cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Outcomes Disparities between Black and White Populations in the Surgical Management of Glaucoma

African descent is a well-documented risk factor for glaucoma development, progression, and medical and surgical failure. We reviewed the literature for evidence of outcomes disparities between Black and White populations after trabeculectomy, Ex-PRESS shunt, viscocanalostomy, canaloplasy, tube shunt, laser trabeculoplasty, and cyclophotocoagulation. There are reports of decreased surgical success in Black patients after trabeculectomy, Ex-PRESS shunt, tube-shunt, and canaloplasty. At this time, there is no strong evidence that any procedure is more effective for intraocular pressure control than standard trabeculectomy for Black patients. Furthermore, there is insufficient evidence to recommend any particular secondary intervention over another, despite differences in inflammation and bleb-dependence. There is a need for randomized, controlled trials to assess race as a risk factor for failure after non-penetrating filtration surgery (NPFS). There is also a need for data on the efficacy of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) in Black populations.
Stability analysis via averaging for singularly perturbed nonlinear systems with delays

In this work we consider stability of singularly perturbed nonlinear systems affected by time-delays. In particular, we consider the case when trajectories of the boundary layer system of such a system converge to a compact set. By combining the averaging method and the Lyapunov-Razumikhin approach, we obtained sufficient conditions for semi-global and practical stability based on conditions of the corresponding boundary layer system and the averaging model of the reduced slow-subsystem.
The Politics of Collective Choice

The framework for public expenditure decisions explored in Chapters 2 to 4 is grounded on individualistic assumptions. The satisfaction of social wants, in this approach, must rest on the preferences of sovereign consumers. Optimality for the public sector is conceived of in terms of conformity with individual preferences in a manner strictly analogous to the conformity with preferences that defines Pareto optimality in the private sector.
Busy audit committee members and internal control deficiencies

This paper investigates whether audit committees being busy affect their ability to monitor a company's internal control system. We define a busy audit committee as a ratio of busy audit committee members to all audit committee members. A director is 'busy' if he/she holds at least three board directorships. We find a significant negative association between firms reporting internal control deficiencies, as required by Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and busy audit committees. Prior literature is inconclusive about the constructive contributions of busy directors to corporate governance. We interpret these results to indicate busy directors can overcome time constraints by using their industry expertise and networking connections to contribute to the effectiveness of internal control. This study is the first documenting the positive impact of busy directors on internal control providing additional evidence that constructive corporate practices can be transmitted through interlocked directors. In addition, we find tenure of 8 years or more for audit committee members is significantly associated with effective internal controls suggesting higher diligence is exercised by these longer-tenured board members.
Who does what where? Advanced earth observation for humanitarian crisis management

This study investigated the performances of data fusion algorithms when applied to very high spatial resolution satellite images that encompass ongoing- and post-crisis scenes. The evaluation entailed twelve fusion algorithms. The candidate algorithms were applied to GeoEye-1 satellite images taken over three different geographical settings representing natural and anthropogenic crises that had occurred in the recent past: earthquake-damaged sites in Haiti, flood-impacted sites in Pakistan, and armed-conflicted areas in Sri Lanka. Fused images were assessed subjectively and objectively. Spectral quality metrics included correlation coefficient, peak signal-to-noise ratio index, mean structural similarity index, spectral angle mapper, and relative dimensionless global error in synthesis. The spatial integrity of fused images was assessed using Canny edge correspondence and high-pass correlation coefficient. Under each metric, fusion methods were ranked and best competitors were identified. In this study, The Ehlers fusion, wavelet principle component analysis (WV-PCA) fusion, and the high-pass filter fusion algorithms reported the best values for the majority of spectral quality indices. Under spatial metrics, the University of New Brunswick and Gram-Schmidt fusion algorithms reported the optimum values. The color normalization sharpening and subtractive resolution merge algorithms exhibited the highest spectral distortions where as the WV-PCA algorithm showed the weakest spatial improvement. In conclusion, this study recommends the University of New Brunswick algorithm if visual image interpretation is involved, whereas the high-pass filter fusion is recommended if semi- or fully-automated feature extraction is involved, for pansharpening VHSR satellite images of on-going and post crisis sites.
Bleeding Risk in Thrombocytopenic Cancer Patients with Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Receiving Anticoagulation

