cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Daptomycin Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in a Pooled Sample of Patients Receiving Thrice-Weekly Hemodialysis

While the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of daptomycin in hemodialysis (HD) patients have been evaluated previously by three groups, resultant dosing recommendations have varied. To address this clinical conundrum, this study combined concentration-time data from these PK evaluations and derived uniform dosing recommendations among patients on HD receiving daptomycin. A two-compartment model with separate HD and non-HD clearance terms was fit to the PK data from these studies by using BigNPAG. Embedded with PK parameters from the population PK analysis, 5,000-subject Monte Carlo simulations (MCS) were performed to identify HD dosing schemes that provided efficacy (cumulative and daily area under the concentration-time curve [AUC] values) and toxicity (trough concentrations of ≥24.3 mg/liter) profiles comparable to those from simulations employing the daptomycin PK model derived from the Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia–infective endocarditis (SAB-IE) study. Separate HD dosing schemes were sought for the two weekly interdialytic periods (48 and 72 h). For the 48-h interdialytic period, intra- and post-HD dosing provided the most isometric cumulative and daily AUCs. For the 72-h interdialytic period, all HD dosing schemes provided noncumulative AUC values from 48 to 72 h (AUC48–72) that were <50% of the SAB-IE AUC48–72 values. Increasing the parent dose by 50% intra- or post-HD provided comparable AUC48–72 values, while maintaining acceptable trough concentration (Cmin) values. When efficacy and toxicity profiles were evaluated for each individual study, higher probabilities for Cmin reaching ≥24.3 mg/liter were observed in one of the three studies. Given the high probability of Cmin being ≥24.3 mg/liter in one of the three studies, more intensive creatine phosphokinase (CPK) monitoring may be warranted in HD patients receiving daptomycin.
Intramolecular Isopeptide But not Internal Thioester Bonds Confer Proteolytic and Significant Thermal Stability to the S. Pyogenes Pilus Adhesin Spy0125.

Streptococcus pyogenes and other Gram-positive bacterial pathogens present long macromolecular filaments known as pili on their surface that mediate adhesion and colonization. These pili are covalent polymers, assembled by sortases. Typically, they comprise a putative adhesin at their tip, a backbone subunit present in multiple copies and a basal subunit that is covalently anchored to the peptidoglycan layer of the cell surface. The crystal structures of pilin subunits revealed the presence of unusual covalent linkages in these proteins, including intramolecular isopeptide and internal thioester bonds. The intramolecular isopeptide bonds in backbone pilins are important for protein stability. Here, using both the wild-type protein and a set of mutants, we assessed the proteolytic and thermal stability of the S. pyogenes pilus tip adhesin Spy0125, in the presence and absence of its intramolecular isopeptide and internal thioester bonds. We also determined a crystal structure of the internal thioester bond variant Spy0125Cys426Ala. We find that mutations in the intramolecular isopeptide bonds compromise the stability of Spy0125. Using limited proteolysis and thermal denaturation assays, we could separate the contribution of each intramolecular isopeptide bond to Spy0125 stability. In contrast, mutation in the internal thioester bond had a lesser effect on protein stability and the crystal structure is essentially identical to wild type. This work suggests that the internal thioester in Spy0125, although having a minor contributory role, is not required for protein stability and must have a different primary function, most likely mediating a covalent interaction with host cell ligands. Proteins 2014; 82:517–527. © 2013 The Authors Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Safeware: System Safety and Computers

