cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Small perturbation evolution in compressible Poiseuille flow: pressure-velocity interactions and obliqueness effects

Small perturbation evolution in compressible Poiseuille flow is contrasted against the incompressible case using direct simulations and non-modal linear analysis. The onset of compressibility effects leads to a profound change in the behaviour of pressure and its interaction with the velocity field. Linear analysis shows that the most significant compressibility outcome is the harmonic coupling between pressure and wall-normal velocity perturbations. Oscillations in normal perturbations can lead to periods of negative production causing suppression of perturbation growth. The extent of the influence of compressibility can be characterized in terms of an effective gradient Mach number ( ). Analysis shows that diminishes as the angle of the perturbation increases with respect to the shear plane. Direct numerical simulations show that streamwise perturbations, which would lead to Tollmien–Schlichting instability in the incompressible case, are completely suppressed in the compressible case and experience the highest . At the other extreme, computations reveal that spanwise perturbations, which experience negligible , are entirely unaltered from the incompressible case. Perturbation behaviour at intermediate obliqueness angles is established. Moreover, the underlying pressure–velocity interactions are explicated.
Co3O4–x-Carbon@Fe2–yCoyO3 Heterostructural Hollow Polyhedrons for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Hollow heterostructured nanomaterials have received tremendous interest in new-generation electrocatalyst applications. However, the design and fabrication of such materials remain a significant challenge. In this work, we present Co3O4–x-carbon@Fe2–yCoyO3 heterostructural hollow polyhedrons that have been fabricated by facile thermal treatment followed by solution-phase growth for application as efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts. Starting from a single ZIF-67 hollow polyhedron, a novel complex structured composite material constructed from Co3O4–x nanocrystallite-embedded carbon matrix embedded with Fe2–yCoyO3 nanowires was successfully prepared. The Co3O4–x nanocrystallite with oxygen vacancies provides both heterogeneous nucleation sites and growth platform for Fe2–yCoyO3 nanowires. The resultant heterostructure combines the advantages of Fe2–yCoyO3 nanowires with the large surface area and surface defects of Co3O4–x nanocrystallite, resulting in improved electrocatalytic activ...
Multimode Simulations of a Short-Rayleigh Length FEL

Abstract A high-power free electron laser (FEL) is being designed in collaboration with Jefferson Laboratory, University of Maryland and Advanced Energy Systems. The proposed system consists of a superconducting accelerator with energy recovery, a relatively short undulator, and a short-Rayleigh length resonator with cryogenic mirrors. Multi-mode simulations are used to study the effects of varying the electron bunch charge, beam radius, number of undulator periods, Rayleigh length, and cavity losses. New design parameters are proposed to reduce the system size and enhance the output power while minimizing the potential for mirror damage. PACS codes: 41.60 Cr
Long-Term CO 2 Storage: Using Petroleum Industry Experience

This chapter examines Permian Basin reservoirs where CO 2 is being injected for enhanced oil recovery, or where CO 2 injection is seriously considered. The focus is the assessment of successes and problems in these projects. There is significant experience and knowledge in the oil and gas industry to separate, compress, transport, inject, and process the quantities of CO 2 that are envisioned for CO 2 storage. Improvements occur as incentives, time and fluid volumes increase. High-pressure CO 2 mobilizes oil, dissolves into brine, and promotes dissolution of carbonates. Brine can become supersaturated with dissolved solids; when pressure drops as it advances through the reservoir precipitants can form. As the volume of injected CO 2 increases, significant technological improvements are expected. Monitoring and verification of CO 2 flow in geological formations is in the infancy of its development.
Sub-sampled optical techniques for wideband spectral monitoring

Photonic sampling techniques for wideband signal detection have gained substantial interest in recent history. This talk will detail work at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in using sub-Nyquist sampled optical links to achieve signal detection and disambiguation across a > 40 GHz instantaneous bandwidth.
Quality assurance processes for standardized patient programs.

Abstract Our problem As the pharmacy profession evolves to include non-dispensing services and collaborative care, greater emphasis is placed on communication skills building through standardized patient programs. Best practices for assuring the quality of standardized patient (SP) programs, however, remains unclear. The objective of this manuscript is to summarize quality assurance processes for standardized patient programs from health professions education literature. Methodological literature review A search of PubMed and Scopus between 2011 and 2016 was conducted and 22 articles were retained for thematic analysis. Articles were screened for relevance to quality assurance. Our recommendations and their applications The thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) enhanced SP training programs, (2) structured feedback to students, (3) statistical measurements to ensure inter-rater reliability, and (4) observation and evaluation of the SP to improve SP performance. Specific methods to assure the quality of an SP program were identified, including training program content and feedback techniques. Potential impact Although SP programs varied widely in their implementation, there were several common strategies used to evaluate the consistency of performance, effectiveness of feedback to students, and reliability of grading. Additional research is necessary to establish standards for SP programs across professional healthcare disciplines.
MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA

