cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Application of forensic science techniques to trace fossils on dinosaur bones from a quarry in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, northeastern Wyoming

Trace fossils on sauropod skeletons from a quarry in fluvial deposits of the Morrison Formation, Wyoming, are used to reconstruct the taphonomic history of the dinosaur bone accumulation. Shallow pits; rosettes; hemispherical pits; thin, curvilinear, branching grooves; and U- to V-shaped linear grooves make up trace fossils found on sauropod skeletons. The traces were interpreted by comparisons to traces on modern bone. Rosettes are circular rings of modified bone and are likely an early stage in the production of shallow pits. They are interpreted as pupation chambers constructed in dried flesh in contact with sauropod bone. Hemispherical pits are circular with a U-shaped cross section and interpreted as dermestid pupation chambers completed in sauropod bone. Thin, curvilinear, branching grooves are semicircular in cross section, form irregular dendritic or looping patterns, and are interpreted as root etchings. U- to V-shaped linear grooves are interpreted as theropod or crocodilian bite marks. Skeletal articulation and condition and distribution of bone modification traces suggest the skeletons accumulated at this site over no more than 3.5 years, with the bulk of the skeletons contributed during the dry season in the final 3–6 months. Carcasses went through all stages of decomposition—including the dry stage, represented by shallow pits, rosettes, and hemispherical pits. Vertebrate scavengers and necrophagous arthropods fed on the carcasses during all decomposition stages prior to burial of the assemblage.
Women's intercollegiate gymnastics Injury patterns and "permanent" medical disability

A prospective study was established to record the patterns of injury incurred by all members of a women's college gymnastics team. Twenty-six women were fol lowed over a 4-year period (53 gymnast seasons) from 1983 to 1987. To identify which injuries resulted in persisting impairment, these same athletes were con tacted again 3 years later. The 26 athletes sustained 106 injuries. Sixty (57%) of these were of acute onset and were related to an identifiable gymnastics event. The remaining 46 (43%) were of gradual onset or overuse injuries. For the follow-up phase, 22 of the 26 women were contacted from 10 to 70 months (38.5 average) after completion of their gymnastics careers. Forty-five percent of the injuries recorded in their com petitive years still bothered them at the time of followup, especially low back, ankle, great toe, shoulder, and knee injuries. Athletic and recreational activity exacer bated the complaints. Twenty-nine percent felt that their sports activity level was now limited. Forty-six p...
LARYNGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA IN A DOG

Laryngeal adenocarcinoma was diagnosed in a 5-year-old golden retriever dog with no history of respiratory or pharyngeal difficulties. Radiographically the basihyoid bone was destroyed by the neoplasm, and extensive soft tissue mineralization ventral to the larynx was also present. Complete surgical resection was not possible due to diffuse involvement of the tongue and larynx. Cobalt-60 teletherapy was used for treatment of the tumor. There was no clinical evidence of tumor regrowth at approximately 12 months post treatment. This is an unusual example of primary laryngeal neoplasia due to the absence of clinical respiratory abnormalities and the aggressive destruction of the basihyoid bone.
The functional importance of disease-associated mutation.

Background For many years, scientists believed that point mutations in genes are the genetic switches for somatic and inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria and cancer. Some of these mutations likely alter a protein's function in a manner that is deleterious, and they should occur in functionally important regions of the protein products of genes. Here we show that disease-associated mutations occur in regions of genes that are conserved, and can identify likely disease-causing mutations.
Modeling the travel distances of debris flows and debris slides: quantifying hillside morphology

A travel distance model for debris flows and slides is presented based on information collected in southeast British Columbia, Canada. The model incorporates a variable that represents terrain morphology by a single number, quantification made using a one-to-one correspondence between the binary and decimal numeration systems. The terrain morphology coding has a site-specific character, providing a process-based representation of local conditions. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the dependence of event travel distance on terrain morphology, slope, stand height, terrain curvature and canopy closure (R 2 = 0.975, p < 0.001). The model fulfills all the assumptions and requirements of regression analysis (i.e. normality, ho- moscedasticity, non - correlated errors, lack of colinearity or outliers). An independent data set was used to test the model. The model successfully pre- dicted all but one of the test dataset events, and one of four outliers. The model consists of an equation that can be used in mass movement risk assessment associated, with different forest activities (e.g. harvesting, road building). Keywords reach, binary codification, number theory, regression analysis, British Columbia.
Gaze dwell times on acute trauma injuries missed because of satisfaction of search.

