cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3153: Endoglin Deficiency in Bone Marrow is Sufficient to Cause Vascular Dysplasia in the Adult Mouse Brain After VEGF Stimulation

Background and Objective: We have previously demonstrated that VEGF overexpression in the brain of adult Eng+/- mice causes vascular abnormalities. We also found that bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) home to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced angiogenic foci in the adult mouse brain and contribute to angiogenesis. Impaired angiogenesis in infarcted myocardium of Eng+/- mice was rescued using treatment with healthy human BMDCs but not with BMDCs from Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT1) patients carrying ENG mutations. We hypothesized that ENG-haploinsufficiency in BMDCs can cause cerebrovascular dysplasia in the adult mouse after VEGF stimulation. Methods: WT or Eng+/- BM (2×106 cells) were transplanted to lethally irradiated C57BL/6 recipient mice (8-10 weeks old) via tail vein injection. After 4 weeks of BM transplantation, adeno-associated viral vector expressing VEGF (AAV-VEGF, 2×109 genome copies) was stereotactically injected into the basal ganglia. Brain sections were collected at 4 weeks after virus injection. The vascular density (vessels per 20× objective field) and dysplasia index (number of vessels >15µm in diameter per 200 vessels) were quantified on lectin-stained brain sections. Results: To examine the angiogenic response to VEGF, the vascular density around the AAV-VEGF injection site was analyzed. The mean vascular density increased in all mice with VEGF stimulation. Mice transplanted with Eng+/- BM showed less vascular density compared to mice transplanted with WT BM. The mean vascular densities were167 ± 21 (Eng+/-BM, n=4) and 202 ± 15 (WT BM, n=5) (P Conclusions: In the adult mouse after VEGF stimulation, ENG-deficiency in BM (1) caused a 17% reduction in brain angiogenic response, and (2) increased cerebrovascular dysplasia, compared to control animals. These data support the possibility that cerebrovascular malformations resulting from VEGF stimulation with ENG-haploinsufficiency is attributable to impaired cell-autonomous monocyte/macrophage function, in contrast to the view that ENG dysfunction is primarily an endothelial phenomenon.
Clinical Comparison of Cefotaxime with Gentamicin plus Clindamycin in the Treatment of Peritonitis and Other Soft-Tissue Infections

The efficacy and safety of cefotaxime were compared with the efficacy and safety of gentamicin plus clindamycin in the treatment of peritonitis and soft-tissue infection in 112 patients. Patients received 20 mg of intravenous cefotaxime/kg of body weight every 6 hr or 1 mg of gentamicin/kg every 8 hr plus 5 mg of clindamycin/kg every 6 hr (both intravenously). Therapy was continued for five to 10 days. The overall clinical cure rate was 82%, with no significant difference between cure rates in the two groups. Both antibiotic regimens were effective against aerobic and anaerobic isolates, although Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an occasional isolate of Enterobacter, and some anaerobes were resistant to cefotaxime. All clinical failures involved patients who had septicemia or who had received inadequate surgical treatment. Six (11%) of the patients who received combination therapy developed impaired renal function, as indicated by a rise in serum creatinine of 30%. No reduction in renal function was noted in patients given cefotaxime. The clinical efficacy of cefotaxime was equal to that of gentamicin plus clindamycin, and less nephrotoxicity was encountered with cefotaxime.
Postoperative bowel herniation in a 5-mm nonbladed trocar site

BACKGROUND Incisional hernias are a rare complication of laparoscopic surgery, with a reported incidence of <1%. CASE REPORT We describe a case of bowel herniation and strangulation involving a 5-mm trocar site. CONCLUSION Although there is growing literature supporting fascial closure of abdominal port sizes ≥ 10 mm, there is sparse data to suggest closure of 5-mm port sites. Our case illustrates that in appropriate clinical scenarios, the possibility of a strangulated hernia involving a 5-mm port site warrants consideration.
Synthesis, Structural, and Electrocatalytic Reduction Studies of [Pd(P2N2)2]2+ Complexes

A series of four new bis-P2N2 (P2N2 = 1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane) Pd(II) complexes were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and X-ray crystallography. The compounds crystallize in square planar or tetrahedrally distorted geometries and exhibit a single quasi-reversible 2e– Pd(II/0) redox couple in voltammetric studies. [Pd(PPh2NBn2)2]2+ and [Pd(PMe2NPh2)2]2+ were tested for electrochemical CO2 reduction in the presence of excess protons and found to preferentially produce H2.
Holiness as service:Therapeia and hyperetike in Plato's Euthyphro

L'A. se propose de degager la conception socratique -et non platonicienne- du sacre, a travers le passage 12e6-14c5 de l'«Euthyphron» de Platon. Malgre l'absence d'une doctrine explicite, le dialogue entre Socrate et Euthyphron laisse transparaitre une certaine conception du sacre, fondee sur la notion de therapia, c'est-a-dire de l'attention, du soin porte aux dieux, et sur la notion de hyperetike, qui designe le service sacerdotal, domestique, dont resulte une oeuvre particuliere (ergon)
Physical Modelling of Flow and Dispersion over Urban Areas

