cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fabrication and Electronic Properties of CZTSe Single Crystals

CZTSe single crystals of different compositions were fabricated by solid-state reaction of elements in a sealed ampoule below the melt temperature. About 2-5-mm crystals were achieved without a flux agent, which, when present, can potentially affect defect properties in the material. A broad PL peak is observed with significant luminescence below the bandgap similar to the literature reports of band-tailing from disorder. Cu-poor and near stoichiometric compositions were prepared, and electronic and transport properties were analyzed with Hall and temperature-conductivity measurements. Intragrain measurements showed record hole mobilities for pure CZTSe in excess of 100 cm 2 /(V · s). Carrier concentrations ranged from 10 16 -10 19 and correlated with Cu concentration. Temperature conductivity analysis suggests Mott variable-range hopping, as has been reported in CZTS and other disordered semiconductors, while a metal-insulator transition was seen for high-Cu concentrations. The results of transport and PL measurements are suggestive of a highly disordered material, despite long fabrication times conducive to near-equilibrium bulk conditions.
An unusual case of underlying rilpivirine resistance in an antiretroviral-naïve man with AIDS.

Primary resistance mutations to second generation HIV non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors are rare in HIV-infected persons in the US (estimated at 1.8%). We report an antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naive patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (CD4 cell count 20 cells/mm3, viral load 8439 copies/mL), who was infected with HIV-1 sub-type B virus containing a reverse transcriptase mutation, E138A, associated with rilpivirine resistance. Subsequently, he was initiated on a single tablet ART regimen containing an integrase inhibitor and developed immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS), presenting as Mycobacterium avium cervical adenitis. The patient went on to develop rifamycin-induced neutropenia during treatment of his opportunistic infection but later recovered his counts, and remains well on an integrase-based HIV regimen. His case illustrates the growing importance of archived resistance mutations including the less common E138A mutation, as well as the risk and rapid occurrence of IRIS in AIDS patients initiated on integrase inhibitors.
The Treatment of Stages I and II Nonseminomatous Testicular Tumors: The Buffalo Experience from 1970 to 1979

AbstractWe reviewed our experience in the treatment of stages I and II nonseminomatous testicular tumors to evaluate new trends and improvements in this disease. Of the patients with stage I disease there was a significantly higher percentage of survivors among those who received adjunctive chemotherapy with actinomycin D. Since these patients were not randomized prospectively this observation should be taken only as a suggestion of the possible effectiveness of adjunctive chemotherapy in this group. However, the greatest advances have been observed among patients with stage IIB disease. Since the establishment of modern accepted combination chemotherapy survival free of disease (minimal followup 2 years) in this group has tripled.
AKT1 Activation is Obligatory for Spontaneous BCC Tumor Growth in a Murine Model That Mimics Some Features of Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome.

Patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS), also known as Gorlin syndrome, develop numerous basal cell carcinomas (BCC) due to germline mutations in the tumor suppressor PTCH1 and aberrant activation of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. Therapies targeted at components of the Hh pathway, including the smoothened (SMO) inhibitor vismodegib, can ablate these tumors clinically, but tumors recur upon drug discontinuation. Using SKH1-Ptch1+/- as a model that closely mimics the spontaneous and accelerated growth pattern of BCCs in patients with BCNS, we show that AKT1, a serine/threonine protein kinase, is intrinsically activated in keratinocytes derived from the skin of newborn Ptch1+/- mice in the absence of carcinogenic stimuli. Introducing Akt1 haplodeficiency in Ptch1+/- mice (Akt1+/- Ptch1+/-) significantly abrogated BCC growth. Similarly, pharmacological inhibition of AKT with perifosine, an alkyl phospholipid AKT inhibitor, diminished the growth of spontaneous and UV-induced BCCs. Our data demonstrate an obligatory role for AKT1 in BCC growth, and targeting AKT may help reduce BCC tumor burden in BCNS patients. Cancer Prev Res; 9(10); 794-802. ©2016 AACR.
Conclusions: economic impact, social change, and absolutism

In the final analysis what are we to make of the French Wars of Religion? I have attempted in the preceding pages to demonstrate that religion – understood by contemporaries as something more social than intellectual – played a central role in these civil wars. Above all, the wars were experienced against the backdrop of the Reformation, where confessional division was common in many parts of sixteenth-century Europe. So, in this sense I have attempted to put religion back into the story that nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians left out. Throughout the Wars of Religion I have tried to show that time and again the principal – though clearly not the sole – motivating force behind the violence of the civil wars was the perception of safeguarding and defending a sacred notion of community defined by religion, whether that be the Gallican and traditionally Catholic community of most French men and women, or the minority community of the saints of the Protestant faith. Each community sought to define – or for the Huguenots to redefine – the boundaries between the sacred and the profane for the whole. As a result, at various times each group viewed the other with great suspicion and as a clear threat to its own survival. The Catholic reaction to the series of peace edicts, the St Bartholomew's massacres, the mentality of the Catholic League, and even the Edict of Nantes itself all seem to me to accentuate the importance of religion: defined as a community of believers rather than a body of beliefs.
Moving object map analytics: A framework enabling contextual spatial-temporal analytics of Internet of Things applications

