cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Persistence for a class of triangular cross diffusion parabolic systems

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of a class of triangular parabolic systems given on bounded domains of arbitrary dimension. In particular, the existence of global attractors and the persistence property will be established.
A Longitudinal Study of Cultural Adaptation among Mexican and Dominican Immigrant Women.

The present longitudinal study examined cultural adaptation (i.e., acculturation and enculturation) and its correlates in a sample of 189 Mexican and Dominican immigrant women. Acculturation and enculturation were measured within the domains of language competence, identity, and cultural knowledge at two time points over a 1-year period. Across groups and domains, cultural adaptation was generally stable over time; only American cultural knowledge showed change and only for MA women. Several correlates of cultural adaptation were identified. For Mexican women, living in poverty and in immigrant-dense neighborhoods was associated with lower acculturation. For Dominican women, age at immigration was the most robust correlate and was associated with more acculturation and less enculturation, though poverty and neighborhood characteristics emerged as significant for Dominican women too. Findings are consistent with the notion of cultural adaptation as a complex construct that is influenced by cultural context as well as individual immigrant characteristics.
Surgical Pathology of Carcinomas

The surgical pathology of carcinomas is a vast topic; however, in this section, the aim will be to concisely outline how surgical pathologists evaluate biopsy and resection specimens with carcinoma, how a diagnosis of carcinoma is rendered, what information is included in a pathology report, and what is the clinical significance of this information. Concepts that will be covered include comparison with normal, in situ versus invasive carcinoma, type and subtype of carcinoma, tumor grading, tumor staging, utilization of immunohistochemical studies, and correlation between histological findings and molecular alterations.
Concerns Regarding the Ontario Court's Judgment in the Nareerux Case

In this article, which was published in 128 Banking Law Journal 116 (2011), Professor Dolan contends that the Ontario Court of Appeal created havoc with letter of credit law in Ontario by imposing on letter of credit issuers serious burdens requiring the policing of the underlying commercial transaction between the applicant for the credit and the beneficiary, all in a fashion contrary to Canadian precedent and contrary to a healthy legal environment for letters of credit.
Infrared Optical Materials: Where Do We Stand?

Many current and future IR optical materials and their applications have been outlined. The increasing demands on IR materials (for ultralow-loss optical fibers, high damage threshold laser optics, high speed windows and domes, and hard hermetic coatings) are surpassing our current inventory of usable materials. Current development is involved in advanced processing for material purity, particularly vapor phase, microstructural toughening, (e.g., composites), and searching for new materials like the ternary sulfides and the fluoride glasses. This development is being led by continuing contributions in fundamental areas like laser damage mechanisms, fracture mechanics, microstructure/physical property relations, intensity dependent effects, and material properties.
Reynaldo Roche (C)

This four-case series follows a team through a weeklong kaizen event. The A case sets up the situation, and the B (UVA-OM-1259), C (UVA-OM-1260), and D (UVA-OM-1261) cases depict what happens on the successive days. The series teaches such concepts as takt time, line balancing, and managing change. The A case is intended to be handed out as an assignment, and the B, C, and D cases provide real-time exercises for the students.
Who Needs Medicare? Health Insurance Sources for Disability Insurance Recipients Before and After Medicare Eligibility

Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) recipients are the only individuals who qualify for Medicare, the universal health care program for retirees, before age 65. The two-year waiting period between the DI benet award and Medicare eligibility oers an insight into the health insurance system in U.S. DI recipients are both constrained not to work and to be chronically ill or dying. Hence, this population is part of the most expensive users of the health care system but with greatly reduced access to the primary insurance provider (employer). Using the 2001 to 2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I document trends in the source of or lack of coverage during the waiting period, and the eect of Medicare eligibility on each form of insurance, as well as uninsurance. I estimate a measure of crowd out. This paper serves as a rst-order characterization of pre-Aordable Care Act settings and oers a test for ACA eectiveness in the future.
Mapping of 1D Beam Loads to the 3D Wind Blade for Buckling Analysis.

This paper discusses the development of a consisten t methodology for mapping onedimensional distributed beam loads to a three-dimensional shell structure. The resultant force distribution is a linear approximation to the actual aerodynamic pressure distribution but is sufficient to obtain accurate strain and dis placement results. The purpose of the mapping technique is to apply more realistic wind l oads to the shell model of a wind turbine blade without the need to set up and run expensive computational fluid dynamics or fluid structure interaction problems. Subsequent buckling and stress analysis reveal how this approach compares to other simplified methods of defining the loads.
Efficiency test methods and intelligent test platform for energy conservation motor

The national standard defines two efficiency classes for small and medium asynchronous motors,which are the allowable value of energy efficiency and evaluating value of energy conservation.This paper analyzes the motor efficiency test and evaluation methods in detail,and introduces the constitution and hardware principles of test platform.The practice has verified that the efficiency test and efficient operation of motor play positive roles in implementing power demand side management and improving terminal efficiency.
The genesis of cognitive and behavioral deficits in premature graduates of intensive care.

