on rebars embedded in unconfined concrete revealed brittle splitting failure whereas rebars embedded in unconfined HyFRC exhibited ductile frictional pull-out behavior. The high early rebar pull-out resistance in HyFRC is linked to an improved pull-out resistance of the steel macrofibers due to the micro/macrofiber synergy. Steel macrofiber pull-out tests revealed that the PVA microfibers are very effective in enhancing the pull-out resistance of the steel macrofibers which then lead to an overall performance enhancement of the rebar pull-out resistance.
Predicting a Threshold of Perceived Facebook Post Success via Likes and Reactions: A Test of Explanatory Mechanisms

Individuals frequently engage in self-presentation via social media and can subsequently receive various simple communicative cues (paralinguistic digital affordances; PDAs) from which they may det...
Layered metal(IV) phosphonate materials: Solid-state 1 H, 13 C, 31 P NMR spectra and NMR relaxation.

Multinuclear solid-state NMR and powder X-ray diffraction data collected for phosphonate materials Zr(O3 PC6 H4 PO3 ) · 3.6H2 O and Sn(O3 PC6 H4 PO3 )0.85 (O3 POH)0.30 · 3.09H2 O have resulted in the layered structure, where the phosphonic acids cross-link the layers. The main structural motif (the 111 connectivity in the PO3 group) has been established by determination of chemical shift anisotropy parameters for phosphorus nuclei in the phosphonate groups. An analysis of the variable-temperature 31 P T1 measurements and the shapes of the phosphorus resonances in the 31 P static NMR spectra have resulted in the dipolar mechanism of the phosphorus spin-lattice relaxation, where the rotating phenylene rings reorient dipolar vectors P… H as a driving force of the relaxation process. It has been found that water protons do not affect the 31 P T1 times. The activation energy of the phenylene rotation in both compounds has been determined as low as 12.5 kJ/mol. The interpretation of the phosphorus relaxation data has been independently confirmed by the measurements of 1 H T1 times for protons of the phenylene rings.
Faculty development in liberal arts colleges: a look at divisional trends, preferences, and needs

This research explores faculty development through the lens of academic division as an important, career defining characteristic of the professoriate. Relying on data from a longitudinal, mixed-met...
An algorithm to sample genotypes in complex pedigrees

Until recently, genetic analyses were based on polygenic models. In these analyses the effects of individual genes were not studied. With the advances that have been made in molecular genetics, it has become possible to study the effects of individual genes using segregation and linkage analyses, by either likelihood or Bayesian methods. These analyses require that several generations of individuals in the population have genetic information at the marker and trait loci. Depending on the cost and benefits of genotyping, it is common that only some individuals are genotyped. Thus, a large fraction of the population would usually have no genetic information available. When genetic data at the trait and marker loci are incomplete, genotypes must be sampled. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, such as ScalarGibbs, have been used to sample these genotypes. However, the Markov chain that corresponds to scalar-Gibbs may not be irreducible when the marker locus has more than two alleles, and even when the chain is irreducible, mixing has been observed to be slow. These problems do not arise if the genotypes are sampled jointly from the entire pedigree. This thesis proposes a method to jointly sample genotypes. The method combines the Elston-Stewart algorithm and iterative peeling, and is called the ESIP sampler. The ESIP sampler is evaluated by computing genotype probabilities for a monogenic trait in a small hypothetical pedigree and in a large real pedigree. Further, results obtained by ESIP sampler are compared with other methods in the literature that sample genotypes at marker loci with more than two alleles. Of the methods that are guaranteed to be irreducible, ESIP was the most efficient. Finally, the ESIP sampler is used for mapping quantitative trait loci in a simulated pedigree using the Bayasian approach.
The Effects of Class Inspection Under MIL-STD-105D

A discussion of the effect of grouping defects by classes while using MIL-STD-105D is presented both in terms of acceptance probabilities and cost. Proposals are made for establishing more realistic AQL values dependent on the number of defects being gr..
Nucleosome Motion: Evidence and Models

Much of the voluminous literature concerning nucleosome arrangement in chromatin has implicitly assumed this to be a static structure, with the histone cores fixed in place upon the DNA. There exists, however, a growing body of evidence to indicate that under certain circumstances the cores can migrate along the DNA, both in vitro and in vivo. The first suggestion of such migration came from observations1–4 of anomalously close spacing of some histone cores in chromatin that had been depleted of the very lysine-rich histones. The presence of these “compact oligomers” was observed in the specific cases in which the very lysine-rich histones had been removed by extraction of the chromatin with salt solutions in the concentration range 0.5–0.65 M. This suggested that such structures might be generated under such conditions. This postulate was elegantly confirmed by Weischet5, who showed that nuclei depleted of H1 by a low pH, low salt extraction did not yield compact oligonucleosomes upon nuclease digestion, but that such structures could be found after the nuclei were incubated in salt concentrations greater than 0.3 M. That sliding, rather than nucleosome displacement and reassociation must be involved was indicated by the earlier studies of Germond et al.6, who had shown that histone cores could only be displaced from chromatin by salt concentrations in excess of 0.8 M.
A Simulation Study on Reinforcement Learning for Navigation Application