Moving objects, for example vehicles, vessels, people, are being instrumented with Internet of Things devices such as GPS, environmental sensors, mobile cameras that produce big streaming data with spatial-temporal features enabling application innovations in many industries for autonomous driving, usage based insurance, fleet management, etc. We introduce an analytics framework to streamline the insights discovery from such big data on top of geographic map by pulling together a list of commonly required high performance functions with service-oriented architecture. Supported by a service composition approach, comprehensive applications intelligently managing moving objects could be built effectively. Example applications in connected vehicle domains are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of such a framework.
“Amnesiac Fugue”: Didion's Style and Neoliberal America

Perhaps no American writer better represents the fragmentation of civil society and collective politics generated by what we now describe as neoliberalism than Joan Didion. In a passage already quo...
Can copycat private labels improve the consumer’s shopping experience? A fluency explanation

A top priority among retailers is enhancing the consumer’s shopping experience. With the number of private label products increasing at the same time retailers are shedding slower moving products, understanding how private labels impact the consumer’s experience at the retail shelf becomes critical. While one might think that private labels, in particular those that look similar to their national brand counterparts (i.e., copycat private labels), may hinder the shopping experience by making it more difficult for consumers to choose a product, we find the exact opposite. Adopting a fluency perspective, we show that when copycat private labels are included in a shelf set, consumers with high knowledge of the category experience greater choice ease, and as a result they subsequently evaluate their chosen product more favorably. Importantly, the choice ease and evaluations of novice consumers are found to be unaffected. Consequently, this research provides insights for retailers and manufacturers on how and why copycat private labels positively impact an important aspect of the consumer’s shopping experience (i.e., choice ease).
Understanding Local Sea Level Rise Risk Perceptions and the Power of Maps to Change Them: The Effects of Distance and Doubt:

Audiences that view sea level rise as a distant hazard or hold doubtful or dismissive beliefs about climate change in general may not be receptive to information about this hazard. This study explo...
National Security Secrecy: Comparative Effects on Democracy and the Rule of Law

Excessive government secrecy in the name of counterterrorism has had a corrosive effect on democracy and the rule of law. In the United States, when controversial national security programs were run by the Bush and Obama administrations - including in areas of targeted killings, torture, extraordinary rendition, and surveillance - excessive secrecy often prevented discovery of those actions. Both administrations insisted they acted legally, but often refused to explain how they interpreted the governing law to justify their actions. They also fought to keep Congress from exercising oversight, to keep courts from questioning the legality of these programs, and to keep the public in the dark. Similar patterns have arisen in other democracies around the world. In National Security Secrecy, Sudha Setty takes a critical and comparative look at these problems and demonstrates how government transparency, privacy, and accountability should provide the basis for reform.
Defining the rhesus macaque placental miRNAome: Conservation of expression of placental miRNA clusters between the macaque and human.

Abstract Objective Expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the human placenta is dynamic across gestation, with expression of miRNAs belonging to the C14MC, C19MC and miR-371-3 clusters. Specifically, miRNAs within the C19MC cluster are exclusively expressed in primates with predominant expression in the placenta. Non-human primates can be utilized to study developmental processes of placentation in vivo that cannot be assessed in the human placenta, however, miRNA expression has not been defined in the macaque placenta. Our objective was to profile miRNAs in the macaque placenta, hypothesizing that expression is conserved between the macaque and human placenta. Methods Total RNA from first trimester and term macaque placentas (n = 4 per group) was analyzed through RNA-sequencing and validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results A total of 607 pre-miRNAs previously annotated in the macaque reference database (miRBase21) were detected, and 166 miRNAs were differentially expressed between first trimester and term placentas. A total of 457 unannotated sequences were detected and deemed candidate novel miRNAs by miRDeep2 software. Differential expression was confirmed for six of nine miRNAs evaluated by qRT-PCR. Comparative analysis demonstrated expression of several miRNA orthologs of human pregnancy-associated miRNA clusters in the macaque placenta. Conclusions Profiling placental miRNAs of the macaque revealed conserved expression of a number of miRNAs within the C14MC, C19MC and miR-371-3 clusters between the human and macaque. These results establish non-human primates as a model for human placentation and miRNA biology, with the prediction of their functional significance in placental development and function.
Designing for global mobile: considering user experience mapping with infrastructure, global openness, local user contexts and local cultural beliefs of technology use