Abstract Rationale and Objectives The authors performed this study to determine whether satisfaction of search (SOS) errors in patients with multiple traumas are caused by faulty visual scanning, faulty recognition, or faulty decision making. Materials and Methods A series of radiographs were obtained in patients with multiple traumas. Radiologists interpreted each series under two experimental conditions: when the first radiograph in the series included a fracture, and when it did not. In the first experiment, the initial radiographs showed nondisplaced fractures of the extremities (minor fractures); in the second experiment, the initial radiographs showed abnormalities of greater clinical importance (major fractures). Each series also included a radiograph with a subtle (test) fracture and a normal radiograph on which detection accuracy was measured. In each experiment, gaze dwell time was recorded as 10 radiologists reviewed images from 10 simulated cases of multiple trauma. Results An SOS effect could be demonstrated only in the second experiment. Analysis of dwell times showed that search on subsequent radiographs was shortened when the initial radiograph contained a fracture; however, the errors were not based on faulty scanning. Conclusion The SOS effect in musculoskeletal trauma is not caused by faulty scanning. Demonstration of an SOS effect on test fractures with major but not minor additional fractures suggests that detection of other fractures is inversely related to the severity of the detected fracture.
Aromatic vs aliphatic C-H cleavage of alkyl-substituted pyridines by (PNPiPr)Re compounds.

Both (PNP)Re(H)4 and (PNP)ReH(cyclooctyne) (PNPiPr = (iPr2PCH2SiMe2)2N) react with alkylpyridines NC5H4R to give first (PNP)ReH2(η2-pyridyl) and cyclooctene and then, when not sterically blocked, (PNP)Re(η2-pyridyl)2 and cyclooctane. The latter are shown by NMR, X-ray diffraction, and DFT calculations to have several energetically competitive isomeric structures and pyridyl N donation in preference to PNP amide π-donation. DFT studies support NMR solution evidence that the most stable bis pyridyl structure is one that is doubly η2- with the pyridyl N donating to the metal center. When both ortho positions carry methyl substituents, cyclooctane and the carbyne complex (PNP)ReH(⋮C-pyridyl) are produced. Excess 2-vinyl pyridine reacts with (PNP)Re(H)4 preferentially at the vinyl group, to give 2-ethyl pyridine and the σ-vinyl complex (PNP)ReH[η2-CHCH(2-py)]. The DFT and X-ray structures show, by various comparisons, the ability of the PNP amide nitrogen to π-donate to an otherwise unsaturated d4 ReIII center...
Best Practices for Implementing Team-Based Learning in Pharmacy Education

Colleges and schools of pharmacy are incorporating more team-based learning (TBL) into their curriculum. Published resources are available to assist instructors with implementing TBL and describing it in the health professions literature. The 7 core elements include: team formation, readiness assurance, immediate feedback, sequencing of in-class problem solving, the 4 “S” structure for developing team application exercises (significant problem, same problem, specific answer choice, simultaneous reporting), incentive structure, and peer evaluation. This paper summarizes best practices related to implementation of TBL in pharmacy education, including courses taught using teaching teams.
High Angle of Attack Flight Control of Delta Wings Using Vortex Actuators

The objective of this work was to develop an active fluidic control system that can effectively manipulate the vortex breakdown location over a highly swept delta wing. By moving the vortex breakdown fore or aft, a pitching moment can be induced on the delta wing without the use of any conventional control surfaces. The active control system can be incorporated into a feedback loop to input a desired pitching moment based on the real-time measured surface pressure. The type of active fluidic control system shown to be the most effective at delaying vortex breakdown was the along-core injection technique. The present study describes an open loop control system, that is, the flow field was observed and measured and then injection conditions were changed manually. The process was repeated until optimal conditions were observed. Initial closed loop feedback control tests were performed to test the response of the system. A 60° delta wing model with a maximum span of 15.5 inches and a root chord of 13.5 inches was mounted in a subsonic wind tunnel. The wing was equipped with six control jets with variable azimuthal and pitch angles on the top surface approximately beneath the vortex core. A thorough optimization process was completed measuring static pressure to determine vortex breakdown location. Other variables in addition to azimuthal and pitch angles were injection momentum, frequency, and duty cycle. Measuring dynamic pressure, that is pressure fluctuation due to vortex shedding and pulsed injection, was also necessary to the development of a control algorithm. Dynamic pressure was measured at four chord-wise locations with uniform and randomly modulated duty cycles in order to ascertain duty cycle sensitivity on the system’s overall effectiveness.
ON THE MEMBRANE EFFECTS OF CHLORPROMAZINE: UPTAKE OF BIOLOGIC AMINES BY THE BLOOD PLATELET AND RED CELL.

