cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Origin of the Self-Reinforcement in PDMS Bimodal Networks

Abstract For three series of bimodal networks, the stress-relaxation rates and the tearing energies were shown to exhibit maxima at about the same concentrations of short chains as those at which t...
Biomechanical evaluation of varying the number of loops in a repair of a physiological model of Achilles tendon rupture.

Background:Numerous suturing techniques have been described to treat Achilles tendon ruptures. No prior studies have evaluated frayed tendon ends on construct strength and whether this allows for less extensile exposure.Methods:Forty bovine Achilles tendons were divided into groups: 1 control and 4 experimental. Experimental groups were sectioned with ends frayed longitudinally in 2 mm intervals for 2 cm with no fraying for the control group. Four-stand Krackow sutures were used for repairs with 3 loops in the control group, 2 loops in frayed section for experimental groups, and varying numbers of loops (1-4) in healthy tendon. Samples were tested in loading cells at 100 N and 190 N for 1000 cycles. Gap width and maximum load failure were measured.Results:Gapping was <5 mm in controls at 100 N-190 N, significantly lower than experimentals. Greatest gapping occurred in groups with 1-2 loops in healthy tendon (10.9-13.9 mm). Most early catastrophic failures (5/8) occurred in groups with 1-2 loops in healthy...
Application of the Distributed Singularities concept to Arbitrary Aerodynamic Bodies

The authors have presently investigated the use of the vorticity sheet analysis as an upgrade to current discrete element methods in use. For investigation purposes, a full-fledge two-dimensional and an elementary three-dimensional analysis has been made. The two-dimensional model is designed to investigate both thick and thin aerodynamic shapes by use of iterative techniques. The iteration process is seen to converge rapidly towards a final, single value of the thick surface vorticity strength and aerodynamic load value. The change of loads with thickness is presented. It has also been shown that the shape of the vorticity sheet satisfies the required intuitive solution forms both at the leading and trailing edges for various thickness airfoils. The surface coefficient of pressure distribution is also shown to be in the range of experimental data. Current effort is focused on the evolution of the shape functions of the vorticity sheet around arbitrary twodimensional fuselage and wing sections. It is shown that the use of the vorticity sheet based analysis will eliminate the problems associated with wing-fuselage interaction areas as is presently the case with discrete element methods. Nomenclature
4Pi Spectral Self-interference Fluorescence Microscopy

Spectral Self-interference Fluorescence Microscopy using two opposing high numerical aperture objectives is proposed to precisely measure the axial position of fluorescent emitters. 5 nm change in the position of monolayer of fluorescent emitters was measured.
Development of activity-based probes for ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like protein signaling pathways.

Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like (UBL) proteins regulate a vast variety of cellular functions. Some UBL proteins are present in all cell types, while others are expressed only in certain cells or under certain environmental conditions. This highlights the central role of UBL systems in regulation of ubiquitous as well as specific cellular functions. UBL proteins share little amino acid sequence identity to each other, yet they share similar 3D shapes, which is exemplified by the β-grasp fold. Central to UBL protein signaling pathways are UBL protein-activating E1 enzymes that activate the C-terminus of UBL proteins for subsequent conjugation to the protein substrates. Due to their critical roles in biology, E1 enzymes have been recognized as emerging drug targets to treat human diseases. In spite of their biological significance, however, methods to discover UBL proteins and to monitor the intracellular activity of E1 enzymes are lacking. Thus, there is a critical need for methods to evaluate the intracellula...
Abstract LB-295: Food-based approach to cancer prevention: A phase I assessment of amorphous confections in modulating exposure and metabolism of black raspberry compounds in the oral cavity

Background: Oral cancer remains a major global malignancy, largely due to persistence of tobacco use worldwide. Preventive strategies focusing upon high risk individuals due to long term tobacco use or presence of pre-malignancy are needed. Based upon strong epidemiologic and laboratory evidence we have developed a black raspberry food-based product targeting this population and have tested variations in a phase I trial. Objective: 1. To test three amorphous solids (glassy, elastic, and viscous) containing a bioactive rich black raspberry (BRB) fraction in a confectionary system for compliance. 2. To investigate the impact of amorphous structure in modulating oral exposure and metabolism of black raspberry compounds in the oral cavity as measured by differences in duration of black raspberry exposure and profile of black raspberry metabolites from saliva. Methods: A four week, phase I, randomized, parallel study design with 60 non-smoking adults was used to investigate three amorphous forms having different release rates (prolonged, intermediate, and rapid), each at two doses (4 or 8 g BRB/day). Salivary kinetics and changes in black raspberry composition among and within individuals were assessed. HPLC with Tandem MS/MS was used to quantify and characterize black raspberry compounds from the confections and profile them in the saliva. Results: All confections were well accepted having excellent adherence (94 ± 2%). Toxicities were limited to a grade I toxicity (NIH criteria). Oral residence time was 74% longer and saliva volume was 42% greater with glassy than the other two amorphous forms. Anthocyanin (cyanidin-3-glucoside) and ellagitannins were prevalent compounds in the saliva. Conclusions: Three amorphous confectionary forms of a BRB food-based delivery vehicle demonstrated excellent compliance, with the glassy form showing potential for greater oral distribution, suggesting the potential for greater bioactivity. Food science and technology provides many strategies to develop novel and fully characterized food products for cancer prevention trials. Citation Format: Jennifer H. Ahn-Jarvis, Steven K. Clinton, Elizabeth M. Grainger, Christina Simpson, Junnan Gu, Matthew D. Teegarden, Kenneth M. Riedl, Thomas J. Knobloch, Christopher M. Weghorst, Steven J. Schwartz, Yael Vodovotz. Food-based approach to cancer prevention: A phase I assessment of amorphous confections in modulating exposure and metabolism of black raspberry compounds in the oral cavity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-295.
Examining Mn-Peptide Complexes Applied to the Preparation of Irradiated Vaccines

