cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of a Monte Carlo simulation tool for multi-pinhole microSPECT

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) tool for investigation and evaluation of multi-pinhole microSPECT imaging. This simulation tool is based on a combination of SimSET and MCNP-4b Monte Carlo codes. It allows accurate simulation of a great range of physical factors, especially the pinhole collimator-detector response with specific photon energy, material, and geometry (such as knife and keel edge, size of the aperture, and orientation of the pinhole axis.) Point response functions (PRFs) and detection efficiencies (DEs) of /sup 99m/Tc point sources obtained from MCS were verified through physical experiments using both a single-pinhole and a 4-pin hole collimator and also with theoretical predictions. Further evaluation involved simulations of a newly developed 4D digital mouse phantom using 3 multi-pinhole collimator configurations with 1, 4, and 5 pinholes. The simulated projection data were reconstructed using a 3D multi-pinhole OSEM algorithm. Good agreement was found between the MCS, experimental and theoretical results indicating the accuracy of the simulation method. The simulated mouse data demonstrated the application of the MCS. We concluded that we have developed and validated a special MCS tool, and illustrated its values in investigating and evaluating multi-pinhole collimator designs, data acquisition methods, and pinhole SPECT image reconstructions and correction techniques, which are crucial in the development of small animal imaging.
Cancer Screening Utilization Among U.S. Women: How Mammogram and Pap Test Use Varies Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Bisexual Women

Existing research on cancer screening utilization among sexual minority women in the U.S. has mostly relied on non-random samples that combine lesbian and bisexual women into a single group. We respond to these limitations by examining the relationship between sexual orientation and cancer screening among a sample of U.S. women from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Our analytic sample includes 2273 lesbian, 1689 bisexual, and 174,839 heterosexual women interviewed in 15 U.S. states between 2000 and 2010. We examine two cancer screening measures: timely mammogram and pap tests, defined as having had a mammogram in the past 2 years for women aged 40 and older, and having had a pap test in the past 3 years for women aged 21–65. For mammogram, results showed that rates of timely use did not significantly differ by sexual orientation. However, lesbian and bisexual women report significantly lower rates of timely pap testing than heterosexual women. Logistic regression results on timely pap testing showed that lower pap test use for bisexual women is primarily driven by their poorer socioeconomic status relative to heterosexual women, while the significantly lower odds of timely pap testing for lesbian women were unaffected by control measures. Better understanding of cancer screening utilization disparities among lesbian and bisexual women is necessary to address morbidity and mortality disparities by sexual orientation.
Implementation of a virtual dispensing simulator to support US pharmacy education.

Abstract Introduction A key element for pharmacy practice defined by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is medication use systems management. A web-based community pharmacy simulation originally created for Australian pharmacy students was adapted for pharmacy students in the United States (US). The objective of this study was to collaboratively adapt an existing international simulation program for utility in the US and measure student perceptions of a web-based community pharmacy simulation program in three US schools of pharmacy. Methods An Australian development team in collaboration with US pharmacy school faculty modified the existing MyDispense software to create a virtual environment that accurately represented US community pharmacy practice. Students at three US schools of pharmacy used the newly adapted version of MyDispense and were surveyed on their prior experience in community pharmacy and their perceptions of MyDispense as a learning tool. Results Overall 241 (44%) students completed the satisfaction survey. Approximately 40% of these students worked in a community pharmacy before starting pharmacy school. Most students agreed or strongly agreed that MyDispense was straightforward to learn (76%), was more realistic than addressing similar paper cases (73%), and offered a learning opportunity to safely make errors (84%). Qualitative thematic analysis revealed that MyDispense allowed students to practice how to gather patient information and ask appropriate questions, counsel patients, and practice the dispensing process. Discussion and conclusions Response to the US version of My Dispense is positive and proves to be a viable option for introducing and reinforcing community pharmacy practice skills to students during in their pharmacy education
Why Pornography is Not Prostitution: Folk Theories of Sexuality in the Law of Vice