Abstract Abstract 3408 Introduction: Cancer-associated thromboses are commonly treated with anticoagulants, which sometimes cause bleeding. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy develop thrombocytopenia and these patients are at an increased risk of bleeding. Because of concerns about bleeding risk when one combines anticoagulation and thrombocytopenia, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network considers a platelet count of less than 50,000/cmm as a contraindication to anticoagulation and the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends anticoagulation in thrombocytopenic cancer patients with caution. This retrospective chart review aims to evaluate bleeding risks associated with anticoagulation in cancer patients with platelet counts of less than 50,000/cmm. Methods: From Jaunary 2008 to January 2011 chart reviews were made of 2,711 patients (18 years or older) with ICD9 diagnoses emcompassing venous thromboembolism and thrombocytopenia. The following cases were excluded from the study, (1) no anticoagulation, (2) platelet count above 50,000/cmm, (3) tumor thrombus, (4) asynchronous thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, (5) therapeutic embolization, (6) history of thrombotic events, (7) history of thrombocytopenia. The primary end point was bleeding and the secondary end point was recurrent thrombosis. Results: 53 patients were identified; male: female = 1.2 : 1.0, median age 58 (range 19 – 84), hematologic malignancies (including myelodysplasia): solid tumors = 1.8 : 1.0, median stage of cancer = 4.0, median baseline RIETE bleeding risk score = 2.5 (range 1.0 – 5.0), median platelet count at the start of anticoagulation = 33,000/cmm (range 18,000 – 49,000/cmm), median duration of anticoagulation = 83 days (range 4 – 740 days), DVT only = 35 cases, PE only = 13 cases, DVT + PE = 5 cases, unilateral DVT: bilateral DVT = 7 : 1, upper extremity DVT: lower extremity DVT = 1.3 : 1.0. 44 patients were treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), 5 patients were treated with fondaparinux and 4 patients were treated with unfractionated heparin (UFH). 23 patients received anticoagulation for less than 3 months, including 11 patients who received it for Conclusion: We conclude that anticoagulation during periods of thrombocytopenia Disclosures: Kroll: Aplagon: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Optimer: Consultancy; Leo: Honoraria, Travel Expenses, Travel Expenses Other.
“The Death-Dealing Smog Over Donora, Pennsylvania”: Industrial Air Pollution, Public Health Policy, and the Politics of Expertise, 1948–1949

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Incremental Graph-based Neural Dependency Parsing

Very recently, some studies on neural dependency parsers have shown advantage over the traditional ones on a wide variety of languages. However, for graph-based neural dependency parsing systems, they either count on the long-term memory and attention mechanism to implicitly capture the high-order features or give up the global exhaustive inference algorithms in order to harness the features over a rich history of parsing decisions. The former might miss out the important features for specific headword predictions without the help of the explicit structural information, and the latter may suffer from the error propagation as false early structural constraints are used to create features when making future predictions. We explore the feasibility of explicitly taking high-order features into account while remaining the main advantage of global inference and learning for graph-based parsing. The proposed parser first forms an initial parse tree by head-modifier predictions based on the first-order factorization. High-order features (such as grandparent, sibling, and uncle) then can be defined over the initial tree, and used to refine the parse tree in an iterative fashion. Experimental results showed that our model (called INDP) archived competitive performance to existing benchmark parsers on both English and Chinese datasets.
HIV and Age Do Not Synergistically Affect Age-Related T-Cell Markers.

Author(s): Farhadian, Shelli; Jalbert, Emilie; Deng, Yanhong; Goetz, Matthew B; Park, Lesley S; Justice, Amy C; Dubrow, Robert; Emu, Brinda | Abstract: IntroductionDespite major progress in controlling HIV disease through antiretroviral therapy, changes in immune phenotype and function persist in individuals with chronic HIV, raising questions about accelerated aging of the immune system.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study (2005-2007) of HIV-infected (n = 111) and uninfected (n = 114) men from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study. All HIV-infected subjects were on antiretroviral therapy with VL l400 copies/mL for at least 3 years. T-cell markers were examined using flow cytometry. We evaluated the impact of HIV serostatus and age on T-cell phenotypes (expressed as percentages of the total CD4 and CD8 T-cell population) using multivariate linear regression, adjusted for smoking, alcohol, and race/ethnicity. We tested for interactions between HIV and age by including interaction terms.ResultsAmong both HIV-infected and uninfected subjects, increasing age was associated with a decreased proportion of naive CD4 T cells (P = 0.014) and CD8 T cells (P l 0.0001). Both HIV infection and increasing age were associated with higher proportions of effector memory CD4 T cells (P l 0.0001 for HIV; P = 0.04 for age) and CD8 T cells (P = 0.0001 for HIV; P = 0.0004 for age). HIV infection, but not age, was associated with a higher proportion of activated CD8 T cells (P l 0.0001). For all T-cell subsets tested, there were no significant interactions between HIV infection and age.ConclusionsAge and HIV status independently altered the immune system, but we found no conclusive evidence that HIV infection and advancing age synergistically result in accelerated changes in age-associated T-cell markers among virally suppressed individuals.
PLASMA AND TUMOR CATECHOLAMINES AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN 38 PATIENTS WITH PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA

