cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Frequent Additional Tachyarrhythmias in Patients with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia Undergoing Sinus Node Modification: An Important Cause of Symptom Recurrence

Additional Tachyarrhythmias in IST. Background: Symptom recurrence following sinus node modification (SNM) for inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) remains significant despite achieving acute procedural success. The impact of non-IST tachyarrhythmias on symptom recurrence remains poorly characterized. Objectives: The objective was to determine the prevalence and nature of additional tachyarrhythmias preceding and following SNM for IST. Methods: Consecutive patients with IST undergoing SNM at the University of Pennsylvania were studied. SNM was initially performed using an anatomic approach targeting the superolateral crista terminalis under intracardiac echocardiographic guidance and later using an electrophysiologic approach, targeting the site of the earliest right atrial activation during maximum heart rate (HR) with isoproterenol infusion. An effort was made to shift the site more caudally until a decrease of >25% in resting HR was achieved, with a blunted response to isoproterenol and flattening of the P-wave axis in leads III and aVF. Patients were followed for arrhythmia recurrence. Tachyarrhythmias were documented with electrocardiographic monitoring and then characterized during EP study. Results: Thirty-three patients underwent SNM and were followed for a mean of 2.0 ± 1.5 years. During follow-up, 27% developed a non-IST tachyarrhythmia and 18% developed recurrent IST. Additionally, 42% of patients had a non-IST tachyarrhythmia prior to SNM. Conclusions: Non-IST tachyarrhythmias are common in patients with IST before and after SNM. A major reason for symptom recurrence following SNM is development of a non-IST tachyarrhythmia. These tachyarrhythmias should be detected and treated to optimize patient outcomes. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 23, pp. 835-839, August 2012)
Mechanisms of Oxygen and Water Diffusion Through Multilayer Inorganic/Organic Coatings

Polyethyleneterephthalate substrates were coated with thin films of silicone oxide deposited by magnetically enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The rates of oxygen and water vapor transport through the coated and uncoated film systems were obtained as a function of temperature. Activated rate theory treatment of oxygen transmission rates revealed that silicone oxide coatings were imperfect; the apparent free energies of activation (ΔEp) for transport through film substrates which were coated on a single side were statistically identical to uncoated controls. However, multilayer coatings, consisting of two silicone oxide layers separated by an organic layer resulted in a dramatic increase in the ΔEp value. Similar effects were observed in polymer films coated on both sides with identical oxide layers. A simple empirical model for the change in transport mechanism is offered to explain this unanticipated results. Activated rate theory treatment of water vapor transmission rates for these same film systems showed no obvious change in transport mechanism. However, ΔEp values obtained for water vapor permeation through silicone oxide coated polyethyleneterephthalate, polystyrene, polypropylene, and polycarbonate substrates were identical within experimental error, suggesting attractive interaction between the oxide layer(s) and water.
Phonological and morphological awareness in first graders

Phonological awareness is thought to be related to children's success in learning to read because it indicates an awareness of the internal structure of words. Morphological awareness, which has been found to be related to reading achievement for older students, may offer a more comprehensive measure of linguistic sensitivity because it entails not only phonological awareness, but also other aspects of linguistic knowledge. The research study reported herein was designed to investigate the extent to which phonological awareness contributes to the morphological awareness of first graders and to determine the extent to which phonological and morphological awareness account for variance in word reading. Two tasks of morphological awareness were used, one assessing judgments of morphological relations and the other assessing the production of inflected and derived forms.
Emotional Labor and Health Care

We examine the literature on emotional labor and health care to demonstrate the potential for emotional labor research to inform how social and medical scientists think about health care and how examining healthcare contexts has contributed to the scientific understanding of emotional labor processes. In doing so, we first review the key terms and definitions that are used within the emotion management perspective and evaluate the ways in which power differences have remained largely implicit features of research on emotional labor in healthcare settings. Finally, we explore how the increasing economic rationalization of health care may be influencing the emotional experiences of today’s healthcare professionals and the implications of this trend for future research on emotional labor and the health and well-being of care providers and their patients.
Cardiovascular measures independently predict performance in a university course

The factors that predict academic performance are of substantial importance yet are not understood fully. This study examined the relationship between cardiovascular markers of challenge/threat motivation and university course performance. Before the first course exam, participants gave speeches on academics-relevant topics while their cardiovascular responses were recorded. Participants who exhibited cardiovascular markers of relative challenge (lower total peripheral resistance and higher cardiac output) while discussing academic interests performed better in the subsequent course than those who exhibited cardiovascular markers of relative threat. This relationship remained significant after controlling for two other important predictors of performance (college entrance exam score and academic self-efficacy). These results have implications for the challenge/threat model and for understanding academic goal pursuit.
The ASTRAL Trial results revisited—to stent or not to stent in renal artery stenosis?

