cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
AN ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE AND ITS USE

During the 19805 much attention, both pro and con, was directed toward optimized production technology (OPT). Criticism was directed at the proprietary nature of the scheduling algorithms within the software. Despite these criticisms, many large companies installed OPT. Little has been written on how the software is constructed and operates. This article introduces the software, provides a discussion of how it interfaces with management, and how various algorithms are imbedded in the software function. Last, a survey of companies that had implemented the software revealed that the major users are in the automotive industry.
ALTERATIONS OF LIPOGENESIS IN THE INTACT CHICK BY DIETARY MALONIC ACID.

SummaryBiotin deficiency in intact chicks resulted in lower total carcass fatty acid deposition and altered fatty acid composition as compared to normal chicks. Dietary malonic acid stimulated tota...
An increasing proportion of perinephric to subcutaneous fat is associated with adverse perioperative outcomes of robotic partial nephrectomy

To investigate the association of perinephric fat (PF) thickness and the ratio of perinephric to subcutaneous fat (PF:SF) thickness on perioperative outcomes following robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN), 240 patients undergoing RPN with preoperative computed tomography (CT) axial imaging were included. Perinephric and subcutaneous fat thickness was measured at the level of the renal vein and umbilicus, respectively. The association between PF thickness and PF:SF ratio and perioperative outcomes was determined by Spearman correlation and logistic regression. 121 men and 119 women with a median age of 55 years, BMI of 32, tumor size of 2.6 cm, and RENAL nephrometry score of 6 were included. On preoperative imaging, median PF thickness was 2.2 cm, SF thickness was 3.1 cm, and PF:SF ratio was 0.63. There were statistically significant positive correlations between PF thickness (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.26, p = 0.001) and PF:SF ratio (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.33, p < 0.0001) with longer operative duration of RPN. In addition, an increasing PF:SF ratio was associated with a greater risk of perioperative complications (OR = 1.82, 95 % CI 1.1–3.0, p = 0.02). No association was observed with respect to ischemia time, blood loss, length of stay, or margin status. PF thickness is associated with longer OR duration, and a greater PF:SF ratio correlated with increased OR duration and complications following RPN. These easily measured indices of fat distribution are likely more accurate in predicting perioperative outcomes after RPN than BMI alone.
Risk- perception Factors' Impacts on the Long- term Care Insurance Purchase Willingness

Identifying risk- perception factors affecting long- term care insurance purchase willing- ness is important for stimulating demands for such insurance coverage. The paper constructed a Probit model on the basis of individual survey data to verify it. The exponential results indicated respondent's perception of the disability occurrence probability and the cost of long- term care significantly impacted on the long- term care insurance purchase willingness. Then the paper carried out a contrast experiment to verify the respondent's willingness- switching after been informed of the average probability of long- term care,the average length of continued disability and the average monthly cost in a nursing home. We found that 33. 02% originally unwilling respondents became willing to purchase long- term care insurance after acknowledging such information. Underestimating long- term risk factors is a consequence of informational deficiency which suppressed demands for long- term care insurance. Respondents previously underestimating long- term care risks are likely to becoming willing buyers after being informed of the statistics. At last,the paper put forwards some proposals for stimulating the demands for long- term care insurance.
Overview of Bicycle Transportation Development in Urban Areas

To relive urban traffic congestion, it is necessary to promote non-motorized green travel alternatives. Focusing on three different bicycle transportation development systems in Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai, this paper discusses characteristics of three systems and their improvements. The paper points out that promoting bicycle travel can greatly improve urban transportation system and somewhat curb the usage of automobiles. The paper stresses that promoting bicycle travel needs government support that includes encouraging collaboration with enterprises for better and efficient technology and services in order to take full advantage of the society resources.
Postweaning performance of calves from Angus, Brahman, and reciprocal-cross cows grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue or common bermudagrass.