No correlation between blood pressure and plasma catecholamine (CA) levels occurred between patients, but correlation was sometimes good in individual patients. Plasma CA was elevated in all patients with hypertension but unelevated in 37% with normotension. No good correlation occurred between tumor size, CA content or blood pressure. In 60% of tumors causing paroxysmal hypertension epinephrine (E) was greater than norepinephrine (NE); in 69% of tumors causing sustained hypertension NE was greater than E. Mean CA concentration in tumors causing paroxysmal hypertension (3.92mg/g) was greater than (p<0.0l) in tumors causing sustained hypertension (l.73mg/g). Plasma E to NE ratio did not always reflect their tumor ratio. Some tumors secreted only one of their two CA.
An Empowerment Framework for Latinx Students in Developmental Education

While developmental education in community colleges has the potential to prepare students for college-level work, its effectiveness and need is often questioned. Further, while Latinx students are overrepresented in developmental courses, there is a dearth of literature on their experiences in such courses and how to effectively serve their needs in developmental contexts. This article provides an overview of the literature related to Latinx students in developmental writing to point out areas that have been understudied and then introduces an Empowerment Framework for Latinx students, a model which combines a deeper understanding of language, power, and preparing Latinx students for college-level writing.
Classification of pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders related to abdominal pain using Rome III vs. Rome IV criterions.

The primary purpose of this study was to compare Rome III and IV evaluation criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia (FD), and an overlap syndrome consisting of both IBS and FD by assessing the frequency of each diagnosis in a population of children with chronic abdominal pain. Frequencies of Rome IV FD subtypes of postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) and epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) were determined and FD/IBS overlap symptom associations were also assessed. We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective chart review of 106 pediatric patients who had completed standardized medical histories as part of their evaluation for chronic abdominal pain. The patients ranged from eight to 17 years of age and reported having abdominal pain at least weekly for 8 weeks. Patients whose evaluation revealed gastrointestinal disease were excluded. The patients’ diagnoses were determined by a single pediatric gastroenterologist utilizing the specific criteria for Rome III and IV, respectively. Patients were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with FD (84.9% vs. 52.8%), IBS (69.8% vs. 34%), and FD/IBS overlap (58.5% vs. 17.9%) by Rome IV criteria, as compared to Rome III criteria. With regard to Rome IV FD subtypes, 81.1% fulfilled criteria for PDS, 11.1% fulfilled criteria for EPS, 6.7% fulfilled criteria for both, and 1.1% did not fulfill criteria for either. Finally, we found an increased frequency of diarrhea and pain with eating in the overlap group compared to the non-overlap group of Rome III, while only an increased frequency of diarrhea was found in the overlap group compared to the non-overlap group of Rome IV. Our data demonstrate that utilizing Rome IV criteria, as compared to Rome III, results in an increase in the diagnosis of FD, a two-fold increase in the diagnosis of IBS, and a three-fold increase in the diagnosis of FD/IBS overlap. Rome IV criteria appears to result in greater heterogeneity within diagnostic categories. It is important to determine whether Rome IV diagnoses are predictive of treatment response, and if so, whether assessing symptom variability within a diagnosis will enhance the ability to select patients for a particular treatment.
The rise and fall of the Great Barrier Reef

Webster and colleagues present a comprehensive study of the history of the Great Barrier Reef from analyses of fossil reef cores. They find that the reef tracks the changing sea level over the past 30,000 years, with several reef death events triggered by rapid seal-level change.
Sequence—Structure Analysis

Psychological processes that underlie individual subjects’ acting and thinking can be studied in different ways. Outcomes (products) of these processes have usually served as bases for generalizations about these processes. These outcomes—be these responses to test questions or recorded behavior in experiments or observations—constitute static representations of the processes that have generated them. Therefore; a conceptual difficulty in much of psychology has been the contradiction between the dynamic character of psychological processes and the static nature of empirical data used in the analysis of these processes. From time to time, calls for inquiring into these processes directly, rather than through their products, have been made (Bertalanffy, 1952; London, 1949; Vygotsky, 1962, 1978; Werner, 1957). Nevertheless, the majority of psychologists have remained faithful to the tradition of studying static products of their subjects’ actions and of making inferences to the dynamic processes that may have generated these outcomes.
How to Answer Cosmic Queries

When you create a blog (www.astroquizzical.com) whose sole raison d'etre is answering questions from the general public about space, you anticipate that there will be some unusual questions coming your way.
Membrane outer leaflet is the primary regulator of membrane damage induced by silica nanoparticles in vesicles and erythrocytes

