cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Poverty and Health: The Mediating Role of Perceived Discrimination

Social-class discrimination is evident in many societies around the world, but little is known about its impact on the poor or its role as an explanatory variable in the link between socioeconomic status and health. The current study tested the extent to which perceived discrimination explains socioeconomic gradients in physical health. Participants were 252 adolescents (51% male, 49% female; mean age = 17.51 years, SD = 1.03 years) who participated in Wave 3 of an ongoing longitudinal study focusing on the developmental consequences of rural poverty. Physical health was operationalized as allostatic load, a measure of cumulative wear and tear on the body caused by overactivation of physiological systems that respond to stress. Mediation analyses suggested that 13% of the effect of poverty on allostatic load is explained by perceived discrimination. The findings suggest that social-class discrimination is one important mechanism behind the influence of poverty on physical health.
Effect of particle size on salt-induced diffusiophoresis compared to Brownian mobility.

For ternary polymer–salt–water systems at low polymer concentration (0.5%, w/w), we have experimentally investigated the effect of polymer size on polymer diffusiophoresis (i.e., polymer migration induced by a salt concentration gradient) and salt osmotic diffusion (i.e., salt migration induced by a polymer concentration gradient). Specifically, Rayleigh interferometry was employed to measure ternary diffusion coefficients for aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and KCl at 25 °C. Our investigation focused on four polymer molecular masses (from 10 to 100 kg mol–1) and two salt concentrations (0.25 and 0.50 M). To describe and examine our experimental results, we introduced a normalized diffusiophoresis coefficient as the ratio of polymer diffusiophoresis to polymer Brownian mobility. This coefficient was found to increase with polymer molecular mass, thereby demonstrating that the relative importance of polymer diffusiophoresis compared to its intrinsic Brownian mobility increases with particl...
Effects of parameters on nanofiber diameter determined from electrospinning model

In this paper the effects of 13 material and operating parameters on electrospun fiber diameters are determined by varying the parameter values in an electrospinning theoretical model. The complexity of the electrospinning process makes empirical determination of the effects of parameters very difficult. The results show that the five parameters (volumetric charge density, distance from nozzle to collector, initial jet/orifice radius, relaxation time, and viscosity) have the most significant effect on the jet radius. The other parameters (initial polymer concentration, solution density, electric potential, perturbation frequency, and solvent vapor pressure) have moderate effects on the jet radius. Parameters relative humidity, surface tension, and vapor diffusivity have minor effects on the jet radius. Knowing the relative effects of parameters on jet radius should be useful for process control and prediction of electrospun fiber production.
Online motion classification using support vector machines

We propose a motion recognition strategy that represents a videoclip as a set of filtered images, each of which encodes a short period of motion history. Given a set of videoclips whose motion types are known, a filtered image classifier is built using support vector machines. In offline classification, the label of a test videoclip is obtained by applying majority voting over its filtered images. In online classification, the most probable type of action at an instance is determined by applying the majority voting over the most recent filtered images, which are within a sliding window. The effectiveness of this strategy was demonstrated on real datasets where the videoclips were recorded using a fixed camera whose optical axis is perpendicular to the person's trajectory. In offline recognition, the proposed strategy outperforms a principal component analysis based recognition algorithm. In online recognition, the proposed strategy cannot only classify motions correctly and identify the transition between different types of motions, but also identify the existence of an unknown motion type. This latter capability and the efficiency of the proposed strategy make it possible to create a real-time motion recognition system that can not only make classifications in real-time, but also learn new types of actions and recognize them in the future.
Attributions Made By Students In Learning Groups

Student groups are widely used for major projects in the business capstone course. Increasingly, students are expressing difficulties with such groups primarily involving arrangements for meet-ings outside of class and group relationships. This preliminary research explored social loafing and the attributions made by students about its causes. It was widespread, but just talking about social loafing improved the group’s reaction to it. Satisfaction with the group experience was not adversely affected by the presence of social loafing in groups.
Proton Displacement Damage Measurements in Commercial Optocouplers

Abstract- Proton Displacement Damage (DD) measurements on Isolink OLH249, Isocom IS49, Isocom CSM141A, Isocom CSM1800 and Avago HCPL-5700 are reported. The OLH249 has the worst degradation, 3% of the initial CTR remains when it is used with IF = 10 mA at 3 x 1012 1-MeV n/cm2 fluence in Silicon. The remaining CTR percentage for IS49, CMS141A, CSM1800 and HCPL-5700 are 28%, 62%, 32%, and 81% at 3 x 1012 1-MeV n/cm2 fluence in Silicon, respectively.
Revealing the burden of obesity using weight histories

