cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Distribution of Free Myo-Inositol in Fluids, Spermatozoa, and Tissues of the Bull Genital Tract and Observations on its Uptake by the Rabbit Epididymis

The concentrations of free inositol in genital tract fluids of conscious bulls were determined by a microbiological assay method and comparisons made with blood plasma. The inositol concentration in rete testis fluid was 698 �og/ml, or about 50% higher than that of cauda epididymal plasma and over five times that of seminal plasma. All genital tract fluids had a mitch higher inositol concentration than peripheral blood plasma. Bull testicular spermatozoa contained 538 �g per 10” cells of inositol or about four times more than did cauda epididymal spermatozoa and over fifteen times more than ejaculated cells. When incubated in vitro with no added substrate, testicular spermatozoa readily utilized endogenous inositol. In the presence of selected androgens (100 ivg/ml), however, testicular spermatozoa utilized less of their intracellular inositol reserve and each added androgen depressed endogerious respiration. (The following androgens and trivial names have been used throughout this paper: testosterone, 17p-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one; 5pandrosterone,3e-hydroxy-5j3-androstan-17-one; and 5fl-epiandrosterone, 3p-hydroxy-5/3androstan-17-one.) The concentration of free inositol in whole tissue of the rabbit proximal caput epididymidis or the flexure region of the bull caput epididymidis was four to five times the concentration in testicular tissue but it was progressively lower in the distal caput, distal corpus, and cauda epididymidis. Whole tissue slices from the rabbit testis and selected regions of the epididymis readily incorporated radioactivity from [U-”C] inositol into total lipid during incubation in vitro. More than 99% of the radioactivity in extracts of cauda epididymal tissue was in phosphatidylinositol. The results indicate that inositol from the testis is utilized by the epididymis for lipid biosynthesis which would at least partially account for the loss of inositol in the luminal fluids of the male excurrent duct.
Cord Blood as a Source of Natural Killer Cells

Cord blood (CB) offers several unique advantages as a graft source for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The risk of relapse and graft vs. host disease after cord blood transplantation (CBT) is lower than what is typically observed after other graft sources with a similar degree of human leukocyte antigen mismatch. Natural killer (NK) cells have a well-defined role in both innate and adaptive immunity and as the first lymphocytes to reconstitute after HSCT and CBT, and they play a significant role in protection against early relapse. In this article, we highlight the uses of CB NK cells in transplantation and adoptive immunotherapy. First, we will describe differences in the phenotype and functional characteristics of NK cells in CB as compared with peripheral blood. Then, we will review some of the obstacles we face in using resting CB NK cells for adoptive immunotherapy, and discuss methods to overcome them. We will review the current literature on killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors ligand mismatch and outcomes after CBT. Finally, we will touch on current strategies for the use of CB NK cells in cellular immunotherapy.
Open-Access, Interactive Explorations for Teaching and Learning Quantum Dynamics

While the research field of quantum dynamics (QD) benefits from advances in modern computational power, the educational field of QD paradoxically does not. We have developed an open-access, interactive, electronic notebook that leverages a user-friendly interface to engage a new generation of visual learners with QD. We begin each topic (e.g., adiabaticity, light–matter interactions, and relaxation processes) with essential questions, issues, and background that orient the learner; we then move directly to visual explorations of the phenomena, where the learner can immediately manipulate parameters that control and drive the physics. This notebook requires only a computer that can run Wolfram’s computable document format (CDF) files (both the notebook and CDF player are free) and enables learning in a variety of contexts and grade levels: flipped classrooms, small groups, and high school students through advanced researchers. Without sacrificing rigor, Quantum Dynamics...with the Dynamics! (QDWD) aims to ...
The Safety of Progesterone and 17-Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate Administration for the Prevention of Preterm Birth: An Evidence-Based Assessment

The safety of supplemental progestin therapy during pregnancy reflects whether an agent exclusively promotes or potentially inhibits progestational cellular functions and whether treatment incites a metabolic derangement or other pathophysiology to initiate rare untoward events. No safety signal has been identified from intravaginal administration of natural progesterone from phase III clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration has identified a legitimate safety signal regarding second-trimester miscarriage and stillbirth with exposure to 17-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17-OHPC). Results from recent phase II and III trials in multiples also demonstrates concern with exposure to this synthetic for fetal loss and increased severe respiratory distress in neonates (one study each), as well as repeated significant associations for shorter duration of pregnancy and poorer fetal growth in others. The biological plausibility for 17-OHPC to be associated with adverse outcomes can be suggested from pharmacogenomic observations, ex vivo experimentation, and clinical observations. Further data are needed interrogating the potential for rare fetal or maternal adverse events/safety outcomes with exposure to progestins. Safety concerns should be incorporated into prescribing decisions.
Gustatory Stimulant, Sunlight Protectant, Evaporation Retardant: Three Characteristics of a Microbial Insecticidal Adjuvant