Plasma membrane damage is one of the primary mechanisms through which engineered nanoparticles induce cell toxicity. Over the past decade, a number of mechanistic studies have used membrane models to examine how nanoparticles alter membrane structure and integrity. However, the role of membrane lipid asymmetry, considering that the plasma membrane has a different lipid composition in the exofacial leaflet compared to the cytofacial leaflet, in regulating nanoparticle–membrane interactions has remained obscure. In the current study, the role of individual membrane leaflets in regulating the interactions of membrane models and erythrocytes with engineered silica nanoparticles (50 and 100 nm) was examined. It was found that silica nanoparticles bind to and disrupt synthetic vesicles mimicking the exofacial leaflet but not those mimicking the cytofacial leaflet of the erythrocyte plasma membrane. Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies revealed that nanoparticles disrupted vesicle integrity by inducing pore formation in vesicles. Imaging giant unilamellar vesicles and further FRET experiments revealed that nanoparticles that disrupt membrane integrity show significant localization at the vesicle surface. Nanoparticles that disrupted vesicles mimicking the exofacial leaflet also induced hemolysis in erythrocytes, suggesting that the exofacial leaflet is the primary regulator of nanoparticle-induced membrane damage. This was confirmed by demonstrating that nanoparticles caused a similar disruptive behavior in symmetric and asymmetric vesicles, which had similar outer leaflet, but different inner leaflet lipid compositions. Together, these studies reveal that membrane lipid asymmetry plays a minor role in nanoparticle-induced membrane disruption with the exofacial leaflet being the primary regulator of interactions.
Die Übersetzung der Vulgata und der Septuaginta ins Deutsche –Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede

Mit dem Ziel die Ausgabe der Vulgata Tusculum Deutsch einer kritischen Wurdigung zu unterziehen werden die beiden Projekte Vulgata Deutsch und Septuaginta Deutsch einem Vergleich unterzogen. Uber die Herausarbeitung von Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden werden die Themenbereiche Ubersetzungsprozess, die gewahlten Ubersetzungsmodelle und der Umgang mit kanonischen Texten, auch an den Randern der Schriften, differenziert betrachtet.
A Critical Review of Georgian Oil and Gas Tax Legislation

This paper provides a high level review of Georgian tax law at the beginning of the 2000s in a sector that was (and still remains) key to the Georgian economy. It points out the significance of the project specific exemptions that were granted by the Georgian government to several transcaspian pipeline projects (Baku-Supsa and BTC), which were later replicated for the SCP South Caucasus natural gas pipeline system. It comments on the difficulties of developing a suitably stable and attractive regime for upstream activities. The paper also points out that like other post-Soviet countries (and unlike Russia), upon independence, Georgia chose not to accede to the USSR double-tax treaties, one exception being the treaty with Germany.
Using Evidence Informed Strategies to Adapt Tier 2 Interventions

Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports (PBIS) is a preventative and responsive three-tiered framework comprised of a continuum of evidence-based practices and interventions. Adaptation, or tailo...
Deep learning based computational microscopy in scattering media (Conference Presentation)

I will discuss our efforts in developing computational microscopy techniques that can provide improved robustness and scalability to multiple scattering problems. First, I will discuss a new model for quantifying the effects of anisotropic scattering on image quality degradation. In particular, I will illustrate how to quantitatively relate the macroscopic scattering properties to the microscopic parameters used in the model. Next, I will discuss a deep learning approach to invert the effect of scattering. Particular emphasis will be placed on the scalability of this approach and how the model can be generalizable to different objects/media by extracting statistically invariant information.
Overlapping regions of coseismic and transient slow slip on the Hawaiian décollement

Abstract Earthquakes and slow slip are different faulting processes that release accumulated stress on different time scales. Despite nearly two decades of study, it is still unclear whether the same section of fault is capable of hosting both slow, aseismic and fast, seismic slip. Here, we jointly invert GPS, strong motion records, and empirically corrected tsunami waveforms for the 2018 M7.1 Hawai'i earthquake. Our inversion results suggest the earthquake had a slow rupture speed of 1.2 km/s with a maximum slip of ∼3 m South-East of the hypocenter extending to the South-West through an area known to regularly host slow slip events. After exploring how the choice of fault geometry and regularization parameters affect the slip distributions of the earthquake and slow slip events we find strong evidence of overlap between the two. Additionally, we perform numerical modeling to simulate fast and slow slip behavior. Due to the homogeneity of the Hawaiian decollement differences in effective stress are likely an important factor that causes the diversity of slip. We find that an earthquake can completely penetrate into the slow slip zone provided the effective stress differences between fast and slow slip zones is large enough to facilitate this. Our results reinforce the idea that an individual section of fault is capable of hosting a variety of distinct slip behaviors. This is important for estimating earthquake rupture extent and for better ground motion and tsunami hazard assessment.
Zinc deficiency limiting head growth to discharge in extremely low gestational age infants with insufficient linear growth: a cohort study

To assess the relationship of size for age with zinc deficiency in extremely low gestational age (GA) infants (23–28 weeks, ELGANs) who had insufficient linear growth despite optimizing other nutrients and to analyze changes in fronto-occipital circumference (FOC), weight and length with zinc supplementation. Retrospective cohort study. Among 302 ELGANs, a serum zinc concentration was obtained in 52 with insufficient linear growth (17%). Zinc deficiency (serum concentration 2 weeks improved FOC growth to discharge or 50 weeks postmenstrual age in infants with Zn deficiency. However, neither linear growth nor weight gain improved with Zn supplementation. Zinc deficiency was diagnosed in 14% ELGANs in this cohort. Zinc supplementation for >2 weeks improved FOC growth but not linear growth or weight gain.
PREPARE-ing South Dakota Farm and Ranch Women for Advance Care Planning