Antioxidant Mn-peptide complexes accumulated in the extremely radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans have a remarkable ability - they protect the structure and functions of proteins exposed to massive doses of ionizing radiation, but they do not significantly protect nucleic acids. We designed a decapeptide DEHGTAVMLK (DP1) whose amino acid composition was selected to include most of the prevalent amino acids in the protective fraction of D. radiodurans cell extracts. DP1 spontaneously forms antioxidant complexes with Mn2+ and orthophosphate (MDP) which uncouple protein damage from DNA/RNA damage during supralethal exposures to gamma-radiation. This approach has been applied to the preparation of irradiated vaccines. An ideal whole-organism vaccine lacks any infectivity, but retains all original epitopes needed to mount a protective immune response. Indeed, MDP preserves antigenic structures in aqueous preparations of lethally-irradiated viruses and bacteria. The structure/function relationships of DP1 were interrogated by LC/MS and HPLC. Upon exposure to gamma-rays, the radiation-dependent decay of DP1 correlates to the loss of protective ability of proteins. Interaction between DP1 and Mn was examined in aqueous solution by nuclear magnetic resonance and electron nuclear double resonance spectroscopy. Several amino acids in DP1 are more important for MDP complex formation than others.
Dynamic sinking behaviour in marine phytoplankton: rapid changes in buoyancy may aid in nutrient uptake

Phytoplankton sinking is an important property that can determine community composition in the photic zone and material loss to the deep ocean. To date, studies of diatom suspension have relied on bulk measurements with assumptions that bulk rates adequately capture the essential characteristics of diatom sinking. However, recent work has illustrated that individual diatom sinking rates vary considerably from the mean bulk rate. In this study, we apply high-resolution optical techniques, individual-based observations of diatom sinking and a recently developed method of flow visualization around freely sinking cells. The results show that in both field samples and laboratory cultures, some large species of centric diatoms are capable of a novel behaviour, whereby cells undergo bursts of rapid sinking that alternate with near-zero sinking rates on the timescales of seconds. We also demonstrate that this behaviour is under direct metabolic control of the cell. We discuss these results in the context of implications for nutrient flux to the cell surface. While nutrient flux in large diatoms increases during fast sinking, current mass transport models cannot incorporate the unsteady sinking behaviour observed in this study. However, large diatoms appear capable of benefiting from the enhanced nutrient flux to their surface during rapid sinking even during brief intervening periods of near-zero sinking rates.
An Electrically-Detected Magnetic Resonance Study of the Atomic-Scale Effects of Fluorine on the Negative Bias Temperature Instability

It has been shown that the negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) may be significantly suppressed through the incorporation of fluorine in the gate oxide. In this study, we use the electrically-detected magnetic resonance technique of spin dependent recombination and standard gated diode current measurements to investigate the atomic-scale processes involved in fluorine's suppression of NBTI. Our results indicate that fluorine effectively passivates Si/SiO2 Pb0 center defect precursors, but is much less effective at passivating Si/SiO2 Pb1 center defect precursors. Since these two defects have significantly different densities of states, our results maybe useful in modeling NBTI response in fluorinated oxide devices. Our results also help to provide a fundamental explanation for the observation that fluorination has a strong effect on NBTI in "pure" SiO2 MOS devices, but is ineffective at reducing NBTI in nitrided oxide devices.
ACSF3 and Mal(onate)-Adapted Mitochondria

In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Bowman and colleagues show that the mitochondrial enzyme ACSF3 generates malonyl-CoA from malonate, in turn regulating metabolic flux and mitochondrial protein malonylation (Bowman et al., 2017). The study reveals a mechanism to generate mitochondrial malonyl-CoA and how this molecule impacts mitochondrial biology.
Case 10—Please Stop Torturing Me! (Unless My Wife Is in the Room)