Roughness and temperature of an urban area are commonly greater than for the surroundings. The resulting “roughness island” and “heat island” cause large three-dimensional perturbations of the approach flow as it passes over the urban area that can be investigated by physical modelling in boundary-layer wind tunnels. Similarity criteria are presented for modelling of thermally-stratified, boundary-layer approach flows and similarity of the urban-area roughness and thermal characteristics. A boundary-layer wind tunnel capable of satisfying the primary criteria is described. Effects on neutral and ground-based inversion approach flows by an idealized rectangular “roughness island” of uniform roughness and “heat island” with uniform heating rate have been explored using physical models (approximate scale of 1:1,300). Mean velocity, temperature and concentration (upwind ground-level line source) data are presented for the outer-city region above the urban canopy. Large-scale flow features observed over actual cities are found to be present in the modelled flow.
Carnal Hermeneutics and Political Theory

This essay is an attempt to show that the body as subject is the radical rootedness of our being-in-the-world both social and natural, i.e., Mitwelt and Umwelt. Thusly, it attempts to show the primordial and utmost importance of the body in everything we do and think in the world. It is an argument against the Cartesian dualism of mind (res cogitans) and body (res extensa), whose epistemocracy has governed modern Western philosophy over the last five centuries. The philosopher or thinker is not and cannot be a “disembodied cerebrum.” The Cartesian cogito is untenably disembodied and thus monologic. In it the social construction of reality is an impossibility. In the beginning was not the word, but embodied sociality. The French feminist, Luce Irigaray, not only bucks the Cartesian epistemocratic disembodiment and monologism but also exemplifies, in a revolutionary way, tactility as the most fundamental sense that founds and funds all the other senses against the mainstream (“malestream”) currency of Western philosophy from Plato’s eidos to Descartes’s epistemocratic endeavor in search of “clear and distinct ideas,” that is, the dominance of ocularcentrism. Irigaray transforms the pariah status of tactility to its proper niche in the history of Western philosophy.
Leonid Krasin and the Soviet Attempt to Achieve a Detente

During Russia’s Civil War, when the Allied powers were intervening to aid the anti-Bolshevik forces, Soviet leaders tended to view Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as obstacles to their policy of spreading revolutions to the West. But these states, especially Estonia, were also being used as a staging area by White Guardists, such as Yudenich, who launched an assault aimed at Petrograd in the autumn of 1919. When the Red Army drove his forces back, it might easily have pursued them into Estonia and tried to ‘liberate’ that tiny nation. But Chicherin warned Lenin ‘not to fall into a trap’, since a Soviet violation of Estonian territory might play into the hands of the ‘war party’ in the West. Lenin then told Trotsky that ‘Chicherin is right’, and countermanded orders which called for crossing the border. When, on 27 November, the Estonians requested peace negotiations, the Soviet Premier sent a peace delegation, headed by Leonid Krasin, to pursue peaceful coexistence instead of revolution.3
High-speed Imaging of Vocal Fold Vibration Onset Delay: Normal Versus Abnormal

Summary Objectives Vocal fold vibration onset delay (VFVOD) is heard frequently in spasmodic dysphonia and in muscle tension dysphonia. VFVOD changes due to other vocal pathologies have not been investigated. VFVOD during sustained vowel production was estimated with high-speed video in 10 normal and 40 pathologic subjects (scars, vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold nodules, and polyps). Analysis of high-speed video was done using digital kymography. Results VFVOD can be divided into two portions. Pre-phonation delay (PPD) is the duration when the vocal folds are nearly approximated to the time of first observed oscillation. Steady state delay (SSD) is the time when vocal folds are observed to come into oscillation until steady state of oscillation is observed. Normal subjects have almost zero PPD with vocal fold oscillation observed before full vocal fold adduction. Pathologic cases showed prolonged PPD because of (1) false cord adduction, (2) prolonged true vocal fold adduction, and (3) delay to onset of vocal fold vibration. Normal subjects have SSD of three to five cycles before steady state. Pathologic states result in increased SSD. Causes for increased SSD include (1) slow ramping up to steady state, (2) partial vibration of vocal folds, and (3) diplophonia with alternating beats before achieving steady state. There are significant differences between normal and pathology groups in both PPD and SSD. Conclusion VFVOD is elevated in pathologic states. This can be due to increase in PPD or SSD. VFVOD is an under-recognized phenomenon that may contribute to complaints of vocal fatigue and dysphonia.
An eigenvalue problem for a fully nonlinear elliptic equation with gradient constraint

We consider the problem of finding \(\lambda \in {\mathbb {R}}\) and a function \(u:{\mathbb {R}}^n\rightarrow {\mathbb {R}}\) that satisfy the PDE $$\begin{aligned} \max \left\{ \lambda + F(D^2u) -f(x),H(Du)\right\} =0, \quad x\in {\mathbb {R}}^n. \end{aligned}$$ Here F is elliptic, positively homogeneous and superadditive, f is convex and superlinear, and H is typically assumed to be convex. Examples of this type of PDE arise in the theory of singular ergodic control. We show that there is a unique \(\lambda ^*\) for which the above equation has a solution u with appropriate growth as \(|x|\rightarrow \infty \). Moreover, associated to \(\lambda ^*\) is a convex solution \(u^*\) that has essentially bounded second derivatives, provided F is uniformly elliptic and H is uniformly convex. It is unknown whether or not \(u^*\) is unique up to an additive constant; however, we verify that this is the case when \(n=1\) or when F, f, H are “rotational.”
Development of a Composite Outcome Measure for Systemic Sclerosis Related Interstitial Lung Disease.