Data from 403 Polled Hereford-sired calves from Angus, Brahman, and reciprocal-cross cows were used to evaluate the effects of preweaning forage environment on postweaning performance. Calves were spring-born in 1991 to 1994 and managed on either endophyte-infected tall fescue (E+) or common bermudagrass (BG) during the preweaning phase. After weaning, calves were shipped to the Grazinglands Research Laboratory, El Reno, OK and stratified to one of two winter stocker treatments by breed and preweaning forage; stocker treatments were winter wheat pasture (WW) or native range plus supplemental CP (NR). Each stocker treatment was terminated in March, calves grazed cool-season grasses, and calves were then moved to a feedlot phase in June. In the feedlot phase, calves were fed to approximately 10 mm fat over the 12th rib and averaged approximately 115 d on feed. When finished, calves were weighed and shipped to Amarillo, TX for slaughter. Averaged over calf breed group, calves from E+ gained faster during the stocker phase (P <.10), had lighter starting and finished weights on feed ( P < .01), lighter carcass weights (P <.01), and smaller longissimus muscle areas (P <.05) than calves from BG. Calves from E+ were similar to calves from BG in feedlot ADG, percentage kidney, heart, and pelvic fat, fat thickness over 12th rib, yield grade, marbling score, and dressing percentage. Maternal heterosis was larger in calves from E+ for starting weight on feed (P <.01), finished weight (P <.10), and carcass weight (P <.16). These data suggest that few carryover effects from tall fescue preweaning environments exist, other than lighter, but acceptable, weights through slaughter. These data further suggest that the tolerance to E+ in calves from reciprocal-cross cows, expressed in weaning weights, moderated postweaning weight differences between E+ and BG compared to similar comparisons in calves from purebred cows.
Ciliated Respiratory-Like Epithelium Forming Cystic Conjunctival Lesions in a Patient With Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

A woman with severe cicatricial conjunctival changes secondary to allopurinol-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome developed bilateral palpebral conjunctival cysts. Pathologic examination of these lesions revealed respiratory-like pseudostratified ciliated epithelium in the walls of several cysts of one eye. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this phenomenon.
Structure and Statistics of Intermittency in Homogeneous Turbulent Shear Flow

Fully developed turbulence, by nature, is inherently intermittent and topologically complex — particularly in the smaller scales. The influence of intermittency in stochastic models of global spectral dynamics, first elucidated by Kolmogorov (1962), remains a major point of difficulty (Chen et al. 1989). More recently, there is growing interest in the role of intermittency in scale similarity as described by multifractal geometry (Sreenivasan & Meneveau 1988, Novikov 1990). The dynamic role of local pockets of intense activity in vorticity, dissipation, Reynolds stress, etc., is not understood. It is exceedingly difficult to address this issue because the regions of interest are inherently three-dimensional, topologically and structurally complex, highly time-dependent, and exist over a wide range of length and time scales.
Improved specific loss power on cancer cells by hyperthermia and MRI contrast of hydrophilic FexCo1‐xFe2O4 nanoensembles

Ferrite-based ferri/superparamagnetic nanoparticles can be rapidly heated by an external alternating magnetic field (AMF) to induce tissue necrosis of the adjacent microenvironment, but in addition provide magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast utilizing enhanced water relaxivity. Here we characterized nanoensembles of Fe-Co mixed spinel ferrites (i.e. Fex Co1-x Fe2 O4 , where x ranges from 0.2 to 0.8) synthesized by chemical co-precipitation. With nanoensembles of increasing Co content the saturation magnetization improved, while lattice parameter remained relatively constant. MRI water (transverse) relaxivity at 11.7 T was also boosted with increasing Co content. Efficiency of AMF-induced heating was quite comparable for the nanoensembles with either chitosan or polyethylene glycol (PEG) coating except for PEG-coated Fe0.2 Co0.8 Fe2 O4 , which was twice as less efficient as others. While toxicity of the nanoensembles with either coating examined on 9L tumor cell cultures showed no significant differences, upon AMF exposure (i.e. heat-induced necrosis) Fex Co1-x Fe2 O4 composition with different values of x showed quite dramatic effects on cell death of tumor cells with both coatings. This study lays the ground work for further characterization of other mixed spinel ferrites, and in addition we expect that chitosan and PEG coated Fex Co1-x Fe2 O4 of all the compositions will have good potential for preclinical applications in vivo. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Randomized Trials of Nurse-Delivered Interventions in Weight Management Research: A Systematic Review:

The purpose of this systematic review was to determine whether nurse-delivered weight management interventions improve weight outcomes across the life span. We conducted a comprehensive search of the PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO electronic databases. We graded the trials using an adapted Jadad approach for methodological quality. The search identified a total of 1,159 citations; 23 articles from 20 studies were eligible for this review. Sixty-five percent of the studies reported significant findings related to body mass index (BMI) or weight reduction. Studies that were particularly successful at helping participants reduce weight and/or BMI involved nurses engaged in health promotion activities, operating within multidisciplinary teams and/or providing consultations, physical activity education, and coaching over the phone. Of the studies that involved long-term follow-up assessments, three out of nine studies showed a significant loss in weight or BMI between the intervention and control groups at follow-up times ranging from 12 months to 2 years.
The association between alcohol use trajectories from adolescence to adulthood and cannabis use disorder in adulthood: a 22-year longitudinal study.

