cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Severe clinical rebound upon withdrawal of corticosteroid before interferon therapy: Incidence and risk factors

To analyse the incidence and risk factors of clinical rebound and hepatic decompensation during or upon withdrawal of prednisolone pretreatment before interferon (IFN) therapy, two series of Taiwanese patients with chronic viral hepatitis from two independent randomized controlled trails were compared. Group 1 included 41 patients with chronic hepatitis B who were pretreated with daily prednisolone (30 mg) for 3 weeks, 15 mg for 1 week and no prednisolone for 2 weeks prior to lymphoblastoid IFN therapy. Group 2 consisted of 59 patients with chronic hepatitis B who were pretreated with daily prednisolone (40 mg) for 2 weeks, 30 mg prednisolone for 2 weeks, 20 mg prednisolone for 2 weeks and no prednisolone for 2 weeks prior to INF alpha-2a therapy. Clinical rebound developed more frequently in group 2 (67.8%) than in group 1 patients (41.5%; P < 0.01). The peak serum transaminase levels of group 1 and 2 patients during clinical rebound were similar. Icteric and symptomatic clinical rebound occurred in four (one cirrhotic) group 2 patients. The incidence of hepatic decompensation was 3.4% in group 2 patients, or 5.0% in group 2 patients with clinical rebound. Patients pretreated with a higher dose (40 mg) of prednisolone (odds ratio 3.0; 95% CI 1.3-6.6; P < 0.01) and non-cirrhotic patients (odds ratio 6.2; 95% CI 1.2-32.1; P < 0.02) tended to suffer from clinical rebound more frequently. However, once clinical rebound develops in cirrhotic patients, the relative risk of decompensation is 16 times that of non-cirrhotic patients. These results suggest that clinicians should be cautious in prescribing a short course of corticosteroids for patients with chronic viral hepatitis, because hepatic decompensation might occur in Oriental people with or without cirrhosis.
Teaching Video NeuroImages: Callosal apraxia: A straightforward model of ideomotor apraxia

A 57-year-old right-handed man complained of difficulty using his hands post–coronary artery bypass graft (figure). Neurologic examination revealed signs of callosal disconnection without hemiparesis. When asked to perform limb gestures such as “brush your teeth” or “wave goodbye,” the right hand performed flawlessly whereas the left hand was severely apraxic (video on the Neurology ® Web site at [www.neurology.org][1]). [1]: http://www.neurology.org
Angiotensin-II stimulates an increase in cAMP and expression of 17 alpha-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 in fetal bovine adrenocortical cells.

While known to be a potent activator of phosphoinositidase C, angiotensin II (A-II) also causes a small but significant increase in cAMP production through the type 1 A-II (AT1) receptor in bovine adrenocortical cells (Mol Cell Endocrinol 81:33-41, 1991). We have carried out studies on primary cultures of fetal bovine adrenocortical cells to examine the effects of A-II on the expression of cytochrome P450 17 alpha-hydroxylase (P450c17), which is known to be regulated in a cAMP-dependent fashion. Prolonged treatment (48 h) of cells with A-II (10(-7) M) did not give rise to a detectable increase in P450c17 as measured by immunoblotting, although both A-II and the protein kinase C activator, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) attenuated the large increase in P450c17 induced by ACTH (10(-8) M). A-II alone (10(-7) M) however, caused a time-dependent increase in cAMP secretion, reaching 8-fold within 3 h. Prolonged treatment of cells with A-II also resulted in a 3-fold increase in P450c17 mRNA within 12...
Canonical coordinates and the geometry of inference, rate, and capacity

Canonical correlations measure the cosines of principal angles between random vectors. These cosines multiplicatively decompose concentration ellipses for second-order filtering and additively decompose the information rate for the Gaussian channel. More over, they establish a geometrical connection between error covariance, error rate, information rate, and principal angles. There is a limit to how small these angles can be made, and this limit determines the channel capacity.
A self-assessment tool was reliable in identifying hazards in the homes of elders.

Abstract Background and Objectives Falls are a leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries, particularly among the elderly. A reliable instrument for self-assessment of home falls hazards would facilitate screening for falls risk. This study examined the reliability of self-assessment of home falls hazards by elderly women. Methods and Setting Participants were 52 elderly women, aged 67 to 97. All evaluations were performed in the participants' homes. Home falls hazards were evaluated independently by study participants and by trained observers. Results Kappa statistics indicated good to excellent agreement for most of the environmental factors. However, observers were significantly more likely than the study participants to report certain tripping hazards, particularly objects in walkways. Conclusion This home checklist is an important step towards a reliable self-report instrument for measuring home falls hazards. Self-assessment appears to be a reliable method for assessing many putative hazards of falling in the home. However, our findings raise questions regarding the reliable assessment of tripping hazards.
An Assessment of Visitor Expenditure Methods and Models

