cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using handheld plastic scintillator detectors to triage individuals exposed to a radiological dispersal device.

After a radiological dispersal device (RDD) event, people could become internally contaminated by inhaling dispersed radioactive particles. A rapid method to screen individuals who are internally contaminated is desirable. Such initial screening can help in prompt identification of those who are highly contaminated and in prioritizing individuals for further and more definitive evaluation such as laboratory testing. The use of handheld plastic scintillators to rapidly screen those exposed to an RDD with gamma-emitting radionuclides was investigated in this study. The Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code was used to model two commercially available plastic scintillation detectors in conjunction with anthropomorphic phantom models to determine the detector response to inhaled radionuclides. Biokinetic models were used to simulate an inhaled radionuclide and its progression through the anthropomorphic phantoms up to 30 d after intake. The objective of the study was to see if internal contamination levels equivalent to 250 mSv committed effective dose equivalent could be detected using these instruments. Five radionuclides were examined: {sup 60}Co, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 192}Ir, {sup 131}I and {sup 241}Am. The results demonstrate that all of the radionuclides except {sup 241}Am could be detected when placing either one of the two plastic scintillator detector systems on the posteriormore » right torso of the contaminated individuals.« less
Interventions to Prevent or Treat Obesity in Preschool Children: A Review of Evaluated Programs

BLUFORD, DONTRELL A.A., BETTYLOU SHERRY, AND KELLEY S. SCANLON. Interventions to prevent or treat obesity in preschool children: a review of evaluated programs. Obesity. 2007;15:1356–1372. Objective: To identify effective programs to prevent or treat overweight among 2- to 6-year-old children. Research Methods and Procedures: We searched six databases to identify evaluated intervention programs assessing changes in weight status or body fat and systematically summarized study attributes and outcomes. Results: Four of the seven studies (two intervention, two prevention) documented significant reductions in weight status or body fat. Among these, three sustained reductions at 1 or 2 years after program initiation, three incorporated a framework/theory, two actively and one passively involved parents, three included multicomponent strategies, and all four monitored behavioral changes. Of the three (prevention) studies that did not show reduction in weight or fat status, all performed assessments between 4 and 9 months after program initiation, and one used a multicomponent strategy. Other significant changes reported were reductions in television viewing, cholesterol, and parental restriction of child feeding. Discussion: The paucity of studies limits our ability to generalize findings. Among the available studies, multicomponent programs with 1- to 2-year follow-up in clinics or child care settings were successful in their impact on weight; they were likely enhanced by parental involvement. Both treatment programs and two of five prevention programs reduced weight/fat status. Our review highlights the need to evaluate more programs, advocate for use of a framework/behavioral theory and objective behavioral measures, further examine the impact of involving parents and the impact of intervention duration and follow-up time, strengthen prevention programs, and further evaluate successful programs in other settings and among other racial/ ethnic groups.
Is avian humoral immunocompetence suppressed by testosterone

A key issue in sexual selection theory is how a correlation between male secondary sexual characters and male genetic quality can be maintained. The immunocompetence-handicap hypothesis proposes that testosterone-dependent male characters remain honest signals because of the immunosuppressive effect of elevated steroid hormone levels. The hypothesis requires that physiological levels of testosterone depress immune system function. We quantified testosterone titers and humoral immunocompetence of captive male and female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) at three points in the annual cycle (autumn, prebreeding, and breeding). We also conducted an implant experiment on the males to assess the effects of prolonged, above-normal testosterone titers on humoral immune responses. Humoral immunocompetence was measured as secondary antibody production to a non-pathogenic protein antigen, keyhole limpet hemocyanin, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay we developed for A. phoeniceus. Secondary antibody responses of individuals were highly repeatable between sampling periods. Neither physiological nor above-normal levels of plasma testosterone suppressed secondary antibody production. In paired tests of the same individuals between prebreeding and breeding, and between breeding and implant, plasma testosterone increased significantly but secondary antibody responses were unaffected. We are confident in these results because with 80% power, an 11–14% difference in antibody titers would have been detected. There was no relationship between plasma testosterone levels and humoral immunocompetence in free-ranging males tested at the peak of breeding. These results cast doubt on a key assumption of the immunocompetence-handicap hypothesis.
Smart lighting - Beyond simple illumination

Very efficient white LED bulbs are rapidly entering the market to replace inefficient incandescent bulbs. While challenges of cost, performance and thermal design are limiting the rate of adoption, LED bulbs are poised to become a large part of the lighting market in the near future. These LED replacement bulbs will be the first wave of solid-state lighting, where combinations of blue LED chips and phosphors generate acceptable white light efficiently, but leave the full electronic potential of LEDs largely untapped. The combination of digitally controlled full gamut light sources, high performance light sensors and new control and communications methods will create what could be called the second wave of solid state lighting, or Smart Lighting. Smart Lighting systems are comprised of illumination technologies that fully utilize the spectral and temporal capabilities of LEDs to provide light, automatically adapt color and intensity to changing illumination requirements, and provide enhanced services beyond simple illumination. Smart Lighting systems will include the ability to measure and control the intensity, color, polarization, and modulation of light to enable this new lighting functionality, including advanced biosensing, highly efficient “illumination grade” displays, therapeutic lighting, visible light communications, and self commissioning illumination systems.
Adaptive delamination analysis