A commercial adjuvant developed for use with microbial insecticides provided protection against inactivation of Baculovirus heliothis by sunlight, retarded evaporation of water-virus mixture, and also stimulated feeding by larvae of the bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie). Formulations with the adjuvant were 2–11 times more stable in simulated sunlight than those without the adjuvant. About 50% of the water was lost from a mixture of water + virus + adjuvant (20%); 80% was lost from water + virus alone. Larval feeding increased ca. 3-fold on leaflets in areas spotted with the adjuvant.
Smokers and ex-smokers: Reactions of college students to the Surgeon General’s cancer report

A larger proportion of natural science majors, compared with liberal arts majors, quit smoking as a consequence of the report. Smokers questioned the validity of the report, yet rated themselves as more likely to get lung cancer. Approximately half the smokers were dissatisfied with the habit and reported making unsuccessful attempts to quit. Ex-smokers tended to have longer time perspectives than smokers.
Selective Base-Catalyzed Isomerization of Glucose to Fructose

Fructose is a key intermediate in the conversion of cellulosic biomass to biofuels and renewable platform chemicals. Biomass-derived glucose can be isomerized to fructose using either Lewis acid or Bronsted base catalysts. Lewis acids are typically preferred as alkaline conditions promote a large number of side reactions. It is widely admitted that only low fructose yields, below 10%, are achievable with inorganic bases. Here, fructose was synthesized with 32% yield using commercially available organic amines. Glucose conversion and fructose selectivity were comparable to Lewis acids, which opens new perspectives for the base-catalyzed pathway.
Long-Time Dynamics through Parallel Trajectory Splicing.

Simulating the atomistic evolution of materials over long time scales is a longstanding challenge, especially for complex systems where the distribution of barrier heights is very heterogeneous. Such systems are difficult to investigate using conventional long-time scale techniques, and the fact that they tend to remain trapped in small regions of configuration space for extended periods of time strongly limits the physical insights gained from short simulations. We introduce a novel simulation technique, Parallel Trajectory Splicing (ParSplice), that aims at addressing this problem through the timewise parallelization of long trajectories. The computational efficiency of ParSplice stems from a speculation strategy whereby predictions of the future evolution of the system are leveraged to increase the amount of work that can be concurrently performed at any one time, hence improving the scalability of the method. ParSplice is also able to accurately account for, and potentially reuse, a substantial fracti...
Population Distribution of Leishmaniasis in Mountainous Areas of Sichuan Province

Objectives To understand the incidence trend of Leishmaniasis in different occupation populations in Sichuan province,so as to provide evidence for the measures towards high risk populations.Methods Records of Leishmaniasis at different levels of medical and health institutions during 2005-2010 were collected.Diagnosis of Heishmaniasis was made by etiological examination or immunologic test,and all diagnosed cases were treated with antimonials.Results A total of 372 patients were confirmed infection of Heishmaniasis in Sichuan province,and all the cases reported a history of living in endemic areas at endemic seasons.Of patients as permanent residents in endemic areas,the most originated from Jiuzhaigou county,followed by Heishui and Mao county,accounting for 52.1%,23.3% and 18.6%,respectively.In agricultural population cases,the sex ratio of male to female was 1.5∶1,and patients at age under 15 years accounted for 53.4%.In non agricultural population cases,the sex ratio was 2.1∶1,patients at age above18 years accounted for 81.1%,and cadres and urban residents accounted for 59.5% together.In patients from non endemic areas,the majority acquired infection in Jiuzhaigou,Heishui county,or in other endemic areas of Gansu province,with a proportion of 31.2%,18.5% and 22.9% respectively.The sex ratio of male to female was 8.8∶1.Migrant workers in endemic areas took the major part of the patients,accounting for 76.4%(120/157),followed by travelers.Conclusion Agricultural populations at age below 15 years in endemic areas were at high risk of acquiring infection of Leishmaniasis.It is necessary to conduct education programs among cadres and urban residents.The incidence of Leishmaniasis goes up among floating populations in recent years,particularly in migrant workers in endemic areas after earthquake.
Real-Time Filtering for Pulsing Public Opinion in Social Media.

