cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
InGaAs/AlInAs HEMT technology for millimeter wave applications

AlInAs-GaInAs modulation-doped structures grown by MBE (molecular-beam epitaxy) on InP substrates have demonstrated excellent electronic and optical properties. Extremely high sheet charge densities (n/sub S/ approximately 5*10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/) and room temperature mobilities ( mu approximately 9500 cm/sup 2/ V/sup -1/ s/sup -1/) have been achieved. 0.1- mu m-gate-length HEMTs (high-electron-mobility transistors) have exhibited an f/sub t/ (unity current gain cutoff frequency) approximately 170 GHz, whereas single stage amplifiers using 0.2- mu m-gate HEMTs have demonstrated a minimum noise figure of 0.8 dB and an associated gain of 8.7 dB. Ring oscillators have demonstrated 6-ps switching speeds and static frequency dividers operated at 26.7 GHz at room temperature. >
Large Cystic Metanephric Adenoma in a 15-Year-Old Girl

Metanephric adenoma is a rare pediatric renal tumor, generally considered to be benign. It can be difficult to distinguish from Wilms tumor and renal cell carcinoma based on imaging alone, and even may be difficult on histopathologic analysis. We present a case of a large cystic metanephric adenoma managed with surgical resection. This case highlights the difficulty in managing cystic renal lesions in children and adolescents as there is a paucity of data on the radiologic and pathologic correlation in such patients.
Validation of barrier shielding for a PET/CT suite

2132 Objectives : St. Joseph’s Hospital recently installed a Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) suite containing a scanner and three patient injection/holding areas. Shielding of PET/CT facilities present unique challenges. The intent of this study is to validate the shielding design of the installed barrier shielding with the pre-construction calculations. Methods : Prior to construction, shielding calculations were performed based on the draft of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group on PET Shielding Requirements (2004). To validate the installed shielding, either 18F-FDG patient doses or patients injected with 18F-FDG were placed in each patient injection/holding area and measurements were taken inside and outside each respective area using a rate meter with a high energy gamma probe (Ludlum Model 2200 Scaler Ratemeter, Sweetwater, TX). The measurements were taken in the same six areas that the shielding calculations were conducted. These measurements were then compared to the pre-construction calculations. Results : : The pre-construction shielding calculations ranged from 0.14 to 0.54 and the rate meter measurements ranged from 0.02 to 0.92. Only one measured reading taken indicated a higher exposure than was originally calculated prior to construction. Conclusions : Of the six areas measured, five showed results to be lower than the calculations. One area expressed readings higher than what was previously calculated, however, these measurements were within the ALARA range for occupational personnel. The measured readings indicate that sufficient shielding was installed during construction in all areas. An on-going study using TLD (Thermo-Luminescent Dosimeters) badges placed in twelve predefined areas will be conducted over the next three months to confirm our results.
Mixed-Methods Analysis of Factors Impacting Use of a Postoperative mHealth App

Background: Limited communication and care coordination following discharge from hospitals may contribute to surgical complications. Smartphone apps offer a novel mechanism for communication and care coordination. However, factors which may affect patient app use in a postoperative, at-home setting are poorly understood. Objective: The objectives of this study were to (1) gauge interest in smartphone app use among patients after colorectal surgery and (2) better understand factors affecting patient app use in a postoperative, at-home setting. Methods: A prospective feasibility study was performed at a hospital that principally serves low socioeconomic status patients. After colorectal surgery, patients were enrolled and given a smartphone app, which uses previously validated content to provide symptom-based recommendations. Patients were instructed to use the app daily for 14 days after discharge. Demographics and usability data were collected at enrollment. Usability was measured with the System Usability Scale (SUS). At follow-up, the SUS was repeated and patients underwent a structured interview covering ease of use, willingness to use, and utility of use. Two members of the research team independently reviewed the field notes from follow-up interviews and extracted the most consistent themes. Chart and app log reviews identified clinical endpoints. Results: We screened 115 patients, enrolled 20 patients (17.4%), and completed follow-up interviews with 17 patients (85%). Reasons for nonenrollment included: failure to meet inclusion criteria (47/115, 40.9%), declined to participate (26/115, 22.6%), and other reasons (22/115, 19.1%). There was no difference in patient ratings between usability at first-use and after extended use, with SUS scores greater than the 95th percentile at both time points. Despite high usability ratings, 6/20 (30%) of patients never used the app at home after hospital discharge and 2/20 (10%) only used the app once. Interviews revealed three themes related to app use: (1) patient-related barriers could prevent use even though the app had high usability scores; (2) patients viewed the app as a second opinion, rather than a primary source of information; and (3) many patients viewed the app as an external burden. Conclusions: Use patterns in this study, and response rates after prompts to contact the operative team, suggest that apps need to be highly engaging to be adopted by patients. The growing penetration of smartphones and the proliferation of app-based interventions are unlikely to improve care coordination and communication, unless apps address the barriers and patient perceptions identified in this study. This study shows that high usability alone is not sufficient to motivate patients to use smartphone apps in the postoperative period. [JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2017;5(2):e11]
Diagnostic improvement through qualitative sensitivity analysis and aggregation