An important element for global design is an approach that can be used for international (e.g., non-US) users. Such a design approach has to factor in how the user's culture influences how they perceive a design while using their mobile devices across a different culture. As mobile use is expected to grow globally, more mobile interactions will require increasingly robust tools for measuring user experiences across different online and physical channels. This article focuses on how experience mapping, a common user experience (UX) design technique that tells stories about how a user experiences a design as a seamless whole across such channels, can help address global mobile design contexts. To further address such global contexts, this article proposes extending experience mapping by considering the factors of existing infrastructures, global openness to innovation, local user contexts, and local beliefs on the function of technology so that designers of communication can better conceptualize sequences of events of interactions across cultures.
Preliminary classification results of RF emission based feature extraction in Internet of Things devices

As the Internet of Things (IoT) grows to include billions of connected devices, securing these devices from executing malicious code has become a primary concern. Traditional methods of security such as anti-malware software and firewall protection are often impractical due to the limited computing resources these devices often feature. Given these conditions, one possible approach to securing IoT devices is external monitoring for detection of anomalous behavior. Much like spectral signatures used in remote sensing for object identification, Internet of Things (IoT) devices unintentionally generate a unique signature in the radio frequency (RF) spectrum based on the code being executed. This study investigates methods for processing time domain RF data into a set of machine learning features that can be used to distinguish between a set of known instructions, sub-routines, and programs. A feature clustering approach using the magnitude of points in the frequency spectrum is presented along with other feature extraction methods.
Intracellular calcium dysregulation precedes muscle decline in C. elegans modeling Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder caused by loss of the protein dystrophin. DMD has early onset, causing developmental delays, muscle necrosis, loss of ambulation, and early death. Current animal models have struggled to recreate the early onset and severity of the disease. Thus, it remains unresolved if increased sarcoplasmic calcium reported in dystrophic muscles follows or leads the mechanical insults caused by disruptions in the contractile machinery. This knowledge has important applications for patients, as potential physiotherapeutic treatments may either help or exacerbate symptoms depending on how dystrophic muscles differ from healthy ones. Recently we showed that burrowing dystrophic (dys-1) C. elegans recapitulates many salient phenotypes of DMD, including loss of mobility and muscle necrosis. Here we report that dys-1 worms display early pathogenesis, including dysregulated sarcoplasmic calcium, and increased lethality. Sarcoplasmic calcium dysregulation in dys-1 worms precedes overt structural phenotypes (e.g. mitochondrial and contractile machinery damage) and is mitigated by silencing calmodulin expression. To learn how dystrophic musculature responds to altered physical activity, we cultivated dys-1 animals in environments requiring high amplitude, or high frequency, of muscular exertion. We find that several muscular parameters (such as size) improve with increased activity. However, longevity in dystrophic animals was negatively associated with muscular exertion, regardless of the duration of the effort. The high degree of phenotypic conservation between dystrophic worms and humans provides a unique opportunity to gain insights into the etiology of the disease, as well as the initial assessment of potential treatment strategies.
Deformation Maps in the Region of High Dislocation Velocity

The form of the deformation map, as introduced by Ashby, is considered with emphasis on the region of high dislocation velocity (high stress). Of particular concern is the transition at high strain rates from a thermally activated to a linear viscous mode of deformation. New experimental data on aluminum and copper over a wide range in temperature and strain rates to 105 s-1 are presented. No evidence of the linear viscous mode was observed in these tests. Other data in the literature show a transition at strain rates on the order of 103 s-1.
Bewertung des Zweiten Gesetzes zur Änderung schadensersatzrechtlicher Vorschriften

Am 1. August 2002 trat das Zweite Gesetz zur Anderung schadensersatzrechtlicher Vorschriften in Kraft, das u.a. auch Modifikationen des Haftungsrechts fur fehlerhafte Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte zur Folge hat. Dabei beziehen sich die gesetzlichen Anderungen in dem vorliegend untersuchten Bereich vornehmlich auf das Arzneimittelhaftungsrecht. Eine Neuerung fur die Medizinprodukte betreffende herstellerische Ersatzpflicht besteht lediglich in der grundsatzlich zu begrusenden Einfuhrung eines allgemeinen Schmerzensgeldanspruches, der auch Eingang in das ProdHaftG gefunden hat.
Feature selection using a genetic algorithm for intrusion detection

We show the use of a genetic algorithm for feature subset selection over feature vectors that describe the system calls executed by privileged processes. Genetic feature subset selection significantly reduces the number of features used without adversely affecting the accuracy of the predictions.
Neuroimaging in alcohol use disorder: From mouse to man.