A 55-year-old well-known attorney was diagnosed with B cell lymphoma. Aggressive treatment caused the cancer to go into remission but led to multiple system organ failure. The patient’s second wife insisted on continuing treatment, which included dialysis and other invasive procedures, partly because the oncologists told her that her husband’s cancer had been cured. The intensive care team (and sometimes the patient) saw continuing treatment as futile, but were not able to convince the patient’s wife to agree to any other goals of care.
More Shared Responsibility for “More Appropriate Communication”

The term “more appropriate communication” appears in more than 400 scholarly articles (according to Google Scholar). I examined the first 100 scholarly articles that pertained to communication betw...
Investigation of reconfigurable antennas by foldable, e-textile tessellations: Modeling and experimentation

Physical deformation mechanisms are emerging as compelling and simple ways to adapt wave propagation properties of antenna arrays in contrast to digital steering approaches acting on topologically fixed antennas. Concepts of physical reconfigurability also enable exceptional capabilities such as deployable and morphing antenna arrays that serve multiple functions and permit compact transport with ease. Yet, the emergent concepts lack broad understanding of effective approaches to integrate conformal, electrically conductive architectures with high-compliance foldable frameworks. To explore this essential interface where electrical demands and mechanical requirements may conflict, this research studies e-textile-based reconfigurable antenna arrays that conform to adaptable topologies by origami-inspired tessellations. The e-textiles leverage embroidered conductive threads along frameworks established on origami tessellations to permit large compliance at folding edges as needed while retaining the desired electromagnetic wave propagation characteristics. Computational modeling is used to guide experimental fabrications and validations. It is found that e-textile origami antenna arrays permit significant adaptation of wave radiation while maintaining the required mechanical robustness under folding sequences. These findings may motivate future concepts for reconfigurable antennas established upon physical deformation processes.Physical deformation mechanisms are emerging as compelling and simple ways to adapt wave propagation properties of antenna arrays in contrast to digital steering approaches acting on topologically fixed antennas. Concepts of physical reconfigurability also enable exceptional capabilities such as deployable and morphing antenna arrays that serve multiple functions and permit compact transport with ease. Yet, the emergent concepts lack broad understanding of effective approaches to integrate conformal, electrically conductive architectures with high-compliance foldable frameworks. To explore this essential interface where electrical demands and mechanical requirements may conflict, this research studies e-textile-based reconfigurable antenna arrays that conform to adaptable topologies by origami-inspired tessellations. The e-textiles leverage embroidered conductive threads along frameworks established on origami tessellations to permit large compliance at folding edges as needed while retaining the desired ...
Multi-Item, Multi-Period Production Planning with Uncertain Demand

We provide a formulation and solution algorithm for the finite-horizon capacitated production planning problem with random demand for multiple products. Using Lagrangian relaxation, we develop a subgradient optimization algorithm to solve this formulation. We also provide some computational results that indicate this approach works well for rolling-horizon planning compared with the rolling-horizon performance of the corresponding optimal finite-horizon solution. The advantage of our approach is that realistic problem instances can be solved quickly while optimal solutions to such instances are computationally intractable.
THERMAL CONTACT RESISTANCE BY REFLECTION OF HEAT DIFFUSION WAVES.

The applicability of the temperature wave method to thermal contact conductance measurements is investigated. The theoretical analysis shows that the amplitudes and the phase angles of the reflecte...
Actual new cancer-causing hydrazines, hydrazides, and hydrazones.

Twenty actual new cancer-causing hydrazines, hydrazides, and hydrazones of synthetic or natural origin are described. These compounds induce tumors in various target tissues in mice, hamsters, and rats. To nine of these compounds the human population is exposed in the form of drugs, agricultural herbicides, and naturally occurring ingredients of edible mushrooms. Yet, with one exception, none of the hydrazines described here were investigated for cancer-inducing abilities in man. The human population should be warned against the use of this hazardous class of chemicals, the total number of which is now 40.
Statistical Analysis of Impedance Data for Jet Turbine Oil Additives

A gold, parallel-plate capacitor test cell was used to make electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements on high resistivity gas turbine engine oil as a function of the oil additive type.The additive effects on the EIS response were determined by analyzing ester-based basestock oil mixed with a single additive.This work was performed for four different additives:antioxidant, metal deactivator, anti-wear, and extreme pressure.Multiple measurements were made for each basestock-single additive mixture.To determine whether the EIS response of each additive showed a significant difference, statistical analysis was performed on the data using a student’s t-test.Low-frequency data showed the largest difference in additive responses.Statistical analysis showed that the extreme pressure additive has the greatest effect on oil impedance.Mixtures of antioxidant and metal deactivator additives did not show interaction.
On-Wafer Transistor Characterization to 750 GHz – the Approach, Results, and Pitfalls