Objective: While systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) trials predominantly use forced vital capacity (FVC) as the primary outcome, combining individual outcomes may lead to a more comprehensive measure of treatment response and minimize the risk of type 1 error. The present analysis aimed to develop a composite outcome measure to assess treatment response in SSc-ILD patients. Methods: We used data from the Scleroderma Lung Study I (SLS-I) to create the composite outcome measure. SLS I was a multi-institutional, double-blind clinical trial, in which 158 patients with SSc-ILD were randomized to receive either oral cyclophosphamide (CYC) (titrated to 2.0 mg/kg once daily) or matching placebo for one year. To select the variables for inclusion in the composite outcome, we first performed a univariate analysis using all of the outcome variables measured in SLS I. We subsequently combined the variables with significant treatment effects (p<0.05) in a principal component analysis (PCA) to assess the difference between treatment groups. These variables included the FVC% predicted, computer-based score for quantitative lung fibrosis in the zone of maximum fibrosis (QLF-ZM) from thoracic high-resolution computer tomography (HRCT) scans, transitional dyspnea index (TDI), and the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) at 12 months. Results: Of the 158 patients, 82 had complete outcome data and were included in this analysis. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the 82 patients included in this analysis and the remaining 76 patients. The regression model with the first principal component for FVC% predicted, QLF-ZM, TDI and HAQ-DI as the composite outcome demonstrated a significant treatment effect favoring cyclophosphamide (Estimate 0.7 [SE 0.2]; p=0.005). Eliminating FVC% predicted from the composite outcome model did not change the overall treatment effect (Estimate 0.8 [SE 0.2]; p=0.004). Conclusion: The CYC treatment effect observed from using the composite outcome of FVC% predicted, QLFZM, TDI and HAQ-DI was stronger than the effect observed using FVC% predicted alone. These findings suggest that combining patient-reported outcomes with structural and physiologic outcomes into a single outcome may serve as a more robust measure of treatment response compared with FVC alone in SSc-ILD trials.
The Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System in Greyhounds and Non-Greyhound Dogs.

Background The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) regulates blood pressure, electrolyte homeostasis, and renal function. Blood pressure, serum sodium concentrations, and urinary albumin excretion are higher in Greyhounds than other purebred and mixed-breed dogs. Hypothesis Alterations in the RAAS in Greyhounds are associated with hemodynamic and clinicopathologic differences observed in the breed. Animals Clinically healthy Greyhound and non-Greyhound dogs consecutively enrolled as blood donors (n = 20/group). Methods Prospective study. Standard chemical analysis was performed on serum and urine. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was determined by fluorometric assay. All other RAAS hormones were determined by radioimmunoassay. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) was measured by immunoassay. Measurements were compared to blood pressure and urine albumin concentration. Data are presented as mean ± SD or median, range. Results Serum creatinine (1.5 ± 0.2 vs 1.0 ± 0.1 mg/dL, P < .001), sodium (149, 147–152 vs 148, 146–150 mEq/L, P = .017), and SDMA (16.1 ± 2.9 vs 12.2 ± 1.8 μg/dL, P < .001) were significantly higher in Greyhounds versus non-Greyhounds, respectively. Plasma renin activity (0.69, 0.10–1.93 vs 0.65, 0.27–2.93 ng/mL/h, P = .60) and ACE activity (4.5, 2.1–8.5 vs 4.6, 2.1–11.4 activity/mL; P = .77) were similar between groups and did not correlate with higher systolic pressures and albuminuria in Greyhounds. Plasma aldosterone concentration was significantly lower in Greyhounds versus non-Greyhounds (11, 11–52 vs 15, 11–56 pg/mL, respectively, P = .002). Conclusions and clinical importance Basal RAAS activation did not differ between healthy Greyhounds and non-Greyhounds. Lower aldosterone concentration in Greyhounds is an appropriate physiologic response to higher serum sodium concentration and blood pressure, suggesting that angiotensin II effects in the renal tubule predominate over those of aldosterone.
Dis)orienting Laughter

In this chapter, Travis describes an account of a racialized experience in an elementary school art classroom. Using the concept of (dis)orientation as theorized by Sara Ahmed (Queer Phenomenology, 2006), Travis describes an experience teaching with the work of African American artist Faith Ringgold. In response to the reading by African American actress Ruby Dee of Ringgold’s children’s book, Tar Beach, a group of white students responded with (dis)orienting laughter. Travis describes the experience of this insidiously hostile laughter and considers the ways in which this embodied response functions as a microaggression that is both orienting and disorienting.
Incorporating Life-Cycle Economic and Environmental Factors in Managerial Decision-Making