The angioplasty and stenting for renal artery lesions (ASTRAL) Investigators found substantial risks without evidence of a worthwhile clinical benefit from revascularization in patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease.1 Despite these findings, the role of percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA)/stenting in renal …
The Pricing of Non-Core Real Estate Ventures

The last several years have witnessed a significant shift among institutional real estate investors from “core” deals to “non-core” ventures. These non-core real estate transactions can be characterized as possessing one or more of the following traits: higher-return/higher-risk assets, greater leverage, shorter time horizons, and the use of a joint venture/operating partner. In this article, the author explores the pricing of non-core real estate investing by investigating three key aspects: 1) examining the impacts of financial leverage and demonstrating how the law of one price can be used to price non-core ventures by comparison to the core-with-leverage alternatives, 2) identifying the adverse effects of transaction costs upon investors9 return (which worsen as the holding period shortens and/or the leverage ratio increases), and 3) describing the costs (e.g., because of the asymmetric nature of the operating partner9s promote, computing the expected value of the promote using the venture9s expected return understates the expected value of the promote) and benefits involved with the use of joint venture partners-as well as some of the agency costs these partners introduce. Finally, a preliminary examination of the NCREIF data suggests that the joint-ventured office and industrial properties possibly provided investors with improved risk-adjusted rates of return. However, these conclusions are quite preliminary.
Fault‐zone attenuation of high‐frequency seismic waves

We have developed a technique to measure seismic attenuation within an active fault-zone at seismogenic depths. Utilizing a pair of stations and pairs of earthquakes, spectral ratios are performed to isolate attenuation produced by wave-propagation within the fault-zone. This empirical approach eliminates common source, propagation, instrument and near-surface site effects. The technique was applied to a cluster of 19 earthquakes recorded by a pair of downhole instruments located within the San Andreas fault-zone, at Parkfield California. Over the 1-40 Hz bandwidth used in this analysis, amplitudes are found to decrease exponentially with frequency. Furthermore, the fault-zone propagation distance correlates with the severity of attenuation. Assuming a constant Q attenuation operator, the S-wave quality factor within the fault-zone at a depth of 5-6 kilometers is 31 (+7,−5). If fault-zones are low-Q environments, then near-source attenuation of high-frequency seismic waves may help to explain phenomenon such as fmax. Fault-zone Q may prove to be a valuable indicator of the mechanical behavior and rheology of fault-zones. Specific asperities can be monitored for precursory changes associated with the evolving stress-field within the fault-zone. The spatial and temporal resolution of the technique is fundamentally limited by the uncertainty in earthquake location and the interval time between earthquakes.
A Mutation in the PP2C Phosphatase Gene in a Staphylococcus aureus USA300 Clinical Isolate with Reduced Susceptibility to Vancomycin and Daptomycin

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (MIC of 4 to 8 μg/ml) are referred to as vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA). In this study, we characterized two isogenic USA300 S. aureus isolates collected sequentially from a single patient with endocarditis where the S. aureus isolate changed from being susceptible to vancomycin (VSSA) (1 μg/ml) to VISA (8 μg/ml). In addition, the VISA isolate lost beta-lactamase activity and showed increased resistance to daptomycin and linezolid. The two strains did not differ in growth rate, but the VISA isolate had a thickened cell wall and was less autolytic. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis comparing the two isolates grown to late exponential phase showed significant differences in transcription of cell surface protein genes (spa, SBI [second immunoglobulin-binding protein of S. aureus], and fibrinogen-binding proteins), regulatory genes (agrBCA, RNAIII, sarT, and saeRS), and others. Using whole-genome shotgun resequencing, we identified 6 insertion/deletion mutations between the VSSA and VISA isolates. A protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) family phosphatase had a 6-bp (nonframeshift) insertion mutation in a highly conserved metal binding domain. Complementation of the clinical VISA isolate with a wild-type copy of the PP2C gene reduced the vancomycin and daptomycin MICs and increased autolytic activity, suggesting that this gene contributed to the reduced vancomycin susceptibility phenotype acquired in vivo. Creation of de novo mutants from the VSSA strain resulted in different mutations, demonstrating that reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in USA300 strains can occur via multiple routes, highlighting the complex nature of the VISA phenotype.
β-Adrenergic blockade enhances coronary vasoconstrictor response to forehead cooling

Forehead cooling activates the sympathetic nervous system and can trigger angina pectoris in susceptible individuals. However, the effect of forehead cooling on coronary blood flow velocity (CBV) i...
Implementing reliable learning through Reliable Support Vector Machines