I The Nature Of Risk. Risk In Modern Society. Changing Attitudes Toward Risk. Is Increased Concern Justified?. Unique Risk Factors in Industrialized Society. Computers And Risk. The Role of Computers in Accidents. Software Myths. Why Software Engineering is hard. The Reality We Face. Causes Of Accidents. The Concept of Causality. Flaws in the Safety Culture. Ineffective Organizational Structure. Ineffective Technical Activities. Human Error And Risk. Do Humans Cause Most Accidents?. The Need for Humans in Automated Systems. Human Error as Human-Task Mismatch. Conclusions. The Role Of Humans In Automated Systems. Mental Models. The Human as Monitor. The Human as Backup. The Human as Partner. Conclusions. II Introduction To System Safety. Foundations Of System Safety. Safety Engineering Pre-World War II. Systems Theory. Systems Engineering. Systems Analysis. Fundamentals Of System Safety. Historical Development. Basic Concepts. Software System Safety. Cost and Effectiveness of System Safety. Other Approaches To Safety. Industrial Safety. Reliability Engineering. Application-Specific Approaches to Safety. III Definitions And Models. Terminology. Failure and Error. Accident and Incident. Hazard. Risk. Safety. Safety and Security. Accident And Human Error Models. Accident Models. Human Task and Error Models. Summary. IV Elements Of A Safeware Program. Managing Safety. The Role of General Management. Place in the Organizational Structure. Documentation. The System And Software Safety Process. The General Tasks. Conceptual Development. Design. Full-Scale Development. Production and Deployment. Operation. "Examples. Hazard Analysis. The Hazard Analysis Process. Types of System Models. General Types of Analysis. Limitations and Criticisms of Hazard Analysis. Hazard Analysis Models And Techniques. Checklists. Hazard Indices. Fault Tree Analysis. Management Oversight and Risk Tree (MORT) Analysis. Event Tree Analysis. Cause-Consequence analysis (CCA). Hazards and Operability Analysis (HAZOP). Interface Analyses. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). Fault Hazard Analysis (FHA). State Machine Hazard Analysis (SMHA). Task and Human Error Analysis Techniques. Evaluations of Hazard Analysis Techniques. Software Hazard And Requirements Analysis. Process Considerations. Requirements Specification Components. Completeness in Requirements Specifications. Completeness Criteria for Requirements Analysis. Constraint Analysis. Designing For Safety. The Design Process. Design Techniques. Design Modification and Maintenance. Design Of The Human-Machine Interface. General Process Considerations. Matching Tasks to Human Characteristics. Reducing Safety-Critical Human Errors. Providing Appropriate Information and Feedback. Training and Maintaining Skills. Guidelines for Safe HMI Design. Verification Of Safety. Dynamic Analysis. Static Analysis. Independent Verification and Validation. Summary.
Optimized wiggler magnet for CESR

For CESR operation around /spl psi/, Charm and Tau thresholds, the superconducting wigglers with 2.1T peak field of /spl sim/20 m total length will be installed around the ring, allowing necessary damping. We describe here optimization process for the wiggler magnet parameters to meet the field value and quality required.
A suite of methods for representing activity space in a healthcare accessibility study

Background "Activity space" has been used to examine how people's habitual movements interact with their environment, and can be used to examine accessibility to healthcare opportunities. Traditionally, the standard deviational ellipse (SDE), a Euclidean measure, has been used to represent activity space. We describe the construction and application of the SDE at one and two standard deviations, and three additional network-based measures of activity space using common tools in GIS: the road network buffer (RNB), the 30-minute standard travel time polygon (STT), and the relative travel time polygon (RTT). We compare the theoretical and methodological assumptions of each measure, and evaluate the measures by examining access to primary care services, using data from western North Carolina.
Development of a hospital‐based program focused on improving healthcare value

BACKGROUND Frontline physicians face increasing pressure to improve the quality of care they deliver while simultaneously decreasing healthcare costs. Although hospitals and physicians are beginning to implement initiatives targeting this new goal of healthcare value, few of them have a well-developed infrastructure to support this work. METHODS In March 2012, we launched a high-value care (HVC) program within the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. The HVC program is co-led by a physician and the division's administrator, and includes other hospitalists, resident physicians, pharmacists, and administrators. The program aims to (1) use financial and clinical data to identify areas with clear evidence of waste in the hospital, (2) promote evidence-based interventions that improve both quality of care and value, and (3) pair interventions with evidence-based cost awareness education to drive culture change. RESULTS We identified 6 ongoing projects during our first year. Preliminary data for our inaugural projects are encouraging. One initiative, which targeted decreasing nebulizer use on a high-acuity medical floor (often using metered-dose inhalers instead) led to a decrease in rates of more than 50%. CONCLUSIONS The HVC program is proving to be a successful mechanism to promote improved healthcare value and clinician engagement. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2014;9:671–677. © 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine
The effects of transducer geometry on artifacts common to diagnostic bone imaging with conventional medical ultrasound

The portability, low cost, and non-ionizing radiation associated with medical ultrasound suggest that it has potential as a superior alternative to X-ray for bone imaging. However, when conventional ultrasound imaging systems are used for bone imaging, clinical acceptance is frequently limited by artifacts derived from reflections occurring away from the main axis of the acoustic beam. In this paper, the physical source of off-axis artifacts and the effect of transducer geometry on these artifacts are investigated in simulation and experimental studies. In agreement with diffraction theory, the sampled linear-array geometry possessed increased off-axis energy compared with single-element piston geometry, and therefore, exhibited greater levels of artifact signal. Simulation and experimental results demonstrated that the lineararray geometry exhibited increased artifact signal when the center frequency increased, when energy off-axis to the main acoustic beam (i.e., grating lobes) was perpendicularly incident upon off-axis surfaces, and when off-axis surfaces were specular rather than diffusive. The simulation model used to simulate specular reflections was validated experimentally and a correlation coefficient of 0.97 between experimental and simulated peak reflection contrast was observed. In ex vivo experiments, the piston geometry yielded 4 and 6.2 dB average contrast improvement compared with the linear array when imaging the spinous process and interlaminar space of an animal spine, respectively. This work indicates that off-axis reflections are a major source of ultrasound image artifacts, particularly in environments comprising specular reflecting (i.e., bone or bonelike) objects. Transducer geometries with reduced sensitivity to off-axis surface reflections, such as a piston transducer geometry, yield significant reductions in image artifact.
Female Political Participation and Health in India