There has been a great deal of research devoted to estimating visitor expenditures in countries, regions, cities, and other areas as related to specific events. Such estimates are essential for producing comprehensive estimates of tourism’s economic benefits in an area. This review of methods used to estimate visitor expenditures applies definitions of relevant concepts developed by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to promote standardization and quality in tourism statistics. Three contexts are identified for visitor-expenditure studies: occasion, venue, and time frame. Occasion recognizes the visitor-expenditure studies that have focused on annual visitor expenditures in a study area in contrast to those focusing on visitor expenditures associated with a given event. The latter occasion raises a number of issues regarding what constituted qualified visitors and qualified expenditures. Relevance, coverage, and accuracy principles are applied from the literature to assess 11 methods and models. Guidanc...
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in association with neurofibromatosis type 1: a case report and proposed molecular pathways

A 42-year-old Caucasian female with history of neurofibromatosis type 1 presented with nephrotic range proteinuria and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). On final dose of lisinopril 20 mg/day, protein–creatinine ratio declined to 0.33 within 10 months. We propose the hypothesis that development of FSGS in NF1 may be mediated by activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways secondary to up-regulation of ras proteins due to deficient neurofibromin. Since mTOR signaling pathway is partially mediated through angiotensin-II activation, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition may serve as an effective initial treatment beyond anti-proteinuric properties of ACE-inhibitors.
Effects of baffles and isolation on dorsal fin erosion in steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

. Dorsal fin condition was evaluated in two groups of hatchery-reared steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss(Walbaum), and compared to wild fish. Hatchery fish were reared either in nursery tanks with baffles or in isolation (1 fish/rearing space). Evaluations were conducted to determine differences in dorsal fin condition between these groups and to monitor the progression and severity of fin damage. Isolated hatchery and wild steelhead trout maintained perfect dorsal fins with characteristic white margins. Hatchery fish reared in nursery tanks with baffles experienced dorsal fin erosion that started when the fish were about 40mm total length (30 days after being on feed). This erosion continued until dorsal fin length averaged only 2·3 mm in fish 161–200 mm total length in contrast to an average dorsal fin length of 20·9mm in wild fish of the same size.
NMP space environmental monitor (SEM): preliminary design concept

The New Millennium Program is examining the possibility of developing a low-cost space environmental monitor (SEM) for inclusion on its technology validation flights to monitor the space environment. The raison d'etre for this effort follows from the need to characterize the validation environment so that future users can extrapolate or scale NMP test results to their end-use environment. The short-term objective is to develop a "hockey-puck" size diagnostic package available from commercial sources. The environments of interest are contamination, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, cosmic radiation, EMI, and temperature. This paper describes the process by which sensors were chosen, discusses each sensor in detail, and describes a conceptual design that includes a microcontroller data logger with data storage and interfaces to the sensors and spacecraft.
Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K contributes to angiotensin II stimulation of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA translation

ANG II rapidly increases VEGF synthesis in proximal tubular epithelial cells through mRNA translation. The role of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) in ANG II regulation of VEGF m...
Public Procurement Systems: Unpacking Stakeholder Aspirations and Expectations

Abstract : Globalization has created multinational markets and corporations. There is a trend towards harmonization of international procurement norms. This paper uses stakeholder analysis to develop objectives for public procurement.
Fundamental Electromagnetic Properties of Twisted Periodic Arrays

Linear periodic arrays of elements sequentially rotated about the array's axis display interesting polarization properties. These “twisted” arrays, characterized by both discrete and helical periodicities, exhibit features of periodic gratings and bulk chiral media. For arrays with small periodicities, in which the zeroth diffraction (Floquet) mode dominates, two independent, transverse traveling wave modes are identified. One of these mode types is a guided wave that remains bound to the array, while the other is a leaky (radiating) wave mode. The electric fields characterizing each mode consist of two circularly polarized waves with distinct phase velocities. For larger periodicities, higher diffraction orders of these two modes may radiate. The coupling between different modes may result in stopbands of several types but the broadside stopband typical of leaky wave structures is eliminated. A finite twisted array is simulated to verify the predicted properties, and to show that the two transverse modes may be excited by circularly polarized sources with opposite handedness. Results are demonstrated for arrays of plasmonic particles in the optical regime and arrays of half-wave dipoles in the microwave regime. Twisted arrays can find uses in various microwave and optical applications, such as frequency and polarization sensitive waveguides, couplers, filters, and antennas.
The Gender Paradox in Prison Suicide Rates