Starting from the theoretical framework of reliable learning, a new classification algorithm capable of using prior information on the reliability of a training set has been developed. It consists in a straightforward modification of the standard technique adopted in the conventional Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach: the knowledge about reliability, encoded by adding a binary label to each example of the training set (asserting if the classification is reliable or not), is employed to properly modify the constrained optimization problem for the generalized optimal hyperplane. Hence, the name Reliable Support Vector Machines (RSVM) is adopted for models built according to the proposed algorithm. Specific tests have been carried out to verify how RSVM performs in comparison with standard SVM, showing a significant improvement in classification accuracy.
Prediction of performance and processor requirements in real-time data flow architectures

Presents a new data flow graph model for describing the real-time execution of iterative control and signal processing algorithms on multiprocessor data flow architectures. Identified by the acronym ATAMM, for Algorithm to Architecture Mapping Model, the model is important because it specifies criteria for a multiprocessor operating system to achieve predictable and reliable performance. Algorithm performance is characterized by execution time and iteration period. For a given data flow graph representation, the model facilitates calculation of greatest lower bounds for these performance measures. When sufficient processors are available, the system executes algorithms with minimum execution time and minimum iteration period, and the number of processors required is calculated. When only limited processors are available or when processors fail, performance is made to degrade gracefully and predictably. The user off-line is able to specify tradeoffs between increasing execution time or increasing iteration period. The approach to achieving predictable performance is to control the injection rate of input data and to modify the data flow graph precedence relations so that a processor is always available to execute an enabled graph node. An implementation of the ATAMM model in a four-processor architecture based on Westinghouse's VHSIC 1750A Instruction Set Processor is described. >
Porous and Planar Silicon Sensors

The development of novel sensors able to produce a response directly upon binding of a target biomolecular analyte remains a major area of research in materials science and analytical chemistry. As the primary “raw material” for the microelectronics industry, and because of its biocompatibility and optical properties, silicon has drawn considerable attention in this field. This chapter discusses the current state of efforts in our group and others to develop porous and planar sensors based on silicon. Porous silicon, so-called because of its complex three-dimensional network structure, provides a high internal binding surface and allows for observation of binding by changes in the reflectivity or luminescence spectra of single- or multi-layer devices. Planar silicon sensors, exemplified here by Arrayed Imaging Reflectometry (AIR), do not have the high surface area of porous silicon yet still respond with a high degree of sensitivity to the binding of analytes to the sensing surface. Examples are presented for the use of both types of sensors for the detection of DNA, proteins, and pathogenic bacteria.
Numerical simulation of phase images and depth reconstruction in pulsed phase thermography

In this work we apply the finite element (FE) method to simulate the results of pulsed phase thermography experiments on laminated composite plates. Specifically, the goal is to simulate the phase component of reflected thermal waves and therefore verify the calculation of defect depth through the identification of the defect blind frequency. The calculation of phase components requires a higher spatial and temporal resolution than that of the calculation of the reflected temperature. An FE modeling strategy is presented, including the estimation of the defect thermal properties, which in this case is represented as a foam insert impregnated with epoxy resin. A comparison of meshing strategies using tetrahedral and hexahedral elements reveals that temperature errors in the tetrahedral results are amplified in the calculation of phase images and blind frequencies. Finally, we investigate the linearity of the measured diffusion length (based on the blind frequency) as a function of defect depth. The simulations demonstrate a nonlinear relationship between the defect depth and diffusion length, calculated from the blind frequency, consistent with previous experimental observations.
How New Hampshire Poultrymen Use Pullets as Breeders

Abstract In order that the reader may thoroughly understand the situation, will say that in all probability ninety per cent of all the hens kept in the State of New Hampshire are Rhode Island Reds, and that ninety-five per cent of the commercial poultrymen in the State use nothing but pullets as breeding stock. These pullets are hatched during the latter part of February and during March. They reach maturity and lay their first eggs at from four and one-half to five months, weighing at this time from four and one-half to five pounds. Our people possess an unusually early maturing strain of Reds. These birds are allowed to lay reasonably heavily from forty to fifty-five per cent production until the latter part of October, when they usually go through a moulting or resting period. This period involves usually eight to ten weeks, during which time the production gradually drops to . . .
Effects of Menthol on α3β4∗ Nicotinic Receptors

Manufacturers add menthol to roughly 30% of tobacco cigarettes sold in the US, and to an unknown fraction of other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes. Smokers of menthol cigarettes find it harder to quit smoking, raising questions about the mechanism of this apparently harmful menthol effect. Menthol modestly affects the pharmacokinetics of nicotine and acts as a chemical chaperone for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) [1]. In this study, we have investigated the effects of menthol on α3β4∗ nAChRs, which are mostly expressed in medial habenula (MHb) - interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) circuit: a key mediator of nicotine's aversive properties and withdrawal [2]. Fluorescently labeled α3 and β4 subunits are transiently expressed in Neuro-2a cells to form monomers, and oligomers. Using a Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) micro-spectroscopy method [3], we have found that menthol up-regulates α3 subunit while having no effects on β4 subunit and α3β4 pentamer numbers. Our results also show that menthol favors (α3)3(β4)2 stoichiometry over (α3)2(β4)3 stoichiometry. However, the study using Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) reveals that though menthol up-regulates α3 subunit numbers in peripheral Endoplasmic Reticulum, it decreases the α3β4 receptor numbers at the plasma membrane.
Pericardial baffle complications following the Mustard operation: age-related incidence and ease of management

