cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 110: Adiponectin Inhibits TNF-a-Induced Vascular Inflammatory Response via Caveolin-Mediated Ceramidase Recruitment and Activation

Anti-inflammatory and vascular protective actions of adiponectin (APN) are well-recognized. However, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. The current study attempted to identify the APN receptor subtype responsible for APN’s vascular protective action, and investigate the role of ceramidase activation in APN anti-inflammatory signaling. Wild type (WT) or gene manipulated HUVEC were treated with TNFα in the presence and absence of APN. The effect of APN on TNFα-induced inflammatory and oxidative/nitrative stress was determined. In WT HUVEC, APN significantly reduced TNFα-induced ICAM-1 expression and attenuated TNFα-induced superoxide and peroxynitrite formation (P<0.01). These anti-inflammatory actions were virtually abolished by AdipoR1-, but not AdipoR2-, knockdown (KD). Treatment with APN significantly increased neutral ceramidase (nCDase) activity (3.7-fold, P<0.01). AdipoR1-KD markedly (P0.05), reduced APN-induced nCDase activation. More importantly, siRNA mediated nCDase-KD markedly blocked...
Fiscal Disruptions and City Responses Stability, Equilibrium, and City Capital Budgeting

Building on the theoretical tradition established by Cyert and March, March and Simon, and Wolman, local government is conceived as a social organization engaged in problem-solving activities that maintain an equilibrium between the organization and its external environment. Analyzing 234 cities' fiscal responses to disruptions in the external environment, the author concludes (1) that revenue dedication for capital purposes has not resulted in increasing capital spending, (2) that cities turn to cost-shifting mechanisms primarily because of fiscal pressures, and (3) that capital-spending plans of cities are in general more revenue-elastic than operating programs. These findings confirm the expectations that cities adjust and adapt to their external environment.
Abstract 3451: Gramicidin-based nanopores induce cellular energy depletion and cell death in renal cell carcinoma.

The plasma membrane physically separates the intracellular components of a cell from the extracellular environment and its integrity is absolutely essential to sustain cellular functions. Ionophores are lipid soluble organic molecules that disrupt cellular transmembrane potential by rendering biological membranes permeable to specific ions. They are classified on the basis of their mechanism of action; mobile carriers complex with metal cations to shield their hydrophilic charge from the interior of the lipid bilayer and channel-formers insert into the membrane to form hydrophilic pores that permit the rapid passage of selected ions through membranes. Research over the past decade has described an new role for mobile carrier ionophores as novel anticancer therapeutics yet the potential anticancer attributes of channel-forming ionophores have not been explored. In this study we utilized the channel-forming ionophore gramicidin A (GA) as a model nanopore to study its effects upon the growth and survival of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells. RCC is a histologically heterogeneous malignancy that is highly resistant to conventional chemotherapy. We found that disruption of plasma membrane integrity with GA reduced the in vitro viability of several RCC cell lines when treated at sub-micromolar concentrations (all IC50 Citation Format: Justin M. David, Ayyappan K. Rajasekaran. Gramicidin-based nanopores induce cellular energy depletion and cell death in renal cell carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3451. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3451
Testing the impact of career motivation on knowledge gained versus skills learned for a sample of personal/home care aide trainees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to distinguish knowledge gained vs skills learned as two learning-related training criteria; and to then test the impact of two career motivation variables, home care intent and stepping stone, for explaining these training criteria beyond controlled-for variables. Design/methodology/approach – The research used a sample of 720 personal/home care aides (P/HCAs) who filled out pre-training and post-training surveys. Training consisted of 25 modules, lasting approximately 100 hours on various P/HCA knowledge bases, with training sessions generally five to six hours/day, four to five days/week over a three to four week period. Factor analyses, correlation, and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Results showed that these two learning outcomes, knowledge gained vs skills learned, could be differentiated and reliably measured. Subsequent hierarchical regression analyses showed additional discriminant validity for these two learnin...
Screening and Analysis of Pre-harvest Sprouting Resistant Germplasm from Aegilops tauschiis in the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River

Pre-harvest sprouting is the devastating disaster of wheat,but varieties resistant to the disaster is rare in common wheat.Germination rate of 35 Ae.tauschii accessions from the middle reaches of the Yellow River,14 Ae.tauschii accessions from abroad,and two wheat cultivars were tested.Meanwhile,diversification analysis classfied the materials into several categories.The results indicated that all Ae.tauschii accessions have stronger pre-harvest sprouting resistance than common wheat,and those from the middle reaches of the Yellow River have stronger pre-harvest sprouting resistance than those from abroad.Among those Ae.tauschii accessions from the middle reaches of the Yellow River,T005,T007,T008,T016,T030,T062,T065,T068,T069,T072 and T085 were identfied to have strongest resistance to pre-harvest sprouting,and could be applied in wheat breeding.
Beta Spaces as a Model for Recontextualizing Reference Services in Libraries

