cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Amino Acid Metabolism is Altered in Adolescents with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease—An Untargeted, High Resolution Metabolomics Study

Objective To conduct an untargeted, high resolution exploration of metabolic pathways that was altered in association with hepatic steatosis in adolescents. Study design This prospective, case-control study included 39 Hispanic-American, obese adolescents aged 11-17 years evaluated for hepatic steatosis using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Of these 39 individuals, 30 had hepatic steatosis ≥5% and 9 were matched controls with hepatic steatosis t tests and visualized using Manhattan plots. Untargeted pathway analyses using Mummichog were performed among the significant metabolites to identify pathways that were most dysregulated in NAFLD. Results The metabolomics analysis yielded 9583 metabolites, and 7711 with 80% presence across all samples remained for statistical testing. Of these, 478 metabolites were associated with the presence of NAFLD compared with the matched controls. Pathway analysis revealed that along with lipid metabolism, several major amino acid pathways were dysregulated in NAFLD, with tyrosine metabolism being the most affected. Conclusions Metabolic pathways of several amino acids are significantly disturbed in adolescents with elevated hepatic steatosis. This is a novel finding and suggests that these pathways may be integral in the mechanisms of NAFLD.
Rubber Tires for Residents: Bus Rapid Transit and Changing Neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California

Bus rapid transit (BRT), mass transit that provides rail-like service on rubber tires, is gaining popularity in the United States as a lower-cost alternative to rail. Despite its growing popularity and previous research that links rail transit-oriented development to gentrification, the effects of domestic BRT on surrounding neighborhoods remains largely unexplored. This paper fills that gap by exploring neighborhood change around the Los Angeles, California, Orange Line, the most heavily patronized BRT line in the United States between 2000 and 2013. This study found that neighborhoods within a ½-mi radius of Orange Line stations changed more than those located 2 and 5 mi from stations. While neighborhood racial–ethnic compositions remained relatively static, rising median home values, rents, and increasing educational attainment of residents suggest economic transitions and gentrification within Orange Line–adjacent communities. In addition, neighborhoods with lower median rents, lower median household ...
The Electoral Implications of Presidents Selecting Cabinet Members from the Congress, 1977-2013

This paper explores an important but unexamined element of presidential cabinet appointments – their electoral implications. To what extent do presidents make strategic appointments to their cabinet of sitting members of the House and Senate that help their party to pick up congressional seats from the other party or that minimize the chances that the other party will take seats vacated by appointees of the president’s party? To analyze these dynamics, we examine whether House and Senate appointees to cabinet or cabinet-rank posts over the 37 years from 1977 through 2013 come from safe seats or competitive seats and whether senators appointed by the president primarily come from states with governors of the same party who have the power to appoint an interim senator. We find that recent presidents have infrequently selected sitting members of the House and Senate for cabinet or cabinet-rank service, and that presidents have almost never nominated sitting members of Congress from the other party for cabinet service, and thus do not use these picks to seek electoral gain for their party. Presidents have been mostly risk averse when appointing sitting members of Congress from their own party to the cabinet, but in certain instances presidents have run clear electoral risk by opening a congressional seat in the wake of a cabinet appointment, and at times have seen their party suffer the long-term loss of both House and Senate seats as a result. This research sheds light on the important tensions that at times exist between a president choosing the team he feels he needs for his cabinet and the electoral prospects of his political party.
Atomistic to Continuum Constitutive Modeling of Radiation Damage on FCC Metals and its Adaptation for the Generation of New Materials

The paper presents a rate-independent dislocation growth and defect annihilation mechanism to capture the pre- and post-yield material behavior of FCC metals subjected to different doses of neutron radiation. Based on observation from molecular dynamics simulation and TEM experiments, the developed model is capable of capturing the salient features of irradiation induced hardening including increase in yield stress followed by yield drop and non-zero stress offset from the unirradiated stress-strain curve. The key contribution is a model for the critical resolved slip resistance that depends on both dislocation and defect densities which are governed by evolution equations based on physical observations. The result is an orientation-dependent nonhomogeneous deformation model which accounts for defect annihilation on active slip planes. Results for both single and polycrystalline simulations of OFHC copper are presented and are observed to be in reasonably good agreement with experimental data. Extension of the model to other FCC metals is straightforward and is currently being developed for BCC metals giving its way for generation of new materials.
Method To Determine Protein Concentration in the Protein–Nanoparticle Conjugates Aqueous Solution Using Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