Abstract There is a widely held view that chlorpromazine, in ordinary pharmacologic concentrations, causes a decrease in the overall permeability of various biologic membranes. The present study suggests that this view is incorrect insofar as the permeability to organic amme compounds is concerned. Chlorpromazine, desmethylimipramine (DMI), and cocaine, at a concentration of 3 × 10 −5 M, had no effect on the rate of diffusion of dl -norepinephrine into human red cells suspended in Tyrode's solution. Similaily, neither chlorpromazine (3.3 × 10 −5 M) nor DMI (3.3−10 × 10 −5 M) had any effect on the rate of diffusion of bufotenine into human platelets suspended in plasma. Chlorpromazine (6 × 10 −5 M), DMI (6 × 10 −5 M), reserpine (1.6 × 10 −6 M), and the metabolic inhibitor N-ethylmaleimide (10 −3 M) had no effect on the rate of diffusion of serotonin into platelets; however, all of these agents interfered with the active transport process responsible for uptake of the amine against a concentration gradient. Chlorpromazine and DMI behaved as competitive inhibitors of serotonin transport, while reserpine behaved as a noncompetitive inhibitor.
Regulation of Rab5 Function during Phagocytosis of Live Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Macrophages

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative opportunistic human pathogen, is a frequent cause of severe hospital-acquired infections. Effectors produced by the type III secretion system disrupt mammalian cell membrane trafficking and signaling and are integral to the establishment of P. aeruginosa infection. One of these effectors, ExoS, ADP-ribosylates several host cell proteins, including Ras and Rab GTPases. In this study, we demonstrated that Rab5 plays a critical role during early stages of P. aeruginosa invasion of J774-Eclone macrophages. We showed that live, but not heat-inactivated, P. aeruginosa inhibited phagocytosis and that this occurred in conjunction with downregulation of Rab5 activity. Inactivation of Rab5 was dependent on ExoS ADP-ribosyltransferase activity, and in J744-Eclone cells, ExoS ADP-ribosyltransferase activity caused a more severe inhibition of phagocytosis than ExoS Rho GTPase activity. Furthermore, we found that expression of Rin1, a Rab5 guanine exchange factor, but not Rabex5 and Rap6, partially reversed the inactivation of Rab5 during invasion of live P. aeruginosa. These studies provide evidence that live P. aeruginosa cells are able to influence their rate of phagocytosis in macrophages by directly regulating activation of Rab5.
A new proof of a theorem of Hubbard and Oberste-Vorth

We give a new proof of a theorem of Hubbard and Oberste-Vorth (Real and Complex Dynamical Systems, pp. 89-132, 1995) for Henon maps that are perturbations of a hyperbolic polynomial and obtain the Julia set $J^{+}$ inside a polydisk as the image of the fixed point of a contracting operator. We also give different characterizations of the Julia sets J and $J^{+}$ which prove useful for later applications.
Reanastomosis of the Previously Ligated Fallopian Tube

Tubal sterilization procedures are being performed on young women in increasing numbers. For a variety of reasons a small but significant number of women are requesting reversal of the tubal interruption. This report presents a series of 20 consecutive patients on whom tubal reanastomoses of previously noncoagulated, surgically ligated fallopian tubes were performed. An intraluminal tubal suture technique is described. Low magnification (× 2 to × 4) was used. The comparative results of the patients operated upon revealed a tubal patency rate of 80%, a total pregnancy rate of 70%, a viable pregnancy rate of 55%, three abortions, and one ectopic pregnancy.
The genetic architecture of local adaptation II: The QTL landscape of water-use efficiency for foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana Grev. & Balf.)

Water availability is an important driver of the geographic distribution of many plant species, although its importance relative to other climatic variables varies across climate regimes and species. A common indirect measure of water-use efficiency (WUE) is the ratio of carbon isotopes (δ 13 C) fixed during photosynthesis, especially when analyzed in conjunction with a measure of leaf-level resource utilization (δ 15 N). Here, we test two hypotheses about the genetic architecture of WUE for foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana Grev. & Balf.) using a novel mixture of double digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing, species distribution modeling, and quantitative genetics. First, we test the hypothesis that water availability is an important determinant of the geographical range of foxtail pine. Second, we test the hypothesis that variation in δ 13 C and δ 15 N is genetically based, differentiated between regional populations, and has genetic architectures that include loci of large effect. We show that precipitation-related variables structured the geographical range of foxtail pine, climate-based niches differed between regional populations, and δ 13 C and δ 15 N were heritable with moderate signals of differentiation between regional populations. A set of large-effect QTLs (n = 11 for δ 13 C; n = 10 for δ 15 N) underlying δ 13 C and δ 15 N variation, with little to no evidence of pleiotropy, was discovered using multiple-marker, half-sibling regression models. Our results represent a first approximation to the genetic architecture of these phenotypic traits, including documentation of several patterns consistent with δ 13 C being a fitness-related trait affected by natural selection.
Update on anemia and neutropenia in copper deficiency.

Purpose of reviewCopper deficiency is an under-recognized cause of reversible refractory anemia and leukopenia, particularly neutropenia, often misdiagnosed as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Clinicians and hematopathologists need to be aware of distinct morphologic findings to distinguish these ent
Interaction of oil drops with surfaces of different interfacial energy and topography.