Few studies of prison suicide have focused on suicide among female inmates, and even fewer studies have provided comparisons of rates by gender. Using national data on U.S. prisons and suicide, this study examined the “gender paradox” in prison suicide rates by comparing suicide rates of female and male inmates and U.S. residents and then examined characteristics of prisons that reported suicides. Findings indicated that rates of suicide in prison were similar for female and male inmates, but rates were higher for female inmates and lower for male inmates compared to the respective rates for female and male U.S. residents. Prisons that reported female suicides evidenced significant differences in prison conditions, including higher assault rates and mental health service utilization, compared to prisons for males and female prisons without suicide. Implications of the findings for understanding the gender paradox and for prison suicide prevention are discussed.
Real-time ultrahigh-resolution lateral-priority OCT imaging with a broad spectrum throughput acousto-optic modulation

We describe a generic method to optimize the optical spectrum throughput of acousto-optic modulators for performing real-time lateral-priority OCT imaging with an axial resolution of /spl sim/2.3 /spl mu/m. Ultrahigh-resolution imaging of biological tissues is demonstrated.
Lutando com anjos: os estudos culturais em tempos sombrios

This article reflects on four issues related to cultural studies, in different dimensions: training and practice in cultural studies (pragmatic), the central concept of conjuncture (conceptual), the nature and the limits of materialism and post-humanism (philosophical) and finally the concept of culture (empirical). Such discussions are important so that cultural studies can extend its discussions beyond academic borders and adopt different strategies to understand and change the world.
Physical characteristics and sensory analysis of American hazelnuts in comparison to Tonda di Giffoni

American hazelnut (Corylus americana) is a promising oilseed and nut crop. Currently, international demand for hazelnuts is supplied with European hazelnut (Corylus avellana) grown in many countries, with Turkey producing the majority. In order for American hazelnut to be a competitive crop, the flavor and processing characteristics have to be as good as or better than its competitors. The objective of this study was to compare the physical characteristics and flavor of the nutmeat of American hazelnut selections to a high-quality European hazelnut processing variety: Tonda di Giffoni. Hazelnuts were collected from 11 American hazelnut selections growing in wild conditions and Tonda di Giffoni was sourced from a cultivated population. The hazelnuts were measured for physical characteristics (including size, sphericity and density) and flavor parameters were screened using the Spectrum® method. Overall, several selections were as good as Tonda di Giffoni for the majority of flavor and processing characteristics. The main problems with these American hazelnut selections were smaller size (average 0.31 g compared to 1.38 g for Tonda di Giffoni) and a very mild soapy/cleaner flavor for 7 out of the 11 selections (the highest level was only 0.9 on a 0–15 scale). Sphericity for 6 of the selections was not different from Tonda di Giffoni and generally were higher than the published values for sphericity of other cultivars. Overall, American hazelnut has a great deal of potential as an oilseed and nut crop.
Toward anisotropic materials via forced assembly coextrusion

Multilayer coextrusion offers a diverse platform to examine layer dependent confinement effects on self-assembling nanomaterials via conventional extrusion technology. A triblock copolymer (BCP) with a cylindrical microstructure was processed via “forced assembly” to elucidate the effect of microdomain orientation on the mechanical behavior of multilayer films. The mechanical response was investigated in both the extrusion (ED) and transverse directions (TD) of the multilayer systems, revealing an influence of both cylinder-orientation and the interface on the mechanical response with decreasing layer thickness. The stress–strain curves for samples with the stress field along the cylinder axis revealed a sharp yielding phenomenon, while curves for specimens with the stress field applied perpendicular to the axis exhibited weak yielding behavior. The extensibility of the multilayer films stressed in the ED increases with decreasing layer thickness, but remains constant when deformed along the TD. Coextrusi...
On the Possibility of Faithfully Representative Committees

By faithful representation we mean the delegation of decision making to a relatively small committee that, using a weighted voting rule, will for each pair of alternatives make sincere choices identical to those that would be made by the society as a whole, and with the same vote margins. We show that for any society, no matter how large, faithful representation is possible by a committee with no more than m(m − 1)/2 members, where m is the number of alternatives. We also show that for any society, no matter how nonideological the bulk of its electorate, social preferences can be faithfully represented by a committee whose members all have singlepeaked or single-troughed preferences. Thus, all societies can be faithfully represented by a committee whose members see the world in unidimensional terms—that is, representatives can share a coherent ideological perspective even though the electorates they represent lack such a perspective. We further show that the usual mechanisms of proportional representation and the modified form of proportional representation recently proposed by Chamberlin and Courant (1983) do not guarantee faithful representation, and we discuss mechanisms that may provide faithful representation, even in a context in which new alternatives can arise.
The Use of Fisheye Views for Displaying Semantic Relationships in a Medical Taxonomy.