Increased survival of very low birth weight infants including those born at the cutting edge of viability is associated with substantial cognitive and behavioral deficits at follow-up that has extended into school age and adolescence. These problems have occurred as common in the presence or absence of neurosonographic abnormalities. Factors/events that may predispose to these problems include medical complications of prematurity i.e. chronic lung disease, recurrent episodes of apnea and bradycardia, transient hypothyroxinemia of prematurity, hyperbilirubinemia, nutritional deficiencies, medications used to treat such conditions i.e. glucorticoids, theophylline etc. and stress associated with prolonged hospitalization. With regard to the latter, attachment to multiple devices that limits infant provider interactions, high noise levels and constant light levels are considered to be of particular importance. Experimental evidence is presented that demonstrates the value of positive interactions between the subject and provider with regard to neurobehavioral outcome. Some suggested interventions include reducing noise levels and displacing it with music, modulating light exposure and enhancing infant parent interactions such as kangaroo care. Finally the important postnatal role of social influences on cognitive and behavioral outcomes is discussed.
CD8 T Cell–Independent Antitumor Response and Its Potential for Treatment of Malignant Gliomas

Malignant brain tumors continue to represent a devastating diagnosis with no real chance for cure. Despite an increasing list of potential salvage therapies, standard-of-care for these patients has not changed in over a decade. Immunotherapy has been seen as an exciting option, with the potential to offer specific and long lasting tumor clearance. The “gold standard” in immunotherapy has been the development of a tumor-specific CD8 T cell response to potentiate tumor clearance and immunological memory. While many advances have been made in the field of immunotherapy, few therapies have seen true success. Many of the same principles used to develop immunotherapy in tumors of the peripheral organs have been applied to brain tumor immunotherapy. The immune-specialized nature of the brain should call into question whether this approach is appropriate. Recent results from our own experiments require a rethinking of current dogma. Perhaps a CD8 T cell response is not sufficient for an organ as immunologically unique as the brain. Examination of previously elucidated principles of the brain’s immune-specialized status and known immunological preferences should generate discussion and experimentation to address the failure of current therapies.
Mod points on Shimura varieties of abelian type

We show that the mod p points on a Shimura variety of abelian type with hyperspecial level, have the form predicted by the conjectures of Kottwitz and Langlands-Rapoport. Along the way we show that the isogeny class of a mod p point contains the reduction of a special point.
Electrophysiological identification of nonrecurrent laryngeal nerves.

Objectives/Hypothesis The nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve (NRLN) is a common anatomic variation of the right recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), which has been associated with an increased risk of injury during thyroid and parathyroid surgery. We suggest that early successful identification using intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) and preservation of this variant will help the surgeon to avoid injury to this nerve. Our objective was to examine the electrophysiological parameters of the NRLN and the efficacy of IONM for successful identification of the NRLN. Study Design Retrospective database analysis. Methods This is a retrospective study of a prospectively collected database of all patients who underwent thyroid and parathyroid surgeries by a single surgeon at a tertiary care center over 3 years (n = 481). Patients' demographic data and operative reports, including the IONM reports, were reviewed. Average stimulation thresholds with resulting amplitudes and latencies were compared. Preoperative and postoperative laryngoscopy were performed in all cases. Results We identified 15 NRLNs (2.2%) in a total 682 laryngeal nerves. No left-sided NRLNs were observed. The average right vagus latency in the NRLN group was shorter than that of the RLN group (2.40 ms ± 0.49 ms vs. 3.43 ms ± 1.03 ms; P < .001). No statistically significant difference was observed between the initial amplitudes of the right vagus nerves in the two groups (713.67 μV ± 208.71 μV vs. 816.22 μV ± 470.45 μV; P = .14). All NRLN cases exhibited normal functioning of vocal cords on postoperative laryngoscopy. Conclusions IONM is highly effective in the identification of the NRLN. Right vagus nerve latency in the NRLN group was found to be significantly shorter than in the RLN group. Early identification of the NRLN allowed cautious preservation of the NRLN, resulting in excellent postoperative outcomes. The rate of NRLN identification may be improved by routine use of IONM. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 127:2189–2193, 2017
Evaluation of Management of Uncomplicated Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Retrospective Assessment

BackgroundCommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality in the United States. Studies have shown that interventions such as shorter antibiotic therapy and early intravenous (IV) to oral conversion can be safely performed. We evaluated areas of improvemen
David Oliver: Improving access to intermediate care.