Pericardial baffle complications with the standard Mustard operation led first to the use of alternative materials of various shapes and finally to the recent popularity of the Senning procedure. At The Oregon Health Sciences University, we have persisted since the mid-1960s in the use of a modified Mustard operation in which a rectangular pericardial baffle is employed. Among 75 patients, there were baffle complications necessitating reoperation in 13. The reoperarion-free rates ( ± standard error) at 9 years for patients ≤6 months, 7 to 12 months, and >12 months of age were 59% ± 15%, 60% ± 17%, and 95% ±5%, respectively. All 10 patients reoperated upon during the past decade survived with complete relief of symptoms. A double patch to widen both the superior portion of the baffle and the superior vena cava was used most commonly and is our current procedure-of-choice. Baffle complications after the use of pericardium can be managed easily and reoperation on these patients carries a low risk. However, even with experience, the incidence of reoperation remains high in patients under 1 year of age and prompts a critical age-related comparison of these late results with the Senning procedure.
Longitudinal transition models for categorical response data

In this chapter, a number of multidimensional transition models are described, which link categorical outcome data to time, a prior state, and other theoretically relevant covariates. I first review the classical methods designed to model multidimensional transitions between just two time points. Next, I delineate some simple Markov chain models in the analysis of multidimensional transitions across more than two time points, using the fixed-effects perspective. Based on a discussion on the strengths and limitations of the fixed-effects techniques, the mixed-effects multinomial logit transition model is introduced. The delineation includes model specifications, statistical inference, nonlinear predictions, and the approximation of the variance-covariance matrix for the predicted transition probabilities. Lastly, an empirical illustration is provided to display how to apply the mixed-effects multinomial logit transition model. All the multidimensional transition models described in this chapter build upon a competing risks framework, and therefore, the transition models for Gaussian or binary outcome data are not included in this text.
The Two Spheres

Relationships between the sexes were not radically changed for the new urban working classes. Largely of rural origin, they often avoided urban cultural shock by bringing as much of the old village as possible to their new homes and recreating many of the familiar traditions.1 They also sought jobs where their ‘mates’ worked and encouraged friends they left behind to join them in their new life. Both men and women in this class had always supported themselves; although coming to the new industrial world did cause some disruption in their lives, it did not create the separation between men and women found among the middle classes. Out of necessity, working-class women had a strong commitment to community and could not afford, even if they so desired, to ignore their neighbors and workmates. They had to help one another in sickness and other difficulties because without reciprocation there would be no one to help them in their own time of need. Survival necessitated pooling resources, and thus not surprisingly many of the poorer chapels and working-class clubs became centers for community self-help projects.2 While the lot of the working-class woman was not an enviable one in many ways, she did not suffer the physical and psychological isolation frequently the fate of middle-class women.
Procrustean Marxism and Subjective Rigor: Early Modern Arithmetic and Its Readers

We live in the era of Big Data, with storage and transmission capacity measured not just in terabytes but in petabytes (where peta- denotes a quadrillion, or a thousand trillion). Data collection is constant and even insidious, with every click and every "like" stored somewhere for something. This book reminds us that data is anything but "raw," that we shouldn't think of data as a natural resource but as a cultural one that needs to be generated, protected, and interpreted. The book's essays describe eight episodes in the history of data from the predigital to the digital. Together they address such issues as the ways that different kinds of data and different domains of inquiry are mutually defining; how data are variously "cooked" in the processes of their collection and use; and conflicts over what can -- or can't -- be "reduced" to data. Contributors discuss the intellectual history of data as a concept; describe early financial modeling and some unusual sources for astronomical data; discover the prehistory of the database in newspaper clippings and index cards; and consider contemporary "dataveillance" of our online habits as well as the complexity of scientific data curation. Essay authors:Geoffrey C. Bowker, Kevin R. Brine, Ellen Gruber Garvey, Lisa Gitelman, Steven J. Jackson, Virginia Jackson, Markus Krajewski, Mary Poovey, Rita Raley, David Ribes, Daniel Rosenberg, Matthew Stanley, Travis D. Williams
Кормит ли либерал реднека? (The Enlightened Liberal Provides for Ignorant Redneck... Really?)