Abstract One of the critical issues for the development of a Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), or taxonomy of medical terms, is the identification of semantic features and relationships which should be represented in the UMLS, and the design of the appropriate structure for storing and displaying these features and relationships. A particular focus of our research is the development of software tools to facilitate the authoring, maintaining, and viewing of taxonomic relationships. One approach is the use of the “fisheye view” for displaying a region of interest in a semantic network.
Construction and Application of Distribution Network Automation in Maoming Power Supply Bureau

By analyzing the status and trends of the domestic and international of distribution network automation and combining with the existence of characteristic of Maoming power supply bureau distribution network,this paper is proposed the construction ideas and implementation of distribution automation for Maoming power supply bureau.The implementation of the program and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed in detail,which provides the certain reference for the project practice.
Endocytosis of Calcium Oxalate Crystals and Proliferation of Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells in a Patient with Type 1 Primary Hyperoxaluria

A patient with primary hyperoxaluria who received a liver-kidney transplant is presented. A postoperative renal biopsy showed apparent tubular cell endocytosis of calcium oxalate crystals and cell proliferation, indicating that renal epithelial cells do not perceive urinary crystals as inert. Such cellular responses to crystals may have a role in nephrolithiasis.
Abstract 1623: CITED2 modulates metastatic ability through effects on IKK-alpha in breast cancer cells

Cbp/p300-interacting transactivator with Glu/Asp-rich carboxy-terminal domain-2 (CITED2) is a member of the CITED family of non-DNA binding transcriptional co-activators. Previously, we identified CITED2 as a novel facilitator of bone metastasis in murine mammary cancer. Extending these initial studies to human breast cancer, CITED2 mRNA expression was significantly elevated in patient samples of metastatic breast cancer relative to primary tumors, with highest levels in bone metastasis. To explore the functional impact of CITED2 in breast cancer metastasis, we stably reduced CITED2 expression in the human breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells, which are metastatic in animal models. While CITED2 knockdown had no effect on cell proliferation, it significantly reduced tumor migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis following intra-cardiac administration in athymic nude mice in vivo. To explore the mechanism responsible for these effects, we examined the impact of CITED2 knockdown on gene expression in MDA-MB-231 cells by microarray analysis. As confirmed at the mRNA and protein levels in both MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells, expression of the NF-κB regulator IKKα was significantly reduced along with several downstream targets of the NF-κB pathway (OPN, MMP9, uPA, SPARC, IL11 and IL-1β). In line with the reduced expression of IKKα, both canonical and non-canonical NF-κB signaling was inhibited following CITED2 knockdown. By ChIP assay, CITED2 was recruited to the promoters of IKKα, as well as the NF-κB targets OPN, MMP9, and SPARC. Finally, restoration of IKKα expression in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells following CITED2 knockdown rescued their invasive ability. Collectively, these results suggest that CITED2 exerts its pro-metastatic effects in breast cancer cells via regulating IKKα. Citation Format: Swaathi Jayaraman, Michele Doucet, Wen M. Lau, Scott L. Kominsky. CITED2 modulates metastatic ability through effects on IKK-alpha in breast cancer cells. [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 1623.
Beliefs and Behaviors of Pregnant Women with Addictions Awaiting Treatment Initiation

Substance use during pregnancy poses clear risks to children's healthy development. However, women with addictions face unique barriers to accessing substance abuse treatment and often delay or avoid treatment seeking. The objective of this study was to examine women's beliefs about the impact of use on the developing baby and to examine the protective behaviors that women with addictions engage in during the period of time between when they first find out they are pregnant and when they begin substance abuse treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 women who were either pregnant or postpartum and who had used illicit substances during pregnancy. All participants were currently receiving inpatient substance abuse treatment services to address their addiction and were asked to retrospectively report on their experiences. Interviews were transcribed, imported into a qualitative data analysis software, and iteratively coded for themes. Women reported being concerned about the impact of substance use on the developing baby, in particular, about the physical and long-term developmental consequences of prenatal exposure. Given these concerns, women described trying to protect the baby from harm on their own, outside of accessing traditional treatment services. They sought information anonymously, increased their engagement in health-promoting behaviors, and decreased their use of alcohol and other drugs. The results suggest that women who use alcohol and other drugs during pregnancy are often motivated to protect their baby from harm and are engaging in harm reduction behaviors prior to accessing treatment services.
Into the Meta: Research Methods for Moving Beyond Social Media Surfacing

This article examines the role of social media metadata in conducting studies of professional development in social media spaces. It traces the brief history of research surrounding social media spaces, noting the lack of research that drills into social media metadata in research on professional development. Framed through a software studies perspective, this article provides a deeper examination of the historical nuances of metadata and explores two distinct methods to procuring social media metadata for research on social media enhanced professional development: using pre-built tools and calling an API (application programming interface) directly. The article raises important ethical considerations around using social media metadata, and touches briefly upon ideological questions associated with the ways companies collect, store, share, and monetize users’ metadata. To overcome these limitations and biases, the authors propose a mixed methods approach through examining back end metadata, employing front-end surfacing techniques of the social media applications, and engaging in traditional qualitative methods of interviews and focus groups for the richest research.
CHAPTER 4 – Linear Transformations from a Geometric Viewpoint