Summary A methodology aimed at addressing computational complexity of analyzing delamination in large structural components made of laminated composites is proposed. The classical ply-by-ply discretization of individual layers may increase the size of the problem by an order of magnitude in comparison with the laminated shell or plate element meshes. The paper features delamination indicators that pinpoint the onset and propagation of delamination fronts with striking accuracy. Once the location of delamination has been identified, the discrete solution space of the classical laminated plate/shell element is hierarchically enriched by a combination of weak and strong discontinuities to adaptively track the evolution of delamination fronts. The so-called adaptive s-method proposed herein is equivalent in terms of approximation space to the extended finite element method but offers sparser matrices and added flexibility in transitioning from weak to strong discontinuities. Numerical examples suggest that despite an overhead that comes with adaptivity, the adaptive s-method is computationally advantageous over the classical ply-by-ply discretization, especially as the problem size increases. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Probiotics for Clostridium Difficile–Associated Diarrhea: Focus on Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Saccharomyces boulardii

Objective:To review the literature on the use of probiotics to treat or prevent recurrences of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) by replacing normal gastric flora.Data Sources:PubMed (1970–March 2007) was searched using the terms probiotics, Clostridium difficile, colitis, diarrhea, prevention, and treatment.Study Selection and Data Extraction:Case reports, case series, and clinical trials describing the use of probiotics in the treatment or prevention of recurrences of CDAD as primary outcome were included.Data Synthesis:A variety of controlled trials, case series, and case reports have evaluated probiotics to treat first or recurrent episodes of CDAD. In addition, a meta-analysis has been conducted to try to determine the rote of probiotics in CDAD. In general, most case series and case reports have shown favorable results with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG or Saccharomyces boulardii. However, other reports have shown lack of benefit. The meta-analysis showed that these probiotics may be use...
Magnetic coupling in spin-valves from magnetic circular dichroism

The authors have applied magnetic x-ray circular dichroism (MXCD) to extract elemental magnetic moments for real, thin-film spin valve devices and demonstrated the correlation between MXCD and R-H measurements on those devices. The spin valves consisted of NiFe/Co/Cu/Co/NiFe sandwiches with variable Cu spacer-layer thickness, grown on a thick NiO film, as described previously. One permalloy layer is therefore magnetically pinned to the substrate which it contacts. Spin-polarized, X-ray absorption spectra were collected using beamline 8-2 at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. The Poynting vector of the incident beam was aligned at grazing incidence to the films, either parallel or antiparallel to their remanent magnetization. For each spin valve, four absorption spectra were collected, With the remanent magnetization initially parallel to the incident beam direction, a pair of spectra were recorded, one with the helicity of the incident photons parallel to the remanent magnetization of the device, and one with their helicity antiparallel to the remanent magnetization. Next, the samples were rotated in order to align their remanent magnetization antiparallel to the incident beam direction, and a pair of absorption spectra was similarly obtained from beams polarized with opposite helicity. Finally, each absorption spectrum was normalized to the incident photon flux.
Estimating the Extra Charges and Prolongation of Hospitalization Due to Nosocomial Infections: A Comparison of Methods

Estimates of the economic consequences of nosocomial infections were derived by studying the same patient population with two different methods: physician's assessment and comparisons of patients with nosocomial infection and those without, matched on five characteristics. Estimates of extra days and extra routine charges obtained by the comparison were about 2 1/2 times greater than those obtained by the physician's assessment (P less than 0.0001). Even when the match of patients was exact and measures were taken to avoid confounding, patients with nosocomial infection had more discharge diagnoses recorded (P = 0.02) and experienced more episodes of pulmonary embolism, renal failure, and death in the hospital than did their counterparts. These differences suggest that, despite careful matching, the members of the pairs were not comparable in their intrinsic predisposition to prolonged hospitalization. Unless patients can be matched on this prediposition, the estimates from a comparison study will be exaggerated.
Thermoregulation in larval aggregations of carrion-feeding blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Abstract The growth and development of carrion-feeding calliphorid (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae, or maggots, is of great interest to forensic sciences, especially for estimation of a postmortem interval (PMI). The development rate of calliphorid larvae is influenced by the temperature of their immediate environment. Heat generation in larval feeding aggregations (=maggot masses) is a well-known phenomenon, but it has not been quantitatively described. Calculated development rates that do not include internally generated temperatures will result in overestimation of PMI. Over a period of 2.5 yr, 80 pig, Sus scrofa L., carcasses were placed out at study sites in north central Florida and northwestern Indiana. Once larval aggregations started to form, multiple internal and external temperatures, and weather observations were taken daily or every few days between 1400 and 1800 hours until pupation of the larvae. Volume of each aggregation was determined by measuring surface area and average depth. Live and...
Scalable visualization resizing framework