This Article dissects an anomaly in the law regarding pornography and prostitution: under that law, people who have sex with other people for money are normally guilty of prostitution, but not when they are acting in pornography. Since the prostitute and the pornographic actor both engage in the same physical activities and both do so for money, it is natural to wonder why the prostitute is guilty of a crime, but the pornographic actor (normally) is not. In recent years, commentators and courts have offered a jumbled potpourri of rationales and justifications for this anomaly, most of which are either analytically inadequate or implausible in light of present social attitudes. Skeptical that there is a plausible justification for this anomaly, this Article instead offers an explanation – an account that helps us understand why the law makes this anomalous distinction between prostitution and pornographic acting even if the distinction cannot be justified. The explanation points to folk theories about sex – unrefined stories and narratives about sex that persist in and pervade our popular culture. On this folk-theory explanation, the divergence at issue springs from the interplay between a cultural commitment to sating ostensibly voracious male sexual desire and a cultural anxiety about the ways that direct sexual involvement with the female may corrupt or contaminate the male, not just physically, but morally and socially. From the perspective of these folk theories, prostitution and pornography both have the virtue that they sate male desire, but prostitution, involving direct sexual involvement with the female, threatens to taint or corrupt the male consumer (physically, morally, and socially) in a way that pornography does not. Pornography, then, strikes a more “favorable” balance between sating male desire and protecting men from potential corruption than prostitution does. As a result, it is privileged over prostitution in the law. Of course, this cultural mythology about sex does not supply a defensible justification for the state of the law. On the contrary, these folk theories seem almost childishly superstitious, and they resonate with atavistic and ugly ideologies about gender and sex. Nevertheless, this folk-theory account should help explain why the criminalization of prostitution persists so stubbornly today, despite the increasingly pervasive acceptance of feminist, libertarian, and sex-positive insights that might lead to decriminalization, and why the law treats prostitution differently than it treats pornographic acting. In this sense, the explanation offered here does not so much harmonize the law as diagnose in it a persisting pathology. Diagnosing this pathology in the law of prostitution and pornography should, in turn, cast new light on broader issues in the law of vice.
An intervening ethical governor for a robot mediator in patient-caregiver relationship: Implementation and evaluation

A robot mediator can enhance the quality of patient care in a health care context. Patients with Parkinson's disease can experience difficulties in precisely expressing their emotions due to the loss of control of their facial musculature, leading to their stigmatization by caregivers. To remedy this challenge, a robot mediator can be inserted into a patient-caregiver relationship. In this context, it is essential to handle the ethical issues of neglect to ensure human dignity. In an earlier paper [19], we proposed an intervening ethical governor (IEG) model, which enables a robot to ethically intervene in a situation where patients or caregivers go across accepted ethical boundaries. In this paper, we show how the IEG model can be implemented and applied in a real robotics system. In addition, by conducting interviews with the target population (adults 60 years of age or older), we evaluate the current intervention rules in the model, discuss potential improvements to the model, and consider uses of the model in real clinical contexts.
Fighting for their lives: A strategy for improved cell transplantation survival

Slow release of pro-survival peptides from collagen biomaterials improves stem cell engraftment following transplantation in a mouse model of ischemia.
Optimizing prediction of human assessments of dairy odors using input variable selection

Abstract Use of instruments instead of human panels to assess odors can make the collection and measurement process more efficient and reliable. Odor-emitting samples from dairy farms, including manure, feed, and bedding materials, were collected and assessed by an electronic nose and a human panel. Artificial neural networks based on the Levenberg-Marquardt Back-propagation algorithm were used to build prediction models to predict human response to odor pleasantness. Feature selection methods, including Forward Selection (FS), Gamma Test (GT), and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to reduce the dimensionality of the measurements, potentially eliminating noise. Out of the 28 variable candidates (eNose sensors), 10 variables were selected when PCA was applied, and 16 variables were selected when either FS or GT approaches were applied. The model developed using GT provided the lowest mean square error of 0.56 (2.5%) hedonic scale units for separate validation. The GT-based model was able to predict the human assessments within 10% of the target for 81% of the independent validation samples and within 5% of the target for 63% of the independent validation samples.
Effects of heat and alcohol treatments of soybean meal on nitrogen utilization by sheep.

Soybean meal (SBM) was treated with aqueous solutions of ethanol or propanol at room temperature or at 80 C to study treatment effects on SBM-N solubility and utilization by sheep. Soybean meal was soaked in an excess of 70% (v/v) ethanol at 80 C (ET-80), 70% ethanol at 23 C (ET-23) or 70% propanol at 80 C (PR-80). Nontreated SBM and nontreated SBM heated at 80 C without alcohol treatment (NT-80) served as controls. Nitrogen solubility in McDougall's buffer was lowest (P less than .05) for PR-80 and ET-80 (2.2 and 4.7% of total N, respectively), intermediate (P less than .05) for ET-23 (9.0%), greater (P less than .05) for nontreated SBM (36.2%) and highest for NT-80 (40.2%). In an situ study using three ruminally cannulated cows and two bags per treatment per animal per removal time, more (P less than .05) N remained in in situ bags after 3, 6, 9 and 12 h incubation for ET-23, ET-80 and PR-80 than for nontreated SBM and NT-80. A lamb metabolism trial, using 15 lambs in each of two periods, compared nontreated SBM, ET-23, ET-80, PR-80 and urea as N supplements. Nitrogen retention was higher (P less than .02) for lambs fed SBM treatments compared with urea. When the same N supplements were fed to wethers in a 5 X 5 Latin square experiment and duodenal N flow was measured, non-ammonia non-bacterial N flow was higher (P less than .07) for wethers fed SBM treatments than for wethers fed urea.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
397. Long-Term Mortality of HIV Patients Following Cryptococcal Infection