This chapter discusses linear transformations from a geometric viewpoint and describes the geometric aspects of various kinds of matrix transformations. Mapping is an operation by which elements of one set of mathematical entities are transformed into elements of another. Values obtained by a mapping are called images, while the values being transformed are often called preimages of the transformation. Any linear transformation can be represented in matrix form. The need for matrix transformation arises naturally in the solution of linear equations. A regular inverse of the matrix A is denoted by A -1 , and, when it exists, it is unique. The simplest type of transformation is represented by a point transformation. Many matrix operations can be usefully represented geometrically if two or three dimensions are involved. Translations are frequently used in multivariate analysis. Permutation of a set of points involves a matrix transformation that carries each coordinate value on axis 1 into a corresponding coordinate on axis 2, and vice versa.
Mitigating food deserts: Do farmers’ markets break from the status quo?

This paper revisits the previously developed rationale for periodic market placement under the contemporary lens of farmers’ markets. The number average size rule is first employed to question whether the ‘centre’ level that can sustain a grocery store is climbing, and creating disadvantaged access. This is extended to the farmers’ market system that is portrayed as an alternative ethic to the conventional system. This effort examines whether the discourse of local matches the actions, or whether farmers’ markets location decisions mirror that of conventional distribution. The results from bivariate spatial point pattern analyses reinforce notions of the retail system, as leaving areas of effective food deserts, and further suggests farmers’ markets have a tendency to locate close to those retail outlets.
The Evolution of Enterprise Imaging and the Role of the Radiologist in the New World.

OBJECTIVE. The concept of enterprise imaging is part of the next frontier in the evolution of health care technology. Incorporating all medical images into a single location integrated with electro...
Pathological correlations between traumatic brain injury and chronic neurodegenerative diseases

Traumatic brain injury is among the most common causes of death and disability in youth and young adults. In addition to the acute risk of morbidity with moderate to severe injuries, traumatic brain injury is associated with a number of chronic neurological and neuropsychiatric sequelae including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. However, despite the high incidence of traumatic brain injuries and the established clinical correlation with neurodegeneration, the causative factors linking these processes have not yet been fully elucidated. Apart from removal from activity, few, if any prophylactic treatments against post-traumatic brain injury neurodegeneration exist. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of traumatic brain injury and neurodegeneration in order to identify potential factors that initiate neurodegenerative processes. Oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and glutamatergic excitotoxicity have previously been implicated in both secondary brain injury and neurodegeneration. In particular, reactive oxygen species appear to be key in mediating molecular insult in neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity. As such, it is likely that post injury oxidative stress is a key mechanism which links traumatic brain injury to increased risk of neurodegeneration. Consequently, reactive oxygen species and their subsequent byproducts may serve as novel fluid markers for identification and monitoring of cellular damage. Furthermore, these reactive species may further serve as a suitable therapeutic target to reduce the risk of post-injury neurodegeneration and provide long term quality of life improvements for those suffering from traumatic brain injury.
Treating Disease Mechanisms in Patients With Heart Failure and Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes and heart failure commonly coexist and portend worsened prognosis than either disease alone. We explore mechanisms that may serve as potential treatment targets and review the effects of various contemporary glucose-lowering agents on heart failure outcomes. Promising data has emerged on sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SLGT2) inhibitors as the first class of agents to improve cardiovascular mortality and heart failure outcomes in diabetic individuals both with and without established heart failure. Poor glycemic control is linked to worse heart failure outcomes; however, targeting glycemic control alone has not been sufficient. Furthermore, multiple commonly used antihyperglycemic agents may lead to adverse heart failure effects. SGLT2 inhibitors target multiple mechanisms implicated in diabetes and heart failure and may play a promising role in primary prevention of heart failure and in treatment of individuals with diabetes and established heart failure.
Tetraphenylphosphonium tetrakis(trimethylsilanolato)ferrate(III)

The structure of tetra­phenyl­phospho­nium tetrakis­(tri­methyl­silanolato)ferrate(III), [(C6H5)4P][Fe(OSi(CH3)3)4], has tetra­gonal (I-4) symmetry, and was refined as an inversion twin. It is an ionic compound consisting of a tetra­phenyl­phospho­nium cation and a tetra­kis­(tri­methyl­silanolato)ferrate(III) anion. The crystal structure comprises the two ionic species each centered on a -4 symmetry element and contributing a fourth of its structure to the asymmetric unit. Each is surrounded by counter-ions on all sides. The cation contains a central phospho­rous atom bound to four phenyl groups in a tetra­hedral arrangement, while the anion contains a central iron(III) atom tetra­hedrally coordinated by four tri­methyl­silanolato ligands.
Early applications of quantum computers