Analyses of the relation between obesity and mortality typically evaluate risk with respect to weight recorded at a single point in time. As a consequence, there is generally no distinction made between nonobese individuals who were never obese and nonobese individuals who were formerly obese and lost weight. We introduce additional data on an individual’s maximum attained weight and investigate four models that represent different combinations of weight at survey and maximum weight. We use data from the 1988–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, linked to death records through 2011, to estimate parameters of these models. We find that the most successful models use data on maximum weight, and the worst-performing model uses only data on weight at survey. We show that the disparity in predictive power between these models is related to exceptionally high mortality among those who have lost weight, with the normal-weight category being particularly susceptible to distortions arising from weight loss. These distortions make overweight and obesity appear less harmful by obscuring the benefits of remaining never obese. Because most previous studies are based on body mass index at survey, it is likely that the effects of excess weight on US mortality have been consistently underestimated.
Education Reform and School District Leadership: Did Initial Charter Penetration Influence Superintendent Salaries in Arizona?

Past works have assessed the “ripple effects” of charter campuses on nearby traditional public schools, but none have explored these effects on local school district leadership variables such as superintendent salaries. We examine the initial impact of elementary school (K-8) charter school competition on the salaries of Arizona district superintendents during 1995–99. Using first-difference regressions, the 1995–97 results, while tentative, find a complex array of impacts, with charter competition reducing pay raises only for highly vulnerable superintendents. However, these nuanced salary changes are replaced during 1997–99 by larger, more uniform system-wide pay increases. Finally, 1995–99 results partly replicate those from 1995–97. Implications for assessing the responsiveness of school districts to charter competition are discussed.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor: an effective adjuvant for protein and peptide-based vaccines

The current studies evaluate granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as a vaccine adjuvant. An important issue for developing vaccine therapy for human malignancy is identifying adjuvants that can elicit T-cell responses to proteins and peptides derived from "self" tumor antigens. GM-CSF, in vitro, stimulates the growth of antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells and macrophages. Initial experiments examined whether GM-CSF injected into the skin of rats could affect the number or character of antigen presenting cells, measured as class II major histocompatability complex expressing cells, in lymph nodes draining the injection site. Intradermal (id) inoculation of GM-CSF every 24 hours for a total of five inoculations resulted in an increase of class II+ fluorescing cells that peaked at the fourth inoculation. Subcutaneous (sq) inoculation resulted in an increase of class II+ fluorescing cells that peaked following the second inoculation, then decreased over time. Using this schema for "conditioning" the inoculation site, GM-CSF was administered id or sq for five injections and a foreign antigen, tetanus toxoid (tt), was given at the beginning or the end of the immunization cycle. Id immunization was more effective than sq at eliciting tt specific immunity. In addition, GM-CSF id, administered as a single dose with antigen, compared favorably with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and alum in eliciting tt specific antibody and cellular immunity. We have shown that immunity to rat neu (c-erbB-2) protein, an oncogenic self protein, can be generated in rats by immunization with peptides derived from the normal rat neu sequence plus CFA. The current study demonstrates that rat neu peptides inoculated with GM-CSF could elicit a strong delayed type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) response, whereas peptides alone were non-immunogenic. GM-CSF was as effective as CFA in generating rat neu specific DTH responses after immunization with a neu peptide based vaccine. Soluble GM-CSF is a potent adjuvant for the generation of immune responses to foreign proteins as well as peptides derived from a self tumor antigen.
Direct observation of the velocity contribution to friction in monolayer-coated micromachines

Using a newly developed in-situ platform combined with high-speed imaging up to 200,000 frames per second, we measure friction versus velocity in a micromachined interface from 0.1 to 3000 μm/s. The steady-state friction coefficient (friction at constant velocity) of a boundary lubricant-coated interface decreases up to 300 μm/s, then increases. The friction increase is confirmed in an independent test in which velocity is increased instantaneously. Previous single asperity molecular dynamics simulations of monolayer boundary lubricants indicate that friction is independent of velocity, while experiments and simulations of periodic potentials indicate a monotonically increasing trend. We directly bridge spatial and temporal scales using rate–state constitutive laws, and attribute the decrease in friction to the decrease in asperity lifetime (a state effect), and the increase to the emerging dominance of interfacial viscosity (a rate effect).
Impact of Alkyl-Functionalized BTC on Properties of Copper-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks

Highly porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) [Cu3(MBTC)2(H2O)3]n (where MBTC is methyl-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) and [Cu3(EBTC)2(H2O)3]n (where EBTC is ethyl-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) have been solvothermally synthesized. The MOFs are isostructural to each other but do not form the same framework as HKUST-1 (CuBTC) due to the steric impact of the alkyl-functionalized ligands. The new MOFs are formed by two different [Cu2(O2CR)4] units (where R is an aromatic ring), which create the three-dimensional framework with open-metal sites and high surface areas. Compared with HKUST-1, these MOFs adsorb comparable amounts of carbon dioxide and methane at pressures up to 5 bar. However, water adsorption is significantly lower compared to HKUST-1 due to the hydrophobic functional groups. This work indicates that the strong adsorption preference of water on open-metal sites can be limited with the proper choice of the hydrophobic functional groups, without losing the strong interaction with other gases.
ω-Alkynyl Lipid Surrogates for Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Free Radical and Enzymatic Oxidations

Lipid and lipid metabolite profiling are important parameters in understanding the pathogenesis of many diseases. Alkynylated polyunsaturated fatty acids are potentially useful probes for tracking the fate of fatty acid metabolites. The nonenzymatic and enzymatic oxidations of ω-alkynyl linoleic acid and ω-alkynyl arachidonic acid were compared to that of linoleic and arachidonic acid. There was no detectable difference in the primary products of nonenzymatic oxidation, which comprised cis,trans-hydroxy fatty acids. Similar hydroxy fatty acid products were formed when ω-alkynyl linoleic acid and ω-alkynyl arachidonic acid were reacted with lipoxygenase enzymes that introduce oxygen at different positions in the carbon chains. The rates of oxidation of ω-alkynylated fatty acids were reduced compared to those of the natural fatty acids. Cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 did not oxidize alkynyl linoleic but efficiently oxidized alkynyl arachidonic acid. The products were identified as alkynyl 11-hydroxy-eicosatetraeno...
Should we offer semen cryopreservation to men with testicular cancer

All men with testicular cancer may opt for banking sperm if they wish to retain the ability to have children.
Metabolism of chylomicrons of differing triglyceride composition

Lymph chylomicrons of widely different fatty acid composition were obtained from donor animals fed either cream and palmitic acid-9,10-H3 or corn oil and linoleic acid-1-C14. The rates of removal of these two types of chylomicrons from the circulation of recipient dogs and rats were determined from the relative rates of removal of the two isotopes and in some cases by changes in the fatty acid composition of the plasma chylomicrons. In intact dogs and rats, the removal of cream chylomicrons was the more rapid. In dogs the H3/C14 ratio in hepatic venous blood was lower than that in femoral venous blood. In livers of rats, there was a greater percentage uptake of radioactivity associated with cream chylomicrons than of that associated with corn oil chylomicrons, but similar amounts were recovered from adipose tissue. When livers of rats were perfused with the two types of chylomicrons, the rate of removal of cream chylomicrons from the perfusate was greater. On the other hand, cream and corn oil chylomicrons were removed in similar amounts when adipose tissue of rats was perfused.
RRIDs: A Simple Step toward Improving Reproducibility through Rigor and Transparency of Experimental Methods

With the call for more rigorous scientific reporting, authentication, and transparency from the scientific community and funding agencies, one critical step is to make finding and identifying key resources in the published literature tractable. We discuss here the use of Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) as one tool to help resolve this tricky problem in reproducibility.
Preliminary studies of DTF emulsion on fixing-fluoride effect for tea

Objective To study the effect of DTF emulsion on fixing fluoride for tea fluoride.Methods Observed the effect of fixing-fluoride by DTF emulsion applied on tea surface. Results The rate of fuoride fixed was 21.1% to 97.9% when adding an amount of 0.5% to 10% of DTF agent into tea.No obvious changes were found in tea color,polyphenol content,and taste of tea-water by this method. Conclusions The reagent of DTF emulsion is an effective reagent for fixing fluoride for tea.
234 IMPROVING OSTEOPOROSIS SCREENING THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION OF A STANDARDIZED VISIT TEMPLATE