Recent environmental trends, including (1) an expansion of existing command and control directives, (2) the introduction of market-based policy instruments, and (3) the adoption of extended producer responsibility, have created a need for new tools to help managerial decision-making. To address this need, we develop a nonlinear mathematical programming model from a profit-maximizing firm’s perspective, which can be tailored as a decision-support tool for firms facing environmental goals and constraints. We typify our approach using the specific context of diesel engine manufacturing and remanufacturing. The approach allows the incorporation of traditional operations planning considerations—in particular, capacity, production, and inventory—together with environmental considerations that range from product design through production to product end of life. A current hurdle to implementing such a model is the availability of input data. We therefore highlight the need to involve all departments within businesses and for industrial ecologists and business managers to work together to implement meaningful decision models that are based on accurate and timely data and can have positive economic and environmental impact.
Limb-viewing hyperspectral image simulation based on a polygonal earth cross-section (PEX) model

This paper will discuss recent improvements made to the Monte Carlo Scene (MCScene) code to enable limb-viewing scenarios and situations where the sun is below the horizon. MCScene is a high fidelity model for full optical spectrum (UV through LWIR) hyperspectral image (HSI) simulation. MCScene provides an accurate, robust, and efficient means to generate HSI scenes for algorithm validation. MCScene utilizes a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach for modeling 3D atmospheric radiative transfer (RT) including full treatment of molecular absorption and Rayleigh scattering, aerosol absorption and scattering, and multiple scattering and adjacency effects, as well as scattering from spatially inhomogeneous surfaces, including surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) effects. The model includes treatment of land and ocean surfaces, 3D terrain, 3D surface objects, and effects of finite clouds with surface shadowing. This paper will provide a brief overview of how RT elements are incorporated into the Monte Carlo engine and the recent additional of a polygonal earth cross-section (PEX) model.
Silicon nanostructured films grown on templated surfaces by oblique angle deposition

Abstract: We observed that the deposition of silicon (Si) nanostructured thin films on a patterned substrate with oblique angle incidence flux gives rise to a phenomenon referred to as ‘fan-out’ growth, which entails the overgrowth of the structures along the direction perpendicular to the incident deposition flux. We concluded in our Monte Carlo simulations that the side-sticking of incoming particles to the previously deposited particles is the cause of ‘fan-out’ growth. We have designed two methods to overcome fan-out growth: ‘two-phase’ rotation and ‘swing’ rotation. By these methods, uniform slanted Si nanorods and square nanosprings were fabricated.
Effects of excess thromboxane A2 on placental development and nutrient transporters in a Mus musculus model of fetal growth restriction.

Hypertensive disease of pregnancy (HDP) with placental insufficiency is the most common cause of fetal growth restriction (FGR) in the developed world. Despite the known negative consequences of HDP both to the mother and fetus, little is known about the longitudinal placental changes that occur as HDP progresses in pregnancy. This is because longitudinal sampling of human placentae during each gestation is impossible. Therefore, using a mouse model of thromboxane A2-analog infusion to mimic human HDP in the last trimester, we calculated placental efficiencies based on fetal and placental weights; quantified spongiotrophoblast and labyrinth thicknesses and vascular density within these layers; examined whether hypoxia signaling pathway involving vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and its receptors (VEGFR1, VEGFR2) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contributed to vascular change; and examined nutrient transporter abundance including glucose transporters 1 and 3 (GLUT1, GLUT3), neutral amino acid transporters 1, 2, and 4 (SNAT1, SNAT2, and SNAT4), fatty acid transporters 2 and 4 (FATP2, FATP4), and fatty acid translocase (CD36) from embryonic day 15.5 to 19 in a 20-day C57Bl/6J mouse gestation. We conclude that early-to-mid gestation hypertensive placentae show compensatory mechanisms to preserve fetal growth by increasing placental efficiencies and maintaining abundance of important nutrient transporters. As placental vascular network diminishes over late hypertension, placental efficiency diminishes and fetal growth fails. Neither hypoxia signaling pathway nor MMPs mediated the vascular diminution in thismodel. Hypertensive placentae surprisingly exhibit a sex-differential expression of nutrient transporters in late gestation despite showing fetal growth failure in both sexes.Summary SentenceExcess thromboxane A2 leads to a mouse phenotype of hypertensive disease of pregnancy and fetal growth restriction with evidence of altered placental vascular development and nutrient transporter abundance.
Control of Sour Rot Using Chemical and Canopy Management Techniques