German Abstract: В СМИ со ссылками на научные данные приводятся утверждения о зависимости консерваторов от правительственных социальных программ, оплаченных налогами собранными с производительных и щедрых либералов. В данной записке показана фактическая несостоятельность подобного утверждения, смысл которого – политические нужды а не вклад в научную дискуссию.English Abstract: Mass media often asserts the conservative voter are generally socially dependent and eventually his incomes are provided by tax dollar paid by industrious liberal voters. Some people affiliated with scientific activities provide their credential to support this allegation. The paper provide references proving factual unfoundedness of above mentioned statement. The latter belongs to the politics, not to the scientific discussion.
The Importance of the Royal Mathematical School in the History of School Mathematics

This final chapter answers the six research questions which were stated towards the end of the first chapter. Those questions were:
Competition and Green Signaling: The Case of LEED

Firms invest in green building to capture performance benefits and non-performance reputational benefits associated with green certification. Using Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LE...
A phase 2 and biomarker study of sorafenib combined with FOLFOX in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

270Background: Sorafenib is the standard first line treatment for advanced HCC and showed a median time to progression (TTP) of 5.5 months and an overall response rate (ORR) of 2% in the phase III ...
Voltage Clamp Techniques Applied to Cultured Skeletal Muscle and Spinal Neurons

For many years there has been an apocryphal story circulating around the National Institutes of Health about Dr. K. S. Cole, the developer of the voltage clamp technique (Cole, 1949, 1972). It seems that Cole was being introduced to a distinguished group of scientists in some landlocked European country. The introducer remarked that he had always felt that the voltage clamp was the “devil’s own invention” and it was his “pleasure to introduce the devil.” Well, if the voltage clamp is the devil’s own invention, then microelectrodes are the devil’s own tools when it comes to using them in voltage clamping, since they are the main source of the problems and limitations in applying the technique successfully.
Limited interactions between space- and feature-based attention in visually sparse displays

Top-down visual attention selectively filters sensory input so relevant information receives preferential processing. Feature-based attention (FBA) enhances the representation of relevant low-level features, whereas space-based attention (SBA) enhances information at relevant location(s). The present study investigates whether the unique influences of SBA and FBA combine to facilitate behavior in a perceptually demanding discrimination task. We first demonstrated that, independently, both color and location pre-cues could effectively direct attention to facilitate perceptual decision making of a target. We then examined the combined effects of SBA and FBA in the same design by deploying a predictive color arrow pre-cue. Only SBA effects were observed in performance accuracy and reaction time. However, we detected a reaction time cost when a valid spatial cue was paired with a feature cue. A computational perceptual decision-making model largely provided converging evidence that contributions from FBA were restricted to facilitating the speed with which the relevant item was identified. Our results suggest that both selection mechanisms can be used in isolation to resolve a perceptually challenging target in a sparse display, but with little additive perceptual benefit when cued simultaneously. We conclude that there is at least some higher order interdependence between space-based and feature-based selection during decision making under specific conditions.
What impacts L2 Chinese pragmatic competence in the study abroad context?: Current research and future directions

Abstract This paper reviews current literature on contributions of the study abroad context to second language (L2) Chinese pragmatics and discusses the future prospects of this rapidly growing research area. By synthesizing sixteen empirical studies on pragmatic competence in L2 Chinese in the study-abroad context, this paper answers one question: What impacts L2 Chinese pragmatic competence in the study abroad (SA) context? The findings show that the SA effect on L2 Chinese pragmatic development is mediated by seven factors including general proficiency, pre-program pragmatic competence, language exposure, intercultural competence, learner agency, linguistic affordance, and learner language and cultural background. Based on the research synthesis, this paper suggests future research directions regarding target pragmatic features, measurements, pragmatic competence in writing, and learner factors mediating study-abroad effect from a dynamic-system perspective.
Blunderbuss: Ocular and Orbital Injuries Due to Muzzle-Loading Firearms.

PURPOSE Injury to the eye and/or orbital and adnexal structures associated with antiquated muzzle-loading firearms has not, to our knowledge, been characterized with the exception of a single case report. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 7 patients treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from 2003 to 2017 who sustained traumatic injuries to the ocular and/or orbital structures secondary to the discharge of muzzle-loading firearms. The study was approved by the Vanderbilt Institutional Review Board. RESULTS In 6/7 cases, injuries occurred secondary to the muzzle-loading firearm exploding due to dysfunction or misuse. Foreign material deriving from the firearm was retained in 3/7 patients. Initial examination of the orbit and adnexa revealed 5/7 individuals sustaining orbital fractures and 6/7 with facial lacerations (including 2 with eyelid lacerations); none had evidence of a lacrimal duct injury. Three patients suffered globe injuries (1 closed-globe and 2 open-globe). Visual acuity at last follow-up was ≥20/20 in 12/14 eyes examined. Surgical intervention was required in the treatment of 4/7 individuals (including 3/7 requiring intervention for sustained orbital fractures). No individuals were wearing eye protection at the time of injury. All individuals survived their injuries. CONCLUSIONS The operation of muzzle-loading firearms poses a unique risk of injury to the operator. The resultant injuries in this case series were primarily due to the explosion of the firearm, which subsequently appear similar to orbital and ocular blast injuries caused by explosive weapons. Orbital injuries and more potentially more devastating ocular injuries may have been prevented by protective eyewear.
Leadership Strategies for the Next Normal

