cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth hormone improves protein catabolism and growth in prepubertal children with HIV infection

Summary Introduction Poor linear growth and weight loss are well documented in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and past studies in adults and children have reported that loss of lean tissue mass (LTM) associated with accelerated rates of protein catabolism. We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that human recombinant GH would improve linear height in HIV-infected children. Our second goal was to determine if GH could reverse protein catabolism in HIV-infected children. Methods We studied six HIV-infected children (mean age 9·2 years, Tanner stage I, CD4 counts 110 000–292 000, two girls, four boys). Measures of protein turnover were conducted using the stable isotope 1-[13C] leucine. Body composition was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan for determination of LTM. Viral burden and IGF-1 levels were measured. Studies were conducted at baseline and 6 months. Results The baseline growth velocity of these children was only 3·9 cm/year. After 6 months of GH, growth velocity increased to 7·9 cm/year. Protein catabolism, represented as leucine rate of appearance (Ra) in the fasted state, was high at baseline, but decreased significantly after 6 months of GH therapy. Lean tissue mass significantly improved in all subjects. Viral burden did not increase significantly in any subject during GH therapy. Conclusion These results suggest that GH improves height and weight and reduces protein catabolism in HIV-infected children without negative effect on viral burden.
What Is the Brain-Cancer Connection?

A focus of much cancer research is at the molecular and cellular levels. In contrast, the effects of social interactions and psychological state are less investigated, and considered by many a “soft” science. Yet several highly rigorous studies have begun to tease out biochemical pathways by which the brain can influence the development and growth of cancer. Previous reviews have discussed the concept of stress and cancer. Here, we discuss recent work showing environments that are more complex and challenging, but not stressful per se, and that have robust effects on peripheral cancer by activating a specific neuroendocrine brain-adipocyte axis. These enriched environments lead to activation of the sympathetic innervation of fat tissue, suppression of leptin, and a reduction in cancer proliferation by inducing hypothalamic BDNF expression. We summarize this work and discuss how these data integrate into the body of literature regarding stress, the environment, and cancer.
Transmission and Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS: a Global View

Since the first recognition of the condition that is now called AIDS, much has been learned. We now know that AIDS results from infection with HIV types 1 and 2. Advancements in approaches to treatment, in the form of new types of medications, have changed the trajectory of illness by slowing progression and decreasing the incidence of HIV-associated opportunistic infections in the millions of people living with HIV infection, particularly in developed countries. In less developed areas of the world, HIV infection looks different, in part because of the differential availability of medications and health care. This article focuses on epidemiology of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States and worldwide, and on transmission, including susceptibility factors.
Decomposing the impact of advertising: : augmenting sales with online search data

Unlike sales data, data on intermediate stages of the purchase funnel (e.g., how many consumers have searched for information about a product before purchase) are much more difficult to acquire. Consequently, most advertising response models have focused directly on sales and ignored other purchase funnel activities. The authors demonstrate, in the context of the U.S. automotive market, how consumer online search volume data from Google Trends can be combined with sales data to decompose advertising's overall impact into two underlying components: its impacts on (1) generating consumer interest in prepurchase information search and (2) converting that interest into sales. The authors show that this decompositional approach, implemented through a novel state-space model that simultaneously examines sales and search volumes, offers important advantages over a benchmark model that considers sales data alone. First, the approach improves goodness-of-fit, both in and out of sample. Second, it improves diagnost...
Patterns of Xylella fastidiosa Colonization on the Precibarium of Sharpshooter Vectors Relative to Transmission to Plants

Xylellafastidiosa is a bacterial plant pathogen that causes many plant diseases, including PierceOs disease of grapevines. Sharpshooter leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae) vectors transmit this bacterium to plants. Although the basic mechanism of pathogen transmission is not completely understood, previous studies implicated the foregut of infected insects as the source of bacterial inoculum because infective nymphs lose transmissibility after molting and no latent period is required for transmission. Scanning electron microscopy documented the spatial distribution of X. fastidiosa in the foreguts of the sharpshooter Graphocephala atropunctata (Signoret) after short (1-d) and long (4-d) acquisition access periods on infected plants and various inoculation access periods on grape test plants. After 1-d acquisition and 1-d inoculation periods, cells had only colonized portions of the precibarium between the stylets and the cibarial pump, often embedded in a matrix-like material. After long (15-d) periods after acquisition, we found bacterial cells attached polarly to the insectOs cuticle in a regular pattern throughout the precibarium but absent from speciÞc locations on both pharynges. Insects sampled for microscopy 2 wk after long acquisition access periods and that contained bacteria in their mouthparts transmitted X. fastidiosa to healthy grapevines independently of the length of the acquisition access period. In contrast, individuals free of bacteria on the precibarium did not transmit the pathogen. After successive short acquisition and inoculation periods, 5o f 12X. fastidiosa-positive insects did not transmit to plants. We also did transmission experiments with the sharpshooter Homalodisca coagulata; however, only one of 30 individuals had X. fastidiosa attached to its precibarium, and none transmitted it to plants. Our results suggest that sharpshooters introduce into plants X. fastidiosa cells that detach from the precibarial canal during feeding.
PRAMS: A Systematic Method for Evaluating Penal Institutions Under Litigation