Background Osteoporosis is the leading cause of fractures among postmenopausal women resulting in significant morbidity and mortality, leading Veterans Health Administration to add osteoporosis screening as a new performance indicator for 2005. We sought to evaluate the impact of a standardized template for a routine visit on osteoporosis screening and counseling for adequate calcium intake. Methods Pre-post intervention design. Patients 65 years and older seen by participating providers at a local VA Medical Center (VAMC) women9s clinic and gynecology clinic were included in the study. Pre-intervention patients were seen Aug 2002 - July 2003 and identified retrospectively using the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). The intervention consisted of (a) providing literature to the providers, once, on current guidelines for osteoporosis screening and adequate calcium intake (1200 mg/day) and (b) inclusion of a standardized template for routine women9s clinic visit in the CPRS. Post-intervention data were collected over a six-month period following the intervention. Data abstracted from charts included past medical history and medications, evidence of osteoporosis screening with dual-energy x-ray absorbtiometry (DEXA) within a two-year period, and counseling for adequate calcium intake. Ethnicity, rates for osteoporosis screening, and counseling for calcium intake were compared using chi-square tests. Mean age and weight were evaluated using Student9s t-test. Results Pre- (N = 25) and post-intervention (N = 18) patients did not differ significantly in age (74.0, 73.3 years, p = .71), weight (167.9, 162.3 lbs, p = .66), or ethnicity (89%, 92% white, p = .73). Evidence for osteoporosis screening with DEXA increased from 44% to 89% (p = .003), and counseling for calcium intake increased from 36% to 83% (p = .002). Providers used the standardized template in 89% visits, all of which also showed up-to-date osteoporosis screening. Conclusions Implementation of a standardized template for routine women9s clinic visit improved screening rates for osteoporosis as well as counseling for adequate calcium intake at a single VAMC women9s and gynecology clinics. Most women seen at VAMCs are also seen at women9s clinics. As the proportion of women among veterans increases and this population ages, implementing a routine visit template may be of use in improving care for this group. Large intervention trials are not always necessary to document effectiveness.
Histamine, actin-gelsolin binding, and polyphosphoinositides in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Histamine activates inositol phospholipid metabolism, increases calcium, and causes a change in shape of human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells. Changes in endothelial cell shape are determi...
Engineering of Glasses for Advanced Optical Fiber Applications

Advanced optical applications (such as fiber optics) demand the engineering of innovative materials which provide the requisite optical performance in a form with specific functionality necessary for the desired application. We will report on recent efforts to engineer new non-oxide glasses with tailored photo-sensitive response, and multi-component oxide glasses optimized for use in next generation Raman amplification applications. The ultimate performance of such glasses relies on control of the formation and stability of defective and/or metastable structural configurations and their impact on physical as well as linear and nonlinear optical properties. Direct laser writing has drawn considerable attention since the development of femtosecond lasers and the recognition that such systems possess the requisite intensity to modify, reversibly or irreversibly the physical properties of optical materials. Such “structuring” has emerged as one of several possible routes for the fabrication of waveguides and other photo-induced structures.
Chapter IV: Conduction phenomena in dielectric solids

One of the prerogatives of the authors of any review is the choice of emphasis on those subjects in which the authors are particularly interested. The material covered here reflects, to some extent, just such a preference. The sheer quantity of literature published during the year 1964 which could be included under this general title precludes any completely general coverage in a reasonable-sized review. Hence, a selection was based upon a supposition on the interests of the readers of this volume. On this basis, the strongest interest was centered on materials generally considered as dielectrics and on theory most applicable to dielectric materials. The metals, as well as some other materials exhibiting metallic-like behavior, were in general not included. Likewise, no coverage was extended to the so-called wide-band semiconductors such as silicon and germanium on the assumption that adequate coverage of this subject is a separate work to be found in other sources. The intermetallic semiconductors were excluded on the same principle.
3D multi-contact gait design for prostheses: Hybrid system models, virtual constraints and two-step direct collocation

Virtual constraints have been recognized as an essential bridging tool which has the potential to translate rich nonlinear bipedal control methodologies to the control of prostheses. In this paper, we propose a hybrid system model based two-step direct collocation approach to automatically generate three-dimensional (3D) human-like multi-contact prosthetic gaits (via virtual constraints) for an asymmetric amputee-prosthesis system model. Unimpaired human locomotion is studied first to provide a reference for this gait design method. Specific requirements—such as amputee comfortability, human-likeness, physical limitations for hardware implementation—are then discussed explicitly in order to quantify a well-designed prosthetic gait. A 29 degrees of freedom 3D unsymmetrical bipedal robotic model is considered to model the asymmetric amputee-prosthesis system. Imposing the prosthetic gait requirements as nonlinear constraints and utilizing the asymmetric 3D hybrid system model, a two-step direct collocation based optimization method is proposed to generate 3D prosthetic gaits automatically. The resulting prosthetic gait is analyzed in detail, showing the designed multi-contact gait is human-like, formally stable and optimal w.r.t the requirements.
Primary Immunization of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine in the Pediatric Population: What Is the Verdict Now?

The safety and efficacy of a 2-dose series for the human papillomavirus vaccines rather than a 3-dose series in older children has not been well defined. This article reviews the literature summari...
Heterogeneous Crystallization Inside Microporous Polymer Particles as a Process Intensification Technology for the Manufacture of Drug Formulations

Current pharmaceutical manufacturing practices lack the type of rapid advancements achieved through the quick adoption of technical innovations as has been done in other manufacturing sectors. There is significant interest from both academia and the pharmaceutical industry in developing new technologies that accelerate process optimization in a cost-effective manner. Process intensification technologies (PITs) improve efficiency and reduce costs by reducing the number of unit operations required to manufacture a drug formulation. Recent studies have shown the potential of directly crystallizing drug compounds inside porous excipients as a PIT for pharmaceutical manufacturing. However, these studies have primarily focused on developing techniques for crystallizing the drug inside the excipients and maximizing drug loading. There is little understanding of how the excipient particles themselves influence the crystallization process or how this technology compares with other drug encapsulation processes. Thi...
Corrigendum: Hormonal gain control of a medial preoptic area social reward circuit.

