cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Absence of early epileptiform abnormalities predicts lack of seizures on continuous EEG

Objective: To determine whether the absence of early epileptiform abnormalities predicts absence of later seizures on continuous EEG monitoring of hospitalized patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 242 consecutive patients without a prior generalized convulsive seizure or active epilepsy who underwent continuous EEG monitoring lasting at least 18 hours for detection of nonconvulsive seizures or evaluation of unexplained altered mental status. The findings on the initial 30-minute screening EEG, subsequent continuous EEG recordings, and baseline clinical data were analyzed. We identified early EEG findings associated with absence of seizures on subsequent continuous EEG. Results: Seizures were detected in 70 (29%) patients. A total of 52 patients had their first seizure in the initial 30 minutes of continuous EEG monitoring. Of the remaining 190 patients, 63 had epileptiform discharges on their initial EEG, 24 had triphasic waves, while 103 had no epileptiform abnormalities. Seizures were later detected in 22% (n = 14) of studies with epileptiform discharges on their initial EEG, vs 3% (n = 3) of the studies without epileptiform abnormalities on initial EEG ( p Conclusions: In patients without epileptiform abnormalities during the first 4 hours of recording, no seizures were subsequently detected. Therefore, EEG features early in the recording may indicate a low risk for seizures, and help determine whether extended monitoring is necessary.
The deconfinement phase transition in asymmetric matter

Abstract We study the phase transition of asymmetric hadronic matter to a quark-gluon plasma within the framework of a simple two-phase model. The analysis is performed in a system with two conserved charges (baryon number and isospin) using the stability conditions on the free energy, the conservation laws and Gibbs' criteria for phase equilibrium. The EOS is obtained in a separate description for the hadronic phase and for the quark-gluon plasma. For the hadrons, a relativistic mean-field model calibrated to the properties of nuclear matter is used, and a bag-model type EOS is used for the quarks and gluons. The model is applied to the deconfinement phase transition that may occur in matter created in ultra-relativistic collisions of heavy ions. Based on the two-dimensional coexistence surface (binodal), various phase separation scenarios and the Maxwell construction through the mixed phase are discussed. In the framework of the two-phase model the phase transition in asymmetric matter is continuous (second-order by Ehrenfest's definition) in contrast to the discontinuous (first-order) transition of symmetric systems.
Stress and hippocampal plasticity.

The hippocampus is a target of stress hormones, and it is an especially plastic and vulnerable region of the brain. It also responds to gonadal, thyroid, and adrenal hormones, which modulate changes in synapse formation and dendritic structure and regulate dentate gyrus volume during development and in adult life. Two forms of structural plasticity are affected by stress: Repeated stress causes atrophy of dendrites in the CA3 region, and both acute and chronic stress suppresses neurogenesis of dentate gyrus granule neurons. Besides glucocorticoids, excitatory amino acids and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are involved in these two forms of plasticity as well as in neuronal death that is caused in pyramidal neurons by seizures and by ischemia. The two forms of hippocampal structural plasticity are relevant to the human hippocampus, which undergoes a selective atrophy in a number of disorders, accompanied by deficits in declarative, episodic, spatial, and contextual memory performance. It is important, from a therapeutic standpoint, to distinguish between a permanent loss of cells and a reversible atrophy.
Presenting Mortality: Shen Zhou's Falling Blossoms Project

The renowned artist Shen Zhou (1427–1509) began to explore the theme of falling blossoms as a subject for poetry, painting, and calligraphy in his very late years. The theme stands out both for the number of times Shen Zhou worked on it and for the quality of the poems, calligraphies, and paintings that he produced. He began with ten poems in 1503, prompted by an illness that kept him from enjoying the seasonal blossoming of spring fruit trees in the Suzhou area. Shen’s intention was to record his meditations on the passage of time and human mortality, but the act of writing these verses transformed when Shen shared them with a number of prominent cultural figures in the Jiangnan region. Rhymed by admirers, and then rerhymed by Shen Zhou, the poems became part of a greater project, broadly shared, that ultimately became a highly self-conscious reflection on mortality and its presentation through art. The essay focuses on the evolution and scope of Shen Zhou’s Falling Blossoms project, the motivations and concerns behind Shen’s activities as reflected by revealing texts, and the manner in which Shen chose to illustrate the theme in painting. Three paintings—a fan in the Shanghai Museum and handscroll compositions in the Nanjing Museum and the National Palace Museum (Taipei)—demonstrate how Shen utilized a rich store of iconographical and stylistic models to establish the theme of contemplating mortality. The essay ends with consideration of a very late composition, Shen’s 1507 rendition of Misty River, Layered Peaks (Liaoning Provincial Museum), an ambitious painting that seemingly voices a defiant resolution to some of the existential questions posed by Shen’s Falling Blossoms.
Effects of Preoxidation on the Strength and Fatigue of Hot-Pressed Silicon Nitride