When analysing social media conversations, in search of the public opinion about an unfolding event that is being discussed in real-time (e.g., presidential debates, major speeches, etc.), it is important to distinguish between two groups of participants: opinion-makers and opinion-holders. To address this problem, we propose a supervised machinelearning approach, which uses inexpensively acquired labeled data from mono-thematic Twitter accounts to learn a binary classifier for the labels “political account” (opinion-makers) and “non-political account” (opinion-holders). While the classifier has a 83% accuracy on individual tweets, when applied to the last 200 tweets from accounts of a set of 1000 Twitter users, it classifies accounts with a 97% accuracy. This high accuracy derives from our decision to incorporate information about classifier probability into the classification. Our work demonstrates that machine learning algorithms can play a critical role in improving the quality of social media analytics and understanding, whose importance is increasing as social media adoption becomes widespread.
How close are we to real time optical margin control in head and neck oncologic surgery

The quest for negative margins during head and neck oncologic surgery continues to challenge surgeons worldwide. Current technological advances offer significant promise to advance the field and improve operative margin detection. This review focuses on current optical technology, which has been evaluated for intraoperative margin control in head and neck oncologic surgery for possible application in optical margin control. Many of the current systems have technical limitations and there is no current standard technology being applied in the field of head and neck oncology to enhance intraoperative margin control. Surgeons continue to rely on intraoperative frozen section analysis, however many optical systems have shown high rates of sensitivity and specificity when discriminating benign from malignant tissue. These technologies shows significant promise for intraoperative margin control and may be enhanced by targeted molecular imaging, or spectral analysis, in the future. Translational trials are rare and are the key to the path of independence from frozen section analysis.
Role of cardiac mast cells in complement C5a-induced myocardial ischemia

Activated complement component C5a causes myocardial ischemia mediated by thromboxane (Tx) A2 and leukotrienes C4/D4. Blood cells are not involved in either the mediator release or the myocardial effects of C5a, suggesting that a C5a-sensitive, cardiac resident inflammatory cell is responsible. The goals of this study were to determine whether 1) cardiac mast cell activation accompanies the C5a response, 2) inhibition of mast cell degranulation inhibits the response, and 3) histamine release plays a role in the C5a-induced myocardial ischemia. The left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) of open-chest pigs (n = 13) was perfused with arterial blood at constant pressure (95 mmHg). Coronary blood flow (CBF) was measured (in-line flowmeter) and regional function [percent segment shortening (%SS)] determined with sonomicrometry. A coronary vein was cannulated for measurement of plasma TxB2 and histamine (a marker of mast cell degranulation). Intracoronary C5a (500 ng) decreased coronary blood flow (45% of preinfusion levels) and LAD %SS (65% of preinfusion) and was accompanied by increases in coronary venous TxB2 (delta 63.3 ng/ml) and histamine (delta 200 nM). Mast cell inhibition with lodoxamide (2 mg/kg iv, n = 8) attenuated the C5a-induced fall in CBF (14 vs. 53% decrease, P < 0.01) and %SS (10 vs. 38% decrease, P < 0.01) and also reduced the C5a-induced increase in both coronary venous histamine (delta 26 vs. 278 nM, P < 0.05) and TxB2 (delta 0.34 vs. 63.3 ng/ml, P < 0.01). However, histamine H1 (pyrilamine) and H2 (ranitidine) receptor blockade had no effect on the C5a-induced fall in CBF or LAD %SS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Developing a Pedagogical Cybersecurity Ontology

We present work on a hybrid method for developing a pedagogical cybersecurity ontology augmented with teaching and learning-related knowledge in addition to the domain content knowledge. The intended use of this ontology is to support students in the process of learning. The general methodology for developing the pedagogical cybersecurity ontology combines the semi-automatic classification and acquisition of domain content knowledge with pedagogical knowledge. The hybrid development method involves the use of a seed ontology, an electronically readable textbook with a back-of-the-book index, semi-automatic steps based on pattern matching, and the cyberSecurity Ontology eXpert tool (SOX) for an expert to fill the knowledge gaps. Pedagogical knowledge elements include importance, difficulty, prerequisites and likely misunderstandings. The pedagogical cybersecurity ontology can be more useful for students than an ontology that contains only domain content knowledge.
Electrodiagnosis of Striated Urethral Sphincter Dysfunction

AbstractIn many centers urethral striated sphincter electromyography has become an essential component of urodynamic testing. The urologist who uses this modality of investigation in an attempt to understand the pathophysiology of striated sphincter dysfunction must have some basic knowledge of electromyography. Attempts have been made to provide such basic information, especially relating to the methods of evaluation and interpretation. We also have incorporated our own views based on our experience with more than 200 subjects with neuropathic vesicourethral dysfunctions.
Influence of progressive growth of a weakly immunogenic fibrosarcoma (T241) on the immune status of mice