During a marine oil spill, the oil can interact with and potentially wet a variety of surfaces such as corals, skin/shells of marine animals, and bird feathers. We present both qualitative and quantitative data for the interaction of a dodecane droplet submerged in water with surfaces varying in both surface energy and roughness. Flat, unstructured silicon surfaces with water in air contact angles of 0°, 43°, 66°, 87°, 96°, and 108° were tested first to obtain base readings, after which photolithography was used to introduce structured surfaces representative of marine biological systems. We find that the more hydrophilic a surface, the less prone it is to oil contamination. Also, the Cassie–Baxter approximation holds up for submerged oil in water systems and can be used to predict contact angles of oil on solid rough surfaces submerged in an aqueous environment. Furthermore, the addition of surface structure, even on strongly hydrophobic (oleophilic) surfaces, greatly reduced (≈75% reduction in Fadhesion...
Audit Fee Differential, Audit Effort, and Litigation Risk: An Examination of ADR Firms

Prior studies find that audit fees are higher for cross-listed firms, and these studies primarily attribute the incremental fees to added litigation costs. In this study, we investigate whether the higher audit fees that foreign firms cross-listed in the United States pay are also attributable to incremental audit effort associated with U.S. disclosure requirements and a more stringent U.S. auditing environment. By comparing audit fees of foreign cross-listed firms to U.S. domiciled firms and to non-cross-listed foreign firms, we are able to decompose incremental audit fees into portions attributable to added audit effort and to added litigation costs. We find that, on average, foreign firms cross-listed in the United States pay significantly higher fees than domestic U.S. firms and foreign firms that do not cross-list. Furthermore, we find that audit effort is almost as important as litigation costs in explaining the higher fees associated with foreign cross-listed firms; our estimates suggest that between 29 percent and 48 percent of the incremental fees are attributable to incremental audit effort. In addition, the total cross-listing premium is increasing in the difference between the U.S. auditing regulatory environment and that of the home country of the cross-listed firm. Our study improves our understanding of the role of audit effort in explaining the added fees charged by auditors when foreign firms cross-list in the United States.
Gadamer for Architects

Providing a concise and accessible introduction to the work of the celebrated twentieth century German philosopher, Hans-Georg Gadamer, this book focuses on the aspects of Gadamer’s philosophy that have been the most influential among architects, educators in architecture, and architectural theorists. Gadamer’s philosophy of art gives a special place to the activity of "play" as it occurs in artistic creation. His reflections on meaning and symbolism in art draw upon his teacher, Martin Heidegger, while moving Heidegger’s thought in new directions. His theory of interpretation, or "philosophical hermeneutics," offers profound ways to understand the influence of the past upon the present and to appropriate cultural history in ever new forms. For architects, architectural theorists, architectural historians, and students in these fields, Gadamer’s thought opens a world of possibilities for understanding how building today can be rich with human meaning, relating to architecture’s history in ways that do not merely repeat nor repudiate that history. In addition, Gadamer’s sensitivity to the importance of practical thinking – to the way that theory arises out of practice – gives his thought a remarkable usefulness in the everyday work of professional life.
Basic ammonothermal GaN growth in molybdenum capsules

Abstract Single crystal, bulk gallium nitride (GaN) crystals were grown using the basic ammonothermal method in a high purity growth environment created using a non-hermetically sealed molybdenum (Mo) capsule and compared to growths performed in a similarly designed silver (Ag) capsule and capsule-free Rene 41 autoclave. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis revealed transition metal free ( 17 cm −3 ) GaN crystals. Anomalously low oxygen concentrations ((2–6)×10 18 cm −3 ) were measured in a {0001} seeded crystal boule grown using a Mo capsule, despite higher source material oxygen concentrations ((1–5)×10 19 cm −3 ) suggesting that molybdenum (or molybdenum nitrides) may act to getter oxygen under certain conditions. Total system pressure profiles from growth runs in a Mo capsule system were comparable to those without a capsule, with pressures peaking within 2 days and slowly decaying due to hydrogen diffusional losses. Measured Mo capsule GaN growth rates were comparable to un-optimized growth rates in capsule-free systems and appreciably slower than in Ag-capsule systems. Crystal quality replicated that of the GaN seed crystals for all capsule conditions, with high quality growth occurring on the (0001) Ga-face. Optical absorption and impurity concentration characterization suggests reduced concentrations of hydrogenated gallium vacancies ( V Ga − H x ).
Concept History and Religious Discourse

ABSTRACTSince the second half of the twentieth century, the history of concepts (Begriffsgeschichte) has made important contributions to the study of political and social thought, as well as to cultural history more generally. Reinhart Koselleck has argued that, during the eighteenth century, basic concept use in Europe experienced widespread trends of (1) democratization, (2) temporalization, (3) ideologization, and (4) politicization. This article will consider the possibility of a conceptual history of religious discourse. While conceptual history has thus far focused primarily on political and social concepts, some research has more recently turned to religious concepts. This work should be expanded and can be improved by the insight of theologians and ethicists who often have a better understanding of religious concept use than conceptual historians whose main focus is political thought. I will summarize how concept history could be applied to religious concepts, how theologians might make a contribu...
Ohmic contacts to Al-rich AlGaN heterostructures