Effective visualization resizing is important for many visualization tasks, where users may have display devices with different sizes and aspect ratios. Our recently designed framework can adapt a visualization to different displays by transforming the resizing problem into a non-linear optimization problem. However, it is not scalable to a large amount of dense information. Undesired cluttered results would be produced if dense information is presented in the target display. We present an extension to our resizing framework with a seamless integration of a sampling-based data abstraction mechanism, such that it is scalable with not only different display sizes, but also different amounts of information.
The public health response to disasters in the 21st century: reflections on Hurricane Katrina.

Ten years ago, in 1996, the author published a commentary on disasters, the environment, and public health, reviewing progress in the field. Despite many advances, significant events have occurred during the intervening decade, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster. The recent lessons from Hurricane Katrina indicate that public health professionals still need to do more to protect the public in times of national disasters. Since recurring disasters will continue to adversely affect human health, public health providers and others involved with disaster management should again reflect on the importance of this issue and the need for action. Such action includes key public health professionals being present and actively involved in the field before and immediately following disaster impact. Language: en
How the Constitution Makes Subtraction Easy

This reply discusses John Harrison's insightful "Addition by Subtraction," which is a response to "Removal and Tenure in Office." The piece suggests that there are strong historical and textual reasons to suppose that Congress can remove executive and certain judicial officers. It also argues that courts may remove inferior judicial officers. Finally, it offers an admittedly less than full-throated defense of the notion that the President may grant tenure during good behavior to executive officers.
Impact of Education by Clinical Pharmacists on Physician Ambulatory Care Prescribing of Generic versus Brand-Name Drugs

The physician prescribing of generic versus brand-name drugs to ambulatory care patients was compared between the time periods before and after rendering clinical pharmacist education. Copies of all written outpatient prescriptions were used for the comparison. Physicians significantly increased their generic prescribing after clinical pharmacist education.
Thymol Nanoencapsulated by Sodium Caseinate: Physical and Antilisterial Properties

In this work, thymol was encapsulated in sodium caseinate using high shear homogenization. The transparent dispersion at neutral pH was stable for 30 days at room temperature as determined by dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy, which agreed with high ζ potential of nanoparticles. The slightly decreased particle dimension during storage indicates the absence of Ostwald ripening. When molecular binding was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, thymol was observed to bind with tyrosine and possibly other amino acid residues away from tryptophan of caseins. At pH 4.6 (isoelectric point of caseins), the stabilization of thymol nanoparticles against aggregation was enabled by soluble soybean polysaccharide, resulting from the combined electrostatic and steric repulsions. The encapsulated thymol showed the significantly improved antilisterial activity in milk with different fat levels when compared to thymol crystals, resulting from the quicker mixing and increased solubility in the milk serum....
Can I connect with both you and my social network? Access to network-salient communication technology and get-acquainted interactions

Although recent research has found evidence that the mere presence of a cell phone or other communication device has negative effects on the reported quality of face-to-face interactions (e.g., Misra, Cheng, Genevie, & Yuan, 2014; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2013), no prior study has examined how individuals' actual access to communication devices during an interaction may affect that interaction, either negatively or positively. This was the focus of our study. Seventy-five previously unacquainted dyads engaged in a get-acquainted interaction over Skype. In the experimental dyads, one member unobtrusively (out of the view of his or her interaction partner) checked his or her cell phone and Facebook while interacting with the other. In the control dyads, neither partner had cell phone or Facebook access. Regardless of condition, participants rated the interaction positively. Generally, being connected to one's social network had no effect on the interaction. A comparison of our results with those of recent studies (e.g., Przybylski & Weinstein) led to the conclusion that divided attention from the presence of a communication device may be detrimental for an interaction only when the network members cannot be accessed. 75 unacquainted dyads engaged in a 21źmin Skype interaction.Experimental participants had unobtrusive use of a cell phone and Facebook.Access to cell phone and Facebook was not detrimental to the interaction.Hyperconnectivity may not negatively affect face-to-face interactions.
Analysis of HFMD surveillance during 2009-2010 in Yiwu