Leadership is the antidote to uncertainty. Six strategies are provided for dealing with the next normal, along with reflective questions to help put them into practice.
Long-term Lower Extremity and Cardiovascular Complications after Simultaneous Pancreas-Kidney Transplant.

Lower extremity (LE) vascular disease and adverse cardiovascular events (ACEs) cause significant long-term morbidity after simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation. This study's purpose was to describe the incidence of, and risk factors associated with, LE vascular complications and related ACEs following SPK. All SPKs performed at the authors' institution from 2000 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The primary outcome was any LE vascular event, defined as LE endovascular intervention, open surgery, amputation, or invasive podiatry intervention. Secondary outcomes included post-SPK ACE. A total of 363 patients were included, of whom 54 (14.9%) required at least one LE vascular intervention following SPK. Only 3 patients received pre-SPK ankle brachial indices (ABIs). A history of peripheral artery disease (PAD) (HR 2.95, CI 1.4-6.2) was a risk factor for post-SPK LE vascular intervention even after adjustment for other factors. Fifty-nine (16.3%) patients experienced an ACE in follow-up. Requiring a LE intervention post-SPK was associated with a subsequent ACE (HR 2.3, CI 1.2-4.5). LE vascular and cardiovascular complications continue to be significant sources of morbidity for SPK patients, especially for patients with preexisting PAD. The highest risk patients may benefit from more intensive pre- and post-SPK workup with ABIs and follow-up with a vascular surgeon.
Hostile Sexism, Racial Resentment, and Political Mobilization

We argue that hostile sexism and racial resentment play an important and somewhat underappreciated role in American elections through their influence on voter turnout and engagement with political campaigns. The effects of these attitudes are not straightforward but depend on partisanship. We evaluate whether high levels of racial resentment and hostile sexism cross-pressure Democratic partisans, resulting in lower levels of political participation. We further consider whether high levels of racial resentment and hostile sexism bolster participation among Republicans. We find evidence of these divergent effects on the political mobilization of white voters using the 2016 American National Election Study. The results support our expectations and suggest that cuing resentment-based attitudes was an important strategy for engaging voters in the 2016 presidential campaign and will likely play an important role in future campaigns as well.
Interprofessional development case study of an SBIRT web-based app for education and practice

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an approach to identify and reduce risk and harm from substance use. However, research indicates that implementing components of ...
Converging Roles of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Early Embryonic Development, Maintenance of Stemness, and Tissue Repair.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor well-known for its adaptive role as a sensor of environmental toxicants and mediator of the metabolic detoxification of xenobiotic ligands. In addition, a growing body of experimental data has provided indisputable evidence that the AHR regulates critical functions of cell physiology and embryonic development. Recent studies have shown that the naive AHR-that is, unliganded to xenobiotics but activated endogenously-has a crucial role in maintenance of embryonic stem cell pluripotency, tissue repair, and regulation of cancer stem cell stemness. Depending on the cellular context, AHR silences the expression of pluripotency genes Oct4 and Nanog and potentiates differentiation, whereas curtailing cellular plasticity and stemness. In these processes, AHR-mediated contextual responses and outcomes are dictated by changes of interacting partners in signaling pathways, gene networks, and cell-type-specific genomic structures. In this review, we focus on AHR-mediated changes of genomic architecture as an emerging mechanism for the AHR to regulate gene expression at the transcriptional level. Collective evidence places this receptor as a physiological hub connecting multiple biological processes whose disruption impacts on embryonic development, tissue repair, and maintenance or loss of stemness.
The role and evolutionary development of retinoic-acid signalling in the eye