Sour rot is a disease complex characterized by rotting of the grape berry plus internal development of acetic acid, and it is typically associated with an abundance of fruit flies (Drosophila). Uncertainty regarding disease etiology and epidemiology has limited the development of reliable management practices for sour rot, but it is now known that yeast, acetic acid bacteria (AAB), and Drosophila spp. act together to cause the disease. Thus, we conducted three years of replicated field trials on the Vitis interspecific hybrid cv. Vignoles, in which we targeted these organisms through preharvest applications of various antimicrobial agents (potassium metabisulfite, copper hydroxide, BLAD polypeptide, and/or a mixture of hydrogen dioxide and peroxyacetic acid, depending on year) and insecticides (spinetoram or zeta-cypermethrin, depending on year), alone and in combination. Weekly application of an antimicrobial plus insecticide provided an average of 64% control relative to untreated vines across all three years of the trial when initiated preventively at 15 Brix, before the onset of symptoms; withholding addition of an antimicrobial to the insecticide application until symptoms appeared typically decreased the control level. Applying only an insecticide on the preventive schedule provided substantial control in two of three years, and significantly reduced the number of drosophilids recovered from the berries within the treated panels, whereas the antimicrobials were only effective when applied with insecticide. We also studied disease development in a commercial vineyard of cv. Vignoles in which vines were trained to either a high wire cordon (HW) or vertical shoot positioned (VSP) system in groups of adjacent rows. In all three years of monitoring, disease severity was significantly higher on vines in the HW system, where drooping shoots formed a canopy over the fruit, and in which canopy density between the fruiting zone and vineyard floor was greater than for VSP vines.
Cofactor Biogenesis in Cysteamine Dioxygenase: C-F Bond Cleavage with Genetically Incorporated Unnatural Tyrosine.

Cysteamine dioxygenase (ADO) is a thiol dioxygenase whose study has been stagnated by the ambiguity as to whether or not it possesses an anticipated protein-derived cofactor. Reported herein is the discovery and elucidation of a Cys-Tyr cofactor in human ADO, crosslinked between Cys220 and Tyr222 through a thioether (C-S) bond. By genetically incorporating an unnatural amino acid, 3,5-difluoro-tyrosine (F2 -Tyr), specifically into Tyr222 of human ADO, an autocatalytic oxidative carbon-fluorine bond activation and fluoride release were identified by mass spectrometry and 19 F NMR spectroscopy. These results suggest that the cofactor biogenesis is executed by a powerful oxidant during an autocatalytic process. Unlike that of cysteine dioxygenase, the crosslinking results in a minimal structural change of the protein and it is not detectable by routine low-resolution techniques. Finally, a new sequence motif, C-X-Y-Y(F), is proposed for identifying the Cys-Tyr crosslink.
Cochlear effects of locally applied inhibitors

The round window has been used as a route for introducing ototoxic substances into the inner ear in order to bypass barriers between the systemic circulation and the inner ear. We have used this method to administer locally sodium potassium-ATPase inhibitors and chloride transport inhibitors to the inner ear of the chinchilla. Drugs dissolved in saline solution were applied on the round window membrane. Endocochlear potential (EP) was recorded from the basal turn using the round window approach. The EP was not altered following application of saline solution as a control. Following application of ouabain (1 mM), the EP steadily declined. After vanadate (27 mM), the EP initially increased, and subsequently declined. Sanguiarine did not alter the EP. The loop diuretics furosemide and piretanide caused a marked decline in the EP after local application. However, the stilbene derivative DIDS did not alter the EP after topical application. These findings raise questions about whether the loop diuretics have any effect on chloride transport in the cochlea and make appear unlikely that active chloride transport contributes to the normal EP.
Lessons Learned From the National Weight Control Registry

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) is a registry of more than 6000 individual s who have succeeded in long-term weight loss. This is the largest group of successful weight loss maintainers that has ever been studied. Over the past decade, we have identified many similarities in how these individuals are managing their body weight. We think this information can be useful in helping more people succeed at long-term weight management. We have eight recommendations for weight management based on our research: (1) treat weight-loss maintenance differently from weight loss; (2) make sure you are physically active during weight loss; (3) low-fat diets are best for preventing weight regain; (4) eat breakfast every day; (5) weigh yourself regularly and periodically keep diet and physical activity diaries; (6) get at least 1 h each day of physical activity; (7) maintain a consistent eating pattern; and (8) limit television viewing.
Wireless Consumer Protection: Who Decides?

The Federal Communications Commission is justified in claiming jurisdiction over early termination fees for wireless phone service. The question of whether ETFs can be classified under the Federal Communications Act as rates charged or terms and conditions may not be solely determinative of FCC jurisdiction, as federal regulation also extends to carrier practices and regulations in connection with interstate communications services. The assertion of federal jurisdiction over such fees would avoid a patchwork of potentially inconsistent and unnecessary regulation that could deter investment and innovation in wireless communications services and would have little benefit for consumers. Policymakers should avoid action that would prohibit ETFs as an option in wireless phone contracts due to prevalent competition in the market and consumer preference for these alternative pricing plans. Instead, federal policymakers should continue the established light touch regulatory regime already imposed on the industry. Issues concerning the reasonableness of wireless service contract ETFs and the manner in which they are assessed and imposed should be determined by the FCC, with input from all interested parties, including the state public utilities commissions and consumer advocates.
Lightwave/Terahertz Interaction

The use of Lightwaves to generate, transmit and process Terahertz radiation has now reached a critical stage of development. This is a result of major advances in laser technology and fiber optic devices. Soon these developments will permit realistic Terahertz systems to be fabricated, for the first time, for specific applications areas.
Second Impressions: Expanding the Range of Cereals from Early Neolithic Franchthi Cave, Greece