Objective:To understand etiological classification and distribution features of HFMD,in order to provide the references for preventing and controlling the HFMD disease and the enterovirus.Methods: The RNA of enterovirus,enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16 from 248 HFMD specimens confirmed by clinical measures were detected by using real time PCR.Results: The 178 specimens were positive to enterovirus,and the positive rate was 71.77%.Furthermore,in the above results,there were 83 cases positive to enterovirus 71 and 66 cases positive to coxsackie virus A16,and the positive rates were 46.63% and 37.08% respectively.Most of the HFMD patients were below the age of 5,which accounted for 92.74% to all the infectious patients.The enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16 positive rates of children from the data of 2009 and 2010 were 17.86%,37.50% and 38.05%,23.44% respectively,and all the above data were considered statistically significant.The positive rates of enterovirus,enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16 from different genders had no statistical significance.The positive rate of severe case was 75.00%.Conclusion: The enterovirus 71 and coxsackie virus A16 were the main pathogens causing children have HFMD in Yiwu city.Most of pathogens in clinical specimens collected from 2009 were coxsackie virus A16,and then most of pathogens from 2010 were enterovirus 71.The children below the age of 5 were high risk group.Furthermore,enterovirus 71 was the main pathogen causing severe case.
Assessment of the intrinsic contractile state within an area of myocardium.

Afterload independent, inotropic state sensitive indices of regional function were sought in 31 canine hearts instrumented with piezoelectric crystals to depict trapezoidal areas in the left anterior descending and circumflex arterial beds. Control and postinterventional end-systolic pressure versus regional length and area relationships and regional stroke work versus end-diastolic length and area relationships were inscribed during incremental volume loading on right heart bypass. Hearts were randomized to undergo afterload variation with phenylephrine infusion, contractility augmentation by calcium chloride, or 20 minutes of ischemia in the region of the left anterior descending artery with 30 minutes of reperfusion. All relationships were linear before and after each intervention (mean r = 0.726 to 0.974). The slopes of each correlation were interpreted to quantify intrinsic regional contractility, and all were afterload insensitive (unaffected by phenylephrine). Regional stroke work versus end-diastolic area and length relationships were depressed 55% and 62%, respectively, after ischemia (p
Abstract 1272: Apelin/Apj pathway for targeting ovarian tumor microenvironment

Introduction: Ovarian cancer generates unique tumor microenvironment (TME) that promotes and enhances tumor progression and metastasis. Current therapy option for modulating ovarian TME is antiangiogenic therapy but its clinical benefit is limited; thus, alternative drug targets are needed for therapeutic durability. Apelin and its cognate receptor APJ is known to have roles in glucose metabolism, cardiovascular functions, and angiogenesis. We found that apelin/APJ are highly overexpressed in human ovarian tumors, but their functional role is unclear. We also found a significant upregulation of apelin/APJ in tumors that progressed after antiangiogenic therapy in preclinical ovarian cancer models. Our objective is to determine the functional roles and mechanisms of apelin/APJ pathway on promoting ovarian tumor angiogenesis and progression. Methods: We examined autocrine and paracrine functions of apelin/APJ signaling on cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation using human ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3Apln and SKOV3Apj) and endothelial cells (HUVECApj). Phosphoproteome array was performed to evaluate the apelin/APJ downstream signaling. We characterized the effect of apelin or APJ overexpression on tumor development and response to VEGFR inhibitor in vivo. To confirm the clinical relevance of apelin/APJ in ovarian TME, we measured soluble apelin levels in patients’ ascites and APJ expressions in human ovarian tumors using an immunohistochemistry. Results: Apelin (10-100 ng/ml) induced mitogenic and chemoattractant effects on both cancer and endothelial cells. These effects were more prominent under hypoxic condition, reflecting the significance of apelin/APJ axis in TME. The aplein-mediated proliferative and migratory effects were inhibited by a pharmacological APJ inhibitor (ML-221) in a dose-dependent manner. High APJ expression resulted in enhanced pro-angiogenic activity in HUVEC. Overexpression of apelin/APJ also led to reduced response to antiangiogenic treatment in both HUVEC and cancer cells. Apelin signaling induces phosphorylation of AKT, STAT, CREB, PRAS 40, and AMPKα2 in SKOV3 cells. Our xenograft study indicates APJ-overexpressing tumors showed reduced response to sorafenib treatment compared to those control tumors. We found that APJ is mainly expressed in tumors and some extent in stromal component of human ovarian tumors. The median soluble apelin levels in ascites were 187 pg/ml (6.3 - 4,000 pg/ml). Conclusions: Our results suggest that apelin/APJ may play an important role in promoting angiogenesis and progression in ovarian cancer and serve as an attractive pathway targeting ovarian TME. Citation Format: Bharat Kumar Devapatla, Pharavee Jaiprasart, Samrita Dogra, Jihee Ha, Sukyung Woo. Apelin/Apj pathway for targeting ovarian tumor microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1272.
Who's to blame?