The emergence of mobile connectivity is revolutionizing the way people live, work, interact, and socialize. Mobile social media is the heart of this social revolution. It is becoming a global phenomenon as it enables IP-connectivity for people on the move. Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have made mobile apps for their users to have instant access from anywhere at any time. This paper provides a brief introduction into mobile social media, their benefits, and challenges.
Reactive oxygen species generation is likely a driver of copper based nanomaterial toxicity

Determining the specific nanomaterial features that elicit adverse biological responses is important to inform risk assessments, develop targeted applications, and rationally design future nanomaterials. Embryonic zebrafish are often employed to study nanomaterial-biological interactions, but few studies address the role of the chorion in nanomaterial exposure and toxicity. Here, we used chorion-intact (CI) or dechorionated (DC) embryonic zebrafish to investigate the influence of the chorion on copper-based nanoparticle toxicity. We found that despite higher dissolution and uptake, CuO NPs were less toxic than Cu NPs regardless of chorion status and did not cause 100 % mortality at even the highest exposure concentration. The presence of the chorion inhibited Cu toxicity: DC exposures to Cu NPs had an LC50 of 2.5 ± 0.3 mg/L compared to a CI LC50 of 13.7 ± 0.8 mg/L. This highlights the importance of considering zebrafish chorion status during nanotoxicological investigations, as embryo sensitivity increased by one order of magnitude or more when chorions were removed. Agglomerate size, zeta potential, and dissolved Cu did not sufficiently explain the differences in toxicity between Cu NPs and CuO NPs; however, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation did. Cu NPs generated ROS in a concentration-dependent manner, while CuO did not and generated less than Cu NPs. We believe that the differences between the toxicities of Cu NPs and CuO NPs are due in part to their ability to generate ROS which could and should be a hazard consideration for risk assessments.
Psychotherapeutic Issues in Psychiatric Treatment of Physicians with Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems

More psychiatrists are now apt to see physicians with alcohol and drug-abuse problems. Such physicians are more apt to appear at earlier stages, in milder degree, and on an outpatient basis. Mobilization of organized medicine’s attention to problems of the impaired physician is already yielding results, yet has a long way to go.
Historical Perspective on the Integration of Psychoanalytic Therapy and Behavioral Therapy

Until 10 years ago, the idea of an integration between psychoanalytic and behavioral therapies was viewed by most with either disinterest or disdain, although a number of publications had appeared on this topic over a 50- year period. From the early 1970s to the present, there has been a marked acceleration of interest that is reflected in a dramatic increase in the number of books, conference papers, and articles on this theme. However, the earlier writings did not form a truly cumulative progression of thought but usually consisted of relatively isolated attempts to deal with limited aspects of this complex issue. Some of these earlier papers have now been anthologized in a book edited by Marmor and Woods (1980).
Zum Verständnis von Krisen und politischen Revolutionen

Zunachst eine Vorbemerkung zur bisherigen Diskussion des Krisenbegriffs: Es ist vielleicht nutzlich, darauf hinzuweisen, das Abstraktionen, die uns durch langere Lekture vertraut sind, selten als unhistorisch auffallen. Wahrscheinlich hat jeder in diesem Raum einmal das Kommunistische Manifest gelesen und darin den ersten Satz bemerkt, in dem es heist: Alle bisherige Geschichte sei eine Geschichte von Klassenkampfen. Und wenige von Ihnen haben an den Rand geschrieben: Wie unhistorisch! Wie kann man denn moderne Geschichte und vergangene Geschichte vergleichen! Es wird dann sofort arger: ≫Patrizier und Plebejer≪, beginnt der nachste Satz, Burger und Geselle im Mittelalter. Es wird also uber alle moglichen verschiedenen Geschichtsepochen hinweg verglichen. Spater im Text heist es dann, das die billigen Preise des englischen Kattuns die schwere Artillerie waren, welche, so sagt Marx die Chinesische Mauer in Grund und Boden schiest. (Inzwischen ist Henry Kissinger auf der Chinesischen Mauer fotografiert worden.) Sie sehen, das sich niemand daran stost, Begriffe wie Klasse oder Klassenkampf uber Kontinente und Jahrtausende hinweg anzuwenden. Das ist aber keineswegs nur eine Besonderheit der verschiedenen Spielarten der marxistischen Anschauung.
Nematode Management in Cotton