This article provides an overview of recent advances in understanding the effects of alcohol use disorders (AUD) on the brain from the perspective of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research in preclinical models and clinical studies. As a noninvasive investigational tool permitting assessment of morphological, metabolic, and hemodynamic changes over time, MRI offers insight into the dynamic course of alcoholism beginning with initial exposure through periods of binge drinking and escalation, sobriety, and relapse and has been useful in differential diagnosis of neurological diseases associated with AUD. Structural MRI has revealed acute and chronic effects of alcohol on both white and gray matter volumes. MR Spectroscopy, able to quantify brain metabolites in vivo, has shed light on biochemical alterations associated with alcoholism. Diffusion tensor imaging permits microstructural characterization of white matter fiber tracts. Functional MRI has allowed for elucidation of hemodynamic responses at rest and during task engagement. Positron emission tomography, a non-MRI imaging tool, has led to a deeper understanding of alcohol-induced receptor and neurotransmitter changes during various stages of drinking and abstinence. Together, such in vivo imaging tools have expanded our understanding of the dynamic course of alcoholism including evidence for regional specificity of the effects of AUD, hints at mechanisms underlying the shift from casual to compulsive use of alcohol, and profound recovery with sustained abstinence.
Multigrid Monte Carlo method. IV. One-dimensional O(4)-symmetric nonlinear σ model

We study the dynamic critical behavior of the multigrid Monte Carlo algorithm with piecewise-constant interpolation and a W cycle, applied to the one-dimensional O(4)-symmetric nonlinear {sigma} model [=SU(2) principal chiral model], on lattices from {ital L}=128 to {ital L}=16384. Our data for the integrated autocorrelation time {tau}{sub int,M{sup 2}} are well fit by a logarithmic growth. We have no idea why the critical slowing-down is not completely eliminated. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
Valence and conduction band offsets at beryllium oxide interfaces with silicon carbide and III-V nitrides

Beryllium oxide (BeO) is a large bandgap material with extreme properties that make it an ideal gate dielectric for pairing with other wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). In this regard, the authors have utilized x-ray photoemission spectroscopy to determine the valence band offset (VBO) between atomic layer deposited (ALD) BeO and epilayers of the cubic form of silicon carbide (3C-SiC) grown on crystalline silicon (Si) substrates. The BeO VBO with 3C-SiC epilayers grown on both Si (111) and (001) substrates was determined to be 1.6 ± 0.1 and 1.5 ± 0.1 eV, respectively. Applying the band alignment rules of transitivity and commutativity, the authors additionally determine the VBO for BeO with GaN, aluminum nitride, and hexagonal boron nitride to be 0.9 ± 0.2, 0.7 ± 0.3, and 1.0 ± 0.2 eV, respectively. Utilizing the reported bandgap for ALD BeO (8.0 ± 0.1 eV) and literature values for SiC and the group III-nitrides (III-N), the authors find a type I band alignment with conduction band offsets >1 eV in all cases. These results indicate that BeO is a promising dielectric for wide bandgap SiC and III-N high-power, high-temperature, and high-frequency device applications.
Path towards graphene commercialization from lab to market.

The ground-breaking demonstration of the electric field effect in graphene reported more than a decade ago prompted the strong push towards the commercialization of graphene as evidenced by a wealth of graphene research, patents and applications. Graphene flake production capability has reached thousands of tonnes per year, while continuous graphene sheets of tens of metres in length have become available. Various graphene technologies developed in laboratories have now transformed into commercial products, with the very first demonstrations in sports goods, automotive coatings, conductive inks and touch screens, to name a few. Although challenges related to quality control in graphene materials remain to be addressed, the advancement in the understandings of graphene will propel the commercial success of graphene as a compelling technology. This Review discusses the progress towards commercialization of graphene for the past decade and future perspectives. This Review reflects on the 15 years of advances in the field of 2D materials towards commercialization of graphene and its future perspectives.
Response Estimation Through Spatially Oriented Neural Network and Texture Ensemble (RESONATE)

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is considered to be the standard treatment for locally advanced breast cancer, but less than half of all recipients achieve pathological complete response (pCR), necessitating a way to predict pCR prior to NAC. Previous work has shown that pCR prediction is viable via either radiomic or deep learning classification methods when applied to the tumoral region on breast MRI. Others have shown that analysis within the peritumoral region directly outside of the tumor can contribute unique value to pCR prediction. In this work we present Response Estimation through Spatially Oriented Neural Network and Texture Ensemble (RESONATE): an approach to spatially invoke different types of analytic representations in different tumor compartments to create a multi-representation based prediction of response to NAC in breast cancer. A total of 114 NAC recipients with pre-treatment MRI were retrospectively analyzed, with 80 of the patients used for training and 34 held out as an independent testing set. Deep learning and radiomic classifiers were trained separately within the tumor and the peritumoral region, with separate classifier predictions then being fused together via a logistic regression classifier. In the testing set, individual radiomics and deep learning classifiers achieved area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.69 and 0.75 within the tumor, respectively, and 0.69 and 0.66 within the peritumoral region. A weighted fusion of these four classifiers, however, best predicted pCR with an AUC of 0.79. This approach also outperformed fusions incorporating radiomic (AUC = 0.77) or deep learning (AUC = 0.75) only, as well as combinations of representations only within (AUC = 0.78) or outside (AUC = 0.70) the tumor.
The value of preoperative labs in identifying "at-risk" patients for developing surgical site infections after pediatric neuromuscular spine deformity surgery.