This paper lays the foundation for a diagnostic system that improves its performance by deriving symptom-fault associations from an underlying causal model and then utilizes those relationships to impose further structure upon the "deep" model. A qualitative version of sensitivity analysis is introduced to extract the implicit symptom-fault information from a set of local constraints. Parameter aggregation triggered by this new information then simplifies diagnosis by forming a more abstract causal representation. The resulting diagnostician thus employs both an experiential and a first-principle approach, where in this case "experiences" are compiled directly from first-principles. Key issues include the roles of knowledge compilation and abstraction in refining qualitative models of physical systems.
High Resolution 3D Imaging of the Human Pancreas Neuro-insular Network.

Using traditional histological methods, researchers are hampered in their ability to image whole tissues or organs in large-scale 3D. Histological sections are generally limited to 500 µm using traditional methods. In addition, light scatters from macromolecules within tissues, particularly lipids, prevents imaging to a depth >150 µm with most confocal microscopes. To reduce light scatter and to allow for deep tissue imaging using simple confocal microscopy, various optical clearing methods have been developed that are relevant for rodent and human tissue samples fixed by immersion. Several methods are related and use protein crosslinking with acrylamide and tissue clearing with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Other optical clearing techniques used various solvents though each modification had various advantages and disadvantages. Here, an optimized passive optical clearing method is described for studies of the human pancreas innervation and specifically for interrogation of the innervation of human islets.
Biological Activities of the Amanita Peptide Toxins

The amatoxins, phallotoxins, cycloamanides, and antamanide belong to the special class of secondary metabolites known as cyclic peptides or cyclopeptides – strings of amino acids in which the N and C termini are joined head-to-tail by amide (peptide) bonds ( Chap. 2). Cyclic peptides possess many chemical attributes that contribute to high biological activity, including chemical stability, membrane permeability, and rigidity. The importance of these attributes is discussed in more detail in Chap. 7. The focus of this chapter is the specific biological activities of the characterized cyclic peptides of Amanita and other mushrooms. The majority of the studies have concerned the amatoxins, followed by the phallotoxins and, distantly, the other peptides. The organization of this chapter proceeds from the whole organism level to the intraorganismal level, concluding with toxin action at the molecular level.
Occupant perceptions of building information model-based energy visualizations in eco-feedback systems

Abstract While technology advancements are improving the energy efficiency of buildings, occupant behavior remains a critical factor in ensuring the effectiveness of such enhancements. To this end, numerous eco-feedback systems have been developed to reduce building energy use through influencing occupants' behaviors during building operations. Information representation is a critical component in eco-feedback systems, affecting the users' interpretation, engagement, and motivation to reduce energy consumption. Many studies have focused on using different charts and technical units or abstract and artistic visualizations to represent energy consumption. However, the effectiveness of such techniques varies across studies. Recent research emphasizes the need to integrate information representation strategies that balance numeric and aesthetic appeal. Concurrently, studies have called for increased adoption of a Building Information Model (BIM) during a building's operations phase to improve facility management. In this paper, we introduce a new eco-feedback information representation method that combines numeric and aesthetic appeal through leveraging spatial and color-coding techniques in BIM. The BIM-integrated energy visualization approach developed in this paper uses the Revit Application Program Interface (API) and allows users to visualize and compare energy consumption values in 2D and 3D views of a multi-family building through a color-coding scheme in an as-built BIM. The method is validated through a user survey that quantitatively and qualitatively assesses the proposed 2D and 3D BIM eco-feedback compared to more traditional bar chart based eco-feedback. Our findings suggest that 2D spatial, color-coded eco-feedback provides the optimal information representation, as it is easy to understand, while evoking engaging and motivating responses from users. This study advances our understanding of eco-feedback information representation while expanding BIM applications during building operations. These are important steps to address the human dimension of energy efficiency in the built environment.
Drugs That Act on the Immune System: Cytokines and Monoclonal Antibodies

Abstract This chapter serves as a review of publications in 2017 pertaining to new or unique adverse drug events associated with cytokines and monoclonal antibodies. Case reports and large trials detailing such previously unknown adverse effects are summarized for colony-stimulating factors, thrombopoietin agonists, interleukins, tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonists and many monoclonal antibodies. There are also several new-to-the-market biosimilars that have begun to be studied and are included here for the first time. New monoclonal antibodies included in this edition are avelumab, brodalumab, and pinatuzumab. This review also encompasses a number of drugs with new and expanded FDA-approved uses including tocilizumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and ustekinumab.
Acetylated, isocyanate-bonded flakeboards after accelerated aging : dimensional stability and mechanical properties

