cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pupillary correlates of lapses of sustained attention

The current study examined the extent to which pupillary responses (both pretrial baseline and phasic responses) would accurately track lapses of attention as predicted by theories of locus coeruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) functioning. Participants performed a sustained attention task while pupil responses were continuously recorded. Periodically during the task, participants were presented with thought probes to determine if they were on or off task. The results suggested the pupillary responses accurately distinguished on from off-task states. Importantly, pretrial baseline pupil responses distinguished different types of lapses of attention, with inattentive and mind-wandering states being associated with small pretrial baseline pupil diameters on average and distracted states being associated with larger pretrial baseline pupil diameters on average compared to focused states. These results support the notion that pupil diameter is sensitive to different types of lapses of attention which may be associated with different LC-NE modes.
Associations of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptom dimensions with smoking deprivation effects in adult smokers.

Identifying relations of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptom dimensions to individual facets of the tobacco withdrawal syndrome could elucidate the mechanisms linking ADHD and regular smoking. This study examined the unique relations of inattention (IN) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) symptom dimensions of ADHD to a variety of tobacco withdrawal symptoms. 132 community-dwelling adult smokers recruited without regard to ADHD status completed a self-report measure of ADHD symptoms experienced over the past 6 months at a baseline visit. At two subsequent experimental sessions (one following overnight tobacco deprivation and one nondeprived; order counterbalanced), participants completed measures of tobacco withdrawal symptoms, mood, and desire to smoke. Preliminary analyses showed that higher levels of IN and HI symptoms were both associated with higher levels of negative affect and concentration difficulties during nondeprived (“baseline”) states (Ps < .01). Over and above nondeprived ratings, higher levels of HI symptoms were associated with larger deprivation-induced increases in negative affect, concentration problems, and desire to smoke, particularly for negative affect relief, during deprived states (Ps < .01). ADHD symptoms, particularly HI symptoms, are associated with more severe exacerbations in abstinence-induced withdrawal symptoms, which could be an important mechanism of ADHD-smoking comorbidity. These findings suggest the need for clinical studies examining the role of these unique and potentially more severe withdrawal profiles experienced by smokers with high-levels of ADHD symptoms in smoking reinstatement and cessation outcomes.
Three-dimensional thermo-mechanical viscoelastic model for shape memory polymers with binding factor

Shape memory polymers show high promise in the area of morphing structures. Thermally activated shape memory polymers will exhibit shape memory effect under appropriate loading and thermal configurations. In this article, the steps in which a one-dimensional thermo-mechanical viscoelastic model is expanded into three-dimensional form are fully described. For the one-dimensional constitutive model, the standard linear viscoelastic arm is in series with a thermal and storage element. The three-dimensional translation is initiated by transforming Young’s modulus into bulk and shear modulus. Also, the compliance and stiffness matrix for correlating elements are defined and applied into the model. A binding factor is defined by the authors in the one-dimensional model in order to account for the storage strain energy within the polymer. To program the three-dimensional model into finite element analysis software, it was rendered into a time discrete form. The time discrete form was used to develop a UMAT subro...
Lessons Learned? Nurses and Health Demonstration Projects in New York City, 1920–1935:

This historical case study looks at two foundation-funded health demonstration projects in New York City from 1920 to 1935. It specifically examines the disciplinary interests, the work, and the as...
Relation of folic acid and vitamin A to incidence of hydrocephalus in infant rats.

SummaryAbout 20% of the young rats weaned from dams fed a synthetic type diet deficient in folic acid developed hydrocephalus. This abnormality could be largely prevented by the addition of pteroylglutamic acid to the maternal diet. Decreasing the vitamin A content of the diet to a low level did not increase the incidence of the hydrocephalus. There was no difference in either the moisture content of the brains or in the cerebrospinal fluid pressure of rats from the stock colony and those from dams receiving a synthetic type ration.
The Influence of Cholesterol on Fast Dynamics Inside of Vesicle and Planar Phospholipid Bilayers Measured with 2D IR Spectroscopy

Phospholipid bilayers are frequently used as models for cell membranes. Here the influence of cholesterol on the structural dynamics in the interior of 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (dilauroylphosphatidylcholine, DLPC) vesicles and DLPC planar bilayers are investigated as a function of cholesterol concentration. 2D IR vibrational echo spectroscopy was performed on the antisymmetric CO stretch of the vibrational probe molecule tungsten hexacarbonyl, which is located in the interior alkyl regions of the bilayers. The 2D IR experiments measure spectral diffusion, which is caused by the structural fluctuations of the bilayers. The 2D IR measurements show that the bilayer interior alkyl region dynamics occur on time scales ranging from a few picoseconds to many tens of picoseconds. These are the time scales of the bilayers' structural dynamics, which act as the dynamic solvent bath for chemical processes of membrane biomolecules. The results suggest that at least a significant fraction of the dynamics arise from density fluctuations. Samples are studied in which the cholesterol concentration is varied from 0% to 40% in both the vesicles (72 nm diameter) and fully hydrated planar bilayers in the form of aligned multibilayers. At all cholesterol concentrations, the structural dynamics are faster in the curved vesicle bilayers than in the planar bilayers. As the cholesterol concentration is increased, at a certain concentration there is a sudden change in the dynamics, that is, the dynamics abruptly slow down. However, this change occurs at a lower concentration in the vesicles (between 10% and 15% cholesterol) than in the planar bilayers (between 25% and 30% cholesterol). The sudden change in the dynamics, in addition to other IR observables, indicates a structural transition. However, the results show that the cholesterol concentration at which the transition occurs is influenced by the curvature of the bilayers.
Therapeutic Effect of Chinese Productive Drug Pulmonary Surfactant Combined Consequent Ventilation for Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Newborn Infants