NHS Benchmarking’s national audit of intermediate care is in its fourth year. The 2015 round described over 340 services from 95 providers in England and 53 clinical commissioning groups.1 In the context of current system challenges it provides crucial data, especially on older people’s services. The median age of patients described is 82. What do we mean by intermediate care models? The Department of Health’s Halfway Home report said in 2009, “Intermediate care is a range of integrated services to promote faster recovery from illness, prevent unnecessary acute hospital admission and premature admission to long-term residential care, support …
Reviving Bruce: negotiating Asian masculinity through Bruce Lee paratexts in Giant Robot and Angry Asian Man

ABSTRACTThese two case studies of the work of independent Asian American media producers show how Asian American audiences might construct paratexts for Bruce Lee’s work that address and undermine dominant stereotypes while also enabling a distinct “zone of transaction” between Asian American audiences and Lee’s films. By tracing the circulation and ideological investments of a Bruce Lee t-shirt manufactured by the Asian American ‘zine Giant Robot and the kung fu action figure that appears as the homepage image for the influential blog Angry Asian Man, we can understand the construction of Asian American masculinity at the nexus of hegemonic white masculinity, denigrated African American masculinity, and highly gendered “outsider” and nerd cultures.
(Invited) Ultrawide Bandgap β-Ga2O3 Thin Films: Growths, Properties and Devices

Ultrawide bandgap β-Ga2O3 represents an emerging semiconducting material for high power electronics and short wavelength optoelectronics applications. It possesses a wide band gap of 4.5-4.9 eV, and excellent chemical and thermal stability up to 1400 oC, which opens up new opportunities for various device applications. This paper reviews recent progresses on β-Ga2O3 thin film growths, properties and device demonstrations. Methods that have been demonstrated to enable high quality β-Ga2O3 thin film growth with controllable doping are discussed. Device applications of monoclinic β-Ga2O3 are also covered. Finally, a conclusion and future perspectives of the research in the area of this important semiconducting material will be given.
CSEM-regularized seismic velocity inversion: A multiscale, hierarchical workflow for subsalt imaging

ABSTRACTSeismic imaging in salt geology is complicated by highly contrasted velocity fields and irregular salt geometries, which cause complex seismic wavefield scattering. Although the imaging cha...
Effects of regular and random roughness on the heat transfer and skin friction coefficient on the suction side of a gas turbine vane

Skin friction coefficients and heat transfer coefficients are measured for a range of regular and random roughnesses on the suction side of a simulated gas turbine vane. The skin friction coefficients are calculated using boundary layer data and the momentum integral method. High resolution surface temperature data measured with an IR camera yields local heat transfer values. 80 grit, 50 grit, 36 grit, and 20 grit sandpaper, along with a regular array of conical roughness elements are tested. Measured skin friction coefficient data shows that the conical roughness array behaves very similarly to the 50 grit, 36 grit, and 20 grit sandpapers in terms of the effect of the roughness on the hydrodynamic boundary layer. In terms of heat transfer, the conical roughness array is most similar to the 80 grit sandpaper, which are both lower than the roughest sandpapers tested. This data shows that the particular regular array of roughness elements tested has fundamentally different behavior than randomly rough surfaces for this position on the simulated turbine vane. In addition, this difference is in the opposite direction as seen in previous experimental studies. In order to draw a more general conclusion about the nature of random and regular roughness, a parametric study of regular roughness arrays should be performed.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Implementation of Intensive Permanence Services: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Preparing Foster Youth for Supportive Relationships

Youth in foster care who have histories of grief, loss, and placement disruptions need trauma-informed programs that can help them maintain stable and consistent connections with supportive adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of staff who implemented a trauma-informed model called Intensive Permanence Services (IPS). We conducted qualitative interviews with staff (N = 7) who developed and implemented the IPS model and reviewed agency documents to identify the key characteristics of the model, the strategies staff used in their work with youth, and the challenges they faced to implementing IPS. Findings highlight these critical components: (1) using a youth-driven approach that prioritizes accountability to the youth and youth empowerment; (2) adopting an organizational culture of well-being using strategies such as secondary traumatic stress education, peer support, and structured supervision; and (3) promoting systems change for improved collaboration with all stakeholders, including the youth, families, caregivers, and other service providers. Overall, our findings stressed the importance of adopting a more holistic, trauma-informed, and youth-driven approach to improve permanence and well-being for youth in care.
Chalcone and cinnamate synthesis via one-pot enol silane formation-Mukaiyama aldol reactions of ketones and acetate esters

Abstract Aryl alkyl ketones, acetate esters, and acetamides undergo facile one-pot enol silane formation, Mukaiyama aldol addition, and dehydrosilyloxylation in the presence of an amine base and excess trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate. The chalcone and cinnamate products are generally recovered in high yield. The relative stoichiometry of the trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate and amine base reagents determines whether the reaction yields the β-silyloxy carbonyl product or the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl.
Genome Destabilization and Multistep Progression to Cancer