The five most important cotton-producing countries are China, United States, India, Pakistan, and Brazil. There are many other important cotton producing regions in Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas. Cotton is grown entirely in tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperature climates, and the major nematodes of cotton are well adapted to warm environments. Globally, the most damaging nematodes of cotton are Meloidogyne incognita races 3 and 4 and Rotylenchulus reniformis. These nematodes are of concern in the United States, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Brazil. Additional nematodes of major importance in relatively restricted areas include Hoplolaimus columbus and Belonolaimus longicaudatus in the southeastern United States and Pratylenchus brachyurus in Brazil.Meloidogyne incognitafrequently is involved in a cotton disease complex with Fusarium wilt that has far more impact on the crop than the nematode or the fungus alone. Until very recently, the primary strategies used for nematode management in cotton have been the application of fumigants and cholinesterase inhibitors, rotation with Zea mays, Arachis hypogaea or Glycine max and incorporation of soil amendments. The primary concern over P. brachyurus in Brazil is its potential to damage Z. mays or G. max grown in rotation with cotton. Promising seed treatments containing avermectin or harpin proteins have recently become available. Several cultivars resistant to Melodogyne incognita races 3 and 4 have been released. Currently there is intense research toward the introgression of resistance to R. reniformis into upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum from other Gossypium species. During the last two years DNA markers for major genes for resistance to Meloidogyne incognita and Rotylenchulus reniformis have been discovered in upland cotton and offer great potential in the development of resistant cultivars suitable for the wide range of growing conditions where cotton is produced.
Hodul'eh-a, A Place of Learning: The Exploration Place, Lheidli T’enneh, and the Rethinking of a Local Museum

Hodul'eh-a, A Place of Learning: The Exploration Place, Lheidli T’enneh, and the Rethinking of a Local Museum
Phasing Serial Crystallography Data

The development of serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at X-ray free electron lasers (X-ray FELs) allows for the use of tiny protein crystals down to just a few unit cells along an edge, measured at physiological temperatures, and with a time resolution far better than can be achieved with synchrotrons or electron microscopes. The unique properties of the X-ray FEL source has furthermore resulted in the appearance of entirely new ideas for solving the crystallographic phase problem. At the same time, in combination with work on phasing single-particle data (with one bioparticle per shot), SFX has stimulated research into new phasing methods for serial crystallography (SC) at synchrotrons, and protein crystallography in general. In the sense that these new phasing methods depend on the application of constraints, they might be considered developments of traditional “direct methods” such as density modification approaches.
LOWER DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AFTER TRANSCATHETER OR SURGICAL AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT IS COMMON AND ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORTALITY

Lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been associated with increased mortality, but the role of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) has not been carefully examined. Among patients enrolled in the Medtronic intermediate, high, and extreme risk TAVR
Influence of pretreatments on oil absorption of plantain and cassava chips

The objective was to evaluate the effect of pretreatments of CaCl2 and osmotic dehydration (OD) on oil absorption in plantain and cassava chips. Plantain and cassava slices (1 mm thickness and 35 mm diameter) were prepared. Pretreatment with and without 5% CaCl2 solution before applying OD with sucrose solutions at 30 and 45%, and NaCl at 3 and 6% in a product/solution ratio of 1:25, at 40 °C were employed. OD kinetics and diffusivity were estimated by Page’s model and Fick’s law, respectively. Best OD treatments for plantain chips were 45% sucrose with CaCl2 and 6% NaCl without CaCl2. However, for cassava chips, the best OD treatments were 45% sucrose without CaCl2 and 3% NaCl with CaCl2. Page’s model predicted the OD experimental results with an R2 = 0.94–0.97. Effective diffusivity of water (EDW) and effective diffusivity of solids (EDS) for osmo-dehydrated cassava samples, with and without CaCl2, decreased as the concentration of the osmotic solutions was increased. However, in general, the inverse effect was obtained for plantain samples for EDW and EDS. Use of CaCl2 when applying OD reduced EDW and EDS in plantain and cassava chips. In general, it was observed that when increasing the concentration of the osmotic solution, oil absorption capacity decreased. Treatments that showed the lowest oil absorption were 45% sucrose OD in plantain chips pretreated with CaCl2 (11.49%) and fresh cassava chips with 45% sucrose OD (10.72%). The results and effectiveness will depend on food, process conditions and type of osmotic agent.
Mass in a fatty liver

A 39-year-old man was referred to our clinic for liver diseases for a liver mass incidentally found on CT done to rule out kidney stones (figure 1A). In our clinic, he was asymptomatic with regular bowel habits. He denied episodes of jaundice, did not have skin tattoos, never smoked or used illicit drugs and rarely consumed alcohol. His lifestyle was sedentary, and his diet consisted predominantly of fast food. His medical history included arterial hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. Several years prior, he had undergone a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. His obese abdomen (body mass index 36 kg/m2) was non-tender to palpation. On laboratory analysis, white blood cell count, haemoglobin, platelet count, bilirubin, liver transaminases and international normalised ratio (INR) were within …
Second order Jahn–Teller interactions at unusually high molecular orbital energy separations