Objective To explore therapeutic effect of Chinese productive drug pulmonary surfactant(PS)-kelisu combined consequent ventilation for neonate respiratory distress syndrome(RDS).Methods A total of 52 neonates clinically diagnosed as RDS were involved in the study.Thirty cases were administrated kelisu combined consequent ventilation and 22 cases accepted mechanical ventilation were assigned as treatment group and control group,respectively.The arterial blood gases and parameters of ventilator were monitored before and after kelisu 1,24,48,72 hours in treatment group.The duration of invasive ventilation,oxygen supply,hospital stay,prognosis and complications were compared between 2 groups.Results The duration of invasive ventilation,oxygen supply and hospital stay of treatment group were shorter than those of control group(P=0,0.012,0.008).The fractional concentration of inspired oxygen(FiO2),positive end expiratory pressure,peak inspiratory pressure,respiration rate,and mean airway pressure were dropped remarkably 1 hour after kelisu administrated(P=0,0.012,0,0,0).FiO2 at 24,48,72 hours after kelisu treatment were significantly lower than before kelisu treatment(F=33.06 P=0),while pa(O2)/FiO2 were improved obviously after kelisu administration(F=27.68 P=0).There were significant difference in the incidences of ventilator associated pneumonia,pulmonary hemorrhage and bronchopulmonary dysplasia between 2 groups.Conclusions Kelisu replacement can improve oxygenation,reduce the duration of ventilation,oxygen supply and hospital stay for the neonates with RDS,it also can reduce the incidence of complications.
A Report of Two Patients with Darier Disease and Hidradenitis Suppurativa

We report two unique cases of patients with Darier disease and hidradenitis suppurativa. Although it is unknown whether there is a connection between the two diseases, it is possible that an interaction between sarcoendoplasmic reticulum calcium transport ATPase and Notch homolog 1, translocation-associated (Drosophila) caused both diseases in these individuals.
Posterior urethral stricture repair.

AbstractExperience with 54 operations for the membranous-prostatic urethral stricture is presented. There were 7 operations performed through pubectomy exposure, 6 Badenoch operations, 31 exteriorization 2-stage operations using a perineal-scrotal flap for the first stage and 10, 1-stage transperineal end-to-end anastomoses after scar tissue had been excised. The technique for the transperineal approach is presented. Presently, a 1-stage end-to-end anastomosis of the bulbomembranous urethra to the prostatic urethra through a perineal approach is preferred. Exteriorization urethroplasty using the perineal-scrotal flap is recommended when an end-to-end anastomosis is not feasible, either because of a long stricture or severe scar secondary to previous operative failures. The pubectomy approach is seldom needed but the Waterhouse pubectomy procedure is recommended as a possibility in patients who cannot be placed in the exaggerated lithotomy position.
Adaptive Digital Beamformer Autocalibration Using an Injected Noise Source

This paper presents a wideband closed-loop relative adaptive calibration method for digital beamformers in phased array applications. Using an internally distributed and injected additive white Gaussian noise source, we equalized the channels relative to a selected channel before beamforming. This relative injection method has a size, weight, and power (SWaP) advantage compared with an absolute method where a copy of the illumination waveform is used as the reference signal. Measured data from an existing 22-phase-center elemental digital beamformer array were used to evaluate the relative method against existing absolute methods. The channel response was extracted and the bit error rate was evaluated using a simulation test bench. A parametric conceptual design was also performed to evaluate the relative SWaP between the relative and absolute methods. The results show that the relative method is 17.6 times smaller, uses 1.3 times less power, and is 2.4 times lower in cost than the absolute method. The results also show that the relative calibration method can be as effective as an absolute method, given that the injected waveform has a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the ambient scene.
Losing the Neighborhood Temple (Or Finding the Temple and Losing the Neighborhood): Transformations of Temple Space in Modern Beijing