Time, memory and (physical) space are examples of resources required to solve any computational problem. Computational complexity theory categorizes problems according to how the resource requirements grow as the problems size increases. Some problems require an exponentially growing number of resources while others do not, regardless of which classical computer (or supercomputer) the problem is run on. Remarkably, a quantum computer changes this picture! A quantum computer could solve some problems requiring fundamentally fewer resources compared to a conventional classical computer. This feat is what draws significant attention to quantum computing. Yet, because of the delicate nature of entangled quantum states, the construction of a quantum computer poses enormous technical challenges, engaging many experts from fields including physics, mathematics, quantum information, materials science, and microwave engineering — just to name a few. It is hypothesized that ultimately millions or even billions of quantum bits (qubits) are required for a fault-tolerant (i.e. error-free) quantum computer. This contrasts with state-of-the-art quantum processors containing on the order of 20–50 qubits. While this number appears tiny compared with what may ultimately be needed, these small quantum processors are quite remarkable scientific objects and critical learning instruments for quantum computing applications. There is significant optimism and hope that even a few hundred of qubits could begin to address some interesting problems of practical value. Even though small quantum processors exhibit errors, they may still be able to approximately simulate important problems including quantum chemistry or optimization problems. In this talk, I will present the latest research results, mostly from our perspective, on what has and could possibly be done using small quantum computers, as well as a description of superconducting qubits that are used a IBM.
Post-concussion Syndrome, Persistent Symptomatic Concussion, Related Sequelae, and Treatment of Mild Closed Head Injury

Concussion, particularly sport-related concussion, has recently seen a revival of academic and clinical interest. While most concussions are self-limited and resolve over 7–10 days, there is a small subset of patients who experience prolonged symptoms. These prolonged symptoms are often refractory to treatment. Once the symptoms of a concussion become protracted they can prove to be very difficult to treat. This constellation of symptoms is most commonly referred to as post-concussive syndrome (PCS) but several synonymous terms exist in the literature, most notably post-concussive disorder, persistently symptomatic concussion, and difficult concussion.
Residential Grief Camps: An Initial Phenomenological Study of Staff Perspectives

Research has focused primarily on the impact of death on family functioning and the stages and tasks of grief, though little attention has been given to grief camps or the experiences of those who work there. This study explored the experiences of staff at a four-day overnight children’s grief camp. Eight participants reported their experience of camp in two major categories: connection to others and independence in grief and five themes. Camp provides the opportunity for campers to connect to others while finding their own path to healing. Clinical implications and future research directions are also discussed. Key Words: Grief Camps, Camp Staff, Children’s Grief, Phenomenology, Qualitative Research. Grief and bereavement are a normal aspect of life. As human beings we can anticipate the experience of someone in our life dying, whether it be an expected death or otherwise. Although death is an imminent experience of life, it does not shadow the shock and utter grief that follows the death of a loved one. Children are not immune to the death of loved ones and adults often assume they
Publisher Correction: Tuned thalamic excitation is amplified by visual cortical circuits

In the published version of this article, a data point is missing from Fig. 4f, and the y-axis label reads "RFpre"; it should read "RFpref." The original article has not been corrected. The original and corrected figures are shown in the accompanying Publisher Correction.
Gate-Tuned Temperature in a Hexagonal Boron Nitride-Encapsulated 2-D Semiconductor Device

Thermal management in 2-D electronics is critical for optimizing their performances due to the growing heat generations at the nanoscale. Here, we use Raman thermometry to study the Joule heating of a MoS2 field-effect transistor encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride and with graphene electrodes. We show a sensitive temperature increase relevant to the heating power, which is tunable by the global back gate as well as the drain voltage. Our results provide a simple approach to characterizing the heat dissipation of microscopic devices and to controlling their temperatures.
Update on primary HPV screening for cervical cancer prevention.