Neoplasia is a broad group of diseases in which one or more cell lineages have escaped from regulators of cell proliferation as the result of inherited or acquired genetic changes. Neoplasms can be caused by exogenous or endogenous carcinogens. Initially, this leads to benign tumors, such as dysplasia or polyps, with limited growth potential. Further genetic changes, which may take years to occur, lead to escape from additional regulators. The result is tumor progression and finally a cancer that can infiltrate and destroy adjacent normal tissues. Some cancers eventually gain the ability to spread to new sites via blood and lymphatic vessels; that is, they can metastasize.
Clinical eftects and pharmacokinetics of racemic methadone and its optical isomers

The respiratory and pupillary effects of oral l-, d-, and d,l-methadone were studied in healthy male volunteers 21 to 35 yr of age. The mean half-life of drug in blood was 22 hr for racemic methadone, 24 hr for 1-methadone, and 25 hr for d-methadone. The effects of d-methadone were not significantly different from the placebo response at a 7.5 mg dose, whereas a 50 and 100 mg dose slightly depressed respiration in one subject each. Both 7.5 mg of l-methadone and 15 mg of d,l-methadone induced intense and sustained respiratory depression and miosis. The changes induced by l-methadone were of longer duration than those of d,l-methadone, lasting more than 72 hr in some subjects. Whole blood drug concentration correlated weil with respiratory depression and miosis for 1- and d,l-methadone. The potency ratio of l-methadone to d,l-methdone, calculated from blood drug concentration data, was found to be 3.0 for respiratory depression and 2.7 for miosis. The antiduretic effect of 15 mg of d,l-methadone was investigated in three subjects and was found to persist for as long as measurements were taken, namely 11 and 12 hr in two subjects. d,l-Methadone administeredfrequently for pain may have cumulative effects on respiratory control and ability to excrete a water load.
Topical application of calcipotriene and corticosteroids: combination regimens

Background: Side effects of topical corticosteroids limit their long-term use. Calcipotriene/calcipotriol (Dovonex/Daivonex) ointment is not associated with any of the side effects of corticosteroids and has been shown to thicken the skin in contrast to the cutaneous atrophy caused by topical steroids. Objective: We attempted to determine whether the addition of calcipotriene to a regimen of topical steroids results in an improved benefit/risk ratio. Methods: Published and unpublished data on combination regimens were reviewed. Results: In long-tern regimens for psoriasis, substituting calcipotriene for topical corticosteroids may result in a steroid-sparing effect. Conversely, topical corticosteroids may suppress the development of local cutaneous irritation that occurs in patients treated with calcipotriene ointment. Conclusion: Psoriasis regimens combining calcipotriene ointment with superpotent steroids such as halobetasol ointment can result in greater improvement and fewer side effects.
Pursuing Justice for the Mentally Disabled

This article considers whether lawyers act as zealous advocates when they represent mentally disordered, involuntarily committed patients who wish to assert their right to refuse treatment with psychotropic medication. After discussing a study that clearly demonstrates that lawyers do not do so, the article explores the reasons for this inappropriate behavior. Michael Perlin characterizes the problem as sanism, which he describes as an irrational prejudice against mentally disabled persons of the same quality and character as other irrational prejudices that cause and are reflected in prevailing social attitudes of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ethnic bigotry. The article critiques Perlin's characterization of the problem and suggests other reasons for the phenomenon, including a belief that the civil commitment decision proved that the person was incompetent to make treatment decisions, and a belief that the decision on what treatment should be administered is a medical judgment to be made by the patient's doctor and should trump any patients' rights claim. The article concludes by considering whether aggressive advocacy would substantially improve the situation. Most patients accept - or are coerced into accepting - medication that their doctor prescribes. Because competency hearings are only conducted for those patients who assert a right to refuse medication, few patients would be affected by more aggressive attorney advocacy. Those patients who are successful in resisting coerced treatment are likely to be released from the hospital without an improvement in their mental condition and processed through the criminal justice system when they are detained in the future.
Motion Study of the Ornithopter with Periodic Wing Oscillations

The motion of an ornithopter, a flying robot, consisting of a body and two symmetric twolink wings, is considered. The device moves in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the robot. All the links of the object form a chain through cylindrical joints with parallel axes. A mathematical model of the ornithopter is developed based on a bird’s flight analysis taking into account the aerodynamic interaction of all the links with the environment. Sequences of flight phases are considered, each of which differs in the direction of motion of the wing links. As a result of numerical simulation, diagrams of the robot’s modes of motion are constructed (ascent, hovering, and descent) and the effect of the amplitude and frequency of oscillation of the wing links, as well as their area, is determined (the same wing area was achieved by varying the length and width of the wings).
Conversion to open from laparoscopic colon resection is a marker for worse oncologic outcomes in colon cancer.