Background Prevalence of cryptococcosis in HIV-positive patients in the developed world has decreased considerably in the modern antiretroviral (ART) era. While early mortality of cryptococcal infection is lower than in non-HIV-infected patients, late mortality in HIV+ patients has not been previously evaluated. Here, we describe the presentation and outcomes of HIV+ patients with cryptococcosis.
Computational studies of ene reactions between aminoborane (F3C)2BN(CH3)2 and substituted propenes: additive effects on barriers and reaction energies

Systematic computational studies of concerted pericyclic ene-type reactions between aminoborane (F3C)2B[double bond, length as m-dash]N(CH3)2, 1, and substituted propenes (R1a)(R1e)C[double bond, length as m-dash]C(R2)-C(R3a)(R3e)H (R = Me, CF3, F; a = axial position in transition state, e = equatorial position in transition state) show that in all cases but one the reactions are exothermic. The reactions proceed through six-membered cyclic envelope-like transition states except in the case of 1 + C3H(CF3)5. The data allow isolation of substitutional effects on barrier heights; the effects appear to be additive in all cases. Substitution at positions 1a, 1e, and 3a increases barriers, while substitution at positions 2 and 3e has variable impacts. The former observation is ascribed to steric crowding in the transition states, and is particularly prevalent for substitution at positions 1a and 1e. Substitution at position 2 lowers barriers for R = Me, F, possibly due to electronic demands, while raising them for R = CF3 because of 1,3-diaxial repulsions between boron- and carbon-bound CF3 groups. Substitution at position 3e has little impact on the barriers for R = Me, CF3, but significantly raises them for R = F. This seems to arise from charge effects on the position of the transition states.
A new patent information system

The US Patent and Trademark Office PTO has undertaken a program to automate, in full, its operations. This paper describes the Patent System-the process and the scope of the problem, the needs, and a summary of the Patent Automation Milestones. Finally, the accomplishments and status of the project are summarized, along with a brief discussion on the future Patent System.
Mortality experience of US veterans following service as international peacekeepers in Bosnia/Kosovo theater, 1996-2002

Abstract Background Beginning in 1996 US military personnel served as peacekeeping forces in Bosnia/Kosovo. No studies have assessed the long-term post-deployment health of this US cohort. Based on the health concerns raised in studies of military personnel from other countries, this study focused on mortality due to Leukemia, respiratory disease, respiratory cancer, and heart disease. Methods This study compared the post-war cause-specific mortality of 53,320 veterans who deployed to Bosnia/Kosovo between 1996–2002 to that of 117,267 veterans who also served in the military between 1996–2002, but were not deployed to Bosnia/Kosovo. Expressed as standardized mortality ratios (SMR)s the cause-specific mortality for both deployed and non-deployed were compared separately to that of the US general population. Cause-specific mortality risks among Bosnia/Kosovo veterans relative to that of non-deployed veterans were assessed using Hazard Ratios (HR)s generated by Cox proportional-hazards models. Results The overall mortality of both deployed and non-deployed veterans was almost half that of the US population, SMR = 0.59, 95%, C.I., 0.55–0.62 and SMR = 0.66, 95%, C.I., 0.64–0.68, respectively. Neither group of veterans had any excess of disease related mortality compared to that of the US population. Compared to non-deployed, deployed veterans did not experience any increased risks for any of the diseases of a priori interest. Conclusion It does not appear that US military deployed to Bosnia/Kosovo have any increased risks of disease related mortality. However, this study would not have been able to detect increased risk of cancers with latency periods that exceeded the 18 years of follow-up available in this study.
Splicing repression is a major function of TDP-43 in motor neurons

Nuclear depletion of TDP-43, an essential RNA binding protein, may underlie neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As several functions have been ascribed to this protein, the critical role(s) of TDP-43 in motor neurons that may be compromised in ALS remains unknown. We show here that TDP-43 mediated splicing repression, which serves to protect the transcriptome by preventing aberrant splicing, is central to the physiology of motor neurons. Expression in Drosophila TDP-43 knockout models of a chimeric repressor, comprised of the RNA recognition domain of TDP-43 fused to an unrelated splicing repressor, RAVER1, attenuated motor deficits and extended lifespan. Likewise, AAV9-mediated delivery of this chimeric rescue repressor to mice lacking TDP-43 in motor neurons delayed the onset, slowed the progression of motor symptoms, and markedly extended their lifespan. In treated mice lacking TDP-43 in motor neurons, aberrant splicing was significantly decreased and accompanied by amelioration of axon degeneration and motor neuron loss. This AAV9 strategy allowed long-term expression of the chimeric repressor without any adverse effects. Our findings establish that splicing repression is a major function of TDP-43 in motor neurons and strongly support the idea that loss of TDP-43-mediated splicing fidelity represents a key pathogenic mechanism underlying motor neuron loss in ALS.
Depth distribution of microbial diversity in lakes