We review approaches developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for on-wafer transistor characterization and model parameter extraction at submillimeter wavelengths and compare them to more common approaches developed for use at lower frequencies. We discuss important improvements in accuracy, approaches to estimating the uncertainty of the procedure, and recent research on further improving these methods.
Truth Commission Legitimacy and Violence in Africa

In an attempt to gain a more nuanced understanding of truth commission impact on violence within a society, I devote Chap. 5 to testing the argued relationships using the SCAD—information on protests, riots, strikes, and other similar social disturbances in Africa between 1990 and 2011. I find that the authority awarded to a truth commission by its mandate decreases the total number of SCAD events that occur in a particular country by about 11%. Additionally, public hearings perform counter to my expectations. Based on my statistical analysis, public hearings (transparency) increase violence by a little less than 6% compared to truth commission countries that do not hold public hearings. This chapter further discusses these and other results in greater depth.
Las propiedades acústicas de las consonantes laríngeas del Boruca

This study documents the oscillographic and spectrographic properties of non-modal phonation observed in Boruca, an already extinct Chibchan language that was spoken in Costa Rica. Traditionally, the creaky and breathy phonations of Boruca have been interpreted as phonetic cues for the laryngeal segments /Ɂ/ and /h/. However, this article reanalyzes these phenomena as phonological specification of the [constricted glottis] and [spread glottis] features associated with vowels. Thus, Boruca does not have laryngeal consonants but it does contrast between modal, creaky and breathy vowels. The study presents evidence that creaky voice concentrates in the middle of vowels while breathy voice concentrates in the final section of vowels. Moreover, Boruca can force creaky voice to surface as a glottal stop segment under certain conditions, and can also insert breathy voice in certain segmental environments.
Secondary monitor unit calculations for VMAT using parallelized Monte Carlo simulations.

We have developed a fast and accurate in-house Monte Carlo (MC) secondary monitor unit (MU) check method, based on the EGSnrc system, for independent verification of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatment planning system dose calculations, in accordance with TG-114 recommendations. For a VMAT treatment plan created for a Varian Trilogy linac, DICOM information was exported from Eclipse. An open-source platform was used to generate input files for dose calculations using the EGSnrc framework. The full VMAT plan simulation employed 107 histories, and was parallelized to run on a computer cluster. The resulting 3ddose matrices were converted to the DICOM format using CERR and imported into Eclipse. The method was evaluated using 35 clinical VMAT plans of various treatment sites. For each plan, the doses calculated with the MC approach at four three-dimensional reference points were compared to the corresponding Eclipse calculations, as well as calculations performed using the clinical software package, MUCheck. Each MC arc simulation of 107 particles required 13-25 min of total time, including processing and calculation. The average discrepancies in calculated dose values between the MC method and Eclipse were 2.03% (compared to 3.43% for MUCheck) for prostate cases, 2.45% (3.22% for MUCheck) for head and neck cases, 1.7% (5.51% for MUCheck) for brain cases, and 2.84% (5.64% for MUCheck) for miscellaneous cases. Of 276 comparisons, 201 showed greater agreement between the treatment planning system and MC vs MUCheck. The largest discrepancies between MC and MUCheck were found in regions of high dose gradients and heterogeneous densities. By parallelizing the calculations, point-dose accuracies of 2-7%, sufficient for clinical secondary checks, can be achieved in a reasonable amount of time. As computer clusters and/or cloud computing become more widespread, this method will be useful in most clinical setups.
Abstract 1817: Differential expression of long non-coding RNA in colon adenocarcinoma RNA-sequence data set

Introduction: Colon cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. High throughput genomic sequencing has led to a number of significant advances in tumor biology and in identifying novel signaling molecules such as long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed lncRNA in colon cancer from a large RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data set. Methods: The raw RNA-seq files of 398 patients with colon cancer were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Sequencing files were aligned using STAR (Spliced Transcripts Alignment to a Reference) to the most recent genome annotation. Using a subset of patients with paired colon cancer and normal colon epithelium RNA-seq data (n=40), an exploratory binomial regression model was used to calculate differential RNA expression. The most differentially expressed lncRNA were identified from the exploratory analysis and verified by comparing the larger colon cancer RNA-seq data set (n=358) with the normal colon epithelium RNA-seq data set (n=40). Results: 33,514 genes were identified from the comparative analysis, and using differential expression cut off values of > +1.5 or Conclusions: This analysis of RNA-seq data from TCGA has identified dysregulated lncRNAs which have not previously been described in human colon cancer. These lncRNAs may have significant roles in colon cancer tumor signaling. Citation Format: Stephen J. O9Brien, Theodore Kalbfleisch, Sudhir Srivastava, Shesh Rai, Susan Galandiuk. Differential expression of long non-coding RNA in colon adenocarcinoma RNA-sequence data set [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1817.
Utility of surveillance imaging for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage

Abstract Introduction Management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage involves reversal of coagulopathy, neurological examinations and repeated imaging. Repeated imaging is employed to identify patients prior to neurological deterioration, however, there is no data to support this practice. As such, we strive to identify the utility of surveillance imaging as well as the risks factors that are associated with higher likelihood of developing a clinically significant hematoma progression. Methods A retrospective chart analysis of 200 consecutive patients was performed on patients with non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Patients with non-parenchymal hemorrhage, vascular malformations, patients that required surgical intervention based on the initial scan/neurological exam, and trauma were excluded. Patient demographics, blood pressure, presence of a new neurological deficit, progression of hematoma, surgical intervention and mortality were gathered from the chart. Results Hematoma progression of greater than 5 mL was seen in 24 patients (12%) on repeat imaging. Large initial hematoma volume, early time from symptom onset to initial imaging, and new neurological deterioration between scans were significantly associated with significant hematoma progression. Of the 24 patients with hematoma progression greater 5 mL, five patients did not develop neurological deterioration. None of these patients required intervention. Conclusion Routine imaging in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages does not alter clinical management. Rather, careful neurologic monitoring may be safe and more clinically useful in these patients.
Intraneuronal Tau Misfolding Induced by Extracellular Amyloid-β Oligomers

Abnormal folding and aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although normal tau is an intrinsically disordered protein, it does exhibit tertiary structure whereby the N- and C-termini are often in close proximity to each other and to the contiguous microtubule-binding repeat domains that extend C-terminally from the middle of the protein. Unfolding of this paperclip-like conformation might precede formation of toxic tau oligomers and filaments, like those found in AD brain. While there are many ways to monitor tau aggregation, methods to monitor changes in tau folding are not well established. Using full length human 2N4R tau doubly labeled with the Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) compatible fluorescent proteins, Venus and Teal, on the N- and C-termini, respectively (Venus-Tau-Teal), intensity and lifetime FRET measurements were able to distinguish folded from unfolded tau in living cells independently of tau-tau intermolecular interactions. When expression was restricted to low levels in which tau-tau aggregation was minimized, Venus-Tau-Teal was sensitive to microtubule binding, phosphorylation, and pathogenic oligomers. Of particular interest is our finding that amyloid-β oligomers (AβOs) trigger Venus-Tau-Teal unfolding in cultured mouse neurons. We thus provide direct experimental evidence that AβOs convert normally folded tau into a conformation thought to predominate in toxic tau aggregates. This finding provides further evidence for a mechanistic connection between Aβ and tau at seminal stages of AD pathogenesis.
Toward a Theory of Harms in the Internet Ecosystem

One foundational justification for regulatory intervention is that there are harms occurring of a character that create a public interest in mitigating them. This paper is concerned with such harms that arise in the Internet ecosystem. Looking at news headlines for the last few years, it may seem that the range of such harms is unbounded. Hoping to add some order to the chaos, we undertake an effort to classify harms in the Internet ecosystem, in pursuit of a more or less complete taxonomy of harms. Our goal in structuring this taxonomy can help to mitigate harms in a more systematic way, as opposed to fighting an endless defensive battle against whatever happens next. The background we bring to this paper is on the one hand architectural—how the Internet ecosystem is actually structured—and on the other hand empirical—how we should measure the Internet to best understand what is happening. If everything were wonderful about the Internet today, the need to measure and understand would not be so compelling. A justification for measurement follows from its ability to shed light on problems and challenges. Sustained measurement or compelled reporting of data, and the analysis of the collected data, generally comes at considerable effort and cost, so must be justified by an argument that it will shed light on something important. This reasoning naturally motivates our taxonomy of things that are wrong—what we call harms. That is where we, the research community generally, and governments should focus attention. We do not intend this paper as a catalog of pessimism, but to help define an action agenda for the research community and for governments. The structure of the paper proceeds "up the layers'', from technology to society. For harms that are closer to the technology, we can be more specific about the harms, and more specific about possible measurements and remedies, and actors that could undertake them. One motivation for this paper is that we believe the Internet ecosystem is at an inflection point. The Internet has revolutionized our ability to store, move, and process information, including information about people, and we are only at the beginning of understanding its impact on society and how to manage and mitigate harms resulting from unregulated commercial use of these capabilities. Current events suggest that now is a point of transition from laissez-faire to regulation. However, the path to good regulation is not obvious, and now is the time for the research community to think hard about what advice to give the governments of the world, and what sort of data can back up that advice. Our highest-level goal for this paper is to contribute to a conversation along those lines.
Characterization of BioSafe SEPAX Manufactured Stem Cell Intended for Cardiac Cell Therapy.