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the oncological outcomes of conversion in patients undergoing resection for colon cancer. Methods Patients with stages I-III colon adenocarcinoma operated on between 2000 and 2012 were included. Oncologic outcomes were assessed by surgical approach (laparoscopy vs. open). A secondary analysis compared patients who required conversion to open vs. laparoscopic only. Results We identified 1196 patients that met inclusion criteria (28% laparoscopic, 72% open). Overall, 13% of laparoscopic cases were converted to open. There were no differences in 5-year overall survival (OS) (p = 0.258), disease-free survival, (DFS) (p = 0.070), cancer-specific survival (CSS) (p = 0.207), or recurrence (p = 0.216) between laparoscopy and open surgery. However, patients with conversion had a worse OS (p = 0.010) and DFS (p = 0.006) when compared to laparoscopic only. Conclusion Conversion from laparoscopic to open surgery is a marker for worse survival outcomes. Further investigation is needed to define the underlying cause of these differences.
Long-term Functional Outcomes of Trabeculectomy Revision Surgery.

Purpose To describe the long-term results of revision surgery for complications from trabeculectomy in a case series from an academic glaucoma service. Design Retrospective case series. Participants A total of 310 eyes (310 individuals) who underwent revision of trabeculectomy at the Wilmer Eye Institute between 2007–2015. Methods Retrospective study of patients who underwent revision of trabeculectomy at the Wilmer Eye Institute between 2007–2015. Main Outcome Measures Success of revision, defined as maintenance of long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) control at or below target, no further glaucoma-related reoperations, no major complications during revision surgery, and no dysfunctional hypotony; need for additional surgery after revision; change in visual acuity (VA) between original trabeculectomy; revision surgery; and last follow-up visit. Results The mean time between original surgery and revision was 3.1±4.0 years, and the mean follow-up from revision to last examination was 4.4±2.9 years. The overall successes at 1, 2, 5, and 8 years after revision were 76%, 68%, 57%, and 50%, respectively (Kaplan–Meier). The success was similar among revision indications (P = 0.43). The 5-year Kaplan–Meier survival was 60% for eyes undergoing revision for hypotony, 57% for bleb leak, 63% for dysesthesia, and 44% for uncontrolled IOP. Revisions in which the original surgery was performed by surgeons other than present Wilmer faculty were 5 times more likely to fail than cases in which the original surgery was performed by the Wilmer surgeon performing the most trabeculectomy and revision surgeries (P = 0.04). Further surgery after revision was required in 30% of cases during follow-up. Approximately half were additional IOP-lowering procedures, and half were further revisions. Duration of symptoms before revision was not consistently associated with the loss of VA between original surgery and last follow-up. Eyes that lost the most VA before revision surgery for hypotony tended to be the same eyes that regained the most vision after revision; eyes that underwent revision for hypotony with shorter duration of symptoms showed a greater improvement of VA between revision surgery and last follow-up (P = 0.01). Conclusions Revision of trabeculectomy provided successful resolution of complications associated with trabeculectomy surgery in many cases.
Wheel alignment effects on autonomous vehicle control vs human driver in simulation

In a human operated vehicle, the alignment of tires aims to strike a balance between ease of steering and a minimization of tire wear. The replacement of the human driver in an autonomous vehicle with low latency computer control of path tracking means that tire alignment can be performed with less emphasis on handling characteristics which contribute to ease of steering and directed towards improvement in tire life. This study uses MATLABs Vehicle Dynamics Blockset and Predictive Driver block to compare the path tracking capability of a passenger vehicle performing a double lane change maneuver under the control of the pure pursuit autonomous path following algorithm as well as a simulated human driver. Validation of the Predictive Driver block is performed by tracking a panel of human drivers performing the double lane change maneuver using GPS for localization in a subcompact electric vehicle. The vehicle model is characterized based on measurements from the test vehicle and sent through the same double lane change in simulation to compare behaviors. Tire alignment parameters are altered to demonstrate their effects on vehicle handling under both types of vehicle control. In the simulation environment, the pure pursuit algorithm tracks the desired path consistently across all parameter variations while the simulated human driver varies in its path tracking capabilities.
Behind the scenes: applying social network analysis to unfold entrepreneurs' investment decisions

This study aims to test and expand the application of social network analysis (SNA) to entrepreneurship and the joint-investing domain. We used as a setting for our study, the television show Shark Tank, wherein 'Sharks' (investors) can choose to not invest, or to invest individually or in groups, in companies 'pitched' by entrepreneurs. From this foundation, we create a node-and-edge graph wherein each Shark is a node in a network and edges are created through the action of a joint investment that includes more than one Shark. We use graph theory to show quantitatively which Sharks have made the most individual and joint investments and then create a visual image that shows graphically the network created by all joint investments made by all Sharks. Finally, we make several investment insights that would not be obvious using traditional statistical processes.
A lipid metabolic map of the pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum

Lipids play a fundamental role in fungal cell biology, being components of the cell membrane as well as targets of antifungal drugs. A deeper knowledge of lipid metabolism is key for developing new drugs and a better understanding of fungal pathogenesis. Here we built a comprehensive map of the Histoplasma capsulatum lipid metabolic pathway by integrating proteomic and lipidomic analyses. The map led to the identification of both the fatty acid desaturation and the sphingolipid biosynthesis pathways as targets for drug development. We also found that H. capsulatum produces analogs of platelet-activating factor, a potent regulator of the human immune response. The H. capsulatum platelet-activating factor analogs induced platelet aggregation and stimulated the production of the cytokines interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factor-α by J774 macrophages. Overall, this lipid metabolic map revealed pathways that can be targeted for drug development, in addition to identifying a regulator of the host immune response.
Synthetic high-density lipoprotein nanodiscs for personalized immunotherapy against gliomas

Purpose: Gliomas are brain tumors with dismal prognoses. The standard-of-care treatments for gliomas include surgical resection, radiation, and temozolomide administration; however, they have been ineffective in providing significant increases in median survival. Antigen-specific cancer vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade may provide promising immunotherapeutic therapeutic approaches for gliomas. Experimental Design: Here, we have developed immunotherapy delivery vehicles based on synthetic high-density lipoprotein (sHDL) loaded with CpG, a Toll-like receptor 9 agonist, and tumor-specific neoantigens (NeoAgs) to target gliomas and elicit immune-mediated tumor regression. Results: We demonstrate that vaccination with NeoAg peptide-sHDL/CpG cocktail in combination with anti-PDL1 immune checkpoint blocker elicits robust NeoAg-specific T cell responses against GL261 cells and eliminated established orthotopic GL261 glioma in 33% of mice. Mice remained tumor free upon tumor cell re-challenge in the contralateral hemisphere, indicating the development of immunological memory. Moreover, in a genetically engineered murine model of orthotopic mutant IDH1 (mIDH1) glioma, sHDL vaccination with mutant IDH1 NeoAg eliminated glioma in 30% of animals and significantly extended the animal survival, demonstrating the versatility of our approach in multiple glioma models. Conclusions: Overall, our strategy provides a general roadmap for combination immunotherapy against gliomas and other cancer types.
Zero-Order Reconstruction Optimization of Waveforms (ZOROW) for Modest DAC Rates

The use of waveforms possessing constant envelope and good spectral containment, combined with high-fidelity arbitrary waveform generation (AWG) capability, has been shown to minimize transmitter distortion effects when waveform diversity is needed. Software-defined radios (SDRs) represent a lower cost, attritable alternative to AWGs at the price of lower fidelity. Specifically, the lower digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) rates supported by SDRs introduce new design challenges for the generation of waveforms requiring high fidelity, most notably those containing in-band spectral notches. Here these challenges are addressed via the ZOROW waveform design scheme that accounts for physical attributes of the SDR. Distortion effects arising from the modest DAC rate are characterized and their mitigation is demonstrated using experimental measurements.
MIWI prevents aneuploidy during meiosis by cleaving excess satellite RNA

MIWI, a murine member of PIWI proteins mostly expressed during male meiosis, is crucial for piRNA biogenesis, post-transcriptional regulation, and spermiogenesis. However, its meiotic function remains unknown. Here, we report that MIWI deficiency alters meiotic kinetochore assembly, significantly increases chromosome misalignment at the meiosis metaphase I plate, and causes chromosome mis-segregation. Consequently, Miwi-deficient mice show elevated aneuploidy in metaphase II and spermatid death. Furthermore, in Miwi-null and Miwi slicer-deficient mutants, major and minor satellite RNAs from centromeric and pericentromeric satellite repeats accumulate in excess. Over-expression of satellite repeats in wild-type spermatocytes also causes elevated chromosome misalignment, whereas reduction of both strands of major or minor satellite RNAs results in lower frequencies of chromosome misalignment. We show that MIWI, guided by piRNA, cleaves major satellite RNAs, generating RNA fragments that may form substrates for subsequent Dicer cleavage. Furthermore, Dicer cleaves all satellite RNAs in conjunction with MIWI. These findings reveal a novel mechanism in which MIWI- and Dicer-mediated cleavage of the satellite RNAs prevents the over-expression of satellite RNAs, thus ensuring proper kinetochore assembly and faithful chromosome segregation during meiosis.
Medical and surgical management of gastroparesis: a systematic review.