Second order Jahn-Teller (SOJT) effects arise from interactions between filled and empty molecular orbitals of like symmetry. These interactions often lead to structural distortions whose extent is inversely proportional to the energy difference between the interacting orbitals. The main objectives of the work described here are (1) the calculation (using density functional theory methods) of the energies of the valence molecular orbitals in the species EH3 (E = N, P, As or Sb), HEEH (E = C, Si, Ge or Sn), and H2EEH2, (E = C, Si, Ge or Sn) and (2) the correlation of these energies with barriers for planarization or linearization. The calculations suggest an upper limit of about 12 eV energy separation of the interacting levels for SOJT effects to be significant, which is considerably larger than previously thought and implies that SOJT effects may be more common than currently realized.
Permissivism, Margin-for-Error, and Dominance

Ginger Schultheis offers a novel and interesting argument against epistemic permissivism. While we think that her argument is ultimately uncompelling, we think its faults are instructive. We explore the relationship between epistemic permissivism, Margin-for-Error principles, and an epistemological version of Dominance reasoning.
Shock initiation of the HMX-based explosive PBX 9012: Experiments, uncertainty analysis, and unreacted equation-of-state

Shock initiation experiments have been carried out on the polymer-bonded explosive PBX 9012 [nominally 90% octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazine (HMX), 10% vinylidene–hexafluoropropylene copolymer (Viton A) by weight] in order to provide calibration data for the explosive’s unreacted equation-of-state (EOS) and shock-to-detonation transition for reactive burn rate calibration. The input pressures covered the range of 1.86–4.43 GPa. This provided run-to-detonation depths ranging from > 22.3 mm for the lowest pressure shot to 4.91 mm at the highest pressure. The relative shock sensitivity of PBX 9012 is compared to other HMX-explosives in terms of the Pop-plot, showing that the studied explosive is more sensitive than other similar HMX-based counterparts (with notable exceptions). The uncertainty in the shock velocity determinations from the shock tracker measurements are also investigated, yielding new uncertainty measures in the generated Hugoniot data and run-to-detonation coordinates. Finally, the unreacted equation-of-state is determined using a linear U s– u p Mie–Gruneisen relation and the Davis reactants EOS analytical form, the latter being more suited for reactive burn modeling.
Fun With Your New Head

We’ve gone about as far as we want to go, but the reader may enjoy exploring further. In this final chapter we collect various problems that might be worth exploring.
Artificial neural networks for disease trajectory prediction in the context of sepsis

The disease trajectory for clinical sepsis, in terms of temporal cytokine and phenotypic dynamics, can be interpreted as a random dynamical system. The ability to make accurate predictions about patient state from clinical measurements has eluded the biomedical community, primarily due to the paucity of relevant and high-resolution data. We have utilized two distinct neural network architectures, Long Short-Term Memory and Multi-Layer Perceptron, to take a time sequence of five measurements of eleven simulated serum cytokine concentrations as input and to return both the future cytokine trajectories as well as an aggregate metric representing the patient's state of health. The neural networks converged within 50 epochs for cytokine trajectory predictions and health-metric regressions, with the expected amount of error (due to stochasticity in the simulation). The mapping from a specific cytokine profile to a state-of-health is not unique, and increased levels of inflammation result in less accurate predictions. Due to the propagation of machine learning error combined with computational model stochasticity over time, the network should be re-grounded in reality daily as predictions can diverge from the true model trajectory as the system evolves towards a probabilistic basin of attraction. This work serves as a proof-of-concept for the use of artificial neural networks to predict disease progression in sepsis. This work is not intended to replace a trained clinician, rather the goal is to augment intuition with quantifiable statistical information to help them make the best decisions. We note that this relies on a valid computational model of the system in question as there does not exist sufficient data to inform a machine-learning trained, artificially intelligent, controller.
A Mobile Health Intervention for Adolescents Exposed to Secondhand Smoke: Pilot Feasibility and Efficacy Study.

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in children and adolescents has adverse health effects. For adolescents of lower socioeconomic status (SES), exposure is widespread, evidenced in the measurement of urinary cotinine, a major metabolite of nicotine. Direct intervention with exposed children has been proposed as a novel method, yet there is minimal evidence of its efficacy. Combining this approach with a mobile health (mHealth) intervention may be more time and cost-effective and feasible for adolescent populations. Objective: In this pilot study, we assessed the feasibility and preliminary evidence of efficacy of a 30-day text message–based mHealth intervention targeted at reducing SHS exposure in adolescent populations of low SES. Methods: For the study, 14 nonsmoking and nonvaping participants between the ages of 12-21 years exposed to SHS were enrolled. The intervention consisted of a daily text message sent to the participants over the course of a month. Text message types included facts and information about SHS, behavioral methods for SHS avoidance, or true-or-false questions. Participants were asked to respond to each message within 24 hours as confirmation of receipt. Feasibility outcomes included completion of the 30-day intervention, receiving and responding to text messages, and feedback on the messages. Efficacy outcomes included a reduction in urinary cotinine, accuracy of true-or-false responses, and participants’ perceptions of effectiveness. Results: Of the 14 participants that were enrolled, 13 completed the intervention. Though not required, all participants had their own cell phones with unlimited text messaging plans. Of the total number of text messages sent to the 13 completers, 91% (372/407) of them received on-time responses. Participant feedback was generally positive, with most requesting more informational and true-or-false questions. In terms of efficacy, 54% (6/11) of participants reduced their cotinine levels (however, change for the group overall was not statistically significant (P=.33) and 45% (5/11) of participants increased their cotinine levels. Of the total number of true-or-false questions sent across all completers, 77% (56/73) were answered correctly. Participants’ ratings of message effectiveness averaged 85 on a scale of 100. Conclusions: In this pilot study, the intervention was feasible as the majority of participants had access to a cell phone, completed the study, and engaged by responding to the messages. The efficacy of the study requires further replication, as only half of the participants reduced their cotinine levels. However, participants answered the majority of true-or-false questions accurately and reported that the messages were helpful.
3D Printing of Open-Source Respirators (Including N95 Respirators), Surgical Masks, and Community Mask Designs to Address COVID-19 Shortages

