cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Segmentation of Parasites for High-Content Screening Using Phase Congruency and Grayscale Morphology

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease with a global health impact second only to malaria. The World Health Organization has determined new therapies for schistosomiasis are urgently needed, however the causative parasite is refractory to high-throughput drug screening due to the need for a human expert to analyze the effects of putative drugs. Currently, there is no vision system capable of relieving this bottleneck with sufficient accuracy for the automated analysis of parasite phenotypes. We presented a region-based method with performance limited primarily by poor edge detection caused by body irregularities, groups of touching parasites and unpredictable effects of drug exposure. Towards ameliorating this difficulty, we propose an edge detector utilizing phase congruency and grayscale thinning. The detector can be used to impose the correct topology on a segmented image – an essential step towards accurate segmentation of parasites.
Typical and Atypical Carcinoids

Primarily occurring in the airways, carcinoids tumors may also arise peripherally within the lung. Their histopathologic hallmark is a growth pattern that suggests neuroendocrine differentiation (organoid, trabecular, insular, etc.). Two major variants of carcinoid tumors are recognized: typical and atypical. Some carcinoid tumors, particularly the ones that are peripherally located, may be clinically silent. Fever, cough, expectoration, chest pain, and hemoptysis occur in a substantial number of centrally located cases. The most common radiologic manifestation, seen in about 80–85% of cases, is evidence of bronchial obstruction, owing to the majority of these tumors occupying a central endobronchial location. Bronchial obstruction is revealed as atelectasis or obstructive pneumonitis. Peripheral carcinoids, often the spindle cell variant, occur as solitary pulmonary nodules manifested as well-defined homogenous densities, usually up to 3 cm in diameter.
Nuclear Levels of Cd 115 and Cd 117 from (d, p) Reaction Studies

Levels of ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{115}$ and ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{117}$ below about 3 MeV have been studied by observation of the energy and angular distributions of protons emitted in the ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{114}(d, p)$ and ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{116}(d, p)$ reactions, respectively. For many of the levels, $l$ values of the captured neutrons have been assigned by comparison of the angular distributions with calculations based on the distorted-wave Born approximation. Results are analyzed in terms of the strong-pairing model of the nucleus as treated by Kisslinger and Sorensen. The experimental results are in good general agreement with predictions of the model, with the major exception that the energy of the ${g}_{\frac{7}{2}}$ single-particle orbital is found to be lower than predicted in the cadmium region. The $Q$ values for the ($d, p$) reactions to the ground states of ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{115}$ and ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{117}$ are 3.939\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.020 and 3.550\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.020 MeV, respectively. In both cases the ground states have spin and parity \textonehalf{}+. The $\frac{11}{2}\ensuremath{-}$ isomers lie 173\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10 and 133\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10 keV above the ground states in ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{115}$ and ${\mathrm{Cd}}^{117}$, respectively.
Further Investigations Into a Low-Order Model of Fan Broadband Noise

Two aspects of a low-order method for predicting broadband interaction noise downstream of a fan stage in a turbofan engine are investigated. First, the ability to include real vane geometry effects by utilizing an asymptotic based unsteady gust response method is considered. The results indicate that the asymptotic method is too constrained by thin-airfoil parameter restrictions to be applicable to modern fan exit guide vanes. Also, the results demonstrate that any model for vane thickness that relies on rapid distortion theory in the gust interaction formulation will overpredict the sound especially at higher frequencies. A second investigation was made into the modification of the low-order method to directly directly propagating acoustic modes calculated for a flat-plate cascade as opposed to just using the unsteady surface pressure in the model. The current implementation of the acoustic mode based prediction is not producing results similar to those shown in the literature previously. As such the method requires further development before conclusive statements regarding its prediction capability and computational requirements as compared to the original method can be made.
Seasonal change in body mass and size of tail of northern beavers

Loss of body mass and change in size of tail during winter were examined for beavers ( Castor canadensis ) at 33 beaver colonies in two National Parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin during 7 years. These indicators of condition were used to assess the effects of winter on beavers and determine if location of colony and presence or absence of young influence changes in condition. During summer (May–September), beavers always gained mass and their tails increased in size. During winter (November-April), young-of-the-year increased in body mass and size of tail, but yearlings and adults decreased in both measures. Changes in mass and size of tail during winter did not differ between sexes. Overwintering condition did not differ between Parks. Seasonal change in body mass was not different among years, but was different among colonies. Change in size of tail was different among years and colonies. Greater losses in both measures of condition were observed during winters that were longer than average. Yearlings and adults lost more mass in colonies with young than in colonies that over-wintered without young. These findings highlight the importance and variable effect of weather, site of pond, age, and composition of colony for overwintering condition of beavers, and may indicate why the study of winter ecology of beavers has been enigmatic.
Drug therapy of ovarian carcinoma