In the coming decade, primary testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) will likely become the standard of care for cervical cancer screening in both low- and high-resource settings. This change comes as evidence has accumulated to support HPV testing as more sensitive to detect high-grade precancerous disease. Furthermore, negative HPV testing has demonstrated a lower cumulative incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 3 or worse pathology (CIN3+) when compared to negative “Pap smears” over several rounds of screening. While many countries have begun pilot programs to transition to primary HPV screening and some have completely transitioned for certain uses, there remains much to be refined about this tool for cervical cancer prevention, as evidenced by the myriad of ways it is being utilized. In the United States, the use of primary HPV testing to screen for cervical cancer has been supported by a consensus statement from the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists and American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology along with experts from American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists/American Cancer Society/American Society of Cytopathology/College of American Pathologists/and American Society for Clinical Pathology. Additionally, recently proposed United States Preventive Services Task Force guideline changes, and recent Food and Drug Administration approval of the second test for primary HPV screening highlight the broadening availability and support for primary HPV screening. The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence supporting the safety and effectiveness of primary HPV screening and its use in different high-resource settings.
Diet, Microbiota, and Bone Health

The largest number of cells (10e14) in the human body is located within the intestinal tract lumen. These organisms are collectively called the gut microbiota (GM). The microbiome refers to the aggregate collection of genomes and genes present in gut microbiota. GM can vary according to age, sex, diet, living conditions, geography, immune status, genetic background, and diseases requiring antibiotic treatment and drugs. Bone homeostasis is influenced by GM composition and/or products. GM is able to modulate and stimulate IGF-I synthesis by the host. A GM-host interaction contributes to control the host immune system development. GM composition, metabolism, and products can be modified by either prebiotics, which are nondigestible fibers metabolized in the distal part of the gastrointestinal tract, or probiotics, which are microorganisms conferring a health benefit on the host when administered in adequate amounts. A source of probiotics is fortified fermented dairy products, which in addition provide calcium, protein, phosphorus, and various micronutrients.
Durotaxis by Human Cancer Cells

Abstract Durotaxis is a type of directed cell migration in which cells respond to a gradient of extracellular stiffness. Using automated tracking of positional data for large sample sizes of single migrating cells, we investigated 1) whether cancer cells can undergo durotaxis; 2) whether cell durotactic efficiency varies depending on the regional compliance of stiffness gradients; 3) whether a specific cell migration parameter such as speed or time of migration correlates with durotaxis; and 4) whether Arp2/3, previously implicated in leading edge dynamics and migration, contributes to cancer cell durotaxis. Although durotaxis has been characterized primarily in nonmalignant mesenchymal cells, little is known about its role in cancer cell migration. Diffusible factors are known to affect cancer cell migration and metastasis. However, because many tumor microenvironments gradually stiffen, we hypothesized that durotaxis might also govern migration of cancer cells. We evaluated the durotactic potential of multiple cancer cell lines by employing substrate stiffness gradients mirroring the physiological stiffness encountered by cells in a variety of tissues. Automated cell tracking permitted rapid acquisition of positional data and robust statistical analyses for migrating cells. These durotaxis assays demonstrated that all cancer cell lines tested (two glioblastoma, metastatic breast cancer, and fibrosarcoma) migrated directionally in response to changes in extracellular stiffness. Unexpectedly, all cancer cell lines tested, as well as noninvasive human fibroblasts, displayed the strongest durotactic migratory response when migrating on the softest regions of stiffness gradients (2–7 kPa), with decreased responsiveness on stiff regions of gradients. Focusing on glioblastoma cells, durotactic forward migration index and displacement rates were relatively stable over time. Correlation analyses showed the expected correlation with displacement along the gradient but much less with persistence and none with cell speed. Finally, we found that inhibition of Arp2/3, an actin-nucleating protein necessary for lamellipodial protrusion, impaired durotactic migration.
Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 Promotes Polymorphonuclear Neutrophil (PMN) Pericellular Proteolysis by Anchoring Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 and -9 to PMN Surfaces.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8 and -9 released by degranulating polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) promote pericellular proteolysis by binding to PMN surfaces in a catalytically active tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-resistant forms. The PMN receptor(s) to which MMP-8 and MMP-9 bind(s) is not known. Competitive binding experiments showed that Mmp-8 and Mmp-9 share binding sites on murine PMN surfaces. A novel form of TIMP-1 (an inhibitor of soluble MMPs) is rapidly expressed on PMN surfaces when human PMNs are activated. Membrane-bound TIMP-1 is the PMN receptor for pro- and active MMP-8 and -9 as shown by the following: 1) TIMP-1 is strikingly colocalized with MMP-8 and -9 on activated human PMN surfaces and in PMN extracellular traps; 2) minimal immunoreactive and active Mmp-8 or Mmp-9 are detected on the surface of activated Timp-1-/- murine PMNs; and 3) binding of exogenous Timp-1 (but not Timp-2) to Timp-1-/- murine PMNs reconstitutes the binding of exogenous pro-Mmp-8 and pro-Mmp-9 to the surface of Timp-1-/- PMNs. Unlike full-length pro-Mmp-8 and pro-Mmp-9, mutant pro-Mmp proteins lacking the COOH-terminal hemopexin domain fail to bind to Mmp-8-/-x Mmp-9-/- murine PMNs. Soluble hemopexin inhibits the binding of pro-Mmp-8 and pro-Mmp-9 to Mmp-8-/-x Mmp-9-/- murine PMNs. Thus, the COOH-terminal hemopexin domains of pro-Mmp-8 and pro-Mmp-9 are required for their binding to membrane-bound Timp-1 on murine PMNs. Exposing nonhuman primates to cigarette smoke upregulates colocalized expression of TIMP-1 with MMP-8 and MMP-9 on peripheral blood PMN surfaces. By anchoring MMP-8 and MMP-9 to PMN surfaces, membrane-bound TIMP-1 plays a counterintuitive role in promoting PMN pericellular proteolysis occurring in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other diseases.
Some Species and Age Differences in Amino Acid Requirements