This is a retrospective cohort study via a single surgeon, two-hospital database. PSF in NMS patients is a high-risk surgery, with rates of SSI up to 24%. There is conflicting evidence in the literature regarding a possible association between low preoperative nutritional lab values and heightened risk of SSI after PSF. A retrospective analysis of a 20-year cohort of 111 pediatric neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS) patients that underwent posterior spinal fusion (PSF) with instrumentation was performed. Overall, seven patients (6.3%) developed a postoperative surgical site infection (SSI). With the possible exception of transferrin, low preoperative lab values (prealbumin, Hgb/Hct, WBC, TLC, total protein, albumin) were not associated with SSI. These findings question the utility of the current methodology of preoperative laboratory evaluation in identifying patients at elevated risk for SSI following PSF. A single-surgeon, two-hospital database was reviewed to identify all patients who underwent PSF for NMS. Diagnoses included cerebral palsy (n = 82), myelomeningocele (n = 13), spinal muscular atrophy (n = 4), and other (n = 12). Medical records for 117 patients were examined; 6 were excluded due to missing lab values. SSI was defined as an infection necessitating a return to the operating room for irrigation and debridement of the surgical site. Demographic information, preoperative lab values, spinal deformity magnitude, and surgical procedure data were recorded. There were 50 males and 61 females with a mean age of 14 years and 2.5 months (8–20 years). Seven patients (6.3%) experienced postoperative SSI. SSI rate for PSF to pelvis was 7.7% vs. PSF to lumbar spine, 3.0% (NS; p = 0.672). Length of PSF was not statistically associated with SSI (p = 0.172). SSI due to gram positives and polymicrobial gram negatives occurred with equal incidence. Preoperative lab values of transferrin, prealbumin, albumin, WBC count, total lymphocyte count, and total protein were not associated with SSI. Patients with postoperative SSI had higher mean Hct compared to controls (p = 0.041). While 40.6% of controls had low Hgb (< 13.8 g/dl), all patients who developed SSI had Hgb within the normal range (p = 0.043). Similarly, while 37.6% of controls had low Hct (< 40.7%), all patients who developed SSI had Hct within the normal range (p = 0.05). Low preoperative nutritional labs, Hgb/Hct, and TLC values were not found to be associated with an increased incidence of SSI in this analysis. These findings question the utility of preoperative lab values in identifying “at-risk” populations for SSI after PSF for NMS. IV Therapeutic.
Enabling regional collaborative governance for sustainable recreation on public lands: the Verde Front

Collaborative governance approaches have been shown to build trust, reduce conflicts and be more responsive than traditional land management strategies because they incorporate diverse perspectives...
Preexisting question: how do you document the undocumented?

How do you document the undocumented? This essay resurrects the spectral logic of this inquiry. The question rises out of a “gore capitalist” logic that controls life and death with every inscripti...
Vertebral pneumaticity is correlated with serial variation in vertebral shape in storks

Birds and their ornithodiran ancestors are unique among vertebrates in exhibiting air-filled sinuses in their postcranial bones, a phenomenon called postcranial skeletal pneumaticity. The factors that account for serial and interspecific variation in postcranial skeletal pneumaticity are poorly understood, although body size, ecology, and bone biomechanics have all been implicated as influencing the extent to which pneumatizing epithelia invade the skeleton and induce bone resorption. Here, I use high-resolution computed-tomography to holistically quantify vertebral pneumaticity in members of the neognath family Ciconiidae (storks), with pneumaticity measured as the relative volume of internal air space. These data are used to describe serial variation in extent of pneumaticity and to assess whether and how pneumaticity varies with the size and shape of a vertebra. Pneumaticity increases dramatically from the middle of the neck onwards, contrary to previous predictions that cervical pneumaticity should decrease toward the thorax to maintain structural integrity as the mass and bending moments of the neck increase. Although the largest vertebrae sampled are also the most pneumatic, vertebral size cannot on its own account for serial or interspecific variation in extent of pneumaticity. Vertebral shape, as quantified by three-dimensional geometric morphometrics, is found to be significantly correlated with extent of pneumaticity, with elongate vertebrae being less pneumatic than craniocaudally short and dorsoventrally tall vertebrae. Considered together, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that shape- and position-specific biomechanics influence the amount of bone loss that can be safely tolerated. These results have potentially important implications for the evolution of vertebral morphology in birds and their extinct relatives.
Conic optimization for control, energy systems, and machine learning: Applications and algorithms