The responsiveness of spleen cells from C57BL/6J mice to various immunogenic stimuli was examined during the progressive growth of a poorly immunogenic fibrosarcoma T241. A strong correlation was observed between the progressive tumor growth and the depression of response to Concanavalin A, lipopolysaccharide, sheep red blood cells, and alloantigens in mixed lymphocyte reaction and cell-mediated lympholysis (CML). The maximum depression of these immune responses occurred when the animals had grown tumors for 3–4 weeks. Furthermore, serum from these animals collected 20 days after tumor transplantation was highly immunosuppressive. The possible mechanisms of tumor-induced immunosuppression have been discussed.
Pubic Bone Resection Provides Objective Pain Control in the Prostate Cancer Survivor With Pubic Bone Osteomyelitis With an Associated Urinary Tract to Pubic Symphysis Fistula.

Objective To investigate pain intensity perception in prostate cancer survivors with pubic bone osteomyelitis with an associated urinary tract to pubic symphysis fistula before and after definitive surgical management. Materials and Methods We performed a review of an institutional review board-approved database of prostate cancer survivors with pubic bone osteomyelitis from 2010 to 2015. Demographic and clinical data were extracted. Pain scores were assessed in patients at varying points before and after definitive treatment using an 11-point numeric rating scale. Statistical analysis was performed using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test and NcNemar's test. Results We identified 16 patients with a median age of 72 who met inclusion criteria. Chronic narcotic use for pain management was noted in 6 of 16 (37.5%) patients preoperatively. No statistical difference was identified between the pain score at the time of diagnosis and after completion of conservative measures (5.5 vs 5.5, P = .76). A statistically significant decrease in median pain score at the first follow-up appointment was seen compared to the preoperative pain score (0 vs. 5.5, P = .0005). At a median follow-up of 9.4 months (interquartile range 3.7-16.5), a sustained decrease in the median pain intensity score was noted in our cohort compared to their preoperative baseline pain score (5.5 vs 0, P = .0005) and pain score at the time of diagnosis (5.5 vs 0, P = .004.) Conclusion Pubic bone resection provides immediate and sustained improvement in pain intensity perception in the prostate cancer survivor with pubic bone osteomyelitis with an associated urinary tract to pubic symphysis fistula.
Evolution of toxicological science: the need for change

Evolution requires change but the field of toxicology has not kept pace. The top ten problems urging change are: 1) disparity of testing requirements and risk acceptance for different products and geographical areas; 2) throughput and testing costs versus testing needs; 3) limited predictivity for humans; 4) precautionary approaches from drug development adapted to other areas; 5) animal use; 6) traditional tests unsuitable for new products; 7) lack of coverage for new hazards; 8) failure to address mixtures of toxicants; 9) lack of coverage for individual susceptibilities and vulnerable subpopulations; 10) poor basic research and publication standards. The intransigence at the root of these problems is discussed with reference to current international toxicological policies and methods. For each, the limitations are reviewed with reference to key literature. While current approaches are still needed, there is room for substantial change. To meet the challenges of the 21st century, revolution rather than evolution is required.
Gebiacantha sagamiensis, a new species of upogebiid shrimp (Crustacea: Decapoda: Gebiidea) from Sagami Bay, central Japan.

A new species of the upogebiid shrimp genus Gebiacantha Ngoc-Ho, 1989, G. sagamiensis , is described and illustrated on the basis of a single male specimen collected from Sagami Bay, central Japan, at depths of 101–106 m. It appears closest to G. reunionensis Ngoc-Ho, 1989, known only from La Reunion, western Indian Ocean, but the different shape of the pleomere 6 and the better developed armature of the pereopod 1 carpus distinguish the new species from G. reunionensis . Comments on the taxonomic status of Gebiacantha and Paragebicula Sakai, 2006, and on the generic assignment of the new species, are given.
Chapter 1 – Microscope Basics

This chapter provides information on how microscopes work and discusses some of the microscope issues to be considered in using a video camera on the microscope. There are two types of microscopes in use today for research in cell biology–the older finite tube-length (typically 160 mm mechanical tube length) microscopes and the infinity optics microscopes that are now produced. The objective lens forms a magnified, real image of the specimen at a specific distance from the objective known as the intermediate image plane. All objectives are designed to be used with the specimen at a defined distance from the front lens element of the objective (the working distance) so that the image formed is located at a specific location in the microscope. Infinity optics microscopes differ from the finite tube-length microscopes in that the objectives are designed to project the image of the specimen to infinity and do not, on their own, form a real image of the specimen. Three types of objectives are in common use today–plan achromats, plan apochromats, and plan fluorite lenses. The concept of mounting video cameras on the microscope is also presented in the chapter.
Do funerals matter? The purposes and practices of death rituals in global perspective by William G. Hoy