The strength of as-machined and pre-oxidized hot-pressed silicon nitride was measured in three-point bending at temperatures of 23, 800, 1000, and 1100°C as a function of stressing rate. Pre-oxidation at 980°C for 50 h significantly increased the strength for the test temperatures of 23 and 800°C; however, at 1000°and 1100°C the strengths of pre-oxidized and as-machined samples were statistically indistinguishable and significantly less than the room temperature strengths. The fatigue resistance of the pre-oxidized specimens was found to be similar to that of the as-machined specimens at all temperatures with both exhibiting a high fatigue resistance (N=100) at 23 and 800°C and a significant decrease in fatigue resistance (N=20) at 1000 and 1100°C. Additional results showed that flaw generation and the growth of existing flaws are competing processes at high temperatures and fracture strength is determined by the most dominant of these processes.
Allowing States to Help Workers Save for Retirement – Department of Labor’s Proposed Rulemaking That Provides a Safe Harbor for State Savings Programs under ERISA

There is a “retirement crisis” in America. Even though some would view this as hyperbole, the empirical evidence reflects that “[t]he average working household has virtually no retirement savings” and that the “collective retirement savings gap among working households age 25-64 ranges from $6.8 to $14 trillion.” Contributing to this crisis is that fact that almost 70 million Americans do not have access to a retirement savings plan through their employers. This problem is more prevalent in the small business community; more than half of small business employers do not offer a retirement plan to their employees. Research reflects that an important predictor for retirement readiness is participation in an employee benefit plan – employees save more in a workplace plan than they would on their own. For example, even though there are a number of non-employer based retirement savings options, such as IRAs, few workers utilize them. States, concerned with the economic stability of their citizens, have created laws that require private sector employers to implement in their workplaces state-administered payroll deduction savings programs. Even though many states are currently debating whether to adopt the programs, this Article will focus on California, Illinois and Oregon, who have enacted laws creating payroll deduction savings programs. One obstruction to wider adoption of such measures at the state level has been uncertainty about the effect of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) broad preemption of state laws that “relate to” private sector employee benefit plans and ERISA’s prohibition on requiring employers to offer employee benefit plans. To remedy this problem, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would make clear “that state payroll deduction savings programs with automatic enrollment that conform to the safe harbor in [the] proposal do not establish ERISA plans.” This Article begins by discussing the current law concerning ERISA's preemption of state laws that “relate to” private sector employee benefit plans and provides a discussion of DOL’s proposed rulemaking that provides a safe harbor for state payroll deduction savings programs. The Article then transitions into an examination of the current state-based initiatives, analyzes specific state legislative proposals under the requirements of the proposed rulemaking and proposes what, if any, changes need to be made to the state payroll deduction savings programs to ensure that the programs will not run afoul of ERISA. The Article concludes by analyzing policy concerns regarding state payroll deduction savings programs, provides comment on the DOL proposed rulemaking and provides additional elements of a model state payroll deduction savings program.
Acute suppurative arthritis of the hip in the neonatal period.

Suppurative arthritis of the hip is a serious lesion in premature and fullterm infants in the neonatal period. Septicemia, the precursor to hip-joint suppuration, is difficult to recognize at this age. The clinical manifestations of septicemia in the neonatal period are reviewed. Hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus was the most common organism recovered from the blood stream and the hip joint. It was found in five of the six premature infants and in seven of the nine full-term infants, including one with bilateral hip involvement. In fifteen hips hematogenous osteomyelitis of the intracapsular portion of the femur (eleven hips) and of the ilium (four hips) was the source of the joint pus. In the one hip that showed no focus of involvement in the bone, the hemolytic streptococcus infection may have reached the joint by synovial implantation of organisms. Subluxation or pathological dislocation of the hip was seen on roentgenograms in all the infants in this group. In twelve hip joints infected with hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus , eight femoral heads disappeared. In all eight there was a delay of from four to sixteen days from the onset of hip-joint suppuration to local treatment of the hip, either by surgical drainage or by repeated aspiration and instillations of penicillin. The most important factors in saving the cartilaginous femoral heads in infected hip joints in the neonatal period are early diagnosis and prompt evacuation of pus, preferably by surgical incision and drainage. Systemic antibiotics proved to be effective in controlling septicemia and osteomyelitis, but they were unable to sterilize the infected hip joints. Antibiotics could not take the place of surgical drainage.
Coefficient Identities for Powers of Taylor and Dirichlet Series

