cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multiple successful revisions of a ventriculoureteral shunt without nephrectomy for the treatment of hydrocephalus: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Ventriculoureteral shunts have been described occasionally for patients with complicated hydrocephalus. Repeated successful revision of the distal end of such shunt has not been reported previously. We report a case in which this was achieved. CLINCIAL PRESENIATION: A 21-year-old woman with long-standing hydrocepthalus, nuerous prior shunt revisions and failures and several distal shunt sites was shunted successfully into her eight ureter. INTERVENTION: On two occasions, proximal shunt infections required shunt externalization and the distal end was reinserted successfully into the same distal ureter both times. The patient recovered well from surgery with no clinical evidence of shunt malfunction. CONCLUSION: Multiple distal target failures are an unusual but difficult problem in patients with hydrocephalus. Ventricaloureteral shunts without nephrectomy should be considered, and they can be reused successfully it necessary.
Is Nocturnal Blood Pressure Reduction the Secret to Reducing the Rate of Progression of Hypertensive Chronic Kidney Disease

Hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular and renal disease. Lowering blood pressure (BP) has been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, but randomized trials have not demonstrated a benefit of lowering BP for the progression of renal disease except in secondary analyses in patients with significant proteinuria. Recently, there has been increasing interest in measuring BP outside of the clinic, using both home and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). ABPM has the advantage of measuring BP throughout both the day and night. Elevated nighttime BP and a lack of decline in BP from day to night (nondipping) are more potent risk factors for cardiovascular and renal outcomes than elevated daytime or clinic BP. Studies have shown that it is possible to lower nighttime BP and restore normal dipping with the administration of antihypertensive medications in the evening, known as chronotherapy. Evening administration of antihypertensives not only lowers nighttime BP but also is associated with decreased urinary protein excretion, decreased cardiovascular events, and decreased all-cause mortality. Reducing nighttime BP may slow the progression of chronic kidney disease and may be the key to linking the treatment of hypertension with improved renal outcomes.
Human pharmacokinetics of WR-2721

The pharmacokinetic properties of WR-2721 were investigated in 13 cancer patients given a 150 mg/M2 intravenous bolus dose of the drug. An average plasma clearance value of 2.17 L/min was obtained. Very little of the drug or the two metabolites, WR-1065 and WR-33278, were excreted in urine obtained after the blood collection schedule. Plasma concentrations of WR-2721 decreased by 94% within 6 minutes of drug administration. The mean value of 6.44 L obtained for the steady-state volume of distribution indicates that the extravascular space occupied by the drug is small. These observations suggest that in human cancer patients, WR-2721 is rapidly taken up by tissues and converted to metabolites.
How Anisotropic is Our Universe

Large-scale cosmic microwave background anisotropies in homogeneous, globally anisotropic cosmologies are investigated. We perform a statistical analysis in which the 4-yr data from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite is searched for the specific anisotropy patterns predicted by these models and thereby set definitive upper limits on the amount of shear, $(\ensuremath{\sigma}/H{)}_{0}$, and vorticity, $(\ensuremath{\omega}/H{)}_{0}$, which are orders of magnitude stronger than previous constraints. We find that primordial anisotropy should have been fine tuned to be less than ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ of its natural value in the Planck era.
ETIOLOGIES OF THE SICCA SYNDROME: PRIMARY SYSTEMIC AMLOIDOSIS AND OTHERS

Background. The sicca syndrome has been defined as the occurrence of xerostomia and xerophthalmia. Sjogren's syndrome is the most common cause of the sicca syndrome; however, these two syndromes are not synonymous and there are many potential etiologies of the sicca syndrome. A less known cause of sicca syndrome is amyloidosis that to date has only been reported in the nondermatology literature. Observations. A 79-year-old man with known amyloidosis presented with persistent xerostomia. He had the classic cutaneous findings of periorbital and “pinch” purpura. A labial biopsy showed diffuse deposition of amorphous eosinophilic material surrounding salivary acini. Apple-green birefringence was noted with Congo red staining and the diagnosis was made of amyloidosis in the minor salivary glands causing xerostomia. Conclusions. The sicca syndrome can be caused by systemic amyloidosis. Because this fact is not in the dermatologic literature, many dermatologists are not aware of this uncommon presentation. The knowledge of the many causes of the sicca syndrome and an understanding of the differences between this and Sjogren's syndromes are important for any dermatologist.
Heterogeneous pulmonary blood flow in response to hypoxia: A risk factor for high altitude pulmonary edema?