Forensic psychiatrists serve as expert witnesses in litigation involving the impact of conditions of confinement, including mental health care delivery, on the emotional well-being of institutionalized persons. Experts review volumes of data before formulating opinions and preparing reports. The author has developed PRAMS, a method for systematically reviewing and presenting data during mental health litigation involving detention and corrections facilities. The PRAMS method divides the examination process into five stages: paper review, real-world view, aggravating circumstances, mitigating circumstances, and supplemental information. PRAMS provides the scaffolding on which a compelling picture of an institution's system of care may be constructed and disseminated in reports and during courtroom testimony. Also, PRAMS enhances the organization, analysis, publication, and presentation of salient findings, thereby coordinating the forensic psychiatrist's efforts to provide expert opinions regarding complex systems of mental health care.
Testing Baits to Control Argentine Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Vineyards

Liquid baits were evaluated for control of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and associated mealybug and soft scale pests in California vineyards. In 2003, liquid baits with small doses of imidacloprid, boric acid, or thiamethoxam dissolved in 25% sucrose water resulted in lower ant and mealybug densities and fruit damage, compared with an untreated control. Similar treatments in a soft scale-infested vineyard showed only a reduction of ant density and fruit infestation in only the boric acid and thiamethoxam treatments. In 2004, commercial and noncommercial formulations of liquid baits reduced ant densities in three separate trials, but they had inconsistent effects on mealybug densities and fruit infestation; granular protein bait had no effect. Using large plots and commercial application methodologies, liquid bait deployed in June resulted in lower ant density and fruit infestation, but it had no effect on mealybug density. Across all trials, liquid bait treatments resulted in lower ant density (12 of 14 trials) and fruit damage (11 of 14 sites), presenting the first report of liquid baits applied using commercial methodologies that resulted in a reduction of ants and their associated hemipteran crop damage. For commercialization of liquid baits, we showed that any of the tested insecticides can suppress Argentine ants when properly delivered in the crop system. For imidacloprid, bait dispensers must be protected from sunlight to reduce photodegradation. Results suggest that incomplete ant suppression can suppress mealybug densities. However, after ant populations are suppressed, there may be a longer period before hemipteran populations are effectively suppressed. Therefore, liquid baits should be considered part of a multiseason program rather than a direct, in-season control of hemipteran pest populations.
Meeting the Needs of People: An Administrative Responsibility

carry over adequately to the subsequent task of making its fruits permanent. The slow methodical organized effort needed to make enduring the achievement of the cause calls for different motives, different skill, different machinery. At the moment of its success, the cause tends to transfer its interest and its responsibility to an ad ministrative unit whose responsibility be comes a function of well-organized com munity life." 1 Most social agencies, perhaps all, came into being because of the vision of con cerned men and women of the community who believed in a cause, who worked tire lessly to transform their concern and vision into a program and an administrative framework through which certain needs of
Do Skilled Immigrants Perform Better than their Family Reunion Counterparts

This paper assesses the impact that selection criteria have on immigrants' economic outcomes. It asks whether migrants on a skilled visa as opposed to a family reunion visa earn higher wages on entering the labor market in their host country, and if this differential persists over time. The data for the analysis comes from the first Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia. Migrants selected for entry into Australia on the basis of their skills, and who work, generally report higher earnings. Skilled males earn between 17 and 12 percent more and women between 28 and 17 percent more, depending on how long they have been in the country. The effect of visa category is greater for those with strong English language skills. Over time the relative gap in reported wages across visa category reduces for all groups, but the change is not statistically significant.
Diagnosing and treating depression in primary care patients: Looking beyond physical complaints

Depression is common, but often overlooked because patients with depression often present with somatic complaints rather than psychological ones. Primary care physicians must learn to recognize depression and be thoroughly familiar with its treatment, because this disease is common and serious.
Proposed Curriculum to Teach History of Regional Anesthesia