giving a way to calculate as many of the B's as desired. Formula (1.2), stated in tha way or in the form (1.3) or in various other forms, has been known a long time. Thus, in 1748 Euler gave (1.3) (obscurely expressed) in section 76 of his Introductio [4], [5]. Adams and Hippisley [1] gave the formula in the form (1.2) (their formula 6.361). Formula (1.3) is given as formula (0.314) in any of the several editions (Russian original, German, or English) of Ryshik and Gradstein [16], where, however, p is restricted to be a natural number. Thinking to remove this restriction of Ryshik and Gradstein, von Holdt [17] published still another derivation using properties of double sums to establish that (1.2) holds true for rational real p. His derivation avoids use of differentiation of the series in (1.1). We mention this because differentiation of formal power series affords a quick proof of (1.2) and has been used before. The basic recurrence relation is not as widely known as it should be, and has been rediscovered repeatedly. Thus Barrucand [2] found (1.2) again and made applications of it. Cappellucci [18] found it in the form (1.3) but attributed it to Hansted [19]. Hindenburg [12], in his treatise on the multinomial theorem (p. 291) gave (1.3) in a perfectly obscure notation. Many other references could be cited. Actually, the recurrence is implicit in still another class of formulas widespread in the literature, stemming from the early work of Hindenburg's student Rothe [15]. I myself have written a number of papers, e.g., [6]-[11] having to do with a formula of Rothe and its consequences for combinatorics, special functions and number theory. What we shall do here is to derive the formulas again and put them in a
Precisely tunable engineering of sub-30 nm monodisperse oligonucleotide nanoparticles.

Advancement of RNAi therapies is mainly hindered by the development of efficient delivery vehicles. The ability to create small size (<30 nm) oligonucleotide nanoparticles is essential for many aspects of the delivery process but is often overlooked. In this report, we describe diblock star polymers that can reproducibly complex double-stranded oligonucleotides into monodisperse nanoparticles with 15, 23, or 30 nm in diameter. The polymer–nucleic acid nanoparticles have a core–shell architecture with dense PEG brush coating. We characterized these nanoparticles using ITC, DLS, FRET, FCS, TIRF, and TEM. In addition to small size, these nanoparticles have neutral zeta-potentials, making the presented polymer architecture a very attractive platform for investigation of yet poorly studied polyplex size range for siRNA and antisense oligonucleotide delivery applications.
Understanding Website Behavior based on User Agent

Web sites have adopted a variety of adversarial techniques to prevent web crawlers from retrieving their content. While it is possible to simulate users behavior using a browser to crawl such sites, this approach is not scalable. Therefore, understanding existing adversarial techniques is important to design crawling strategies that can adapt to retrieve the content as efficiently as possible. Ideally, a web crawler should detect the nature of the adversarial policies and select the most cost-effective means to defeat them. In this paper, we discuss the results of a large-scale study of web site behavior based on their responses to different user-agents. We issued over 9 million HTTP GET requests to 1.3 million unique web sites from DMOZ using six different user-agents and the TOR network as an anonymous proxy. We observed that web sites do change their responses depending on user-agents and IP addresses. This suggests that probing sites for these features can be an effective means to detect adversarial techniques.
„Rozkład pozostaje”. Od ruin do rujnacji

Artykul jest przekladem (pierwszym przekladem na jezyk polski tej autorki) skroconego za zgodą autorki wstepu do ksiązki Imperial Debris pod redakcją Stoler (2013). To rodzaj manifestu na temat konieczności poszerzenia spectrum badan w obrebie studiow postkolonialnych ze szczegolnym uwzglednieniem wątkow ruiny i rujnacji jako procesow, za sprawą ktorych wladza imperialna trwa do dziś.
Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Wake-Up Stroke: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis

Goal To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in the treatment of wake-up stroke (WUS) using propensity score (PS) analysis. Materials and Methods Consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients meeting inclusion criteria were retrospectively identified from our stroke registry between July 2008 and May 2014, and classified as stroke onset less than or equal to 4.5 hours treated with tPA (control; n = 369), tPA-treated WUS (n = 46), or nontreated WUS (n = 154). The primary outcome of interest for safety was symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH), defined as parenchymal hemorrhage associated with a greater than or equal to 4-point increase in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for confounders and PS for receiving IV tPA assessed outcomes, along with PS-matched average treatment effect on the treated (ATT). Findings No significant difference was found in rates of sICH between tPA-treated WUS, nontreated WUS, and controls (2.2%, .7%, and 3%, respectively), or in the odds of sICH between tPA-treated WUS and controls (OR = .53, 95% CI = .06-4.60, P = .568). Among WUS patients, tPA treatment was significantly associated with higher odds of good functional outcome in fully adjusted analyses (OR = 7.22, 95% CI = 2.28-22.88, P = .001). The ATT of tPA for WUS patients demonstrated a significantly greater decrease in NIHSS score at discharge when compared to nontreated WUS patients (−4.32 versus −.34, P = .032). Conclusions Comparable rates of sICH between treated WUS and stroke onset less than or equal to 4.5 hours treated with tPA suggest that tPA may be safely used to treat WUS. Superior outcomes for tPA-treated versus nontreated WUS subjects may suggest clinical efficacy of the treatment.
Design of a MRAS-based estimator for the speed and rotor time constant of the induction motor using sliding mode