To improve flakeboard dimensional stability and mechanical properties for long-term exterior exposure, we fabricated and tested a highly durable isocyanate-bonded acetylated flakeboard. Flakeboards were tested for internal bond strength, thickness swell, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and breaking strength in bending, after two severe accelerated aging tests. Flake design, flakeboard density, resin content, and their interactions were critical to the performance of acetylated flakeboards in the aging tests. In bending tests, the longer disc-cut flakes produced much higher strength values than did the ring-cut flakes. In internal bond strength tests, the ring-cut flakes performed comparably to the disc-cut flakes. However, ring-cut flakes contributed somewhat more to reducing thickness swell than did disc-cut flakes. Acetylated flakeboards fabricated at high density were much stronger than those fabricated at low density. However, the high-density boards developed more thickness swell than did the low-density boards. The 5-% resin content contributed little to increased strength values in the bending tests, but this level of resin significantly improved flakeboard performance internal bond strength and thickness swell tests. Acetylation did not interfere to any practical degree with the isocyanate resin, and all property values were enhanced by acetylation, particularly internal bond strength and resistance to thickness swell.
Use of Tubular Retractors for Minimally Invasive Resection of Deep-Seated Cavernomas

BACKGROUND Cavernomas located in subcortical or eloquent locations are difficult lesions to access safely. Tubular retractors, which distribute retraction pressure radially, have been increasingly employed successfully. These retractors may be beneficial in subcortical cavernoma resection. OBJECTIVE To review a single institution's case series to determine the safety profile and efficacy of transcortical-transtubular cavernoma resections and to describe our transtubular operative technique. METHODS We reviewed a single institution's transcortical-transtubular cavernoma resections using either BrainPath (NICO, Indianapolis, Indiana) or ViewSite Brain Access System (Vycor Medical, Boca Raton, Florida) tubular retractors performed from 2013 to 2018 (n = 20). RESULTS Gross total resection was achieved in all patients. When a developmental venous anomaly (DVA) was present, avoidance of DVA resection was achieved in all cases (n = 4). All patients had a supratentorial cavernoma with mean depth below cortical surface of 44.1 mm. Average postoperative clinical follow-up was 20.4 wk. Early neurologic deficit rate was 10% (n = 2); permanent neurologic deficit rate was 0%. One patient (5%) experienced early postoperative seizures ( 1 wk follow-up). Engel class 1 seizure control at final clinical follow-up was achieved in 87.5% of patients presenting with preoperative epilepsy. CONCLUSION Tubular retractors provide a low-profile, minimally invasive operative corridor for resection of subcortical cavernomas. There were no permanent neurologic complications in our series of 20 cases, and long-term seizure control was achieved in all patients. Thus, tubular retractors appear to be a safe and efficacious tool for resection of subcortical cavernomas.
Calreticulin is a Critical Cell Survival Factor in Malignant Neoplasms

Calreticulin (CRT) is a high-capacity Ca2+ protein whose expression is up-regulated during cellular transformation and is associated with disease progression in multiple types of malignancies. At the same time, CRT has been characterized as an important stress-response protein capable of inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) when translocated to the cell surface. It remains unclear why CRT expression is preserved by malignant cells during the course of transformation despite its immunogenic properties. In this study, we identify a novel, critical function of CRT as a cell survival factor in multiple types of human solid-tissue malignancies. CRT knockdown activates p53, which mediates cell-death response independent of executioner caspase activity and accompanied full-length poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage. Mechanistically, we show that down-regulation of CRT results in mitochondrial Ca2+ overload and induction of mitochondria permeability transition pore (mPTP)-dependent cell death, which can be significantly rescued by the mPTP inhibitor, Cyclosporin A (CsA). The clinical importance of CRT expression was revealed in the analysis of the large cohort of cancer patients (N = 2,058) to demonstrate that high levels of CRT inversely correlates with patient survival. Our study identifies intracellular CRT as an important therapeutic target for tumors whose survival relies on its expression.
Self-organized carpools with meeting points

Carpooling promises benefits to the environment and consumers alike, but research has shown that there are multiple practical challenges to realizing these benefits. One possible solution is the ad...
Consumption of Diet Soda Sweetened With Sucralose and Acesulfame-Potassium Alters Inflammatory Transcriptome Pathways in Females With Overweight and Obesity