From the earliest time of its discovery as an essential nutrient, vitamin A has been known to be vital for the eye, both for its development and for its adult function. In the mature organism, the earliest sign of vitamin A deficiency is night-blindness, and in the developing embryo vitamin A deficiency causes the ventral eye to be defective, leading to micro- or anophthalmia [1, 2]. Because the oxidation of retinaldehyde to retinoic acid (RA) is an irreversible reaction, it was possible to assay their biological roles separately [3]. These assays revealed that when adult rats are fed a diet completely lacking in vitamin A (retinol and β-carotene) and are given RA, they survive but turn blind due to photoreceptor degeneration. This illustrates the two distinct functions of the retinoids: 11-cis retinaldehyde forms the visual chromophore of rhodopsin, and RA regulates gene transcription throughout the body. In this brief review we will summarize evidence that these two functions, which are commonly studied in different fields of science, are connected in the eye. We discovered highly intricate expression patterns of different RA-generating aldehyde dehydrogenases in the developing and mature eye, and in the functioning eye we find that light causes an increase in RA. These observations indicate that the transcriptional role of RA may have its origin in vision.
Arterial Cholesterol Esterase

Windaus (l) first reported that cholesteryl esters accumulated in atherosclerotic aortas. His findings were confirmed and extended by Bottcher (2) and Smith (3). Newman and Zilversmit (h) demonstrated the steady increase in aortic cholesteryl ester with continuing feeding of cholesterol to rabbits and Kritchevsky and Tepper (5) showed that cholesteryl ester increased in rabbit aortas even when the animals were subjected to a cholesterol-free, atherogenic semipurified regimen. Despite the absence of cholesterol, the diet was hypercholesterolemic and hyperbetalipoproteinemic. The Virchow hypothesis that increased aortic lipid levels were due to filtration of serum gained currency when several groups showed that the lipids of serum and aorta were qualitatively similar (6–8). However, they analyzed adult aortas and adult sera. Analysis of infant’s aortas shows almost complete absence of cholesteryl ester (9). The work of Dayton and Hashimoto (10,11) and of Smith (3) now leaves little doubt than an appreciable amount of aortic cholesteryl ester arises from synthesis in situ.
Output tracking control of nonlinear nonminimum phase systems

This paper investigates an extremely important and challenging problem in nonlinear control: output tracking control of nonminimum phase nonlinear systems. Not only does the controller provide stable asymptotic tracking, it also ensures that the transient error will be within a prespecified bound. This is achieved by using a novel approach of stable inversion. In this approach, the nonminimum phase system is first stably inverted off-line to obtain desired (and stable) state and input trajectories that map exactly into the desired output trajectory. Then a feedback controller is designed to stabilize the closed-loop system and to ensure robustness to certain types of uncertainties. The procedures developed may be applied to many important engineering problems, such as aircraft control, rocket control, medical equipment, nondestructive evaluation, and so on. >
Analysis of axially dispersed systems with general boundary conditions. III: Solution for unmixed and well-mixed appended sections

Abstract The axial dispersion problem formulated in Part I[1] of this series is solved for cases 2–4 and 7 identified therein. The cases analyzed here conside appendages to the finite axially dispersed reactor which are either semi-infinite sections of finite dispersion or well-mixed sections of finite capaci The findings possess features akin to those found in Part II[7] for case. 1 but obviously displaying variations in detail.
Cellular Exchange Between Mother and Fetus

It is now difficult to understand that, as recently as a century ago, a most active controversy raged in the pertinent scientific literature as to whether or not the maternal and fetal placental circulations are separate. The searching essay of v. BAER discusses this problem in great detail, for man and some other species, v. BAER comes to the tentative conclusion that indeed there is no confluence of circulations, a concept which from then on became the predominant view (see historical review by de witt). While this has now been proved in many different ways, more recent studies have shown that this barrier, separating maternal from fetal circulations for cellular elements, may be discontinuous at times, circumstances which may have grave sequelae for both mother and child.
aZIMAS: Web Mobile Agent System

Mobile Agents technology opens up new avenues in personalizing and customizing the web experience of users. It provides new possibilities for deploying distributed applications using existing web infrastructure. One of the reasons why mobile agents are not yet popular on the web is due to the lack of an easily deployable framework that would facilitate their existence. Existing mobile agent systems usually require heavy infrastructure that lacks interoperability if deployed on the Internet. In this paper, we describe aZI-MAS (almost Zero Infrastructure Mobile Agent System) - a framework that will enable the execution of lightweight mobile agents on the Internet and remove some of the constraints imposed by existing systems. aZIMAS uses existing platform independent protocols like HTTP to achieve code mobility and agent interaction. Our approach involves adding a minimal infrastructure layer, called Agent Environment (AE), over existing web servers and using web browsers as clients. By basing our framework firmly on existing web servers and browsers, we hope to leverage the pervasiveness of web browsers and servers and achieve similar pervasiveness for mobile agents.
Monte Carlo of Tevatron Operations, Including the Recycler