Abstract Aquatic environments harbor diverse microbial communities due to their unique characteristics. Microorganisms adapt themselves to these environments and inhabit all the zones (horizontal and vertical) of freshwater lakes where food is available. The lake zonation, known as stratification, that demonstrates the depth profile is a key factor for all the limnic life including microbial communities. There is a strong correlation between the depth profile and the microbial community structure indicating different bacterial communities in different layers (the epilimnion, the metalimnion, and the hypolimnion). This chapter deals with the distribution of bacterial communities (autotrophic and heterotrophic populations) in stratified water columns, wherein the bacterial community composition of the neuston layer (where Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria are dominant), water column (where Actinobacteria, α and β-Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Thaumarchaeota are dominant) and the sediment layer (where methanogens, e.g., Methanomicrobiales and Methanosarcinales, are dominant) are discussed. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion on the suphate-reducing bacteria, iron-oxidizing bacteria, manganese-oxidizing bacteria, and ammonia-oxidizing archaea, followed by some case studies and the concluding remarks about the chapter.
6 An Impoverished Language

What does quantum mechanics say about spin? I like to think of quantum theory as a kind of language. It is a strange, abbreviated tongue. Nothing in it seems to correspond to anything that we have ever experienced, and it is utterly incapable of expressing many things. Perhaps this is not surprising: it was designed to fit the strange new world of submicroscopic entities such as electrons and photons, not normal life.
Vitamin D Compounds and Cancer Stem Cells in Cancer Prevention

Cancer is a disease process comprising distinct stages, from initiation to promotion and progression to metastasis, where multiple factors can enhance or delay each stage during the development. Cancer stem cells, a small subpopulation of cancer cells with self-renewal and differentiating capacity, have been suggested to be involved in initiation, progression, and recurrence of tumors. Thus, targeting cancer stem cells may be important for cancer prevention. Natural products, hormones, nutritional and dietary factors have the ability to change the fate of cancer stem cells. Revealing the effect of compounds on the regulation of self-renewal or differentiation of cancer stem cells in malignancies, including breast, colorectal, prostate, and pancreatic cancers, could be useful for implementing novel cancer preventive approaches. Vitamin D compounds are known to induce hematopoietic stem cells to become more functionally differentiated cells, and differentiation therapy has been well established in blood cancers. Based on the differentiating and anti-proliferating effects, targeting cancer stem cells by vitamin D compounds may potentially contribute to the inhibition of solid tumors. In this chapter, we review the role of vitamin D compounds in regulation of cancer stem cell markers such as CD44, ALDH1, CD24, CD133, EpCAM, CD49f, as well as cancer stem cell signaling pathways including Notch, Wnt or Hedgehog in cancer. Further, diverse structures of vitamin D compounds as well as combination strategies are considered for improving differentiating activities and cancer preventive effects. Understanding the role of vitamin D compounds targeting cancer stem cells may support their potential use as cancer preventive and therapeutic agents.
Determination of safingol, a sphingosine kinase inhibitor, in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry

3961 Safingol, a saturated synthetic enantiomer of dihydrosphingosine, is a potential sphingosine kinase (SK) inhibitor that could decrease the formation of sphingosine-1 phosphaste (S1P) from degraded ceramide due to its stereoisomeric structure. Safingol has been reported to synergistically increase cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic agents in tumor cell lines. An analytical method was developed for the quantitative determination of safingol in human plasma. Calibration curves were constructed in the range of 1-100 ng/ml, and were analyzed using a weight factor (1/x) proportional to the nominal concentration. Sample pretreatment involved a liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate using 0.1 ml aliquots of plasma. The analyte was separated on a column (20mm × 2.1mm i.d.) packed with 3μm C18 material using a gradient elution with methanol (mobile phase B) and water containing 0.1% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The gradient profile was: hold at 60% mobile phase B for 0.5 min, linear gradient to 100% mobile phase B in 1 min, and hold at 100% mobile phase B for 1 min followed by 1 min re-equilibration. The mean retention time for safingol and C17 D-erythrosphinganine (internal standard) during the method validation was approximately 1.6 min and the overall chromatographic run time was established at 3 min. Detection was performed using a Q TRAPTM LC/MS/MS system by monitoring the ion transitions (MRM) from m/z 302.4 →59.9 (safingol) and m/z 288.3 →60.0 (C17 D-erythrosphinganine). Electrospray ionization was performed in the positive mode with an ionspray voltage of 5000eV. The other MS conditions were as follows: curtain gas, 25 psi; temperature 600 oC; ion source gas 1, 40 psi; ion source gas 2, 50 psi; CAD gas, medium; collision energy, 43 eV; declusting potential, 71 eV; entrance potential, 10 eV; collision cell exit potential 10 eV. The values for precision and accuracy were
Human Rotator Cuff Tears Have an Endogenous, Inducible Stem Cell Source Capable of Improving Muscle Quality and Function After Rotator Cuff Repair.