In this paper we have contributed work on implementation of Q-learning, a reinforcement, nonparameter based learning and decision making method. have formulated and demonstrated the Q-learning algorithm via simulation. The work includes formulation of a pseudo-code and development of algorithm taking into account of an application. The application of reinforcement learning is simulated through a conceptual agriculture field, where a robot is commanded to reach at trees and finally delivers the fruits to the storage point (goal). We have studied the effectiveness of g and a. The results show that the learning parameter (g) and the learning rate (a) are the two important parameters to be considered while developing Q-learning based reinforcement algorithm for specific application. We have also established the optimal values of g and a of an application through a simulation study.
Hypoxemia During Tracheostomy

There are many pulmonary issues to be considered prior to a patient having a tracheostomy. The many possible contributing factors to hypoxemia while a tracheostomy is being performed are reviewed in this lesson.
Effect of aflatoxin B1, benzo[a]pyrene, and methapyrilene on transcriptomic and epigenetic alterations in human liver HepaRG cells.

Abstract The increasing number of man-made chemicals in the environment that may pose a carcinogenic risk highlights the need for developing reliable time- and cost-effective approaches for carcinogen detection and identification. To address this issue, we investigated the utility of high-throughput microarray gene expression and next-generation genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing for the in vitro identification of genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogens. Terminally differentiated and metabolically competent human liver HepaRG cells were treated at minimally cytotoxic concentrations of (i) the genotoxic human liver carcinogen aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and its structural non-carcinogenic analog aflatoxin B2 (AFB2); (ii) the genotoxic human lung carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and its non-carcinogenic isomer benzo[e]pyrene (B[e]P); and (iii) the non-genotoxic liver carcinogen methapyrilene for 72 h and transcriptomic and DNA methylation profiles were examined. Treatment of HepaRG cells with the liver carcinogens AFB1 and methapyrilene generated distinct gene-expression profiles, whereas B[a]P had only a slight effect on gene expression. In contrast to transcriptomic alterations, treatment of HepaRG cells with the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals resulted in profound changes in the DNA methylation footprint; however, the correlation between gene-specific DNA methylation and gene expression changes was minimal. Among the carcinogen-altered genes, transferrin (TF) emerged as sensitive marker for an initial screening of chemicals for their potential liver carcinogenicity. Potential liver carcinogens (i.e., chemicals causing altered TF gene expression) could then be subjected to gene-expression analyses to differentiate genotoxic from non-genotoxic liver carcinogens. This approach may substantially enhance the identification and assessment of potential liver carcinogens.
Marla Carlson. Affect, Animals, and Autists: Feeling around the Edges of the Human in Performance.

Marla Carlson’s Affect, Animals, and Autists presents a comprehensive survey of affective responses to performances that involve the simulated, symbolic, and actual presence of animals and people o...
Electronic Structure Study of the [Ag−Ag]4−, [Au−Au]4−, and [Hg−Hg]2− Zintl Anions in the Intermetallic Compounds Yb3Ag2, Ca5Au4, and Ca3Hg2: Transition Metal Anions As p-Metal Elements

The chemical bonding of the M2 dimers (M = Ag, Au, Hg) present in Yb3Ag2, Ca5Au4 and Ca3Hg2 was examined on the basis of first principles electronic band structure calculations. In these compounds, the 6s- and 5d-block bands of M are completely filled while the frontier levels of M are given by partially filled 6p-block bands such that the transition metal atoms M are best described as anions with electron configuration (5d)10(6s)2(6p)1. Thus, the M2 dimers (M = Ag, Au, Hg) of Yb3Ag2, Ca5Au4 and Ca3Hg2 are present as [Ag−Ag]4−, [Au−Au]4−, and [Hg−Hg]2− Zintl-anions, respectively, in these compounds in which the M2 dimers have a single bond formed by the pσ−pσ interaction between the 5p and 6p orbitals of M atoms. The anions of late transition metal elements are different from those of late main group elements in their tendency for covalent bond formation.
Cliques and cavities in the human connectome