The southern Greek archaeological site of Franchthi Cave, with occupation dating from the Upper Paleolithic, remains the only site in southern Greece that both spans the shift from foraging to farming and has produced systematically recovered plant remains associated with this important transition in human prehistory. Previously reported archaeobotanical remains from the site derive exclusively from the cave interior, as none were recovered from outside the cave on the Franchthi Cave Paralia. This article reports the first evidence for plant use in the settlement area outside the cave, as provided by five seed impressions in Early Neolithic ceramic sherds from the Paralia. Significantly, this new data expands the range of crops represented at the site during the Early Neolithic to include einkorn wheat ( Triticum monococcum L.), pushing back its appearance at Franchthi by several centuries.
Tunable internal quantum well alignment in rationally designed oligomer-based perovskite films deposited by resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation

Hybrid perovskites incorporating conjugated organic cations enable unusual charge carrier interactions among organic and inorganic structural components, but are difficult to prepare as films due to disparate component chemical/physical characteristics (e.g., solubility, thermal stability). Here we demonstrate that resonant infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) mitigates these challenges, enabling facile deposition of lead-halide-based perovskite films incorporating variable-length oligothiophene cations. Density functional theory (DFT) predicts suitable organic and inorganic moieties that form quantum-well-like structures with targeted luminescence or exciton separation/quenching. RIR-MAPLE-deposited films enable confirmation of these predictions by optical measurements, which further display excited state behavior transcending traditional quantum-well models—i.e., with appropriate selection of specially synthesized organic/inorganic moieties, intercomponent carrier transfer efficiently converts excitons from singlet to triplet states in organics for which intersystem crossing cannot ordinarily compete with recombination. These observations demonstrate the uniquely versatile excited-state behavior in hybrid perovskite quantum wells, and the value of integrating DFT, organic synthesis, RIR-MAPLE and spectroscopy for screening/preparing rationally devised complex structures.
Fluid data structures

Functional (aka immutable) data structures are used extensively in data management systems. From distributed systems to data persistence, immutability makes complex programs significantly easier to reason about and implement. However, immutability also makes many runtime optimizations like tree rebalancing, or adaptive organizations, unreasonably expensive. In this paper, we propose Fluid data structures, an approach to data structure design that allows limited physical changes that preserve logical equivalence. As we will show, this approach retains many of the desirable properties of functional data structures, while also allowing runtime adaptation. To illustrate Fluid data structures, we work through the design of a lazy-loading map that we call a Fluid Cog. A Fluid Cog is a lock-free data structure that incrementally organizes itself in the background by applying equivalence-preserving structural transformations. Our experimental analysis shows that the resulting map structure is flexible enough to adapt to a variety of performance goals, while remaining competitive with existing structures like the C++ standard template library map.
Caring for Women After Hypertensive Pregnancies and Beyond: Implementation and Integration of a Postpartum Transition Clinic.

Purpose We developed a postpartum transition clinic to better support women after hypertensive pregnancy. Description Our program goals were (1) early postpartum hypertension medical management, (2) patient and provider education around CVD risk, (3) transition to primary care provider (PCP) and (4) a sustainable clinical model reimbursed by private and public insurances. We focused on women immediately postpartum in this analysis. Assessment Over the course of 5 years, a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of 412 immediately postpartum women received care for one, two or more appointments. Referral diagnoses included antepartum preeclampsia (PET) 51% (210/412), postpartum preeclampsia/hypertension (PP-PET) 22.3% (92/412), preeclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension (siPET) 10.2% (42/412), chronic hypertension (cHTN) 8.8% (37/412), and gestational hypertension (gHTN) 7.8% (31/412). Almost half of women had 2–3 visits 47.3% (195/412) with no difference by diagnosis (p = 0.18). No show rates were consistently around 25%. Acquisition of home blood pressure monitors increased from 56.8% (44/94) to 93.8% (61/65) over the 5 years (p < 0.0001). Nearly half of patients seen had antihypertensive medication adjustments 48.3% (199/412). Of those patients scheduled, 86.8% (79/91) attended a nutrition consultation. For patients with PCPs within our system, 79.5% (105/132) kept their scheduled follow up PCP appointments. Conclusion We report a postpartum transition clinic after hypertensive pregnancy. In this diverse population, patients attended 2–3 visits, incorporated home blood pressure monitoring, adjusted antihypertensive medications and initiated prevention measures such as nutrition referrals and PCP follow-up. An internist salary was sustained through billings and collections from private and public insurance.
The Intrapersonal Experience of Pregnancy at Work: an Exploratory Study

The experiences of pregnant employees in the American workforce is a central topic of conversation in current sociopolitical discourse. While previous research focuses more on how pregnant employees can shape others’ impressions of themselves, we shift the lens to explore the intrapersonal experiences of pregnant employees. Using a weekly survey methodology, we examined the extent to which utilizing different coping strategies (active coping and denial) shapes perceptions of both time-based pregnancy-to-work (PWC) and work-to-pregnancy conflict (WPC) over a period of four weeks. The results suggest that using denial as a coping strategy led to increased PWC the following week. Additionally, we found evidence that conflict felt during pregnancy spilled over to predict lower positive affect six months postpartum. We provide some of the first data on the influence of the intrapersonal experiences of pregnant employees not only during their time at work, but also when returning to work postpartum.
Assessment of Preprint Policies of Top-Ranked Clinical Journals.