In pre-communist times, the Temple of Universal Rescue (Guangji Si) functioned as both a nationally prominent Buddhist temple and a center of local community activity. Following the rise to power of China’s communist party, however, the temple was closed as a site of popular worship. While its prominent status spared the temple from destruction during the most oppressive years of the Maoist regime, it did not reopen to the public again until the early 1990s. Since that time, the temple has become a lively civic space frequented by a growing number of lay Buddhist converts. However, it no longer functions as a center for community activity for the neighborhood surrounding it; because the number of temples in the surrounding area remains scant compared to imperial times, its worshippers come from all over the Beijing area. Over the last ten years, many of the old neighborhoods whose residents once frequented the temple have been demolished to make room for a new subway station—a project that erodes what remains of the temple’s traditional role in the surrounding neighborhood while making it more accessible to its present population of geographically dispersed worshippers. At the same time, the population of temple-goers has changed from syncretic worshippers of both local and national gods within a circuit of neighborhood temples in the pre-communist period to a more self-consciously sectarian community of lay Buddhists. While the orientation of pre-communist worshippers was located specifically in the local place, temple worshippers in the post-Mao period are attracted to the non-locative vision of Buddhism and, concomitantly, see little significance to particular temples as place-defined spaces. In this way, transformations of space at a single temple site in Beijing highlight complex changes in urban Chinese religiosity from locally based religiosity to translocal and yet exclusivist religious orders.
Liquid–Ice Mass Partition in Tropical Maritime Convective Clouds

AbstractThe liquid–ice mass partitioning in tropical maritime convective clouds is studied using data collected by the National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130 research aircraft during the Ice in Clouds Experiment–Tropical project. The clouds investigated by the C-130 in this study generally contained weak to moderate updrafts. The liquid water content (LWC) is calculated using a combination of hot-wire and imaging probes. The total condensed water content (CWC) is measured by a counterflow virtual impactor. The ice water content (IWC) is calculated as CWC minus LWC. Taking into account potential significant measurement uncertainties, the liquid fraction [i.e., LWC/(LWC + IWC)] between 0° and −15°C appears to decrease by a factor of about 3 in updrafts near ( 500 m) cloud top. The decrease in liquid fraction as a function of temperature is also correlated with cloud life cycle. In dissipating clouds, ice dominates in all temperature ranges. ...
Management of Occupational Low Back Pain: a Case Study of the Missouri Workers’ Compensation System

This manuscript examines the management of low back injury claims in the Missouri Workers’ Compensation (WC) program. It is based on research published over the past decade, although it is the first manuscript to integrate findings across studies. It links these findings with other WC-related research to identify broad themes: (1) evidence of treatment-related racial/ethnic disparities; (2) evidence of poorer outcomes for African Americans relative to Caucasians; (3) evidence that legal representation, when secondary to dissatisfaction, is associated with poorer outcomes; (4) little evidence supporting the validity of disability ratings as predictors of post-settlement adjustment; and (5) substantial evidence for negative long-term quality-of-life effects, particularly for African Americans and younger workers. Results are discussed with particular attention to the need for psychology involvement to improve WC processes.
Capacity-Approaching Transmission Over 6375 km Using Hybrid Quasi-Single-Mode Fiber Spans

Increasing the capacity and spectral efficiency of high speed optical transmission over transoceanic lengths of single-mode fiber is a great challenge due to limited signal to noise ratio at the receiver. Capacity can be optimized by tailoring modulation formats. However, beyond 6 bits/symbol in four-dimensional space, it is still not clear if high dimensional modulation formats can outperform two-dimensional counterparts. In this work, using mutual information and generalized mutual information (GMI) capacity analyses of various modulation formats, it is shown that a signal constellation can be geometrically shaped to approximate an optimal Gaussian distribution with equiprobable signaling, thus approaching the Shannon limit closer than the standard square quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). By reviewing the design rule of amplitude-phase shifted keying (APSK), gray-mapping 64APSK is found, being only 0.5 dB away in theory at a 8.4 b/s/Hz target spectral efficiency (SE). An experimental comparison verifies that 64APSK is about 0.5 dB better than 64QAM at <9 b/s/Hz four-dimenional GMI capacity, and have ∼3.6 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio implementation penalty compared with the Shannon limit at the target SE. Using these findings, 168 channels modulated with 24.8 Gbaud 64APSK are successfully transmitted over 6375 km using low-density parity check (23 090, 16 163, 0.7) codes for bit error correction. An SE of 8.3 b/s/Hz is achieved at the total C-band capacity of 34.9 Tb/s after nonlinearity compensation.
Place matters: Identifying communities with unequal risk for prostate cancer.

e17519 Background: The epidemiology of prostate cancer (CaP) in the US is influenced by patient demographics, community, and provider characteristics which vary geographically. We explore this vari...
Thrombophilia in 153 Patients With Premature Cardiovascular Disease ≤Age 45