Abstract Optimization is at the core of control theory and appears in several areas of this field, such as optimal control, distributed control, system identification, robust control, state estimation, model predictive control and dynamic programming. The recent advances in various topics of modern optimization have also been revamping the area of machine learning. Motivated by the crucial role of optimization theory in the design, analysis, control and operation of real-world systems, this tutorial paper offers a detailed overview of some major advances in this area, namely conic optimization and its emerging applications. First, we discuss the importance of conic optimization in different areas. Then, we explain seminal results on the design of hierarchies of convex relaxations for a wide range of nonconvex problems. Finally, we study different numerical algorithms for large-scale conic optimization problems.
Comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular structure and function and disease risk in middle-aged ultra-endurance athletes

Abstract Background and aims Recent studies suggest that long-term endurance training may be damaging to the heart, thus increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. However, studies utilizing cardiac imaging are conflicting and lack measures of central and peripheral vascular structure and function, which are also independently predictive of CVD events. Methods We performed a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular structure and function in long-term (≥ 10 years) ultra-endurance athletes (ATH, 14 M/11 F, 50 ± 1 y) and physically active controls (CON, 9 M/9 F, 49 ± 2 y). Results As expected, left ventricular mass and end-diastolic volume (echocardiography) were greater in ATH vs CON, whereas there was no difference in cardiac function at rest. Coronary artery calcium scores (computed tomography) were not statistically different between groups. There was no evidence of myocardial fibrosis (contrast magnetic resonance imaging) in any subject. Aortic stiffness (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity) was lower in ATH vs CON (6.2 ± 0.2 vs 6.9 ± 0.2 m/s, p 0.05). Conclusions Our data indicate that middle-aged ultra-endurance ATH do not have marked signs of widespread cardiovascular dysfunction or elevated CHD risk compared to CON meeting physical activity guidelines.
Reaching a Vulnerable Population: Why Adolescents Participate in the National School Lunch Program.

Abstract Purpose Fourteen percent of households with children under 18 years were food insecure in 2018. However, participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is lower among adolescents compared to younger children. This analysis examined, in a national sample of middle and high school students, the reasons why adolescents participate in the NSLP. Methods This analysis used data from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study collected from adolescents (ages 10–19) attending middle and high schools with a known household food security status (n = 1,106). Adolescents were asked their number one reason for eating the school lunch. Results were compared by school level, income-eligibility for free or reduced price meals, and household food security status. A logistic regression examined the sociodemographic factors associated with adolescents' number one reason for eating the school lunch. Results The most frequently cited reason for participating in school lunch was hunger. Adolescents who were income-eligible for free or reduced price meals and those from food insecure households were significantly more likely to report hunger as their main reason for participating in the NSLP compared to those who were not income-eligible and those who were from food secure households, respectively. After controlling for characteristics of schools and school food authorities and student demographics, income eligibility was the only student characteristic that emerged as a significant predictor of reporting hunger as the main reason for participation. Conclusions The results demonstrate that adolescents who regularly participate in the NSLP do so due to hunger, particularly if they are from low-income families.
Immune Inhibitory Properties and Therapeutic Prospects of Transforming Growth Factor-Beta and Interleukin 10 in Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Transforming growth factor-beta and interleukin 10 have diverse immune inhibitory properties that have restored homeostatic defense mechanisms in experimental models of autoimmune disease. The goals of this review are to describe the actions of each cytokine, review their investigational use in animal models and patients, and indicate their prospects as interventions in autoimmune hepatitis. English abstracts were identified in PubMed by multiple search terms. Full-length articles were selected for review, and secondary and tertiary bibliographies were developed. Transforming growth factor-beta expands the natural and inducible populations of regulatory T cells, limits the proliferation of natural killer cells, suppresses the activation of naive CD8+ T cells, decreases the production of interferon-gamma, and stimulates fibrotic repair. Interleukin 10 selectively inhibits the CD28 co-stimulatory signal for antigen recognition and impairs antigen-specific activation of uncommitted CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. It also inhibits maturation of dendritic cells, suppresses Th17 cells, supports regulatory T cells, and limits production of diverse pro-inflammatory cytokines. Contradictory immune stimulatory effects have been associated with each cytokine and may relate to the dose and accompanying cytokine milieu. Experimental findings have not translated into successful early clinical trials. The recombinant preparation of each agent in low dosage has been safe in human studies. In conclusion, transforming growth factor-beta and interleukin 10 have powerful immune inhibitory actions of potential therapeutic value in autoimmune hepatitis. The keys to their therapeutic application will be to match their predominant non-redundant function with the pivotal pathogenic mechanism or cytokine deficiency and to avoid contradictory immune stimulatory actions.
YouTube as a source of information on breast cancer in the Arab world.