This cross-sectional study examines the preprint publication policies of 100 clinical journals with the highest impact factor.
The overlap problem

It is common to think that it’s possible for entities to spatially coincide in multiple ways: with overcrowding (as with two bosons located in the same region, not made of anything in common), and without overcrowding (as with a statue and a lump of clay). Typically, we can distinguish between these by claiming that uncrowded spatial overlap involves a sharing of parts, and crowded spatial overlap does not. However, if we think that mereologically unusual entities, such as extended simples or some kinds of gunk, can also spatially overlap in crowded and uncrowded ways, we lose the ability to distinguish between those varieties of spatial overlap via appeal to shared parts. Thus, we should either reject the possibilities that generated this difficulty, or we must look for an alternative explanation of these varieties of spatial overlap.
Suppression, but not reappraisal, is associated with inflammation in trauma-exposed veterans.

Abstract Background Emotion dysregulation can elicit inflammatory activity. The current study examined whether specific maladaptive and adaptive emotion regulation strategies were associated with inflammatory markers in trauma-exposed veterans, above and beyond PTSD. Methods In a cohort study, 606 participants exposed to a Criterion A trauma and recruited from Veteran Health Administration facilities completed fasting blood draws, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale-IV. Inflammation was assessed with high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), white blood cell count (WBC), and fibrinogen levels. An inflammation index was created by summing standardized log-transformed levels of the three biomarkers. Our primary linear regression models were adjusted for sex, age, race, education, income, creatinine, and PTSD. Results Suppression, but not cognitive reappraisal, was significantly associated with higher levels of the inflammatory index (β = 0.14, p = 0.001). Parallel analyses for the individual inflammatory markers also showed suppression, but not reappraisal, was significantly associated with higher hsCRP (β = 0.11, p = 0.01), WBC (β = 0.11, p = 0.01), and fibrinogen (β = 0.10, p = 0.02). Conclusions Emotional suppression is related to elevated systemic inflammation independent of PTSD. Cognitive reappraisal is unrelated to inflammation. Findings suggest over-utilization of maladaptive, rather than under-utilization of adaptive, emotion regulation strategies may be associated with systemic inflammation in trauma-exposed veterans.
Shakespeare's Staged Trials

The trials in Shakespeare’s plays are strange. There are no lawyers or professional judges, there may be no witnesses, and the adjudicator often imposes unusual sanctions such as banishment. Most strikingly, these are almost always fake trials, manipulated by a character toward a predestined result. Two obvious explanations — that trials in Shakespeare’s day were like that, and that trials in the contemporary drama were like that — turn out to be largely incorrect. It is more persuasive to trace the strange features of Shakespeare’s trials to the various dramatic functions they fulfill, yet even this approach does not explain everything. There is one more possible explanation, which can be discovered only by reading the article.
Variation in Oophorectomy Rates for Children with Ovarian Torsion across US Children's Hospitals.

In this multicenter study of 1783 children diagnosed with ovarian torsion from 2012 to 2017, 402 children (22.5%) underwent oophorectomy. The odds of oophorectomy were higher in children under 11 years of age, children with public insurance, and children with complex chronic conditions. Future efforts should target a preservation-first approach.
Multi-omics analysis of chromatin accessibility and interactions with transcriptome by HiCAR