There are three general categories of facial coverings in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: respirators such as N95 respirators, surgical masks, and community masks. This chapter describes the similarities and differences between each, and the experience from the University of Cincinnati in 3D printing several open-source designs for protection during the peak of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Operational Safety Via Control Lyapunov-Barrier Function-Based MPC

As discussed in the previous chapter, maintaining a safe and stable operation is the highest priority of the control systems in many safety-critical processes in chemical industries. Based on the MPC/EMPC schemes that optimize process/system performance (e.g., process economics and energy consumption) while maintaining the closed-loop state trajectory in a well-defined state-space region, Safeness-Index-based MPC/EMPC schemes were proposed in the previous chapter to achieve both a safe and stable operation by forcing the closed-loop state to remain in a safe operating region. However, as the Safeness Index function is used as a hard constraint in MPC, a shortcoming of Safeness Index-based MPC/EMPC is that recursive feasibility of MPC solutions may not be guaranteed as the process state may exit the Safeness Index defined set, which could lead to an unsafe operation when a feasible solution does not exist.
Counting COVID: Quantitative Geographical Approaches to COVID-19

We discuss the use of quantitative data and methods to understand where and how COVID-19 spreads, to estimate and predict its impacts on population health and wellbeing, and to plan effective public health responses. Geographic approaches often involve developing multi-scalar and dynamic models that incorporate geographic processes and variability, harnessing big and real-time data on people’s mobilities and interactions, and paying attention to how gender, ethnicity, and other dimensions of people’s identities intersect with larger structures in impacting the uneven geographies of COVID-19 risk. Our chapter addresses each of these topics while highlighting the need for critical and place-based approaches that are sensitive to local and regional variability in COVID-19 processes and impacts.
Real-world data from a Molecular Tumor Board: improved outcomes in gynecologic and breast cancer patients with precision medicine

Objectives: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is being increasingly utilized in gynecologic and breast cancers. Multidisciplinary Molecular Tumor Board (MTB) may guide an N-of-One approach in order to maximize matched treatment; however, outcome data are limited. We evaluate the effect of the degree of matching patients to treatment and concordance with MTB recommendations on oncologic outcomes, including overall response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR) (stable disease ≥6 months/partial or complete remission), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Methods: 164 consecutive gynecologic and breast cancer patients presented at MTB from December 2012-September 2018 were assessed for clinicopathologic data, NGS results, MTB recommendations, therapy received, and oncologic outcomes. Matching score (MS), defined as percentage of alterations targeted by treatment out of total number of pathogenic alterations, and concordance with MTB recommendations were analyzed in context of oncologic outcomes. Disease site, age, and number of prior lines of therapy were considered as covariates in univariate analysis and included in multivariate analysis if p Results: 113 women were evaluable for treatment after MTB; 54% received matched therapy. Patients with MS > 40% had higher ORR (30.8% vs. 7.1%; p=0.001) and CBR (73.1% vs. 31.2%; p Download : Download high-res image (138KB) Download : Download full-size image Conclusions: Concordance with MTB recommendations resulted in higher degrees of matched therapy and was associated with improved oncologic outcomes in gynecologic and breast cancer patients.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors in GBM

The purpose of this review is to summarize recent updates regarding immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in GBM patients including updates in brain immunology, clinical trials, mechanisms of resistance, and biomarkers of response. PubMed was searched to identify recent relevant articles on immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy as it pertains to GBM. Clinicaltrials.gov was also searched to identify relevant clinical trials. The reported randomized phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors (alone or in combination with standard therapy) have not demonstrated a survival benefit to date in either newly diagnosed or recurrent GBM. A small randomized surgical study of neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab suggested an increase in PFS and OS compared to adjuvant pembrolizumab only; further studies are needed to validate this finding. Despite the positive impact of immune checkpoint inhibitors in many cancers, only a small subset of GBM patients respond to these agents. Further research is needed to identify biomarkers of response and therapies to rationally combine with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Carbonic Anhydrases as Potential Targets Against Neurovascular Unit Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease and Stroke