Nat. Neurosci. 20, 449–458 (2017); published online 30 January 2017; corrected after print 30 June 2017 In the version of this article initially published, there were errors in data analysis and presentation. The corrected analysis and presentation do not change the results or interpretation of the data.
Linguistic camouflage in girls with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed more frequently in boys than girls, even when girls are equally symptomatic. Cutting-edge behavioral imaging has detected “camouflaging” in girls with ASD, wherein social behaviors appear superficially typical, complicating diagnosis. The present study explores a new kind of camouflage based on language differences. Pauses during conversation can be filled with words like UM or UH, but research suggests that these two words are pragmatically distinct (e.g., UM is used to signal longer pauses, and may correlate with greater social communicative sophistication than UH). Large-scale research suggests that women and younger people produce higher rates of UM during conversational pauses than do men and older people, who produce relatively more UH. Although it has been argued that children and adolescents with ASD use UM less often than typical peers, prior research has not included sufficient numbers of girls to examine whether sex explains this effect. Here, we explore UM vs. UH in school-aged boys and girls with ASD, and ask whether filled pauses relate to dimensional measures of autism symptom severity. Sixty-five verbal school-aged participants with ASD (49 boys, 16 girls, IQ estimates in the average range) participated, along with a small comparison group of typically developing children (8 boys, 9 girls). Speech samples from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule were orthographically transcribed and time-aligned, with filled pauses marked. Parents completed the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Girls used UH less often than boys across both diagnostic groups. UH suppression resulted in higher UM ratios for girls than boys, and overall filled pause rates were higher for typical children than for children with ASD. Higher UM ratios correlated with better socialization in boys with ASD, but this effect was driven by increased use of UH by boys with greater symptoms. Pragmatic language markers distinguish girls and boys with ASD, mirroring sex differences in the general population. One implication of this finding is that typical-sounding disfluency patterns (i.e., reduced relative UH production leading to higher UM ratios) may normalize the way girls with ASD sound relative to other children, serving as “linguistic camouflage” for a naive listener and distinguishing them from boys with ASD. This first-of-its-kind study highlights the importance of continued commitment to understanding how sex and gender change the way that ASD manifests, and illustrates the potential of natural language to contribute to objective “behavioral imaging” diagnostics for ASD.
Are the General Factors From Different Child And Adolescent Intelligence Tests the Same? Results From a Five-Sample, Six-Test Analysis

Psychometric g is the largest, most general, and most predictive factor underlying individual differences across cognitive tasks included in intelligence tests. Given that the overall score from in...
G305(P) Hot or not? parental perception of pyrexia in the paediatric ed

Aims The objective of this study is to assess the sensitivity and specificity of parental perception of pyrexia – without measuring with a thermometer - on attendance to the paediatric ED, as many parents were anecdotally noted to treat pyrexia without objective measurement. The NICE guideline Feverish illness in children: Assessment and initial management in children younger than 5 years (CG160) recommends that reported parental perception of a fever should be considered valid and taken seriously by healthcare professionals. Methods This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Board. This was a prospective observational study. Children of triage category 2 or lower who presented with a non-trauma related presentation were invited to participate through their parents. As part of nursing triage prior to measuring the child’s temperature parents were asked if they thought that their child had a temperature currently – and why they thought this. Results 278 valid records were returned. 60% (n=168) were male, and 75% (n=211) were Irish. Just over 7% (n=20) were admitted as inpatients to the hospital. Antipyretics were administered at home for fever in 53% of children, with 31% of children given two antipyretics prior to attendance. Only 12.9% of children included in the study were pyrexic (body temperature³ 38° Celsius). Parents, however, felt that 23.7% (n=66) children were pyrexic. Just under 84.5% of parents were correct in their assessment of their child’s fever, giving parental assessment of pyrexia (without a thermometer) a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 85%. Conclusion Parental perception of the presence of pyrexia in paediatric patients attending our Emergency Department was sensitive and specific however further analysis needs to be performed.
Skyways in Minneapolis