s from the Anesthesia History Association 2016 Annual Spring Meeting Proposed Curriculum to Teach History of Regional Anesthesia James Savage, BA⁎, David Arcella, MD, Gustavo Angaramo, MD, Manisha S. Desai, MD a 4 year medical student, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA b CA-3 Resident, Department of Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA c Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesiology & Surgery, Department of Anesthesiology, University ofMassachusettsMedical School,Worcester, MA d Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA Background: The study of the history of medicine has been an underemphasized component of the medical school curriculum for several reasons such as a lack of clinical impact, the emergence of new disciplines like medical ethics, as well as a lack of research grants and funding. A similar attitude continues in graduate medical education where the curriculum is primarily filled with material related to basic and applied sciences. The deficiency of questions related to history in certifying examinations could be considered a fatal blow. In this study, we surveyed US residency programs in anesthesiology about the teaching of history of regional anesthesia, and we propose a curriculum for such education. Methods: An online commercially available instrument [Survey Monkey] was used for this study. 2352-4529/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Anesthesia History Association. Results: Of 18 responding programs, 17 offered an ‘Acute Pain’ rotation to their residents, 14 offered didactic sessions related to history of regional anesthesia. The settings of such teaching sessions included intraoperative, classroom, grand rounds, and journal club sessions. This suggests an interest in teaching the history of regional anesthesia, but a formal curriculum has not been described in published literature. We propose a curriculum related to a variety of topics that would provide useful information and enrich the educational experience of anesthesia residents. Summary: We hope that this briefly formatted review gives residents and prospective fellows in regional anesthesia an intriguing and inspiring overview of the unique history of regional anesthesia. We aim to offer additional subsets of topics to fortify our curriculum in history of anesthesia.
Neighbor palatability generates associational effects by altering herbivore foraging behavior.

Despite increasing evidence that herbivory on a focal plant may hinge upon the identity of its neighbors, it is not clear whether predictable mechanisms govern the nature and magnitude of such associational effects. Using a factorial field experiment replicated at 14 sites across 80,000 hectares, we evaluated the mechanisms driving associational effects between two plant species mediated by grasshopper herbivores. Our experiment manipulated local neighborhood plant density (two levels) and frequency (three levels), nested within two larger-scale habitat contexts (habitats that did or did not have past agricultural land use). We found that the more palatable plant species, Solidago nemoralis, experienced reduced herbivory (associational resistance) when rare due mainly to reduced grasshopper foraging activity. Damage to the less palatable plant species, S. odora, was affected by the interaction between plant frequency and the land-use history of the site: it experienced increased damage (associational susceptibility) in even-frequency neighborhoods, but only in sites with a history of agricultural use. Behavioral assays generally corroborated the results from the field, further supporting the importance of foraging behavior in generating associational effects. In finding that associational effects are contingent upon relative palatability among plants and events in the distant past that modify contemporary habitat structure (i.e., past agricultural land use), our work suggests that foraging decisions made at the neighborhood level are important for generating associational effects and that in some cases these neighborhood interactions also depend on the larger-scale environmental context resulting from legacies of past land-use events.
Integrating Nanoscale Effects Into Micro and Macrosystems

Micro and macrosystems, as represented by microchannels and millichannels, have characteristic length scales much longer than those required to observe “size effects” manifested in nanostructures. How can one explore nanoscale effects to benefit micro and macrosystems? This paper first discusses nanoscale heat transfer effects and then uses a few examples to illustrate some potential ways to integrate nanoscale effects into micro and macrosystems.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Simulation of transverse modes with their intrinsic Landau damping for bunched beams in the presence of space charge

Transverse dipole modes in bunches with space charge are simulated using the synergia accelerator modeling package and analyzed with dynamic mode decomposition. The properties of the first three space charge modes, including their shape, damping rates, and tune shifts are described over the entire range of space charge strength. The intrinsic Landau damping predicted and estimated in 2009 by one of the authors is confirmed with a reasonable scaling factor of $\ensuremath{\simeq}2.4$. For the KV distribution, very good agreement with PATRIC simulations performed by Kornilov and Boine-Frankenheim is obtained.
Understanding Multimedia

Here, EIC Yong Rui reflects on how much AI and multimedia technologies have advanced in the past 60 years, discussing progress made in visual media understanding and the challenges ahead for the video2text problem.
Abstract 680: Diet-induced obesity promotes tumor aggressiveness in genetically engineered mouse models of endometrial hyperplasia/cancer

Objective: To determine the effect of diet-induced obesity on the development of endometrial hyperplasia and cancer in genetically engineered mouse models. Methods: The PTEN heterozygous mouse model for endometrial hyperplasia and the LKB1/p53 endometrioid endometrial cancer mouse model were used. Mice were divided into two dietary groups and fed either a high-fat diet (HFD, 60% calories from fat, obese) or a low-fat diet (LFD, 10% calories from fat, lean) beginning at 3 weeks of age until sacrifice at 32 weeks (PTEN model) and 12 weeks (LKB1/p53 model). At the time of sacrifice, mouse weight and uterine/tumor size were documented. A dedicated mouse pathologist reviewed uterine pathology. For the PTEN heterozygous mouse model, uterine pathology was determined to be simple hyperplasia (SH) if increased number of simple tubular glands were seen without atypia. Complex hyperplasia (CH) was defined as branching, papillary lumenal infoldings, or back-to-back glandular crowding with or without nuclear atypic. Results: A total of 30 PTEN mice were examined, 14 in the obese group and 16 in the lean group. The HFD-fed mice were larger than the LFD-fed mice with a mean weight of 38.1 gm compared to 29.7 gm (p Conclusions: Diet-induced obesity led to increased mean body weight in both mouse models. In the PTEN heterozygous mouse model, a trend towards more complex endometrial hyperplasia was found in the obese group along with a higher rate of simple hyperplasia in the lean group. Increased endometrial tumor size was seen in the obese versus lean LKB1/p53 mice, suggesting that obesity may lead to increased aggressiveness in endometrial cancer. Citation Format: Leslie H. Clark, Chunxiao Zhou, Stephanie A. Montgomery, Paola A. Gehrig, Victoria Bae-Jump. Diet-induced obesity promotes tumor aggressiveness in genetically engineered mouse models of endometrial hyperplasia/cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 680.
Politics of Landscape Transformation in Exurban King County, Washington