A Monte Carlo model depicting the operation of the Fermilab Tevatron Complex has been constructed. The purpose is to replicate the general behavior of the Complex, incorporating aspects that are known to affect its performance, in order to learn how optimally to run the Complex. The newest ring at Fermilab, the Recycler, has been added to the model in order to understand how best to incorporate it into the rest of the Complex. This model includes numerous parameterizations of the Complex, including reasonable random fluctuations and normal interruptions in operation of each accelerator due to downtime. Optimizations are performed to guide us in making using the model in order to maximize the integrated luminosity delivered to the experiments.
Variance Based Global Sensitivity Analysis for Uncorrelated and Correlated Inputs With Gaussian Processes

Methods for efficient variance based global sensitivity analysis of complex high-dimensional problems are presented and compared. Variance decomposition methods rank inputs according to Sobol indices which can be computationally expensive to evaluate. Main and interaction effect Sobol indices can be computed efficiently in the Kennedy & O’Hagan framework with Gaussian Processes (GPs). These methods use the High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR) concept for variance decomposition which presents a unique model representation when inputs are uncorrelated. However, when the inputs are correlated, multiple model representations may be possible leading to ambiguous sensitivity ranking with Sobol indices. In this work we present the effect of input correlation on sensitivity analysis and discuss the methods presented by Li & Rabitz in the context of Kennedy & O’ Hagan framework with GPs. Results are demonstrated on simulated and real problems for correlated and uncorrelated inputs and demonstrate the utility of variance decomposition methods for sensitivity analysis.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Modulation of FadR Binding Capacity for Acyl-CoA Fatty Acids Through Structure-Guided Mutagenesis

FadR is a versatile global regulator in Escherichia coli that controls fatty acid metabolism and thereby modulates the ability of this bacterium to grow using fatty acids or acetate as the sole carbon source. FadR regulates fatty acid metabolism in response to intra-cellular concentrations of acyl-CoA lipids. The ability of FadR to bind acyl-CoA fatty acids is thus of significant interest for the engineering of biosynthetic pathways for the production of lipid-based biofuels and commodity chemicals. Based on the available crystal structure of E. coli bound to myristoyl-CoA, we predicted amino acid positions within the effector binding pocket that would alter the ability of FadR to bind acyl-CoA fatty acids without affecting DNA binding. We utilized fluorescence polarization to characterize the in vitro binding properties of wild type and mutant FadR. We found that a Leu102Ala mutant enhanced binding of the effector, likely by increasing the size of the binding pocket for the acyl moiety of the molecule. Conversely, the elimination of the guanidine side chain (Arg213Ala and Arg213Met mutants) of the CoA moiety binding site severely diminished the ability of FadR to bind the acyl-CoA effector. These results demonstrate the ability to fine tune FadR binding capacity. The validation of an efficient method to fully characterize all the binding events involved in the specific activity (effector and DNA operator binding) of FadR has allowed us to increase our understanding of the role of specific amino acids in the binding and recognition of acyl-CoA fatty acids and will greatly facilitate efforts aimed at engineering tunable FadR regulators for synthetic biology.
Carbon-nanotube coated cold cathodes for applications to power modulators

Carbon nanotubes were grown on electrodes by means of catalytic thermal chemical vapor deposition in gas mixtures of acetylene and argon. The very large aspect ratio and the very small radius of curvature at the tip of each carbon nanotube are coupled with the highly conductive graphitic walls of carbon nanotubes making them excellent electron field emitters for a wide variety of applications. Electron field emitters serve as cold cathodes and are suitable for replacing hot cathodes that are based on thermionic electron emission for many applications. In this paper, methods of fabricating aligned carbon-nanotube cold cathodes and their electron field emission characteristics and applications for noncontact power coupling, electron controlled switches, and vacuum electronics are discussed.
Enhancing engraftment of cord blood cells via insight into the biology of stem/progenitor cell function

Cord blood (CB) transplantation has been used over the last 24 years to treat patients with malignant and nonmalignant disorders. CB has its advantages and disadvantages compared with other sources of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) for transplantation. More knowledge of the cytokines and intracellular signaling molecules regulating HSCs and HPCs could be used to modulate these regulators for clinical benefit. This review provides information about the general field of CB transplantation and about studies from the author's laboratory that focus on regulation of HSCs and HPCs by CD26/DPPIV, SDF-1/CXCL12, the Rheb2-mTOR pathway, SIRT1, DEK, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, and cytokines/growth factors. Cryopreservation of CB HSCs and HPCs is also briefly discussed.
Obesity is associated with deep periodontal pockets in Japanese women.

Article Title and Bibliographic Information Relationship between obesity, glucose tolerance, and periodontal disease in Japanese women: the Hisayama study. Saito T, Shimazaki Y, et al. J Periodontal Res 2005;40(4):346-53. Level of Evidence 3b Purpose/Question Are there any associations between obesity, deep periodontal pockets, and an abnormal glucose tolerance test in a sample of Japanese women? Source of Funding Government: Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan Type of Study/Design Cohort Study—Cross-sectional data