The general population is increasingly using YouTube as a source of information on breast cancer, the most frequent cancer among women. Arabs are the most interested population in breast cancer on YouTube. The transmission of accurate information is important to reduce mortality rates. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate breast cancer videos on YouTube in the Arab world. A YouTube search for “breast cancer” in Arabic was performed. The most viewed 60 videos included were evaluated for global quality (GQS score), reliability (modified DISCERN score), content (content score), and misleading claims. Recorded and calculated data included views, duration, videos power index, and viewers’ interaction. Sources from legal persons (governments, universities, TV channels, physicians’ groups), and blogs (online health channels, individuals) were categorized. The median global quality (3/5), reliability (2/5), and content scores (4/11) were overall low. Misleading information was found in 42% of the videos. Although videos uploaded by legal persons were less popular (163,454 vs 327,488 views), they hosted more physicians (52% vs 15%), were less misleading (15% vs 64%), covered more content, and were of higher global quality and reliability than videos uploaded by blogs [p < 0.05]. While the topic of symptoms (55%) was discussed the most, genetic counseling (13%) and prevention (20%) were the least mentioned. YouTube is poorly informational and inaccurate on breast cancer in the Arab World where it is highly used. Although videos uploaded by legal persons tend to be more adequate, they are of lower popularity. Governments and physicians are encouraged to upload more intelligibly informational videos, guide the population to reliable sources, and support regulations.
Continuous speech recognition on the bases of vector field model for segmentation and feature extraction, and continuous dynamic programming for pattern matching

A new model called Vector Field Model is proposed for providing new algorithms of both segmentation and feature extraction in order to recognize phonemic units in continuous speech spoken by many speakers. The original vector field is obtained by differentiating a time-frequency pattern (the output of band-pass filters). In order to extract steady , increasing transient or decreasing transient feature of the point on the time-frequency pattern, three auxiliary vector fields are created by characterizing coherent orientations of vectors. The crowded vectors in an arbitary auxiliary vector field produce a pseudo-phonemic segment. Recognition of /VCV/ is carried out by applying so-called Continuous Dynamic Programming to a segment sequence pattern.
Topology for Computing

Written by a computer scientist for computer scientists, this book teaches topology from a computational point of view, and shows how to solve real problems that have topological aspects involving computers. Such problems arise in many areas, such as computer graphics, robotics, structural biology, and chemistry. The author starts from the basics of topology, assuming no prior exposure to the subject, and moves rapidly up to recent advances in the area, including topological persistence and hierarchical Morse complexes. Algorithms and data structures are presented when appropriate.
Culture Clash in Internet Marketing: Implications for Marketing Practices

The history of the Internet and the tradition of marketing present an inherent culture clash in the emerging practices of Internet Marketing. In this chapter we describe how this culture clash developed, detailing the broadcast nature of traditional marketing messages, and differences between control of content and measuring effectiveness of Internet Marketing as compared with traditional marketing. Following the theme of culture clash, strategies for assimilation and accommodation to the Internet culture for effective Internet Marketing are presented. Current research results on consumer attitudes and reactions toward Internet Marketing provide support for strategies for commercial marketers to cope with the new culture, establish cultural competence, and finally, become a member of the Internet culture.
Between Order and Chaos, on Peter Greenaway's Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema , edited by Paula Willoquet-Maricondi and Mary Alemany-Galway

_Peter Greenaway's Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema_ Edited by Paula Willoquet-Maricondi and Mary Alemany-Galway Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2001 ISBN 0-8108-3892-3 xxviii + 360 pp.
Effect of inhomogeneities and substrate on the dynamics of the metal-insulator transition in VO 2 thin films

We study the thermal relaxation dynamics of ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}$ films after the ultrafast photoinduced metal-insulator transition for two ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}$ film samples grown on ${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{2}$ substrates. We find two orders of magnitude difference in the recovery time (a few nanoseconds for the ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}/{\mathrm{Al}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ sample versus hundreds of nanoseconds for the ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}/{\mathrm{TiO}}_{2}$ sample). We present a theoretical model to take into account the effect of inhomogeneities in the films on the relaxation dynamics. We obtain quantitative results that show how the microstructure of the ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}$ film and the thermal conductivity of the interface between the ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}$ film and the substrate affect long time-scale recovery dynamics. We also obtain a simple analytic relationship between the recovery time-scale and the film's parameters.
Role of CD8 lymphocytes and neutrophilic alveolitis in Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia.