Urban areas in the western United States have experienced significant population growth in outlying communities, particularly those close to natural and rural amenities. A comparative case study of three exurban communities in King County (Seattle), Washington allows close examination of the complex dynamics and competing interests that shape the physical and social landscapes of exurbia. Working lands once held by corporations are being sold or redefined for residential development. Developers navigate complex land use and urban containment policies and negotiate with local officials to create new communities within or adjacent to historic settlements. The dynamics of these shifting landscapes from productivist to post-productivist regimes have underlying causal mechanisms that come into focus when viewed through a political ecology lens. This chapter explores the interests and negotiated approaches of various actors (local governments, developers, real estate professionals, and residents) in southeastern King County who are involved in creating exurban landscapes. We focus on three neighboring exurbs (Maple Valley, Black Diamond, and Ravensdale) each located 25 miles from Seattle along the state highway 169. While these communities exist within the same geo-physical landscape and share a common economic history, the development choices are vastly distinct. While designed to bring the consumer closer to nature and rural life, these exurban developments have transformed rural areas into manufactured exurbs that bring the city closer to the rural and confound previous definitions of exurbia.
Chapter 42 – Osteoporosis in Men: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Clinical Characterization

Publisher Summary Although osteoporosis has long been considered a disease of women, the earliest reports of the epidemiology of fractures associated with osteoporosis clearly showed that the classical age-related increase in fractures seen in women was also evident in men. This chapter examines the issue of osteoporosis in men and compares its pathophysiology and clinical presentation to parallel processes in women. In early childhood, there are few discernible differences between the skeletons of boys and girls. During adolescence, both sexes exhibit dramatic increases in bone mass which are closely related to pubertal stage and is almost complete when puberty ends. In boys, the achievement of peak bone mass is later, not only because puberty is later in onset but also because boys accrete bone for a longer time during this crucial period. The adolescent development of adult bone mass depends upon changes in both density and size, with increases in size being quantitatively much more important. Guidelines for the efficient, cost-effective approach for the evaluation of patients with low bone mass, or patients suspected of having low bone mass, are poorly validated for either sex. Current recommendations are therefore based on existing knowledge of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of osteoporosis rather than upon models that have been carefully tested in prospective studies. Within these constraints, it is possible to formulate an approach to the male osteoporotic. It is derived from the more mature knowledge base available concerning osteoporosis in women, but may depart in several key areas. Therapy of osteoporotic disorders in men is relatively unexplored. There have been very few trials of osteoporosis therapies performed specifically in male populations, although some men with osteoporosis have been included in mixed populations treated with a variety of agents. In general, it is very difficult to assess independently the success of these approaches in the male subjects.
Delayed interventions and mortality in trauma damage control laparotomy

Background In damage control laparotomy, operative principles include hemorrhage and contamination control. However, required components of initial damage control laparotomy are unknown, and nonemergency injury repair is sometimes delayed for resuscitation, angiography, or nonabdominal operations. The frequency and effects of delayed interventions are unknown. Methods A retrospective review of patients undergoing damage control laparotomy at a single, urban trauma center was performed. Interventions initially performed at the second laparotomy were considered delayed interventions. Results In the study, 330 damage control laparotomy patients survived to reoperation. Of all interventions, 13.9% were first performed at the second laparotomy, including 11.9% of visceral interventions and 27.2% of vascular interventions. Overall, 29.7% of patients underwent an unplanned re-exploration, and 21.8% of patients underwent re-exploration for hemorrhage control. There was no significant increase in mortality (33.3% vs 23.9%, P = .09), intra-abdominal infection (37.9% vs 28.0%; P = .10), anastomotic leak (8.0% vs 5.8%, P = .45), or enterocutaneous fistula formation (9.2% vs 9.1%, P = 1.00) with delayed interventions overall. However, mortality was increased in patients undergoing delayed vascular interventions (59.1% vs 22.8%, P = .003), unplanned re-exploration (45.9% vs 18.1%, P Conclusion Delayed interventions are common in damage control laparotomy, with abdominal interventions often spread over multiple explorations. Mortality is increased in patients undergoing emergent re-exploration and with delayed repair of major vascular injuries. Ideal treatment of damage control laparotomy patients may include addressing injuries more completely at the first laparotomy instead of deferring care for other priorities.
Vasculitic Diseases and Prothrombotic States Contributing to Delayed Healing In Chronic Wounds.