Considerable efforts have been made to synthesize and characterize protein–nanoparticle conjugates (protein–NPs) for their promising applications in bionanotechnology. However, protein concentration determination in the protein–NPs has so far not been reported. In this Letter, we present a simple and nondestructive approach to quantify the protein concentration in the protein–NPs aqueous solution using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Carbon dots (∼4 nm), gold nanoparticles (∼10 nm), and polyethylene glycol (PEG, molecular weight ∼3000) were either physically mixed or covalently conjugated (not in the case of gold nanoparticles) with proteins (human transferrin, human serum albumin, and ovalbumin). We were able to quantify the protein concentration in the protein–nanoparticle conjugates using a calibration curve from the CD spectra.
Abstract B162: Comprehensive analyses of tumor immunity with implications to cancer immunotherapies

Checkpoint blockade drugs have recently achieved remarkable success in treating late stage melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinomas and renal cell carcinomas. This breakthrough stimulated more than two hundred clinical trials involving anti-CTLA4 or anti-PD-1/PD-L1 drugs over 20 human cancers worldwide in the past few years. Although many patients have shown promising results in Phase I/II trials, a substantial fraction failed to respond. Efforts have been made to elucidate the functions of selected immune cells and provide prognostic predictors. However, the clinical impact of other immune cells in many cancers remains poorly understood. We integrated high-throughput molecular profiles combined with clinical data to systematically model six immune components in the tumor microenvironment in over 10,000 samples across 23 cancer types. We showed that lymphocyte infiltration generally associates with better outcome, while tumor associated myelocytes are negative prognostic predictors. We identified diverse associations between tumor-infiltrating immune cells and patient clinical features, including patient survival, disease recurrence, clinical stage, age, gender and viral infection status. We found immune cell infiltration to be correlated with somatic mutation load and microsatellite instability (MSI) status, suggesting the mechanism of immunosurveillance. We observed correlation between cancer/testis antigen MAGEA3 expression with CD8 T-cell infiltration in melanoma but not in non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), and implicated CTAGE1 and CALR3 as alternative candidates for cancer vaccines in NSCLC. Furthermore, we found PD-1 and CTLA4 expression to be associated with CD8 T-cell level in most cancers with exceptions in glioblastoma and ovarian cancer, suggesting cancer-specific usage of checkpoint blockade drugs. Our study indicates that systematic analysis of tumor immunity has the potential to inform effective cancer vaccines and checkpoint blockade therapies. Citation Format: Bo Li, Jun Liu, X. Shirley Liu. Comprehensive analyses of tumor immunity with implications to cancer immunotherapies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B162.
Development of a Lac Operon Concept Inventory (LOCI)

Concept inventories (CIs) are valuable tools for educators that assess student achievement and identify misconceptions held by students. Results of student responses can be used to adjust or develop new instructional methods for a given topic. The regulation of gene expression in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes is an important concept in genetics and one that is particularly challenging for undergraduate students. As part of a larger study examining instructional methods related to gene regulation, the authors developed a 12-item CI assessing student knowledge of the lac operon. Using an established protocol, the authors wrote open-ended questions and conducted in-class testing with undergraduate microbiology and genetics students to discover common errors made by students about the lac operon and to determine aspects of item validity. Using these results, we constructed a 12-item multiple-choice lac operon CI called the Lac Operon Concept Inventory (LOCI), The LOCI was reviewed by two experts in the field for content validity. The LOCI underwent item analysis and was assessed for reliability with a sample of undergraduate genetics students (n = 115). The data obtained were found to be valid and reliable (coefficient alpha = 0.994) with adequate discriminatory power and item difficulty.
Effect of mesogenic ligands on short and long-term spectral dynamics and stability of core–shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

Surface modification is a versatile and effective route towards improving functional and structural characteristics of chemically synthesized nanomaterials. In the specific case of semiconducting nanoparticles (quantum dots (QDs)) the photophysical properties are strongly tied to surface conditions. Therefore, a careful monitoring of photoluminescent (PL) behavior, both short and long term, is critical following alterations to their surface chemistry. We observe several noteworthy changes in the static and dynamic PL spectra of CdSe/ZnS core–shell QDs when the as-grown native ligands are exchanged with two different mesogenic ligands—rod-like molecules attached to the particle by a flexible alkyl chain. These include reduced inter-dot energy transfer, stable recombination rates and steady emission color over more than an hour of continuous photo-excitation, all effects being more prominent in the sample with the longer attachment chain. Temperature dependence of PL and recombination rates reveals further differences. Thermally activated PL recovery threshold is pushed to a higher temperature in the modified dots, while PL lifetime does not show the expected increase with decreasing temperature. Our results indicate that increased charge separation induced by the longer ligands is responsible for these effects, and this may be a route to fabricating QD films for specific applications demanding long term emission color stability.
Abstract B059: Local intratumoral treatment with low-dose CD40 and TLR4 agonists overcomes resistance to PD-1 blockade to regress tumors systemically