This article uses a unique data set to investigate the determinants of political participation in India. In particular, the data from the 1981 census of India are coupled with electoral returns from 1979-80 to examine the factors influencing participation of both genders. Differential impact is explored empirically. Many of the same influences found to be important in developed countries are relevant in India, including income, education, and constituency culture. In addition, labor force participation and familial obligations have an effect, though in the opposite direction from that predicted in the United States. A lack of government-provided resources devoted to health and education also influences participation. A second investigation uses the same census data with 1977-78 election returns to estimate government response to female political participation in India. Regarding the causes of child mortality, no effect of female participation on health outcomes was found. This may result from the aggregat...
Management of supply chain: an alternative modelling technique for forecasting

Forecasting is a necessity almost in any operation. However, the tools of forecasting are still primitive in view of the great strides made by research and the increasing abundance of data made possible by automatic identification technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID). The relationship of various parameters that may change and impact decisions are so abundant that any credible attempt to drive meaningful associations are in demand to deliver the value from acquired data. This paper proposes some modifications to adapt an advanced forecasting technique (GARCH) with the aim to develop it as a decision support tool applicable to a wide variety of operations including supply chain management (SCM). We have made an attempt to coalesce a few different ideas toward a ‘solutions’ approach aimed to model volatility and in the process, perhaps, better manage risk. It is possible that industry, governments, corporations, businesses, security organizations, consulting firms and academics with deep knowledge in one or more fields, may spend the next few decades striving to synthesize one or more models of effective modus operandi to combine these ideas with other emerging concepts, tools, technologies and standards to collectively better understand, analyse and respond to uncertainty. However, the inclination to reject deep-rooted ideas based on inconclusive results from pilot projects is a detrimental trend and begs to ask the question whether one can aspire to build an elephant using mouse as a model.
A remote presentation agent for multimedia databases

The successful realization of distributed multimedia information systems depend on the ability to overcome the synchronization problems involved in the end-to-end presentation of multimedia information. In this paper we discuss multimedia synchronization at the source, network and user-interface levels of the distributed multimedia information systems. In order to resolve the synchronization problem we make use of a progressive retrieval strategy which sequentially retrieves independent synchronized entities from a multimedia document. This paper also presents an architecture for a multimedia presentation agent which synchronizes the multimedia document for playback. This multimedia presentation agent is designed to be an interactive server to a user-interface client.
A finite difference approximation of a non-equilibrium traffic flow model

We develop in this paper a finite difference scheme for a previously reported non-equilibrium traffic flow model. This scheme is an extension of Godunov's scheme to systems. It utilizes the solutions of a series of Riemann problems at cell boundaries to construct approximate solutions of the non-equilibrium traffic flow model under general initial conditions. Moreover, the Riemann solutions at both left (upstream) and right (downstream) boundaries of a highway allow the specification of correct boundary conditions using state variables (e.g., density and/or speed) rather than fluxes. Preliminary numerical results indicate that the finite difference scheme correctly computes entropy-satisfying weak solutions of the original model.
Enhanced recovery after surgery for oncological craniotomies

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) initiatives in the fields of gastrointestinal and pelvic surgery have contributed to improved postoperative functional status for patients and decreased length of stay. A similar comprehensive protocol is lacking for patients undergoing craniotomy for tumor resection. A literature search was performed using PubMed. These references were reviewed with a preference for recent high quality studies. Cohort and retrospective studies were also included if higher levels of evidence were lacking. A literature search was conducted for scalp blocks and minimally invasive craniotomies. Papers were scored using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria for evidence level and recommendation grade. Seventeen ERAS items were reviewed and recommendations made. The current body of evidence is insufficient to create a standardized protocol for craniotomy and tumor resection. However, this initial review of the literature supports pursuing future research initiatives that explore modalities to improve functional recovery and decrease length of stay in craniotomy patients.
Keeping Two Animal Systems in One Lab – A Frog Plus Fish Case Study