Autoimmune diseases are a common cause of delayed wound healing and should be considered in patients with chronic wounds who do not respond to local wound care or who fail skin grafting in the absence of infection. Epidemiologic studies have shown that, of patients with chronic wounds evaluated in specialized wound healing clinics, 20–23 % have autoimmune etiologies for their wounds including vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, pyoderma gangrenosum, and other autoimmune diseases. In this article, autoimmune diseases known to be associated with chronic wounds and delayed wound healing are reviewed and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach for patients with chronic wounds, with involvement of rheumatology and dermatology, is highlighted. This approach allows for investigation of underlying systemic disease and improves clinical outcomes for many of these challenging patients.
A Hybrid Bistatic–Monostatic Radar Technique for Calibration-Free Estimation of Lossy Wall Parameters

Estimation of wall parameters is important for proper imaging and wall compensation and mitigation in through-the-wall radar imaging. In this letter, a hybrid technique based on a bistatic time-delay-only estimation and a monostatic-based measurement of wall reflections is presented and shown to be able to robustly estimate the constitutive parameters of the homogeneous wall under test. This hybrid method does not require a calibrated reference signal, thus making it useful for real-world applications. The formulation of the proposed method is discussed along with its application to simulated and measured results.
Effect of alkali on CH bond scission over Pt/YSZ catalyst during water-gas-shift, steam-assisted formic acid decomposition and methanol steam reforming

Abstract In previous work, Na-doping of Pt/YSZ was found to facilitate the low temperature water gas shift reaction (LT-WGS), and the promoting effect was ascribed to an electronic weakening of the C H bond of the formate species, a proposed intermediate in the catalytic cycle. Formate has also been implicated as an intermediate in steam-assisted formic acid decomposition (SAFAD) and methanol steam reforming (MSR) pathways. In the current contribution, Na-doping was also found to significantly accelerate the SAFAD reaction. The high activity of Pt/YSZ for SAFAD, as well as the promoting effect of Na, are in stark contrast to the view that formates are too stable, precluding them as intermediates for LT-WGS. With MSR, a remarkable promoting effect of Na doping was observed in the selectivity to CO 2 (>90% for Na-doped relative to 22% for undoped at 300 °C); however, at the doping levels used in the current work, the activity was lower for the Na doped catalyst and further optimization is needed to improve MSR conversion.
Chapter 17 – Folate

Folate is the generic descriptor for folic acid (pteroylmonoglutamic acid) and related compounds exhibiting the biological activity of folic acid. Folate has a role in the etiology of homocysteinemia, which is a risk factor for neural tube defects (NTDs). Folates are found in a wide variety of foods; best sources include leafy green vegetables and organ meats. Absorption of folate, a water-soluble vitamin, typically occurs following deconjugation to mono- or diglutamate forms followed by active uptake or passive diffusion by the enterocyte. Folates function as enzyme cosubstrates in a network of reactions in the metabolism of amino acids and nucleotides, as well as the formation of the primary methyl donor for biological methylations, S-adenosylmethionine. In each of these functions, tetrahydrofolic acid serves as an acceptor or donor of a single-carbon unit and is regenerated with the transfer such that continuous cycling can occur. Folate fortification programs began in the United States in 1993 and have resulted in increased folate intakes and reduced the incidence of NTDs. Folate deficiency is uncommon in areas with fortification programs; signs include anemia, depression, and polyneuropathy.
Software Testing’s Place in Development

SOFTWARE may be unique among engineered artifacts in that its testing has a formal place among the processes of development, a place with methods and measures all its own that are integrated into development itself. Products of the older engineering disciplines get tried, of course, but in a significantly different way. The test of a skyscraper is that it stands against the forces of nature. But structural engineers do not typically bother to check their calculations, say by attaching strain gauges to the beams as they are put in place.
Integrating Science and Society for Environmental Realism

Recent developments spanning numerous fields—including ecology, evolutionary science, psychology, sustainability, technology studies, and economics—further demonstrate the problematic nature of a solutionist paradigm and offer compelling evidence of ways forward that accept the deep interconnections between human and biophysical systems. However, consistent with the book’s driving premise that environmental realism with its inherent complexity must be acknowledged, there is no singular conclusion to this work. Although the developments discussed offer reason for optimism, they also highlight the continual effort that will be required at multiple organizational levels to shape a positive trajectory for humanity.
Branch-specific plasticity of a bifunctional dopamine circuit encodes protein hunger