Background:The muscle quality of the rotator cuff (RC), measured by atrophy and fatty infiltration (FI), is a key determinant of outcomes in RC injury and repair. The ability to regenerate muscle a...
Some Statistical Observations from a 75 Year Run of Sears Roebuck Catalogues

Two decades of deep interest in the science of vehicular traffic and transportation has led the authors first to experimental and theoretical studies in single lane traffic, its stability and statistical nature, and then to the examination of a kinetic theory of multi-lane traffic with fluctuations and phase transitions. Our style has been dominated by a search for simple models and relationships suitable for the abstraction of a very complex phenomenon.
Boundary Equations and Regularity Theory for Geometric Variational Systems with Neumann Data

We study boundary regularity of maps from two-dimensional domains into manifolds which are critical with respect to a generic conformally invariant variational functional and which, at the boundary, intersect perpendicularly with a support manifold. For example, harmonic maps, or H-surfaces, with a partially free boundary condition. In the interior it is known, by the celebrated work of Riviere, that these maps satisfy a system with an antisymmetric potential, from which one can derive the interior regularity of the solution. Avoiding a reflection argument, we show that these maps satisfy along the boundary a system of equations which also exhibits a (nonlocal) antisymmetric potential that combines information from the interior potential and the geometric Neumann boundary condition. We then proceed to show boundary regularity for solutions to such systems.
Effect of Low Dietary Protein vs. High Protein Diets onCOVID-19 Infection and Mortality

It has been shown that populations consuming primary rice had a strong negative correlation whereas population consuming...
Modeling and simulations of high and hypervelocity impact of small ice particles

Abstract We present a computational model based on the Hot Optimal Transportation Meshfree (HOTM) method and a thermo-visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model for the high-fidelity simulation of high and hypervelocity impact of small ice particles. The competition and combination among various energy dissipation mechanisms in the high energy density event, including plasticity, fracture/fragmentation, and phase change, are predicted by minimizing the thermomechanical system’s potential energy within a variational structure. The variational Eigenerosion algorithm is incorporated in the HOTM method to simulate crack nucleation, propagation, and fragmentation. A multiphase thermo-visco-elasto-plastic model is developed to describe the dynamic response of ice under extreme loading conditions, such as strain and strain-rate hardening, temperature-dependent strength, pressure-dependent viscosity, and phase diagram. The proposed computational framework is validated by comparing to experimental observations and measurements from two ballistic tests at different strain rates. Numerical studies are performed for the impact tests of a microscopic spherical ice particle( ⌀ 800 nm ) against a Ti-6Al-4V plate at velocities ranging from 250 m / s to 5000 m / s at an initial temperature of 200 K . The evolution of failure modes in the ice projectile is well captured as a result of the energy partitioning explicitly into plasticity, fracture and phase change at different moments. The analysis demonstrates the transition of the dominant failure mechanism due to the increasing input energy density and the nature of stress wave propagation. The competition between fracture and phase change, in the presented configuration of numerical studies, starts when the impact velocity approaching 800 m / s and thermal effects play a critical role in determining the local deformation and failure.
Accurate prediction of functional states of cis-regulatory modules reveals the universal epigenetic code in mammals

Predicting cis-regulatory modules(CRMs) in a genome and predicting their functional states in various cell/tissue types of the organism are two related challenging computational tasks. Most current methods attempt to achieve both simultaneously using epigenetic data. Though conceptually attractive, they suffer high false discovery rates and limited applications. To fill the gaps, we proposed a two-step strategy to first predict a map of CRMs in the genome, and then predict functional states of the CRMs in various cell/tissue types of the organism. We have recently developed an algorithm for accurately predicting CRMs in a genome by integrating numerous transcription factor ChIP-seq datasets. Here, we showed that only three or four epigenetic marks data in a cell/tissue type were sufficient for a machine-learning model to accurately predict functional states of all CRMs. Our predictions are substantially more accurate than the best achieved so far. Interestingly, a model trained on different cell/tissue types in a mammal can accurately predict functional states of CRMs in different cell/tissue types of the mammal as well as in various cell/tissue types of a different mammal. Therefore, epigenetic code that defines functional states of CRMs in various cell/tissue types is universal at least in mammals. Moreover, we found that from tens to hundreds of thousands of CRMs were active in a human and mouse cell/tissue type, and up to 99.98% of them were reutilized in different cell/tissue types, while as small as 0.02% of them were unique to a cell/tissue type that might define the cell/tissue type.
Exploring women's perspectives on prenatal screening for adverse childhood experiences.