Patients with ovarian tumors of low malignant potential should be submitted exclusively to observation, but not to therapy. The same holds true for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer FIGO stages IA, IB with high and intermediate differentiation (G1/G2). All other patients with early stage ovarian cancer should be treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. There exists no standard therapy for these stages so far. The following options are actually under investigation: mono-chemotherapy with cisplatin or cyclophosphamide as well as combination therapy of cisplatin with cyclophosphamide or carboplatin with paclitaxel. The duration of adjuvant therapy is also subject of on-going trials. In patients with advanced ovarian cancer, platin-containing regimens yield longer survival rates than those without platin. Platin-containing combinations are more effective than equally dosed platin-monotherapy. With regard to the antitumoral effectiveness, no significant difference between cisplatin and its less toxic analogue carboplatin was found. Therefore, cisplatin may be substituted with carboplatin. Very recently, the combination of cisplatin with the taxane paclitaxel was shown significantly more efficacious than the old standard of platin plus cyclophosphamide with regard to response and survival rates representing actually the therapy of choice for the primary therapy of advanced ovarian cancer.
The Politics of Oil

Oil is intrinsically political. No other resource commands the interest and passion of oil, the intrigue of wily oilmen, robed sheiks, kings and sultans, roughnecking cowboys, and stiff-suited executives. Jimmy Carter, the president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, won and then lost an election, in large part due to oil. And, the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) redressed global power balances in a seemingly irreversible way when it discarded the colonial model of oil exploitation, asserted its power to control a significant part of the world’s oil reserves, and moved the price of a barrel of oil from single digits to triple digits. Oil, and the cars and trucks that consume it, are typically the largest items in countries’ balance of trade. Now, many hourly newscasts quote the value of the Dow Jones Industrial stock market average and the price of oil. And, in the year of the Deepwater Horizon spill, China, the world’s next oil-thirsty nation, overtook the United States as the world’s largest market for automobiles and overtook Japan to became the world’s second largest economy.
Associations between psychological characteristics and indicators of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults.

AbstractCurrent knowledge about the relationship between psychological characteristics and metabolic syndrome (MetS) components is limited in Asian populations. The purpose of this study is to investigate linkages between physiological markers of MetS and life satisfaction, hostility, and depression in Chinese adults. Secondary analyses were conducted using cross-sectional data from parents of randomly selected middle school students participating in a pilot study in Qingdao, China. Among 440 parents who consented to participate (237 women, 203 men), 368 provided valid responses in all three categories of psychological characteristics, and only those subjects were included in these analyses. General linear models and logistic regressions were run separately by gender, controlling for covariates. Among women, life satisfaction was inversely associated with triglyceride levels (p = .04), LDL-C (p < .01), risk of hypertriglyceridemia (OR[.53], p < .01), HDL-C (OR[.78], p = .03), and MetS (OR[.52], p = .03). ...
Combination therapy in relapsed or refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia: a case report and literature review.

Summary What is known and objective Immune destruction and decreased platelet production are major components of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to critically evaluate the role of combination therapy in relapsed/refractory ITP and the concept of medication tapering/discontinuation. Comment Although a number of combination regimens have been reported, little is published on combining immunosuppression with thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs). We report a case of refractory ITP successfully treated with combination immunosuppression added to eltrombopag. An aggressive combination approach resulted in complete remission and allowed for stepwise drug tapering. What is new and conclusion Combination immunosuppression can potentiate the effect of TPO-RAs. This mechanistically reasonable strategy could result in a more rapid response than the more popular, sequential, single-agent strategy. Stepwise tapering can be successfully implemented. Comparing sequential single-agent therapy with early combination approach warrants a more extensive study.
Tracking of multiple wideband targets using passive sensor arrays and particle filters

In this paper, we present a way to track multiple maneuvering targets with varying time-frequency signatures. A particle filter is used to track targets that have constant speeds with changing heading directions. The target motion dynamics help the particle filter achieve an angular resolution otherwise not possible by the conventional beamforming techniques. Moreover, the particle filter has a built-in target association that eliminates the need for heuristic techniques commonly used in the multiple target tracking problems. Reference priors are used to derive the probability distribution function of the acoustic array outputs given the state of the multiple target states (MTS's). Local linearization is used to approximate the importance function used in the particle filter by a Gaussian pdf. Finally, computer simulations are used to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm with synthetic data.
Effects of layered media with random permittivities and roughness on icesheet emissions from 0.5–2.0 GHz