Purpose: Evaluate the impact of an advance care planning (ACP) educational session utilizing PREPARE for Your Care for South Dakota farm and ranch women and its ability to increase engagement in ACP and documentation of medical wishes in the form of an advance directive. Sample: A convenience sample of women (n = 23) represented members of the farm and ranch community in South Dakota who were participating in the Power of Women as AgVocates Conference. Inclusion criteria for this study included being 18 years old or older, female, and conference participation. Exclusion criteria included men and those under the age of 18. Method: This was a cross-sectional investigation, consisting of three phases, and included comparisons of the same sample population before and after an ACP intervention at different time intervals (baseline, 1 week after the educational session and 3 months after the educational session). Increased engagement in ACP was evaluated using a pre-test, post-test design and utilized the 15-item Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey. Demographic information including age and highest level of education completed was collected. Findings: In total, 23 women participated in education session. The median age range was 35-44 years of age. There were statistically significant increases in self-efficacy and readiness to complete ACP reported by participants. The objectives of this education session were met. Per the participants, this was an effective format for ACP. Advance directive completion rates did not increase. Conclusions: The use of PREPARE for Your Care during an education session on ACP can increase self-efficacy and readiness to engage in ACP. The format of this program is appropriate for future use in community settings with the farm and ranch population. Keywords: Advance Care Planning, farm and ranch womenDOI: http://doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v20i2.632
Endoderm and Hepatic Progenitor Cells Engraft in the Quiescent Liver Concurrent with Intrinsically Activated Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition:

Stem cell transplantation to the liver is a promising therapeutic strategy for a variety of disorders. Hepatocyte transplantation has short-term efficacy but can be problematic due to portal hypertension, inflammation, and sinusoidal thrombosis. We have previously transplanted small mouse endoderm progenitor (EP) cells to successfully reverse a murine model of hemophilia B, and labeling these cells with iron nanoparticles renders them responsive to magnetic fields, which can be used to enhance engraftment. The mechanisms mediating progenitor cell migration from the sinusoidal space to the hepatocyte compartment are unknown. Here we find human EP and hepatic progenitor (HP) cells can be produced from human embryonic stem cells with high efficiency, and they also readily uptake iron nanoparticles. This provides a simple manner through which one can readily identify transplanted cells in vivo using electron microscopy, shortly after delivery. High resolution imaging shows progenitor cell morphologies consistent with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediating invasion into the hepatic parenchyma. This occurs in as little as 3 h, which is considerably faster than observed when hepatocytes are transplanted. We confirmed activated EMT in transplanted cells in vitro, as well as in vivo 24 h after transplantation. We conclude that EMT naturally occurs concurrent with EP and HP cell engraftment, which may mediate the rate, safety, and efficacy of early cell engraftment in the undamaged quiescent liver.
Assessing Photoreceptor Status in Retinal Dystrophies: From High-Resolution Imaging to Functional Vision

Purpose To describe the value of integrating phenotype/genotype data, disease staging, and evaluation of functional vision in patient-centered management of retinal dystrophies. Methods (1) Cross-sectional structure-function and retrospective longitudinal studies to assess the correlations between standard fundus autofluorescence (FAF), optical coherence tomography, visual acuity (VA), and perimetry (visual field [VF]) examinations to evaluate photoreceptor functional loss in a cohort of patients with rod-cone dystrophy (RCD); (2) flood-illumination adaptive optics (FIAO) imaging focusing on photoreceptor misalignment and orientation of outer segments; and (3) evaluation of the impact of visual impairment in daily life activities, based on functional (visual and mobility) vision assessment in a naturalistic environment in visually impaired subjects with RCD and subjects treated with LuxturnaⓇ for RPE65-related Leber congenital amaurosis before and after therapy. Results The results of the cross-sectional transversal study showed that (1) VA and macular sensitivity were weakly correlated with the structural variables; and (2) functional impairment (VF) was correlated with reduction of anatomical markers of photoreceptor structure and increased width of autofluorescent ring. The dimensions of the ring of increased FAF evolved faster. Other criteria that differed among groups were the lengths of the ellipsoid zone, the external limiting membrane, and the foveal thickness. FIAO revealed a variety of phenotypes: paradoxical visibility of foveal cones; heterogeneous brightness of cones; dim, inner segment–like, and RPE-like mosaic. Directional illumination by varying orientation of incident light (Stiles-Crawford effect) and the amount of side illumination (gaze-dependent imaging) affected photoreceptor visibility. Mobility assessment under different lighting conditions showed correlation with VF, VA, contrast sensitivity (CS), and dark adaptation, with different predictive values depending on mobility study paradigms and illumination level. At high illumination level (235 lux), VF was a predictor for all mobility performance models. Under low illumination (1 and 2 lux), VF was the most significant predictor of mobility performance variables, while CS best explained the number of collisions and segments. In subjects treated with LuxturnaⓇ, a very favorable impact on travel speed and reduction in the number of collisions, especially at low luminance, was observable 6 months following injection, in both children and adults. Conclusions Our results suggest the benefit of development and implementation of quantitative and reproducible tools to evaluate the status of photoreceptors and the impact of both visual impairment and novel therapies in real-life conditions. NOTE: Publication of this article is sponsored by the American Ophthalmological Society.
Interplay between protein stability, binding to ACE2 and escape from neutralizing antibodies determines the natural selection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain variants

Emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has raised concerns at the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody therapeutics developed against the unmutated wild-type virus. It is thus important to understand the emergence of mutants from an evolutionary viewpoint to be able to devise effective countermeasures against new variants. We examined the effect of 12 most commonly occurring mutations in the receptor binding domain (RBD) on its expression, stability, activity, and antibody escape potential-some of the factors that may influence the natural selection of mutants. Recombinant proteins were expressed in human cells. Stability was measured using thermal denaturation melts. Activity and antibody escape potential were measured using isothermal titration calorimetry in terms of binding of RBD variants to ACE2 and to a neutralizing human antibody CC12.1, respectively. Our results show that variants differ in their expression levels, suggesting that mutations can impact the availability of proteins for virus assembly. All variants have similar or higher stability than the wild-type, implying that increased RBD stability might be another important factor in virus evolution. In terms of ACE2 binding, when compared to the wild-type, only 3 out of 7 expressed variants show stronger affinity, 2 have similar affinity, whereas the other 2 have weaker affinity, indicating that increased affinity towards ACE2 is an important but not the sole factor in the natural selection of variants. In terms of CC12.1 binding, when compared to the wild-type, 4 out of 7 variants have weaker affinity, 2 have a similar affinity, and 1 variant has a stronger affinity. Taken together, these results indicate that multiple factors contribute towards the natural selection of variants, and all of these factors have to be considered in order to understand the natural selection of SARS-CoV-2 variants. In addition, since not all variants can escape a given neutralizing antibody, antibodies to treat new variants can be chosen based on the specific mutations in that particular variant.
The neurogenic niche in Alzheimer's disease

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is the process of generation and functional incorporation of new neurons, formed by adult neural stem cells in the dentate gyrus. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is highly dependent upon the integration of dynamic external stimuli and is instrumental in the formation of new spatial memories. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is therefore uniquely sensitive to the summation of neuronal circuit and neuroimmune environments that comprise the neurogenic niche, and has powerful implications in diseases of aging and neurological disorders. This sensitivity underlies the neurogenic niche alterations commonly observed in Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. This review summarizes Alzheimer's disease associated changes in neuronal network activity, neuroinflammatory processes, and adult neural stem cell fate choice that ultimately result in neurogenic niche dysfunction and impaired adult hippocampal neurogenesis. A more comprehensive understanding of the complex changes mediating neurogenic niche disturbances in Alzheimer's disease will aid development of future therapies targeting adult neurogenesis.
Healing Through Art and Activism

Anna Renee Winget in dialogue with Alok Vaid-Menon, South Asian American performance artist, poet, and LGBTQ activist based in New York. The interview addresses performance and healing.
Option Prices as Predictors of Aggregate Stock Returns

The relative prices of S&P 500 index call and put options convey information regarding the future return of the S&P 500 index realized over the life of the options. When call options are relatively more expensive than put options, the index earns higher returns. Specifically, the natural log of the ratio of the out-of-the-money call price to the equally out-of-the-money put price at differing moneyness levels and maturities is positively related to the return of the index realized over the life of the options. This predictability is robust to controls for the cost of carry, past returns, implied volatility, and upper moments of the underlying. Furthermore, the results do not appear to be driven by the sign of the log ratio. Portfolios of the underlying formed when the log ratio of the options prices is positive (when call options are more expensive) statistically outperform portfolios similarly formed when the log ratio is negative (when put options are more expensive).
Examining Existing Counter-Terrorism Tactics and Applying Social Network Theory to Fight Cyberterrorism: An Interpersonal Communication Perspective

ABSTRACT A greater understanding of cyberterrorism and its interpersonal implications is needed. In addition, strategies need to be developed to prevent and/or prepare for cyberterrorist attacks. As such, this analysis is unique and important in that it examines social network theory and current counter-terrorism practices as a method of understanding how to crack, prevent, and prepare for cyberterrorism strikes. Moreover, present counter-terrorism tactics are examined in an attempt to apply them into the realm of counter-cyberterrorism. A discussion section is provided, which includes future directions for researchers interested in this area.
Ready for Their Close-Up

Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs Origins, Evolution, and Structure. By Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, and Zhe-Xi Luo . Columbia University Press, New York, 2004. 648 pp. $195, £126. ISBN 0-231-11918-6. Building on the wealth of fossil discoveries from the past quarter century, the authors provide a comprehensive synthesis of our current understanding of the anatomy, ecology, and evolution of Mesozoic mammals.
Landscape indicators of stream water quality in central Appalachia (USA): Land use/land cover or land surface condition?