Abstract Numerous cardiology groups are actively pursuing the use of hematopoietic stem cells for myocardial delivery. Most published studies have used a manual ficoll density separation procedure to enrich the Mononuclear Cell (MNC) population thus enriching the stem cell content in the final therapeutic cell product. Manual ficoll procedures have certain intrinsic limitations including technologist variability, training time, and risk of contamination due to its open nature. Most open and manual cell processing procedures have been supplanted by recent technology developments in automated and closed devices. The BioSafe SEPAX is a closed system-automated ficoll density separation device that currently has FDA 510k clearance for the processing of umbilical cord blood products. In support of multi-center clinical studies being conducted by the NHLBI Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), the MD Anderson Cell Therapy Laboratory has evaluated bone marrow derived, MNC enriched, stem cells for their cardiovascular therapeutic potential. Traditional transplantation immunophenotyping was performed on these cells to evaluate hematopoietic stem cells (CD34+ and CD133+), T-Cell subsets, B-Cells, and NK-Cells. Colony Forming Units (CFU) as wells as surrogates used in cardiac regeneration studies including endothelial invasion assays and CXCR4 immunophenotyping (a chemokine receptor involved in cell migration) were also performed. Our data suggests the cells produced using the automated ficoll BioSafe SEPAX device are equivalent to cells produced using a manual ficoll procedure with respect to TNC, MNC, viability, and CD34+ recoveries. Cell subsets and function including invasion and CXCR4 analysis were also similar between the two procedures. The automated method produced a product with statistically higher CFU potential than the manual method suggesting the SEPAX isolates a more potent subset of the mononuclear fraction. These studies support the use of the SEPAX device as for enriching BM-MNCs for the CCTRN. Additional benefits might include the use of a closed system, ease of training, speed of cell manufacturing, and product consistency.
Pylorus-Preserving Total Pancreatectomy for Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm in the Setting of Previous Roux-en-Y Cystjejunostomy for Pancreatic Pseudocyst.

Background: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are cystic lesions of the pancreas with malignant potential. The Sendai and Fukuoka criteria offer guidelines for surgical management of...
Comparative Analysis of Proposed Strategies for Incorporating Biologic Factors into Breast Cancer Staging

Tumor biology is an important prognostic factor in breast cancer. This study aimed to compare three staging systems incorporating both biologic factors and anatomic staging (AJCC 8th-edition pathologic prognostic staging, Bioscore, and Risk Score) in a large population-based cohort. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program was used to select patients with primary stages 1–4 breast cancer diagnosed in 2010. Patients with inflammatory carcinoma, those with missing data for biologic factors, and those with stages 1–3 disease not treated with surgery were excluded from the study. Estimates of 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The Harrel concordance index (C-index) and the Akaike Information Criterion were used to compare each model in terms of predicting DSS. The study included 21,901 patients with a median age of 60 years. The median follow-up period was 52 months. All the staging models stratified DSS, with a stepwise decrease in DSS for each increase in risk category or score. The C-index of each model incorporating biologic factors was higher than the C-index for anatomic staging alone (C-index: 0.832 vs. 0.856 for AJCC pathologic prognostic staging, 0.856 for Bioscore, and 0.864 for Risk Score, all p < 0.001). The staging systems incorporating biologic factors did not differ significantly in terms of model fit. Staging systems incorporating biologic factors perform better than anatomic staging alone. Implementation of the AJCC 8th-edition pathologic prognostic staging was an important initial step in the inclusion of tumor biology in staging. Given its simplicity and ease of use, the Risk Score should be given consideration as an alternative staging system.
Bohmian Mechanics: Realism and the “Box” Experiment

It is difficult to articulate how we should take a realist attitude towards Bohmian mechanics because there are many versions of it. This paper aims to clarify the realist commitments of Bohmian mechanics and how we can understand it from a general scientific realist perspective. I use the box experiment, a double-slit like experiment conducted by Cardone et al. (Phys Lett A 326(1–2):1–13, 2004; Int J Mod Phys B 20(09):1107–1121, 2006), as a working example to argue that a causal realist account (in the sense of selective realism) that is applicable to Bohmian mechanics, has to be supplemented with the use of Inference to the Best Explanation. The reason is because causal realism on its own does not form a sufficient basis for realism about Bohmian mechanics. In particular, I argue that the existence of the pilot wave explains why we observe an anomalous interference effect in the experiment of Cardone et al. The conclusion to draw is that a complete realist account about Bohmian mechanics rests on explanatory considerations.
Fragmentation Echoes in Modern Translation Theory

The paradox of the Tower of Babel and the underlying story behind the confusion of tongues are inextricably intertwined with various linguistic differences across the world. The tool of language, regardless of whether it is a gift of God, or a purely human artifact, or whatever one may choose to believe regarding its origins, is a tool that allows us to communicate with each other, thereby opening the door for dialogue with the ‘Other.’ As the myth of Babel began influencing several scholars in the twentieth century, linguistic theories inevitably elicited great interest among many acclaimed scholars, including Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) and Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). To that end, the fragmented mode of languages is a fundamental principle in their discourse on the confusion of tongues. In this article, I argue that Kafka’s writing, particularly the notion of the “piecemeal construction” in “The Great Wall of China,”1 has influenced Benjamin’s theory of translation and echoed Derrida’s respective view thereof.
A Single-Shot Generalized Device Placement for Large Dataflow Graphs