Recent L-band radiometry from the SMOS and Aquarius satellite missions has sparked interest in studying low-frequency microwave-emission from the polar ice sheets [1, 2]. Low frequency microwaves have less extinction and extremely long penetration depth sin glacier ice (several hundreds to one thousand meters), and thus can provide sensitivity to the subsurface temperature profile. The Ultra-Wide Band Software Defined Radiometer (UWBRAD) operating from 0.5 to 2.0 GHz is a new instrument to retrieve subsurface temperature profiles from a wide bandwidth radiation spectrum [2–4]. The physical basis for the measurement is to retrieve the shallower subsurface temperature at high frequency and the deeper subsurface temperature at low frequency.
To FUSE or not to FUSE: performance of user-space file systems

Traditionally, file systems were implemented as part of OS kernels. However, as complexity of file systems grew, many new file systems began being developed in user space. Nowadays, user-space file systems are often used to prototype and evaluate new approaches to file system design. Low performance is considered the main disadvantage of user-space file systems but the extent of this problem has never been explored systematically. As a result, the topic of user-space file systems remains rather controversial: while some consider user-space file systems a toy not to be used in production, others develop full-fledged production file systems in user space. In this paper we analyze the design and implementation of the most widely known user-space file system framework--FUSE--and characterize its performance for a wide range of workloads. We instrumented FUSE to extract useful statistics and traces, which helped us analyze its performance bottlenecks and present our analysis results. Our experiments indicate that depending on the workload and hardware used, performance degradation caused by FUSE can be completely imperceptible or as high as -83% even when optimized; and relative CPU utilization can increase by 31%.
Understanding mechanisms and seeking cures for Alzheimer's disease: why we must be "extraordinarily diverse".

After more than a century since Dr. Alois Alzheimer first described the pathological hallmarks accompanying the defining clinical features of the disease, we have yet to deliver any meaningful disease-modifying treatments to our patients. In this article, I present a rationale for the need to be “extraordinarily diverse” in seeking effective ways to treat or prevent this devastating disease. This approach is based on applying a systems-biology perspective at the population level, using a diverse array of “OMICS” methodologies to identify molecular mechanisms associated with well-established AD risk factors including systemic inflammation, obesity, and insulin resistance. We believe that applying this strategy to understand longitudinal changes in human physiology during aging is of paramount importance in identifying meaningful opportunities to intervene effectively in AD.
Otoferlin is a multivalent calcium-sensitive scaffold linking SNAREs and calcium channels

Sensory hair cells rely on otoferlin as the calcium sensor for exocytosis and encoding of sound preferentially over the neuronal calcium sensor synaptotagmin. Although it is established that synaptotagmin cannot rescue the otoferlin KO phenotype, the large size and low solubility of otoferlin have prohibited direct biochemical comparisons that could establish functional differences between these two proteins. To address this challenge, we have developed a single-molecule colocalization binding titration assay (smCoBRA) that can quantitatively characterize full-length otoferlin from mammalian cell lysate. Using smCoBRA, we found that, although both otoferlin and synaptotagmin bind membrane fusion SNARE proteins, only otoferlin interacts with the L-type calcium channel Cav1.3, showing a significant difference between the synaptic proteins. Furthermore, otoferlin was found capable of interacting with multiple SNARE and Cav1.3 proteins simultaneously, forming a heterooligomer complex. We also found that a deafness-causing missense mutation in otoferlin attenuates binding between otoferlin and Cav1.3, suggesting that deficiencies in this interaction may form the basis for otoferlin-related hearing loss. Based on our results, we propose a model in which otoferlin acts as a calcium-sensitive scaffolding protein, localizing SNARE proteins proximal to the calcium channel so as to synchronize calcium influx with membrane fusion. Our findings also provide a molecular-level explanation for the observation that synaptotagmin and otoferlin are not functionally redundant. This study also validates a generally applicable methodology for quantitatively characterizing large, multivalent membrane proteins.
Chapter 254 – The NFAT Family: Structure, Regulation, and Biological Functions

Publisher Summary This chapter sheds light on the structure, regulation, and biological functions of the NFAT family, which is a family of transcription factors. The primordial NFAT family member NFAT5/TonEBP is expressed ubiquitously in mammalian cells and regulates the response to hypertonic stress. NFAT5 is also likely to be involved in regulating diverse other biological programs. The DNA binding domains of all NFAT and NFкB/Rel family members have two domains, an N-terminal specificity domain involved in making base specific DNA contacts, and a C-terminal domain involved in dimer formation. Together these domains constitute the Rel homology region (RHR) common to all members of the extended NFAT/NFкB/Rel family. NFAT proteins can also function as dimeric transcription factors at quasi-palindromic sites that resemble NFкB binding sites. The calcium regulated NFAT proteins are activated by ligand binding to a variety of cell surface receptors. The common feature of the receptors is their ability to activate phosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase C (PLC), thereby inducing calcium influx across the plasma membrane. NFAT dependent gene transcription is exquisitely sensitive to changes in intracellular calcium concentration. Even in the continuous presence of stimulus, levels may oscillate depending on specific parameters of receptor occupancy and desensitization. Interaction with calcineurin is central to the calcium responsiveness of NFAT1-4. The major calcineurin docking site on NFAT is located at the N-terminus of the regulatory domain and has the consensus sequence PxIxIT. Substitution of the PxIxIT sequence of NFAT1 with a higher affinity version obtained by peptide selection increases the basal sensitivity of NFAT.
KV channels and the regulation of vascular smooth muscle tone