Recent evidence suggests that bystanders are even less likely to intervene with online compared to offline bullying. Given that receiving social support following bullying can buffer victims from maladjustment, it is important to consider specific factors influencing bystanders' intention to intervene and help the victim in online contexts. The current experiment examined how cybervictims' disclosures (i.e., sharing personal information) on Facebook influence bystanders' attributions of blame, empathy, and intention to intervene on behalf of a victim following a cyberbullying incident. Participants (N?=?118) were randomly assigned to view the Facebook profile of a cybervictim who posted an update ranging in personal disclosure (high vs. low) and valence (positive vs. negative). Results indicate that viewing the high disclosure profile (i.e., more personal post from victim), regardless of valence, caused participants to blame the victim more and feel less empathy for the victim, which in turn predicted lower likelihood of bystander intervention with the bullying incident. These results are discussed in terms of implications for encouraging positive bystander behavior in response to incidents of cyberbullying. Online bystanders' reactions to cyberbullying are examined experimentally.Bystanders place more blame on victims who exhibit high disclosure on Facebook.Bystanders feel less empathy for victims who exhibit high disclosure on Facebook.More victim blame and less empathy predict less supportive bystander behavior.
Parallel post-processing with MPI-Bash

Parallel, scientific applications running on massively parallel supercomputers commonly produce large numbers of large data files. While parallel filesystems improve the performance of file generation, post-processing activities such as archiving and compressing the data or performing routine format transformations are often run sequentially (and therefore slowly), squandering the supercomputer's vast performance. Consequently, data that take hours to generate may take days to post-process.Because post-processing often consists of running a relatively small set of shell commands on a relatively large number of files and because most parallel-application developers are comfortable with MPI we propose turning the shell itself into an MPI program and exposing common MPI functions directly to user-written shell scripts. Our implementation, MPI-Bash, has been used to date to speed up the compression, archiving, and transfer of large files but can conceivably be applied to numerous other purposes.
Suppression of Inflammatory Arthritis by Human Gut-Derived Prevotella histicola in Humanized Mice.

Objective The gut microbiome regulates host immune homeostasis. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with intestinal dysbiosis. This study was undertaken to test the ability of a human gut-derived commensal to modulate immune response and treat arthritis in a humanized mouse model. Methods We isolated a commensal bacterium, Prevotella histicola, that is native to the human gut and has systemic immune effects when administered enterally. Arthritis-susceptible HLA–DQ8 mice were immunized with type II collagen and treated with P histicola. Disease incidence, onset, and severity were monitored. Changes in gut epithelial proteins and immune response as well as systemic cellular and humoral immune responses were studied in treated mice. Results When treated with P histicola in prophylactic or therapeutic protocols, DQ8 mice exhibited significantly decreased incidence and severity of arthritis compared to controls. The microbial mucosal modulation of arthritis was dependent on regulation by CD103+ dendritic cells and myeloid suppressors (CD11b+Gr-1+ cells) and by generation of Treg cells (CD4+CD25+FoxP3+) in the gut, resulting in suppression of antigen-specific Th17 responses and increased transcription of interleukin-10. Treatment with P histicola led to reduced intestinal permeability by increasing expression of enzymes that produce antimicrobial peptides as well as tight junction proteins (zonula occludens 1 and occludin). However, the innate immune response via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) and TLR-9 was not affected in treated mice. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that enteral exposure to P histicola suppresses arthritis via mucosal regulation. P histicola is a unique commensal that can be explored as a novel therapy for RA and may have few or no side effects.
New and Noteworthy: Back to the Classics: A Library Leader’s Basic Management Bookshelf

This New and Noteworthy book review column summarizes four general "classic" management titles which may be useful to library leaders and managers.
RNA Methylation Clears the Way

During the maternal-to-zygotic transition, maternal mRNAs are cleared by multiple distinct but interrelated pathways. A recent study in Nature by Zhao et al. (2017) finds that YTHDF2, a reader of N6- methylation, facilitates maternal mRNA decay, introducing an additional facet of control over transcript fate and developmental reprogramming.
Pulmonary function in children. II. Preliminary studies in chronic intractable childhood asthma.

Abstract 1.1. Complete lung volume and ventilatory studies have been made in a group of fourteen inpatient asthmatic children shortly after admission to the hospital and at varying times after treatment in the hospital. 2.2. Abnormalities in lung volumes, maximum breathing capacity, and timed vital capacity, alone or in combination, were noted in the majority of these children. Improvement in clinical status was not always accompanied by improvement in pulmonary function measurements. 3.3. The one-second timed vital capacity determination alone did not appear to be a reliable predictor of pulmonary function in this study. Furthermore, there was very little correlation between the one-second timed vital capacity and the maximum breathing capacity. 4.4. The functional residual capacity, the total lung capacity, and the FRC/TLC ratio proved to be useful indices of hyperinflation in this group of asthmatic children. 5.5. The helium-mixing curve was used as an index of distribution of inspired gas. Prolongation of helium equilibration was discovered in two children who were thought to have emphysema on evidence of combined clinical x-ray and pulmonary function evaluations. 6.6. Pulmonary function measurements will provide the clinician with objective criteria of prognosis and response to treatment in childhood asthma.
An Update on the Use of Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Lymphoma.