Abstract Background Gastroparesis (GPS) is a rare disease with multiple etiologies that results in delayed gastric emptying. Diagnosis of GPS can be challenging due to its rather complex clinical presentation. Pharmacologic refractory cases require surgical interventions, all of which have yet to be standardized and characterized. Objectives We present a review of the literature and provide an update of current therapies for patients with GPS. Setting Department of General Surgery, Academic Hospital, United States. Methods We conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase of English-written articles published in the last 38 years, with an advance title search of “gastroparesis management.” Other keywords included: “surgical management” and “refractory gastroparesis.” Further references were obtained through cross-reference. Results A total of 12,250 articles were selected after eliminating duplicates. Following thorough screening of selection criteria, 68 full-text articles were included for review. Conclusion GPS is a challenging disease to manage. Nutritional support must remain the primary approach, followed by either medical or surgical treatment modalities if necessary. In patients with refractory gastroparesis, adjunctive therapies have been proposed as promising long-term options.
Exploring Divergent Green Reaction Media for the Copolymerization of Biobased Monomers in the Teaching Laboratory

Polymerization reaction media can have a profound effect on the physical properties of the resultant polymer. This phenomenon is showcased in a new experiment for the organic chemistry and polymer science teaching laboratories wherein the radical copolymerization of biobased β-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate is performed using a nonhazardous aqueous emulsion solvent and compared to a bulk reaction. Both procedures demonstrate multiple green chemistry principles and application to sustainable polymer synthesis. The emulsion copolymerization produces a tacky, elastomeric cross-linked material, capable of swelling to many times its original volume in organic solvents, setting the stage for the exploration of the relationship between solvent polarity and swelling capacity. Conversely, the polymerization of β-myrcene and dibutyl itaconate in the bulk yields a viscous non-cross-linked polymer whose 1H NMR spectrum is suitable for student analysis and estimation of polymer number-average molar mass (Mn), monomer conversion, and copolymer composition. This inexpensive experiment models the use of renewable feedstocks, the effect of reaction medium on polymer architecture, the unique properties of cross-linked organogels, and the quantitative analysis of polymer structure using 1H NMR spectroscopy.
Embedding-Enhanced Giza++: Improving Alignment in Low- and High- Resource Scenarios Using Embedding Space Geometry.

A popular natural language processing task decades ago, word alignment has been dominated until recently by GIZA++, a statistical method based on the 30-year-old IBM models. Though recent years have finally seen Giza++ performance bested, the new methods primarily rely on large machine translation models, massively multilingual language models, or supervision from Giza++ alignments itself. We introduce Embedding-Enhanced Giza++, and outperform Giza++ without any of the aforementioned factors. Taking advantage of monolingual embedding space geometry of the source and target language only, we exceed Giza++'s performance in every tested scenario for three languages. In the lowest-resource scenario of only 500 lines of bitext, we improve performance over Giza++ by 10.9 AER. Our method scales monotonically outperforming Giza++ for all tested scenarios between 500 and 1.9 million lines of bitext. Our code will be made publicly available.
Coded Privacy-Preserving Computation at Edge Networks.

Multi-party computation (MPC) is promising for privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms at edge networks, like federated learning. Despite their potential, existing MPC algorithms fail short of adapting to the limited resources of edge devices. A promising solution, and the focus of this work, is coded computation, which advocates the use of error-correcting codes to improve the performance of distributed computing through "smart" data redundancy. In this paper, we focus on coded privacy-preserving computation using Shamir's secret sharing. In particular, we design novel coded privacy-preserving computation mechanisms; MatDot coded MPC (MatDot-CMPC) and PolyDot coded MPC (PolyDot-CMPC) by employing recently proposed coded computation algorithms; MatDot and PolyDot. We take advantage of the "garbage terms" that naturally arise when polynomials are constructed in the design of MatDot-CMPC and PolyDot-CMPC to reduce the number of workers needed for privacy-preserving computation. Also, we analyze MatDot-CMPC and PolyDot-CMPC in terms of their computation, storage, communication overhead as well as recovery threshold, so they can easily adapt to the limited resources of edge devices.
A Pressure Anomaly for H II Regions in Irregular Galaxies