For two decades, my lab has been studying development using two vertebrate animals, the frog Xenopus and the zebrafish, Danio. This has been both productive and challenging. The initial rationale for the choice was to compare the same process in two species, as a means to find commonalities that may carry through all vertebrates. As time progressed, however, each species has become exploited for its specific attributes, more than for comparative studies. Maintaining two species simultaneously has been challenging, as has the division of research between the two and making sure that lab members know both systems well enough to communicate productively. Other significant issues concern funding for disparate research, figuring out how to make contributions to both fish and frog communities, and being accepted as a member of two communities. I discuss whether this dual allegiance has been a good idea.
Elastic wave velocities at Mg 3 Al 2 Si 3 O 13 -pyrope garnet to 10 GPa

Elastic wave velocities of Mg 3 Al 2 Si 3 O 12 pyrope garnet were measured to 10 GPa at ambient temperature, using ultrasonic interferometry in a 1000 ton split-cylinder, multi-anvil apparatus (USCA-1000). The sample used in the ultrasonic measurements was a polycrystalline specimen hot-pressed at 5 GPa and 1350 degrees C in a 2000 ton uniaxial split-sphere apparatus (USSA-2000) from a homogeneous glass of pyrope composition. Special P-T paths used during synthesis minimized effects of decompressing and thermal cracking; the bulk density of the sample was indistinguishable from the X-ray density. The elastic wave velocities measured at the ambient condition agree with the Hashin-Shtrikman averages of the single crystal values within the mutual uncertainties. The high-pressure experiments yielded the elastic moduli and their pressure derivatives (finite strain fit) for the shear modulus G = 92+ or -1 GPa. G' = (theta G/theta P)T = 1.6+ or -0.2 and for the longitudinal modulus L = 294+ or -1 GPa, L' = (theta L/theta P)T = 7.4 + or - 0.5, (L = K s +4/3G), from which the bulk modulus K = 171+ or -2 GPa, K' = (theta K s /theta P)T = 5.3+ or -0.4 was calculated. The pressure derivative for the shear modulus of pyrope did not differ from those of natural pyrope-almandine-grossular garnets. For the bulk modulus, the pressure derivative for pyrope agreed with that for pyrope-almandine but was substantially higher (25%) than that for the Ca-bearing garnet. In the pyrope-majorite series, K' remained constant, whereas G' increased by 25 for 38% majorite content.
Mechanical Stress Characterization of Shallow Trench Isolation by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

method for characterizing the mechanical stress induced in silicon technology is described. Analysis by scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPM) coupled with finite-element (FE) mechanical strain simulations is performed. The SKPM technique detects variations in the semiconductor work function due to strain influences on the band gap. This technique is then used to analyze the strain induced by shallow trench isolation processes for electrical isolation. The SKPM measurements agree with the FE simulations qualitatively.
Brachistochrone on a 2D curved surface using optimal control and spline-based dem map data

Based on a bivariate spline representation of United States Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation model (DEM) data, the brachistochrone on a 2D curved surface without friction was solved numerically using dynamic and control models in MATLAB in conjunction with the Spline Toolbox for surface modeling. This extends in a natural manner previous work by several of the authors (Hennessey and Shakiban) on both the 1D and 2D curved surface brachistochrone using optimal control and resulting in a twopoint boundary value problem. DEM data permits an accurate representation of the surface in question (30 m resolution data for Lone Mountain in MT) and the Spline Toolbox provides a sufficiently smooth version of the surface, including access to spatial partial derivatives needed in the minimum-time control law. Step-by-step results are reported, including the surface representation details, the minimum-time route & travel time, evaluation of the generalized = 1 Legendre-Clebsch optimality condition, and comparison with competing routes, namely the constant yaw rate and constant bearing angle routes.
A pharmacist's contribution to an ambulatory neurology clinic.

Objective Identify and categorize recommendations made by a consultant pharmacist in a neurology clinic, and document patient satisfaction with consultations provided by the pharmacist. Design Prospective, case series. Setting Ambulatory neurology clinic located in eastern Washington state. Patients Participants were referred to the consultant pharmacist by the neurologist or neurology nurse practitioner or self-referral. The pharmacist saw 56 patients, for a total of 66 encounters. Interventions A medication review was completed, and the patient and pharmacist met for consultation, assessment, and patient counseling. The pharmacist made pharmacotherapeutic recommendations and referrals to other health care providers. Printed surveys were distributed to patients regarding their satisfaction with the pharmacy consultation. Main outcome measure(s) The number and types of recommendations made by the pharmacist. Patient satisfaction with the pharmacist and pharmacy consultation, reported in a written survey provided after the consultation. Results The pharmacist spent an average of 38 minutes with each patient. A total of 192 pharmacotherapeutic recommendations were made: 55 (29%) to discontinue a medication, 46 (24%) to add a medication, 45 (23%) to change a dose, 39 (20%) therapeutic substitutions, and 7 (4%) for therapeutic monitoring. Survey respondents indicated they were very satisfied (97%), and all (100%) had a better understanding of how to take their medications after meeting with the pharmacist. Conclusion Pharmacist involvement in a neurology clinic increases patient-pharmacist contact time and patient understanding regarding medications. The pharmacist offers numerous recommendations to health care providers, potentially improving the patient's pharmacotherapy.
Online Monitoring for Multiple Mode Processes Based on Gaussian Mixture Model