High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a rapidly reversible hydrostatic edema that occurs in individuals who travel to high altitude. The difficulties associated with making physiologic measurements in humans who are ill or at high altitude, along with the idiosyncratic nature of the disease and lack of appropriate animal models, has meant that our understanding of the mechanism of HAPE is incomplete, despite considerable effort. Bronchoalveolar lavage studies at altitude in HAPE-susceptible subjects have shown that mechanical stress-related damage to the pulmonary blood gas barrier likely precedes the development of edema. Although HAPE-susceptible individuals have increased pulmonary arterial pressure in hypoxia, how this high pressure is transmitted to the capillaries has been uncertain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging of pulmonary blood flow, we have been able to show that regional pulmonary blood flow in HAPE-susceptible subjects becomes more heterogeneous when they are exposed to normobaric hypoxia. This is not observed in individuals who have not had HAPE, providing novel data supporting earlier suggestions by Hultgren that uneven hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is an important feature of those who develop HAPE. This brief review discusses how uneven hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction increases regional pulmonary capillary pressure leading to stress failure of pulmonary capillaries and HAPE. We hypothesize that, in addition to the well-documented increase in pulmonary vascular pressure in HAPE-susceptible individuals, increased perfusion heterogeneity in hypoxia results in lung regions that are vulnerable to increased mechanical stress.
Potential for Ultrasonography to Reduce the Cost and Cumulative Radiation Dose in Routine Incisional Hernias.

As our population ages, becomes more obese, continues to smoke, and develops type 2 diabetes mellitus, incisional hernias and recurrences are becoming more prevalent. Management of these complex hernias has become so challenging that the Americas Hernia Society has become one of the fastest growing surgical specialty organizations. As surgeons becomemore skilled at treating incisional hernias, theneed todiagnose recurrences andcharacterize the abdominal wall of an affected patient has become increasingly important.1 Computed tomography (CT) is the criterion standard for evaluating the abdominalwall, butBaucomet al2 have shown that ultrasonography can beused to characterize the dimensions of the hernia defects as effectively as CT. The advantage of CT for a hernia is that it shows the layers of the abdomen in a formatwithwhichmost surgeons are familiar. Sagittal and coronal reconstructions aid in preoperativeplanning,particularly in recurrentherniaoperations.However, if a patient has had multiple abdominal operations and recurrenthernias, thenumberof lifetimeCTsperpatient is often in the double digits. In addition to multiple CTs increasing the cost of treating incisional hernias, it has been hypothesized that the cumulative radiation could contribute to abdominal cancers.3 The level of ionizing radiation during a single multiphase CT of the abdomen-pelvis has been estimated to increase the lifetime risk to 4 cancers per 1000 patients.4 Although the risk for additional cancers associated with modern imaging is up for debate, reducing the number of CT scans will help decrease both the radiation exposure and the cost of treating abdominalwall hernias.Ultrasonographymay not completely replace CT, particularly inmore complex hernias; however, it can be useful in the diagnosis andmeasurementof a suspectedhernia andmay reduce thenumberofCTs that are obtained.
Evaluation of hepatic subcellular fractions for Alamar blue and MTT reductase activity.

Abstract Alamar blue and MTT are indicators used to measure cytotoxicity of various chemicals in cultured cells. Both Alamar blue and MTT are reduced by mitochondrial enzymes. We observed enhanced fluorescence of Alamar blue when kidney epithelial cells were co-incubated with hepatic post-mitochondrial supernatant (S9) fractions as compared with cells incubated in the absence of S9 fractions. The present studies were carried out to determine whether hepatic cytosolic and/or microsomal enzymes were capable of metabolizing Alamar blue and/or MTT to their reduced products. Livers from female Sprague–Dawley rats were used to prepare S9 fraction, and mitochondrial, microsomal and cytosolic fractions. Fractions containing 1 or 5 mg protein/ml were incubated with Alamar blue or MTT for up to 4 h. Fluorescence (Alamar blue) or absorbance (MTT) were determined and expressed as differences between treated wells and controls. Hepatic fractions (S9, mitochondria, microsomes and cytosol) caused concentration- and time-dependent increases in Alamar blue fluorescence and MTT absorbance. Reduction of Alamar blue and MTT by hepatic S9 fraction was abolished by heating. Reduction of Alamar blue by hepatic mitochondria was approximately equivalent to that catalyzed by hepatic S9 fraction or cytosol. Reduction of MTT by hepatic mitochondria was approximately equivalent to that catalyzed by hepatic S9 fraction or microsomes. These data indicate that mitochondrial, cytosolic and microsomal enzymes reduce Alamar blue and MTT. Therefore, caution should be exercised in ascribing decreases in viability as due solely to mitochondrial damage when using either of these dyes.
Scheduling distributable real-time threads in Tempus middleware

This paper presents the Tempus real-time middleware, which supports real-time CORBA 2.0's distributable threads (DTs) as an end-to-end programming abstraction for distributed real-time systems. DTs in Tempus can have time constraints, including time/utility functions (TUFs), can have resource constraints, including mutual exclusion, and can be scheduled according to utility accrual (UA) disciplines. Tempus propagates the scheduling parameters of DT's as they transit objects and hence perhaps node boundaries. Node-local instances of a UA scheduling algorithm use the propagated parameters to construct local schedules and resolve resource dependencies for local timeliness optimization, toward approximate, system-wide timeliness optimality. Tempus uses an application-level scheduling framework for node-local TUF/UA scheduling on real-time POSIX-compliant operating systems. Our experimental measurements demonstrate the effectiveness of the middleware in scheduling DTs.
Molecular tools in marine ecology