Scope Low-calorie sweetener (LCS) consumption is associated with metabolic disease in observational studies. However, physiologic mechanisms underlying LCS-induced metabolic impairments in humans are unclear. This study is aimed at identifying molecular pathways in adipose impacted by LCSs. Methods and results Seven females with overweight or obesity, who did not report LCS use, consumed 12 ounces of diet soda containing sucralose and acesulfame-potassium (Ace-K) three times daily for 8 weeks. A subcutaneous adipose biopsy from the left abdomen and a fasting blood sample were collected at baseline and post-intervention. Global gene expression were assessed using RNA-sequencing followed by functional pathway analysis. No differences in circulating metabolic or inflammatory biomarkers were observed. However, ANOVA detected 828 differentially expressed annotated genes after diet soda consumption (p Conclusion Consumption of diet soda with sucralose and Ace-K alters inflammatory transcriptomic pathways (e.g., NF-κB signaling) in subcutaneous adipose tissue but does not significantly alter circulating biomarkers. Findings highlight the need to examine molecular and metabolic effects of LCS exposure in a larger randomized control trial for a longer duration.
In situ fatigue monitoring investigation of additively manufactured maraging steel

This work describes an experimental validation set for assessing the real-time fatigue behavior of metallic additive manufacturing (AM) maraging steel structures. Maraging steel AM beams were fabricated with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and characterized with ex situ studies of porosity through X-ray computed tomography (CT), nano-indentation, and atomic force microscopy, as well as quasi-static testing to evaluate the as-printed state. Microscale evaluation showed void content of 0.34–0.36% with hardness and stiffness variation through the build direction on the order of 5.1–5.6 GPa and 139–154 GPa, respectively. The microscale inhomogeneities created an as-printed state where the compression and tension plasticity behavior at the macroscale was unequal in quasi-static loading, leading to greater yielding in tension. Specimens were subjected to cyclic loads, while the structural behavior was characterized through in situ magnetic permeability, digital image correlation (DIC) strain, and structural compliance measurements. In the range of 3 × 103 to 3 × 104 cycles to failure, magnetic permeability measurements were able to capture the mechanical state as early as 60% of life depending on failure location. Results are discussed with an emphasis on material-property-structure relationships in terms of the multi-scale material state and fatigue validation data for improving the durability of AM parts.
MON-699 Artifactual Hypoglycemia in a Patient with Prolonged Hospital Stay for Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

Background: Hypoglycemia is rare in patients without diabetes. A low capillary glucose concentration is not sufficient to make a diagnosis of a hypoglycemic disorder. In fact, this has multiple sources of error. Fulfillment of Whipple’s triad is an essential step for establishing the diagnosis of a hypoglycemic disorder. Clinical case: A 47-year old Caucasian male with past medical history of paranoid schizophrenia was admitted to the ICU from an outside facility with catatonia and apneic spells following an acute change in mental status. He was diagnosed with neuroleptic malignant syndrome and Endocrinology was consulted after 137 days in the hospital for concerns of severe and recurrent hypoglycemia. The patient was non-verbal on evaluation and despite multiple capillary blood glucose readings of <70 mg/dL, including measurements as low as 29 mg/dL, he remained asymptomatic with absence of any clinical signs of an adrenergic response to hypoglycemic episodes. He was on continuous tube feeding through a PEG tube. The low capillary blood glucose measurements prompted rapid management with intravenous or oral dextrose based on the hypoglycemia protocol designed by the hospital. As a last resort, the patient was placed on a continuous dextrose infusion in addition to tube feeding to prevent hypoglycemia.Diagnostic evaluation: Following consultation, we ordered for a corresponding plasma glucose measurement to be done with any capillary blood glucose measurement of < 55 mg/dL prior to correction for hypoglycemia. For a capillary blood glucose measured at 48 mg/dL, corresponding plasma glucose was 95 mg/dL. Whipple’s triad was not fulfilled and no additional work up was pursued. We recommended calibration of the glucose monitors for the hospital unit where the patient was admitted with recommendations to stop monitoring capillary blood glucose in this patient in the absence of diabetes, signs/symptoms of hypoglycemia, medications implicated to cause hypoglycemia and ongoing nutrition with tube feeding. Follow-up: The patient remains in the hospital and is waiting placement at an extended care facility. Plasma blood glucose measurements remain within normal range.Clinical lesson: Artifactual hypoglycemia, though uncommon, is an important consideration when evaluating and managing hypoglycemia. Whipple’s triad is essential to make a diagnosis of true hypoglycemia. Several factors; patient, operator and machine-related, can impact measurements of capillary blood glucose measurements and often result in unnecessary treatment measures often causing inefficient and often preventable wastage of hospital resources and sometimes even harm the patient.
Influence of mouse nerve growth factor on gliai fibrillary acidic protein expression in hippocampus of neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage

Objective To investigate the influence of mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF)on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in hippocampus of neonatal rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD). Methods Sixty neonatal rats of 7 days old were randomly divided into control group (n=20) ,HIBD group (n=20) and mNGF group (n=20). After HIBD model established, mNGF of 20 ng/(g·d) was given by intramuscular injection in buttocks in mNGF group,continued five days. No intervention was given in HIBD group. 0.1mol/L PBS of 10 μ1/(g·d) was given by intramuscular injection in buttocks for the control group,continued five days. Ten rats were sacrified at 7 d and 14 d after intervention respectively in three groups, The expressions of GFAP in hippocampus were determined with immunohistochemical method. Results At 7 d and 14 d after intervention,the expression levels of GFAP in sick side hippocampous in HIBD group and mNGF group were higher than that in control group. GFAP positive cell mainly distributed in sick side hippocampal DG region in mNGF group, while CAI region in HIBD group. As compared with 7 d, the expression of GFAP in sick side hippocampus in HIBD group decreased at 14 d, while increased in mNGF group. Conclusion mNGF can increase the expression of GFAP in hippocampus of HIBD neonatal rat, and mNGF may have nervous repairing role to HIBD. Key words: Hypoxic-ischemic brain damage; Nerve growth factor; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Neonatal rat
Integrative Analysis of Glucometabolic Traits, Adipose Tissue DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Identifies Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms of Insulin Resistance and Obesity in African Americans

Decline in insulin sensitivity due to dysfunction of adipose tissue (AT) is one of the earliest pathogenic events in type 2 diabetes. We hypothesize that differential DNA methylation (DNAm) controls insulin sensitivity and obesity by modulating transcript expression in AT. Integrating AT DNAm profiles with transcript profile data measured in a cohort of 230 African Americans (AAs) from the African American Genetics of Metabolism and Expression cohort, we performed cis-expression quantitative trait methylation (cis-eQTM) analysis to identify epigenetic regulatory loci for glucometabolic trait-associated transcripts. We identified significantly associated cytosine-guanine dinucleotide regions for 82 transcripts (false discovery rate [FDR]-P < 0.05). The strongest eQTM locus was observed for the proopiomelanocortin (POMC; ρ = -0.632, P = 4.70 × 10-27) gene. Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) further identified 155, 46, and 168 cytosine-guanine dinucleotide regions associated (FDR-P < 0.05) with the Matsuda index, SI, and BMI, respectively. Intersection of EWAS, transcript level to trait association, and eQTM results, followed by causal inference test identified significant eQTM loci for 23 genes that were also associated with Matsuda index, SI, and/or BMI in EWAS. These associated genes include FERMT3, ITGAM, ITGAX, and POMC In summary, applying an integrative multiomics approach, our study provides evidence for DNAm-mediated regulation of gene expression at both previously identified and novel loci for many key AT transcripts influencing insulin resistance and obesity.
Tips and tricks in achieving zero peri-operative opioid used in onco-urologic surgery.

To review non-opioid based protocols in urologic oncologic surgery and describe our institutional methods of eliminating peri-operative opioids. A thorough literature review was performed using PUBMED to identify articles pertaining to reducing or eliminating narcotic use in genitourinary cancer surgery. Studies were analyzed pertaining to protocols utilized in genitourinary cancer surgery, major abdominal and/or pelvic non-urologic surgery. Reducing or eliminating peri-operative narcotics should begin with an institutionalized protocol made in conjunction with the anesthesia department. Pre-operative regimens should consist of appropriate counseling, gabapentin, and acetaminophen with or without a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Prior to incision, a regional block or local anesthetic should be delivered. Anesthesiologists may develop opioid-free protocols for achieving and maintaining general anesthesia. Post-operatively, patients should be on a scheduled regimen of ketorolac, gabapentin, and acetaminophen. Eliminating peri-operative narcotic use is feasible for major genitourinary oncologic surgery. Patients not only have improved peri-operative outcomes but also are at significantly reduced risk of developing long-term opioid use. Through the implementation of a non-opioid protocol, urologists are able to best serve their patients while positively contributing to reducing the opioid epidemic.
Racing on the Rand: Black Competitive Cycling around Johannesburg, 1930–1960

The history of bicycle racing amongst urban black South Africans exists largely outside of published academic literature. Individuals and communities created vibrant social spaces around this sport...
Exploiting binding-site arginines in drug design: Recent examples

Abstract Active or allosteric site arginines can form diverse interactions with ligands including different types of cation-π interactions, H-bond interactions and non-bond, non-canonical interactions. This provides many opportunities for creative structure-based drug design to improve potency, introduce novelty, and modulate MoA (mode of action), and even to achieve selectivity. This digest will use some recent drug targets of interest as examples to illustrate different types of interactions and how these interactions impact on potency, MoA, and selectivity.
Risk factors observed in the last 30 days of life among student suicides: distinguishing characteristics of college and university student suicides.