The paper presents a method to estimate the fluxes, speed and rotor time constant of the induction motor (IM) drive. The estimation process is based on the model of the motor in the stationary reference frame. Estimation is done using successive observers that also involve the Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) principle. The fluxes are obtained first using a Voltage Model Observer - they are used to calculate the rotor flux angle of the drive. With known fluxes, the paper attempts to design a sliding mode observer for simultaneous estimation of the speed, load torque and rotor time constant. The mathematics of the observer is presented; it is shown that, due to singularity in the required gain design, an asymptotically stable observer cannot be obtained. Then, the paper presents an observer for the rotor time constant - this takes the speed signal as an input. The properties of this observer are investigated and it is shown how to make it less sensitive to the potential inaccuracy in the speed input. The method can be used in a sensorless IM control implementation where the fluxes and speed are required and where knowledge of the rotor time constant improves the control performance. The theoretical claims are supported by the simulation results shown.
Validation of the Kattan Nomogram for Prostate Cancer Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy.

Background The Kattan postoperative radical prostatectomy (RP) nomogram is used to predict biochemical recurrence-free progression (BCRFP) after RP. However, external validation among contemporary patients using modern outcome definitions is limited. Methods A total of 1,931 patients who underwent RP at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) between 1993 and 2014 (median follow-up, 47 months; range, 0-244 months) were assessed for NCCN-defined biochemical failure (BF) and RPCI-defined treatment failure (TF). Actual rates of biochemical failure-free survival (BFS; defined as 1 - BF) and treatment failure-free survival (TFS; defined as 1 - TF) were compared with Kattan BCRFP nomogram predictions. Results The Kattan BCRFP nomogram predictions at 5 and 10 years were predictive of BFS (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC], 0.772) and TFS (AUC, 0.774). The Kattan BCRFP nomogram tended to underestimate BFS and TFS compared with actual outcomes. The Kattan 5-year BCRFP predictions consistently overestimated actual 5-year BFS outcomes among subgroups of high- and intermediate-risk patients with at least 5-year outcomes. Conclusions The Kattan BCRFP nomogram is a robust predictor of NCCN-defined BF in a large sample of patients with RP with substantial follow-up and modern, standardized failure definitions.
Premature Ovarian Insufficiency - an update on recent advances in understanding and management

Premature ovarian insufficiency is a complex and relatively poorly understood entity with a myriad of etiologies and multisystem sequelae that stem from premature deprivation of ovarian sex hormones. Timely diagnosis with a clear understanding of the various comorbidities that can arise from estrogen deficiency is vital to appropriately counsel and treat these patients. Prompt initiation of hormone therapy is critical to control the unsolicited menopausal symptoms that many women experience and to prevent long-term health complications. Despite ongoing efforts at improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved, any advancement in the field in recent decades has been modest at best and researchers remain thwarted by the complexity and heterogeneity of the underpinnings of this entity. In contrast, the practice of clinical medicine has made meaningful strides in providing assurance to the women with premature ovarian insufficiency that their quality of life as well as long-term health can be optimized through timely intervention. Ongoing research is clearly needed to allow pre-emptive identification of the at-risk population and to identify mechanisms that if addressed in a timely manner, can prolong ovarian function and physiology.
Inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores to decontaminate subway railcar and related materials via the fogging of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide sporicidal liquids.

Abstract The inactivation of Bacillus anthracis spores on subway and used subway railcar materials was evaluated using fogged peracetic acid/hydrogen peroxide (PAA) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). A total of 21 separate decontamination tests were conducted using bacterial spores of both B. anthracis Ames ( B.a. ) and Bacillus atrophaeus ( B.g. ) inoculated onto several types of materials. Tests were conducted using commercial off-the-shelf fogging equipment filled with either PAA or H 2 O 2 to fumigate a ∼15 cubic meter chamber under uncontrolled ambient relative humidity and controlled temperature (10 or 20 °C) from 8 to 168 h. For the present study, no conditions were found that resulted in complete inactivation of either B.a. Ames or B.g. on all test materials. Approximately 41% and 38% of the decontamination efficacies for B.a. and B.g. , respectively, exhibited ≥6 log 10 reduction (LR); efficacy depended greatly on the material. When testing at 10 °C, the mean LR was consistently lower for both B.a. and B.g. as compared to 20 °C. Based on the statistical comparison of the LR results, B.g. exhibited equivalent or greater resistance than B.a. for approximately 92% of the time across all 21 tests. The efficacy data suggest that B.g. may be a suitable surrogate for B.a. Ames when assessing the decontamination efficacy of fogged PAA or H 2 O 2 . Moreover, the results of this testing indicate that in the event of B.a. spore release into a subway system, the fogging of PAA or H 2 O 2 represents a decontamination option for consideration.
The Simplest Cases