Encoding brain regions and their connections as a network of nodes and edges captures many of the possible paths along which information can be transmitted as humans process and perform complex behaviors. Because cognitive processes involve large, distributed networks of brain areas, principled examinations of multi-node routes within larger connection patterns can offer fundamental insights into the complexities of brain function. Here, we investigate both densely connected groups of nodes that could perform local computations as well as larger patterns of interactions that would allow for parallel processing. Finding such structures necessitates that we move from considering exclusively pairwise interactions to capturing higher order relations, concepts naturally expressed in the language of algebraic topology. These tools can be used to study mesoscale network structures that arise from the arrangement of densely connected substructures called cliques in otherwise sparsely connected brain networks. We detect cliques (all-to-all connected sets of brain regions) in the average structural connectomes of 8 healthy adults scanned in triplicate and discover the presence of more large cliques than expected in null networks constructed via wiring minimization, providing architecture through which brain network can perform rapid, local processing. We then locate topological cavities of different dimensions, around which information may flow in either diverging or converging patterns. These cavities exist consistently across subjects, differ from those observed in null model networks, and --- importantly --- link regions of early and late evolutionary origin in long loops, underscoring their unique role in controlling brain function. These results offer a first demonstration that techniques from algebraic topology offer a novel perspective on structural connectomics, highlighting loop-like paths as crucial features in the human brain's structural architecture.
Functional neurologic disorders: Bringing the informal and hidden curriculum to light.

Functional neurologic disorders (FND) are among the most common conditions a neurologist will encounter. In 2014, after the publication of an updated Cochrane report on nonepileptic seizures (NES) concluded that there was little reliable evidence supporting any treatment modality, there was a call for further randomized controlled trials, highlighting the lack of priority given to the treatment of NES on the part of both psychiatrists and neurologists.1 Controversy exists about where patients with FND should “live” for their treatment, given a presentation that has symptoms in common with both psychiatric and neurologic disease.2 With current emphasis to rule in the diagnosis of a functional disorder, the expertise of a neurologist is needed to assess a neurologic examination and if possible to determine the non-neurologic nature of the presentation. Treatment, however, remains mainly in the hands of the psychiatrist with psychopharmacology and psychological therapies. There is growing evidence of the efficacy and feasibility of a multidisciplinary approach.3,4
Developments in U.S. Intercountry Adoption Policy since Its Peak in 2004

This paper examines the implications of recent developments in U.S. intercountry adoption (ICA) policy for vulnerable children. We review policy and practices from 2004-2018, including (1) the 2008...
Capturing Trends in Industrial-Organizational Psychology: A Shiny Web Application

The present paper describes the purpose, and documents the primary functions of an open-source, Shiny web application developed for anyone interested in industrial-organizational psychology (trends...
Home-based Testing for SARS-CoV-2: Leveraging Prehospital Resources for Vulnerable Populations.

Author(s): Goldberg, Scott A.; Bonacci, Robert A.; Carlson, Lucas C.; Pu, Charles T.; Ritchie, Christine S. | Abstract: Introduction: Expanded testing for SARS-CoV-2 is critical to characterizing the extent of community spread of COVID-19 and to identifying infectious cohorts. Unfortunately, current facility-based testing compounds shortcomings in testing availability, neglecting those who are frail or physically unable to travel to a testing facility.Methods: We developed an emergency medical service (EMS)-based home testing and evaluation program, leveraging existing community EMS resources. This program has kept vulnerable populations out of the emergency department, reduced cost, and improved access to care.Results: Our EMS-based testing program can test approximately 15 homebound patients per day. Through April 2020 our program had performed 477 home-based tests. Additionally, we have recently undertaken several mass testing operations, testing up to 900 patients per testing site.Conclusion: Facility-based SARS-CoV-2 testing requires that a patient physically present to a facility for a nasopharyngeal swap to be collected. Unfortunately, access may be limited for patients that are homebound, chronically ill, or without a means of private transportation. By leveraging existing EMS infrastructure in new ways, our community has been able to keep almost 500 vulnerable patients in their home. Using EMS, we can strengthen the healthcare system’s response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and support at-risk populations, including those that are underserved, homebound, and frail.
Cl-Amidine Improves Survival and Attenuates Kidney Injury in a Rabbit Model of Endotoxic Shock.