Often enclosed and climate controlled, skyways link second level corridors across buildings, connecting various activity hubs such as shops and offices (Robertson, 1994; Byers, 1998). Such links allow for more efficient movement of pedestrians while protecting them from weather and the hazards of vehicular traffic below. Among North American cities that have substantial skyway systems, Minneapolis witnessed the city’s first skyway link in 1962 as a modest effort to provide greater access to the central business district (CBD) (Byers, 1998). Over the next four decades, a system of skyway links has emerged, resulting in a network that connected over 70 continuous blocks in downtown Minneapolis. Corbett et al. (2009) comprehensively recapitulates the evolutionary history of the Minneapolis skyway system.
Mary Astell (1666–1731)

Mary Astell’s influence on the women of England was substantial. To her contemporaries engaged in philosophical controversy, Astell articulated the importance of scholarly community for women as well as men. If she, herself, did not experience the collegiality of the academic life at university, she experienced it from participating in a network of people engaged in profound discussion. Her life exemplified her philosophy: change yourself so that you might change your world.
Embryonic development of the ureter

During human embryonic development, the ureteric bud, a simple epithelial tube that arises from the Wolffian duct, initiates a cascade of events which results in the formation of the metanephros and its collecting system. In this review, the anatomic and molecular basis of ureteric development are discussed. Although it is difficult to separate metanephrogenesis from ureterogenesis of the proximal segment, the data presented are biased toward the latter. Some of the factors involved in the budding and branching of the embryonic ureter and the maturation of the fetal ureter into a peristaltic conduit are discussed as presently understood. Finally, a brief description of congenital abnormalities in ureteral development is presented with some putative mechanisms.
Advising Patients and Communicating About Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a broad domain of resources that encompasses health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs, other than those intrinsic to the dominant health system of a particular society or culture in a given historical period (2). Other terms sometimes used to describe these health care practices include natural medicine, nonconventional medicine, and holistic medicine (3). The widespread use of CAM therapies has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, yet there are few clear guidelines on how physicians should be advising patients about their use.
Overload Behavior of Cone Schedules for Processing Systems

Abstract This note complements the analysis of [1] and [2] addressing the case where the traffic load is not within the stability region, that is, the system operates in overload. For the case where the cone schedule matrix [1] is diagonal, it is shown that the job backlog explodes on a particular ray, as opposed to various subsequences exploding on diverse ones. The context and model used here are those described in [1]. The analysis technique draws on and parallels closely those in [1] and [2].
The stereochemistry of nitrone-diene cycloadditions. Synthesis of the alkaloids of darlingia darlingiana

Abstract The stereochemical outcome of the reactions of cyclic nitrones with (E)-1-phenyl-1,3-butadiene has been explored. The syntheses of darlinine, epidarlinine, tetrahydrodarlingianine, and dehydrodarlinine have been accomplished.
Abstract 1492: High-efficiency, strand-specific, low-bias library preparation method for transcriptome profiling of low-input RNA

RNA Sequencing (RNA-seq) is a powerful technique for transcriptome analysis. It is widely used for gene expression analysis, detection of mutations, fusion transcripts, alternative splicing, and the study of post transcriptional modifications. RNA-seq is emerging as a powerful tool for molecular diagnostics as well, providing insights into the biological pathways and molecular mechanisms associated with disease progression including cancer. Recent improvements in next generation sequencing technologies (NGS) and sample barcoding strategies have resulted in significant cost reduction. As RNA-seq is increasingly adopted for molecular diagnostics, the quality and reproducibility of library preparation methods become more important. In addition, demand for library preparation methods that produce successful NGS libraries from very low input RNA or precious clinical samples is increasing. To achieve these goals, we have developed an RNA-seq library preparation method which can be used across a wide range of input RNA (5-1000 ng total RNA). GC content analysis, gene body coverage and gene expression correlation show that these important parameters remain consistent across varying inputs, even though input amounts vary by two orders of magnitude. As a result, our method has increased sensitivity and specificity for low-abundance transcripts, and reduced PCR duplicates and sequence bias, delivering high quality strand-specific data. Our method is compatible with poly A-tail enriched and ribosomal RNA depleted samples as well as RNA extracted from FFPE (formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded) tissue samples. Citation Format: Anetta Nowosielska-Vecchietti. High-efficiency, strand-specific, low-bias library preparation method for transcriptome profiling of low-input RNA [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1492.
Mutation analysis in metastatic colorectal cancers (mCRC) subjected to gene panel testing for BRAF and KRAS genes in clinical practice.

e15049Background: While RAS and BRAF mutations predict resistance to anti-EGFR therapy, the mechanisms of secondary or acquired resistance to these drugs in patients (pts) with wild-type (wt) RAS/R...
Intracranial hypertension and brain oedema in albino rabbits. Part 2: Effects of acute therapy with diuretics.