William G. Hoy is undeniably qualified to write about funerals and the importance of the rituals surrounding them. As a Fellow in Thanatology with 30 years of cumulative experience as a pastoral co...
Disentangle crime hot spots and displacements in space and time: an analysis for Chicago from 2001 to 2016

Violence and crime have been regarded as one of the notorious behaviors against humanity. With the rapid development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), increasing amount of crime data become much more available and useful not only for police dispatch and crime prevention, but also for providing important references for the personal safety of local residents and visitors, especially in large cities. In this paper, we apply statistical approaches and graph theory to characterize the spatiotemporal properties of Chicago crime data from 2001 to 2016. First, we improved the previous Space-Time Kernel Density Estimation (STKDE) methods in computational efficiency. We proved that our improved method to compute STKDE has linear time computational complexity, which is experimentally verified to be much faster than previous methods. Second, we applied our improved STKDE method to demonstrate the intensities and hot spots of crime distribution in Chicago from 2001 to 2016. In order to reveal the displacement of crime incidents (i.e. movements of the hot spots), we detected the locations of highest crime hot spots at specified time intervals, and created hot spot displacement graphs based on whether a geographic location continues to be a crime hot spot across time intervals. Finally, the method of longest path on Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) was applied on the hot spot displacement graph in addition to the analysis of the number of components and their sizes of the graph. The result showed spatial crime displacement and temporal crime duration patterns. The proposed method advanced our knowledge in digital humanities, which can be applied to other cities, providing useful information for public safety.
Understanding Teacher Turnover in Two Charter Schools: Principal Dispositions and Practices

AbstractUS charter schools experience higher rates of teacher turnover than traditional public schools. The purpose of this study was to examine charter principals’ professional dispositions and practices that might contribute to teacher turnover. Specifically we asked – How do charter school principal professional dispositions and practices affect school working conditions and impact teacher commitment to remain or leave a charter schools? The study design was an embedded three-year case study of principal leadership in two charter schools. Data sources included principal and teacher interviews, school observations, and artifacts. Themes were derived from two constant comparative analyses, one of principal dispositions, a second of principal practices that might impact teacher working conditions. Analysis indicated that principals’ dispositions were related to practices that affected working conditions, which in turn, impacted teacher turnover. Principals’ dispositions – autocratic ‘no excuses’ attitudes...
THE ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS OF HEAT CONDUCTION AND MELTING

A review of the developments of the past few years in the field of heat conduction is presented, including the application to problems of change of phase and moving boundaries. Considered in detail are mathematical studies of properties of solutions of parabolic partial differential equations and approximate methods of solution. New techniques for the construction of approximate solutions are indicated, which bracket the exact results between easily calculated upper and lower bounds. Problems in which the properties are temperature-dependent are included. The calculation of thermal stresses in a melting inelastic material is discussed.
Gastaut-Geschwind Syndrome, Faciobrachial Dystonic Seizure, and Autoimmune Limbic Encephalitis

Here we report a case of a 55-year-old male who had presented with recent falls and behavioral changes, including a heightened religious preoccupation, hypergraphia, and paranoid ideations. He was initially treated for psychosis but soon exhibited absence-like seizures, which were consistent with faciobrachial dystonic seizures. Workup for underlying infectious, immunodeficiency, and autoimmune causes revealed antibodies towards the leucine-rich glioma inactivated subunit of the voltage-gated potassium complex. The patient was treated with steroids and intravenous immune globulin with symptomatic relief. In retrospect, the patient met criteria for Gastaut-Geschwind (GG) syndrome, with notable features of hypergraphia and hyperreligiosity. This case illustrates how the GG syndromal pattern contributes to the suspicion of autoimmune limbic encephalitis and may expedite diagnosis and prevent the accumulation of disability.
The Trouble Interpreting fMRI Studies in Populations with Cerebrovascular Risk: The Use of a Subject-Specific Hemodynamic Response Function in a Study of Age, Vascular Risk, and Memory

Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is commonly used to investigate the neural bases of behavior ranging from basic cognitive mechanisms to aging to psychological disorders. However, the BOLD signal captured by fMRI is an indirect measure of neural function and is affected by many factors that are non-neural in origin. These non-neural factors, however, do affect brain vasculature such as the shape and timing of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) during task-evoked fMRI that, in turn, can cause inappropriate and/or misleading interpretations of fMRI differences between groups. In this study, we tested the proposition that vascular health risks, which often go unmeasured in neuroimaging studies, and aging interact to modify the shape and/or timing of the HRF (height, time-to-peak, width), which then affect the differences in patterns of brain activity in a task-evoked memory encoding paradigm. Adult participants (aged 20–74) answered questions about their health history and underwent two fMRI tasks: viewing of a flashing checkerboard using a slow event-related design and a paired associates memory encoding task during a fast event-related design. We found that aging and vascular risk had the largest impacts on the maximum peak value of the HRF. Using a subject-specific HRF resulted in an overall dampening of the estimated brain activity in both task-positive and task-negative regions due to a reduction in the inter-individual variance of that activity. Across three vascular risk factors, using a subject-specific HRF resulted in more consistent brain regions that reached significance and larger effect sizes compared with the canonical HRF. A slight advantage in the reliability of brain-behavior correlations also was found. The findings from this study have far reaching consequences for the interpretation of task-evoked fMRI activity, especially in populations known to experience alterations to brain vasculature including adults of all ages that have higher vascular risk, the majority of older adults, and people with neurocognitive disorders in which vasculature differences may play a role including dementia. Highlights Older age was associated with smaller maximum peak of the hemodynamic response. Younger and middle-aged adults with more vascular risk had higher HRF peaks. Using a subject-specific HRF resulted in a “dampening” of brain activity. A subject-specific HRF resulted in more consistent aging and vascular risk effects.
MRSA Spinal Epidural Abscess as a Neurosurgical and Infectious Disease Emergency with Unresolved Antimicrobial Solution.

Spinal epidural abscess caused by MRSA, a life-threatening organism resistant to methicillin and other antibiotics, is a rare but important infectious pathology due to its potential damage to the spinal cord. We present the case of a 74-year-old man who hematogenously seeded his entire epidural spinal canal from C1 to sacrum with MRSA bacteria and remained infected even after maximal treatment with vancomycin and daptomycin. Ceftaroline, a new 5th generation antibiotic with recently described clearance of widespread MRSA infection in epidural complex spine infections, was added to vancomycin as dual therapy for his MRSA infection. A 74-year-old diabetic man with prior right total knee arthroplasty and MRSA infection presented with persistent bacteremia and sepsis. He was transferred to our academic center after diagnosis of entire spine epidural abscesses from C1 to sacral levels with midthoracic MRI T2 hyperintensities of the vertebral bodies and disc concerning for osteomyelitis and discitis. Despite surgery and IV vancomycin with MIC of 1, suggesting extreme susceptibility, the patient’s blood cultures remained persistently bacteremic at day 5 of treatment. After 48 hours of dual antibiotic therapy with vancomycin and ceftaroline, his blood cultures came back showing no growth. The patient’s outcome was unfavorable due to the advanced nature of his infection and multiple comorbidities, but his negative blood cultures after the addition of ceftaroline to his regime require further investigation into this dual therapy. Randomized controlled trials of 5th generation or combinatorial antibiotics should be considered for this disease.
Streamflow prediction under extreme data scarcity: a step toward hydrologic process understanding within severely data-limited regions

Streamflow prediction in ungauged basins is necessary to support water resources management decisions. Herein we refine and evaluate the Streamflow Prediction under Extreme Data-scarcity (SPED) mod...
Lung cell exposure to secondary photochemical aerosols generated from OH oxidation of cyclic siloxanes

Abstract To study the fate of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS) undergoing photooxidation in the environment and to assess the acute toxicity of inhaled secondary aerosols from cVMS, we used an oxidative flow reactor (OFR) to produce aerosols from oxidation of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5). The aerosols produced from this process were characterized for size, shape, and chemical composition. We found that the OFR produced aerosols composed of silicon and oxygen, arranged in chain agglomerates, with primary particles of approximately 31 nm in diameter. Lung cells were exposed to the secondary organosilicon aerosols at estimated doses of 54–116 ng/cm2 using a Vitrocell air-liquid interface system, and organic gases and ozone exposure was minimized through a series of denuders. Siloxane aerosols were not found to be highly toxic.
A reconfigurable HexCell-based systolic array architecture for evolvable hardware on FPGA