We assessed contributions of thrombophilia to premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (≤ age 45) in 153 patients. Test results of thrombophilia-hypofibrinolysis were obtained in 153 patients with CVD ≤ age 45, 110 healthy normal controls, and 110 patients who had venous thromboembolism (VTE) without CVD. Of the 153 patients with CVD, 121 (79%) had sustained myocardial infarction, 70 (46%) had coronary artery stenting, and 53 (35%) had coronary artery bypass grafts. The first CVD events occurred at ages >20 to 35 in 47 patients and at ages >35 to 45 in 106 patients. At study entry, median low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 126 mg/dL, 56 (37%) smoked, 56 (37%) had hypertension, and 56 (37%) were diabetic. Cases differed from normal controls for high factor VIII (10 [22%] of 45 vs 7 of 103 [7%], P = .007), high homocysteine (32 [21%] of 151 vs 5 [5%] of 107, P = .0002), low free protein S (5 [11%] of 44 vs 2 [2%] of 96, P = .032), high anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLA) IgM (11 [9%] of 129 vs 2 [2%] of 109, P = .024), high lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] (46 [30%] of 151 vs 21 [19%] of 110, P = .038), and the lupus anticoagulant (4 [11%] of 37 vs 2 [2%] of 110, P = .035). There were no differences ( P > .05) between cases and VTE controls except free protein S and Lp(a). Free protein S was more often low in VTE controls (24 [28%] of 85 vs 5 [11%] of 44, P = .03) and Lp(a) was more often high in cases (46 [30%] of 151, VTE controls 12 [17%] of 71, P = .032). In 153 patients with premature CVD ≤ age 45, thrombophilia was pervasive (high factor VIII, homocysteine, ACLA IgM, low free protein S, high Lp(a), and lupus anticoagulant), evidencing thrombotic contribution to premature CVD. Moreover, thrombophilia in patients with premature CVD was comparable to VTE controls, emphasizing the pervasive nature of thrombophilia in premature CVD.
Using sentiment analysis to improve supply chain intelligence

Analysis of comments and opinions expressed in social media can be used to gather additional intelligence via market research information to better predict consumer behavior. The area of “opinion mining”, particularly sentiment analysis, aims to find, extract, and systematically analyze people’s opinions, attitudes and emotions towards certain topics. Performance of a supply chain is closely associated with the level of trust, collaboration, and information sharing among its members. In this paper, using textual “sentiment analysis”, we explore the relationship between elements of social media content generated by supply chain members and performance of supply chain. In particular, we identify specific elements of member generated supply chain related content on social media such as: information sharing, collaboration, trust, and commitment to determine their association with supply chain performance. We find information sharing and collaboration to be positively associated with supply chain performance, and these findings are consistent with previous reports in supply chain literature. In addition, ours is one of the first attempts to use sentiment analysis to analyze social media content in a supply chain context. The findings indicate that supply chain members value the sharing of relevant information and collaborative contents on social media as such efforts improve individual and overall supply chain performance. The results of this study should prove useful to other studies that utilize social media in a supply chain context, and to improve supply chain management strategies.
The impact of FDA regulatory activities on incident dispensing of LABA-containing medication: 2005–2011

ABSTRACTObjective: Evidence of safety issues associated with long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) treatment has led to multiple regulatory activities by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on this class of medications. This study describes the impact of the regulatory activities on incident LABA-containing medication dispensing. Methods: A monthly rolling cohort of asthma patients who were eligible to initiate a LABA-containing product was created in the Mini-Sentinel Distributed Database between January 2005 and June 2011. Cohorts of individuals who initiated LABA were examined for the changes in the proportions of single-ingredient to fixed-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-LABA initiators, appropriate initiation of LABA-containing products, and use of controller medications. The impact of the 2005 and 2010 FDA regulatory activities associated with LABA-containing products was measured using interrupted time series with segmented regression. Results: LABA-containing product initiation was declining ...
Filling the Gap Between Morality and Jurisprudence: The Use of Binding Arbitration to Resolve Claims of Restitution Regarding Nazi-Stolen Art

Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/drlj Part of the Arts and Entertainment Commons, Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Conflicts of Law Commons, Courts Commons, Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons, European Law Commons, Foreign Law Commons, International Law Commons, Jurisdiction Commons, Other Law Commons, Property Law and Real Estate Commons, Remedies Commons, and the Transnational Law Commons
A Curative-Intent Trimodality Approach for Isolated Abdominal Nodal Metastases in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Update of a Single-Institutional Experience.