Increased intracranial pressure due to brain oedema was produced in albino rabbits by combining a cryogenic lesion in the left hemisphere with the intraperitoneal administration of 6-aminonicotinamide (cytotoxic agent).
System Mode Shapes in the Flutter of Compressor Blade Rows

The problems associated with the prohibitive number of possible system modes for a fluttering compressor or turbine blade row are eliminated by the development that comprises the present report. The existence and uniqueness of extremely simple system flutter modes are proved for blade rows consisting of identical blades equally spaced about a common rotor. These simple system modes, if properly interpreted, have the effect of reducing by a factor of n the number of degrees of freedom necessary to analyze an w-bladed configuration. Stated differently, the system of n blades may be considered, with no loss of generality whatsoever, in terms of a single "equivalent blade." The proof holds under any type of flow and any and all types of interblade coupling, so long as a linear analysis is permissible. Moreover, since it is the flutter-inception point that is of interest in predicting critical velocity or rotational speed, it may well be that the conclusions developed apply even to the onset of stall flutter. Practical application of the method to stall-flutter calculations would, of course, require the availability of aerodynamic stallflutter coefficients. The development is carried out first under the assumption of infinite rotor inertia or, in other words, constant rotor velocity. This restriction is then relaxed, and the treatment is expanded to permit torsional oscillations of the rotor itself. I t is proved that under certain conditions the assumption of infinite rotor inertia introduces no error whatsoever.
What Part Does Energy Play in Our Lives

Even a person in a primitive community, living without machines, depends on energy in his life, for energy is connected with all of his movements, his eating, his breathing. For others, living in modern, industrialized communities, energy is used in factories, transport, lighting, heating, cooling, communication, and recreation. Gasoline-powered automobiles are used for transportation. Rooms are heated with energy produced from oil and lighted with electricity produced from coal. Kitchens are equipped with products from factories made by machines driven by natural gas, oil, or electricity, and the appliances consume these fuels themselves.
"Water-like" Dual-Functionalized Ionic Liquids for Enzyme Activation.

By mimicking the water structure to improve the enzyme activity, we designed imidazolium (Im)-based ionic liquids (ILs) functionalized with both ether and tert-alcohol groups (e.g., [CH3(OCH2CH2)n-...
Self-attenuation corrections for radium measurements of oil and gas solids by gamma spectroscopy.

Abstract Beneficial reuse and resource recovery of produced water often require treatment to remove radium before valuable products are extracted. The radium content of the treatment waste solids and beneficial products must be accurately determined when evaluating the efficacy and social validity of such treatments. While gamma spectroscopy remains the recommended method for radium measurements, these measurements can be impacted by the composition/mineralogy of the solids, which influence the attenuation of the gamma decay energy – with denser sediments incurring greater degrees of attenuation. This self-attenuation must be accounted for when accurately measuring radium, otherwise radium measurements are found to be inaccurate, sometimes by as much as 50%. To meet industry needs, measurements should be both accurate and rapid, even for small sample sizes. Consequently, we propose a rapid method for accurate radium measurements with an empirical technique to account for sample attenuation in well-detector gamma spectroscopy. This technique utilizes the sample density and sample volume in the measuring vial. These corrections are relevant to a wide range of solid samples and sediment densities that may be encountered during treatment and management of oil and gas solids, including clays, environmental sediment samples, sand grains, and precipitated salts. These corrections can also be applied for situations were low volumes of material are present, as in bench scale studies, thereby rendering this technique applicable to a wider range of scenarios.
Intersections of counseling, psychiatry, cardiology, and pharmacology to assist in depression and cardiac function

In the evolving healthcare landscape, providers, patients, and insurers are seeking synergistic ways to improve quality and lower costs. The following presents the attainment of this synergy through a clinical case, illustrating proper patient diagnosis and care, as well as provider knowledge of best treatment practices. This specific case illustrates this through the management of a patient who recently experienced a cardiac event and subsequent depression.
Trees, Forests, and Carbon

Forests cover about half of the American West, but a much greater proportion of the Western Mountains. Most of them are dominated by conifers rather than deciduous trees. We start with some basic forest ecology, and then explore the vulnerability of the forests of western mountains to a warming climate. Some forests and woodlands may be converted to shrublands, whereas others will be resilient enough, at least temporarily, that they will endure, albeit with changing species density and composition. I discuss potential dispersal and migration of forest species in the face of climate change, and note the considerable barriers to these in the West, from both mountain topography and disconnected natural areas. I introduce the idea of source vs. sink with respect to carbon sequestration, and discuss the tradeoffs between CO2 fertilization and water stress, and the feedbacks (positive if a source, negative if a sink) to climate warming.
The more the merrier: adding hidden measurements to secure industrial control systems