Author(s): Dickerson, Madelynn | Abstract: Reference services are at a cross-roads. While many academic libraries continue to offer reference services from behind a desk, others are moving to roving and embedded reference models. Meanwhile, libraries are also engaged in the development of collaborative learning spaces—often rich with technology, such as makerspaces and learning labs—but these spaces are often removed from the reference services environment. Beta spaces are another type of collaborative environment used in both public and academic libraries with the potential to infuse energy into the reference space and emphasize research support through experimentation, collaboration, and user contribution. Beta spaces are user-oriented environments with a focus on innovation and experimentation, much like a makerspace but with an emphasis on ideas over technology. A beta space model for reference services would enhance opportunities for active learning, help make the research process visible and tangible, and effectively demonstrate the value of reference
Detecting Correlations Using Phase-Change Neurons and Synapses

As the conventional von Neumann-based computational architectures reach their scalability and performance limits, alternative computational frameworks inspired by biological neuronal networks hold promise to revolutionize the way we process information. Here, we present a bioinspired computational primitive that utilizes an artificial spiking neuron equipped with plastic synapses to detect temporal correlations in data streams in an unsupervised manner. We demonstrate that the internal states of the neuron and of the synapses can be efficiently stored in nanoscale phase-change memory devices and show computations with collocated storage in an experimental setting.
The current landscape of Agent Communication Languages

Despite the substantial number of multi-agent systems that use an Agent Communication Language (ACL) the dust has not settled yet over the landscape of ACLs. The semantic specification issues have monopolized the debate at the expense of other important pragmatic issues that must be adequately resolved in the immediate future if ACLs are going to support the development of robust agent systems. After introducing some of the basic concepts relating to Agent Communication Languages, we cover KQML and FIPA ACL, the two existing fully-specified ACLs. We give a brief introduction to their semantics and the issues relating to semantic descriptions of ACLs. We then shift our focus beyond the semantics and point to problems and limitations shared by both ACLs. Questions such as the nature of conformance of an agent system with an ACL specification and issues such as naming, registration, authentication, basic facilitation services, etc., may or may not be (technically speaking) part of an ACL specification, but we feel that the answers and solutions to such problems can 'make or break' an ACL. We finally discuss the future of ACL standardization efforts and identify the issues that are likely to emerge as we gain experience in building and deploying agent-based systems.
Resistance in Ticks And Insects of Veterinary Importance

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the resistance in arthropods of importance to man's domestic animals and concentrates on the changes introduced from 1970 in the resistance of certain listed arthropods. The special problems associated with the control of ticks have been an important part of the discussions in addition to the review of the resistance in arthropods of importance to man's domestic animals and concentrates on the changes introduced from 1970 in the resistance of certain listed arthropods. The most important problems of resistance in arthropods of veterinary importance are associated with ticks. Ticks that transmit diseases, paralyze animals, and are responsible for physical damage to livestock have been the objects of treatments with acaricides. It is a serious matter that several important species of ticks in other areas of the world have developed resistance to acaricides.
Lightweight Aggregate Made from Dredged Material in Green Roof Construction for Stormwater Management.

More than 1.15 million cubic meters (1.5 million cubic yards) of sediment require annual removal from harbors and ports along Ohio’s Lake Erie coast. Disposing of these materials into landfills depletes land resources, while open water placement of these materials deteriorates water quality. There are more than 14,000 acres of revitalizing brownfields in Cleveland, U.S., many containing up to 90% impervious surface, which does not allow “infiltration” based stormwater practices required by contemporary site-based stormwater regulation. This study investigates the potential of sintering the dredged material from the Harbor of Cleveland in Lake Erie to produce lightweight aggregate (LWA), and apply the LWA to green roof construction. Chemical and thermal analyses revealed the sintered material can serve for LWA production when preheated at 550 °C and sintered at a higher temperature. Through dewatering, drying, sieving, pellet making, preheating, and sintering with varying temperatures (900–1100 °C), LWAs with porous microstructures are produced with specific gravities ranging from 1.46 to 1.74, and water absorption capacities ranging from 11% to 23%. The water absorption capacity of the aggregate decreases as sintering temperature increases. The LWA was incorporated into the growing media of a green roof plot, which has higher water retention capacity than the conventional green roof system.
Ingestible insecticides for spotted wing Drosophila control: a polyol, Erythritol, and an insect growth regulator, Lufenuron