Multiple cancers resistant to immune checkpoint blockade (i.e., anti-PD-1, PD-L1, and/or CTLA-4) demonstrate impaired APC activation. We therefore hypothesized that resistance to checkpoint blockade could be overcome with agents selected to enforce APC activation. Using the checkpoint-blockade resistant syngeneic B16 murine model, we screened such agents for their ability to overcome resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy. In the setting of PD-1 blockade, we found that intratumoral treatment with the TLR4 ligand monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) and low-dose CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody (mAb) primes T cells which infiltrate and regress noninjected tumors at a distant site. Surprisingly, locally injected tumors were heavily infiltrated with neutrophils expressing costimulatory markers within 3 hours of treatment and then rapidly regressed. There was, however, persistence of activated dendritic cells and monocytes in the draining lymph node. Within 1 week, distant tumors were infiltrated with activated CD8 T cells, showed a marked increase in the T effector to T regulatory ratio, and began to regress. The regression of distant tumors was abolished in RAG1-deficient animals lacking lymphocytes. Treatment yielded no discernable toxicity, and cured animals fully resisted tumor re-implantation at 90 days, developing fur depigmentation at both the site of initial treatment, and the untreated tumor reimplantation site, but not elsewhere. Interestingly, systemic administration of MPL and CD40 was less effective than intratumoral treatment despite a 25-fold dose increase. In conclusion, low-dose intratumoral treatment with combined TLR4 and CD40 agonists induces anti-tumor T cells which in turn regress tumors at distant sites and provide durable immunity such that tumor re-implantation is resisted in a highly-specific manner. Given that this regimen relies on agents that are FDA-approved for other indications, or in clinical development, it is potentially translatable across a broad range of malignancies that are currently resistant to immunotherapy. Citation Format: Danny N. Khalil, Luis Felipe Campesato, Yanyun Li, Taha Merghoub, Jedd D. Wolchok. Local intratumoral treatment with low-dose CD40 and TLR4 agonists overcomes resistance to PD-1 blockade to regress tumors systemically [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B059.
Near perfect light trapping in 2D metal nanotrench gratings and its application for sensing(Conference Presentation)

In this work, a 2D metallic nano-trench array was fabricated on gold metal surface by using an e-beam lithography patterning and etching process. Optical reflectance from the device was measured at oblique angles of incidence for TE and TM polarization. Near perfect light trapping was observed at different wavelengths for TE and TM polarization at oblique angle of incidence. As angle of incidence increases, light trapping wavelength has a red-shift for TM polarization and blue shift for TE polarization. The fabricated nano-trench device was also investigated for chemical sensor application. It was found that by varying the angle of incidence, the sensitivity changes with opposite trends for TE and TM polarization. Sensor sensitivity increases for TM polarization and decreases for TE polarization with increase of the oblique incident angle.
Cognitive Styles Used in Evidence Citation by Ancient Christian Authors: The Psychology of a Major Ancient Controversy over the Historicity of the Pentateuch, and Its Implications for Science Education Today

Cognitive experiential self-theory recognizes two cognitive styles that humans use as modes of everyday thinking – experiential thinking and rational thinking – which appear to be products of two functional systems in the brain. These cognitive styles are diagnosable in writing samples of authors who cite evidence in support of a position. Here, I report an analysis of writing samples of opponents in a momentous ancient controversy. Christian authors of the first five centuries disagreed as to whether the stories in the Pentateuch were literal, accurate records of history that could be interpreted allegorically (the literocredist camp) or included non-historical stories that were allegory only (the allophorist camp). Cognitive analysis of their evidence citations reveals a predominance of experiential thinking in literocredists and rational thinking in allophorists in reference to this question. This finding augments those of previous studies that implicate the experiential thinking system as the source of today’s biblical literocredism, and shows that the connection between experiential thinking and literocredism is millennia-old. This study also reveals that the allophorist position was dominant among Christian writers in the first three centuries and that the literocredist position did not rise into prominence until the fourth century, suggesting a major cognitive shift among theologians in that century. These findings elucidate the psychology of a prominent ancient controversy but also are relevant to current science education, because the literocredist mindset continues today as anti-evolution bias. The role of cognitive style in such bias has profound implications for classroom strategies for conceptual change.
Bioptic Telescopic Spectacles and Driving Performance: A Study in Texas.