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on some species and age differences in amino acid requirements. From a study of the utilization by the growing rat, the adult rat and adult man of the nitrogen of a series of 6 proteins possessing limiting deficiencies of either lysine or methionine-cystine, it was shown that the biological values were higher for the adult rat than for the growing rat and for adult man when the dietary protein was deficient in lysine, and they were lower when the dietary protein was deficient in methionine-cystine. The proteins of whole egg, prepared in the laboratory, appear to be slightly deficient in lysine for maximum utilization by the growing rat. When the utilization of the nitrogen of the 6 proteins tested in adult nutrition are expressed as the amount of absorbed nitrogen per calorie of basal heat required for nitrogen equilibrium, the values are of the same order of magnitude for the rat and the human, but are definitely larger for the rat in the case of proteins deficient for growth in methionine-cystine, and definitely smaller in the case of proteins deficient for growth in lysine.
Multirate Sampled-Data Observer Design Based on a Continuous-Time Design

A multirate sampled-data observer for nonlinear systems under asynchronous sampling is developed in this paper. The proposed multirate observer is based on a continuous-time design coupled with intersample output predictors for the sampled measurements. The sampled-data system with the multirate observer forms a hybrid system and it is shown that the error dynamics of the overall system is input-to-output stable with respect to measurement errors, by applying the Karafyllis–Jiang vector small-gain theorem. This sampled-data design also offers robustness with respect to perturbations in the sampling schedule. The proposed method is evaluated through linear systems and a nonlinear batch reactor example.
Prognostic significance of surgical margins after transoral laser microsurgery for early-stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract Objectives The impact of positive tumor margin status and other clinicopathological factors on prognosis in early stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) treated with transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) remains unclear. This study examined overall survival (OS) rates of patients with positive tumor margin status compared to negative tumor margin status after TLM in clinical T1-2 glottic SCC. Materials and Methods The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for patients who underwent resection of T1-2 glottic SCC by TLM. Patients were treated from 2004 to 2013. Overall survival was assessed with Kaplan-Meier curve analysis, and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis. Differences in clinicopathologic factors between positive and negative margin groups were compared using Pearson Chi-squared analysis. Results Of 747 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 598 (80.1%) had negative margins. Median follow-up time was 48.0 months. Unadjusted 5-year OS for positive margins (80.0%) was lower compared to that of negative tumor margins (82.9%), but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.265). This persisted after multivariate analysis (P = 0.960). When tumors were stratified by T stage (647 T1, 100 T2), unadjusted 5-year OS based on margin status remained statistically insignificant for both T1 (P = 0.933) and T2 tumors (P = 0.350). Conclusion Positive margins did not negatively impact overall survival among patients with TLM-treated early-stage glottic cancer. This finding might be useful clinically in deciding treatment modality for early stage glottic SCC.
P-254 Transforming a hospice garden: from ‘sea of green’ to nordic walking

Background In 2015 the staff at Wirral Hospice St John’s had identified that the hospice garden was an uninspiring ‘sea of green’ that patients and families gained little from. Whilst patients enjoyed garden views from their beds, there was a lack of interaction with the outside world and very few areas for quiet reflection. Aim The hospice undertook a three-year project to transform the garden into an inviting and reflective sanctuary for patients, families and staff. The garden will enable enhanced interaction and increased rehabilitation potential through the range of new activities provided. Method Over four open days, staff, volunteers and patients transformed the garden into a beautiful landscape of flowers, trees and modern art. This also required the engagement of the wider public in the form of individuals, community groups and corporate teams. There was much positive media attention surrounding this work and the garden will be opened by Dame Patricia Routledge in June 2019 over the course of a two day open garden weekend. Expected results The feedback from those patients who volunteered to help in the transformation has been overwhelmingly positive, providing them with feelings of empowerment and ownership. This has been recognised by BBC North West Today who awarded the hospice the Dianne Oxberry Sunshine Garden prize from Tatton Park Flower Show 2019. Conclusion The hospice now has a wonderful space that all can enjoy. Innovation/of interest As a result of this transformation, patients can partake in a range of activities including Nordic walking, golf and working in the communal vegetable patch.