The Neurovascular Unit (NVU) is an important multicellular structure of the central nervous system (CNS), which participates in the regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF), delivery of oxygen and nutrients, immunological surveillance, clearance, barrier functions, and CNS homeostasis. Stroke and Alzheimer Disease (AD) are two pathologies with extensive NVU dysfunction. The cell types of the NVU change in both structure and function following an ischemic insult and during the development of AD pathology. Stroke and AD share common risk factors such as cardiovascular disease, and also share similarities at a molecular level. In both diseases, disruption of metabolic support, mitochondrial dysfunction, increase in oxidative stress, release of inflammatory signaling molecules, and blood brain barrier disruption result in NVU dysfunction, leading to cell death and neurodegeneration. Improved therapeutic strategies for both AD and stroke are needed. Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are well-known targets for other diseases and are being recently investigated for their function in the development of cerebrovascular pathology. CAs catalyze the hydration of CO2 to produce bicarbonate and a proton. This reaction is important for pH homeostasis, overturn of cerebrospinal fluid, regulation of CBF, and other physiological functions. Humans express 15 CA isoforms with different distribution patterns. Recent studies provide evidence that CA inhibition is protective to NVU cells in vitro and in vivo, in models of stroke and AD pathology. CA inhibitors are FDA-approved for treatment of glaucoma, high-altitude sickness, and other indications. Most FDA-approved CA inhibitors are pan-CA inhibitors; however, specific CA isoforms are likely to modulate the NVU function. This review will summarize the literature regarding the use of pan-CA and specific CA inhibitors along with genetic manipulation of specific CA isoforms in stroke and AD models, to bring light into the functions of CAs in the NVU. Although pan-CA inhibitors are protective and safe, we hypothesize that targeting specific CA isoforms will increase the efficacy of CA inhibition and reduce side effects. More studies to further determine specific CA isoforms functions and changes in disease states are essential to the development of novel therapies for cerebrovascular pathology, occurring in both stroke and AD.
Using Rubrics to Collect Evidence for Decision-Making: What do Librarians Need to Learn?

Objective - Every day, librarians make decisions that impact the provision of library products and services. To formulate good decisions, librarians must be equipped with reliable and valid data. Unfortunately, many library processes generate vast quantities of unwieldy information that is ill-suited for the evidence based decision-making (EBDM) practices librarians strive to employ. As a result, librarians require tools that facilitate the translation of unmanageable facts and figures into data that can be used to support decision-making. One such tool is a rubric. Rubrics provide at least four major benefits to librarians seeking to use EBDM strategies and merit further investigation. To this end, this study examined 1) librarians’ ability to use rubrics as a decision facilitation tool, 2) barriers that might prevent effective rubric usage, and 3) training topics that address potential barriers. Methods - This study investigated librarians’ use of rubrics as an EBDM tool to improve an online information literacy tutorial. The data for the study came from student responses to open-ended questions embedded in an online information literacy tutorial called LOBO used by first-year students in English 101 at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Fifteen academic librarians, five instructors, and five students applied rubrics to transform students’ textual responses into quantitative data; this data was statistically analyzed for reliability and validity using Cohen’s kappa. Participant comment sheets were also examined to reveal potential hurdles to effective rubric use. Results - Statistical analysis revealed that a subset of participants included in this study were able to achieve substantially valid results. On the other hand some librarian participants included in the study were unable to achieve an expert level of validity. Non-expert participants alluded to roadblocks that interfered with their ability to provide quality data using rubrics. Conclusions - Participant feedback can be categorized into six barriers that may explain why some participants could not attain expert status: 1) difficulty understanding an outcomes-based approach, 2) tension between analytic and holistic rubric structures, 3) failure to comprehend rubric terms, 4) disagreement with rubric assumptions, 5) difficulties with data artifacts, and 6) difficulties understanding local library context and culture. Each of these barriers can be addressed through training, and topics to maximize the usefulness of a rubric approach to EBDM are suggested.
Calderón de la Barca y las catástrofes de la historia: Amar después de la muerte

En Amar despues de la muerte, Calderon dramatiza la rebelion de los moriscos de Granada (1568-1570) contra el proceso de aculturacion de esta minoria intensificado duante la epoca de Felipe II. La cancelacion del horizonte historico para los moriscos se representa por medio de Alvaro Tuzani, quien actualiza la figura del "moro sentimental" segun aparece en Perez de Hita y en El Abencerraje. Frente a esos modelos, el Tuzani queda privado del acceso a valores publicos; su forzosa relegacion a la esfera privada se asocia aqui a una vision catastrofista de la historia, cuya violencia --encarnada por don Juan de Austria-- impide cualquier mediacion entre vencedores y vencidos.
Spatial frequency-based microbending fiber optic sensor