Due to the ultra-wide bandgap of Al-rich AlGaN, up to 5.8 eV for the structures in this study, obtaining low resistance ohmic contacts is inherently difficult to achieve. A comparative study of three different fabrication schemes is presented for obtaining ohmic contacts to an Al-rich AlGaN channel. Schottky-like behavior was observed for several different planar metallization stacks (and anneal temperatures), in addition to a dry-etch recess metallization contact scheme on Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.66Ga0.34N. However, a dry etch recess followed by n+-GaN regrowth fabrication process is reported as a means to obtain lower contact resistivity ohmic contacts on a Al0.85Ga0.15N/Al0.66Ga0.34N heterostructure. Specific contact resistivity of 5 × 10−3 Ω cm2 was achieved after annealing Ti/Al/Ni/Au metallization.
The Paris Climate Talks (COP21) in Visual Social Media

Within networked, digital media spaces, new news platforms are reconfiguring traditional news production norms through hybrid cultural practices, giving rise to new paradigms of journalism. There is an increased emphasis on transparency and accountability, as well as interaction with audiences. At the same time, Internet-mediated activism allows individuals to foster larger, more diverse networks of weak ties, thus opening new avenues for advocacy communication. Climate change is increasingly becoming the backdrop to news stories on topics as varied as politics and international relations, science and the environment, economics and inequality, and popular culture. We use the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) that took place in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015, as a case study. The project focuses on COP21 coverage by British news outlet The Guardian, which launched a fossil fuel divestment campaign "Keep it in the Ground" in advance of COP21. We compare The Guardian's discussion of 'climate solutions' during COP21 with other news outlets and climate stakeholders.
Melanocyte Stem Cell Activation and Translocation Initiate Cutaneous Melanoma in Response to UV Exposure

Melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers, yet the cells of origin and mechanisms of tumor initiation remain unclear. The majority of melanomas emerge from clear skin without a precursor lesion, but it is unknown whether these melanomas can arise from melanocyte stem cells (MCSCs). Here we employ mouse models to define the role of MCSCs as melanoma cells of origin, demonstrate that MCSC quiescence acts as a tumor suppressor, and identify the extrinsic environmental and molecular factors required for the critical early steps of melanoma initiation. Specifically, melanomas originate from melanoma-competent MCSCs upon stimulation by UVB, which induces MCSC activation and translocation via an inflammation-dependent process. Moreover, the chromatin-remodeling factor Hmga2 in the skin plays a critical role in UVB-mediated melanomagenesis. These findings delineate melanoma formation from melanoma-competent MCSCs following extrinsic stimuli, and they suggest that abrogation of Hmga2 function in the microenvironment can suppress MCSC-originating cutaneous melanomas.
Preschool Children and iPads: Observations of Social Interactions during Digital Play.

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Digital play is now commonplace in many young children’s lives, but not in preschool settings. This situation is likely due to the fact that the existent literature seldom highlights what digital play looks like, the various ways it can be situated, and what young children do when they play together with digital devices in the preschool setting. The present study addresses this limitation by providing a close examination of the social interactions of young children as they engage with different types of iPad apps and each other. Observational data of 20 dyads of children during digital play analyzed qualitatively revealed that children exhibited a range of social behaviors from competitive to collaborative as they engaged in 4 types of digital play: practice/task, exploratory, construction, and pretense. Forms of play and exhibited behaviors were shaped by interrelated factors of children’s individual characteristics and relationships, classroom culture and routines, adult views...
Modulating Endogenous Adult Neural Stem Cells to Improve Regeneration in Stroke Brain

Stroke is a major cause of death and disability globally. Experimental and clinical stroke studies have demonstrated that endogenous brain repair processes could be activated in the brain following stroke. However, the spontaneous brain repair process is constrained with limited improvement of neurological outcome. Neurogenesis, oligodendrogenesis, angiogenesis, axonal outgrowth, and synaptogenesis are major brain repair processes during stroke recovery. In adult rodents and human, there are endogenous neural stem cells that generate new neurons, astrocyte, oligodendrocyte, and NG2-glia under physiological or pathological conditions. Much progress has been made in preclinical studies on the roles of endogenous neural stem cells in brain repair processes in response to stroke. In this review, we will summarize recent progress on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying how endogenous adult neural stem cells contribute to neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis, and their modulatory effects on angiogenesis and inflammation, which may play critical roles in brain repair and leads to improvement of neurological function after stroke.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder after therapy for an optic pathway glioma

Abstract The prevalence of psychological disorders in pediatric patients with gliomas is unknown. Here we report a case of obsessive-compulsive disorder that developed after radiation therapy for an optic pathway glioma in a teenage girl with a sub-clinical personal and family history of compulsive behavior. This case report highlights the need to better understand risk factors for mental illness among pediatric brain tumor patients.
Model selection for integrated pest management with stochasticity.