Purpose of Review Throughout the field of oncology, immunotherapy is moving further towards the first-line setting, and there is encouraging data for the use of these novel therapies in the management of lymphomas, utilizing treatments approved for both solid and hematologic malignancies. Herein, we review promising advances in this rapidly moving field from the past year.
Disamenity to amenity: Spatial and temporal patterns of social response to river restoration progress

Abstract Our research explored the social dimension of river restoration by examining amenity development as a social response within two watersheds at different biophysical restoration states in Maine, USA. Our research provided the first systematic examination of progress in achieving federal- and state-regulated water quality improvements at an individual river segment level. Using spatial analysis, we documented spatiotemporal patterns of water classification shifts, examined the interactions among these shifts, and assessed the creation of amenity infrastructure and landscape patterns along the river corridors. Despite historical differences in patterns of water classification levels, these two systems were comparable in amenity infrastructure and in many landscape metrics. The pace of amenity development differed over time and along the rivers, with the more impaired system experiencing greater amenity development, raising questions about the larger role of amenity investment in fostering community awareness of river systems and pointing to the complexity of social response to river restoration. Communities may choose to invest in amenity development in advance of full restoration progress to provide greater connections to river systems. Alternatively, such investments may arise only after considerable progress has been achieved. Identifying why and when communities invest in amenities as a dimension of restoration is critical to advancing natural resource management.
Information Technology as a Cyber Science

Emerging technologies are proliferating and the computing profession continues to evolve to embrace the many opportunities and solve the many challenges this brings. Among the challenges is identifying and describing the competencies, responsibilities, and curriculum content needed for cybersecurity. As part of addressing these issues, there are efforts taking place that both improve integration of cybersecurity into the established computing disciplines while other efforts are developing and articulating cybersecurity as a new meta-discipline. The various individual computing disciplines, such as Computer Science, Information Technology, and Information Systems, have increased and improved the amount of cybersecurity in their model curricula. In parallel, organizations such as the Cyber Education Project, an ACM/IEEE Joint Task Force, and the accrediting body ABET are producing such artifacts as a multi-disciplinary Body of Knowledge and accreditation program criteria for cybersecurity writ large. This paper explores these various cybersecurity initiatives from the perspective of the Information Technology discipline, and it addresses the degree to which cybersecurity and Information Technology are both similar and different.
Combining deep learning and language modeling for segmentation-free OCR from raw pixels

We present a simple yet effective LSTM-based approach for recognizing machine-print text from raw pixels. We use a fully-connected feed-forward neural network for feature extraction over a sliding window, the output of which is directly fed into a stacked bi-directional LSTM. We train the network using the CTC objective function and use a WFST language model during recognition. Experimental results show that this simple system outperforms extensively tuned state-of-the-art HMM models on the DARPA Arabic Machine Print corpus.
Regulation of microtubule dynamic instability by the carboxy-terminal tail of β-tubulin

Dynamic instability is an intrinsic property of microtubules; however, we do not understand what domains of αβ-tubulins regulate this activity or how these regulate microtubule networks in cells. Here, we define a role for the negatively charged carboxy-terminal tail (CTT) domain of β-tubulin in regulating dynamic instability. By combining in vitro studies with purified mammalian tubulin and in vivo studies with tubulin mutants in budding yeast, we demonstrate that β-tubulin CTT inhibits microtubule stability and regulates the structure and stability of microtubule plus ends. Tubulin that lacks β-tubulin CTT polymerizes faster and depolymerizes slower in vitro and forms microtubules that are more prone to catastrophe. The ends of these microtubules exhibit a more blunted morphology and rapidly switch to disassembly after tubulin depletion. In addition, we show that β-tubulin CTT is required for magnesium cations to promote depolymerization. We propose that β-tubulin CTT regulates the assembly of stable microtubule ends and provides a tunable mechanism to coordinate dynamic instability with ionic strength in the cell.
Desmopressin-Induced Severe Hyponatremia with Central Pontine Myelinolysis: A Case Report

Desmopressin, a synthetic vasopressin analog, is used to treat central diabetes insipidus, hemostatic disorders such as von Willebrand’s disease, and nocturnal enuresis. We present the case of a 69-year-old man who developed severe hyponatremia during treatment with intranasal desmopressin at 10 µg twice daily for chronic polyuria and nocturia thought to be due to central diabetes insipidus. After 5 months of therapy, the patient noticed progressive fatigue, anorexia, dizziness, weakness, light-headedness, decreased concentration, and new-onset falls. At 6 months of therapy, the patient was brought to the emergency department for altered mental status and was found to be severely hyponatremic with a serum sodium level of 96 mmol/L, down from a value of 134 mmol/L at the initiation of therapy. The intranasal desmopressin was discontinued and the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit where the hyponatremia was slowly corrected over the next week to 132 mmol/L, never increasing by more than 8 mmol/L a day, with careful fluid management. This included infusion of over 11 L of 5% dextrose to account for a high urine output, which peaked at 7.4 L in 1 day. However, while the recommended rate for sodium correction was followed, the patient’s magnetic resonance imaging of the brain obtained after discharge displayed evidence of central pontine myelinolysis. Despite this finding, the patient eventually returned to his baseline mental status with no permanent neurologic deficits.
Trajectories and Predictors of Longitudinal Preexposure Prophylaxis Adherence Among Men Who Have Sex With Men.