The safety of driving an automobile with Bioptic Telescopic Spectacles (BTS) is controversial, yet statistical analysis of driving performance may help resolve questions. All 64 persons licensed to...
Bone scan index at baseline as a tool for predicting hematologic toxicity in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients eligible for radium-223 treatment.

e16513Background: The prognosis of castration-resistant prostate cancer with skeletal metastasis (CRPCSM) is poor. The ALSYMPCA trial led to the approval of radium-223 (Ra223) in such patients. Fac...
Fundamentalism and Public Policy

The response of religious fundamentalists across the spectrum of world religions has been mixed and is complex due to differing histories, cultures, and political structures. Some fundamentalists reject participation in the political process while others fully embrace participation and seek to implement laws and cultural practices that reflect the values and commitments of the religious community that are frequently derived from narrow interpretation of religious texts. Use of the term fundamentalist is contested by some due to the historical context in which it arose and came to be used pejoratively in Protestant Christianity in the United States. Compounding discussion of the subject with respect to sexuality and gender issues is the fact that many women within fundamentalist religious communities accept rather than reject the doctrines and practices that are viewed by those outside of the community as restrictive and oppressive. In societies where policies have been implemented reflecting theological beliefs and values, such policies have created strict boundaries of gender activity and focused on attire, reproductive rights, education, sexual orientation, and economic opportunity. The majority of the scholarly research on the topic was done pre-2000, and the subject has not received much scholarly attention in recent years. Keywords: abortion; human rights; marriage; religon
The Role of Mechanical Forces in Guiding Tissue Differentiation

Stem cell differentiation is regulated by a diverse array of extracellular cues. Recent evidence suggests that mechanical interactions between extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surface receptors as well as physical interactions between neighboring cells play important roles in stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. It is also becoming clear that the ECM effects cellular behavior through many physical mechanisms, such as ECM geometry, elasticity, and the propagation of mechanical signals to intracellular compartments. Considerable effort is being targeted at developing biomaterials that exploit cellular microenvironments in guiding cells to desired phenotypes and organizing these into functional tissues. Improved understanding of the interactions between stem cells and their physical environment should yield new insight into the mechanisms governing their activity and allow the fabrication of artificial ECM to promote tissue development.
Transition-State Theory and Reaction Mechanism in Drug Action and Drug Design

Rational development of potent and specific new drugs requires a detailed knowledge of the chemical mechanism of action for available pharmacologic agents and/or the enzymes which catalyze a drug-sensitive reaction. Numerous drugs now in the pharmacopeia have been discovered largely by serendipity and by testing thousands of analogs of known effective agents. However, the emergence of bioorganic chemistry has provided a mechanistic foundation on which medicinal chemists and pharmacologists can construct a detailed understanding of the mode of action of drugs currently available and can improve the design of new agents. In previous chapters of this book, others have presented detailed descriptions of the determination of transition-state structures and their role in biochemical reactions. In this chapter, the application of these concepts to understanding the mode of drug action and to the design of new drugs will be considered. The use of transition-state analogs and multisubstrate adducts as potent and specific chemotherapeutic agents (the theoretical aspects of which were described by Wolfenden in Chapter 15) will be presented as the logical extension of transition-state theory into pharmacology. The preceding chapters have dealt with phenomena for which there is a considerable amount of literature available. In this final chapter, we shall discuss an approach to the study of drug action and drug design about which there is very little in the literature. It is hoped that this brief presentation will stimulate others to attempt to bridge the gap between bioorganic chemistry and pharmacology.
Profit: Pr iority and P o wer/Per f ormance Opt i miza t ion for Many-Core Systems

As power density emerges as the main constraint for many-core systems, controlling power consumption under the thermal design power while maximizing the performance becomes increasingly critical. To dynamically save power, dynamic voltage frequency scaling techniques have proved to be effective and are widely available commercially. Meanwhile, systems have certain performance constraints that the applications should satisfy to ensure quality of service. In this paper, we present an online distributed reinforcement learning (OD-RL)-based DVFS control algorithm for many-core system performance improvement under both power and performance constraints. At the finer grain, a per-core RL method is used to learn the optimal control policy of the voltage/frequency (VF) levels in a model-free manner. At the coarser grain, an efficient global power budget reallocation algorithm is used to maximize the overall performance. The experiments show that compared to the state-of-the-art algorithms: 1) OD-RL produces up to 98% less budget overshoot; 2) up to 23% higher energy efficiency; and 3) two orders of magnitude speedup over state-of-the-art techniques for systems with hundreds of cores. Furthermore, priority-aware OD-RL can better satisfy performance constraints than OD-RL with: 1) $17.8\boldsymbol {\times }$ more epochs satisfying the performance constraints; 2) $5.6\boldsymbol {\times }$ better performance gain; and 3) $20.0\boldsymbol {\times }$ better performance-power tradeoffs under similar efficiency and scalability.
MP20-17 INCORPORATION OF CLINICALLY RELEVANT PERFORMANCE METRICS (CRPMS) INTO A ROBOT ASSISTED RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY SIMULATION MODEL