With increasingly complex neural network architectures and heterogeneous device characteristics, finding a reasonable graph partitioning and device placement strategy is challenging. There have been prior attempts at learned approaches for solving device placement, these approaches are computationally expensive, unable to handle large graphs consisting over 50000 nodes, and do not generalize well to unseen graphs. To address all these limitations, we propose an efficient single-shot, generalized deep RL method (SGDP) based on a scalable sequential attention mechanism over a graph neural network that is transferable to new graphs. On a diverse set of representative deep learning models, our method on average achieves 20% improvement over human placement and 18% improvement over the prior art with 15× faster convergence. We are the first to demonstrate super human performance on 8-layer recurrent neural network language model and 8-layer GNMT consisting of over 50000 nodes, on 8-GPUs. We provide rationales and sensitivity study on model architecture selections.
Traces of Intertwiners for Quantum Affine $${\mathfrak{sl}}_2$$ and Felder–Varchenko Functions

We show that the traces of \({U_q({\widehat{\mathfrak{sl}}}_2)}\)-intertwiners of [ESV02] valued in the three-dimensional evaluation representation converge in a certain region of parameters and give a representation-theoretic construction of Felder–Varchenko’s hypergeometric solutions to the q-KZB heat equation given in [FV02]. This gives the first proof that such a trace function converges and resolves the first case of the Etingof–Varchenko conjecture of [EV00]. As applications, we prove a symmetry property for traces of intertwiners and prove Felder–Varchenko’s conjecture in [FV04] that their elliptic Macdonald polynomials are related to the affine Macdonald polynomials defined as traces over irreducible integrable \({U_q({\widehat{\mathfrak{sl}}}_2)}\)-modules in [EK95]. In the trigonometric and classical limits, we recover results of [EK94,EV00]. Our method relies on an interplay between the method of coherent states applied to the free field realization of the q-Wakimoto module of [Mat94], convergence properties given by the theta hypergeometric integrals of [FV02], and rationality properties originating from the representation-theoretic definition of the trace function.
A Control Method of Shunt Active Power Filter for System-wide Harmonic Suppression Based on Complex-valued Neural Network

At present, the active power filter(APF) is a device that can effectively suppress harmonics. However, in the traditional control method, APF can only eliminate the harmonic voltage of a single node. This makes it difficult to apply to the harmonic suppression of the power grid with distributed harmonic sources. For that, how to effectively suppress the system-wide harmonics has become a topic worth studying. This paper proposes a control method that uses a single APF to suppress the system-wide harmonics of the grid. The method collects data generated during operation of the power grid, and then uses the neural network to fit the data to obtain a model between the compensation current of the APF and the voltage of each node. Based on this model, the optimal compensation current will be calculated and no grid parameters are required. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation results.
Al/Al 2 O 3 metal matrix composites produced using magnetic field-assisted freeze-casting of porous ceramic structures

Al/Al2O3 metal matrix composites (MMCs) were produced by metal infiltration of porous ceramic preforms. The porous ceramic preforms were fabricated using the magnetic field-assisted freeze-casting method, resulting in vertically aligned porous channels. Preforms were prepared by freezing an Al2O3/Fe3O4-containing slurry within an applied magnetic field. Vertical alignment of the channels was facilitated by the magnetic response of the Fe3O4 in the slurry during the freezing process. After freezing and sublimation, the ceramic preforms were sintered and then infiltrated with molten A356 Al-based alloy. The mechanical properties of the resulting Al2O3/A356 MMCs were compared to those of bulk Al2O3, bulk Al-based alloy (A356), and porous Al2O3 preforms using micro-indentation testing. The indentation hardness and elastic moduli values of Al2O3/A356 MMCs showed good agreement with the predicted theoretical calculations. This study provides a new approach for the design of MMCs with controlled composition and improved mechanical characteristics.
Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Paranasal Sinus Cancer Disease-Specific and Conditional Survival:

ObjectiveSocioeconomic status (SES) is often used to quantify social determinants of health. This study uses the National Cancer Institute SES index to examine the effect of SES on disease-specific...
Comparative analyses of responses to exogenous and endogenous antiherbivore elicitors enable a forward genetics approach to identify maize gene candidates mediating sensitivity to herbivore-associated molecular patterns