VSMCs in resistance arteries and arterioles express a diverse array of KV channels with members of the KV 1, KV 2 and KV 7 families being particularly important. Members of the KV channel family: (i) are highly expressed in VSMCs; (ii) are active at the resting membrane potential of VSMCs in vivo (-45 to -30 mV); (iii) contribute to the negative feedback regulation of VSMC membrane potential and myogenic tone; (iv) are activated by cAMP-related vasodilators, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen peroxide; (v) are inhibited by increases in intracellular Ca2+ and vasoconstrictors that signal through Gq -coupled receptors; (vi) are involved in the proliferative phenotype of VSMCs; and (vii) are modulated by diseases such as hypertension, obesity, the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Thus, KV channels participate in every aspect of the regulation of VSMC function in both health and disease.
Intestinal absorption of fructose

Increased understanding of fructose metabolism, which begins with uptake via the intestine, is important because fructose now constitutes a physiologically significant portion of human diets and is associated with increased incidence of certain cancers and metabolic diseases. New insights in our knowledge of intestinal fructose absorption mediated by the facilitative glucose transporter GLUT5 in the apical membrane and by GLUT2 in the basolateral membrane are reviewed. We begin with studies related to structure as well as ligand binding, then revisit the controversial proposition that apical GLUT2 is the main mediator of intestinal fructose absorption. The review then describes how dietary fructose may be sensed by intestinal cells to affect the expression and activity of transporters and fructolytic enzymes, to interact with the transport of certain minerals and electrolytes, and to regulate portal and peripheral fructosemia and glycemia. Finally, it discusses the potential contributions of dietary fructose to gastrointestinal diseases and to the gut microbiome.
Overview: Overall Goals When Writing Grant Applications

Getting (and keeping) the attention of the reviewers. A research laboratory can be considered analogous to a business in many ways. Like a business, there is management of workers and finances to make products (data). Also like a business, income must be earned in a competitive process. Grant applications are the presentation of your work to persons who decide whether they want to invest and buy, much like the role of product advertisements for a business. Clearly, having products that are so superior or important that they sell themselves is ideal, but most are usually in competition with other similar products. The manner in which your products are presented to potential investors and buyers is absolutely crucial, to convince them to choose yours over others. Much like for a harried consumer, the attention of a reviewer needs to be quickly captured and sustained, to “sell” your ideas effectively.
Area and Personnel Protection From the Laser

In all phases of laser research, operating personnel must develop programs for protection against the laser beam. Safety measures must be planned in advance, adhered to and reviewed critically at frequent intervals. This program must be developed whether exposure to the laser is only occasional or frequent. Safety measures are also to be followed by patients receiving laser treatment and by visitors.
Leaf me alone: visual constraints on the ecology of social group formation

Complex environments may place constraints on animal sensory perception. However, little is known about how ecological constraints impact the formation of animal social groups, which ultimately necessitate that conspecifics detect one another. Here we studied the fission–fusion social groups of highly social terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobita compressus), which frequently split and recombine, requiring individuals to actively sense the location of conspecifics. We manipulated the environment by relocating abundant natural fallen leaves on the beach, testing how and why this debris may constrain social group formation. Our experiments revealed that fallen leaves impose a fundamental limit on social grouping, with experimentally simulated groups attracting significantly fewer conspecifics (75% less) if they were surrounded by leaves. This constraint on social grouping was not the result of leaves acting as a physical barrier to movement. Furthermore, leaves only hindered visual perception of conspecifics and did not hinder other modalities besides vision. By experimentally moving leaves above the horizon, such that they no longer blocked animals’ field of view, we found that the impact of these visual constraints on grouping could be effectively abolished. Broadly, these experiments elucidate how complex environments impose sensory constraints on social animals’ ability to navigate toward groups. Social animals must be able to detect and orient toward conspecifics if they are to form social groups. Features of the environment, however, may impose constraints on sensory perception that interfere with the detection of conspecifics. Here we studied social hermit crabs, which form social groupings within a complex habitat that contains abundant fallen leaves along the beach–forest interface. By experimentally manipulating leaves, we show that these seemingly insignificant ecological materials create visual constraints that block the cues free-wandering individuals normally use to orient toward social groups. Our study thus reveals how common aspects of the environment can exert major constraints on sensory perception, thereby severely limiting social group formation and ultimately sociality.
Remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by asymmetrical alternating current electrochemistry