Author(s): Pasipanodya, Elizabeth C; Jain, Sonia; Sun, Xiaoying; Blumenthal, Jill; Ellorin, Eric; Corado, Katya; Dube, Michael P; Daar, Eric S; Morris, Sheldon R; Moore, David J; California Collaborative Treatment Group (CCTG) TAPIR Study Team | Abstract: BackgroundAdherence is necessary for efficacy of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and text-messaging methods are promising tools for both adherence assessment and support. Although PrEP adherence is variable, little research has examined patterns of variability or factors associated with longitudinal use.MethodsIn the context of a randomized controlled trial of text-messaging versus standard of care for PrEP adherence, 181 men who have sex with men received once-daily tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine and daily adherence texts for 48 weeks. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was used to identify subgroups of individuals with similar trajectories of text-reported adherence. Between-group differences in pharmacologic measures of adherence (ie, tenofovir diphosphate and emtricitabine triphosphate levels), as well as predictors and study-end attitudes associated with group membership, were examined.ResultsGMM identified 4 trajectories of text-reported adherence. Classes with higher text-reported adherence had higher drug concentrations. Younger age and minority race were associated with lower adherence, and individuals in classes with lower adherence had greater baseline levels of depression, substance use concerns, and sexual risk. Differences in study satisfaction were also associated with adherence.ConclusionsThis study supports the use of text-reported PrEP adherence. Identifying factors associated with less-than-optimal adherence may aid clinicians in anticipating at-risk patients requiring augmented intervention.Clinical trials registrationNCT01761643.
Modulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Angiogenic Activity by ADP-Ribosylation

Angiogenesis is a complex series of interdependent events which basically involves Chemotaxis, proteolytic digestion of extracellular matrix, cell proliferation, vascular tube formation, anastomoses with other vascular sprouts, and cell-cell, and cell-matrix adhesion. Studies on angiogenesis have revealed that these processes are regulated by a balance of positive and negative inducers of which cytokines and growth factors are the primary stimulators (1–3). Research over the last few years have indicated the pivotal role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the regulation of normal and abnormal angiogenesis (3). Because of the specificity of VEGF for endothelial cell migration, proliferation and tube formation, VEGF is considered to be a major stimulus for wound angiogenesis.
Bodily Eyes: Vision and Perception in the Works of Jupiter Hammon

Eighteenth-century poet and essayist Jupiter Hammon lived most of his life on Lloyd’s Neck along the northern shore of Long Island, New York. The two homes he lived in there, the Henry Lloyd Salt-B...
Effect of radiation dose escalation on outcomes in patients with N2 stage IIIA NSCLC undergoing induction therapy prior to surgical resection.

8513Background: For pts with resectable stage IIIA NSCLC, one accepted tx option is induction therapy with concurrent chemoradiation followed by surgical resection in selected pts. However, the app...
Conversion of staphylococcal pathogenicity islands to CRISPR-carrying antibacterial agents that cure infections in mice

Staphylococcus aureus and other staphylococci continue to cause life-threatening infections in both hospital and community settings. They have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics, especially β-lactams and aminoglycosides, and their infections are now, in many cases, untreatable. Here we present a non-antibiotic, non-phage method of treating staphylococcal infections by engineering of the highly mobile staphylococcal pathogenicity islands (SaPIs). We replaced the SaPIs' toxin genes with antibacterial cargos to generate antibacterial drones (ABDs) that target the infecting bacteria in the animal host, express their cargo, kill or disarm the bacteria and thus abrogate the infection. Here we have constructed ABDs with either a CRISPR-Cas9 bactericidal or a CRISPR-dCas9 virulence-blocking module. We show that both ABDs block the development of a murine subcutaneous S. aureus abscess and that the bactericidal module rescues mice given a lethal dose of S. aureus intraperitoneally.
Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks Associated with Nanotechnology

Their small sizes enable nanomaterials to express novel properties that have created a revolution in science and technology since their discovery in the 1990s. The new transport, morphology and material properties of nano-enabled products, however, have imposed revision of environmental, health, and safety risk assessments and management concepts previously established for conventional materials. At the current stage of nanotechnology development, uncertainties still exist due to the inability to adequately quantify and characterize nano-enabled products properties in complex matrices, including living organisms and the environment. The multidisciplinary effort is required for the development of analytical tools and methods that provide answers to multiple nanomaterial-related properties and help explicate the property exposure and property-hazard relationships from a life cycle perspective.
Molecular Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using a Redox-Active Iron Complex