We described the characteristics of bronchoalveolar inflammatory cells and their correlation with lung injury in patients with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia.We reviewed all cases of patients with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in newly diagnosed HIV infected patients admitted to a large metropolitan referral hospital during June 2003 to December 2004. Nine patients (5M, 4F) with Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia diagnosed with bronchoscopy and cytological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were identified. There was a positive correlation between peripheral CD8 count and BAL neutrophilia and negative correlation with hypoxemia. Although the number patients in this case series is small, our findings suggest that CD8 cells and alveolar neutrophilic inflammation have a role in lung injury in Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. These findings are consistent with data from animal studies.
Thresholds of Change in Decomposition Rate along a Dune/Swale Transect on a Virginia Barrier Island

ABSTRACT Graziani, D.J. and Day, F.P., 2015. Thresholds of change in decomposition rate along a dune/swale transect on a Virginia barrier island. The objective of the current study was to examine fine spatial scale variation in aboveground decomposition rate over a barrier island dune/swale gradient in relation to the ground-water-free surface, soil nitrogen, and associated ecosystem states in order to identify thresholds of process or state change. The litterbag study was conducted on the Virginia Coast Reserve-Long Term Ecological Research Site in Virginia, United States. Mean aboveground decay rate (yr−1) ranged from 0.339 (upper dune) to 0.699 (marsh/lower dune transition). The upper dune, marsh, and lower dune (Morella thicket side) had the lowest aboveground decay rates. The marsh edge, marsh/lower dune transition and Morella thicket exhibited the highest decomposition rates. Our results did not suggest that soil N content was a good indicator of state change or system process rates, whereas, distan...
Progress in use of carbon-black-polymer composite vapor detector arrays for land mine detection

Thin films of carbon black-organic polymer composites have been deposited across two metallic leads, with swelling- induced resistance changes of the films signaling the presence of vapors. To identify and classify vapors, arrays of such vapor sensing elements have been constructed. Each element contained a different organic polymer as the insulating phase. The differing gas-solid partition coefficients for the various polymers of the detector array produced a pattern of resistance changes that was used to classify vapors and vapor mixtures. The performance of this system towards DNT, the predominant signature in the vapor phase above land miens, has been evaluated in detail, with robust detection demonstrated in the laboratory in less than 5 s in air at DNT levels in the low ppb range.
Novel photoinduced electron transfer reactions between naphthalene and triphenylsulphonium salts

Abstract Irradiation of solutions of naphthalene and triphenylsulphonium trifluoromethanesulphonate initiates an electron transfer reaction which gives 1- and 2-phenylnaphthalenes, 2- and 4-phenylthiobiphenyls, and diphenyl sulphide. The phenylnaphthalenes are formed by an in-cage reaction between phenyl radical and naphthalene radical cation, whereas diphenyl sulphide is an escape product. A second cage process, oxidation of diphenylsulphide by naphthalene radical cation, generates diphenylsulphinyl radical cation; reaction of this intermediate with phenyl radical gives the phenylthiobiphenyl isomers. However, irradiation of anthracene and triphenylsulphonium triflate yields only phenylated anthracenes and diphenylsulphide, because anthracene radical cation cannot oxidize diphenylsulphide.
Construct Invalidity Comes from Method Effects.

Method effects are the sources of the construct invalidity in social-behavioral measuring procedures. Some method effects come from inadequacies in the protocol-the sequence of behaviors that is selected and identified solely by the set of conditions under which it occurs. The protocol may be inappropriate to the construct as specified or it may be insufficient because its conditions restrict the range of possible manifestations of construct-relevant behavior. Other method effects are technique effects-errors of commission occurring when a measuring operation is applied to a protocol. These errors may come from the actor's reactions to being measured, from the data-producer, or from the instrument used by the data-producer. Although detecting the presence of method effects is relatively easy, identifying specific effects is more difficult. Such identification usually requires the rescoring or recoding of the data on attributes suspected of contributing systematic but unwanted effects. Method effects also ...
The overexpression of int-5/aromatase, a novel MMTV integration locus gene, is responsible for D2 mammary tumor cell proliferation

Abstract Our recent studies have shown that the cellular gene at the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) integration site in the int-5 locus in BALB/c D2 precancerous hyperplastic alveolar nodules is identical to the gene encoding aromatase (CYP19), a member of the cytochrome P450 gene superfamily. MMTV integrated within the 3′ untranslated region of the aromatase gene is responsible for the overexpression of this gene ( int-5/aromatase ) in mammary tumors. This paper describes the biological significance of overexpression of int-5/aromatase in D2 tumor cells. Using a cell line derived from the D2 tumor, we have demonstrated the effect of the aromatase substrate, androstenedione, on the proliferation of tumor cells. Proliferative effects of androstenedione were blocked by an aromatase inhibitor, providing evidence for the role of int-5/aromatase in this process. Furthermore, the androstenedione-mediated proliferation was inhibited by the addition of anti-estrogen ICI 164,384, suggesting that the estrogen formed from the conversion of androstenedione by int-5/aromatase acts like a mitogen to stimulate the growth of D2 tumor cells. This model with its known mechanism of aromatase activation should prove useful for studying the role of intra-tumoral estrogen in mammary cancer, for evaluating the effects of aromatase inhibitors, and for comparing breast cancer treatments.