In the second part of this memoir, the existence and variational characterizations of the basic solutions of (PDE) that were found in Part I will be used to construct more complex solutions. The new solutions are near formal concatenations of the basic solutions. Hence in the terminology of dynamical systems, they shadow basic solutions, while in the language that has been used in other related settings, they are “multibump” solutions of (PDE). The term “multitransition” solution is more accurate, and it will be used here.
Thermodynamics of Bile Salt Interactions with Lipidic Substances

Solubilization by bile salts is a fundamentally important process in lipid biochemistry. The interaction of long-chain, aliphatic compounds and other lipidic substances with bile salt micelles to produce solubilized aggregates provides a transport mechanism for the absorption of the fatty materials in the small intestine. The basic energetics of formation of the aggregates determines their stability and solution characteristics, and thus are important in understanding the behavior of the bile salts in the solubilization process. This paper presents a summary of the thermodynamics of transfer of a series of fatty alcohols from aqueous to the bile salt micelle phase. Free energy, enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity effects are presented, and analyzed in terms of the additive contributions to the properties of the solutes.
Managing Stress and School: The Role of Posttraumatic Stress in Predicting Well-Being and Collegiate Burnout:

Experiencing a traumatic event is generally posited to increase vulnerability. Informed by a stress process framework, this study investigated the relation of posttraumatic stress to depressive sym...
Socrates, Plato, Dewey, or Gates?: A Review of Pedagogy in Parks & Recreation Higher Education

Socrates, Plato, Dewey, or Gates: who is the best teacher? Each man used a different method of instruction and all are known as outstanding teachers. Dialectic, Socratic, play, reflective, experien...
Nature and Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease: The Case for Slow Virus Infection

The discovery of lesions in the brain (of dementia) and their classification make, of course, only one step in the determination of their aetiology, but surely a necessary step if any scientific progress is to be made. (Greenfield, 1939.)
Apoptosis and cancer

Apoptosis, or Programmed Cell Death, is the activation of an inherent cellular suicide program that results in cell death [1]. There are two hallmarks in the death process. First, is a set of distinct morphologic changes such as membrane blebbing, cell shrinkage, and chromosomal condensation followed by chromosomal fragmentation. Second, is the rapid phagocytosis of the corpses of the dead cells, resulting in a limited local immune response. Recently it has been demonstrated that apoptosis plays a crucial role in cardiac damage and a variety of human diseases such as acute liver failure, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer [2]. The realization that apoptosis constitutes a major mechanism of tumor suppression has dramatically advanced tumor biology by leading to a number of novel approaches for preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer. The guiding principles for understanding and manipulating the apoptotic response have emerged from studies of both lower eukaryotes and mammalian model systems [3]. These principles, as well as strategies designed to harness the apoptotic response, are described in this chapter.
Design and evaluation of a reflectance oxygen sensor in critically ill patients.

The optical pulse oximeter has gained broad clinical applications in rapidly and noninvasively measuring arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SaO2) (Yelderman and New, 1983; Severinghaus, 1987; Pologe, 1987). However, major shortcoming of the current transmission oximeters is the requirement of a cuvette through which light signals must be transmitted, thus limiting its application to fingertip or earlobe. More broad applications can be achieved with the reflectance mode.
Assumed Results about Particular Groups

We hope that the reader has some familiarity with elementary homological algebra. We begin with a survey of elementary useful results from group extension theory. Later, we focus on particular extensions which come up in our theory of sporadic groups. For general reference, we suggest [Ben], [Gru], [HiSt], [MacL], [Rot].
HIPPOCAMPAL INHIBITORY NEURON ACTIVITY IN THE ELEVATED POTASSIUM MODEL OF EPILEPSY

1. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings were made from CA1 stratum oriens inhibitory neurons of rat hippocampal slices in vitro to determine their contribution to the epileptiform activity elicited by elevating the extracellular potassium ion concentration ([K+]o) from 3.5 to 8.5 mM. 2. Under current-clamp conditions, spontaneous action potential activity in inhibitory neurons normally occurs in a sustained repetitive firing mode paced by nonsynaptic, intrinsic mechanisms. On elevation of [K+]o to 8.5 mM the pattern of activity is altered such that clusters of action potentials occur interrupted by periods of silence without an appreciable after hyperpolarization (AHP). In addition, elevation of [K+]o caused a large reduction in the action potential AHP amplitude and duration concomitant with a 20-mV shift in the reversal potential of the AHP. 3. In voltage clamp a small persistent inward current was observed after the introduction of elevated potassium concomitant with an increase in the frequency of spontaneous excitatory post-synaptic currents (EPSCs) in all interneurons studied. After a short period of time (approximately 1 min) temporal summation of synchronously occurring EPSCs contributed a periodic inward current (PIC; 10-40 pA, 0.8 Hz) that persisted for the duration of the [K+]o elevation. Analysis of the charge transfer associated with the PIC suggests that they comprise the temporal summation of approximately 35 EPSCs. This PIC was synchronous with the extracellular field potential recorded from the CA1 pyramidal neuron layer. 4. The PIC was responsible for the clustering of action potential activity because blockade of EPSC activity by the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX) abolished PICs and reverted action potential activity to single sustained firing, despite the continued application of 8.5 mM [K+]o. Antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors were without effect on either the PICs or the action potential activity. 5. Addition of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) antagonist (+)-2-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) reversibly abolished the PIC without affecting the increase in EPSC frequency. 6. Recordings from CA3 pyramidal neurons in 8.5 mM [K+]o demonstrated that interictal activity occurred at a frequency identical to the PICs observed in interneurons. Interictal activity in CA3 pyramidal neurons was attenuated but never abolished by MCPG, suggesting a role for mGluR receptors in the maintenance of interictal activity in area CA3.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Runaway Jury: An Analysis of State Laws Concerning Juror Impeachment:

The no impeachment rule bars the admission into evidence of juror testimony regarding jury deliberations in proceedings questioning the validity of a verdict. In Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, the U.S...
Implications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for targeted recruitment of older adults with dementia and their caregivers in the community: A retrospective analysis.

Abstract 5.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's dementia (AD) or related dementias. Developing evidence-based interventions for these people and their caregivers (dyads) is a public health priority, and is highly dependent on recruiting representatives from the community. Precision recruitment methodologies are needed to improve the efficiency of this process. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer the potential to determine location trends of an older adult population of people living with dementia in the community and their caregivers. American Community Survey (ACS) 2015 5-year estimates were analyzed at the census tract level in ESRI ArcMap v. 10.5.1. Datasets included summarized estimates of age, gender, income, and education in Maryland. Using a two-step process, geographic regions were identified in ArcMap that contained various combinations of available data variables. These areas were compared to participant locations from a previously completed traditional recruitment effort to determine overlap (Dementia Behavior Study - R01AGO41781). The largest number of existing participants were identified in derived regions defined by combining age, education, gender, and income variables; predicting 184 (79%) of 234 participants regardless of the population density within census tracts. 208 (89%) were identified when matching this variable combination to the highest density census tracts (city/urban), and 66 (28%) in regions with the lowest population density (rural). This study successfully defined specific geographic regions in the state of Maryland that overlapped with a large number of known dementia dyad locations obtained via traditional recruitment efforts. Implications for these findings allow for more targeted recruitment efforts of difficult to recruit populations, and less utilization of resources for doing so.
Economic Policy and Foreign Capital in the Creation and Rise of Copec

In the early twentieth century, Chileans dreamed of producing and exporting oil, but the reality was that they remained dependent on imports supplied by two large multinational companies, Shell and Esso. As consumption of oil products grew, Chileans’ frustrations increased. During the Depression, a shortage of foreign exchange, continuing devaluation, price controls and lukewarm diplomatic support seriously affected the oil companies, while nationalist criticism of their duopoly intensified. With the support of the Alessandri government, a group of young engineers formed COPEC (the Compania de Petroleos de Chile) in 1934. Although the multinationals initially opposed COPEC, they proved unable to resist its entry into the market without support from their home governments; eventually the three firms signed a market-sharing agreement in 1937. The multinationals found that ultimately this benefited them by allowing them to establish closer relations with government officials and private-sector businessmen. The Chilean state thus proved able to take advantage of favourable circumstances, control the activities of the foreign companies, and provide openings for local capitalists. The cartel persisted until 1978 when the military government of General Pinochet liberalised the market. In response, Copec became a much more diversified business group with investments in a range of activities.
Large ants do not carry their fair share: maximal load-carrying performance of leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes).

ABSTRACT Although ants are lauded for their strength, little is known about the limits of their load-carrying abilities. We determined the maximal load-carrying capacity of leaf-cutter ants by incrementally adding mass to the leaves they carried. Maximal load-carrying ability scaled isometrically with body size, indicating that larger ants had the capacity to lift the same proportion of their body mass as smaller ants (8.78 times body mass). However, larger ants were captured carrying leaf fragments that represented a lower proportion of their body mass compared with their smaller counterparts. Therefore, when selecting leaves, larger ants retained a higher proportion of their load-carrying capacity in reserve. This suggests that either larger ants require greater power reserves to overcome challenges they encounter along the trail or leaf-cutter ants do not select loads that maximize the overall leaf transport rate of the colony.
Taming the wild: a unified analysis of HOG WILD! -style algorithms

Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is a ubiquitous algorithm for a variety of machine learning problems. Researchers and industry have developed several techniques to optimize SGD's runtime performance, including asynchronous execution and reduced precision. Our main result is a martingale-based analysis that enables us to capture the rich noise models that may arise from such techniques. Specifically, we use our new analysis in three ways: (1) we derive convergence rates for the convex case (HOGWILD!) with relaxed assumptions on the sparsity of the problem; (2) we analyze asynchronous SGD algorithms for non-convex matrix problems including matrix completion; and (3) we design and analyze an asynchronous SGD algorithm, called BUCKWILD!, that uses lower-precision arithmetic. We show experimentally that our algorithms run efficiently for a variety of problems on modern hardware.
EXTREME VALUE THEORY AND STOCHASTIC PROCESSES

Abstract The theory of stochastic processes provides a convenient framework for the discussion of statistical properties of many physical phenomena including the effects of randomly varying stresses on structural failure. Two classes of extremal problems are of potential interest relative to such applications. The first is a discussion of the maximum M ( T ) of a stochastic process x ( t ) in a given interval of time of length T. If, for, example, x ( t ) represents a stress at time t , one's interest may lie in the maximum value this stress takes in the given time interval. This problem may be solved exactly, and the statistical distribution of M ( T ) obtained in certain special cases, usually involving so-called “Markov” assumptions. In many other cases (and sometimes these provide more realistic models) the distribution of M ( T ) is unknown. However, in the important case when x ( t ) is a normal stationary process, a useful asymptotic result is available for large values of T. This result was obtained by Cramer and somewhat refined by later workers. The second class of extremal problems which is of interest in the study of structural fatigue concerns the occurrence of local maxima and minima of x ( t ). The study of such local extremes involves many variants of so-called “zero crossing problems”, which have been extensively pursued in recent years. Since the occurrence of extremes form a series of points ordered in time, a fruitful point of view is that they form a so-called “stochastic point process”. Indeed many related problems of zero crossing type can be dealt with in a unified way by means of point process theory. Further, simple “Poisson” approximations may be very useful in such situations.
Voter Registration and Engagement in an Adolescent and Young Adult Primary Care Clinic.

Abstract Purpose Our aim was to bridge access to voter registration for youth by offering this service within a primary care setting and study the impact of this intervention on voter engagement and the barriers to voter turnout for registered youth voters. Methods A total of 120 eligible youth were presented with the opportunity to register to vote within their scheduled medical appointments. Participants were administered a follow-up survey via telephone or within scheduled visits after the 2018 midterm election. Results Eighteen of 41 participants (43.9%) who registered to vote in this clinic voted in the midterm elections, and 52 of 95 eligible participants (54.7%) voted overall. Those who did not vote cited multiple issues associated with social determinants of health, including economic stability and neighborhood and social environments, as top barriers. Conclusions This study demonstrates that facilitating access to voter registration in an adolescent primary care setting is a feasible intervention and may improve voter engagement in youth.
Covalent Live-Cell Labeling of Proteins Using a Photoreactive Fluorogen

Fluorescence microscopy has dramatically advanced our understanding of the processes that drive biological systems by enabling the imaging and tracking of biomolecules of interest inside of living cells. In particular, proteins of interest can be genetically tagged with fluorescent proteins or labeled with small molecule fluorophore probes to enable visualization. However, both of these methods are generally limited in signal-to-background resolution and options are limited for achieving temporal control over labeling. Photoreactive "fluorogenic" dyes can overcome these limitations and enable user-defined crosslinking with low background fluorescence. In this chapter, we discuss current approaches for live cell protein labeling with particular emphasis on the novel use of photoreactive fluorogenic dyes for protein imaging. We further describe in detail the synthesis and characterization of a fluorogenic malachite green probe functionalized with a photoreactive diazirine crosslinker and illustrate how to apply this probe toward covalent photoaffinity labeling and imaging of target proteins in live cells.
Malnutrition in Obesity

Obesity and malnutrition appear to be at the opposite ends of the spectrum. But in reality, obesity in itself is a form of malnutrition associated with nutritional deficiencies. Attempts to lose weight by various special diets complement the preexisting nutritional deficiencies. Bariatric surgical procedures are well-accepted for sustained remission of obesity. The physiological basis of these procedures is either gastric reduction (restrictive) or diminished absorption of nutrients (malabsorptive). In both types, the weight loss is associated with worsening of the preexisting nutrient deficiencies or creating new deficiencies of macro- and micronutrients. A well-defined protocol-based pre- and postoperative nutritional assessment is needed for minimal adverse effects. Clinical guidelines and recommendations are provided in the present chapter.
Incidental sonographic finding of a concealed placental abruption leading to delivery at 37 weeks' gestation.