Considering the process high dimensionality,multi-operation,time-variant characteristics,and unknown mode duration,the article proposes the multiple mode monitoring algorithm based on the gaussian mixture model. It also proposes the offline data classification algorithm aiming at the problem that offline data has no modal tag. For online data to corresponding modal type of problem,online data modal identification algorithm is put forward. And on the basis of the above methods establishing the model of multimodal process monitoring in continuous annealing line as the background,the effectiveness of the algorithm was validated by actual production data.
Development and application of medical rescue and hazard evaluation system for sudden chemical poisoning accidents in Zhaoqing

Objective To establish a scientific,practical,fast and accurate medical emergency rescue system for sudden chemical poisoning accident,and to improve the emergency reacting,commanding and decision-making ability in sudden chemical poisoning accidents of Zhaoqing.Methods By collecting source of dangerous chemicals,satellite image map,meteorology,hydrology,geography,population distribution and medical emergency rescue resource distribution of Zhaoqing,a systemic firstaid database of chemical poisoning was established,a structure design of support system was conducted,the data was recorded and the effect was test in practical application.Results This system equipped with some information management modules such as accident condition setting,hazard evaluation,rescue plan,medical emergency,file management and geographic information system,as well as a database of chemical toxicities.In the application of hazard accident simulative evaluation,emergency rescue drills and sudden chemical poisoning accident site disposal,the system could evaluate the harmful degree of chemical accident quickly,accurately,intuitively and visually.Also,the output of corresponding emergency rescue plan could automatically displayed.It could be used as a practical tool for the evaluation of occupational hazards,and to guide the enterprises to troubleshoot occupational hazard risks.Conclusion This system can provide intuitive information and decision supports for the administrative department,provide scientific basis for government to lead emergency rescue for sudden chemical poisoning accidents in Zhaoqing.On a certain degree,it is scientific,progressive,feasible and practicable.
Melatonin increases the regularity of cardiac rhythmicity in the Drosophila heart in both wild-type and strains bearing pathogenic mutations.

Melatonin is a hormone that is critical for normal circadian and seasonal rhythmicity in a wide range of different animals. It is a powerful antioxidant commonly used to prevent reperfusion injury to the heart after infarction. We show here it has other more far-reaching effects on cardiac function. Using the Drosophila model, we show that injection of melatonin increases the regularity of heartbeat significantly and can rescue rhythmicity in flies bearing mutations that adversely affect cardiac function. Notably, melatonin increases cardiac regularity independent of alteration of heart rate. We provide compelling evidence that melatonin’s action as an antioxidant is not the mechanism underlying improved cardiac performance. We have strong evidence that melatonin’s action on the heart is mediated via a specific G-Protein-coupled receptor encoded by the CG 4313 gene that our results implicate as a candidate melatonin receptor. These results open a line of questioning about fundamental aspects of cardiac pacemaking.
From Empires to NGOs in the West African Sahel: A New Republic

Long before its socialist experiment had come to an abrupt end, Mali, like its neighbors, had been dubbed a republic twice over: in 1958, still within the French Community, as Soudan and in 1960 as Mali. Setting the new republic in its West African and French imperial context, this chapter measures its emergence via two transformations that came largely from without – the end of the indigenat and the enfranchisement of women (first as mothers, later as female citizens, but always as women) – and one that came from within, the abolition of the canton chiefs and the sketching out of an unfinished blueprint for rural democracy. Those transformations gave meaning to the idea of a republic of citizens in the postcolonial Sahel, an idea whose potential remains unrealized and whose value the catastrophe of 2012–13 has only accentuated. Like so many others, that story begins with an ending. What Was the Indigenat? The question of the republic begins where the indigenat ends. Structuring political life until its abolition in 1946, the indigenat was not particular to the territories of the Sahel. Rather, it represented the obscure core of the French colonial state. Throughout the first decades of the twentieth century, an ever-expanding and contracting spectrum of political statuses, exemptions, and privileged categories developed around the indigenat in both meanings of that term: the regime of sanctions and the status of the native ( indigene ). This spectrum is potentially more revealing and surely no less significant than one of its poles taken alone, namely the narrow category of colonial citizens on which a rich literature exists. Indeed, until the creation of an imperial citizenship within the French Union in 1946, susceptibility to or exemption from the indigenat represented both marker and motive for the proliferation of political statuses in French colonial Africa.
Development of motor controls using the Semikron advanced integration power module