Soil contamination by heavy metals constitutes an important environmental problem, whereas field applicability of existing remediation technologies has encountered numerous obstacles, such as long operation time, high chemical cost, large energy consumption, secondary pollution, and soil degradation. Here we report the design and demonstration of a remediation method based on a concept of asymmetrical alternating current electrochemistry that achieves high degrees of contaminant removal for different heavy metals (copper, lead, cadmium) at different initial concentrations (from 100 to 10,000 ppm), all reaching corresponding regulation levels for residential scenario after rational treatment time (from 30 min to 6 h). No excessive nutrient loss in treated soil is observed and no secondary toxic product is produced. Long-term experiment and plant assay show the high sustainability of the method and its feasibility for agricultural use. Soil pollution by heavy metals is a problem of global concern, requiring the development of remediation technologies. Here the authors report a method based on asymmetrical alternating current electrochemistry, which enables recycling of soil washing chemicals and eliminates secondary pollution.
A syntax-based learning approach to geo-locating abnormal traffic events using social sensing

Social sensing has emerged as a new sensing paradigm to observe the physical world by exploring the "wisdom of crowd" on social media. This paper focuses on the abnormal traffic event localization problem using social media sensing. Two critical challenges exist in the state-of-the-arts: i) "content-only inference": the limited and unstructured content of a social media post provides little clue to accurately infer the locations of the reported traffic events; ii) "informal and scarce data": the language of the social media post (e.g., tweet) is informal and the number of the posts that report the abnormal traffic events is often quite small. To address the above challenges, we develop SyntaxLoc, a syntax-based probabilistic learning framework to accurately identify the location entities by exploring the syntax of social media content. We perform extensive experiments to evaluate the SyntaxLoc framework through real world case studies in both New York City and Los Angeles. Evaluation results demonstrate significant performance gains of the SyntaxLoc framework over state-of-the-art baselines in terms of accurately identifying the location entities that can be directly used to locate the abnormal traffic events.
Long-term central venous catheter use among cancer patients in administrative claims data.

6101 Background: This study’s objective was to examine administrative claims data’s capacity to serve as a surveillance tool for long-term catheter use and related bloodstream infections among canc...
An Alternative Model of Care for the Treatment of Adolescent Athletes with Extension-Based Low Back Pain: A Pilot Study.

# Background and Purpose Half of adolescent athletes report low back pain (LBP) and there is a significant risk of vertebral injury in this population. The current model of care for adolescent athletes with LBP is to first confirm a medical diagnosis of spondylolysis which frequently requires advanced imaging. However, routine use of advanced imaging increases cost, delays treatment, and can expose the athlete to radiation. # Purpose The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the viability of a physical therapist guided functional progression program to manage low back pain (LBP) in adolescent athletes. # Study Design Non-randomized, controlled clinical trial. # Methods Sixteen adolescents (15 ± 1.8 years, 50% female) with extension-based LBP were assigned to the biomedical model or physical therapy first model. The biomedical model sought to determine a spondylolysis diagnosis to guide treatment. In the physical therapy first model, patients began early therapeutic exercise and their ability to functionally progress determined the course of care. Dependent variables were change in Micheli Function Score, use of imagining, days out of sport, and ability to return to sport. Adverse events were monitored in order to assess safety. Descriptive statistics were completed to assess the viability of the alternative model. # Results Both models had similar improvements in pain and function. The physical therapy first model reduced use of advanced imaging by 88% compared to the biomedical model. Patients in the biomedical model who did not sustain a vertebral injury returned to sport sooner than the physical therapy first model (3.4 days versus 51 days), while those with a vertebral injury took longer in the current model (131 days versus 71 days). All of the patients in the physical therapy first model and 88% of patients in the current model made a full return to sport. Two adverse events occurred in the biomedical model, and none were noted in the physical therapy first model. # Conclusion This pilot study demonstrated that the physical therapist guided functional progression program may be a viable method for treating young athletes with LBP and further research is warranted. # Level of Evidence 3b
Use of Drones in Sports Broadcasting

Since the world’s frst television news helicopter the KTLA “Telecopter” changed the landscape of reporting in 1958, aerial coverage has come a long way. Cameras attached to unmanned aerial systems (“UAS”s), in other words “drones”, are the latest technological advancement in the storied history of aerial footage. These bird-eyes in the sky capture incredible videography and photography from such vantage points, which were previously possible, if at all, by helicopters and zeppelins, at a dramatically higher operation cost compared to drones. In addition to being affordable, drones are also small in sizes and more flexible than the traditional cable-suspended camera systems. Thus drones offer broadcasters and journalists many benefits that traditional news-gathering techniques cannot, by allowing the journalist to get much closer to the subject than regular cameramen. Redefining aerial coverage, drone technologies seem to be the future of aerial sports photography and broadcast. They can increase the viewing pleasure especially in extreme and outdoor sports, by making the sporting event stand out from the competition with aerial footage that would amaze the spectator. As each technology has its own advantages and limitations, there are also challenges in the emerging drone business. The stakeholders face far-reaching issues such as the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) regulations, product liability, counter-UAS technologies and data privacy concerns. The insurance industry also develops specific types of policies designed to navigate and mitigate the risk born by UAS manufacturers, operators, and users. This article seeks to map the present and potential practical, legal and policy landscape and encourage further research and brainstorm regarding the deployment and integration of drones in sports broadcasting.
Addressing HIV care, mental health and substance use among youth and young adults in the Bay Area: description of an intervention to improve information, motivation and behavioural skills