Free-living animals must not only regulate the amount of food they consume but also choose which types of food to ingest. The shifting of food preference driven by nutrient-specific hunger can be essential for survival, yet little is known about the underlying mechanisms. We identified a dopamine circuit that encodes protein-specific hunger in Drosophila . The activity of these neurons increased after substantial protein deprivation. Activation of this circuit simultaneously promoted protein intake and restricted sugar consumption, via signaling to distinct downstream neurons. Protein starvation triggered branch-specific plastic changes in these dopaminergic neurons, thus enabling sustained protein consumption. These studies reveal a crucial circuit mechanism by which animals adjust their dietary strategy to maintain protein homeostasis.
Radiation exposure and reduction in the operating room: Perspectives and future directions in spine surgery.

Radiation exposure and reduction in the operating room: Perspectives and future directions in spine surgery
Methods for Detecting and Evaluating Cultural Bias in Neuropsychological Tests

Since the early 1900s, near the time of Binet’s first offering, intelligence tests have been scrutinized for cultural biases in a variety of forms. Indeed, the issues of bias (or its potential) in psychological testing have been a source of recurring, characteristically intense, social controversy throughout the history of mental measurement (e.g., see Reynolds & Brown, 1984, for a review of early to mid-1900s controversies). Discussions of cultural bias in tests, especially aptitude and ability measures such as are common to neuropsychological examinations, frequently are accompanied by strongly emotion-laden polemics decrying the use of mental tests with members of ethnic minorities. Courts, legislatures, and the media have all become involved in the questions surrounding potential cultural bias in testing (e.g., see Brown, Reynolds, & Whitaker, in press; Elliott, 1987; Spitz, 1986).
Deuterium Enrichment in the Distillation of Ammonia

The relative volatility or separation factor for deuterium enrichment in ammonia distillation was measured at pressures of 250, 375, 500, 600, and 760 mm Hg and at deuterium concentrations of 0.10,...
Campanile near-field probes fabricated by nanoimprint lithography

One of the major challenges to the widespread adoption of plasmonic and nano-optical devices in real-life applications is the difficulty to mass-fabricate nano-optical antennas in parallel and reproducible fashion, and the capability to precisely place nanoantennas into devices with nanometer-scale precision. Another big challenge is the translation of ideal optical structures that many times are distributed in all of the three spatial dimensions to a real and efficient device. A valuable solution to those challenges has been proved to be the use of the state-of-the-art ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) to fabricate functional optical devices onto the core of an optical single mode fiber in a single step fabrication process. This techniques has been proved on several devices like a beam splitter [1] (figure 1) or a Frenel lens [2] (figure 2). This technique allows the perfect and stable alignment of the optical element in the optical circuit; the single mode fiber present the same beam configuration impinging the optical devices allow to design a perfect matching optical element and maintaining a stable answer of the device. Taking from this concept it is possible to mimicking the ‘campanile’ near-field probes [3], in this case the probe is based on a plasmonic design and hence required one more gold metallization step [4]. The only difference of the plasmonic structure, relate to the fabrication process, is the missing ”tower” part of the campanile. The straight part is a conditioning section of the optical waveguide that can be removed if the design of the pyramid is optimize for the optical fiber mode as shown in figure 3. Imprinted pyramidal probes with a preexisting gap were fabricated using a custom-built imprinter tool with co-axial alignment capability with sub ≤ 100 nm position accuracy, followed by a metallization step. Scanning electron micrographs confirm high imprint fidelity and precision with a thin residual layer to facilitate efficient optical coupling between the fiber and the imprinted optical transformer (figure 4). This novel nano-fabrication approach promises a low-cost, high-throughput, and reproducible manufacturing of advanced nano-optical devices. The functionality of the imprinted probes was validated by performing hyperspectral nano-PL mapping of a dispersed film of 40 nm polystyrene fluorescent beads. Both the topography scans and the PL maps exhibited features consistent with the behavior of traditional FIB-fabricated optical transformer probes. Results show that imprinted campanile probes enable sub-diffraction-limit imaging with a resolution of ∼ 80 nm, determined by the gap size at the tip apex. The fabrication process presented here can be scaled and parallelized for higher throughput and offers a promising route for mass production of nano-optical devices.
Test Cost and Test Accuracy in Clinical Laboratories in Kampala, Uganda.