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:Surgical education is dependent on live patients for operative exposure and cultivation of surgical technique. Robotic assisted nerve-sparing prostatectomy is a unique s...
Closing the Gap in Hospice Utilization for the Minority Medicare Population

Background: Medicare spends about 20% more on the last year of life for Black and Hispanic people than White people. With lower hospice utilization rates, racial/ethnic minorities receive fewer hospice-related benefits such as lesser symptoms, lower costs, and improved quality of life. For-profit hospices have higher dropout rates than nonprofit hospices, yet target racial/ethnic minority communities more through community outreach. This analysis examined the relationship between hospice utilization and for-profit hospice status and conducted an economic analysis of racial/ethnic minority utilization. Method: Cross-sectional analysis of 2014 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Census, and Hospice Analytics data. Measures included Medicare racial/ethnic minority hospice utilization, for-profit hospice status, estimated cost savings, and several demographic and socioeconomic variables. Results: The prevalence of for-profit hospices was associated with significantly increased hospice utilization among racial/ethnic minorities. With savings of about $2,105 per Medicare hospice enrollee, closing the gap between the White and racial/ethnic minority populations would result in nearly $270 million in annual cost savings. Discussion: Significant disparities in hospice use related to hospice for-profit status exist among the racial/ethnic minority Medicare population. CMS and state policymakers should consider lower racial/ethnic minority hospice utilization and foster better community outreach at all hospices to decrease patient costs and improve quality of life.
Exam Wrappers: It Is Time to Adopt A Nursing Student Metacognitive Tool For Exam Review

ABSTRACT Examining test performance, a common practice in nursing education, can be a vital learning tool, as well as a means of assessment. Exam or cognitive wrappers, performed by students after an exam but before the exam review, can explicitly teach students to discern between what they do and what they do not know. The process teaches metacognition, the highest level of critical thinking. Nursing students need to be proficient in metacognition for professional growth well beyond the classroom. However, little information about these cognitive exercises, known as exam wrappers, exists in nursing education today.
Preliminary evaluation of fecal fatty acid concentrations in cats with chronic kidney disease and correlation with indoxyl sulfate and p-cresol sulfate.

Background Straight- and branched-chain (BCFA) short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced by colonic microbiota and have both beneficial and deleterious effects in humans with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Fecal SCFAs in cats with CKD have not been described. Objective To characterize fecal SCFA concentrations in cats with CKD as compared to healthy geriatric cats and correlate SCFA to serum indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresol sulfate (pCS) concentrations. Animals Twenty-eight cats with CKD (International Renal Interest Society [IRIS] stages 2, 3, and 4) and 11 older (≥ 8 years) healthy geriatric cats. Methods Prospective, cross-sectional study. Voided feces were analyzed using stable isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine fecal concentrations of SCFAs. Serum concentrations of IS and pCS were measured using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Results Fecal isovaleric acid concentrations were significantly higher in CKD cats(P = .02) Cats with IRIS CKD stage 3 and 4 had significantly higher fecal isovaleric acid concentrations compared to healthy geriatric cats (P = .03), but not compared to IRIS CKD stage 2 cats. Total fecal concentrations of BCFAs were found to correlate weakly with serum creatinine concentration (rho, 0.33; P = .05), blood urea nitrogen concentration (rho, 0.40; P = .01), and pCS concentration (rho, 0.35; P = .04). Conclusions and clinical importance Fecal isovaleric acid concentrations were higher in CKD cats, particularly in late stage disease, compared to healthy geriatric cats. Fecal BCFA concentrations correlated with pCS and were higher in cats with muscle wasting, providing evidence for malassimilation of protein in CKD cats.
Nonverbal Steps to the Origin of Language

The verbal and nonverbal dimensions of social intelligence are genetically linked. That which is verbal in social intelligence today is based on 15 adaptive, nonverbal steps that led to the origin of gestural and vocal language in genus Homo. Each step worked its way into tissues of the human nervous system. In combination and in synergy, the steps enabled linguistic communication in Homo sapiens. The neuromuscular changes occasioned in each step—and their roles in gestured and spoken language—are herein outlined and explored.
Invasive Strategies for the Treatment of Pulmonary Embolism. Where Are We in 2020