Abstract Evolvable hardware is a system that modifies its architecture and behavior to adapt with changes of the environment. It is formed by reconfigurable processing elements driven by an evolutionary algorithm. In this paper, we study a reconfigurable HexCell-based systolic array architecture for evolvable systems on FPGA. HexCell is a processing element with a tile-able hexagonal-shaped cell for reconfigurable systolic arrays on FPGAs. The cell has three input ports feed into an internal functional-unit connected to three output ports. The functional-unit is configured using dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR), and the output ports, in contrast, are configured using virtual reconfiguration circuit (VRC). Our proposed architecture combines the merits of both DPR and VRC to achieve fast reconfiguration and accelerated evolution. A HexCell-based 4 × 4 array was implemented on FPGA and utilized 32.5% look-up tables, 31.3% registers, and 1.4% block RAMs of Artix-7 (XC7Z020) while same-size conventional array consumed 8.7%, 5.1%, and 20.7% of the same FPGA, respectively. As a case study, we used an adaptive image filter as a test application. Results showed that the fitness of the best filters generated by our proposed architecture were generally fitter than those generated by the conventional state-of-the-art systolic array on the selected application. Also, performing 900,000 evaluations on HexCell array was 2.6 × faster than the conventional one.
Minority Stress and the Impact of Acceptance

Transgender and gender diverse individuals experience a high rate of adverse health outcomes. In order to understand the basis for this phenomenon, it is important to understand the relationship between minority stress and health outcomes, as well as the impact of acceptance. This chapter describes the minority stress model, the expansion of this model with transgender and gender diverse individuals, and the impact of acceptance (or non-acceptance) among various supports and systems, including family, peers, schools, and health providers. Specific examples of how to bolster support are then discussed within each system.
HIV-related risk behaviors and HIV testing among people with sensory disabilities in the United States.

People with disabilities are an important target population for HIV prevention and treatment programs. In this study, we examined the prevalence of HIV-related risk behaviors and HIV testing among ...
Level-Crossing Detection based Low-Power Sigma-Delta ADC for Sensor Applications

A Current Controlled Oscillator (ICO), integrates its information-bearing current-input-signal i in using a capacitor, C. The voltage V C across C, namely the integral, is reset or folded when it reaches a level V REF . If i in (dq/dt) is constant, then V C is a saw-tooth waveform. Since the frequency of the oscillator is defined as the rate of change of phase, the phase wraps itself after every 2π radians or its corresponding voltage V REF . With this property we propose an open-loop continuous-time Sigma-Delta ADC combining level-crossing detection and folding techniques using an ICO. We also propose a technique to increase the effective resolution of the ADC by inserting additional voltage-levels for detection between 0 and V REF . The complete ADC is designed in TSMC 40nm CMOS technology. The simulation results show an ENOB of 12.2-bits consuming 1.5μW of power from a 1V supply corresponding to a Schreier-FOM of 167.2dB and a Walden-FOM of 157fJ per conversion cycle.
Prognostic implications of depression and inflammation in patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Background: Lung cancer-related inflammation is associated with depression. Both elevated inflammation and depression are associated with worse survival. However, outcomes of patients with concomitant depression and elevated inflammation are not known. Materials & methods: Patients with metastatic lung cancer (n = 123) were evaluated for depression and inflammation. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazard models provided survival estimations. Results: Estimated survival was 515 days for the cohort and 323 days for patients with depression (hazard ratio: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.05-1.179), 356 days for patients with elevated inflammation (hazard ratio: 2.85, 95% CI: 1.856-4.388), and 307 days with both (χ2 = 12.546; p < 0.001]). Conclusion: Depression and inflammation are independently associated with inferior survival. Survival worsened by inflammation is mediated by depression-a treatable risk factor.
Two Factor Hash Verification (TFHV): A Novel Paradigm for Remote Authentication