Objectives To assess the accuracy and costs of laboratory tests in Kampala, Uganda. Methods A random selection of 78 laboratories tested external quality assurance samples at market rates. There were 40 moderate- to high-complexity and 38 low-complexity laboratories. Four percent (3/78) of these laboratories were accredited and 94% (73/78) were private. The 40 moderate- to high-complexity laboratories performed malaria blood smear, urine human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), syphilis, glucose, and three-panel tests: CBC, liver function tests, and kidney function tests. The 38 low-complexity laboratories performed malaria blood smear, urine hCG, and syphilis testing only. Hematology, HIV, syphilis, and malarial proficiency testing samples were prepared by accredited laboratories in Kampala. All other samples were provided by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australia. Results 77.1% of all results were accurate (met target values). It varied widely by laboratory (50%-100%), test identity (malaria blood smear, 96%; serum urea nitrogen, 38%), and test type (quantitative: 66% [31%-89%], qualitative: 91% [68%-97%]). Test prices varied by up to 3,600%, and there was no correlation between test cost and accuracy (r2 = 0.02). Conclusions There were large differences in accuracy and price across laboratories in Kampala. Price was not associated with quality.
ALLOHELP TO H-2K APPEARS TO DEPEND ONLY ON A MATURE LY123 T CELL

ABSTRACT The L y phenotype of help induced by recognition of allogeneic histocompatibility antigens (allohelp) depends on the intra MHC region involved. While allohelp induced by I, Mls , or whole H-2 depends only on Ly1 T cells, Lyl23 T cells are required for allohelp induced by H-2K alone. Studies of allohelp to an H-2K only difference between B6 and the mutant H-2 ba indicate that such help is due to a single limiting precursor T cell present in high frequency. It depends only on a T 2 population of T cells which are resistent to adult thymectomy and sensitive to the in vivo administration of ATS. This suggests that the Ly123 cell which responds to H-2K and is a mature antigen reactive cell. Ly2 + T cells separated from Ly2 − T cells on FACS were able to generate allohelp to H-2K. Thus there was no requirement for Ly1 cells for this help. The difference in L y phenotype of T cells which have the same function (allohelp) but respond to different MHC antigens (K/D versus I) emphasizes the fundamental dichotomy of these two sets of MHC antigens.
Sequence Directed Design of Recognition Peptides

The intriguing properties of peptides coded by the non coding DNA strand (anti-sense peptides) have stimulated a number of investigations in the past few years aimed at elucidation of their biological significance and evaluation of their potential use. In several systems tested, anti-sense peptides were able to bind with relatively high affinity and specificity to the corresponding sense peptide, with rather profound implications for use in biotechnology. In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the phenomena, our attention has been focused on the possibility of re-creating peptides with anti-sense properties starting from amino acid sequence informations.
Genome wide approaches discover novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens as correlates of infection, disease, immunity and targets for vaccination.

Every day approximately six thousand people die of Tuberculosis (TB). Its causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is an ancient pathogen that through its evolution developed complex mechanisms to evade immune surveillance and acquire the ability to establish persistent infection in its hosts. Currently, it is estimated that one-fourth of the human population is latently infected with Mtb and among those infected 3-10% are at risk of developing active TB disease during their lifetime. The currently available diagnostics are not able to detect this risk group for prophylactic treatment to prevent transmission. Anti-TB drugs are available but only as long regimens with considerable side effects, which could both be reduced if adequate tests were available to monitor the response of TB to treatment. New vaccines are also urgently needed to substitute or boost Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the only approved TB vaccine: although BCG prevents disseminated TB in infants, it fails to impact the incidence of pulmonary TB in adults, and therefore has little effect on TB transmission. To achieve TB eradication, the discovery of Mtb antigens that effectively correlate with the human response to infection, with the curative host response following TB treatment, and with natural as well as vaccine induced protection will be critical. Over the last decade, many new Mtb antigens have been found and proposed as TB biomarkers and vaccine candidates, but only a very small number of these is being used in commercial diagnostic tests or is being assessed as candidate TB vaccine antigens in human clinical trials, aiming to prevent infection, disease or disease recurrence following treatment. Most of these antigens were discovered decades ago, before the complete Mtb genome sequence became available, and thus did not harness the latest insights from post-genomic antigen discovery strategies and genome wide approaches. These have, for example, revealed critical phase variation in Mtb replication and accompanying gene -and therefore antigen- expression patterns. In this review, we present a brief overview of past methodologies, and subsequently focus on the most important recent Mtb antigen discovery studies which have mined the Mtb antigenome through "unbiased" genome wide approaches. We compare the results for these approaches -as far as we know for the first time-, highlight Mtb antigens that have been identified independently by different strategies and present a comprehensive overview of the Mtb antigens thus discovered.
Annatto-extracted tocotrienols improve glucose homeostasis and bone properties in high-fat diet-induced type 2 diabetic mice by decreasing the inflammatory response