Objective To learn more about women's views on screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) during healthcare visits in pregnancy. Design Mixed methods with an online survey. Sample A convenience sample of 154 women with a history of one or more pregnancies was recruited through public health department social media pages in one predominantly rural region of a Midwest state. Measurements Quantitative measures included demographic variables, ACE scores, and preferences regarding screening format, strategies, and resources. Additional perspectives were captured through open-ended questions. Results Women's mean ACE score was 2.56 (SD = 2.37) with 68% reporting 0-3 ACEs and 32% reporting four or more. Routine screening for ACEs during prenatal care was supported by 67.5% of women with 9.1% indicating sometimes, 20.8% unsure, and 2.6% against. Strong preference was indicated for screening by one's physician or midwife (80.3%), in an exam room (83.1%), using an independently completed questionnaire (64.2%). Preferred approaches for screening and post-screening interventions also were identified with qualitative themes providing additional insights. Conclusions Findings inform strategies for efficiently and sensitively screening for ACEs during pregnancy, highlight the importance of using a trauma-informed approach, and provide direction for educational and interventional resource development.
Metastatic disease to the liver: Locoregional therapy strategies and outcomes

Secondary cancers of the liver are more than twenty times more common than primary tumors and are incurable in most cases. While surgical resection and systemic chemotherapy are often the first-line therapy for metastatic liver disease, a majority of patients present with bilobar disease not amenable to curative local resection. Furthermore, by the time metastasis to the liver has developed, many tumors demonstrate a degree of resistance to systemic chemotherapy. Fortunately, catheter-directed and percutaneous locoregional approaches have evolved as major treatment modalities for unresectable metastatic disease. These novel techniques can be used for diverse applications ranging from curative intent for small localized tumors, downstaging of large tumors for resection, or locoregional control and palliation of advanced disease. Their use has been associated with increased tumor response, increased disease-free and overall survival, and decreased morbidity and mortality in a broad range of metastatic disease. This review explores recent advances in liver-directed therapies for metastatic liver disease from primary colorectal, neuroendocrine, breast, and lung cancer, as well as uveal melanoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and sarcoma. Therapies discussed include bland transarterial embolization, chemoembolization, radioembolization, and ablative therapies, with a focus on current treatment approaches, outcomes of locoregional therapy, and future directions in each type of metastatic disease.
Deconstructive Phenomenological Analysis of Sufi Discourse

This study presents Sufi discourse of Bulleh Shaha and Khawaja Ghulam Farid as a platform to assert the common emerging patterns in Sufi literature. Derrida’s deconstruction is utilised to discover the binaries in Sufi texts and phenomenological analysis to comprehend the essence of lived experience and themes of Sufi confessional poetry. The study reveals the substance of Sufi tradition to a general audience by analysing poetic texts and situates them within the larger Sufi tradition. It would make some contribution to the growing literature on Sufism and would offer an opportunity to researchers to unfold the Sufi narrative.
Clinical and MRI phenotype of children with MOG antibodies.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-seropositive pediatric demyelinating syndromes.Methods:Serum samples collected from 74 children with suspected demyelinating disorders whom were being followed at Massachusetts General Hospital were incubated with control green fluorescent protein (GFP)- and MOG-GFP-transfected Jurkat cell clones. The binding ratios were calculated using flow cytometry. Using statistical analyses, we compared the demographic, clinical and radiological features in our seropositive and seronegative patients.Results:We found that 13 out of 74 (17.5%) patients were seropositive for MOG. The MOG-seropositive patients were younger than the seronegative patients (p = 0.049). No single disease category predominated among the seropositive patients, nor was one group more likely to have a polyphasic course. There were two out of four neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients who had MOG antibodies...
The Pressures on Monetary Policy: An Overview

In the past three decades a tremendous change has occurred in the way monetary policymakers are viewed in the scholarly economics journals, as well as in some of the textbooks in money and banking and macroeconomic theory. During the 1960s monetary policymakers were typically envisioned as idealistically choosing a socially consensual “best” point on a stable, negativelysloped Phillips Curve. After the rational expectations revolution of the 1970s, monetary policymakers came to be seen, somewhat more cynically, as pursuing gains in employment and output and reductions in interest rates that are short-lived and can only be attained at the expense of permanently higher rates of inflation. If gains in output and employment and reductions in interest rates are only transitory and have adverse inflationary consequences, why should monetary policymakers pursue them? Modern researchers realize that policymakers pursue such socially suboptimal goals because they come under a considerable degree of political and private pressure.
A Note on Measuring the Productivity Offset for Regulatory Purposes