Bioassays tested insecticidal activity of Erythritol from the nutritive sweetener, Truvia, and an insect growth regulator, Lufenuron, against life stages (eggs, larvae, pupae, adults) of Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) and Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), the spotted wing Drosophila (SWD). These compounds were chosen for their demonstrated acute toxicity to adult and larval Drosophila and potential use on organic fruit farms. D. melanogaster fed on standard Drosophila diet media moistened with water containing known concentrations of Erythritol. Likewise, SWD consumed standard diet media as well as thawed host fruit (blackberries and blueberries) treated with solutions of Erythritol, Lufenuron or both. During the first bioassay, Erythritol at lower concentrations between 0 and 500 mm (~61 000 ppm) in water and mixed with instant diet media increased adult survival from ~80% to 97% for D. melanogaster and SWD. However, from aqueous concentrations ranging from 1750 (~414 000 ppm) to 2000 mm (~244 000 ppm), Erythritol killed 100% of adult Drosophila in culture vials. One hundred per cent mortality for SWD and D. melanogaster occurred at ≥0.5 m (~61 000 ppm) Erythritol added to diet media or topically applied to host fruit. In a second bioassay, 0.013–1.000 ppm of aqueous Lufenuron, a chitin synthase inhibitor, when added to dry diet media prevented 90–99% of SWD from reaching the pupal stage. In another assay, ~67% of SWD eggs or neonates (early first instars) died inside blackberries pre-treated with (dipped in) a soapy solution of 10 ppm Lufenuron. Pre-treating blackberry fruit with an Erythritol–Lufenuron mixture reduced SWD brood survival by 99%. Likewise, during our last fruit-based bioassay, 98% of eggs and neonates died inside blueberries similarly pre-treated. During the last experiment, Lufenuron in diet media also rendered adult females sterile. Sterility, however, dissipated over 7 days once females began feeding on a Lufenuron-free diet media.
INCOMMENSURATE MODULATION AND THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF GANOPHYLLITE

Incommensurate modulation in ganophyllite crystals was investigated with selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), analytical electron microscopy (AEM), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The XRD data were used to perform a new subcell (a = 5.550 Aa, b = 13.539 Aa, c = 25.134 Aa, beta = 93.928 degrees ) refinement of the structure with a higher precision than previous refinements (R = 0.041). Although supercell reflections were too weak for collection with the diffractometer, the supercell was modeled by comparing experimental SAED patterns and HRTEM images to their simulated counterparts. These simulations indicate that incommensurate modulation arises from offsets in the location of inverted tetrahedra between adjacent [100] strips. The true supercell of incommensurate crystals involves a tripling of the subcell a axis and at least a twelvefold increase in the b axis; previously identified supercell reflections are actually aggregates of extremely closely spaced reflections in incommensurate crystals. Unlike commensurate crystals, the subcell c axis of incommensurate ganophyllite is not doubled. AEM data suggest that the occurrence of commensurate or incommensurate forms is not compositionally dependent.
Coding perspectives for collaborative estimation over networks

A collaborative distributed estimation problem over a communication constrained network is considered from an information theory perspective. A suitable architecture for the codes for this multiterminal information theory problem is determined under source-channel separation. In particular, distributed source codes in which each node multicasts a different message to each subset of other nodes are studied. This code construction hybridizes multiple description codes and codes for the CEO problem. The goal of this paper is to determine the fundamental relationship between the multicast communication rates and estimation performance obtainable. An achievable rate distortion region is proved to this problem and its structural properties are studied. Also, this achievable rate region is shown to simplify to the known bounds to some simpler problems.
Stress in the clinical setting: the Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument.

Integration of knowledge regarding the relationship between stress and illness into clinical practice has been slowed by a lack of clarity in the definition of stress and the difficulties involved in rapid assessment of stress in a busy office setting. The stimulus, response, and interactional models of stress are discussed, and the development of a new stress measure, the Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument (BEPSI), is detailed. The reliability of this six-item instrument is demonstrated (Cronbach's alpha .80). Validity is measured through correlation with a variety of instruments measuring stress, including depression (r = .52, P less than .001), anxiety (r = .61, P less than .001), life change (r = .56, P less than .001), bodily expression of stress (r = .56, P less than .001), and a total stress score (r = .67, P less than .001). The BEPSI also demonstrated appropriate negative correlations with family cohesion (r = .29, P = less than .01) and support (r = .31, P = less than .01). When the single open-ended item is strongly positive, 77 percent of patients also score high on the BEPSI. A negative response to the same question corresponds to a low BEPSI value 52 percent of the time. Suggestions are made regarding clinical and research applications.
Racial differences in the pain management of children recovering from anesthesia.