A new approach to fiber optic microbending sensors is demonstrated, where the spatial frequency of the bends, not the amplitude, is varied. This paper shows how to design this sensor, including the effect on sensitivity due to number of bends, bend amplitude, and deformation shape. By prebending the optical fiber into a series of bends, and then embedding it into a compliant material, we created a sensor whose spatial frequency can be changed by compressing the material. Results from our prototype exhibited the predicted transmission loss by alternating bend spacing. Due to the resonant nature of the mode-coupling effect, this modified sensor has the capability of equating to sensitivity levels found in the human finger tip. The application for the quartz industry is to use this sensor to automate those crystal processes which are currently restricted solely to manual means.
Comments on the Laryngeal Mask Insertion Technique Presented in the New Advanced Cardiac Life Support Protocol

To the Editor: The new 2000 guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care were published in August 2000.1 The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was presented as an alternative airway. We would like to comment on the illustration to insert the LMA. The picture depicts several classic mistakes made during the insertion of the LMA. These may lead to LMA malpositioning and inability to achieve an airway and ventilation.2 In the 2000 guidelines, the LMA is depicted with a semi-inflated cuff, held by the shaft with the left hand and introduced straight into the mouth. The correct LMA technique3 is based on a close imitation of the swallowing mechanism. Before attempting insertion, the LMA cuff should be completely deflated and lubricated. The LMA is held with the dominant hand. The hand holds the LMA like a pen, with the index finger placed at the junction of the cuff and the shaft, with the LMA opening oriented over the tongue. The LMA is passed behind …
Bidirectional Scheduling: A New Global Code Scheduling Approach

Instruction scheduling is an important compiler code transformation step for generating code for pipelined and VLIW processors. Dependencies among instructions need to be enforced. In this paper, we describe a global code scheduling algorithm that moves instructions upward and downward in the control flow graph. Downward code motion is first applied. The purpose of downward code motion is to move store instructions and other instructions on the tail portion of critical paths to later basic blocks. This allows for better code compaction. After downward code motion is applied, upward code motion and code compaction are applied. Upward code motion moves instructions on the beginning portion of critical paths to preceding basic blocks. This allows for better code compaction. In our algorithm, we integrate some instruction-level parallelization techniques with upward code motion to permit more code motion freedom.
What can the Social Security Notch tell us about the impact of additional income in retirement

Forresearchersinterestedintheimpactofincomeonlifeoutcomes, the‘SocialSecurityNotch’provides a rare source of variation in incomes not caused by these same life outcomes. This paper addresses the usefulness of this variation to researchers. First, it demonstrates that simulated benefit levels by cohort are very significant predictors of reported benefits and total incomes for the affected cohorts in large data sources, such as the Current Population Survey. Second, it examines whether these are large enough to disentangle the impact of changes in income from underlying cohort variability in outcomes. It shows that the cohorts with higher benefits due to law changes are also observed to have higher earned incomes in retirement. Furthermore, the difference in mortality rates between affected cohorts is similar in magnitude to the gaps between other successive cohorts. These results imply that cohort variability overshadows the effects of this potential instrument.
Nutritional Interventions in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemoradiotherapy: A Narrative Review

The present review aimed to define the role of nutritional interventions in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in HNC patients undergoing CRT as well as their impact on CRT-related toxicity and survival. Head and neck cancer patients are frequently malnourished at the time of diagnosis and prior to the beginning of treatment. In addition, chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) causes or exacerbates symptoms, such as alteration or loss of taste, mucositis, xerostomia, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, with consequent worsening of malnutrition. Nutritional counseling (NC) and oral nutritional supplements (ONS) should be used to increase dietary intake and to prevent therapy-associated weight loss and interruption of radiation therapy. If obstructing cancer and/or mucositis interfere with swallowing, enteral nutrition should be delivered by tube. However, it seems that there is not sufficient evidence to determine the optimal method of enteral feeding. Prophylactic feeding through nasogastric tube or percutaneous gastrostomy to prevent weight loss, reduce dehydration and hospitalizations, and avoid treatment breaks has become relatively common. Compared to reactive feeding (patients are supported with oral nutritional supplements and when it is impossible to maintain nutritional requirements enteral feeding via a NGT or PEG is started), prophylactic feeding does not offer advantages in terms of nutritional outcomes, interruptions of radiotherapy and survival. Overall, it seems that further adequate prospective, randomized studies are needed to define the better nutritional intervention in head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy.
Biological effects and safety issues related to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in infants.