Abstract In Song and Xiang (2006), an integrated pest management model with periodically varying climatic conditions was introduced. In order to address a wider range of environmental effects, the authors here have embarked upon a series of studies resulting in a more flexible modeling approach. In Akman et al. (2013), the impact of randomly changing environmental conditions is examined by incorporating stochasticity into the birth pulse of the prey species. In Akman et al. (2014), the authors introduce a class of models via a mixture of two birth-pulse terms and determined conditions for the global and local asymptotic stability of the pest eradication solution. With this work, the authors unify the stochastic and mixture model components to create further flexibility in modeling the impacts of random environmental changes on an integrated pest management system. In particular, we first determine the conditions under which solutions of our deterministic mixture model are permanent. We then analyze the stochastic model to find the optimal value of the mixing parameter that minimizes the variance in the efficacy of the pesticide. Additionally, we perform a sensitivity analysis to show that the corresponding pesticide efficacy determined by this optimization technique is indeed robust. Through numerical simulations we show that permanence can be preserved in our stochastic model. Our study of the stochastic version of the model indicates that our results on the deterministic model provide informative conclusions about the behavior of the stochastic model.
Continuously tunable and reconfigurable microwave photonic multiband filter based on cascaded MZIs

A tunable and reconfigurable microwave photonic multiband filter with up to 13 simultaneous passbands is presented. All the passband frequencies are continuously tunable over 20 GHz, and the number of simultaneous passbands is highly reconfigurable between 1 to 13.
ADAMTS13: The von Willebrand Factor Cleaving Protease and Its Role in Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Since the discovery of ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13) in the twentieth century, significant advancements have been made in understanding its role in hemostasis, molecular structure, genetics and genotype-phenotype relationships. It is a member of the ADAMTS family of matrix proteases and is responsible for the cleavage of ultra-large molecules of von Willebrand factor (VWF), thus regulating the adhesion of platelets to VWF multimers. Structurally, it resembles other members of the ADAMTS family with the exception of the number of thrombospondin-1 repeats and the presence of two CUB domains at the carboxyl terminal. The proteolytic activity of ADAMTS13 is mediated via an adamalysin-like metalloprotease domain. The ADAMTS13 gene was cloned in 2001 and since then a number of disease-causing mutations have been discovered across the entirety of this gene. Additionally, ten different splicing isoforms have been described for ADAMTS13 gene and a significant amount of genetic variations in this gene arises from the 1000 genome project (single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)). Phylogenetic origins of ADAMTS13 are also discussed. Deficiency of this necessary protease activity due to autosomal recessive mutations of the ADAMTS13 gene are implicated in congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, also called Upshaw-Schulman syndrome. Ongoing research focuses on the role of ADAMTS13 in other forms of thrombotic microangiopathy and the development of either a plasma-derived or recombinant form of ADAMTS13 for therapeutic purposes.
The Pinacol Rearrangement

The acid-catalyzed reaction of vicinal diols, which results in dehydration and the migration of an alkyl or aryl group, or a hydrogen atom, to form an aldehyde or ketone is known as the Pinacol rearrangement. 1 The name is derived from the material used in the earliest recorded example. Although the structures of both the starting material and product were unknown when the experiment was published in 1860, Fittig 2 found that treatment of pinacol ( 1 ) with sulfuric acid gave pinacolone ( 2 ); equation 1).
3-D Convolutional Neural Networks for Automatic Detection of Pulmonary Nodules in Chest CT

Deep two-dimensional (2-D) convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been remarkably successful in producing record-breaking results in a variety of computer vision tasks. It is possible to extend CNNs to three dimensions using 3-D kernels to make them suitable for volumetric medical imaging data such as CT or MRI, but this increases the processing time as well as the required number of training samples (due to the higher number of parameters that need to be learned). In this paper, we address both of these issues for a 3-D CNN implementation through the development of a two-stage computer-aided detection system for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules. The first stage consists of a 3-D fully convolutional network for fast screening and generation of candidate suspicious regions. The second stage consists of an ensemble of 3-D CNNs trained using extensive transformations applied to both the positive and negative patches to augment the training set. To enable the second stage classifiers to learn differently, they are trained on false positive patches obtained from the screening model using different thresholds on their associated scores as well as different augmentation types. The networks in the second stage are averaged together to produce the final classification score for each candidate patch. Using this procedure, our overall nodule detection system called DeepMed is fast and can achieve 91% sensitivity at 2 false positives per scan on cases from the LIDC dataset.
Stability of the N-Terminal Helix and Its Role in Amyloid Formation of Serum Amyloid A.