Diabetes is a risk factor for osteoporosis. Annatto-extracted tocotrienols (TT) have proven benefits in preserving bone matrix. Here, we evaluated the effects of dietary TT on glucose homeostasis, bone properties, and liver pro-inflammatory mRNA expression in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced type 2 diabetic (T2DM) mice. 58 male C57BL/6 J mice were divided into 5 groups: low-fat diet (LFD), HFD, HFD + 400 mgTT/kg diet (T400), HFD + 1600 mgTT/kg diet (T1600), and HFD + 200 mg metformin/kg (Met) for 14 weeks. Relative to the HFD group, both TT-supplemented groups (1) improved glucose homeostasis by lowering the area under the curve for both glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance tests, (2) increased serum procollagen I intact N-terminal propeptide (bone formation) level, trabecular bone volume/total volume, trabecular number, connectivity density, and cortical thickness, (3) decreased collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide (bone resorption) levels, trabecular separation, and structure model index, and (4) suppressed liver mRNA levels of inflammation markers including IL-2, IL-23, IFN-γ, MCP-1, TNF-α, ITGAX and F4/80. There were no differences in glucose homeostasis and liver mRNA expression among T400, T1600, and Met. The order of osteo-protective effects was LFD ≥T1600 ≥T400 = Met >HFD. Collectively, these data suggest that TT exerts osteo-protective effects in T2DM mice by regulating glucose homeostasis and suppressing inflammation.
Characteristics of Large Mumps Outbreaks in the United States, July 2010-December 2015.

BACKGROUND Mumps is an acute viral illness that classically presents with parotitis. Although the United States experienced a 99% reduction in mumps cases following implementation of the 2-dose vaccination program in 1989, mumps has resurged in the past 10 years. METHODS We assessed the epidemiological characteristics of mumps outbreaks with ≥20 cases reported in the United States electronically through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System and from supplemental outbreak data through direct communications with jurisdictions from July 2010 through December 2015. Mumps cases were defined using the 2012 Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists case definition. RESULTS Twenty-three outbreaks with 20-485 cases per outbreak were reported in 18 jurisdictions. The duration of outbreaks ranged from 1.5 to 8.5 months (median, 3 months). All outbreaks involved close-contact settings; 18 (78%) involved universities, 16 (70%) occurred primarily among young adults (median age, 18-24 years), and 9 (39%) occurred in highly vaccinated populations (2-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccine coverage ≥85%). CONCLUSIONS During 2010-2015, multiple mumps outbreaks among highly vaccinated populations in close-contact settings occurred. Most cases occurred among vaccinated young adults, suggesting that waning immunity played a role. Further evaluation of risk factors associated with these outbreaks is warranted.
Modelling the severity of pedestrian injury in pedestrian—vehicle crashes in North Carolina: A partial proportional odds logit model approach

More than 2,000 pedestrians are involved in reported traffic crashes with vehicles in North Carolina every year. Of these, 10% to 20% of these pedestrians were killed or severely injured. Studies a...
t-PNE: tensor-based predictable node embeddings

Graph representations have increasingly grown in popularity during the last years. Existing embedding approaches explicitly encode network structure. Despite their good performance in downstream processes (e.g., node classification), there is still room for improvement in different aspects, like effectiveness. In this paper, we propose, t-PNE, a method that addresses this limitation. Contrary to baseline methods, which generally learn explicit node representations by solely using an adjacency matrix, t-PNE avails a multi-view information graph---the adjacency matrix represents the first view, and a nearest neighbor adjacency, computed over the node features, is the second view---in order to learn explicit and implicit node representations, using the Canonical Polyadic (a.k.a. CP) decomposition. We argue that the implicit and the explicit mapping from a higher-dimensional to a lower-dimensional vector space is the key to learn more useful and highly predictable representations. Extensive experiments show that t-PNE drastically outperforms baseline methods by up to 158.6% with respect to Micro-F1, in several multi-label classification problems.
Ventricular interactions and electromechanical dyssynchrony after Ross and Ross-Konno operations.

Abstract Objectives Ross and Ross-Konno operations are associated with the inherent risk of residual ventricular septal dysfunction and injury to the conduction system. However, comprehensive biventricular functional outcomes on magnetic resonance imaging after Ross and Ross-Konno procedures are unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the degree of electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients late after Ross and Ross-Konno operations. Methods Patients following Ross operation (n = 16), Ross-Konno operation (n = 13), and healthy controls (n = 12) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging strain deformation analysis to quantify left ventricular (LV) intraventricular dyssynchrony and right ventricular (RV)–LV interventricular dyssynchrony. Mechanical dyssynchrony indices were correlated with the degree of electrical dyssynchrony as assessed by QRS duration, as well as with magnetic resonance imaging-derived biventricular and autograft regurgitation parameters. Results Patients in the Ross and Ross-Konno groups had reduced LV global longitudinal strain when compared with controls (both P values Conclusions Long-term follow-up of patients who underwent Ross and Ross-Konno operations demonstrates reduced LV global longitudinal strain suggestive of chronically increased afterload independent of autograft function. Additionally, Ross-Konno operation is associated with impaired LV intraventricular mechanics and electrical dyssynchrony.