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is the third most common cause of cardiovascular mortality in the United States, with 60,000-100,000 deaths per year following myocardial infarction and stroke. During the past 5 years, there has been an introduction of novel interventions as a result of a renewed interest in optimizing PE management, particularly among those individuals with more severe disease of hemodynamic significance. The cornerstone treatment for PE is anticoagulation. More aggressive alternatives have been considered for patients with intermediate and high-risk PE. In general, these options can be grouped into 3 different categories: systemic thrombolysis, catheter-directed interventions, and surgical embolectomy. Systemic thrombolysis has shown statistical benefit in several randomized trials for intermediate- and high-risk PE, however, this benefit has been offset by an elevated risk of major bleeding and intracerebral hemorrhage, limiting their use in clinical practice. Catheter-directed thrombolysis refers to catheter-directed injection of a thrombolytic drug directly into the pulmonary artery. Three interventional devices (EKOSonic endovascular system, FlowTriever embolectomy device and the Indigo thrombectomy system) have recently been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for marketing, and several others are in various stages of development. As of today, catheter-based interventions are limited to small randomized trials and single arm-prospective studies focused on short-term surrogate endpoints. Although single arm studies carry some value establishing the preliminary safety and effectiveness of these devices, they are not sufficient to stratify risk and guide clinical practice. Furthermore, no trials have been performed with enough power to assess potential mortality benefit with the use of catheter-directed thrombolysis or catheter-based embolectomy devices, hence treatment decisions continue to be influenced by individual risk of bleeding, the location of thrombus and operator expertise until additional evidence becomes available.
Advanced Manufacturing for High-Temperature Materials

Advances in manufacturing are largely driven by reducing cost and energy use and taking advantage of materials and designs to unlock new device properties. Energy conversion and storage is a key electrochemistry application in the high-temperature energy, materials, and processes (H-TEMP) Division.
Inducibility of 4-vertex tournaments

We determine the inducibility of all tournaments with at most $4$ vertices together with the extremal constructions. The $4$-vertex tournament containing an oriented $C_3$ and one source vertex has a particularly interesting extremal construction. It is an unbalanced blow-up of an edge, where the sink vertex is replaced by a quasi-random tournament and the source vertex is iteratively replaced by a copy of the construction itself.
Do transparency mechanisms reduce government corruption? A meta-analysis:

This article presents a meta-analysis of empirical studies to examine the role of transparency mechanisms for curbing corruption. The analysis reveals that transparency has an overall significant, ...
Touchdown: The Development of Propulsion Controlled Aircraft at NASA Dryden

This monograph relates the important history of the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft project at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Spurred by a number of airplane crashes caused by the loss of hydraulic flight controls, a NASA-industry team lead by Frank W. Burcham and C. Gordon Fullerton developed a way to land an aircraft safely using only engine thrust to control the airplane. In spite of initial skepticism, the team discovered that, by manually manipulating an airplane's thrust, there was adequate control for extended up-and-away flight. However, there was not adequate control precision for safe runway landings because of the small control forces, slow response, and difficulty in damping the airplane phugoid and Dutch roll oscillations. The team therefore conceived, developed, and tested the first computerized Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system. The PCA system takes pilot commands, uses feedback from airplane measurements, and computes commands for the thrust of each engine, yielding much more precise control. Pitch rate and velocity feedback damp the phugoid oscillation, while yaw rate feedback damps the Dutch roll motion. The team tested the PCA system in simulators and conducted flight research in F-15 and MD-11 airplanes. Later, they developed less sophisticated variants of PCA called PCA Lite and PCA Ultralite to make the system cheaper and therefore more attractive to industry. This monograph tells the PCA story in a non- technical way with emphasis on the human aspects of the engineering and flic,ht-research effort. It thereby supplements the extensive technical literature on PCA and makes the development of this technology accessible to a wide audience.
Head and neck

Access to many oropharyngeal tumors has traditionally been through a transmandibular, translabial approach or a wide pharyngotomy. Unfortunately, mandibulotomies and large phayngotomies can result in significant postoperative morbidity and functional and esthetic compromise. Because of the morbidity involved in these more aggressive resections and the proven efficacy of chemoradiation in the treatment of some oropharyngeal cancer, there was a paradigm shift away from ablative surgery. As long-term follow-up on these “organ-sparing” protocols has taken shape, however, significant morbidity and mortality has emerged. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) was developed to resect tumors in the oropharynx without splitting the mandible. It has the benefits of locoregional control while avoiding the morbidity of high-dose chemoradiation therapy. The reconstructive challenge created by these minimally invasive resections is that the cylinder of the oropharynx remains almost entirely closed, severely restricting access to oropharyngeal anatomy. For these types of defects, transoral inset of a free flap or local flap using robotic assistance has been shown to be both feasible and effective. By taking this approach, the plastic surgeon can provide the reconstructive support for the head and neck surgeon to remove larger and more complex tumors robotically that would be very difficult to reconstruct through traditional methods.
Shuffle to Baffle: Towards Scalable Protocols for Secure Multi-party Shuffling