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) collect information from a variety of sensors throughout the process, and then use that information to control some physical components. Control engineers usually have to pick which measurements they are going to use and then they purchase sensors to take these measurements. However, in most cases they only need a small subset of all possible measurements that can be used. Economic and efficiency reasons motivate engineers to use only a small number of sensors for controlling a system; however, as attacks against industrial systems continue to increase, we need to study a systematic way to add sensors to the system to identify potentially malicious attacks. We propose the addition of hidden sensor measurements to a system to improve its security. Hidden sensor measurements are by our definition measurements that were not considered in the original design of the system, and are not used for any operational reason. We only add them to improve the security of the system and using them in anomaly detection and mitigation. We show the addition of these new, independent, but correlated measurements to the system makes it harder for adversaries to launch false-data injection stealthy attacks and, even if they do, it is possible to limit the impact caused by those attacks. When an attack is detected, we replace the compromised sensor measurements with estimated ones from the new sensors improving the risky open-loop simulations proposed by previous work.
Practical application of microsphere samples for benchmarking a quantitative phase imaging system

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) provides an approach for monitoring the dry mass of individual cells by measuring the optical pathlength of visible light as it passes through cells. A distinct advantage of QPI is that the measurements result in optical path length quantities that are, in principle, instrument independent. Reference materials that induce a well-defined optical pathlength shift and are compatible with QPI imaging systems will be valuable in assuring the accuracy of such measurements on different instruments. In this study, we evaluate seven combinations of microspheres embedded in index refraction matching media as candidate reference materials for benchmarking the performance of a QPI system and as calibration standards for the optical pathlength measurement. Poly(methyl metharylate) microspheres and mineral oil were used to evaluate the range of illumination apertures, signal-to-noise ratios, and focus positions that allow an accurate quantitative optical pathlength measurement. The microsphere-based reference material can be used to verify settings on an instrument that are suitable for obtaining an accurate pathlength measurement from biological cells. The microsphere/media reference material is applied to QPI-based dry mass measurements of a population of HEK293 cells to benchmark and provide evidence that the QPI image data are accurate.
High-Order Accurate Time Integration and Efficient Implicit Solvers

This chapter introduces some of the most popular implicit time-integration methods, and a highly efficient preconditioner based on block-ILU factorizations and Minimum Discarded Fill element ordering. It also describes how to combine the benefits of both explicit and implicit time-integrators using Implicit–Explicit (IMEX) Runge–Kutta methods, which can be highly effective for problem with geometrically induced stiffness or large variations in mesh element sizes.
Acyclic graphs with at least $2\ell+1$ vertices are $\ell$-recognizable

The $(n-\ell)$-deck of an $n$-vertex graph is the multiset of subgraphs obtained from it by deleting $\ell$ vertices. A family of $n$-vertex graphs is $\ell$-recognizable if every graph having the same $(n-\ell)$-deck as a graph in the family is also in the family. We prove that the family of $n$-vertex graphs having no cycles is $\ell$-recognizable when $n\ge2\ell+1$ (except for $(n,\ell)=(5,2)$). It is known that this fails when $n=2\ell$.
Resource Adjustment Costs, Cost Stickiness, and Value Creation in M&A Deals

We examine whether resource adjustment costs, such as installation and disposal costs for fixed assets, or hiring and firing costs for employees, impede value creation in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We focus on M&A deals because they are major corporate investment decisions. As a proxy for adjustment costs, we use a firm-level measure of cost stickiness. We predict that acquirers with high adjustment costs have less flexibility in restructuring resources following the acquisition and will find it more costly to merge the target firm’s operations. Consistent with this prediction, we find that the acquirer’s adjustment costs are negatively associated with abnormal returns around the acquisition announcement. Additionally, adjustment costs are also negatively associated with deal synergies. Relatedly, we find that acquirers with high adjustment costs purchase targets with high adjustment costs. In accordance with this finding, we show that acquirers with high adjustment costs purchase intangible-intensive targets. Collectively, our results highlight the important implication of adjustment costs in M&A deals for managers and capital market participants.
Azathioprine/6-Mercaptopurine Metabolism in Ulcerative Colitis: A Guide to Metabolite Assessment—An Evidence-Based Approach

Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are chronic relapsing idiopathic inflammatory bowel disorders affecting over 1.7 million individuals in North America; about half have unremitting disease with symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhea that impact patient’s quality of life and work-related productivity. It stands to reason that the major goal of therapy for physicians caring for patients with inflammatory bowel disease is to achieve and sustain a long-term disease remission with effective evidence-based corticosteroid-sparing therapeutic approaches that minimize the risk of drug-related toxicity.
Initial Post-Buckling of Hingeless Circular Arch

Koiter's well-known theory of initial post-buckling behavior of structures has been widely uised in the analysis of shells, plates, frames, columns, rings, and shallow arches. Recently, Dym applied it to nonshallow circular arches subjected to a constant-directional pressure, which he analyzed on the basis of approximate nonlinear equations.