The pressures of giant H II regions in six dwarf irregular galaxies are found to be a factor of ~10 larger than the average pressures of the corresponding galaxy disks, obtained from the stellar and gaseous column densities. This is unlike the situation for spiral galaxies, where these two pressures are approximately equal. Either the H II regions in these dwarfs are all so young that they are still expanding, or there is an unexpected source of disk self-gravity that increases the background pressure. We consider first whether any additional self-gravity might come from disk dark matter that either is cold H2 gas in diffuse or self-gravitating clouds with weak CO emission, or is the same material as the halo dark matter inferred from rotation curves. The H2 solution is possible because cold molecular clouds would be virtually invisible in existing surveys if they were also CO-weak from the low metal abundances in these galaxies. Cosmological dark matter might be possible too because of the relatively large volume fraction occupied by the disk within the overall galaxy potential. There is a problem with both of these solutions, however: the vertical scale heights inferred for irregular galaxies are consistent with the luminous matter alone. The amount of disk dark matter that is required to explain the high H II region pressures would give gas and stellar scale heights that are too small. The anomalous pressures in star-forming regions are more likely the result of local peaks in the gravitational field that come from large gas concentrations. These peaks also explain the anomalously low average column density thresholds for star formation that were found earlier for irregular galaxies, and they permit the existence of a cool H I phase as the first step toward dense molecular cores. The evidence for concentrations of H I in regions of star formation is summarized; the peak column densities are shown to be consistent with local pressure equilibrium for the H II regions. Strongly self-gravitating star-forming regions should also limit the dispersal of metals into the intergalactic medium. The third possibility is that all of the visible H II regions in these dwarf galaxies are strongly overpressured and still expanding. The mean time to pressure equilibrium is ~15 times their current age, which implies that the observed population is only 7% of the total if they live that long; the rest are presumably too faint to see. The expansion model also implies that the volume-filling factor can reach ~100 times the current factor, in which case faint and aging H II regions should merge and occupy nearly the entire dwarf galaxy volume. This would explain the origin of the giant H I shells seen in these galaxies as the result of old, expanded H II regions that were formerly driven by OB associations. The exciting clusters would now be so old and dispersed that they would not be recognized easily. The shells are still round because of a lack of shear.
Embryonic retinal grafts transplanted into the lesioned adult rat retina.

Publisher Summary The grafting of immature neuronal tissue into the lesioned adult central nervous system provides a potentially powerful tool for repair and replacement of intrinsic neuronal circuitry initiated by trauma or disease. This chapter explores the possibilities of successful grafting of retinal tissue and some relevant issues: (1) how does the age of a pre- and postnatal donor affect the success of the retinal transplantation process; (2) what types of neuronal and glial cells appear in the maturing graft; and (3) can cross species grafting techniques be utilized in this model? The chapter presents the first report of cross species grafting of immature mouse retina to an adult rat retinal lesion site. Daily treatment of rat hosts with cyclosporin A was necessary for successful transplantation. The grafting of immature neuronal tissue into the lesioned adult central nervous system provides a potentially powerful tool for repair and replacement of intrinsic neuronal circuitry initiated by trauma or disease. The preliminary results in this area indicate that mouse retina can be successfully transplanted to the host rat retinal lesion site provided cyclosporine A is administered to the host. It remains unclear, however, whether graft astrocytes (AS) were derived from graft precursors or from reactive host cells, because AS's migrate into the retina from the optic stalk at the time of birth and are not found there at earlier stages.
Congenital Malformations of the Oral Cavity and Oropharynx

The common congenital malformations of the oral cavity are presented in this chapter, along with photographs and schematic figures of each anomaly. Specific topics that are highlighted include benign tumors, hamartomas, dermoids, teratomas, vascular malformations, and hemangiomas of the oral cavity. In addition, other malformations are described including macroglossia, lingual thyroid, ankyloglossia, ranulas, and mucoceles.
Optimal Control of Fed-Batch Bioreactors

Optimal feed rate profiles for fed-batch bioreactors have been characterized for the production of cell mass and metabolites using various kinetic forms. A complete nonlinear feedback control based on the state variables and a kinetic model may be realized for certain limiting cases.
Stata for Finance Students

Many public web sites provide valuable financial data. Twentynine Stata commands are provided for financial data mining purposes. Each command is open source and customizable. Examples are provided. These commands are of interest to investors, researcher and students of finance.
Modeling North Pacific Climate Time Series

The North Pacific (NP) index is a time series related to atmospheric pressure variations at sea level and is an important indicator of the NP climate. We consider three statistical models for the NP index, namely, a Gaussian stationary autoregressive process, a Gaussian stationary fractionally differenced (FD) process, and a ‘signal plus noise’ process consisting of a square wave oscillation with a pentadecadal period embedded in Gaussian white noise. Each model depends upon three parameters, so all three models are equally simple. Statistically each model fits the NP index equally well. The fact that this index consists of just a hundred observations makes it unrealistic to expect to be able to clearly prefer one model over the other. Although the models fit equally well, their implications for the long term behavior of the NP index can be quite different in terms of, e.g., generating regimes of characteristic lengths (i.e., stretches of years over which the NP index is predominantly either above or below its long term average value). Because we cannot determine a preferred model statistically, we are faced with either entertaining multiple models when considering what the long term behavior of the NP index is likely to be or using physical arguments to select one model. The latter approach would arguably favor the FD process because it has an interpretation as the synthesis of first order differential equations involving many different damping constants.
A virtual tower

The Virtual Tower is an operator interface assembled from low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and software; it enables large amounts of data to be displayed in a virtual manner that provides instant recognition for the operator and increases assessment accuracy in alarm annunciator and control systems. This is accomplished by correlating and fusing the data into a 360-degree visual representation that employs color, auxiliary attributes, video, and directional audio to prompt the operator. The Virtual Tower would be a valuable low-cost enhancement to existing systems.