Studies of college and university student suicide have identified predictors only of suicide ideation and attempts and have relied solely on self-report data. This study explores risk factors obser...
Supportive and Problematic Interactions Between Sexual Minorities with Serious Mental Illness and Non-intimate Partner Relatives

Family relationships often play a critical role in the functional outcomes and wellbeing of persons with serious mental illness (SMI). However, research has not examined the interactions sexual minorities with SMI have with family members. This exploratory study aimed to examine whether supportive and/or problematic interactions between persons with serious mental illness and non-intimate partner relatives are associated with persons with SMI being sexual minorities. Between 2015 and 2017, 212 adults with SMI residing across the U.S. completed an online survey. Participants provided information regarding their interactions with a non-intimate partner relative in the past 6 months. Chi squared and Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney tests were computed. The sexual orientation of participants was not significantly associated with supportive (co-residence, in-person contact, financial and other assistance, and happiness derived from the relationship) or problematic (emotional over-involvement, limit-setting, psychological abuse, and violence) interactions with non-intimate partner relatives. Practitioners are advised to attempt to include family members and address family relationships in rehabilitation services, regardless of the sexual orientation of persons with SMI.
Recurrent Facial Rash.

A patient presented with a facial rash that was initially painless but developed a burning sensation.
Quantum-cascade-laser-based dual-comb thermometry and speciation at high temperatures

This work presents a methodology for using spectroscopic models to fit absorption-spectrum measurements made by a quantum-cascade-laser-based dual-comb (QCL-DCS) spectrometer for high-temperature kinetics research. A pair of quantum-cascade frequency combs was employed to detect methane's ν4 absorption features between 1270-1320 cm-1 in high-temperature shock-tube environments and extract methane mole fraction and gas temperature from the results. The methodology was first validated by comparing DCS measurements against modeled methane spectra at room temperature in a static cell, followed by assessing the fitting procedure in shock-heated mixtures of 2% methane in Ar at 1000 K. In both validation experiments, the tradeoffs between time resolution and measurement precision were explored. Measurements were achieved at a 4-μs measurement rate with 5% uncertainty for temperature and 4% uncertainty for mole fraction at 1000 K. Higher accuracy was achieved with longer measurement averaging, e.g. 1.8% uncertainty for temperature at 40-μs resolution. Finally, the DCS spectral-fitting methodology was demonstrated to capture temperature and methane time-history evolution during the pyrolysis of iso-octane, a primary gasoline reference fuel. Good agreement was observed with kinetic models, and future applications for DCS kinetics research are discussed.
Hypercapnia Regulates Gene Expression and Tissue Function.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced in eukaryotic cells primarily during aerobic respiration, resulting in higher CO2 levels in mammalian tissues than those in the atmosphere. CO2 like other gaseous molecules such as oxygen and nitric oxide, is sensed by cells and contributes to cellular and organismal physiology. In humans, elevation of CO2 levels in tissues and the bloodstream (hypercapnia) occurs during impaired alveolar gas exchange in patients with severe acute and chronic lung diseases. Advances in understanding of the biology of high CO2 effects reveal that the changes in CO2 levels are sensed in cells resulting in specific tissue responses. There is accumulating evidence on the transcriptional response to elevated CO2 levels that alters gene expression and activates signaling pathways with consequences for cellular and tissue functions. The nature of hypercapnia-responsive transcriptional regulation is an emerging area of research, as the responses to hypercapnia in different cell types, tissues, and species are not fully understood. Here, we review the current understanding of hypercapnia effects on gene transcription and consequent cellular and tissue functions.
Compositional zero-inflated network estimation for microbiome data.

The estimation of microbial networks can provide important insight into the ecological relationships among the organisms that comprise the microbiome. However, there are a number of critical statistical challenges in the inference of such networks from high-throughput data. Since the abundances in each sample are constrained to have a fixed sum and there is incomplete overlap in microbial populations across subjects, the data are both compositional and zero-inflated. We propose the COmpositional Zero-Inflated Network Estimation (COZINE) method for inference of microbial networks which addresses these critical aspects of the data while maintaining computational scalability. COZINE relies on the multivariate Hurdle model to infer a sparse set of conditional dependencies which reflect not only relationships among the continuous values, but also among binary indicators of presence or absence and between the binary and continuous representations of the data. Our simulation results show that the proposed method is better able to capture various types of microbial relationships than existing approaches. We demonstrate the utility of the method with an application to understanding the oral microbiome network in a cohort of leukemic patients. Our proposed method addresses important challenges in microbiome network estimation, and can be effectively applied to discover various types of dependence relationships in microbial communities. The procedure we have developed, which we refer to as COZINE, is available online at https://github.com/MinJinHa/COZINE .
Slandering by Associations

There are several factors (rivalry, weak law enforcement, steep inequalities etc.) that can induce the malicious attack on reputation, also known as slandering, where an agent attempts to increase his bargaining power by disenfranchising the agent on the opposite end of the bargain. This study discusses the novel channel of association-type (delegable, deliberative, vs. dishonest) that incentivizes the slandering. The association transacts with an external agent for information collection and sharing, which leads to outcome that may or may not incentivize slandering. The study presents structured analysis to explain the mechanism.
Explainable Tree-Based Predictions for Unplanned 30-Day Readmission of Patients With Cancer Using Clinical Embeddings.