Relationships between land use/cover (LUC) and stream water quality have been well-documented in many environments and at a range of spatial scales. From these analyses, reduced in-stream biological integrity and habitat quality are commonly associated with increasing amounts of anthropogenic LUC. However, very few studies have examined the influence of landscape condition, relative to studies using LUC, on water quality parameters. Landscape condition indices use remote sensing-based data to quantify biophysical land surface condition. The primary objective of this study was to assess the relationships between LUC class proportions and indices of land surface condition (LSC) and macroinvertebrate-based water quality metrics. These relationships were examined at three spatial scales (reach, stream network, and catchment). Strong correlations were observed between both LUC class proportions and LSC indices with macroinvertebrate-based metrics, although there was almost twice the number of significant corre...
A new command governor architecture for transient response shaping

In this paper, we develop a control framework for stabilization and command following of nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems. The proposed methodology consists of a new command governor architecture and an adaptive controller. The command governor is a dynamical system which adjusts the trajectory of a given command to follow an ideal reference system capturing a desired closed-loop dynamical system behavior in transient time. Specically, we show that the controlled nonlinear uncertain dynamical system can approach the ideal reference system by choosing the design parameter of the command governor. In addition, an adaptive element is used to asymptotically assure that the error between the controlled nonlinear uncertain dynamical system and the ideal reference system is reduced in long term. Therefore, the proposed methodology not only has closed-loop transient and steady state performance guarantees but can also shape the transient response by adjusting the trajectory of the given command with the command governor. We highlight that there exists a trade-o between the adaptive controller’s learning rate and the command governor’s design parameter. This key feature of our framework allows rapid suppression of system uncertainties without resorting to a high learning rate in the adaptive controller. Furthermore, we discuss the robustness properties of the proposed approach with respect to high-frequency dynamical system content such as measurement noise and/or unmodeled dynamics. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the ecacy of the proposed architecture.
Energetic and exergetic analysis of waste heat recovery from a microturbine using organic Rankine cycles

SUMMARY This article examines the exhaust waste heat recovery potential of a microturbine (MT) using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). Possible improvements in electric and exergy efficiencies as well as specific emissions by recovering waste heat from the MT exhaust gases are determined. Different dry organic working fluids are considered during the evaluation (R113, R123, R245fa, and R236fa). In general, it has been found that the use of an ORC to recover waste heat from MTs improves the combined electric and exergy efficiencies for all the evaluated fluids, obtaining increases of an average of 27% when the ORC was operated using R113 as the working fluid. It has also been found that higher ORC evaporator effectiveness values correspond to lower pinch point temperature differences and higher exergy efficiencies. Three different MT sizes were evaluated, and the results indicate that the energetic and exergetic performance as well as the reduction of specific emissions of a combined MT-ORC is better for small MT power outputs than for larger MTs. This article also shows how the electric efficiency can be used to ascertain under which circumstances the use of a combined MT-ORC will result in better cost, primary energy consumption, or emission reduction when compared with buying electricity directly from electric utilities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The effect of aging on cognate function and development of immune memory.

Immunological memory is one of the central features of the immune system and can be described as the ability of the immune system to respond more efficiently to a second encounter with the same pathogen. The immune system is dramatically affected by age-related changes and it is becoming apparent that immune memory exhibits significant defects as a result of aging. Although immune memory generated during youth functions well into old age, that generated later in life functions poorly. Importantly, age-related defects in the cognate helper function of CD4+ T cells can potentially influence the development of both humoral and cell-mediated immune memory. These defects ultimately result in aged individuals who exhibit reduced responses to both infections and vaccinations.
Role of TGFβ in skin inflammation and carcinogenesis

The functions of transforming growth factor beta-1(TGFbeta1) are cell-context specific. We have found that TGFbeta1 expression in human skin squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) samples has two distinct distribution patterns: (1) either predominantly in suprabasal layers or (2) throughout tumor epithelia including basal proliferative cells. To understand whether the spatial TGFbeta1 expression patterns affect its functions, we have generated several keratinocyte-specific transgenic mouse models in which TGFbeta1 overexpression can be induced either predominantly in the suprabasal epidermis or in the basal layer of the epidermis and hair follicles. Suprabasal TGFbeta1 overexpression inhibits keratinocyte proliferation, suppresses skin carcinogenesis at early stages, but promotes tumor invasion at later stages. In contrast, TGFbeta1 overexpression in the basal layer of the epidermis and hair follicles causes a severe inflammatory skin disorder and epidermal hyperproliferation. Given the importance of inflammation in cancer development, our data suggest that TGFbeta1-induced skin inflammation may override its tumor suppressive effect at early stages during skin carcinogenesis. This hypothesis is further suggested by our recent study that Smad3 knockout mice are resistant to skin chemical carcinogenesis at least in part via abrogation of endogenous TGFbeta1-induced inflammation. This review intends to summarize current insights into the role of TGFbeta1 in skin inflammation and carcinogenesis.
Isoenzymes in metabolic adaptation of a poikilotherm: Subunit relationships in lactic dehydrogenases of goldfish