Objective: Sepsis causes millions of deaths on a global scale annually. Activation of peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD) enzymes in sepsis causes citrullination of histones, which results in neutroph...
Understanding the mechanism of metaphylaxis from an epidemiologic perspective

Metaphylaxis has become an integral component of BRD control in high-risk cattle in North America. It has proven to be both effective and economically advantageous in clinical trials and in field application. The efficacy of metaphylaxis against BRD not only lies in its ability to treat cases in progress at the time of administration, but also in that metaphylaxis modifies epidemic parameters that ultimately reduce the size and severity of disease outbreaks in groups of cattle. One possible explanation for this effect is that metaphylaxis temporarily creates a uniform shift in the susceptibility of treated cattle that delays clinical disease while allowing stress to dissipate and adaptive immunity against BRD pathogens to develop. This shift, and the changes that occur while it is in effect, starve the epidemic of new susceptible cases which reduces BRD morbidity in the population. Provided this theory is accurate, metaphylaxis could be better targeted by using diagnostics to identify and treat only susceptible cattle rather than all of them; however, current technology prevents timely application of such information.
GPR109A mediates the effects of hippuric acid on regulating osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption in mice.

The G protein-coupled receptor 109 A (GPR109A) is robustly expressed in osteoclastic precursor macrophages. Previous studies suggested that GPR109A mediates effects of diet-derived phenolic acids such as hippuric acid (HA) and 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl) propionic acid (3-3-PPA) on promoting bone formation. However, the role of GPR109A in metabolic bone homeostasis and osteoclast differentiation has not been investigated. Using densitometric, bone histologic and molecular signaling analytic methods, we uncovered that bone mass and strength were significantly higher in tibia and spine of standard rodent diet weaned 4-week-old and 6-month-old GPR109A gene deletion (GPR109A−/−) mice, compared to their wild type controls. Osteoclast numbers in bone and in ex vivo bone marrow cell cultures were significantly decreased in GPR109A−/− mice compared to wild type controls. In accordance with these data, CTX-1 in bone marrow plasma and gene expression of bone resorption markers (TNFα, TRAP, Cathepsin K) were significantly decreased in GPR109A−/− mice, while on the other hand, P1NP was increased in serum from both male and female GPR109A−/− mice compared to their respective controls. GPR109A deletion led to suppressed Wnt/β-catenin signaling in osteoclast precursors to inhibit osteoclast differentiation and activity. Indeed, HA and 3-3-PPA substantially inhibited RANKL-induced GPR109A expression and Wnt/β-catenin signaling in osteoclast precursors and osteoclast differentiation. Resultantly, HA significantly inhibited bone resorption and increased bone mass in wild type mice, but had no additional effects on bone in GPR109A−/− mice compared with their respective untreated control mice. These results suggest an important role for GPR109A during osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption mediating effects of HA and 3-3-PPA on inhibiting bone resorption during skeletal development. Chen et al. show that hippuric acid (HA), which is a diet-derived phenolic acid, inhibits bone resorption and increases bone mass in wild type mice, but not in G-protein coupled receptor (GPR109A) knockout mice. This study suggests that GPR109A mediates the effects of HA on inhibiting bone resorption during skeletal development.
55 Equine gastric ulcers; a pilot study: associated biomarkers and polysaccharide supplementation as a solution

Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome affects roughly 90% of performance horses. The only reliable antemortem diagnostic method is endoscopy, which is an invasive process. The cornerstone of treatment is acid suppression, a cost-prohibitive option that is not viable for long-term use. The objectives of this study were to investigate the efficacy of a polysaccharide (PS) supplement on gastric ulcers in the squamous (SQ) and glandular (GL) regions of the equine stomach and identify associated serum and saliva biomarkers. It was hypothesized that severity of SQ and GL ulcers throughout the supplemental period would decrease and levels of serum and salivary proteins, as well as total antioxidant capacity (TAC), would fluctuate with ulcer scores. To test this hypothesis, 8 mature geldings were randomly assigned to a treatment (TRT) or non-treatment (CTRL) group, then underwent ulcer induction using a modified Murray method: alternating 12- and 24-h feed deprivations for a total of 108hr. Following the induction, TRT horses’ feed was top-dressed with 1oz of PS supplement twice daily. Horses were fed 1.0% BW in Fescue hay (Festuca pratensis) and 0.25% BW in concentrates daily (Nutrena Triumph Fiber Plus, Cargill, Inc., Holmesville, OH) with ad libitum water access, as recommended by the NRC. Horses were housed in 3.05mx3.65m stalls and turned out into 0.809ha pastures (native grasses, fescue, clover, and annual rye; 4 horses per pasture) from 0600hrs-1800hrs and 1800hrs-0600hrs, respectively. The experiment was divided into 3 periods: pre- (Day 0), mid- (Day 28), and post-supplementation (Day 43). Per period, endoscopic images were captured and saliva and blood samples were collected. The effects of date and treatment were analyzed with a factorial ANOVA. All statistical calculations were performed usuing the software JMP. The severity of ulcer scores decreased in all horses over the 6-week time span (P = 0.001), with no difference found between TRT and CTRL horses in the SQ or GL regions. It is possible that the body's innate healing capacity was adequate in this study, which may have masked the treatment effect of the PS supplement. There was a correlation found between salivary TAC (R2 = 0.559; P = 0.005) and serum TAC (R2 = 0.620; P = 0.002) and ulcer score, which may indicate that oxidative stress decreases as ulcers heal. The investigation of PS supplementation as a preventative measure in ulcerative and non-ulcerative horses under stress is warranted. Additionally, the exploration of other salivary and serum biomarkers to further develop a panel for preliminary screening of equine gastric ulcers should be pursued.
Transcrustal Magmatic Systems: Evidence from Andesites of the Southern Taupo Volcanic Zone