Molecular tools have diverse applications in marine ecology. In microbial systems, DNA sequences of rRNA and other genes have identified a variety of novel lineages of bacteria inhabiting marine environments that have resisted traditional culture methods. However, relatively few natural populations have been characterized due to the rather labor-intensive methodologies employed. Recent technological developments such as in situ PCR and flow cytometry promise to greatly enhance the speed at which microbial taxa can be identified and enumerated in field collected water and substrate samples; such advances will allow future work to employ the spatial and temporal field sampling required to monitor the impact of natural and anthropogenic changes in the environment. This approach also holds promise for examining physiological status of field collected cells, garnering information on such elusive parameters as growth rates and the extent of nutrient limitation under natural conditions. Studies of macrobiota have similarly benefited from the use of molecular approaches to species identification. This has been particularly true with regard to distinguishing among larval forms of closely related taxa which are nearly identical morphologically. Genetic variation within species assayed by molecular tools has been useful in examining the stability of populations through time and in assessing patterns of recruitment to geographically separated populations. Enhanced understanding of these ecological problems will also require intensive spatial and temporal monitoring of both larval and adult populations. Often, the newer techniques based on DNA sequence variation have practical advantages over allozyme techniques: e.g., PCR allows assay of minute quantities of DNA that may come from ethanol preserved samples. However, when ample allozyme variation exists to address a given issue, these older techniques may be favored on a variety of criteria, including speed and cost. Hence, choice of methodology should be based on the expected efficiency of a given approach to a specific problem rather than the apparent sophistication of the method itself.
Why do patients die of acute kidney injury

AbstractAcute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication in critically-ill patients and portends a high mortality. The incidence of AKI continues to increase and is often underestimated. The intriguing question to both the intensivists and nephrologists is whether the kidney is an innocent bystander in the process of multi-organ systems failure or whether the kidney is initiating various complex metabolic and humoral pathways affecting distant organs contributing to the overall mortality. There is a renewed interest in the last two decades to gain greater insight into various disease pathways and to understand the role of the kidney in multi-organ failure. It is well known that AKI results in significant physiological derangements that underpin remote organ failure. For example, risk of infection and bleeding increase with AKI. Volume overload and acid-base derangements typical of renal dysfunction have serious consequences in the duration and weaning of mechanical ventilation. Recent animal studies su...
Motion induced by asymmetric enzymatic degradation of hydrogels

Biological hydrogels are continuously turned over through secretion and degradation. This non-equilibrium flux may be important for cellular and molecular transport through mucus and the extracellular matrix. Gel-digesting enzymes can drastically change the physical and chemical properties of the hydrogel environment. We report that a spatial gradient in the degradation of two gel/enzyme systems—gelatin/trypsin and hyaluronan/hyaluronidase—leads to directional motion of particles embedded in the gel in the direction of higher enzyme concentration. We study the rate at which the degradation front propagates through the gel and the ensuing velocity of the embedded particles, as functions of enzyme and gel concentrations. We propose that asymmetric degradation leads to asymmetric swelling, which transports particles up the enzyme concentration gradient.
Zinc finger proteins as templates for metal ion exchange and ligand reactivity. Chemical and biological consequences

Zinc finger reactions with inorganic ions and coordination compounds are as diverse as the zinc fingers themselves. Use of metal ions such as Co(2+) and Cd(2+) has given structural, thermodynamic and kinetic information on zinc fingers and zinc-finger-DNA/RNA interactions. It is a general truism that alteration of the coordination sphere in the finger environment will disrupt the recognition with DNA/RNA and this has implications for mechanism of toxicity and carcinogenesis of metal ions. Structural zinc fingers are susceptible to electrophilic attack and the recognition that the coordination sphere of inorganic compounds may be modulated for control of electrophilic attack on zinc fingers raises the possibility of systematic studies of zinc fingers as drug targets using inorganic chemistry. Some inorganic compounds such as those of As(III) and Au(I) may exert their biological effects through inactivation of zinc fingers and novel approaches to specifically attack the zinc-bound ligands using Co(III)-Schiff bases and Platinum(II)-Nucleobase compounds have been proposed. The genomic importance of zinc fingers suggests that the "coordination chemistry" of zinc fingers themselves is ripe for exploration to design new targets for medicinal inorganic chemistry.
Novel multirate processing of beamspace noise eigenvectors

A novel implementation of Root-MUSIC is introduced based on the observation that the MUSIC null spectrum created with a beamspace noise eigenvector is bandpass exhibiting nulls at the locations of in-band sources. Thus, after telescoping to element space and modulating to broadside, the telescoped noise eigenvector may be decimated yielding a small order polynominal with the separation between signal roots increased by the decimation factor. Depending on the out-of-band response of the beamformers, the telescoped noise eigenvector may be passed through a lowpass filter prior to decimation to preserve in-band source nulls. A low cost algorithm is realized by invoking linearity and performing the modulation, filtering, and decimation operations a priori on the beamformers yielding a simple transformation to be applied to the beamspace noise eigenvectors. >
Expectation-maximization algorithms, null spaces, and MAP image restoration