We introduce a redox-active iron complex, Fe-PyC3A, as a biochemically responsive MRI contrast agent. Switching between Fe3+-PyC3A and Fe2+-PyC3A yields a full order of magnitude relaxivity change that is field-independent between 1.4 and 11.7 T. The oxidation of Fe2+-PyC3A to Fe3+-PyC3A by hydrogen peroxide is very rapid, and we capitalized on this behavior for the molecular imaging of acute inflammation, which is characterized by elevated levels of reactive oxygen species. Injection of Fe2+-PyC3A generates strong, selective contrast enhancement of inflamed pancreatic tissue in a mouse model (caerulein/LPS model). No significant signal enhancement is observed in normal pancreatic tissue (saline-treated mice). Importantly, signal enhancement of the inflamed pancreas correlates strongly and significantly with ex vivo quantitation of the pro-inflammatory biomarker myeloperoxidase. This is the first example of using metal ion redox for the MR imaging of pathologic change in vivo. Redox-active Fe3+/2+ comple...
Room temperature oxidation of silicon in the Cu3Si/Si structure

Thick silicon dioxide films were prepared by room temperature oxidation of Si (100) and (11) induced by Cu3Si. This Cu3Si-enhanced oxidation process is accelerated by ultraviolet light irradiation. Rutherford backscattering (RBS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the chemical and structural properties of the silicon dioxide layer underneath the oxidized Cu3Si surface layer. The resulting films of silicon dioxide are denser and stoichiometric when silicon oxidation proceeds under UV irradiation at room temperature. Compared with the oxidation in the Au/Si system, there are two distinguishing features of the Cu/Si system: (1) the formation of a silicon oxide layer in the interface between Cu and Si; and (2) room temperature growth of silicon dioxide with the thickness in the range of 1 micron.
68Ga-Galmydar: A PET imaging tracer for noninvasive detection of Doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Background Cancer patients undergoing Doxorubicin (DOX) treatment are susceptible to acute and chronic cardiac anomalies, including aberrant arrhythmias, ventricular dysfunction, and heart failure. To stratify patients at high risk for DOX -related heart failure (CHF), diagnostic techniques have been sought. While echocardiography is used for monitoring LVEF and LV volumes due to its wide-availability and cost-efficiency, it may not identify early stages of the initiation of DOX-induced systolic heart failure. To address these limitations, PET tracers could also provide noninvasive assessment of early and reversible metabolic changes of the myocardium. Objective Herein, we report a preliminary investigation of 68Ga-Galmydar potential to monitor Dox-induced cardiomyopathy in vivo, ex vivo, and in cellulo employing both nuclear- and optical imaging. Methods and results To assess 68Ga-Galmydar ability for monitoring DOX-induced cardiomyopathy, microPET imaging was performed 5 d post treatment of rats either with a single dose of DOX (15 mg/kg) or vehicle as a control (saline) and images were co-registered for anatomical reference using CT. Following tail-vein injection of the radiotracer in rats at 60 min, micro-PET/CT static scan (10 min acquisition), 68Ga-Galmydar demonstrated 1.91-fold lower uptake in hearts of DOX-treated (standard uptake value; SUV: 0.92, n = 3) rats compared with their vehicle treated (SUV: 1.76, n = 3) control counterparts. For correlation of PET imaging data, post-imaging quantitative biodistribution studies were also performed, wherein excised organs were counted for γ activity, and normalized to injected dose. The post imaging pharmacokinetic data also demonstrated heart uptake values of 2.0 fold lower for DOX treated rats(%ID/g; DOX: 0.44 ± 0.1, n = 3) compared to their vehicle-treated controls (%ID/g; Control: 0.89 ± 0.03, n = 3, p = 0.04). Employing the fluorescent traits of Galmydar, live cell fluorescence imaging indicated a gradual decrease in uptake and retention of Galmydar within mitochondria of H9c2 cells following DOX-treatment, while indicating dose-dependent and time-dependent uptake profiles. Following depolarization of electronegative transmembrane gradients at the mitochondrial membrane, the uptake of the probe was decreased in H9c2 cells, and the uptake profiles were found to be identical, using both fluorescence and radiotracer bioassays. Finally, the decreased uptake of the metalloprobe in H9c2 cells also correlated with caspase-3 expression resulting from DOX-induced cardiotoxicity and cell death. Conclusions 68Ga-Galmydar could provide a noninvasive assessment of DOX-related and likely reversible metabolic changes at earliest stages. Further studies with other chemotherapeutics (potentially capable of inducing cardiomyopathy) are underway.