Placental abruption occurs clinically in approximately 1% of births although placental pathology assessment suggests a higher incidence. Ultrasound rarely plays a role in the diagnosis or clinical management of patients with suspected placental abruption. A patient with an incidental sonographic finding of a large concealed abruption at 36 weeks' gestation, led to induction of labor. This case and the established association of increased stillbirth with placental abruption among patients of advanced maternal age, suggest that at term, following sonographic findings of abruption, consideration should be given to elective delivery of these patients even in the absence of clinical symptomatology.
Fossil flowers of Lachnociona camptostylus sp. nov., a second record for the genus in mid-Cretaceous Myanmar Amber

Two flowers embedded in a single block of amber from Myanmar are here proposed as a second species of the previously described fossil genus Lachnociona. The mid-Cretaceous age of the fossils was earlier established through paleontological and U-Pb isotope dating methods. Because they lie within millimeters of each other in the amber, the flowers are assumed to have come from the same parent plant. One flower is hermaphrodite while the other is functionally pistillate. They differ by the number of styles—4 in the perfect flower and 5 in the unisexual one—and most notably by the presence, in the perfect flower, of 10 conspicuous nectar glands forming a disc above the whorl of stamens. The pistillate flower has no such glands. In the new species, the arched styles are widely divergent and the ovary is fully inferior, while in the earlier-described Lachnociona terriae, the flower is functionally pistillate, with styles that are erect and connivent or connate. It could not be determined whether the ovary is superior or half-inferior. The best-preserved anther in the perfect flower of L. camptostylus resembles, in its dorsal filament attachment and hooked filament tip, a vestigial anther present in the flower of L. terriae. Pollen of the new species is tri- or tetracolpate. As proposed in the previous paper, the genus may have participated in the early diversification of the rosid clade of eudicots.
Continuing trends in U.S. brand-name and generic drug competition.

To provide updated evidence in a series of analyses of U.S. trends over the past two decades in key financial metrics for branded drugs: market exclusivity periods (MEPs, the time between launch an...
Determination of impurities in cubic boron nitride (cBN) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS)

Abstract The phase stability of cBN is critically dependent on the content and amount of impurities present. While studies have shown qualitatively that the addition of certain impurities can either increase or decrease the cBN-hBN phase transition temperature, studies have yet to show this effect quantitatively. This is because analytical methods to characterize minor and trace impurities in cBN are currently lacking. To this end, we present flux fusion methods capable of fully digesting cBN samples for ICPMS analyses. The materials used in this study are commercially available cBN powders in three different sizes. Two types of fluxes (LiOH and NaOH·H2O) are utilized so that both Li and Na impurities can be determined. To ensure the accuracy of Si measurements, a column chromatography method has been developed to purify Si from flux materials in order to increase the amount of dissolved sample sent to the ICP. Detection limits have been determined using procedural blanks and are found to be below 20 μg/g for all 58 elements analyzed except for Si, for which the detection limit is 312 μg/g. Nonetheless, all cBN powders studied are found to have high Si impurity levels that are above detection limit. This study provides a much-needed analytical protocol to enable comprehensive screening of impurities in cBN.
Culprit-Only vs. Complete Revascularization During ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Primary percutaneous intervention (PCI) is the treatment of choice for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Patients with STEMI frequently have obstructive non-culprit lesions. In addition, STEMI patients with multivessel disease are at increased risk of major adverse cardiac events. However, current guidelines do not recommend revascularization of non-culprit lesions unless complicated by cardiogenic shock. Prior observational and small randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated conflicting results pertaining to the optimal revascularization strategy in STEMI patients with multivessel disease undergoing primary PCI. Recent randomized studies, PRAMI, CvLPRIT, and DANAMI-3-PRIMULTI, provide encouraging data that suggest potential benefit with complete revascularization in STEMI patients with obstructive non-culprit lesions. However, further data from large RCTs are needed to investigate the impact of this strategy on recurrent myocardial infarction/death and to determine the best timing of staged procedures for complete revascularization. Until then, a personalized approach should be taken to optimize the revascularization strategy in STEMI patients with obstructive non-culprit lesions.
A hybrid distance-learning/face-to-face class experiment

Many colleges and universities have begun to offer distance-learning classes by using the World Wide Web. Although distance learning offers many advantages, it does not provide the face-to-face experience of a traditional classroom experience. In this paper we explore the results of teaching a hybrid WWW and face-to-face class. A computer organization class that is typically taught two evenings per week will be restructured to meet one evening per week (or perhaps every other week) during spring quarter 1999, thus reducing the number of evenings the students and instructors must commit to class meetings. The reduction in class meetings is accomplished by providing the class lectures via the WWW. Class lectures will be presented using off-the-shelf presentation software with voice accompaniment, allowing the students to view/listen to the lectures at times of their own choosing. Moreover, they may review the lectures at will to enhance their understanding. During classroom sessions, students can ask the instructor questions and participate in group discussions. The class sessions will also provide a time for demonstrations and examinations. A unique aspect of this experiment is made possible by offering a concurrent section of the same course using traditional teaching techniques with the same instructor. By comparing the outcomes of the two courses, conclusions on the relative effectiveness of the hybrid class may be drawn.