Background: Due to the increasing prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD), the impact of cannabis use on public health may be significant. Objective: The present study seeks the possible precurso...
How to Prepare a Medical Family Therapy Policy Brief

The purpose of a policy brief is to convince the target audience of the urgency of a current problem and to serve as an impetus for action for adopting a particular course of action. This chapter provides guidelines for constructing compelling policy briefs, including examples of briefs that connect the benefits of Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) to widely held goals to improve the healthcare delivery system. This chapter describes what a policy brief is, how to strengthen the analysis using relevant and meaningful evidence, and how to convince target audiences that your desired policy is urgently needed and aligned with their priorities.
‘Cartoonish lumps’: the surface appeal of Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother?”

ABSTRACTA reviewer for The Wall Street Journal dismisses what he calls the ‘cartoonish lumps’ of the Medieval St. Albans figures at the Getty Center. He accuses the artist of childishness: as if the artist did not yet know, developmentally, how to draw. ‘Their creators hadn’t yet figured out how to make human beings look human. Their faces are expressionless and dumb (eyes are white circles with black dots in the middle) … Their attenuated bodies … are devoid of musculature or fat’. Such a critique defends against the amplified affective states conjured by these images. Drawing on psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu’s theories of the ‘skin-ego’ and surface, this article reflects upon the childlike ‘simplicity’ of the lines shared by these ‘cartoonish’ figures, and the bold, spare lines of Alison Bechdel’s graphic narratives. Bechdel summons affective regions conjured by the flattened surface of the seeming two-dimensional figures, layered against bubbled, staccato scripts. The childlike simplicity of Bechdel’s re...
Bodies Are Not Commodities: Examining A21 Curriculum’s Impact on Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Advocacy About Anti-Human Trafficking Rights and Issues

Research supports the notion that there are more people trapped by institutions of slavery than ever before. Human trafficking can include those who fall victim to forced labor conditions, sexual e...
Slepian-Wolf video coding with resolution-progressive transmission

In this paper, we propose a new Slepian-Wolf (SW) video coding that supports resolution-progressive transmission. It can realize low-delay low-resolution real time streaming as well as high lossless coding efficiency. Intra-frame video coding is performed as the base layer coder for down-sampled input video and a SW coder is used as the enhancement layer coder for lossless archiving. In order to improve SW lossless coding efficiency, we introduce inter-layer prediction between the base layer and the enhancement layer. It uses inter-layer prediction to increase the accuracy of Motion Estimation (ME). Simulations show that the proposed scheme gives higher coding performance better than the JPEG2000 lossless mode.
Abstract 258: Impact of Community Health Workers in Management of Heart Failure: A Pilot Study

Background: Community health workers (CHW) are specially trained lay-people often used as liaisons between underserved communities and the health care system. Prior studies suggest that use of CHWs...
Sodium ion transport of the ciliary body in vitro

Sodium ion influx and outflux were measured sinmltaneously, with two radioactive isotopes, in the cat ciliary body isolated in vitro. Measurements of membrane potential or short-circuit current were made concurrently with the isotope studies. In the non-short-circuited membrane, where the membrane electromotive force assisted sodium influx, the sodium ion current was two to three times larger than the estimated average short-circuit current, implying the coexistence of an anion transport. In the continuously short-circuited membrane, in tohich the membrane electromotive force was eliminated, a net sodium ion influx persisted and was approximately equal to the short-circuit current. Thus, the in vitro cat ciliary body membrane appears to function as a mixed sodium-anion pump in the non-short-circuited state, but mainly as a sodium ion pump ivhen short circuited.
A New Type off Boiler that Permits Improvements in the Performance of Oil Diffusion Pumps

A new type of diffusion pump boiler is described which furnishes useful heat to both the liquid and the vapor phases of the pump fluid. The effectiveness of this type of boiler contributes to major improvements in the performance characteristics. The design allows approximately twice the normal heat input to be incorporated in the pump, and a relatively constant temperature is maintained within the nozzle assembly over a wide range of heater input. This has resulted in better stability of the ultimate pressure in the very high vacuum range (10-6—10-9 mm Hg) and major improvements in speed, throughput and limiting forepressure characteristics so that the performance surpasses in every respect that of conventional pumps. The development of an experimental 4 in. pump is described. It has a speed factor (or H0coefficient) of over 50 per cent, as compared to 30—35 per cent for conventional pumps. It is much smaller and more compact than conventional pumps of comparable performance. Experimental pumps of other sizes, incorporating this type of boiler, have achieved the same high degree of efficiency. A new term, “speed efficiency” is introduced as an aid in comparing the speed of pumps in terms of their bore size. The performance of the new pumps is used to demonstrate the validity of this method of efficiency evaluation.
NCSU-CUSP: A Program Making a Difference in Quantitative Sciences

The Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University (NCSU) established a Computational Science Training for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences (CSUMS) program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide a rich applied computational statistics research experience to a diverse population of undergraduate students that will encourage them to continue their academic programs to the graduate level and will help them in making more informed decisions about their academic or nonacademic careers. The CSUMS project, NCSU Computation for Undergraduates in Statistics Program (NCSU-CUSP) prepares students to engage in a significant research experience and to be fluent in the languages of computing, mathematics, and statistics.
Linking perceived discrimination during adolescence to health during mid-adulthood: Self-esteem and risk-behavior mechanisms

Abstract Rationale The literature on the effect of perceived discrimination on health has three gaps. First, the long-term relationship between perceived discrimination and health is underexplored. Second, the mechanisms through which perceived discrimination affects health remain unclear. Third, most studies focus on racial/ethnic discrimination, and other aspects of discrimination are overlooked. Objective This study aims to fill these gaps by testing a research framework that links the discriminatory experience during adolescence to an individual's health during mid-adulthood via self-esteem and risk behaviors at early adulthood. Method Structural equation modeling is applied to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort (N = 6478). Results The discriminatory experience during adolescence imposes an adverse impact on health during mid-adulthood even after accounting for other potential covariates, a detrimental effect lasting for over 30 years. In addition, while perceived discrimination reduces self-esteem at early adulthood, it affects only mental health during mid-adulthood, rather than general health. Finally, the discriminatory experience promotes risk behaviors at early adulthood and the risk behaviors subsequently compromise health during mid-adulthood. Conclusions Using a life course perspective, we find that the effect of perceived discrimination is more profound than the literature suggested and that risk behaviors may account for approximately 17% of the total effect of perceived discrimination on health. Our findings highlight the importance of early interventions in coping with perceived discrimination during adolescence.
Students’ Religiosity and Perceptions of Professor Bias: Some Empirical Lessons for Sociologists

A political mismatch between professors and a large swath of the student population has been widely documented. This mismatch is salient within sociology, where left-leaning politics are mainstream and institutionalized. Further, extant research indicates that this political mismatch leads students outside of the left-leaning mainstream to perceive that their professors are politically biased and to have diminished classroom experiences. However, studies assessing the influence of students’ religiosity, a foundational element of conservatism, on perceptions of political bias and negative classroom experiences is lacking. In response, this study analyzes survey data from a diverse sample of undergraduate students enrolled in sociology courses to explore the connection between students’ religiosity and perceptions of and subsequent reactions to professors’ political bias. Our results suggest that religiosity affects perceptions of and reactions to professors’ biases through increased skepticism towards science and perceived ideological distance from professors. This process is found to be operant only among politically conservative and moderate students. The implications of our results for sociology are discussed.
Operational Impact of the Baseline Integrated Arrival, Departure and Surface System Field Demonstration

To address the Integrated Arrival, Departure, and Surface (IADS) challenge, NASA is developing and demonstrating trajectory-based departure automation under a collaborative effort with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and industry known Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2). ATD-2 builds upon and integrates previous NASA research capabilities that include the Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA), the Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC), and the Terminal Sequencing and Spacing (TSAS) capability. As trajectory-based departure scheduling and collaborative decision making tools are introduced in order to reduce delays and uncertainties in taxi and climb operations across the National Airspace System, users of the tools across a number of roles benefit from a real time system that enables common situational awareness. A real time dashboard was developed to inform and present users notifications and integrated information regarding airport surface operations. The dashboard is a supplement to capabilities and tools that incorporate arrival, departure, and surface air-traffic operations concepts in a NextGen environment. In addition to shared situational awareness, the dashboard offers the ability to compute real time metrics and analysis to inform users about capacity, predictability, and efficiency of the system as a whole. This paper describes the architecture of the real time dashboard as well as an initial proposed set of metrics. The potential impact of the real time dashboard is studied at the site identified for initial deployment and demonstration in 2017: Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT). The architecture of implementing such a tool as well as potential uses are presented for operations at CLT. Metrics computed in real time illustrate the opportunity to provide common situational awareness and inform users of system delay, throughput, taxi time, and airport capacity. In addition, common awareness of delays and the impact of takeoff and departure restrictions stemming from traffic flow management initiatives are explored. The potential of the real time tool to inform users of the predictability and efficiency of using a trajectory-based departure scheduling system is also discussed.
Depression really does hurt your heart: Stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease

The interplay of stress, personality traits, and psychiatric symptoms syndromes with the cardiovascular system, has long intrigued investigators in their search for psychosocial and psychiatric contributions for the development and progression of atherosclerotic heart disease. Surveillance of the established risk factors for atherosclerotic heart disease (IHD), e.g. smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and age, leave a substantial portion of the differences in rates of IHD unexplained. Indeed, the Type A personality pattern has been extensively studied as a risk factor for coronary artery disease, (CAD). However, increasing evidence is accumulating suggesting that an affective disorder, major depression, is a major contributing factor, not only to elevated morbidity and mortality after an index myocardial infarction (MI), but as an independent risk factor in the development of atherosclerotic heart disease. Major depression and depressive symptoms are considerably more common in patients with a variety of medical illnesses than in individuals in the general population. Indeed, receiving a diagnosis of a serious, life-threatening illness often results in a cascade of emotional responses, including feelings of sadness, shock, disbelief, anxiety, or a myriad of other emotional responses.
Feeding the Digital Twin: Basics, Models and Lessons Learned from Building an IoT Analytics Toolbox (Invited Talk)

In many application domains such as manufacturing, the integration and continuous processing of realtime sensor data from the Internet of Things (IoT) provides users with the opportunity to continuously monitor and detect upcoming situations. One example is the optimization of maintenance processes based on the current condition of machines (condition-based maintenance). While continuous processing of events in scalable architectures is already well supported by the existing Big Data tool landscape, building such applications requires a still enormous effort which, besides programming skills, demands for a rather deep technical background on distributed, scalable infrastructures. Therefore, there is a need for more intuitive solutions supporting the development of realtime applications. In this talk, we present methods and tools enabling flexible modeling of real-time and batch processing pipelines by domain experts. We will present, lightweight, semantics-based models to describe sensors and data and look deeper into graphical modeling of processing pipelines, i.e., stream processing programs that can be defined using graphical tool support, but are automatically deployed in distributed stream processors. We motivate our concepts by showing we gathered from a number of industry projects, and explain these based on the tool StreamPipes which we have been developing within various research projects during the past years.
Deep Determinants of Corruption? A Subnational Analysis of Resource Curse Dynamics in American States:

Drawing on comparative resource curse literature and American literature on the determinants of corruption, we argue that the impact of natural resource extraction on corruption outcomes is state-d...
Adaptive AR visual output security using reinforcement learning trained policies: demo abstract

Augmented reality (AR) technologies have seen significant improvement in recent years with several consumer and commercial solutions being developed. New security challenges arise as AR becomes increasingly ubiquitous. Previous work has proposed techniques for securing the output of AR devices and used reinforcement learning (RL) to train security policies which can be difficult to define manually. However, whether such systems and policies can be deployed on a physical AR device without degrading performance was left an open question. We develop a visual output security application using a RL trained policy and deploy it on a Magic Leap One head-mounted AR device. The demonstration illustrates that RL based visual output security systems are feasible.
Optimal Distributed Generator Placement in Utility-Based Microgrids During a Large-Scale Grid Disturbance

Microgrids are localized electric grids that can operate independent of the main grid and help strengthen grid resiliency by working alongside backup generators to maintain electricity supply in the event of a large-scale grid disturbance. This research proposes a single-source capacitated facility location coverage problem (SS-CFLCP) to optimize the location, assignment and number of renewable distributed generators (DGs) within a utility-based microgrid during a large-scale grid disturbance, where the microgrid is operating independent of the main grid. Traditional analytical techniques for DG placement within microgrids tend to focus on minimizing power losses, minimizing electric energy losses, improving voltage profile and maximizing cost savings. To deter from these traditional techniques, the proposed SS-CFLCP combines the facility location and location coverage problems, with an aim to minimize the following: total investment costs, total operation and maintenance cost, the distance traveled for electricity distribution, the power outage levels (unmet electricity demand) experienced due to a large-scale grid disturbance, and the levels of excess renewable penetration, which can cause reverse power flow issues that damage the main grid, within a network. Additionally, the proposed SS-CFLCP is modeled with a budgetary constraint for installing the DGs, making it a more practical and applicable model for a utility company. A case study using solar/photovoltaic-based DGs is used to show the effectiveness of the proposed model.
Cost of closure: Comparing success and spending of fat graft myringoplasties with and without hyaluronic acid.