The purpose of this workshop at the American Oil Chemists’ Society Symposium, “PUFA in Infant Nutrition: Consensus and Controversies”, was to enumerate the safety issues raised by the prospect of supplementing infant formulas with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), to evaluate the evidence that these concerns are problematical, or theoretically problematical, and to identify the safety issues most in need of resolution. This was approached by reviewing briefly the known biological effects of LC-PUFA and how these effects might give rise to concerns about safety of LC-PUFA as components of infant formulas. Some of these issues were then discussed in more detail by invited participants, all of whom had submitted abstracts concerning the issue discussed. The pertinent aspects of all issues discussed during the workshop are summarized. In addition, since the symposium was held over 2 yr ago, an addendum summarizing additional data reported since the symposium that either support or refute issues discussed during the workshop also is included.
The Stroop interference effect and spontaneous recall in true and malingered motor-vehicle accident-related PTSD

Symptom-dissimulation is not uncommon in compensation-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) evaluations. The questionable veracity of client-reported PTSD symptomology increases evaluative and diagnostic complexity. Individuals with erroneous PTSD diagnoses consume already overwhelmed government expensed and burden healthcare systems. Reliable and clinically feasible tools for discriminating PTSD feigning currently lack. This study examined the utility of a modified Stroop protocol and spontaneous recall in differentiating PTSD simulators (n = 31), individuals with motor-vehicle accident (MVA)-related PTSD (n = 6), and controls (n = 28). Analysis of Stroop performance indicated that processing speed for MVA-related words significantly differed by group; in that, interference scores were highest in the PTSD group and lowest in controls. Recall was highest in participants with PTSD, lowest in PTSD simulators, and positively related to scores on the Clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS). Results we...
The ‘Standard’: Useful but not Perfect

Financial institutions, suggests George M. von Furstenberg, Rudy Professor of Economics at Indiana University, would find the ‘Standard’ a helpful innovation in hedging against inflation in general or to specific commodities. But he, lide Tyler Cowen, prefers Professor Hayek's earlier suggestion of competing media of exchange.
Dynamic curving cracks in functionally graded materials under thermo-mechanical loading

Abstract Mixed-mode dynamic crack growth along an arbitrarily smoothly varying path in functionally graded materials (FGMs) under thermo-mechanical loading is studied. The property gradation in FGMs is considered by varying shear-modulus, mass density, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion exponentially along the gradation direction. Asymptotic analysis in conjunction with displacement potentials is used to develop the stress fields around propagating cracks in FGMs. Asymptotic temperature fields are developed first for the exponential variation of thermal conductivity and later these temperature fields are used to derive thermo-mechanical stress fields for a curving crack in FGMs. Using these thermo-mechanical stress fields, various components of the stresses are developed and the effect of curvature parameters, temperature and gradation on these stresses are discussed. Finally, using the minimum strain energy density criterion, the effect of curvature parameters, crack-tip speeds, non-homogeneity values and temperature gradients on crack growth directions are determined and discussed.
Hypoparathyroidism – disease update and emerging treatments

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is the primary regulator of blood calcium levels and bone metabolism. Insufficient levels of PTH lead to hypoparathyroidism, characterized by low serum calcium and elevated serum phosphate levels. It is most commonly caused by the inadvertent damage to the parathyroid glands during thyroid surgery. Patients with hypoparathyroidism are currently being treated with oral calcium and active vitamin D, and to avoid worsening hypercalciuria, target serum calcium levels are within the lower end of normal. With current treatment, patients may suffer from large swings in serum calcium and are at a substantial risk of chronic renal failure, nephrocalcinosis, and kidney stones. The recent FDA approval of recombinant human (rh) PTH(1-84) for the treatment of hypoparathyroidism adds PTH replacement therapy to the endocrinologist's armamentarium to treat this chronic disease.
Template-based reconstruction of complex refactorings

Knowing which types of refactoring occurred between two program versions can help programmers better understand code changes. Our survey of refactoring identification techniques found that existing techniques cannot easily identify complex refactorings, such as an replace conditional with polymorphism refactoring, which consist of a set of atomic refactorings. This paper presents REF-FINDER that identifies complex refactorings between two program versions using a template-based refactoring reconstruction approach—REF-FINDER expresses each refactoring type in terms of template logic rules and uses a logic programming engine to infer concrete refactoring instances. It currently supports sixty three refactoring types from Fowler's catalog, showing the most comprehensive coverage among existing techniques. The evaluation using code examples from Fowler's catalog and open source project histories shows that REF-FINDER identifies refactorings with an overall precision of 0.79 and recall of 0.95.
Laboratory testing for infection with the human immunodeficiency virus: established and novel approaches

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the Western blot are the primary tests for the diagnosis and confirmation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The ELISA, an inexpensive screening test for antibodies to HIV-1, is both sensitive and specific. The HIV-1 Western blot is a reliable confirmatory test following a repeatedly reactive ELISA. False-positive HIV-1 results with this sequence of tests are extremely rare but can occur, and test results that are inconsistent with clinical or other laboratory information should be questioned, repeated, or supplemented. The US Food and Drug Administration has also approved rapid and more accessible testing methods. Oral mucosal transudate and urine testing are noninvasive testing methods; rapid and home sample collection kits offer easier access to testing.