Objective Youth represent a population disparately impacted by the HIV epidemic. With most new HIV diagnoses occurring among adolescents and young adults, novel approaches to address this disparity are necessary. The objective of the current study was to describe the Youth to Telehealth and Text to Improve Engagement in Care (Y2TEC) intervention, which aims to fill this gap. The Y2TEC intervention (trial registration NCT03681145) offers an innovative approach to improve HIV treatment engagement among youth living with HIV by focusing on treatment barriers related to mental health and substance use. This allows for a holistic approach to providing culturally informed intervention strategies for this population. Participants and setting The Y2TEC intervention was developed for youth with HIV in the large metropolitan area of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Y2TEC intervention was developed based on formative interdisciplinary research and is grounded in the information–motivation–behavioural skills model. Results The intervention includes 12 sessions each lasting 20–30 minutes, which are delivered through videoconferencing and accompanying bidirectional text messaging. The intervention sessions are individualised, with session dosage in each major content area determined by participant’s level of acuity. Conclusions The Y2TEC intervention is well positioned to help decrease HIV-related disparities in youth living with HIV through its innovative use of video-counselling technologies and an integrated focus on HIV, mental health and substance use.
Sagina (Caryophyllaceae) in Illinois: an update

The genus Sagina L. is circumboreal and was most recently monographed by Crow (1978). Only one species, 5. decumbens, was noted by Muhlenbrock and Ladd (1978) and Muhlenbrock (1986) from Illinois until S. procumbens was reported from the Chicago area (Swink and Wilhelm 1994). Examination of speci mens in Illinois herbaria revealed an additional adventive species in the state, S. japonica. Also, the occurrence of S. apetala in Illinois noted by Crow (1978), seems to have been overlooked by recent workers on the Illinois flora.
Geographical Proximity and the Transmission of Tacit Knowledge

Since at least the publication of Pigou's “The Economics of Welfare” (Pigou 1932) and Arrow's seminal article on “Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources of Invention” (Arrow 1962), most economic theorists have argued that “knowledge is expensive to produce but cheap to reproduce.” Following Hayek (1948) and Polanyi (1958), scholars working in the tradition of Austrian economists have dissented from that view by pointing out that if a good deal of knowledge, such as the price of gold, can be easily codified and transmitted, much important knowledge is tacit and dependent on the “particular circumstances of time and place.” One line of work that supports the Austrian view can be found in economic geography and neighboring disciplines where the geographic concentration of economic activity is explained, among other factors, by the importance of geographical proximity between individuals in the transmission of tacit knowledge. This paper therefore argues that the spatial agglomeration of economic activities constitutes a powerful vindication of Austrian insights.
Use of leflunomide in renal transplant recipients with ganciclovir-resistant/refractory cytomegalovirus infection: a case series from the University of Chicago.

Introduction: Although antiviral prophylaxis for cytomegalovirus (CMV) is widely used, CMV infection remains common in renal transplant recipients with adverse consequences. Methods: We report 5 cases of renal transplant recipients with resistant CMV infection who were successfully managed with leflunomide at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Results: Five renal transplant recipients (2 simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplants, 3 deceased donor kidney transplants) were diagnosed with GCV-resistant CMV infection from 2003 to 2011. Of the 4 patients who had resistance genotype testing, 3 showed a UL97 mutation and 1 patient had a clinically resistant CMV infection. All patients received CMV prophylaxis with valganciclovir for 3 months. The number of days from the date of transplant to viremia ranged from 38 to 458 days (median 219). All 5 patients received other antiviral agents (e.g. ganciclovir, foscarnet), and in 4 patients, viremia was cleared before leflunomide was initiated as consolidation (or maintenance) therapy. Conclusion: Leflunomide was well tolerated and successful in preventing recurrence of viremia in renal transplant recipients with resistant CMV infection. The beneficial effect of leflunomide in this setting warrants further investigation.
11B NMR studies