Abstract Introduction Myringoplasties are common pediatric procedures used to surgically close a perforated tympanic membrane. While a wide variety of graft materials are available to surgeons, the cost effectiveness of these different techniques is not well studied. Objectives To compare the cost effectiveness of the fat graft myringoplasty (FGM) with the hyaluronic acid fat graft myringoplasty (HAFGM). Methods Retrospective chart review of patients ages 31 days to 18 years who had undergone either FGM or HAFGM from 2006 to 2016. Results We identified 85 patients who had undergone FGM and 51 patients who had undergone HAFGM. The two groups were statistically similar in age (CI -0.51, 1.9; p = 0.23), sex (CI 0.3, 1.4; p = 0.27), and history of prior tympanostomy tube placement (CI -0.07, 0.07; p = 0.69). Both groups had a similar number of total comorbidities (40.0% of patients in the FGM group and 27.5% of patients in the HAFGM; CI -0.04, 0.29; p = 0.19). The FGM and the HAFGM procedure did not have statistically significant differences in perforation closure rates, 82.4% and 92.2% respectively (CI 0.81, 7.3; p = 0.13). In comparing the total surgeons’ cost of closing a tympanic membrane deficit, the FGM incurred a greater cost per perforation. The cost/tympanic membrane perforation closure for the FGM totaled $3011.88 per deficit, whereas the HAFGM totaled $2742.98. Conclusion As financial stewardship becomes more important for medical decision making, it is imperative that providers consider cost and outcomes data together when comparing similar treatment options. The FGM and the HAFGM have statistically similar rates of success in closing tympanic membrane perforations. In this study, the FGM cohort consumed more health care dollars per perforation secondary to the need for revision surgeries. As such, this study offers that the additional use of a hyaluronic disc does not increase overall cost to the healthcare system when performing a fat graft myringoplasty over a large cohort of patients.
Overview of Solid Organ Transplantation for Primary Care Providers

Solid organ transplantation is increasing worldwide. The number of surviving solid organ transplant recipients exceeds the capacity of transplant centers to solely care for them. While a transplant specialist has a necessary role in the care of solid organ transplant recipients, primary care providers will need to be increasingly well-versed in their care as well. This chapter discusses the prevalence of solid organ transplantation, reviews the pre-transplant workup a solid organ transplant recipient is likely to have received, and provides a framework for the initial history-taking elements required for management of solid organ transplant recipients in the primary care setting.
The effectiveness of board independence in high-discretion firms

Abstract We examine the impact of managerial discretion on the independence of firms’ boards and firm performance for the period 1998-2013. We find that high-discretion firms, generally characterized by high product differentiability, high market growth, and a wider array of potential courses of action available to executives, have a smaller percentage of independent directors and a lower likelihood of CEO-chairman duality. Furthermore, firm performance is inversely related to board independence in high-discretion firms, and the negative effect is greater when they are associated with a high cost of acquiring information. Our findings indicate that a uniform “one-size-fits-all” reform of corporate boards may impair board effectiveness in some types of firms.
Behavioral Pharmacology of Nicotine

This chapter focuses on nicotine reinforcement, highlighting basic research that demonstrates its reinforcing efficacy along with subjective mood and performance effects that may be responsible for reinforcement. Because our major area of interest is to improve understanding of nicotine reinforcement in humans, research on humans is emphasized. The environmental context surrounding nicotine intake can play a critical role in modulating its effects and thus its reinforcing value. Clearer understanding of nicotine reinforcement, including factors that modulate reinforcement, will lead to new insights about the conditions that promote initiation and maintenance of tobacco use and facilitate development of new behavioral and pharmacological interventions for smoking cessation.
Tachyarrhythmia as a possible symptom of coronavirus in a neonate diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses broad challenges to healthcare systems and providers. The manifestations of this disease are still being described in a variety of different contexts and patient populations. RESULTS: We report the case of a neonate who demonstrated COVID-19 after surgical correction of transposition of the great arteries. In addition, the patient demonstrated an evolving and persistent tachyarrhythmia consistent with neither the most likely postoperative complications nor typical COVID-19. DISCUSSION: The patient had negative preoperative testing for the virus and presented with profound oxygen desaturation and respiratory failure several days postoperatively. This raised concern for a complication of his arterial switch operation. It was found that one of the patient's caregivers was an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19, and imaging ruled out intracardiac shunting. After initiating treatment for COVID-19, the patient's oxygen requirements and need for anti-arrhythmic agents improved. CONCLUSION: We propose that, despite negative preoperative testing, coronavirus infection may present as refractory tachyarrhythmia, and may be considered along with surgical complications as a cause for unexplained hypoxemia postoperatively.
Calcium channels and their role in regenerative medicine

Stem cells hold indefinite self-renewable capability that can be differentiated into all desired cell types. Based on their plasticity potential, they are divided into totipotent (morula stage cells), pluripotent (embryonic stem cells), multipotent (hematopoietic stem cells, multipotent adult progenitor stem cells, and mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs]), and unipotent (progenitor cells that differentiate into a single lineage) cells. Though bone marrow is the primary source of multipotent stem cells in adults, other tissues such as adipose tissues, placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, periodontal ligament, and dental pulp also harbor stem cells that can be used for regenerative therapy. In addition, induced pluripotent stem cells also exhibit fundamental properties of self-renewal and differentiation into specialized cells, and thus could be another source for regenerative medicine. Several diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, virus infection (also coronavirus disease 2019) have limited success with conventional medicine, and stem cell transplantation is assumed to be the best therapy to treat these disorders. Importantly, MSCs, are by far the best for regenerative medicine due to their limited immune modulation and adequate tissue repair. Moreover, MSCs have the potential to migrate towards the damaged area, which is regulated by various factors and signaling processes. Recent studies have shown that extracellular calcium (Ca2+) promotes the proliferation of MSCs, and thus can assist in transplantation therapy. Ca2+ signaling is a highly adaptable intracellular signal that contains several components such as cell-surface receptors, Ca2+ channels/pumps/exchangers, Ca2+ buffers, and Ca2+ sensors, which together are essential for the appropriate functioning of stem cells and thus modulate their proliferative and regenerative capacity, which will be discussed in this review.
Effects of radiation dose and nitrogen purge on collagen scaffold properties.