Background The purpose of this study was to define survival rates in patients with isolated advanced abdominal nodal metastases secondary to colorectal cancer (CRC), treated with curative-intent trimodality therapy. Materials and methods Sixty-five patients received trimodality therapy, defined as chemotherapy delivered with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by lymphadenectomy and intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT). Infusional 5-fluorouracil was the most common radiosensitizer used (63%, 41 patients). The median dose of EBRT was 50 Gy, and the median dose of IORT was 12.5 Gy. We evaluated time to distant metastasis, toxicities, local failure within the EBRT field, recurrence within the IORT field, and survival. Results Fifty-two percent of patients were male; patients' median age was 50.5 years. All patients had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group score ≤1. Twenty-nine patients had right-sided colon cancer, 22 had left-sided colon cancer, and 14 had rectal primaries. The median time from initial CRC diagnosis to development of abdominal nodal metastatic disease was 20.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.2-40.8 months). Seventy-eight percent (51 patients) had para-aortic nodal metastases, 15% (10 patients) had mesenteric nodal metastases, and 6% (4 patients) had both. With a median follow-up of 77.6 months, the median overall survival and 5-year estimated survival rate were 55.4 months (95% CI, 47.2-80.9 months) and 45%, respectively. The median progression-free survival was 19.3 months (95% CI, 16.5-32.8 months). Twenty-six (40%) patients never developed distant disease. The outcome was not affected by disease sidedness or rectal primary. Treatment was well tolerated without grade 3 or 4 toxicities. Conclusion Trimodality therapy produces sustainable long-term survival in selected patients with metastatic CRC presenting with isolated retroperitoneal or mesenteric nodal relapse. Implications for practice This article reports a unique trimodality approach incorporating external beam radiotherapy with radiosensitizing chemotherapy, surgical resection, and intraoperative radiotherapy provides durable survival benefit with significant curative potential for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who present with isolated abdominal nodal (mesenteric and/or retroperitoneal) recurrence.
The Utility of Screening Colonoscopy During Kidney Transplant Evaluation

OBJECTIVES Transplant centers often recommend, but not necessarily require, screening colonoscopies for people over 50 years of age in accordance with the US Preventative Services Task Force guidelines for the general population. We sought to identify risk factors affecting colonoscopy results in renal failure patients undergoing kidney transplant evaluation. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively examined patients undergoing kidney transplant evaluation from 2009 to 2012 (n = 469 patients). Comparisons were made between colonoscopy reports categorized as normal (no finding or hyperplastic polyp) or abnormal (adenomatous polyp or carcinoma). RESULTS Of 469 patients who met the study criteria, 303 (64.6%) had normal colonoscopies and 166 (35.4%) had abnormal colonoscopies. Logistic regression analysis showed that male sex (odds ratio = 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-3.20; P = .001) and increasing age (odds ratio = 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.08; P = .019) were more likely to correspond to abnormal findings. Those with dialysis vintage (length of time on dialysis) up to 3 years (odds ratio = 2.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-4.06; P = .027) and hypertension as the cause of renal failure (odds ratio = 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.87; P = .002) had more abnormal findings. No differences in length of evaluation, rate of being listed for transplant, and rate of transplant were shown. CONCLUSIONS The overall rate of adenomatous findings on colonoscopy was higher among patients with pretransplant end-stage renal disease than in the general population, as shown in other studies. Age, sex, dialysis vintage up to 3 years, and hypertensive renal failure were associated with adenomatous polyps of the colon in this study population. Because adenomatous polyp rates are high in patients with chronic kidney disease who are undergoing transplant evaluation and colonoscopic findings do not appear to delay transplant evaluations or listing rates, screening colonoscopies should be encouraged.
Reading Natanson Reading Schutz

A study of Schutz as viewed by Natanson, his most devoted and distinguished student, but also quintessentially Schutzian. According to Natanson, Schutz’s main contribution is the erection of an indestructible “architectonic” of the quotidian lifeworld as social reality, with anonymity as the central philosophical concept. My pondering of inter-corporeality and ethics should be read as a continuation.
Is There a Duty to Relieve Pain

Abstract One could question why clinicians' duty to treat pain should be an ethical issue. Underlying this question is whether pain should be considered a medical problem that requires a medical solution or should belong only to those suffering in pain, giving them the choice of how to manage it. The rectitude of seeking pain relief has long been a core religious issue. However, it became an ethical issue for clinicians when pain began to be considered a medical problem and not just something imposed on people by external or divine forces. Although the medicalization of pain was a gradual process occurring through the centuries, the process accelerated at the beginning of the 20th century in line with advances in medicine that rapidly changed the clinician's role from one of comforter, to one of curer. It is perhaps no coincidence that at about the same time, opioids – uniquely powerful analgesics, yet uniquely dangerous – were removed as an option for patients, with that choice placed firmly into the hands of clinicians. This happened because of the introduction of regulations: the moral burden was suddenly one for clinicians and not for patients. Many of the troubling decisions clinicians now face about pain treatment are centred on opioids and arise because the correct balance between benefits and harms for opioids is so hard to achieve. Is clinicians' duty simply to reduce the intensity of pain, or does harm reduction matter as well, and if so when?
Tako‐Tsubo Cardiomyopathy in Severe Sepsis: Nationwide Trends, Predictors, and Outcomes

Background There are limited data on the presentation of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) in severe sepsis. Methods and Results This was a retrospective cohort study using the National Inpatient Samp...
Altera and the Arm’s Length Standard