This paper traces the development of three-phase induction motor controls using the Semikron advanced integration (SKAI) power electronics system. The SKAI was developed for hybrid and electric vehicles and integrates all the components of a three-phase inverter. As such, it promises to deliver significant cost savings. The SKAI utilizes a digital signal processor (DSP) controller. However, Semikron does not supply the necessary software for the DSP controller. The DSP used in the controller is manufactured by Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments provides an array of DSP programming utilities. This paper discusses aspects of programming and testing the DSP controller
4-H & FFA Livestock Projects: Life Skills Gained and Knowledge Learned

Junior Livestock shows are one of the most popular 4-H and FFA projects in Utah. Thousands of youth participate in these shows from every county in Utah. County extension agents and FFA advisors spend much time with livestock committees, leaders, parents, and youth engaged in livestock shows. Can public funds spent on salaries be justified for county 4-H extension agents and FFA advisors who work with junior livestock shows? To help answer this question, 413 youth involved in livestock shows in Utah were surveyed in 2001. Youth were asked to share skills learned from their livestock projects. Value statements along with specific content skills were measured in the survey. The results indicate that from their 4-H and FFA projects, youth learned to accept responsibility, follow instructions, gain self-confidence, follow instructions, “do the right thing” as well as a variety of other values and content skills.
Outcomes in the highest panel reactive antibody recipients of deceased donor kidneys under the new kidney allocation system.

Since the institution of the new kidney allocation system in December 2014, kidney transplant candidates with the highest calculated panel reactive antibodies (cPRA) of 99-100 have been transplanted at much higher rates. However, concerns have been raised that outcomes in these patients might be impaired due to higher immunological risk and longer cold ischemia times resulting from long-distance sharing of kidneys. Here, we compare outcomes at the University of Wisconsin between study patients with cPRA 99-100 and all other recipients of deceased donor kidneys transplanted between 12/04/2014 and 12/31/2015. All patients had at least 6 months post-transplant follow-up. The mean follow-up was 13.9±3 months in cPRA ≥99% and 12.3±3.5 months in cPRA ≤98%. There was a total of 152 transplants, 25 study patients, and 127 controls. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in delayed graft function, rejection, kidney function, graft and patient survival, or infections. We conclude that transplanting the most highly sensitized patients with kidneys shared outside their local donation service areas is associated with excellent short-term outcomes that are comparable to controls.
Lagrangian Formulation for Metal Forming with Large Elasto-Plastic Deformations

ABSTRACT A finite element solution to metal forming is presented. The material exhibits both Isotropie and kinematic hardening and is subjected to large deformations.
Kinetic mixing between a Higgs boson and a nearly degenerate dark scalar: Oscillations and displaced vertices

Extensions beyond the standard model allow for a gauge singlet scalar to be kinetically coupled with the Higgs. We consider kinetic mixing between a dark scalar gauge singlet nearly degenerate with the Higgs, focusing on the dynamical aspects of the mixing phenomena. The renormalization program is carried out by obtaining the one-loop effective action which yields an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian to study the dynamics of mixing. The scalar Higgs becomes a coherent superposition of the mass eigenstates, thus kinetic mixing leads to oscillations and common decay channels in striking similarity with neutral meson mixing. Near degeneracy yields an enhancement of the kinetic coupling. For small kinetic mixing we find that the mass eigenstates feature different lifetimes which result in a wide separation of time scales of evolution along with important coherence aspects from dark scalar-Higgs interference. The wide separation of scales is manifest as displaced decay vertices which could potentially be a telltale experimental signal of kinetic mixing.
Using Adoptive Cell Therapy in the Modern Era of Metastatic Melanoma Treatment

Abstract Treatment strategies in metastatic melanoma have attempted to use the immune system to target cancer since the 1980s. Adoptive cell transfer using autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) extracted from a patient tumor and cultured in vitro was pioneered in the 1980s and has been developed over the past 30 years through multiple clinical trials. Infusion of ex vivo expanded TILs is performed after completion of nonmyeloablative chemotherapy administered to suppress host regulatory T cells. Systemic interleukin (IL)-2 is administered post-infusion to allow T-cell persistence and activation. Toxicities to treatment are primarily related to pre-infusion chemotherapy and IL-2. Clinical predictors of response to TIL have been assessed but factors have not been elucidated to select patients with high likelihood of response to treatment. Ongoing trials aim to minimize toxicities, guide patient selection, and improve rates and duration of response.
Robust Estimation of the Mean and Covariance Matrix from Data with Missing Values