SummaryBackground When pain management has been studied in settings such as pediatric emergency departments, racial disparities have been clearly identified. To our knowledge, this has not been studied in the pediatric perioperative setting. We sought to determine whether there are differences based on race in the administration of analgesia to children suffering from pain in the postanesthesia care unit. Methods This is a prospective, observational, study of 771 children aged 4-17 years who underwent elective outpatient surgery. Racial differences in probability of receiving analgesia for pain in the recovery room were assessed using bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 294 children (38.2%) received at least one class of analgesia (opioid or nonopioid); while 210 (27.2%) received intravenous (i.v.) opioid analgesia in the recovery room. Overall postanesthesia care unit analgesia utilization was similar between white and minority children (white children 36.8% vs minority children 43.4%, OR 1.3; 95% CI=0.92-1.89; P=.134). We found no significant difference by racial/ethnic group in the likelihood of a child receiving i.v. opioid for severe postoperative pain (white children 76.0% vs 85.7%, OR 1.89; 95% CI=0.37-9.67; P=.437). However, minority children were more likely to receive i.v. opioid analgesia than their white peers (white children 24.5% vs minority children 34.2%, OR 1.5; 95% CI=1.04-2.2; P=.03). On multivariable analysis, minority children had a 63% higher adjusted odds of receiving i.v. opioids in the recovery room (OR=1.63; 95% CI, 1.05-2.62; P=.03). Conclusions Receipt of analgesia for acute postoperative pain was not significantly associated with a child's race. Minority children were more likely to receive i.v. opioids for the management of mild pain.
Hyperactive FOXO1 results in lack of tip stalk identity and deficient microvascular regeneration during kidney injury

Loss of the microvascular (MV) network results in tissue ischemia, loss of tissue function, and is a hallmark of chronic diseases. The incorporation of a functional vascular network with that of the host remains a challenge to utilizing engineered tissues in clinically relevant therapies. We showed that vascular-bed-specific endothelial cells (ECs) exhibit differing angiogenic capacities, with kidney microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) being the most deficient, and sought to explore the underlying mechanism. Constitutive activation of the phosphatase PTEN in kidney MVECs resulted in impaired PI3K/AKT activity in response to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Suppression of PTEN in vivo resulted in microvascular regeneration, but was insufficient to improve tissue function. Promoter analysis of the differentially regulated genes in KMVECs suggests that the transcription factor FOXO1 is highly active and RNAseq analysis revealed that hyperactive FOXO1 inhibits VEGF-Notch-dependent tip-cell formation by direct and indirect inhibition of DLL4 expression in response to VEGF. Inhibition of FOXO1 enhanced angiogenesis in human bio-engineered capillaries, and resulted in microvascular regeneration and improved function in mouse models of injury-repair.
Spectroelectrochemical Characterization of the Dynamic Carbon-Fiber Surface in Response to Electrochemical Conditioning

The effects of electrochemical preconditioning of P-55 pitch-based carbon-fiber microelectrodes were quantitatively examined in this study. Microstructural characterization of the electrode surface was done using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical performance was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry. The data show that application of positive potentials provides beneficial structural modifications to the electrode surface. Electrodes that were preconditioned using a static potential of +1.0 V exhibited enhanced sensitivity and electron transfer properties when compared to electrodes conditioned for the same amount of time with dynamic (triangular) waveforms reaching +1.0 V. Conditioning elicited microstructural changes to the electrode surface that were dependent on the amount of time spent at potentials greater than ∼1.0 V. Importantly, the data demonstrate that the carbon-fiber microstructure is dynamic. It is able to quickly and continuously undergo rapid structural reor...
Abstract 278: Cardiac Med1 is Necessary for Postnatal Survival in Mice

Alterations in gene transcription are commonly associated with cardiovascular disease pathogenesis characterized by cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. The phenotypic responses result in diminished cardiac contractility, ventricular dilation, fibrosis and ultimately sudden death. The mediator complex is a crucial facilitator of gene transcription; however, few studies have investigated the role of mediator in cardiovascular disease initiation and progression. A key subunit of the Mediator complex, MED1, interacts with nuclear receptors to target gene-specific transcription. To determine the role of MED1 in regulating cardiac function, we generated a heart specific knockout of MED1 (cMED1KO). Postnatal deletion of MED1 in mice results in lethality between 3 to 6 weeks of age. The cMED1KO mice display a marked increase in heart mass compared to floxed controls. Furthermore, echocardiography and histological analysis of hearts taken at 3 weeks showed that the cMED1KO animals had decreased cardiac function, increased fibrosis and a dilated left ventricle. Transcriptional changes were observed for key markers of cardiac disease including MYH7, ANF, ACTIN1. We performed RNAseq analysis to identify changes in the transciptome between cMED1KO and floxed control hearts. The analysis unveiled changes in expression of genes regulating cardiac development, metabolism and function. Taken together these results reveal a critical role for MED1 in postnatal cardiac growth and development due to altered gene expression in adult cardiomyocytes.
Endocytosis of the ifnar1 chain of type 1 interferon receptoris regulated by diverse e2 ubiquitin conjugation enzymes 50