Abstract Electrophoretic evidence suggests the presence of tissuespecific isoenzymes of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in the goldfish. Each series consists of five or more LDH components. During adaptation to the environment, the composition of the liver LDH series is regulated; in other tissues, the total activity is regulated, but isoenzyme patterns are unaltered. The goldfish LDH's are about the same molecular size as rat LDHs (140,000 gm per mole). However, radiation target mass indications for both goldfish and rat LDH's are about one fourth this value. Hence, the LDH's within any given tissue of the goldfish are assumed to be the tetramers predicted by the random aggregation of two types of subunits in all combinations of four. In accordance with tissue-specificity by electrophoretic criterion, two kinetic differences are noted between epaxial muscle LDH's and liver LDH's. First, liver LDH's (but not muscle LDH's) show reaction rates essentially independent of pyruvate concentration over a wide range of pyruvate level. Second, at pH values higher than 8, epaxial muscle LDH's (but not liver LDH's) show a sigmoidal dependence on pyruvate concentration. Since radiation target mass approximates subunit mass, the effect may involve independently active subunits within complexes, but with substrate-induced interactions between subunits affecting affinity for substrate. The action of oxamate, an inhibitor competitive with pyruvate, is consistent with this interpretation.
Controlled release of tetracycline—III: A physiological pharmacokinetic model of the pregnant rat

A controlled tetracycline delivery device, consisting of a membrane enclosed trilaminate disc fabricated from a series of 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate/methylmethacrylate copolymers, demonstrated the ability to deliver tetracycline at zero-order rates in vitro and in vivo in rats and was applied to study the pharmacokinetics of tetracycline in the pregnant rat. The trilaminate discs containing tetracycline were implanted in pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats on the eighth day of gestation. The animals were sacrificed on days 19, 20, and 21 of gestation in order to measure the distribution of the controlled release tetracycline in the maternal, fetal, and placental tissues. Constant plasma tetracycline levels were attained in both the maternal and fetal circulations after 4 to 5 days postimplantation of the trilaminate discs. Placental transfer of tetracycline appeared rapid and no partitioning of the drug was observed between the maternal and fetal plasma. Tetracycline levels did not differ significantly in the maternal and fetal soft tissues (liver, kidney, G. I. tract, muscle, placenta) as measured over the last 3 to 4 days of the animal's gestational period. Highest tetracycline concentrations were determined in the fetal bone samples. In addition, some accumulation of the drug occurred in the amniotic fluid. A flow-limited pharmacokinetic model was constructed to simulate the distribution of tetracycline, delivered at a constant rate from the trilaminate device, in the pregnant rats. Predictions of fetal growth and maternal and fetal tissue tetracycline concentrations were in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The ability of these copolymer systems to deliver tetracycline at zero-order rates over extended periods offers numerous potential therapeutic and investigational applications, especially where such drug delivery characteristics are beneficial to the elucidation of physiological rate mechanisms, as in the pregnant animal.
Depression of delayed-type hypersensitivity by Corynebacterium parvum: mandatory role of the spleen.

Abstract Mice pretreated with iv Corynebacterium parvum showed markedly reduced DTH reactivity to subsequently injected SRBC without concomitantly increased antibody levels. No DTH depression occurred if C. parvum was given at the same time, or after, antigen. Neither antigen sensitization at the draining lymph node level nor the subsequent loss of sensitized cells from the node was impaired by iv C. parvum pretreatment. Splenectomy before C. parvum completely abolished its depressive effect, and lymph nodes, even when directly stimulated by local injection of C. parvum , were unable to substitute for the spleen in DTH depression. Increased uptake of sensitized cells by the C. parvum stimulated spleen has been demonstrated, and the discrepancy between the spleen and lymph node performance is discussed in terms of the depression of T-cell activity by C. parvum -activated macrophages described previously.
Inhibition of capping of antigen-antibody complexes on the surface of normal mouse B-lymphocytes by hyperthermia

Abstract 1. 1.|Mouse spleen B-lymphocytes were tested for the ability to cap plasma membrane antigen-antibody complexes during of following in vitro hyperthermia. After a 30-min heat pretreatment at six different temperatures (37–42°C) the percentage of capping gradually dropped from more than 90% at 37°C to less than 10% at 42°C. 2. 2.|While less than 2h were required for cells to recover the ability to cap surface Ig, no such recovery was observed for cells treated at 43°C.