Calculation of the productivity offset or the X-factor used in setting price caps has a fundamental flaw when it is based on conventional growth accounting total factor productivity analysis. The problem is discussed in the context of incentive regulation used by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States and the appropriate correction is indicated. An example of the problem and its correction, using the access charge for interstate service in telecommunications, is provided. The correction shows that the appropriate X-factor is 12 percent greater than that based on conventional growth accounting total factor productivity analysis.
Chemokine Receptor CCR4 on CD4+ T Cells in Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovial Fluid Defines a Subset of Cells with Increased IL-4:IFN-γ mRNA Ratios

To understand the mechanisms that promote recruitment and survival of T cells within the pediatric inflamed joint, we have studied the expression of CCR4 and CCR5 on synovial fluid T cells and matched peripheral blood samples from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) patients using three-color flow cytometric analysis. Thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine and macrophage-derived chemokine, ligands for CCR4, were measured by ELISA in JRA synovial fluid, JRA plasma, adult rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid, and normal plasma. IL-4 and IFN-gamma mRNA production was assessed in CD4+/CCR4+ and CD4+/CCR4(-) cell subsets. We found accumulations of both CCR4+ and CCR5+ T cells in JRA synovial fluids and a correlation for increased numbers of CCR4+ T cells in samples collected early in the disease process. Thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine was detected in JRA synovial fluid and plasma samples, but not in adult rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid or control plasma. Macrophage-derived chemokine was present in all samples. CD4+/CCR4+ synovial lymphocytes produced more IL-4 and less IFN-gamma than CD4+/CCR4(-) cells. These findings suggest that CCR4+ T cells in the JRA joint may function early in disease in an anti-inflammatory capacity through the production of type 2 cytokines and may play a role in determining disease phenotype.
Sensitive, quantitative, and high-throughput detection of angiogenic markers using shape-coded hydrogel microparticles.

Elevated serum concentrations of angiogenic markers including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) have been correlated with various clinical disorders including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and liver fibrosis. In addition, the correlation between the serum concentrations of these factors, clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and response to therapeutic agents is significant. Thereby suggesting high-throughput detection of serum levels of angiogenic markers has important implications in early detection of different clinical disorders as well as for subsequent therapy monitoring. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of utilization of shape-coded hydrogel microparticle based suspension arrays for quantitative and reproducible measurement of VEGF, FGF, and PDGF in single and multiplexed assays. Bio-inert PEG hydrogel attenuated the background signal thereby improving the sensitivity of the detection method as well as eliminating the need for blocking the proteins. In the singleplexed assay, the detection limits of 1.7 pg ml−1, 1.4 pg ml−1, and 1.5 pg ml−1 for VEGF, FGF, and PDGF respectively indicated that the sensitivity of the developed method exceeds that of the conventional technologies. We also demonstrated that in the multiplexed assays, recovery of the proteins was within 20% of the expected values. The practical applicability of the hydrogel microparticle based detection system was established by demonstrating the ability of the system to quantify the production of VEGF, FGF, and PDGF by breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231).
Robust hover control for a model helicopter

Robust control design techniques are used to design a model-based controller for a small radio-controlled helicopter operating at hover. A nominal multi-input multi-output state-space model is identified from experimental data, using linear estimation. Using an appropriate uncertainty description, a stabilizing H/sub /spl infin// controller with setpoint tracking is designed and is compared to a standard LQG controller.
Organizational influence in a model of the moral decision process of accountants

This paper reports on a survey that investigated the moral decision processes of accountants. A formal belief revision model is adapted and hypotheses based on theorizations from the cognitive-developmental school are tested. The moral decision processes of accountants are hypothesized to be influenced by professional expectations, organizational expectations and internalized expectations. Subjects provided specific demographic data and were asked to access the appropriateness of fourteen principles for making moral decisions in business. Subjects were also asked to indicate which of the fourteen approaches would be most appropriate for resolving each of five ethical situations that are representative of common ethical dilemmas in accounting. Subjects' responses to the appropriateness of the fourteen principles are reduced to two dimensions using factor analysis. The factors are consistent and representative of important underlying dimensions of the stages of moral development. Demographic variables are correlated with the extracted factors using analysis of variance. The results show that subjects consider interpersonal expectations and conformity to be more appropriate than approaches that are self-serving. These findings suggest that ethical decision processes of accountants are influenced by organizational support. Age, gender, and education were also found to influence the moral decision process. Overall, the findings are consistent with the expectations hypothesized from the cognitive-developmental school and suggest that the moral development of accountants is ongoing.
Velocity characteristics of beams of spherical polystyrene particles