Colonic amyloidosis is the result of overexpression of the serum amyloid A (SAA) protein in inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer. Crucial for amyloid formation are the first ten N-terminal re...
Outcomes of Infected versus Symptomatic Sterile Walled-Off Pancreatic Necrosis Treated with a Minimally Invasive Therapy

Background/Aims: Acute pancreatitis complicated by walled-off necrosis (WON) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and if infected, typically necessitates intervention. Clinical outcomes of infected WON have been described as poorer than those of symptomatic sterile WON. With the evolution of minimally invasive therapy, we sought to compare outcomes of infected to symptomatic sterile WON. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study examining patients who were undergoing dual-modality drainage as minimally invasive therapy for WON at a high-volume tertiary pancreatic center. The main outcome measures included mortality with a drain in place, length of hospital stay, admission to intensive care unit, and development of pancreatic fistulae. Results: Of the 211 patients in our analysis, 98 had infected WON. The overall mortality rate was 2.4%. Patients with infected WON trended toward higher mortality although not statistically significant (4.1% vs 0.9%, p=0.19). Patients with infected WON had longer length of hospitalization (29.8 days vs 17.3 days, p<0.01), and developed more spontaneous pancreatic fistulae (23.5% vs 7.8%, p<0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that infected WON was associated with higher odds of spontaneous pancreatic fistula formation (odds ratio, 2.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.20 to 5.85). Conclusions: This study confirms that infected WON has worse outcomes than sterile WON but also demonstrates that WON, once considered a significant cause of death, can be treated with good outcomes using minimally invasive therapy. (Gut Liver 2019;13:215-222)
Association Between Antipsychotics and All-Cause Mortality Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

BACKGROUND Antipsychotics are prescribed to treat various symptoms in older adults, however, their safety in this context has not been fully evaluated. The objective was to evaluate mortality risks associated with off-label use of antipsychotics among older adults with no preexisting mental illness or dementia relative to those with diagnosis of dementia. METHODS Data (2007-2015) were derived from Department of Veterans Affairs registries for 730,226 patients (≥65 years) with no baseline serious mental illness, dementia). We estimated the cumulative incidence of antipsychotics prescription and 10-year all-cause mortality. The extended Cox models were used to estimate Hazard Ratios (HRs) associated with antipsychotics prescription, adjusted for time-varying covariates, dementia diagnosis, comorbidity index score, and age at time of first exposure to antipsychotics. RESULTS The study included 98% males, 13% African Americans, and 81% Caucasian. Patients with dementia and antipsychotics had the highest risk of mortality (78.0%), followed by (73.0%) for patients with dementia alone and compared with patients without dementia or antipsychotics exposure who had the lowest mortality risk (42.0%). Exposure to typical antipsychotics was associated with (HR: 2.1, confidence interval [CI] 2.0-2.2) compared with atypical antipsychotics (HR: 1.5, CI 1.4-1.5, p = <.0001). CONCLUSION In a large cohort of older adults, antipsychotics were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. While significant increase in mortality was attributable to the diagnosis of dementia, the addition of antipsychotics resulted in added mortality risk among all patients. Antipsychotic medications should be used cautiously in all older adults, not only those with dementia.
Immune Modulation of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the Tumor Microenvironment by Conventional Therapeutics

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) accounts for more than 600,000 cases and 380,000 deaths annually worldwide. Although human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated HNSCCs have better overall survival compared with HPV-negative HNSCC, loco-regional recurrence remains a significant cause of mortality and additional combinatorial strategies are needed to improve outcomes. The primary conventional therapies to treat HNSCC are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapies; however, multiple other targeted systemic options are used and being tested including cetuximab, bevacizumab, mTOR inhibitors, and metformin. In 2016, the first checkpoint blockade immunotherapy was approved for recurrent or metastatic HNSCC refractory to platinum-based chemotherapy. This immunotherapy approval confirmed the critical importance of the immune system and immunomodulation in HNSCC pathogenesis, response to treatment, and disease control. However, although immuno-oncology agents are rapidly expanding, the role that the immune system plays in the mechanism of action and clinical efficacy of standard conventional therapies is likely underappreciated. In this article, we focus on how conventional and targeted therapies may directly modulate the immune system and the tumor microenvironment to better understand the effects and combinatorial potential of these therapies in the context and era of immunotherapy.
Teaching Conversational Social Skills to Delinquent Youth.

The present study examined the effectiveness of a Positive Talk curriculum in promoting specific conversational social skills of nine female juvenile delinquents. The verbal skills included calling...
Haemodynamic and Antihypertensive Effect of Prostacyclin

Prostacyclin (2) is a natural product of blood vessels, synthetized predominantly in endothelium and released in minute amounts into circulation (3). Besides its potent antiplatelet activity (1,4, 6), prostacyclin is also a powerful vasodilator. The vasodilating properties were noticed already during first administration of prostacyclin to man (7), and were subsequently studied in detail in 10 subjects without evidence of coronary heart disease or cardiac failure (11, 12). Prostacyclin was infused in three dose levels (2, 5 and 10 ng/kg/min) leading to following effects: 1) Distinct fall in peripheral and total pulmonary vascular resistances; 2) Drop in intra-arterial blood pressure; 3) Acceleration of the heart rate; 4) Increase in muscle blood flow; 5) Stroke volume, mean right atrial pressure and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure showed no significant changes.
Corrosion inhibitor control in aqueous solutions evaluated with galvanic couples