Abstract Treatment of several dialkylboranes (9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN), dicyclohexylborane, and disiamylborane) with primary and aryl organolithium reagents (methyllithium, n-butyllithium, and phenyllithium) does not produce the expected lithium trialkylborohydride (LiR2R′BH). Instead, the products, as identified by 11B NMR and infrared spectroscopy, are equal amounts of the mixed lithium tetraalkylborate (LiR2R′2B) and the lithium dialkylborohydride (LiR2BH2). The reaction of dialkylboranes with tertiary alkyllithiums appears to be more complex and is not yet fully understood.
Basic Neuroanatomical Methods

This unit covers some of the basic procedures that are common to a wide range of neuroanatomical protocols. Procedures are provided for the preparation of unfixed, fresh brain tissue as well as for perfusion fixation of animals resulting in fixed neural tissue. A variety of methods for sectioning brains are described, including frozen sectioning in a cryostat, frozen sectioning with a microtome, and sectioning with a vibratome. The choice of sectioning method depends on how the brain has been prepared and what histochemical method is to be used. Three post-sectioning procedures are provided: defatting of slide-mounted sections, thionin staining of the sections, and coating of slides with photographic emulsion for autoradiography. Finally, a procedure is described for subbing slides with gelatin, which is necessary in some protocols in order for the sections to adhere to the slides.
Gold nanocages as contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging

Gold nanoparticles with tunable absorption and scattering properties have been developed as contrast agents for various optical imaging techniques. As a hybrid modality that combines the merits of both optical and ultrasonic imaging, photoacoustic (PA) imaging also benefits from the use of these nanoparticles to greatly enhance the contrast for visualization of structures and biomarkers in biological tissues. Gold nanocages characterized by hollow interiors, ultrathin and porous walls are of particular interest for in vivo PA imaging because of their compact sizes, bio-inertness and well-defined surface chemistry, as well as their strong and highly wavelength-tunable optical absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) optical window of soft tissues. This review discusses the application of gold nanocages as a new class of contrast agents for PA imaging in the context of cancer diagnosis.
Cognition and Talk: The Relationship of Semantic Units to Temporal Patterns of Fluency in Spontaneous Speech:

This paper reports two studies concerning the relationship of temporal rhythms in speech fluency to the ideational content of the discourse. Action assembly theory is employed to advance the prediction that when subjects are not allowed to prepare speech in advance of actual production, there will be a tendency for ideational boundaries to be associated with a decrease in speech fluency. This relationship was hypothesized to be attenuated, however, when the structure of the discourse (as opposed to the content) has been prepared in advance. The first prediction was borne out in Experiment 1 in that five of seven ideational boundaries were found to be associated with a decrease in speech fluency (at p < 0.10). Experiment 2 showed that this relationship was, indeed, attenuated under conditions of structural preparation in advance of speech.
Standardization of a commercial (Boehringer Mannheim diagnostics) enzymic method for cholesterol.

The Laboratory Standardization Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that cholesterol method accuracy ideally be within 3% of the true value determined by the Abell-Kendall Reference Method, a component of the National Reference System for Cholesterol. As one of the Abell-Kendall network laboratories established to facilitate cholesterol standardization, the approach we recommend for determining accuracy involves a comparison analysis on patients' specimens by the method in question and by the Abell-Kendall method. Use of fresh specimens precludes matrix interactions that may influence enzymic measurement. Using this approach, we assessed an enzymic method for cholesterol with two instruments (Boehringer Mannheim/Hitachi 717 and 737), with BMD reagent, controls, and calibrator. Fresh and frozen sera were analyzed with both instruments over three days. The Abell-Kendall method was used at the Northwest Lipid Research Center on frozen aliquots of the same sera. Both instruments demonstrated good agreement with the Reference Method, as determined by linear regression; overall bias averaged less than -2% for the Hitachi 717 and -1% for the Hitachi 737 at 2000 mg/L--i.e., within the accuracy recommendation. We observed a difference in bias for fresh and frozen specimens; with the Hitachi 717, fresh specimens exhibited -3% bias at 2000 mg/L, but there was virtually no bias of determinations of frozen specimens.
Mesh Refinement for Particle-In-Cell Plasma Simulations: Applications to - and benefits for - Heavy-Ion-Fusion

The numerical simulation of the driving beams in a heavy ion fusion power plant is a challenging task, and simulation of the power plant as a whole, or even of the driver, is not yet possible. Despite the rapid progress in computer power, past and anticipated, one must consider the use of the most advanced numerical techniques, if we are to reach our goal expeditiously. One of the difficulties of these simulations resides in the disparity of scales, in time and in space, which must be resolved. When these disparities are in distinctive zones of the simulation region, a method which has proven to be effective in other areas (e.g., fluid dynamics simulations) is the mesh refinement technique. They discuss the challenges posed by the implementation of this technique into plasma simulations (due to the presence of particles and electromagnetic waves). They will present the prospects for and projected benefits of its application to heavy ion fusion. In particular to the simulation of the ion source and the final beam propagation in the chamber. A collaboration project is under way at LBNL between the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group (ANAG) and the HIF group to couple the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) library (CHOMBO) developed by the ANAG group to the Particle-In-Cell accelerator code WARP developed by the HIF-VNL. They describe their progress and present their initial findings.
Continuum-based stiffened composite shell element for geometrically nonlinear analysis