On July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit reversed the Tax Court decision in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner, 145 T.C. 91 (July 27, 2015), which had invalidated Treas. Reg. § 1.482- 7A(d)(2). The regulation requires taxpayer to include the cost of employee stock options in the pool of costs that must be shared under a qualified cost sharing arrangement (QCSA). The Ninth Circuit held that this regulation was not arbitrary or capricious, and therefore that the Commissioner did not exceed the authority delegated to him under IRC § 482, that the Commissioner’s rule-making authority complied with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and that therefore the regulation is entitled to deference under Chevron. In reaching this conclusion, the majority held that the regulation was not incompatible with the arm’s length standard (ALS) as modified by the commensurate with income rule adopted by Congress in 1986.
Mis)Framing Schiavo as Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities

Critics have framed the legal processes in the Terri Schiavo case as discrimination against people with disabilities. Certainly, Terri Schiavo was a person with a disability. But the arguments charging disability discrimination in the case rest on assumptions that are deeply problematic in regard to science, to guardianship and surrogate decision-making law, and to achieving the good for people with serious cognitive disabilities.
Long-Term Follow-up of the Mind Your Health Project: Acceptance-Based versus Standard Behavioral Treatment for Obesity.

Objective In the Mind Your Health Trial, acceptance-based behavioral treatment (ABT) for obesity outperformed standard behavioral treatment (SBT) at posttreatment. This trial compared effects over 2 years of follow-up. Methods Participants with overweight or obesity (n = 190) were randomized to 25 sessions of SBT or ABT over 1 year and assessed at months 12 (i.e., posttreatment), 24 (1 year posttreatment), and 36 (2 years posttreatment). Results Weight-loss differences previously observed at 12 months attenuated by follow-up, though a large difference was observed in the proportion of treatment completers who maintained 10% weight loss at 36 months (SBT = 17.1% vs. ABT = 31.6%; P = 0.04; intent-to-treat: SBT = 14.4% vs. ABT = 25.0%; P = 0.07). The amount of regain between posttreatment and follow-up did not differ between groups. ABT produced higher quality of life at 24 and 36 months. Autonomous motivation and psychological acceptance of food-related urges mediated the effect of condition on weight. No moderator effects were identified. Conclusions Overall, results suggest that infusing SBT for weight loss with acceptance-based strategies enhances weight loss initially, but these effects fade in the years following the withdrawal of treatment. Even so, those receiving ABT were about twice as likely to maintain 10% weight loss at 36 months, and they reported considerably higher quality of life.
Partnership Audit Rules: After the Final Regulations

As part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA), Congress repealed the TEFRA audit rules and the audit rules for electing large partnerships and replaced them with a new audit regime (the BBA audit rules). The BBA audit rules generally are effective for audits of partnership returns for tax years beginning after 2017. Although the TEFRA audit rules were enacted in 1982 to address issues with partnership audits, particularly tax shelters, they proved difficult to implement. In a 1990 report to Congress, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury concluded that large partnership audits were an inefficient and time-intensive use of limited resources. The BBA audit rules address the deficiencies of the TEFRA audit rules through a centralized audit system that requires partnership adjustments to be determined at the partnership level and any tax attributable to the adjustments to be assessed and collected at the partnership level. The rules allow for a small-partnership opt-out and an elective alternative to “push out” the audit adjustments made and tax paid to the partners. The audit process is streamlined by limiting the right to notices and participation in the audit to one “partnership representative” who has the “sole authority” to act for the partnership in an audit. Regulations finalizing most aspects of the BBA audit rules were published in February 2019. Two prior Treasury Decisions adopted particular aspects of the rules — the opt-out election, and the opt-in election and the partnership representative. Proposed regulations regarding international aspects of the rules and tax attributes have not been finalized. This article sets out the BBA audit rules as reflected in the statutes and the final regulations issued to date. With the issuance of these regulations, partnerships have a detailed set of instructions to follow to comply with the rules and prepare for an audit. Going forward, the Treasury has left sufficient flexibility in the regulations to develop and adapt procedures as the IRS and partnerships “gain more experience” with the rules. Finalizing proposed regulations on international aspects and tax attributes will close remaining gaps. The BBA audit rules are extremely complex, but they should enable partnership audits to proceed more smoothly and efficiently than under the TEFRA audit rules.
Abstract LB-146: Phase I CD22 CAR T-cell trial updates