SUMMARY Methods of Rubin (1983) for robust estimation of a mean and covariance matrix and associated parameters are extended to analyse data with missing values. The methods are maximum likelihood (ML) for multivariate t and contaminated normal models. ML estimation is achieved by the EM algorithm, and involves minor modifications to the EM algorithm for multivariate normal data. The methods are shown to be superior to existing methods in a simulation study, using data generated from a variety of models. Model selection and standard error estimation are discussed with the aid of two real data examples.
From appropriate technology to the clean energy economy: renewable energy and environmental politics since the 1970s

Although many people think of the current transition to a lower carbon economy as a process that has just begun, this movement has historical roots. This paper examines how different ideological and political frameworks shaped the development of renewable technologies in the USA since the energy crises of the 1970s. Public discourse about renewable energy embodied conflicting ideas about how to manage natural resources and different plans for distributing political power in society. Questions about the appropriate role of government in shaping energy futures also influenced the politics of renewable technologies. Illuminating the hidden ideological and political dynamics that surrounded energy policy in this formative era helps us to see the barriers involved in our current energy transition as part of a broader historical continuum. By revealing how different political and environmental goals shaped—and in some ways limited—the transition away from fossil fuels in the late twentieth century, this research demonstrates the importance of history for thinking about current sustainability challenges.
Rheology of Sickle Cells and Erythrocyte Content

The rheological behavior of Hb SS blood, cell suspensions and cell content was studied in oxygenated state and following controlled deoxygenation. Oxygenated Hb SS blood had higher viscosity than Hb AA blood at the same hematocrit, and this is attributable to (a) an elevated plasma viscosity, (b) a higher intracellular viscosity due to elevated MCHC, and (c) cell membrane rigidity. Deoxygenation of membrane-free Hb SS hemolysates below a critical O2 saturation (85% for Hb S concentration = 35 g%) caused progressive increases in viscosity, preferentially at low shear rates. The viscosity of suspensions of Hb SS cells also began to rise with such minor degrees of O2 desaturations. Microsieving through 5 μm pores is more sensitive than viscometry in detecting the reduced deformability of slightly deoxygenated Hb SS cells. The results suggest that low flow states in sickle cell disease may lead to vicious cycles not only by decreasing the tissue O2 tension but also by reducing the shear stress needed for cell deformation. The anemia in sickle cell disease, by preventing excessive viscous impedance to develop following deoxygenation, may serve the compensatory purpose of optimizing O2 delivery to tissues. In addition to these pathophysiological implications, the present investigation serves to elucidate the interrelationship between the intracellular fluid viscosity and the rheological behavior of cell suspensions.
The Mechanical Properties Testing Program at the NBS-AEC Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory

Proper design of cryogenic equipment of any type is contingent on the availability of low temperature mechanical properties data. Due to the urgent need for such data at the Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory, the work has been limited to those materials known to have good low temperature properties; specifically, the face centered cubic metals and alloys such as the austenitic stainless steels, nickel alloys, copper and some aluminum alloys. The types of mechanical tests include tension, impact, fatigue and hardness at temperatures down to 20° K.
Theory and Calculation of Productivity Indexes

The purpose of this paper is to provide a unified exposition of three productivity indexes: the so-called Malmquist productivity index discussed in Caves, Christensen and Diewert (1982), the Tornqvist productivity index (also popularized by the aforementioned authors, hereafter often referred to as CCD), and the Fisher (ideal) index. The unifying theme is the Shephard input distance function which can be used to define the Malmquist index and is dual to the support or value functions used in defining the Fisher and Tornqvist indexes.
Understanding Group Structures and Properties in Social Media

The rapid growth of social networking sites enables people to connect to each other more conveniently than ever. With easy-to-use social media, people contribute and consume contents, leading to a new form of human interaction and the emergence of online collective behavior. In this chapter, we aim to understand group structures and properties by extracting and profiling communities in social media. We present some challenges of community detection in social media. A prominent one is that networks in social media are often heterogeneous. We introduce two types of heterogeneity presented in online social networks and elaborate corresponding community detection approaches for each type, respectively. Social media provides not only interaction information but also textual and tag data. This variety of data can be exploited to profile individual groups in understanding group formation and relationships. We also suggest some future work in understanding group structures and properties.
Spectrum Patrolling With Crowdsourced Spectrum Sensors

We use a crowdsourcing approach for RF spectrum patrolling, where heterogeneous, low-cost spectrum sensors are deployed widely and are tasked with detecting unauthorized transmissions while consuming only a limited amount of resources. We pose this as a signal detection problem where the individual sensor’s detection performance may vary widely based on their respective hardware or software configurations, but are hard to model using traditional approaches. Still an optimal subset of sensors and their configurations must be chosen to maximize the overall detection performance subject to given resource (cost) limitations. We present the challenges of this problem in crowdsourced settings and propose a set of methods to address them. These methods use data-driven approaches to model individual sensors and exploit mechanisms for sensor selection and fusion while accounting for their correlated nature. We present performance results using examples of commodity-based spectrum sensors and show significant improvements relative to baseline approaches.
Development of Assessment Tool for Workforce Sustainability