In secure multi-party shuffling, multiple parties, each holding an input, want to agree on a random permutation of their inputs while keeping the permutation secret. This problem is important as a primitive in many privacy-preserving applications such as anonymous communication, location-based services, and electronic voting. Known techniques for solving this problem suffer from poor scalability, load-balancing issues, trusted party assumptions, and/or weak security guarantees. In this paper, we propose an unconditionally-secure protocol for multi-party shuffling that scales well with the number of parties and is load-balanced. In particular, we require each party to send only a polylogarithmic number of bits and perform a polylogarithmic number of operations while incurring only a logarithmic round complexity. We show security under universal compos ability against up to about n/3 fully-malicious parties. We also provide simulation results in the full version of this paper showing that our protocol improves significantly over previous work. For example, for one million parties, when compared to the state of the art, our protocol reduces the communication and computation costs by at least three orders of magnitude and slightly decreases the number of communication rounds.
The synthesis of phenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophene and the four monomethylphenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophenes

The synthesis of phenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophene and the four monomethylphenanthro[4,5-bcd]thiophenes is described.
Insulin Degludec, The New Generation Basal Insulin or Just another Basal Insulin?

The advances in recombinant DNA technology have led to an improvement in the properties of currently available long-acting insulin analogs. Insulin degludec, a new generation ultra-long-acting basal insulin, currently in phase 3 clinical trials, has a promising future in clinical use. When compared to its rival basal insulin analogs, a longer duration of action and lower incidence of hypoglycemic events in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients has been demonstrated.1,2 Its unique mechanism of action is based on multihexamer formation after subcutaneous injection. This reportedly allows for less pharmacodynamic variability and within-subject variability than currently available insulin analogs, and a duration of action that is over 24 hours.3 The lack of proof of carcinogenicity with insulin degludec is yet another factor that would be taken into consideration when choosing the optimal basal insulin for a diabetic individual.4 A formulation of insulin degludec with insulin aspart, Insulin degludec 70%/aspart 30%, may permit improved flexibly of dosing without compromising glycemic control or safety.5
Reconsidering combined antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy in atrial fibrillation

With the publication in 1989 of the first large randomized controlled trial of warfarin in atrial fibrillation ([1][1]), the role of anticoagulation for preventing stroke in this arrhythmia became established. Subsequent trials, published during the following decade, confirmed the efficacy of the
Comparison of Methods for Isolation of Anaerobic Bacteria from Clinical Specimens

Five different anaerobic culture methods and several different media were compared for their ability to recover anaerobes from clinical specimens. Specimens were obtained from patients with documented infections, avoiding contamination with normal flora, and immediately placed in an anaerobic transporter. Each specimen was cultured by all methods and on all the various media. The comparative data indicate that anaerobic jars (GasPak and evacuation-replacement types) are just as effective in the recovery of clinically significant anaerobes as the more complex roll-tube and chamber methods employing prereduced media. Liquid media were disappointing as a "back-up" system but chopped-meat glucose was superior to two thioglycolate formulations. Growth of all anaerobes was poorer on selective media, but these media were very helpful in the workup of specimens containing mixed growth of anaerobic and facultative organisms. A variety of different anaerobes was isolated, but no very fastidious or extremely oxygen-sensitive organisms were recovered. This suggests that such organisms may not play a significant role in causing clinical infections.
Financial liberalization and the capital account : Thailand, 1988-97

The authors examine Thailand's macro-economy and micro-economy for the period 1988-97 to assess the extent to which the country's mix of macroeconomic and financial sector policies contributed to its economic crisis in 1997. They conclude that the crisis was fundamentally one of private sector debt, rooted in private behavior that affected the magnitude and composition of investment and how it was financed. Unlike the Latin American debt crisis, the Thai crisis was not caused by excessive sovereign borrowing. Financial sector weakness--including inadequate regulation and supervision, implicit deposit insurance, concentrated ownership structures, and poor accounting and disclosure--combined with liberalization of the financial sector and capital accounts, increased vulnerability by creating incentives for risk-taking by financial institutions. Many macroeconomic fundamentals were strong, but the combination of tight monetary policy and an inflexible exchange rate created strong incentives for residents to expose themselves to excessive foreign exchange and liquidity risks. Weak corporate governance, including close corporate links to the banking sector, encouraged risky investments and over-diversification in the corporate sector.
Igor Herbut: A Modern Approach to Critical Phenomena