Ubiquitination of signaling receptors triggers their endocytosis to restrict the extent of cell signaling. Type 1 interferon (IFN1) eliminates its receptor from cell surface via stimulating the ubiquitination of its IFNAR1 chain. While it was suggested that this ubiquitination aids IFNAR1 internalization via relieving a steric hindrance of a linear motif within IFNAR1 from the endocytic machinery, the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. Here we describe a specific role for two disparate ubiquitin acceptor sites within this receptor. These sites, Lys501 and Lys525 / 526, exhibit a preference for polyubiquitination via either Lys63- or Lys48‑linked chains (K63‑Ub and K48‑Ub, respectively). Whereas the SCFβTrcp E3 ubiquitin ligase controls either type of ubiquitination-dependent IFNAR1 endocytosis, the specificity of these processes is determined by two different E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, Ubc13 and Cdc34. These enzymes can be directly used by SCFβTrcp E3 ubiquitin ligase to generate either K63‑Ub or K48‑Ub in vitro. Ubc13 is involved in IFNAR1 endocytosis driven by the K63‑Ub modification of Lys501, whereas the K48‑Ub-specific Cdc34 affects receptor endocytosis via ubiquitin conjugation that occurs on Lys525 / 526. Both types of linkages combine to maximize IFNAR1 endocytosis otherwise suppressed by unfavorable conformation dependent on the presence of a conserved Pro470 within the intracellular domain of IFNAR1. We propose a model where alternate utilization of both E2s to assemble diverse polyubiquitin linkages cooperates to achieve IFNAR1 intracellular domain conformations and spatial arrangements that favor a maximal rate of receptor endocytosis.
AB0650 Anti-topoisomerase positive systemic sclerosis prognosis infaust?

Background Anti-topoisomerase antibodies (ATA) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) have been associated with poorer prognosis including diffuse skin involvement, pulmonary fibrosis, cardiac involvement and increased mortality. However, 30–60% of ATA-positive SSc patients demonstrate only limited skin involvement and some have only mild disease course. In SSc, optimal risk stratification is of utmost importance for tailored clinical management at the patient level. Objectives We aimed to determine the prevalence of mild disease among ATA positive patients and to investigate which readily available clinical parameters best identify patients with highest disease severity. Methods Clinical baseline data from SSc patients included in the Combined Care In Systemic Sclerosis (CCIS) cohort of the Leiden University Medical Center were extracted. Patients fulfilling ACR 2013 criteria and ATA positive were included. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize sociodemographic, clinical and serological features. Patients with grade 3 or 4 disease on any of the Medsger severity subscales were considered to be severely diseased. We compared presence of diffuse cutaneous involvement, Raynaud9s, pitting scars, calcinosis, proximal muscle weakness, >10% weight loss, interstitial lung disease and pro-BNP between the severity groups and corrected for confounding by disease duration (time since non-Raynaud) by stratifying into quartiles. Results Of 422 SSc patients in the database, 344 patients had SSc meeting ACR criteria. 89 patients were exclusively ATA-positive, of which n=42 with mild disease and n=47 with severe disease. Patients with severe disease appeared to be younger (mean age 50 vs 55 yr), more often non-caucasian (51 vs 12%), with a longer time since non-Raynaud (median 4 vs 2 yr) and more often diffuse skin involvement (dcSSc;62 vs 41%), calcinosis (6 vs 0%) and weight loss (23 vs 7%). Stratification by disease duration, however revealed there are no real differences between mild en severe disease. Overall 47% of ATA+ patients in our cohort presented with mild SSc. When stratifying patients according to time of non-Raynaud, 55% of ATA+ patients presented with mild disease in the first disease duration quartile (median follow-up 0.5 years, range 0–0.8 years). In the forth disease duration quartile, according non-Raynaud time (median follow-up 12.7 years, range 8.2–44.1) the percentage with mild disease was still 27% (Figure 1). Conclusions In our cohort, 47% of ATA-positive patients presented with mild systemic sclerosis, which could not be explained by disease duration. This suggests that solely the presence of ATA is of limited clinical relevance. Readily available sociodemographic and clinical parameters including type of skin involvement seem to have only limited value in identifying ATA patients with more severe SSc. More complex serological findings as antibody titers and fine-specifity of ATA should be defined for optimal serological subsetting. Disclosure of Interest None declared
Parametric inversion of 3D anisotropic permittivities from scattered electromagnetic fields

A model-based inverse algorithm combined with the curl-conforming volume integral equation method is presented for inversion of anisotropic material permittvities from scattered fields. The forward algorithm uses the curl-conforming volume integral equation method. The inversion algorithm is based on the Gauss-Newton method. Numerical examples show the effectiveness of the inversion algorithm and demonstrate the sensitivities of measurements to the anisotropic objects.
The Connection Between Out-of-School Time Programs and School Mental Health