AbstractThe work environment in construction is physically and mentally demanding. This demanding environment can place adverse risk on the construction workforce including emotional, physical, and...
Intending the Spirits: Experiencing Vodu Through the “Fetish” in Togo

Early encounters with Africa initiated a European fascination with the “fetish.” Though this term has been extensively problematized, anthropologists have kept the term, reading fetishes as cultura...
Genetic and environmental regulators of Kcc2/KCC2 gene expression

Abstract Kcc2 is a highly regulated gene whose expression is confined to the central nervous system (CNS). KCC2 is the primary co-transporter protein that extrudes chloride and maintains low chloride levels in adult neurons. Because Kcc2 expression is critically linked to neuronal chloride ([Cl−]i) homeostasis, Kcc2 gene expression has to occur at the right place and the right time throughout the life of a neuron. Early neurons have low Kcc2 expression and high intracellular chloride levels (120 mM and higher) which leads to GABA functioning in an excitatory manner. The depolarizing effects of GABA in CNS neurons during early brain development facilitates neuronal migration and consequently, the basic building plan of the highly complex 3D-structures of the cerebral cortex. In the neurodevelopmental process known as the “chloride shift,” Kcc2 expression increases to reach a maximum level a few weeks after birth (in rodents), at which time virtually all CNS neurons function at steady-state [Cl−]i of This chapter will review the current state of knowledge as well as consider future directions of research into the regulation of the Kcc2/KCC2 gene at the transcriptional level, which is the most energetically favorable method of regulation. While there are numerous intrinsic signals that can regulate Kcc2/KCC2 expression, the environment is also an important determinant of Kcc2/KCC2 gene expression. Environmental signals can be codified as epigenetic modifications to regulate gene transcription. Epigenetic regulation of neural gene expression, e.g., Kcc2/KCC2, can not only be selective for a certain neuronal cell type, but also be inherited across generations, which may provide a window of opportunity for understanding of diseases and the development of rational therapeutic strategies.
Sequential Neural Network Decoder For Convolutional Code With Large Block Sizes

Due to the curse of dimensionality, the training complexity of the neural network based channel-code decoder increases exponentially with the codeword length. Although computation power has made significant progresses, it is still hard to deal with convolutional code with large block sizes. In this paper, we proposed a neural network based decoder termed Sequential Neural Network Decoder (SNND). The SNND consists of multiple sub models, and it passes the last state of the current sub model to the following model as the initial state. The bit error rate (BER) performance of the SNND remains unchanged as the number of sub models increases. It achieves a performance close to that of the soft decision Viterbi decoder under Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. However, the SNND’s performance is found to decrease when the modulation order increases.
Can a comparison of clinical and deep space irradiation scenarios shed light on the radiation response of the brain

Not surprisingly, our knowledge of the impact of radiation on the brain has evolved considerably. Decades of work have struggled with identifying the critical cellular targets in the brain, the lat...
Does Exposure to Primary Care Early in the Didactic Phase of the Physician Assistant (PA) Curriculum Influence Field Choice Post-Graduation?

BackgroundOver the past 10 years, the nation has witnessed a significant increase in the number of physician assistant (PA) education programs. Primary care shortages throughout the United States h...
Vaccine Therapies for Cancer: Then and Now

There are strong biologic and preclinical rationales for the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines; however, the clinical translation of this treatment strategy has been challenging. It is now understood that many previous clinical trials of cancer vaccines used target antigens or vaccine designs that inherently lacked sufficient immunogenicity to induce clinical responses. Despite the historical track record, breakthrough advances in cancer immunobiology and vaccine technologies have supported continued interest in therapeutic cancer vaccinations, with the hope that next-generation vaccine strategies will enable patients with cancer to develop long-lasting anti-tumor immunity. There has been substantial progress identifying antigens and vaccine vectors that lead to strong and broad T cell responses, tailoring vaccine designs to achieve optimal antigen presentation, and finding combination partners employing complementary mechanisms of action (e.g., checkpoint inhibitors) to overcome the diverse methods cancer cells use to evade and suppress the immune system. Results from randomized, phase 3 studies testing therapeutic cancer vaccines based on these advances are eagerly awaited. Here, we summarize the successes and failures in the clinical development of cancer vaccines, address how this historical experience and advances in science and technology have shaped efforts to improve vaccines, and offer a clinical perspective on the future role of vaccine therapies for cancer.
Elster’s eclecticism in analyzing emotion

Fine examination of our accumulated cultural knowledge is especially helpful in studying the emotions, which are only tangentially accessible to experimental manipulation. Here I use the six proper...