This relatively short and extremely well written book is what I would recommend to every graduate student in condensed matter physics as compulsory reading. I really would. Considering its modest size if compared to other ponderous treatises on the same topic(s), its very clear and well chiseled out explanations and derivations, as well as the care prof. Herbut took in order not to overpower the reader with too extravagant excursions into the mathematical arcana of the field theory, it simply deserves to be noted and read. I am sure the students will appreciate its manageable size and conciseness, its crisp argumentation as well as its elegant and not overwhelming mathematical proofs. There are of course many books on critical phenomena but this one nevertheless stands out. While reading it I wished this would be my first encounter with the methods of field theory applied to condensed matter physics. The book grew out from the lectures on the theory of phase transitions and the renormalization group that prof. Herbut taught to the grad students at Simon Fraser University. It was conceived primarily not only for the student that wants to get familiar with the notions of phase transitions and critical phenomena, but above all, for the students that actually want to learn how to use and implement the basic concepts of modern theory of critical phenomena, in order to explain and compute the problems s/he is working on. The book thus inevitably contains enough calculational details either explained in the main text or interspersed throughout carefully chosen problems, in order to convey the usefulness and elegance of the field-theoretical techniques. The book is organized around the principal theme, which was chosen as the superfluid phase transition: it allows a straightforward introduction of the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson functional, leads naturally to the notion of topological defects and is well supported by the available experimental evidence. Formally the momentum-shell renormalization group approach is given total priority over the real-space renormalization since it flows most naturally from the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson functional. Besides the introductory chapters, the book
Breach and Excused Non-Performance in Contract Cases: Narrated Multi-Media Electronic Lessons

These electronic essays cover a topic that is probably (a) the single most commonly encountered real world Contract law topic for general practice lawyers and (b) tested more heavily on the bar exam than any other contract law topic. These essays all rest on the notion that the key to understanding contract disputes is an understanding that such disputes almost always come down to disputes about whether non-performance is a “breach” of the contract or an “excused non-performance.” Two distinct categories of excuses are discussed, the “non-agreement” excuses (sometimes called the “real” defenses) and the “all-other” excuses (sometimes called the “personal” defenses.) Discussion includes extensive references to the cryptic concept of express and constructive (implied in law) “conditions.” Discussion also includes brief references to the notion of “consideration” as well as to rules regarding writings, notably rules regarding the statute of frauds and the parol evidence rule. Analysis emphasizes situations in which rules in Article 2 of the UCC differ from rules in the common law of contracts (with the common law principally articulated in the Restatement Second of Contracts). These essays do NOT cover the topic of Remedies in Contract cases, a topic covered in another set of electronic essays. There are about thirty individual electronic essays in this overall set of electronic essays, and about thirty accompanying graphics-only versions of these e-essays. The electronic essays themselves are .swf files and can be watched/listened to on Windows PC’s or Macs. These files, which are 10-15 megs in size, are filled with media, including music and narration. The graphics only versions of the essays are ppt files. They too can can be viewed on Windows PC’s or Macs. These ppt files are 2-3 megs in size. This set of electronic essays on Breach and Excused Non-Performance in Contract Cases coordinates with other sets of lessons in an overall group of electronic essays on selected topics in USA Business law. A copy of this electronic lesson can be found online.
The Impact of Passing the Professional in Human Resources Exam on Early Career Success for Undergraduates Entering the Human Resource Field

This study investigates the impact of passing the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification exam on the early career success of recent college graduates. Data were gathered from alumni of three Midwestern universities who earned an undergraduate degree in business administration (i.e., BBA) with a major in human resources. The survey was designed to measure early career success indicators including finding a job in the HR field, starting salary, and number of promotions. Results reveal that the probability of one's first job after graduation being in human resources was significantly greater for those who had passed the PHR exam compared with those who did not pass or did not take the exam. Passing the PHR exam was not associated with significant differences in starting salary or early career promotions. Implications, study strengths and limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Methionine metabolism in mammals. Regulation of homocysteine methyltransferases in rat tissue.

We studied two mammalian enzymes capable of remethylating homocysteine. Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase was found only in rat liver while N 5 -methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase could be demonstrated in all tissues except small intestinal mucosa. Various hormones significantly affect the specific activity of the enzymes. These effects depend on hormone, enzyme, and tissue. The responses of the two transmethylases to dietary changes differed markedly. Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase increased with protein and methionine feeding. N 5 -Methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase on the other hand increased under conditions that suggested the need for methionine synthesis. We conclude that N 5 -methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase activity contributes significantly to the regulation of methionine metabolism in mammals. High protein diets repress the synthesis of this enzyme in liver.
Catalysis, Electrocatalysis, and Hydrocarbon Fuel Cells

CATALYSIS is usually defined as the enhancement of the rate of a chemical reaction by a substance, not consumed in the reaction, called the catalyst. The special case of catalysing the electrode reactions in a fuel cell in which a fuel or oxygen must react electrochemically with the production or consumption of charged species at anode or cathode deserves a special name because in many ways this process is expected to be qualitatively different from ordinary catalysis. The name electrocatalysis has been suggested1, and this seems to be a convenient term to highlight the distinction noted here. Electrocatalysis may be defined as the enhancement of the rate of an electrochemical reaction by a substance, not consumed in the reaction, called the electrocatalyst1.