Abstract An electrochemical method was evaluated for obtaining measurements to determine the effectiveness and the type of control exerted by corrosion inhibitors in galvanic systems. Anode and cathode potentials and corrosion currents were measured on zinc-platinum and iron-platinum galvanic couples in test solutions before and after addition of potassium chromate as an inhibitor. The measurements were then plotted as galvanic polarization diagrams which indicate a comparative corrosion rate and the type of inhibitor control, as anodic, cathodic, or mixed. Some of the results were also compared with weight loss data. Experimental variables such as inhibitor concentration, sodium sulfate concentration, corrosion current density, spacing between the anode and the cathode of the couple, and external resistance of the test circuit were investigated. The method gave a good evaluation of the behavior and the type of control of an inhibitor in galvanic systems in dilute aqueous solutions. The results show that it possibly could be used to identify the inhibitor behavior in ordinary corrosion provided the corrosion current generated by the galvanic couple is adjusted to approximate that generated by local cell action. The inhibiting effectiveness of chromate ions was lowered by the presence of the other anions such as the sulfate ion. When the initial corrosion current started at low values, the chromate tended to develop greater anodic polarization and better inhibition than higher initial corrosion currents.
Health and Functional Limitations Predict Depression Scores in the Health and Retirement Study: Results straight from MARS

Objective: To examine the effects of chronic health conditions and functional status limitations on depression scores in a large representative sample of Americans. Method: The data included 27,461 respondents ages 50 to 90 who completed up to eight test occasions from the Health and Retirement Study. Multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) modeling was applied. Possible covariates of depression included arthritis, lung disease, back pain, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, 28 pairwise combinations of the aforementioned conditions, ADL functional limitations, age, education and being female, being white, and being Hispanic. Results: The best fitting model had a GRSq of 0.18 (comparable to R2 ) and included 12 of 42 covariates. Depression score was predicted by: 1) ADL limitations, 2) education, 3) back pain, 4) lung disease, 5) being female, 6) being Hispanic, 7) heart disease, 8) being white, 9) high blood pressure plus stroke, 10) age, 11) back pain plus arthritis, and 12) back pain plus diabetes. Conclusions: Functional limitations was the strongest predictor of depression; reporting one limitation increased depression scores by nearly double the increase associated with two or more limitations. Back pain and lung disease were the strongest chronic disease predictors of depression; both are associated with considerable discomfort.
Dynamics and stability of Bat-Scale Flapping Wing Hovering Robot

In this paper a discrete feedback controller with limited update sensing frequency is designed for a system with constrained control inputs. Since hovering orbits are generally unstable, finding the periodic trajectory can converge to an undesirable behavior. Therefore, multiple shooting technique is used to converge to the desired orbit. The results showed that updating the feedback controller once per wingbeat cycle is enough to stabilize even dynamically challenging systems.
Race Differences in Opioid Misuse and Adolescent Suicidality

The rise of the opioid epidemic coincided with the increased risk of suicide as the leading causes of death among adolescents in the United States. Past research has linked non-medical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) with adolescent suicide. Less focus has been placed on race and ethnic differences among adolescents impacted by the opioid epidemic. This study examined the relationship of adolescent NMPOU and suicidality, stratified by race. The 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) was used for this study. Weighted multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 11,489 adolescent respondents to examine the effect of past-year NMPOU with the odds for serious thoughts of suicide, having a suicide plan, and making a suicide attempt. Findings indicated a higher prevalence of suicidality among adolescents who engaged in NMPOU compared to non-users. Adolescent opioid misuse was associated with 68% higher odds for having a suicide plan in the past year (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.07, 2.63, p < .05). Interaction analysis found that among Asian adolescents, NMPOU was associated with higher odds for having a suicide plan compared to other race groups (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.04, 2.23, p < .05). Results indicated that adolescent opioid misuse is a risk factor for suicide, and Asians compared to other race groups were at greater risk. Social workers can serve as a nexus point in effectively engaging at-risk adolescents in substance use and mental health prevention and recovery services.
Using Fisher information to track stability in multivariate systems

With the current proliferation of data, the proficient use of statistical and mining techniques offer substantial benefits to capture useful information from any dataset. As numerous approaches make use of information theory concepts, here, we discuss how Fisher information (FI) can be applied to sustainability science problems and used in data mining applications by analysing patterns in data. FI was developed as a measure of information content in data, and it has been adapted to assess order in complex system behaviour. The main advantage of the approach is the ability to collapse multiple variables into an index that can be used to assess stability and track overall trends in a system, including its regimes and regime shifts. Here, we provide a brief overview of FI theory, followed by a simple step-by-step numerical example on how to compute FI. Furthermore, we introduce an open source Python library that can be freely downloaded from GitHub and we use it in a simple case study to evaluate the evolution of FI for the global-mean temperature from 1880 to 2015. Results indicate significant declines in FI starting in 1978, suggesting a possible regime shift.