Introduction: Patients who relapse after or are resistant to CD19 targeting are in need of novel therapies. We previously reported on the initial experience with our highly-active, first-in-human, first-in-child, CD22 CAR trial in the first 21 subjects with ALL. We now report on the cumulative experience with 52 treated subjects. Methods: This phase I study of anti-CD22 CAR-T cells (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02315612) enrolled subjects between the ages of 3-30 years with relapsed/refractory CD22+ disease. All subjects received fludarabine 25 mg/m2 x 3 days and cyclophosphamide 900 mg/m2 x 1 day for lymphodepletion. Disease assessments were performed prior to initiation of lymphodepletion and at day 28 (+/- 4 days) post CAR infusion. Three dose levels were explored; with an interim manufacturing modification incorporating CD4/CD8 bead T-cell selection (TCS); current dose is DL1-TCS. (Table 1) Results: The median age was 18.1 years (range, 4.4-30.6). 36 (69.2%) subjects had undergone HSCT; 30 (57.7%) had prior CD19 CAR; 22 (42.3%) had prior blinatumomab; 28 (53.8%) subjects had a CD19 negative population, including two who were inherently partial CD19 negative without prior targeted therapy. 46 (88.4%) experienced CRS, 5 (10.9%) had grade 3-4 CRS. Unique toxicities apparent with expanded experience included capillary leak syndrome (n=3), including one grade 5 event; atypical HUS (n=2), symptomatic coagulopathy (n=8) and HLH-like manifestations (n=18). The complete remission rate was 72.5% overall; 84% at the current dose level. This included complete remissions seen in subjects who were non-responders to CD19 CAR and/or blinatumomab. The longest remission is > 3 years (n=1) post-CAR. Relapse occurred at a median of 6 months post CAR in 23 (64%) subjects primarily due to CD22 modulation. 12 proceeded to HSCT following CD22 CAR. Conclusion: In the largest study of CD22 CAR T-cell therapy to date, this extended experience confirms the initial efficacy, while highlighting novel aspects of the toxicity profile that warrant special attention. Results from our study support further testing of this CD22 CAR in a phase 2 clinical trial. Citation Format: Nirali N. Shah, Haneen Shalabi, Bonnie Yates, Constance Yuan, Haiying Qin, Amanda Ombrello, Hao-Wei Wang, Leah Hoffman, Minh Tran, Sandhya Panch, Maryalice Stetler-Stevenson, Jianjian Jin, Crystal Mackall, Steve Highfill, David Stroncek, Terry J. Fry. Phase I CD22 CAR T-cell trial updates [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-146.
Comparison of discrete, discrete-sectional, modal and moment models for aerosol dynamics simulations

An open source software (Aerosol and Air Quality Research Lab-Aerosol Dynamics Model, AAQRL-ADM) used for aerosol dynamics simulations is developed by including four models: discrete, discrete-sect...
Designing and Using a Scenario-Based Digital Game to Teach Chinese Formulaic Expressions

A well-designed game can offer enormous opportunities for pragmatics learning by providing an immersive environment where learners can practice L2 in a variety of social contexts. To examine the applicability of gaming to L2 pragmatics learning, this study used the platform Unity to develop a scenariobased digital game (Questaurant) to teach Chinese formulaic expressions. In the game, the player took the role of a robot who works in a restaurant in China and runs quests by interacting with built-in characters. The game incorporated four key gaming attributes: context (representation), goals, feedback, and interactivity. This paper reports the usability of these gaming attributes based on interview data collected from 12 learners of Chinese who completed the game. Results showed that the combination of context and interactivity in Questaurant delivered an engaging learning experience, while explicit feedback directly contributed to learning. Participants raised some concerns regarding the motivational appeal of goals and implicit feedback in the game. This paper further discusses implications for developing and utilizing digital games for pragmatics learning.
Effectiveness of virtual reality game in foreign language vocabulary acquisition

Abstract This study explored the influence of the virtual reality (VR) game House of Languages on the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary acquisition of intermediate school students. A quasi-experimental design helped determine the impact of the VR intervention on the learning process over the traditional EFL vocabulary acquisition method. A nonrandom convenience sample of (n = 64) male students was divided into an experimental group and control group; each group contained (n = 32) students. The findings from this study of independent t-tests at the end of the experimental period indicated that students using the VR game House of Languages had greater achievement in vocabulary acquisition than those using the traditional method of vocabulary acquisition. This study seeks to create awareness among educators that the use of the new VR technology as an effective vocabulary acquisition method in the learning process could be engaged to improve vocabulary acquisition and go beyond previous methods to enhance the degree of achievement in classroom.
In Utero Exposure to Maternal Overweight or Obesity is Associated with Altered Offspring Brain Function in Middle Childhood.

Objective The impact of in utero exposure to maternal overweight and obesity on offspring metabolic health is well documented. Neurodevelopmental outcomes among these children are, however, less well studied. To address this gap, the current study investigated brain function among 4- to 6-year-old children exposed to maternal overweight or obesity during gestation compared with that of children born to mothers with healthy BMI in pregnancy. Methods Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to study neuronal activity and connectivity during a passive viewing task (movie) among 101 typically developing children enrolled in the Healthy Start study, a longitudinal prebirth cohort in Colorado. Results Forty-nine children (48%) were exposed to maternal overweight or obesity in utero (mean age = 5 years, SD = 0.9). Children born to mothers with overweight or obesity demonstrated hyperactivity in the left posterior cingulate cortex and hypoactivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate and the supplementary motor area (P Conclusions These novel results suggest altered brain function among children exposed to maternal overweight and obesity in utero.
Molecular Imaging by Optically Detected Electron Spin Resonance of Nitrogen-Vacancies in Nanodiamonds