Studies synthesizing field work, numerical simulations, petrology, geochemistry and geophysical observations indicate that the compositional diversity of arc lavas results from evolution of mantle-derived magmas by mixing, assimilation and fractional crystallization. This evolution occurs within complexes called transcrustal magmatic systems. The mafic lower parts of such zones, called hot zones, are difficult to probe. However, a satellite vent near the stratovolcano Ruapehu in the southern Taupo Volcanic Zone (New Zealand) comprises materials that may originate from a hot zone. Magnesian andesites (Mg#60–65) from the Ohakune scoria cone contain primitive olivine (Fo85–91), high-Mg# clinopyroxene (Mg#81–88) and orthopyroxene (Mg#76–83), but lack plagioclase. Disequilibrium of Ohakune crystals and groundmass suggests that the crystal cargo of Ohakune andesites was scavenged from deeper and more primitive levels of the magmatic system. Mineral constraints on temperature and pressure indicate that the hot zone initially formed at mid- to lower-crustal pressures (3.5–7.0 ± 2.8 kbar). We interpret the mafic mineralogy and presence of disequilibrium features as evidence that these andesites and their crystal cargo are products of a hot zone in the middle to lower crust. Products of the hot zone may appear before products of the systems that form the bases of mature stratovolcanoes such as Ruapehu. Supplementary material: Details of petrography, geochemical and arc olivine data, and MELTS modelling data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5494984
Host EPAC1 Modulates Rickettsial Adhesion to Vascular Endothelial Cells via Regulation of ANXA2 Y23 Phosphorylation

Introduction: Intracellular cAMP receptor exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP 1 (EPAC1) regulate obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium rickettsial adherence to and invasion into vascular endothelial cells (ECs). However, underlying precise mechanism(s) remain unclear. The aim of the study is to dissect the functional role of the EPAC1-ANXA2 signaling pathway during initial adhesion of rickettsiae to EC surfaces. Methods: In the present study, an established system that is anatomically based and quantifies bacterial adhesion to ECs in vivo was combined with novel fluidic force microscopy (FluidFM) to dissect the functional role of the EPAC1-ANXA2 signaling pathway in rickettsiae–EC adhesion. Results: The deletion of the EPAC1 gene impedes rickettsial binding to endothelium in vivo. Rickettsial OmpB shows a host EPAC1-dependent binding strength on the surface of a living brain microvascular EC (BMEC). Furthermore, ectopic expression of phosphodefective and phosphomimic mutants replacing tyrosine (Y) 23 of ANXA2 in ANXA2-knock out BMECs results in different binding force to reOmpB in response to the activation of EPAC1. Conclusions: EPAC1 modulates rickettsial adhesion, in association with Y23 phosphorylation of the binding receptor ANXA2. Underlying mechanism(s) should be further explored to delineate the accurate role of cAMP-EPAC system during rickettsial infection.
Risk Management in Corporate Ventures

The nature of entrepreneurial risk, particularly in corporate ventures, is explored. Dimensions of risk are investigated. Emphasis is placed both on downside risk and risk associated with missed opportunities. A number of risk management strategies are reviewed. Keywords: dimensions of risk; downside risk; first mover; missed opportunity risk; risk management strategies
Frei Otto and the development of gridshells

Abstract The innovative architect, Frei Otto, developed the concept of gridshells which could be designed by a funicular modelling method and constructed from an equal mesh net of timber laths bent into the planned shape. In 1970 this technique was used to construct a 9000 m2 curved roof structure from 5 cm square timber laths. This paper summarises the design and engineering work that went into the construction of this remarkable building.
When is a haircut medically necessary

We present the case of a psychotic female, admitted to our inpatient psychiatric facility, who had not cut her hair for over 20 years based on her religious beliefs. In this report, we discuss her case, evaluate whether or not it was medically necessary to cut her hair, and review several widely accepted religious practices regarding the cutting of hair.