PURPOSEThirty-day unplanned readmission is one of the key components in measuring quality in patient care. Risk of readmission in oncology patients may be associated with a wide variety of specific...
When 'Literally' Literally Means 'Figuratively': One America News Network v. Rachel Maddow

In 2020 the court determined that Rachel Maddow's statement that right-wing media outlet One America News Network was "literally paid Russian propaganda" was not defamatory. The court reasoned that, in context, "literally" did not mean literally. Rather, it was just a hyperbolic expression. Allowing the word "literally" to have these opposite and contradictory meanings is problematic because it is the word used to delineate when something is to be taken literally. This treatment could have long-reaching ramifications in areas of law beyond just defamation.
Geometric Arveson-Douglas conjecture for the Hardy space and a related compactness criterion

Abstract We consider a class of analytic subsets M ˜ of an open neighborhood of the closed unit ball in C n . Such an M ˜ gives rise to a submodule R and a quotient module Q of the Hardy module H 2 ( S ) on the unit sphere S ⊂ C n . We show that, as predicted by the geometric Arveson-Douglas conjecture, the quotient module Q is p-essentially normal for p > d = dim C M ˜ . We further show that, more interestingly, the quotient module Q exhibits a behavior that is only found on the Bergman space and the Fock space: an operator A in the Toeplitz algebra on Q is compact if and only if its Berezin transform vanishes near M ˜ ∩ S .
Simultaneous reduction of perchlorate and nitrate using fast-settling anoxic sludge.

Abstract Fast-settling, anoxic sludge (FAS) was cultivated and utilized in this study to simultaneously reduce elevated levels of perchlorate and nitrate in an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (AnSBR). Average perchlorate and nitrate removal efficiencies of 96.5 ± 8.44 % and 99.8 ± 0.32 %, respectively, were achieved from an average perchlorate and nitrate loading rate of 159 ± 101 g ClO4−/m3·d and 10.8 ± 7.25 g NO3−-N/m3·d, respectively, throughout long-term operation (>500-d). Batch activity tests revealed a preferential utilization of nitrate over perchlorate, where significant perchlorate reduction inhibition occurred when nitrate was present as a competing electron acceptor under carbon-limiting conditions. Specific perchlorate and nitrate reduction rates were shown to increase as the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of the AnSBR was step-wise decreased and subsequently the perchlorate and nitrate loading rates were step-wise increased. Functional, mRNA-based expression of the nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK), nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ), perchlorate reductase subunit A (pcrA), and the chlorite dismutase (cld) genes illustrated the simultaneous activity of heterotrophic denitrification and perchlorate reduction occurring throughout a complete standard reactor operational cycle, and allowed for expression trends to be documented as the HRT of the AnSBR was reduced from 5-d to 1.25-d. Nitrous oxide (N2O) production was detected as a result of incomplete denitrification, where the largest N2O production occurred at the highest nitrate loading rates investigated in this study. Thauera species were heavily enriched at a longer HRT of 5-d, but were out-competed by Dechloromonas species as the HRT of the AnSBR was step-wise reduced to 1.25-d.
A SpaceWire PHY with Double Data Rate and Fallback Redundancy

In satellite applications, the cost of failure is significantly higher than regular applications. As a result, redundancy is critical. In this paper, we propose a SpaceWire Physical Layer (PHY) Transceiver with a dual-data lane that can support double the data rate and fallback redundancy. The dual-data lane allows twice the data rate with the same transmission frequency. With a lane muxing circuitry embedded in the PHY, our design can support four transmission topologies for fallback redundancy. We used Verilog HDL and ModelSim to create, simulate, and test our SpaceWire PHY Transceiver design. The results show that our design can transmit and receive data in four topologies. When operating in the fourth topology mode with a dual-data lane can deliver twice the data rate compared to other SpaceWire PHY using the same transmission frequency.
Co-locating containerized workload using service mesh telemetry

The cloud-native architecture and container-based technologies are revolutionizing how online services and applications are designed, developed, and managed by offering better elasticity and flexibility to developers and operators. However, the increasing adoption of microservice and serverless designs makes application workload more decomposed and transient at a larger scale. Most existing container orchestration systems still manage application workload based on simple system-level resource usage and policies manually created by operators, leading to ineffective application-agnostic scheduling and extra management burden for operators. In this work, we focus on workload placement for containerized applications and services and argue for the integration of application-level telemetry for profiling application status and co-locating application workload. To avoid extra performance overhead and modifications to existing applications, we propose to use the telemetry collected by service mesh to model the application communication patterns with a graph-based representation. By applying a graph partitioning algorithm, we create co-location groups for application workload that minimize cross-group communication traffic to improve the overall application performance, i.e., response time. Our preliminary experiments with a realistic online e-commerce application show that our solution can reduce the average response time by up to 58% compared to the default Kubernetes scheduler.
Multiple brain regions cooperate in sequential saccade generation