Crop damage by herbivorous insects remains a significant contributor to annual yield reductions. Following attack, maize (Zea mays) responds to Herbivore Associated Molecular Patterns (HAMPs) and Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs), activating dynamic direct and indirect antiherbivore defense responses. To define underlying signaling processes, comparative analyses between Plant Elicitor Peptide (Pep) DAMPs and fatty acid-amino acid conjugate (FAC) HAMPs were conducted. RNA-seq based early transcriptional changes following Pep and FAC treatments revealed quantitative differences in the strength of response yet a high degree of qualitative similarity, providing evidence for shared signaling pathways. In further comparisons of FAC and Pep responses across diverse maize inbred lines, we identified Mo17 as part of a small subset of lines displaying selective FAC insensitivity. Genetic mapping for FAC sensitivity using the Intermated B73 x Mo17 population identified a single locus on chromosome 4 associated with FAC sensitivity. Pursuit of multiple fine-mapping approaches further narrowed the locus to 19 candidate genes. The top candidate gene identified, termed FAC SENSITIVITY ASSOCIATED (ZmFACS), encodes a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR-RLK) that belongs to the same family as a rice receptor gene previously associated with the activation of induced responses to diverse Lepidoptera. Consistent with reduced sensitivity, ZmFACS expression was significantly lower in Mo17 as compared to B73. Transient heterologous expression of ZmFACS in Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in a significantly increased FAC-elicited response. Together, our results provide useful resources for studying early elicitor-induced antiherbivore responses in maize and approaches to discover gene candidates underlying HAMP sensitivity in grain crops.
Concurrent Prebiotic Formation of Nucleoside-Amidophosphates and Nucleoside-Triphosphates Potentiates Transition from Abiotic to Biotic Polymerization

Polymerization of nucleic acids in biology utilizes 5'-nucleoside triphosphates (NTPs) as substrates. The prebiotic availability of NTPs has been unresolved and other derivatives of nucleoside-monophosphates (NMPs) have been studied. However, this latter approach necessitates a change in chemistries when transitioning to biology. Herein we show that diamidophosphate (DAP), in a one-pot amidophosphorylation-hydrolysis setting converts NMPs into the corresponding NTPs via 5'-nucleoside amidophosphates (NaPs). The resulting crude mixture of NTPs are accepted by proteinaceous- and ribozyme-polymerases as substrates for nucleic acid polymerization. This phosphorylation also operates at the level of oligonucleotides enabling ribozyme-mediated ligation. This one-pot protocol for simultaneous generation of NaPs and NTPs suggests that the transition from prebiotic-phosphorylation and oligomerization to an enzymatic processive-polymerization can be more continuous than previously anticipated.
Electrocardiography-Based Artificial Intelligence Algorithm Aids in Prediction of Long-term Mortality After Cardiac Surgery

Abstract Objective To assess whether an electrocardiography-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm developed to detect severe ventricular dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] of 35% or below) independently predicts long-term mortality after cardiac surgery among patients without severe ventricular dysfunction (LVEF>35%). Methods Patients who underwent valve or coronary bypass surgery at Mayo Clinic (1993-2019) and had documented LVEF above 35% on baseline electrocardiography were included. We compared patients with an abnormal vs a normal AI-enhanced electrocardiogram (AI-ECG) screen for LVEF of 35% or below on preoperative electrocardiography. The primary end point was all-cause mortality. Results A total of 20,627 patients were included, of whom 17,125 (83.0%) had a normal AI-ECG screen and 3502 (17.0%) had an abnormal AI-ECG screen. Patients with an abnormal AI-ECG screen were older and had more comorbidities. Probability of survival at 5 and 10 years was 86.2% and 68.2% in patients with a normal AI-ECG screen vs 71.4% and 45.1% in those with an abnormal screen (log-rank, P Conclusion A novel electrocardiography-based AI algorithm that predicts severe ventricular dysfunction can predict long-term mortality among patients with LVEF above 35% undergoing valve and/or coronary bypass surgery.
Testing Practice Wisdom

Social workers whose practice models are not empirically based rely on a large store of practice wisdom in treating their clients. Single-system research can be used to begin testing, and perhaps validating, much of this practice wisdom. This article considers why such a research strategy is desirable. It then suggests a generic structure and language for practice that could help practitioners formulate researchable questions. Finally, four examples are given of research questions generated by examining practice wisdom from the psychosocial and generalist models.
Knowledge discovery and data mining to assist natural language understanding.

Abstract As natural language processing systems become more frequent in clinical use, methods for interpreting the output of these programs become increasingly important. These methods require the effort of a domain expert, who must build specific queries and rules for interpreting the processor output. Knowledge discovery and data mining tools can be used instead of a domain expert to automatically generate these queries and rules. C5.0, a decision tree generator, was used to create a rule base for a natural language understanding system. A general-purpose natural language processor using this rule base was tested on a set of 200 chest radiograph reports. When a small set of reports, classified by physicians, was used as the training set, the generated rule base performed as well as lay persons, but worse than physicians. When a larger set of reports, using ICD9 coding to classify the set, was used for training the system, the rule base performed worse than the physicians and lay persons. It appears that a larger, more accurate training set is needed to increase performance of the method.