Sterilization of medical devices is commonly performed using radiation methods. However, collagen materials can be damaged when using standard radiation doses (25 kGy). Small increases of radiation dose can allow for increases in the acceptable initial bioburden load of aseptically manufactured devices while maintaining required sterility assurance levels, which is often critical in early stage translational settings. In this study, we hypothesized that small increases in radiation dose from 15 to 20 kGy would result in significant changes to several key characteristics of collagen scaffolds. Scaffolds were manufactured by lyophilizing the pepsin digest of dense bovine connective tissue in cylindrical molds and were irradiated at either 0, 15, 17.5, or 20 kGy with an additional group packaged in nitrogen and irradiated at 17.5 kGy. Groups were evaluated for changes to the soluble collagen and glycosaminoglycan mass fractions, protein banding patterns in electrophoresis, a collagen fragmentation assay, and resistance to enzymatic degradation. All parameters were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance with Tukey's correction for multiple comparisons. The soluble collagen mass fraction was significantly decreased in the 20 kGy group; however, there was no significant effect of radiation dose or a nitrogen-rich environment on the other measured parameters, including protein banding patterns, fragmented collagen content, and resistance to enzymatic degradation.Statement of Clinical Significance: Collagen scaffolds have proven useful in clinical applications but can be damaged by standard radiation doses. Low-dose sterilization may be a viable alternative that minimally impacts key properties of these scaffolds.
Application of human haploid cell genetic screening model in identifying the genes required for resistance to environmental toxicants: Chlorpyrifos as a case study

Abstract Introduction High-throughput loss-of-function genetic screening tools in yeast or other model systems except in mammalian cells have been implemented to study human susceptibility to chemical toxicity. Here, we employed a newly developed human haploid cell (KBM7)-based mutagenic screening model (KBM7-mu cells) and examined its applicability in identifying genes whose absence allows cells to survive and proliferate in the presence of chemicals. Methods KBM7-mu cells were exposed to 200 μM Chlorpyrifos (CPF), a widely used organophosphate pesticide, a dose causing approximately 50% death of cells after 48 h of treatment. After a 2–3 week period of continuous CPF exposure, survived single cell colonies were recovered and used for further analysis. DNA isolated from these cells was amplified using Splinkerette PCR with specific designed primers, and sequenced to determine the genomic locations with virus insertion and identify genes affected by the insertion. Quantitative realtime reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to confirm the knockdown of transcription of identified target genes. Results We identified total 9 human genes in which the cells carrying these genes conferred the resistance to CPF, including AGPAT6 , AIG1 , ATP8B2 , BIK , DCAF12 , FNBP4 , LAT2 , MZF1-AS1 and PPTC7 . MZF1-AS1 is an antisense RNA and not included in the further analysis. qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of 6 genes was either significantly reduced or completely lost. There were no changes in the expression of DCAF12 and AGPAT6 genes between the KBM7-mu and the control KBM7 cells. Discussion The KBM7-mu genetic screening system can be modified and applied to identify novel susceptibility genes in response to environmental toxicants, which could provide valuable insights into potential mechanisms of toxicity.
Does Working for Oneself, Not Others, Improve Older Adults' Health? An Investigation on Health Impact of Self-Employment

This paper examines the health impact of being self-employed versus working for others among older adults (aged 50 ) and its implications. Facing an aging workforce, self-employment at older ages may provide an economic benefit via an alternative to retirement. However, little research has examined the health effects of self-employment in later life. Relying on the latest 7 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, this study comprehensively examines health using a 29-item index to measure the impact of self-employment status on changes in older adults' overall health. We conduct a 2-stage generalized panel data instrument variables regression model, with lagged values to control potential endogeneity and simultaneity issues. We find self-employment compared to wage-and-salary jobs result in better health, controlling for job stress and work intensity, cognitive performance, prior health conditions, socioeconomic and demographic factors. This positive self-employment impact stands out in knowledge-based industry sectors. In labor intensive industry sectors such as Durable Goods Manufacturing, self-employed older adults' more gradual retirement seems to result in a health advantage over wage-and-salary employees. Limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.
Biology and Life Sciences