The long-range interactions of cis-regulatory elements (cREs) play a central role in regulating the spatial-temporal gene expression program of multi-cellular organism. cREs are characterized by the presence of accessible (or open) chromatin, which can be identified at genome-wide scale with assays such as ATAC-seq, DHS-seq, and FAIRE-seq. However, it remains technically challenging to comprehensively identify the long-range physical interactions that occur between cREs, especially in a cost effective manner using low-input samples. Here, we report HiCAR (High-throughput Chromosome conformation capture on Accessible DNA with mRNA-seq co-assay), a method that enables simultaneous assessment of cis-regulatory chromatin interactions and chromatin accessibility, as well as evaluation of the transcriptome, which represents the functional output of chromatin structure and accessibility. Unlike immunoprecipitation-based methods such as HiChIP, PLAC-seq, and ChIA-PET, HiCAR does not require target-specific antibodies and thus can comprehensively capture the cis-regulatory chromatin contacts anchored at accessible regulatory DNA regions and associated with diverse epigenetic modifications and transcription factor binding. Compared to Trac-looping, another method designed to capture interactions between accessible chromatin regions, HiCAR produced a 17-fold greater yield of informative long-range cis- reads at a similar sequencing depth and required 1,000-fold fewer cells as input. Applying HiCAR to H1 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) revealed 46,792 cis-regulatory chromatin interactions at 5kb resolution. Interestingly, we found that epigenetically poised, bivalent, and repressed cREs exhibit comparable spatial interaction activity to those transcriptionally activated cREs. Using machine learning approaches, we predicated 22 epigenome features that are potentially important for the spatial interaction activity of cREs in H1 hESC. Lastly, we also identified long-range cis-regulatory chromatin interactions in GM12878 and mouse embryonic stem cells with HiCAR. Our results demonstrate that HiCAR is a robust and cost-effective multi-omics assay, which is broadly applicable for simultaneous analysis of genome architecture, chromatin accessibility, and the transcriptome using low-input samples.
The COMET study: Examining the effects of COVID-19-related perceived stress on Los Angeles Mothers' dysregulated eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and body mass index.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions and mandates have had pronounced implications on the well-being of individuals. This study conducted exploratory analyses of the relationship between COVID-19-related life changes and COVID-19-related perceived stress and associations between COVID-19-related perceived stress and dysregulated maternal eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and body mass index (BMI) in Los Angeles mothers. Mothers (Mage = 37.6 ± 6.9) of children aged 5-11 (N = 197, response rate 92.5%) completed an online questionnaire assessing COVID-19-related life changes, COVID-19-related perceived stress, mechanisms used to cope with COVID-19, child feeding practices, their own eating behavior, demographics, and height and weight. The highest proportion of participants reported changes to work, disruptions due to childcare challenges, and increased home responsibilities. Higher COVID-19-related perceived stress was experienced by those who reported loss of work hours (29%), loss of job (15.2%), reduced ability to afford childcare (18.8%), and reduced ability to afford rent/mortgage (19.8%) (ps < 0.05) than those who did not. The most common strategy that mothers indicated using to cope with COVID-19 related stress was eating comfort foods (e.g., candy and chips) (58.7%). COVID-19-related perceived stress was positively associated with mother's BMI and emotional eating (ps < 0.05). Rewarding their child's eating and behavior with food were both positively associated with the number of COVID-19 related life changes (ps < 0.05). This study yields new knowledge of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mothers' dysregulated eating behaviors and child feeding practices. The results highlight the importance of conducting further research to confirm these findings and understand the nature of associations between COVID-19-related perceived stress and health. This is crucial in order to explore ways in which lasting impacts of the pandemic on mental and physical health can be prevented.
Soluble CD14 Levels in the Jackson Heart Study: Associations With Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Genetic Variants.

Objective sCD14 (soluble CD14) is a circulating pattern recognition receptor involved in inflammatory signaling. Although it is known that sCD14 levels vary by race, information on the genetic and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk relationships of sCD14 in Black participants is limited. Approach and Results: We measured sCD14 in plasma at the baseline exam from n=3492 Black participants from the JHS (Jackson Heart Study). We evaluated associations between sCD14 and subclinical CVD measures, incident CVD events, and mortality under 3 levels of covariate adjustment. We used whole-genome sequence data from the Trans-Omics for Personalized Medicine program to identify genetic associations with sCD14. Adjusting for CVD risk factors and C-reactive protein, higher sCD14 was significantly associated with increased risk of mortality (hazard ratio, 1.25 [95% CI, 1.17-1.32]), incident coronary heart disease (hazard ratio, 1.28 [95% CI, 1.11-1.47]), and incident heart failure (hazard ratio, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.15-1.41]), but not stroke (hazard ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.84-1.09]). Some of these relationships differed by age or sex: the association between sCD14 and heart failure was only observed in females; there was an association between sCD14 and stroke only at younger ages (in the lowest tertile of age, Conclusions sCD14 independently predicts CVD-related outcomes and mortality in Black participants.
What Is Hypersensitivity Reaction

“Hypersensitivity” is an immunological term that has acquired a histological meaning by many pathologists. Predisposed individuals respond to antigens that a majority of individuals do not respond to. As such, hypersensitivity reaction (HR) is divided into four types: Type I (anaphylaxis), Type II (cytotoxic reaction), Type III (immune complex), and Type IV (cell mediated).
Multi-channel network coding in tree-based wireless sensor networks

It has been recognized that using network coding improves the reliability and throughput of lossy wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Likewise, it is known that using multi-channel networking protocols can dramatically reduce end-to-end latency and improve throughput. However, to date there has been virtually no research as to how to combine these two techniques in a WSN. This paper presents MuCode, a novel tree-based multi-channel WSN protocol that uses network coding. The MuCode protocol uses a set of graph construction algorithms that support synchronized channel switching to take advantage of wireless eavesdropping for multi-path network coded packet delivery. The performance in MuCode has been evaluated against Sensecode, a standard tree-based WSN network coding protocol, as well as several other schemes. The results demonstrate that MuCode delivers superior performance for combined measures of throughput and latency.
Belief, Voluntariness and Intentionality

In this paper, I examine Alston's arguments for doxastic involuntarism. Alston fails to distinguish (i) between volitional and executional lack of control, and (ii) between compatibilist and libertarian control. As a result, he fails to notice that, if one endorses a compatibilist notion of voluntary control, the outcome is a straightforward and compelling case for doxastic voluntarism. Advocates of involuntarism have recently argued that the compatibilist case for doxastic voluntarism can be blocked by pointing out that belief is never intentional. In response to this strategy, I distinguish between two types of intentionality and argue that belief is no less intentional than action is.