School mental health (SMH) systems focus on addressing barriers to student learning while simultaneously promoting healthy development. Out-of-school (OST) programs, which include after-school, summer, and weekend programs that occur outside of the hours of the traditional school day, are viable mechanisms to support and extend the work of SMH systems. Over six million youth participate in OST programs each year (National Institute on Out-of-School Time 2009). The purpose of this chapter is to highlight specific ways in which OST programs support SMH priorities, including promoting positive youth development and engaging parents/families. In addition, the value of OST programs for academic learning and child well-being is examined from the parent/guardian perspective through data collected in Ohio. Implications for SMH providers, particularly as they consider developing partnerships and maximizing the contributions of OST programs to support SMH priorities, also are shared.
Improving Diagnosis Efficiency via Machine Learning

Logic diagnosis, the process of identifying and locating possible defects in failing integrated circuits, is a key step in yield learning for both technology development and high-volume manufacturing. However, resources can be easily wasted if diagnosis results in no meaningful information, or if the type of diagnostic result is not actionable. It would therefore be very beneficial to have a comprehensive preview of diagnostic outcomes beforehand, which allows diagnosis resources to be prioritized in a more reasonable and effective way. In this work, a methodology is developed to predict whether a fail log for a given design will result in a diagnosis outcome that is meaningful for the purpose at hand. Specifically, the aim is to predict the time required for diagnosis, and whether diagnosis produces any defect candidates, and if so, are those candidates the result of logic failure or chain failure. Random Forest classification algorithm is used for prediction. Experiments on a 28nm test chip and a high-volume 90nm part illustrate that the methodology can provide accurate prediction results (0.95+ precision, 0.9+ recall and F1-score, and 0.96+ AUC on average) when two classes are balanced, and satisfactory results (0.95+ recall and 0.98+ AUC on average) when two classes are imbalanced.
Web Exclusive. Annals On Call - Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Spectrum of Disorders.

In this episode of Annals On Call, Dr. Centor discusses nonalcoholic fatty Liver disease with Dr. Meagan Gray, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Alabama.
The Effect of Increased Availability of Online Piratable Copies of Films on Box Office Revenue

Parties on all sides of the debate over online file sharing throw around claims that piracy of movies is costing the film industry huge amounts of revenue, with estimates up to $58 billion per year in the United States alone (Estimated Losses to Movie Piracy 2013). Numerous studies, detailed below, find conflicting levels of displacement of paid consumption by unpaid consumption. The Internet and related technologies have created fertile ground for film piracy, and have massively reduced transaction costs and other barriers to groups formed to share files. This paper will attempt to assess whether a change in the availability of high quality online copies of films for unpaid consumption affects the revenue to film producers from paid consumption. The availability of screener copies online almost immediately for films released late in the year provides an exception to the rule of normal windowing. The paper attempts to exploit this anomaly to discover whether the immediate availability of high quality piratable copies of films still in theaters affects box office revenue.
Evaluation of chlorine dioxide gas release rates from dry precursors intended for applied technologies under disparate conditions and their effects on Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes

Abstract The diverse food safety issues facing developed countries require innovations to current food safety intervention technologies and chemistries. Several innovations have been made to highly efficacious treatments, such as chlorine dioxide (ClO2). However, many of the innovations stop short of evaluating actual yield, practical feasibility, or basic chemistry of the technology. In this study, our aim was to evaluate ClO2 precursors, sodium chlorite and citric acid, under disparate but applicable conditions. First, we modeled production of ClO2 from the powdered precursors with three different masses, sample ID 1, 2, and 3, at room (18 °C) and refrigeration (2 °C) temperatures. Second, we investigated the effects of a water reservoir on ClO2 production. Third, we assessed collection method issues that may impact reported ClO2 values. Finally, we evaluated the precursor's efficacy against three common foodborne pathogens: Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes on a glass surface between 15- to 60-min treatment times. Over 25 h the precursors produced between 1.87- to 37.76- and 0.87- to 4.19-mg ClO2 under 18 and 2 °C, respectively, demonstrating that low temperatures reduced ClO2 reported yield. Peak rates of production at 18 °C were estimated to be 3.51 mg/h, 3.83 mg/h, and 4.78 mg/h for sample ID 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Modeling the rate of production indicated that sample IDs had significantly (p 15 fold. We also determined that the reservoir placement could affect reported ClO2 concentrations. At the same time, ClO2 was able to reduce all three pathogens in 6-log10 CFU/carrier and performed significantly better at refrigeration temperature compared to room temperature.
Ambient Light Contribution as a Reference for Motion Artefacts Reduction in Photoplethysmography.