The fields that constitute the life sciences experienced dramatic changes during the twentieth century. From 1901 to 2000, the life sciences splintered into hundreds of specializations: older disciplines fractured into more specific subjects and new disciplines arose from advances in knowledge and technology. Moreover, at the beginning of the century the public had little exposure to the life sciences, reflecting not only the subject's popularity, but also its perceived utility. By 2000, however, discoveries about new genes, drugs, and diseases could be found everywhere, and the life sciences generated immense excitement for both scientists and the general public. Keywords: biological; DNA ; genetics; technology
Development of a Secure Electronic Marketplace for Europe

Backed by the European Commission, a consortium of partners from European industry, financial institutions, and academia has embarked on a research project to develop the fundamentals of secure electronic commerce. The goal of Project SEMPER (Secure Electronic Marketplace for Europe) is to provide the first open and comprehensive solutions for secure commerce over the Internet and other public information networks. We describe the objectives and summarise the initial architecture of SEMPER.
A yeast prion provides a mechanism for genetic variation and phenotypic diversity

A major enigma in evolutionary biology is that new forms or functions often require the concerted effects of several independent genetic changes. It is unclear how such changes might accumulate when they are likely to be deleterious individually and be lost by selective pressure. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae prion [PSI+] is an epigenetic modifier of the fidelity of translation termination, but its impact on yeast biology has been unclear. Here we show that [PSI+] provides the means to uncover hidden genetic variation and produce new heritable phenotypes. Moreover, in each of the seven genetic backgrounds tested, the constellation of phenotypes produced was unique. We propose that the epigenetic and metastable nature of [PSI+] inheritance allows yeast cells to exploit pre-existing genetic variation to thrive in fluctuating environments. Further, the capacity of [PSI+] to convert previously neutral genetic variation to a non-neutral state may facilitate the evolution of new traits.
Dynamics and Tuning of Systems with Large Delay

It is shown that for a general class of resonant systems, the cross-over frequency exhibits a discontinuous dependence on the process delay. This implies that Ziegler-Nichols type tuning techniques, which make explicit use of the cross-over frequency, will not be robust to errors/perturbations in the delay. For nonresonant systems with a cross-over frequency that depends on the delay continuously, we propose a new tuning rule for PI controllers that is superior to the classical Ziegler-Nichols and Cohen-Coon methods and show that it rapidly approaches the optimal ISE at large delay.
Novel sensor technology for shear and normal strain detection with generalized electrostriction

We present a novel technology for stress and strain sensing. As a fundamental property of any dielectric material, electrostriction determines the effect of elastic deformation on dielectric properties. An electrostriction sensor detects the dielectric changes due to deformation in the media with a data acquisition approach, which resembles well-known capacitance sensing techniques. Electrostriction sensing technology does not rely on mechanical contact between the sensor electrodes and the sensing media, nor does it require physical displacement of the electrodes. Thus, detection of normal and shear loads can be implemented in a single plate configuration with no moving parts. Electrostriction sensor design is robust and has high tolerance to overloads - a critical issue for tactile sensing in robotic applications. With many materials available for sensing media, we discuss electrostriction phenomenon in isotropic and anisotropic polymer composites and provide guidance for selection of a material for a given application.
Inflammation and Alzheimer disease: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Inflammation is commonly believed to be a culprit in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis. Recent studies, however, indicate that certain aspects of the inflammatory response may have therapeutic potential (pages 612–618 ).
Vehicle longitudinal control using an adaptive observer for automated highway systems

This paper summarizes data fusion, controller design and experimental work done recently for the longitudinal control of a platoon of autonomous vehicles. This paper presents alternative sub-models of an engine and a transmission to achieve the goal of precise spacing control with smooth ride quality. Adaptive observers are developed to estimate the vehicle-to-vehicle spacing and the closing rate. The estimated values are used in a sliding mode based controller. The developed control strategies are implemented on test vehicles and four vehicle platoon control performed at low to highway speed profiles using throttle position control alone.
Cost-effective retrofit technology for reducing peak power demand in small and medium commercial buildings

This article describes a cost-effective retrofit technology that uses collective control of multiple rooftop air-conditioning units to reduce the peak power consumption of small and medium commercial buildings. The proposed control uses a model of the building and air-conditioning units to select an operating schedule for the air-conditioning units that maintains a temperature set-point subject to a constraint on the number of units that may operate simultaneously. A prototype of this new control system was built and deployed in a large gymnasium to coordinate four rooftop air-conditioning units. Based on data collected while operating this prototype, it is estimated that the cost savings achieved by reducing peak power consumption is sufficient to repay the cost of the prototype within a year.