We propose a novel biomedical imaging technique, called nanodiamond imaging, that noninvasively records the three-dimensional distribution of biologically tagged nanodiamonds in vivo. Our technique performs optically detected electron spin resonance of nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds, a nontoxic nanomaterial that is easily biologically functionalized. We demonstrate the feasibility of the technique by imaging multiple nanodiamond targets within pieces of chicken breast; it is the first demonstration of imaging within scattering tissue by optically detected magnetic resonance. We achieve a sensitivity equivalent to 740 pg of nanodiamond in 100 s of measurement time and a spatial resolution of 800 μm over a 1 cm2 field of view, and we show how the technique has the potential to yield images with combined high sensitivity (∼100 fg nanodiamond) AND high spatial resolution (∼100 μm) over organism-scale fields of view, features which are mutually exclusive in existing imaging modalities except at the s...
New Gene Embedding Learned from Biomedical Literature and Its Application in Identifying Cancer Drivers

To investigate molecular mechanism of diseases, we need to understand how genes are functionally associated. Computational researchers have tried to capture functional relationships among genes by constructing an embedding space of genes from multiple sources of high-throughput data. However, correlations in high-throughput data does not necessarily imply functional relations. In this study, we generated gene embedding from literature by constructing semantic representation for each gene. This approach enabled us to cover genes less mentioned in literature and revealed novel functional relationships among genes. Evaluation showed that the learned gene embedding was consistent with pathway knowledge and enhanced the search for cancer driver genes. We further applied our gene embedding to identify protein complexes and functional modules from gene networks. Performance in both scenarios was significantly improved with gene embedding.
Monitoring Protein Import into the Endoplasmic Reticulum in Living Cells with Proximity Labeling

The proper trafficking of eukaryotic proteins is essential to cellular function. Genetic, environmental, and other stresses can induce protein mistargeting, and in turn threaten cellular protein homeostasis. Current methods for measuring protein mistargeting are difficult to translate to living cells, and thus the role of cellular signaling networks in stress-dependent protein mistargeting processes, such as ER pre-emptive quality control (ER pQC), are difficult to parse. Herein, we use genetically encoded peroxidases to characterize protein import into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We show that the ERHRP/cytAPEX pair provides good selectivity and sensitivity for identifying protein mistargeting, using the known ER pQC substrate transthyretin (TTR). Although ERHRP labeling induces formation of detergent-resistant TTR aggregates, this is minimized by using low ERHRP expression, without loss of labeling efficiency. cytAPEX labeling recovers TTR that is mistargeted as a consequence of Sec61 inhibition or ER stress-induced ER pQC. Furthermore, we demonstrate that stress-free activation of the ER stress-associated transcription factor ATF6 recapitulates the TTR import deficiency of ER pQC. Hence, proximity labeling is an effective strategy for characterizing factors that influence ER protein import in living cells.
Combining Three Phenotypes for the Rapid Construction of Improved Inoculum Strains of Root Nodule Bacteria

Trifolitoxin (TFX) is a peptide antibiotic that inhibits Rhizobium and closely related genera (Triplett et al. 1994). At this meeting, we present data showing that addition of genes that confer TFX production to an inoculum strain was recently shown to significantly enhance nodulation competitiveness in the field. We have also recently shown that TFX production increases the competitiveness of Rhizobium versus an indigenous population of rhizobia in soil. This is the first demonstration of the usefulness of a peptide antibiotic system in a non-sterile soil.
i.i.d. mixed inputs and treating interference as noise are gDoF optimal for the symmetric Gaussian two-user interference channel

While a multi-letter limiting expression of the capacity region of the two-user Gaussian interference channel is known, capacity is generally considered to be open as this is not computable. Other computable capacity outer bounds are known to be achievable to within 1/2 bit using Gaussian inputs and joint decoding in the simplified Han and Kobayashi (single-letter) achievable rate region. This work shows that the simple scheme known as “treating interference as noise” without time-sharing attains the capacity region outer bound of the symmetric Gaussian interference channel to within either a constant gap, or a gap of order O(log log(SNR)), for all parameter regimes. The scheme is therefore optimal in the generalized Degrees of Freedom (gDoF) region sense almost surely. The achievability is obtained by using i.i.d. mixed inputs (i.e., a superposition of discrete and Gaussian random variables) in the multi-letter capacity expression, where the optimal number of points in the discrete part of the inputs, as well as the optimal power split among the discrete and continuous parts of the inputs, are characterized in closed form. An important practical implication of this result is that the discrete part of the inputs behaves as a “common message” whose contribution can be removed from the channel output, even though joint decoding is not employed. Moreover, time-sharing may be mimicked by varying the number of points in the discrete part of the inputs.
Information granulation in automated modeling

The goal of input-output modeling is to apply a test input to a system, analyze the results, and learn something useful from the cause-effect pair. Any automated modeling tool that takes this approach must be able to reason effectively about sensors and actuators and their interactions with the target system. The granulation level of the information involved in this process ranges from low-level data analysis techniques to abstract, qualitative observations about the system. This chapter describes a knowledge representation and reasoning framework that allows this process to be automated.