A continuum-based, laminated, stiffened shell element is used to investigate the static, geometrically nonlinear response of composite shells. The element is developed from a three-dimensional continuum element based on the incremental, total Lagrangian formulation. The Newton-Raphson method or modified Riks method is used to trace the nonlinear equilibrium path. A number of sample problems of unstiffened and stiffened shells are presented to show the accuracy of the present element and to investigate the nonlinear response of laminated composite plates and shells. INITE-ELEMENT analyses of the large displacement the- ories are based on the principle of virtual work or the associated principle of stationary potential energy. Horrigmoe and Bergan1 presented classical variational principles for non- linear problems by considering incremental deformations of a continuum. A survey of various principles in incremental form in different reference configurations, such as the total Lagran- gian and updated Lagrangian formulations, is presented by Wiinderlich.2 In the total Lagrangian description, all static and kinematic variables are referred to the initial configura- tion. Finite-element models based on such formulations have been used in the analysis of arch and shell instability prob- lems.3'6 A special numerical technique must be adopted to trace the path of the load-deflection curve near the limit point (i.e., critical buckling load) and in the postbuckling region, because the stiffness matrix in the vicinity of the limit point is nearly singular, and the descending branch of the load-deflec- tion curve in the postbuckling region is characterized by a negative-definite stiffness matrix. Many methods have been proposed to solve limit-point problems. Among these are the simple methods of suppressing equilibrium iterations,7'8 the introduction of artificial spring,3 the displacement control method,7'8 and the "constant-arc-length method" of Riks. 11-12 Reviews of these most commonly used techniques are con- tained in Refs. 13 and 14. Among these methods, the modified Riks method appears to be the most effective in conjunction with the finite-element method. Many investigators11'15 have used this method in its original or modified form to determine the pre- and postbuckling behavior of various types of struc- tures such as arches, shells, and domes. In most of these works, only isotropic material was considered. Very few works of the nonlinear buckling analysis of laminated com- posite structures are reported in the literature.16 When solving the problems of shells with stiffeners by the finite-element method, a beam element whose displacement pattern is compatible with that of the shell is required. In analyzing eccentrically stiffened cylindrical shell, Kohnke and Schnobrich17 proposed a 16-deg-of-free dom (DOF) isotropic beam finite element that has displacements compatible with
Identification of N-methylprotoporphyrin IX in livers of untreated mice and mice treated with 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine: Source of the methyl group

Abstract Administration of the porphyrogenic agent, 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC) to mice, leads to the accumulation of N-methylprotoporphyrin IX in liver. This porphyrin is a potent inhibitor of ferrochelatase activity and accounts for the porphyria produced after DDC administration. The N-methylprotoporphyrin IX extracted from DDC-treated mice is primarily of one isomeric form, as shown by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The methyl group of N-methylprotoporphyrin IX isolated from DDC-treated mice is derived mostly from the 4-methyl group of DDC. The transfer of this methyl group and its subsequent covalent attachment to protoporphyrin IX may be mediated by a form of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450. N-Methylprotoporphyrin IX is also found in livers of untreated mice at levels that are low but significant.
Hyperinsulinemia in obesity: lack of relation to gastric emptying of glucose solution or to plasma somatostatin levels.

To investigate some factors that may be related to the hyperinsulinemia of obesity, we measured fractional gastric emptying rates and changes of circulating levels of glucose, insulin, and somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) following the intragastric instillation of glucose in age-matched obese and nonobese Pima Indians with normal glucose tolerance. Results for the nonobese Pimas were also compared with findings for age- and weight-matched Caucasians with normal glucose tolerance. The levels of fasting plasma insulin and the integrated insulin response to glucose were significantly greater (P < 0.01) in obese than in nonobese Pimas. Mean rates of fractional gastric emptying, both in the basal state and after the glucose load, were similar for the three groups. The fractional gastric emptying rates after a glucose load were strongly correlated with the integrated responses of both plasma glucose and insulin in the nonobese Caucasians (r = 0.88, 0.90; P < 0.01) but not in either Pima group. There were no significant differences in peripheral plasma SLI for any of the three groups, either in the basal state or after the glucose load. These findings suggest that the hyperinsulinemia of established obesity is not mediated by alterations in the gastric emptying rate of liquids or by peripheral plasma SLI concentrations. They do not, however, exclude defects in gastric emptying of solid foods. Nor do they exclude the possibility that gastric or D-cell abnormalities exist during the period of fat accumulation but recede after obesity is established.