We model control of voluntary saccades to visual and remembered targets in terms of interactions between the basal ganglia (caudate and substantia nigra), superior colliculus, mediodorsal thalamus, posterior parietal cortex, frontal eye fields and the saccade generator of the brainstem. These interactions include modulation of topographic inhibitory masks that manage motor field activity, dynamic remapping of sensory maps onto the eye motor map to take account of eye movements, and sustained neural activity that embodies spatial memory. Models of these mechanisms implemented in NSL (our Neural Simulation Language) simulate behavior and neural activity described in the literature, and suggest new experiments.
Hand Function in Children with an Upper Brachial Plexus Birth Injury: Results of the Nine-Hole Peg Test.

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate hand function in children with Erb upper brachial plexus palsy. Method Hand function was evaluated in 25 children (eight males; 17 females) with a diagnosed upper (C5/C6) brachial plexus birth injury. Of these children, 22 had undergone primary nerve reconstruction and 13 of the 25 had undergone simultaneous and/or secondary shoulder procedures. Hand function was evaluated using the nine-hole peg test at a mean age of 9 years (SD 2y 2mo), and compared with the contralateral, uninvolved hand. Results were compared with age- and sex-matched population norms, and correlated with shoulder outcomes using the Gilbert and Miami scores. Results Although shoulder function was graded as good or excellent in 24 of 25 children, hand function as measured by the nine-hole peg test was significantly altered in the involved hand in 80% (p=0.008). On average the participants took 18.8% longer to complete the task with the involved hand; this was significantly different from the expected difference of 7.2% (p=0.008). Interpretation Hand function is impaired in individuals with upper brachial plexus birth injury. These results suggest that from the initiation of treatment in this population, attention should be paid to recognizing and focusing therapy on subtle limitations of hand function.
Efficient Detection of Vacuity in ACTL Formulas

Prepositional logic formulas containing implications can suffer from antecedent failure, in which the formula is true trivially because the pre-condition of the implication is not satisfiable. In other words, the post-condition of the implication does not affect the truth value of the formula. We call this a vacuous pass, and extend the definition of vacuity to cover other kinds of trivial passes in temporal logic. We define w-ACTL, a subset of CTL and show by construction that for every w-ACTL formula ϕ there is a formula w(ϕ), such that: both ϕ and w(ϕ) are true in some model M iff ϕ passes vacuously. A useful side-effect of w(ϕ) is that if false, any counter-example is also a non-trivial witness of the original formula ϕ.
Elementary Pre-Service Teacher Perceptions of the Greenhouse Effect

Environmental issues are an important topic both in national news, and in science education. Previous studies revealed that students hold many misconceptions relating to such issues as global warming, ozone depletion, and acid rain. This article expands on earlier work by Boyes et al. to examine pre-service teachers' views about these issues, especially global warming and the related term, the greenhouse effect, and the effect of their views on elementary student performance. Results support the findings of Boyes et al. that elementary education majors hold many misconceptions about these environmental issues, and these can effect their teaching of these topics in elementary classes.
Quantitative Temporal Analysis of 99mTechnetium p-Isopropyl-Iminodiacetic Acid (PIPIDA) as a Measure of Hepatic Function in Health and Disease

Excretory liver function was analyzed in 10 healthy volunteers and 28 subjects with acute or chronic liver injury following intravenous administration of 99mtechnetium p-isopropyl iminodiacetic acid. Hepatobiliary transit of this agent was quantitated at 5-min intervals for a total of 60 min. Indices of total liver activity, liver cell uptake, liver parenchymal clearance, and bile duct clearance of 99mtechnetium p-isopropyl iminodiacetic acid were calculated from time--activity curves over heart, liver, extrahepatic bile ducts, and gallbladder. Seven subjects with acute viral hepatitis, 15 with extrahepatic biliary obstruction, and 6 with intrahepatic cholestasis were evaluated. Compared with healthy volunteers, a significant (p less than 0.0001) reduction in total liver activity and liver parenchymal clearance was demonstrated in all patient groups. Major resolution in all liver-derived indices, particularly total liver activity, occurred during convalescence from hepatitis and after biliary drainage. Nonmeasurable bile duct clearance always indicated a diagnosis of extrahepatic obstruction in cholestatic subjects, and this index normalized in subjects following biliary drainage. Whereas visual assessment of 99mtechnetium p-isopropyl iminodiacetic acid scans provided limited, useful information about the functional status of the liver, quantitative temporal analysis proved to be a much more effective technique.