Measuring the heart rate from a convenient location such as the wrist is commonly achieved using photo-plethysmography. As a consequence, this method is widely used on commercial wearable devices. Unfortunately , it also highly suffers from motion artefacts superimposed into the cardiac frequency band which generally lead to incorrect heart rate estimation. In this paper we propose a new approach that uses the ambient light contribution as a reference for motion artefacts reduction. Contrarily to accelerometer-based techniques, the proposed method does not require any additional hardware. Moreover, it is especially efficient for reduction of micro-motions that can't be addressed using conventionally used accelerometry. Using the ambient light signal as a reference in association with adaptive filtering has demonstrated promising results for the reduction of artefacts during both periodic and random motion events.
Processing of Thymine Glycols, Urea Residues and AP Sites in Escherichia Coli

In order to examine the biological consequences of oxidative DNA damage, we have selectively introduced damages of interest into phage transfecting DNA so that we can examine the repair of these lesions in vivo. Thymine glycol is a relatively stable ring saturation product of thymine that is formed as a consequence of hydroxyl radical attack on the 5,6 double bond. Thymine glycol is found in DNA X-irradiated in vitro (1,2) and in vivo (3,4) and appears to be formed as a consequence of oxidative stress (5). Thymine glycol is a replicative block to DNA polymerases in vitro (6–9), however, it retains pairing capacity since an A is inserted opposite the lesion before synthesis is arrested (10). Urea residues are fragmentation products of thymine hydroperoxides and are found as stable residues attached to the backbone of irradiated DNA (1). Urea residues are also in vitro replication blocks to DNA synthesis, however, since urea residues are totally noninstructive, synthesis is arrested one base before the damage (6,8). Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are common DNA lesions produced by radiation and chemicals and are also formed as intermediates in repair processes initiated by DNA glycosylases (11). AP sites are noninstructive lesions that are also blocks to DNA replication in vitro (12). Thymine glycols, urea residues and AP sites are easily quantitated in DNA by enzymatic and immunochemical procedures (13,14). Most importantly, thymine glycols can be selectively introduced into DNA by osmium tetroxide oxidation (15,16); urea residues can be formed by alkali hydrolysis of thymine glycol-containing DNA (17); and AP sites can be introduced by heat/acid treatment (18).
Enteroaggregative E. coli Adherence to Human Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans Drives Segment and Host Specific Responses to Infection

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is a significant cause of acute and chronic diarrhea, foodborne outbreaks, infections of the immunocompromised, and growth stunting in children in developing nations. There is no vaccine and resistance to antibiotics is rising. Unlike related E. coli pathotypes that are often associated with acute bouts of infection, EAEC is associated with persistent diarrhea and subclinical long-term colonization. Several secreted virulence factors have been associated with EAEC pathogenesis and linked to disease in humans, less certain are the molecular drivers of adherence to the intestinal mucosa. We previously established human intestinal enteroids (HIEs) as a model system to study host-EAEC interactions and aggregative adherence fimbriae A (AafA) as a major driver of EAEC adherence to HIEs. Here, we report a large-scale assessment of the host response to EAEC adherence from all four segments of the intestine across at least three donor lines for five E. coli pathotypes. The data demonstrate that the host response in the duodenum is driven largely by the infecting pathotype, whereas the response in the colon diverges in a patient-specific manner. Major pathways altered in gene expression in each of the four enteroid segments differed dramatically, with responses observed for inflammation, apoptosis and an overwhelming response to different mucin genes. In particular, EAEC both associated with large mucus droplets and specific mucins at the epithelial surface, binding that was ameliorated when mucins were removed, a process dependent on AafA. Pan-screening for glycans for binding to purified AafA identified the human ligand as heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). Removal of HSPG abrogated EAEC association with HIEs. These results may mean that the human intestine responds remarkably different to distinct pathobionts that is dependent on the both the individual and intestinal segment in question, and uncover a major role for surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans as tropism-driving factor in adherence and/or colonization.
Detecting DDoS Attacks Near The Edge with Router Canaries

As consumers place more devices within their local networks the ability to detect and disrupt Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks must move closer to the edge in order to provide resilient and effective decentralized protection. To move detection from centralized entities towards the edge a distributed technique to detect DDoS attacks through the use of entropy-based canaries located near edge devices (e.g., switches, and routers) is proposed. The benefit of this approach is that a set of infrastructure devices could prevent attacks using hijacked devices from ever leaving local networks. In order to evaluate this approach an open-source Python software package was built on top of the Common Open Research Emulator (CORE) in order to simulate and assess these entropy-based canaries. This distributed entropy-based detection technique, based on prior centralized entropy-techniques, is able to achieve 100% detection rate even when attacker-node comprise only 25% of the total nodes. While these distributed entropy-based canaries can rapidly detect simulated DDoS attacks with high accuracy these preliminary results motivate future investigation using more diverse typologies and real-world data.
Digital dispossessions: the importance of regional specificity and sovereign spaces to video game representations of native American cultural heritage

Indigenous peoples and their culturalheritages, their ways of knowing and living, are tied to land. As Mishuana Goeman states,“Land is foundational topeople’s cultural practices, and if we define c...
Smart City: Application of Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning Systems in Adaptive Traffic Management

Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially during the last decade, characterized by slower speeds, longer travel times, increased vehicular queuing, and increased pollution. The main pain point in traffic management is the static nature of our city structures that cannot adapt to the traffic dynamics changing throughout the day. This work focuses on a futuristic smart city design where making structural changes to the city graph is possible. These changes include modifying number of lanes, opening or closing the ramps, and changing signal timings on road segments. We also assume the local observability of the system where sensors can provide all the data needed for decision making. Under these assumptions, we propose a multi agent reinforcement learning framework for improving traffic flow in city networks. Our learning agents observe their assigned environment and find the best structural changes based on a set of features that represent the recent traffic condition, dependent road segment characteristics, recent structural modifications, etc. Our results show that the proposed framework improves the total travel time (TTT) by 31.5% during rush hours in Salt Lake City area.
Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game: Safety and Utility in Multi-Agent Congestion Control

We posit that unfairness between congestion control algorithms in a network often results from actors optimizing, or attempting to optimize, incompatible utility functions. In order to mitigate this, we propose that algorithm designers should explicitly declare a utility function they hope to optimize, which enables theoretical analysis of the safety of the utility function with respect to other utilities in the network. When we can place utilities in a common game-theoretic framework, we can analytically determine the potential for an application with one of those utilities to be unsafe before it is deployed in a network, rather than determining safety properties ad-hoc from measurements after deployment. We give examples of the types of restrictions and guarantees that can arise from such a model in the context of rate-based congestion control protocols.
Strategies to contain the high and rising costs of health: Will they increase existing health care disparities and are they ethical?

Purpose – After discussing the high and rising health care costs in the USA, its disparities, and the suggested demand, supply, and managed competition‐side strategies to contain health care costs and their ethical implications, this paper seeks to explore whether or not these strategies will further aggravate the existing health care disparities.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper utilizes various appropriate exiting economic and ethical theories. The economic and ethical theories utilized are relevant to the problem of rising health care costs; to the proposed demand, supply, and managed competition‐side cost containment strategies; and to the existing health care disparities.Findings – This paper demonstrates that the suggested cost containment strategies do in fact aggravate existing health care inequities and are not always ethical.Originality/value – Given the present health care reform debate in the USA and various misconceptions about it, the author believes that the paper and its ...
The generational equity debate: a progressive framing of a conservative issue.

This article discusses the generational equity debate in the United States-including its origins and the functions it serves. This debate has emerged in the context of concerns over the aging of the population, budgetary crises, growing health care costs, increased poverty among children, growing economic inequality, and declining faith in institutions. By potentially fragmenting support for Social Security and other social programs, the generational equity approach to framing public policy issues may serve the interests of those conservatives wishing to shrink and restructure the American approach to social welfare. However, the possibility exists that this debate could serve also as a forum to advance progressive ideas about universal access for persons of all ages to income and health benefits and employment opportunities.
Evaluating appropriate use of prophylactic colchicine for gout flare prevention.

Objective American College of Rheumatology and European League Against Rheumatism guidelines recommend colchicine to prevent gout flares in patients initiating and increasing uric acid–lowering therapy until serum uric acid is maintained at ≤6 mg/dl. We aimed to evaluate how well colchicine prescribing practices adhere to these guidelines and to examine factors associated with improved prescribing. Methods Electronic medical records were reviewed for 126 patients with active colchicine prescriptions for prophylaxis of gout flares. Colchicine prescribing was defined as inappropriate if 1) no concurrent urate-lowering therapy was prescribed, 2) uric acid was not at goal and urate-lowering therapy had not been increased in the past 3 months, or 3) uric acid goals were met for >1 year and flares had resolved in the absence of tophi. Results Colchicine use was considered inappropriate in 93 patients (73.8%). Thirty-four were prescribed no urate-lowering therapy, 50 were above the uric acid goal without urate-lowering therapy increase in the prior 3 months, and 9 were at the uric acid goal for >1 year without flares or tophi. Patients appropriately prescribed colchicine were younger and were more likely to have been seen by a rheumatologist. Allopurinol dose and allergy, uric acid level, and renal function were similar in the 2 groups. Conclusion We found a high prevalence of what we considered inappropriate prophylactic colchicine use, driven largely by failure to prescribe concurrent urate-lowering therapies or adequately increase these medications. Rheumatology consultation was associated with improved colchicine prescribing.
Acid-base equilibria in acetonitrile-water mixtures

Summary The acid-base equilibria in AN-water mixtures with decreasing content of water: 30, 10, 5 and 1%-wt., were investigated potentiometrically. It was concluded that 1%-wt. water in pure AN is enough to provide the stability of perchloric acid solutions. The perchloric acid behaves as a strong acid in the four mixed solvents. The protolysis constants of several uncharged bases were determined by means of potentiometric titration with a glass electrode. The titration conditions of bases of this type improve compared with water when the AN content increases and for the mixture with 1%-wt. water the improvement is approximately of the same order as in glacial acetic acid.