A computationally efficient, easily implementable algorithm for MAP restoration of images degraded by blur and additive correlated Gaussian noise using Gibbs prior density functions is derived. This algorithm is valid for a variety of complete data spaces. The constraints upon the complete data space arising from the Gaussian image formation model are analyzed and a motivation is provided for the choice of the complete data, based upon the ease of computation of the resulting EM algorithms. The overlooked role of the null space of the blur operator in image restoration is introduced. An examination of this role reveals an important drawback to the use of the simulated annealing algorithm in maximizing a specific class of functionals. An alternative iterative method for computing the nullspace component of a vector is given. The ability of a simple Gibbs prior density function to enable partial recovery of the component of an image within the nullspace of the blur operator is demonstrated. >
Limitations of potassium cardioplegia during cardiac ischemic arrest: a phosphorus 31 nuclear magnetic resonance study.

Abstract Cold K + cardioplegia is commonly used to preserve the myocardium during surgical ischemia. Since the K + -induced membrane depolarization could cause a Ca 2+ -mediated breakdown of adenosine triphosphate, this study compared the influence of different electrolytes on high-energy phosphate metabolism during cardioplegic arrest and subsequent recovery of mechanical function. An isolated working heart was subjected to hypothermic ischemia for one hour. Metabolic studies were assessed on phosphorus 31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Results show that (1) K + cardioplegia is harmful when the Ca 2+ content is equal to 2 mEq/L; (2) deleterious effects of K + are markedly reduced by lowering the Ca 2+ content; (3) the most adequate preservation is provided by a Mg 2+ -rich–Ca 2+ -poor perfusate; (4) this protection is not enhanced by addition of K + . Finally, 31 P NMR appears particularly appropriate for evaluating myocardial protection techniques since it allows noninvasive serial monitoring of high-energy phosphate content and subsequent correlation with functional recovery after ischemia.
Imaging Neural Stem Cell Fate in Mouse Model of Glioma

This unit describes a protocol for following the fate of stem cells in real time in a mouse model of glioma. Stem cells and tumor cells can be transduced with lentiviral vectors bearing two different luciferases, firefly luciferase (Fluc) and Renilla (Rluc) luciferase, respectively. With the cells labeled in this manner, bioluminescence imaging can be used to study the fate of stem cells in glioma-bearing brains in vivo. Curr. Protoc. Stem Cell Biol. 8:5A.1.1-5A.1.11. C � 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Modulation of Convection by a Lateral Shear

Several aspects of thermal convection in the presence of a lateral shear associated with either a shear line [with velocity V(x)] or a circular vortex [with azimuthal velocity V(r)] are considered. Parameter settings that favor suppression of convection near the axis of the shear flow or near the center of a cyclonic vortex are determined by looking at the structure of the linear neutral modes at the onset of convection, or at the modes that have the largest growth rates at highly supercritical Rayleigh numbers where the motions are nearly inviscid. Both parallel [or axisymmetric (2D longitudinal)] and wavy [or nonaxisymmetric (3D)] disturbances are considered, although the analysis focuses on the former. A weakly nonlinear amplitude equation shows that the bifurcation is supercritical, but even in the presence of vertical asymmetry in the applied thermal mean gradient, there is not a significant preference for upwelling or downwelling at the axis. Within the context of the linear model of convection in lateral shear, it is suggested that strong atmospheric vortices may suppress thermal convection in their cores, a mechanism possibly associated with vortex ‘‘eyes.’’ A simple laboratory demonstration of the main result is included.
An Introduction to $\gamma$-Recursion Theory (or What to do in KP - Foundation)

The program of reverse mathematics has usually been to find which parts of set theory, often used as a base for other mathematics, are actually necessary for some particular mathematical theory. In recent years, Slaman, Groszek, et al, have given the approach a new twist. The priority arguments of recursion theory do not naturally or necessarily lead to a foundation involving any set theory; rather, Peano Arithmetic (PA) in the language of arithmetic suffices. From this point, the appropriate subsystems to consider are fragments of PA with limited induction. A theorem in this area would then have the form that certain induction axioms are independent of, necessary for, or even equivalent to a theorem about the Turing degrees. (See, for examples, [C], [GS], [M], [MS], and [SW].) As go the integers so go the ordinals. One motivation of α -recursion theory (recursion on admissible ordinals) is to generalize classical recursion theory. Since induction in arithmetic is meant to capture the well-foundedness of ω , the corresponding axiom in set theory is foundation. So reverse mathematics, even in the context of a set theory (admissibility), can be changed by the influence of reverse recursion theory. We ask not which set existence axioms, but which foundation axioms, are necessary for the theorems of α -recursion theory. When working in the theory KP – Foundation Schema (hereinafter called KP − ), one should really not call it α -recursion theory, which refers implicitly to the full set of axioms KP. Just as the name β -recursion theory refers to what would be α -recursion theory only it includes also inadmissible ordinals, we call the subject of study here γ -recursion theory. This answers a question by Sacks and S. Friedman, “What is γ -recursion theory?”
New Strategies in Bladder Cancer: A Second Coming for Immunotherapy

Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) remains one of the most common and deadly cancers worldwide, and platinum-based chemotherapy, which has been the standard-of-care in metastatic bladder cancer, has had limited success in improving outcomes for patients. The recent development and translation of therapeutic strategies aimed at harnessing the immune system have led to durable and prolonged survival for patients with several different cancers, including UBC. In this review, we discuss new findings in bladder cancer immunotherapy, including recent successes with immune checkpoint blockade. We also discuss therapeutic cancer vaccines and highlight several additional immunotherapy modalities in early stages of development.
Adapting to Adaptations: Behavioural Strategies that are Robust to Mutations and Other Organisational-Transformations

Genetic mutations, infection by parasites or symbionts and other events can transform the way that an organism’s internal state changes in response to a given environment. We use a minimalistic computational model to support an argument that by behaving “interoceptively,” i.e. responding to internal state rather than to the environment, organisms can be robust to these organisational-transformations. We suggest that the robustness of interoceptive behaviour is due, in part, to the asymmetrical relationship between an organism and its environment, where the latter more substantially influences the former than vice versa. This relationship means that interoceptive behaviour can respond to the environment, the internal state and the interaction between the two, while exteroceptive behaviour can only respond to the environment. We discuss the possibilities that (i) interoceptive behaviour may play an important role of facilitating adaptive evolution (especially in the early evolution of primitive life) and (ii) interoceptive mechanisms could prove useful in efforts to create more robust synthetic life-forms.
A Rigorous Model for Predicting the Path Loss in Near-Ground Wireless Sensor Networks

A versatile near-ground field prediction model is proposed to facilitate accurate WSN simulations. Path loss is split into three segments using the principles of the Fresnel zones. The distances that define the edges of each segment are derived theoretically. The model is validated against experimental data sets obtained in different scenarios. All the propagation features affecting the direct, reflected, and higher order scattered waves are effectively incorporated in the model. Effects of antenna height, frequency of operation, polarization, and terrain electrical and geometrical properties on the connectivity of low-altitude WSNs are studied through Monte Carlo simulations.
FUNGITOXIC EFFECTS OF BALANSIA CYPERI

Fungitoxic effects ofthe fungus Balansia cyperi infecting the sedge Cyperus rotundus were examined. Comparisons of fungal colonizers of B. cyperc'-infected and uninfected C. rotundus showed Rhizoctonia solani to inhabit leaves from uninfected plants but not leaves from B. cypm'-infected plants. In vitro bioassays with solvent extracts of B. cyperi mycelia and culture filtrates showed growth inhibition of test fungi, including Fusarium oxysporum and R. solani. Solvent extracts of leaves from B. cyperiinfected plants inhibited growth of most test fungi including F. oxysporum, R. oryzae, and R. solani. Extracts from uninfected plants inhibited the latter two species but to a lesser degree. Results suggest that B. cyperi infecting C. rotundus potentially may deter infection of its host by other more pathogenic
Introduction: Ritual Text and Ritual Interpretation

In a book about medieval rituals, Philippe Buc argued: “Texts were forces in the practice of power. They should not be decrypted for (elusive) facts about rituals and then set aside.” He arrived at this conclusion by observing that ritual meaning was a gamble and was always contested in medieval societies and in medieval texts. As a result, Buc reached a negative conclusion about how far medieval texts can be used in the study of ritual: Ultimately there can be no anthropological readings of rituals depicted in medieval texts. There can only be anthropological readings of (1) medieval textual practices or perhaps (2) medieval practices that the historian has reconstructed using texts, with full and constant sensitivity to their status as texts. The latter is nonetheless much more difficult (especially for data-poor eras), less reliable, and allows only a circumscribed realm of appropriate questions and possible results. What Buc calls “data-poor eras” must surely include the times in which the ritual texts of the Bible were written. We know so little about them that dates for the composition of the priestly strand (P) in the Torah/Pentateuch range over five centuries. Yet anthropological readings of ritual instructions and stories in the books of Leviticus and Numbers have multiplied in recent decades. They have been motivated by a wish to use twentieth-century parallels to understand Israel's ancient ritual practices, but they have also been used by interpreters to reconstruct the theological rationales behind the rituals.
Structure optimization of dynamic reservoir ensemble using genetic algorithm

Reservoir computing has been widely applied in dynamical system modeling and solving time-dependent problems at low computational expense. However, when confronting some complex tasks that exhibit multiple sets of dynamics, the conventional reservoir computing model with a single reservoir may become ineffective and powerless. Inspired by the modality-independent but functionally connected brain regions, the concept of reservoir ensemble has been proposed which contains multiple reservoirs. In this paper, we propose a new dynamic reservoir ensemble model which is capable of automatically adapting and optimizing the synaptic and structural plasticity of a reservoir ensemble towards an optimal performance using the genetic algorithm. As shown in a real-life time series application — temperature prediction, the proposed model demonstrates superior performance over both the conventional single-reservoir model and the static reservoir ensemble model.
Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP)

Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) represents a minimally invasive approach to surgical management of BPH that offers many advantages to the surgeon. Using a 100 W holmium-cutting laser to enucleate tissue down to the prostatic capsule, it recreates the resection of a suprapubic prostatectomy transurethrally, with excellent hemostasis, while utilizing saline irrigant to avoid complications of absorption. HoLEP allows for the resection of both small and large glands, with excellent long-term functional results equal to standard TURP and suprapubic prostatectomy, while at the same time minimizing morbidity. However, the procedure represents a distinct skill-set foreign to many practicing urologists. Both the equipment required to perform HoLEP and the maneuvers performed during the procedure are a departure from traditional transurethral surgery. This chapter will describe the current technique of HoLEP including an in-depth description of the available equipment, a step-by-step guide to the procedure, and a review of the anticipated postoperative recovery and complications.
Physical activity across adulthood and subjective cognitive function in older men

Low subjective cognitive function (SCF), which is associated with APOE4 genotype, adversely impacts quality of life and has predicted clinical dementia. We examined whether physical activity during early adulthood or mid-to-late life is associated with late-life SCF. We followed 28,481 US male health professionals aged 40–75 years who reported their physical activity in 1986 and biennially thereafter. SCF was reported in 2008 and 2012. The SCF score was averaged for the 2008 and 2012 assessments and categorized as “good”, “moderate”, and “poor”. Men in the highest versus lowest quintile of mid-to-late life physical activity in 1986 had 38% lower odds of poor versus good SCF score (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.62; 95% CI 0.53, 0.72; P for trend < 0.0001). Being physically active in early adulthood was also associated with a 23% lower odds of poor SCF, independent of later activity, and being active both in early and mid-to-late adulthood was associated with a 48% lower odds of poor SCF score compared with those who were always sedentary (OR 0.52; 95% CI 0.38, 0.71). Our results suggest that being physically active during early adulthood and mid-to-late life independently contribute to prevention of poor subjective cognitive function in late-life.
Designing the Cyberinfrastructure for Spatial Data Curation, Visualization, and Sharing

Widely used across disciplines such as natural resources, social sciences, public health, humanities, and economics, spatial data is an important component in many studies and has promoted interdisciplinary research development. Though an institutional data repository provides a great solution for data curation, preservation, and sharing, it usually lacks the spatial visualization capability, which limits the use of spatial data to professionals. To increase the impact of research-generated spatial data and truly turn them into digital maps for a broader user base, we have designed and developed the workflow and cyberinfrastructure to extend the current capability of our institutional data repository by visualizing the spatial data on the web. In this project, we added a GIS server to the original institutional data repository cyberinfrastructure, which enables web map services. Then, through a web mapping API, we visualized the spatial data as an interactive web map and embedded in the data repository web page. From the user’s perspective, researchers can still identify, cite and reuse the dataset by downloading the data and metadata and the DOI offered by the data repository. General information users can also browse the web maps to find location-based information. In addition, these data was ingested into the spatial data portal to increase the discoverability for spatial information users. Initial usage statistics suggest that this cyberinfrastructure has greatly improved the spatial data usage and extended the institutional data repository to facilitate spatial data sharing.
Scheme for the protective measurement of a single photon using a tunable quantum Zeno effect

This paper presents a proof-of-principle scheme for the protective measurement of a single photon. In this scheme, the photon is looped arbitrarily many times through an optical stage that implements a weak measurement of a polarization observable followed by a strong measurement protecting the state. The ability of this scheme to realize a large number of such interaction-protection steps means that the uncertainty in the measurement result can be drastically reduced while maintaining a sufficient probability for the photon to survive the measurement.
Improving Elementary Instruction in Mathematics: A Program to Train Secondary Personnel as Teachers for Elementary In-Service Programs

(1969). Improving Elementary Instruction in Mathematics. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 76, No. 9, pp. 1057-1060.
Erroneous thyroid diagnosis due to over-the-counter biotin.

Abstract Objectives: Biotin is a component of the vitamin B complex used in standard immunoassays to detect serum levels of various hormones and non-hormones, including thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroxine. These assays involve a strong bond between streptavidin and biotin, which serves as an anchor for measured analytes. Large doses of exogenous biotin for the treatment of certain medical conditions have resulted in assay interference, causing TSH to be spuriously lowered. Smaller doses of biotin found in dietary supplements also have caused assay interference. Methods: We describe four cases in which over-the-counter (OTC) biotin caused erroneous thyroid diagnosis and clinical confusion in patients with preexisting thyroid disease. Serum TSH and thyroxine were measured by the Vitros 5600 assay. Conclusions: Although the biotin–streptavidin interaction is sensitive for detecting serum levels of TSH, it is subject to interference by exogenous biotin at levels found in OTC products. The widespread use of OTC biotin for cosmetic purposes can adversely affect the diagnosis of the entire spectrum of functional thyroid disorders. Physicians must carefully and routinely question for the use of biotin before thyroid function testing.
Managerial Ownership and Earnings Management: Evidence from Stock Ownership Plans