Abstract Detailed measurements of the velocity characteristics of particle beams have not been previously reported. Since such information will be necessary in many uses of particle beams, a systematic study of the velocity characteristics of beams of spherical polystyrene particles was undertaken. The beams were generated by expansion of an aerosol through a capillary into a vacuum chamber. Beam velocities ranged up to the apparent carrier gas exit velocity of 316 m/sec, depending on source pressure and particle size. It was possible to adjust beam velocity by setting vacuum chamber pressure, thus regulating deceleration of the beam. A theoretical model describing the beam deceleration is presented. Velocity spread in the beam was relatively small for large velocities but substantial for low velocities. The velocity distribution function for particles in the beam was determined. The effect of condensation and subsequent evaporation of water on particle motion is discussed.
Semi-supervised facial landmark annotation

Highlights? A semi-supervised least-squares-based congealing algorithm is proposed. ? A statistical shape model learned online is integrated into congealing. ? We develop a system to automatically estimate the landmark set for an image ensemble. Landmark annotation for training images is essential for many learning tasks in computer vision, such as object detection, tracking, and alignment. Image annotation is typically conducted manually, which is both labor-intensive and error-prone. To improve this process, this paper proposes a new approach to estimating the locations of a set of landmarks for a large image ensemble using manually annotated landmarks for only a small number of images in the ensemble. Our approach, named semi-supervised least-squares congealing, aims to minimize an objective function defined on both annotated and unannotated images. A shape model is learned online to constrain the landmark configuration. We employ an iterative coarse-to-fine patch-based scheme together with a greedy patch selection strategy for landmark location estimation. Extensive experiments on facial images show that our approach can reliably and accurately annotate landmarks for a large image ensemble starting with a small number of manually annotated images, under several challenging scenarios.
Confocal, three-dimensional tracking of individual quantum dots in high-background environments.

We demonstrate a custom confocal fluorescence-microscope that is capable of tracking individual quantum dots undergoing three-dimensional Brownian motion (diffusion coefficient ∼ 0.5 μm2/s) in environments with a signal-to-background ratio as low as 2:1, significantly worse than observed in a typical cellular environment. By utilizing a pulsed excitation source and time-correlated single photon counting, the time-resolved photon stream can be used to determine changes in the emission lifetime as a function of position and positively identify single quantum dots via photon-pair correlations. These results indicate that this microscope will be capable of following protein and RNA transport throughout the full three-dimensional volume of a live cell for durations up to 15 s.
A Simple Charge-Based Model for MOS Transistor Capacitances: A New Production Tool

A new charge based MOS transistor model for capacitances which will conserve transient charges is introduced. The model is required to accurately simulate a certain class of dynamic circuits. This model features continuous charge formulation in all regions of operation: accumulation, cutoff, and strong inversion. Capacitances are continuous in all regions except on the strong inversion to cutoff border. The channel potential is approximated by novel and weighted functions of the drain and source potentials. A hyperbolic tangent function splits the channel charge in strong inversion between the source and drain. Charge conservation and accuracy of the model are demonstrated with some real examples.
Remnant Fermi surfaces in cuprates

Abstract We investigate a new methodology proposed by Ronning et al. for analyzing the angle resolved photoemission data on high Tc cuprates - the remnant Fermi surface (rFs). This is the locus of the points in k-space where the momentum distribution n(k) is one half, and can be determined even in strongly correlated electron systems that lack the Fermi surface. There are two fundamentally different classes of remnant Fermi surfaces depending on whether the interaction leads to pairing or to a generalized nesting (magnetic or charge) instability. For pairing the remnant Fermi surface follows faithfully the Fermi surface, whereas for magnetic or charge instabilities the rFs maps the corresponding superlattice Brillouin zone. We exemplify these concepts by determining the rFs for a particular model presenting two phases: flux phase (nesting) and d-wave superconductivity (pairing).
In vivo interactions of the Acanthamoeba TBP gene promoter

Transcription of the TATA box binding protein (TBP) gene in Acanthamoeba castellanii is regulated by TATA box binding protein promoter binding factor (TPBF), which binds to an upstream TBP promoter element to stimulate transcription, and to a TATA proximal element, where it represses transcription. In order to extend these observations to the in vivo chromatin context, the TBP gene was examined by in situ footprinting and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). Acanthamoeba DNA is nucleosomal with a repeat of ∼160 bp, and an intranucleosomal DNA periodicity of 10.5 bp. The TBP gene comprises a 220 bp micrococcal nuclease hypersensitive site corresponding to the promoter regulatory elements previously identified, flanked by protected regions of a size consistent with the presence of nucleosomes. ChIP data indicated that TPBF is associated with the TBP, TPBF and MIL gene promoters, but not to the CSP21, MIIHC, 5SrRNA or 39SrRNA promoters, or to the MIL gene C-terminal region. Binding by TPBF to the TPBF and MIL gene promoters was confirmed by in vitro assays. These results validate the in vitro model for TBP gene regulation and further suggest that TPBF may be autoregulated and may participate in the regulation of the MIL gene.