Stock ownership plans initiate stock ownership requirements for executives, but some plans do not require executives to increase their ownership to meet plan requirements. The initiation of ownership requirements, combined with differences between plans in the ownership requirements of executives, provides a novel setting to disentangle the risk and reward effects of managerial ownership on earnings management. Consistent with the risk effect, adoption firms that require an ownership increase exhibit a decrease in the propensity to meet or just beat analyst EPS forecasts following plan adoption. The evidence of a decrease is robust to using adoption firms that require no ownership increase as a control sample, and the results are also robust to using a propensity score matched control sample.
High Temperature Mechanical Behavior of SAC and SAC+X Lead Free Solders

In this work, we have investigated the mechanical behavior of several SAC and SAC+X lead free solder alloys at extreme high temperatures up to 200 oC. The studied alloys included SAC305 (96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu), SAC_Q (92.8Sn-3.4Ag-0.5Cu-3.3Bi), and Innolot (90.95Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu-3.0Bi-0.15Ni-1.4Sb). The solder uniaxial test specimens were formed in high precision rectangular cross-section glass tubes using a vacuum suction process. The samples were initially cooled in a water bath and were later reflowed. The reflow profile was chosen to closely mimic profiles used for BGA assemblies, so that the obtained microstructures were similar to those found in typical solder joints. For each of 4 elevated temperatures (T = 125, 150, 175, and 200 oC), tensile stress-strain tests were performed at three strain rates (SR = 0.001, 0.0001, and 0.00001 sec-1). For each alloy and testing temperature, the stress-strain curve shape and high temperature tensile properties (initial modulus, yield stress, and ultimate tensile strength) of the solders were measured and compared. As expected, the results have shown significant degradations of the mechanical properties of lead-free solders at higher temperatures. However, it was found that the addition of dopants (e.g. Bi, Ni, and Sb) in the SAC+X alloys improved their high temperature properties significantly. The measured data have been used to determine the Anand model parameters for each alloy. Good correlations were obtained between the Anand model predictions and the experimental data over a wide range of strain levels, temperatures, and strain rates.
A Study of the Use of Nonacademic Factors in Holistic Undergraduate Admissions Reviews

How colleges make admissions decisions at four-year institutions is facing high levels of scrutiny. Students, families, and policymakers are asking how offices of admissions decide to admit student...
Correlation of ImmuKnow Assay Levels with Rejection and Infection after Heart Transplantation

Purpose Cylex Immune Function Test (IFT)(ImmuKnow®) assesses T-cell activity by measuring ATP levels. It is a useful assay that measures global immune response in patients post heart transplantation (HTx). However, its role in guiding medical therapy is still limited. We aim to study the association of IFT with HTx rejection and infection. Methods We investigated all patients who received HTx from 4/2014 - 8/2018. All IFT levels measured were divided into 3 groups: rejection phase (within 1 month before rejection episode, ISHLT 1990 ≥ grade 1B), infection phase (within 1 month of infection requiring admission), other stable phase, and analyzed these IFT values. Rejection episodes within 1 month post-HTx were excluded. Results 156 HTx patients were included (mean age 54 years, 74% male). The mean follow-up period from HTx was 2.1 ± 1.4 years, over which 757 IFT values were collected. 25 IFT levels were assessed in rejection phase, 123 in infection phase and 611 were in stable phase. Mean IFT in infection phase was significantly lower compared to stable phase (166 ± 143 vs 264 ± 180 ng ATP/mL, p Conclusion Infection was associated with lower IFT levels compared to stable post-transplant levels. IFT may be a valuable tool in the detection of infection post-HTx and can guide reduction in immunosuppression. However, its role in predicting rejection needs further evaluation.
How a New Bond Can Improve Retirement Security

There is a growing retirement crisis, and most of the focus has been on the fact that individuals are not saving enough for retirement, may not have access to pension schemes, and find it difficult to choose from a wide range of retirement investment products. However, the bigger issue might be that the assets and financial products available to investors, including those that offer legal protection to plan sponsors, may not be appropriate for the typical individual saving for retirement. As Merton (2014) notes, the model adopted to plan for retirement for the majority of the population focuses on wealth at retirement as opposed to the level of retirement income that an individual can earn. As a result, current assets and many products are risky from a retirement-income perspective. All else equal, with respect to retirement income, individuals retiring a few years apart can have vastly different outcomes (making retirement outcomes a function of one’s conception or retirement date), and this impacts policymakers (and potentially individuals worried about retirement security). A new bond has been proposed to improve retirement security; it includes a forward-start (tied to date of retirement), income-only (because individuals need steady income), real cash-flow stream (linked to appropriate indexes), for a fixed period (tied to average life expectancy). This paper examines standard portfolio choices (e.g., 60/40, target-date funds), along with holding this new bond in isolation, from a retirement-income perspective to demonstrate how this new bond, either individually or when used in standard portfolio choices, could improve retirement outcomes. The paper concludes with a Monte Carlo simulation that further validates the value of this new bond given the potential risks to all investment choices for reasonable future equity, interest rate, and inflation scenarios.
Spatial patterns of within-tree Enaphalodes rufulus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) attacks during outbreak conditions in the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas, United States of America

Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman) (red oak borer; Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a native wood borer that colonises and develops in oaks (Quercus Linnaeus; Fagaceae) across southeastern Canada and the eastern United States of America. It is rarely considered a pest because it normally occurs at low population density levels in stressed or dying oak trees. In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a large, historically unique outbreak of E. rufulus in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas and Missouri, United States of America. This outbreak provided an opportunity to investigate within-tree spatial distribution of attacks during unusually high insect population levels. Fifty trees from northern Arkansas were felled and destructively sampled. The locations of attack sites by female E. rufulus were standardised across varying heights and diameters for comparison across trees. Attack sites showed a significant clustered pattern within trees. Attack sites were aggregated towards the lower and middle bole, and on the south-facing side of trees. This pattern has been seen in other insects, including wood borers, and is potentially related to differences in temperature. These patterns of ovipositional behaviour in outbreak situations have implications for E. rufulus resource partitioning and facultative intraguild predation among larvae.
The Impact of Interruptions on Feature Change Detection within Dynamic Scenes

The goal of the present study was to examine how interruptions occurring in dynamic scenes affect the ability to detect perceptual changes during level 1 situation awareness (SA). Undergraduates we...
Preparation and characterization of cobalt-doped iron pyrite (FeS2) thin films

Abstract Iron pyrite (FeS2) incorporated with cobalt dopant varying from 2% to 6% atomic ratio, was synthesized by using an aqueous hydrothermal process. The thin films of Co-doped FeS2 were fabricated by a vacuum thermal evaporation of synthesized FeS2 powder. The structural, electrical and optical properties of as-deposited and sulfurized films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the synthesized powder and thin films showed a cubic pyrite structure. The crystallinity of FeS2 was slightly degraded by the doping of cobalt. The dependence of thin-film resistance on the temperature indicated an increase of activation energy until 3 at% cobalt doping and then decreased the resistance with the increase of cobalt concentration. Hall effect measurements showed that the Co-doped samples have n-type conduction except for the 2 at%. The carrier concentration was in the order of 1018 cm−3, whereas, the carrier mobility decreased from 6.52 cm2/V.s to 4.3 cm2/V.s with the increase of cobalt dopant. The photosensitivity of undoped and cobalt-doped FeS2 films was measured under AM 1.5G and NIR light. The sulfurized films showed a higher photoresponse than the as-deposited films for both visible and IR lights.
Abstract 4563: Immunoprevention of triple negative breast cancer by a multi-antigen, multi-peptide vaccine

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive sub-type of breast cancer, comprising approximately 20% of all breast cancers, and has a poor prognosis due to its aggressive behavior and lack of effective targeted therapies. In the present study, we employed transcriptome and protein analyses to select genes that are uniquely overexpressed in human triple-negative breast cancer. Overexpression of selected genes, Cyclin A2, CDK1, Cyclin E2, PRC1, Kif15, TPX2, Ki67, Top2A, were confirmed on human breast cancer tissue microarrays and in TNBC derived cell lines from C3(1)/TAg mice. Antigen-specific MHC class II epitopes with promiscuous high-binding affinity were identified using the “combined scoring system”, based on their potential to elicit a selective Th1 immunity. Furthermore, all peptides were selected to have over 85% amino acid sequence homology between human and mice for potential clinical translation. Strong immunogenic peptides from five antigens were selected by immunogenicity testing in tumor naive mice based on high IFN-γ and low IL-10 ELISpot response data. The selected peptides, Cyclin A2 (#335), CDK1 (#113), Cyclin E2 (#93, 298, 334), KIF15 (#129), and Top2A (#236, 410, 606), were combined to form a multi-antigen, multi-peptide vaccine (MAMPV). The tumor preventive efficacy of the MAMPV was evaluated in syngraft study using a TNBC model: C3(1)/TAg-REAR mice and a TNBC cell line derived from C3(1)/TAg (M6). MAMPV-vaccinated animals demonstrated a significant reduction in tumor volume, and significantly higher tumor infiltration of CD4+ T cells compared to the control animals. Pathological examination of major organs did not reveal any toxicity associated with the vaccine. Similar tumor preventive efficacy was demonstrated in genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) using C3(1)/TAg mice. Taken together, our data indicate that formulation of the multi-antigen multi-peptide vaccine is highly immunogenic and has the potential to be safe and efficacious in the immunoprevention of TNBC. Citation Format: Yian Wang. Immunoprevention of triple negative breast cancer by a multi-antigen, multi-peptide vaccine [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 4563.