Current paradigms for client-server authentication often rely on username/password schemes. Studies show such schemes are increasingly vulnerable to heuristic and brute-force attacks. This is either due to poor practices by users such as insecure weak passwords, or insecure systems by server operators. A recurring problem in any system which retains information is insecure management policies for sensitive information, such as logins and passwords, by both hosts and users. Increased processing power on the horizon also threatens the security of many popular hashing algorithms. Furthermore, increasing reliance on applications that exchange sensitive information has resulted in increased urgency. This is demonstrated by a large number of mobile applications being deemed insecure by Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) standards. This paper proposes a secure alternative technique of authentication that retains the current ecosystem, while minimizes attack vectors without inflating responsibilities on users or server operators. Our proposed authentication scheme uses layered encryption techniques alongside a two-part verification process. In addition, it provides dynamic protection for preventing against common cyber-attacks such as replay and man-in-the-middle attacks. Results show that our proposed authentication mechanism outperform other schemes in terms of deployability and resilience to cyber-attacks, without inflating transaction’s speed.
Clinical Outcomes in Isolated Tibial Revision With Cruciate Retaining Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background Tibial component loosening is one of the most common modes of failure in contemporary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Limited literature is available on the outcomes of isolated tibial revision with retention of the cruciate retaining (CR) femoral component. The purpose of this study was to determine the results of isolated tibial revisions in CR TKA. Methods We identified 135 patients who underwent an isolated tibial revision after a primary CR TKA from our institutional registry between January 2007 and January 2017. The mean time between the primary and revision was 2.9 years (range 0.1-15.4). Revision with a press-fit stem was performed in 79 patients and 56 patients were revised with a fully cemented stem. Patients were evaluated at a minimum of two years using Knee Society Score, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Score for Joint Replacement, and radiography. Implant survivorship was determined using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results At a mean follow-up of 5.1 years, there were six (4.4%) repeat revisions: three for periprosthetic infection (2.2%), two for instability (1.5%), and one for a fractured tibial stem (0.7%). The mean Knee Society Score and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Score for Joint Replacement increased from 51.6 and 56.1 preoperatively to 90.1 and 89.7 after surgery (P Conclusion In patients with isolated tibial loosening and a well-fixed and well-positioned CR femoral component, isolated tibial revision provides excellent early to midterm implant survivorship and clinical outcomes with a low risk of instability and recurrent tibial loosening.
A Large Scale Concept Ontology for News Stories: Empirical Methods, Analysis, and Improvements

We analyze the completeness, accuracy, and utility of the largest known annotation ground truth database for video news stories, comprising nearly 680K individual tags on 62 K shots using a vocabulary of 449 semantic concepts. We find the vocabulary is not yet mature: it does not follow Zipf's law, although concepts derived from vocabulary intersection do so more closely. We find that because many concepts are sparse, the best method for exposing the implicit semantic space is to use the distance measure G2, complete link clustering, and a heuristic distance cutoff based on shot cluster evolution history; this yields 12 well-defined major shot categories. Because the database is errorful, we derive a model for annotator error, and using it, we extract a natural concept subsumption ontology from the database, including some counter-intuitive relationships. Again using intersection, we demonstrate a method for identifying "missing" subconcepts from superconcepts. Lastly, we note that without superconcepts, shot clustering fails. These methods are unbiased by any prior semantic assumptions, and only depend on a statistically sufficient body of ground truth. They are therefore applicable to any other specific video retrieval domain.
Agronomic fitness of three temperate forage grasses divergently selected for lignin concentration or ferulate cross-linking

Reductions in either lignin concentration or ferulate cross-linking have been shown to be independent mechanisms for increasing herbage digestibility by increasing the enzymatic degradability of cell-wall polysaccharides. However, both of these traits are frequently associated with reductions in agronomic fitness, including dwarfing, developmental abnormalities, and loss of persistence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of selection for these two traits on agronomic fitness of three temperate perennial grasses: orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerate L.), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.). All possible crosses were made within three groups of eight parents, with parents selected to represent four divergent phenotypes: high or low etherified ferulates and high or low Klason lignin. Progeny were evaluated for forage yield under a three-cut management and for tiller density and ground cover under a frequent-harvest management. Selection for reduced lignin concentration had highly variable and inconsistent impacts on agronomic fitness, varying widely among species. Conversely, selection for reduced ferulate cross-linking resulted in a general decline for all measures of agronomic fitness within each species. The results support the hypothesis put forward from an earlier study and from the literature that reduced ferulate cross-linking results in significant impairments to stem development of these temperate grasses.
Understanding the factors driving the opioid epidemic using machine learning.

In recent years, the US has experienced an opioid epidemic with an unprecedented number of drugs overdose deaths. Research finds such overdose deaths are linked to neighborhood-level traits, thus providing opportunity to identify effective interventions. Typically, techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) or Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) are used to document neighborhood-level factors significant in explaining such adverse outcomes. These techniques are, however, less equipped to ascertain non-linear relationships between confounding factors. Hence, in this study we apply machine learning based techniques to identify opioid risks of neighborhoods in Delaware and explore the correlation of these factors using Shapley Additive explanations (SHAP). We discovered that the factors related to neighborhoods environment, followed by education and then crime, were highly correlated with higher opioid risk. We also explored the change in these correlations over the years to understand the changing dynamics of the epidemic. Furthermore, we discovered that, as the epidemic has shifted from legal (i.e., prescription opioids) to illegal (e.g.,heroin and fentanyl) drugs in recent years, the correlation of environment, crime and health related variables with the opioid risk has increased significantly while the correlation of economic and socio-demographic variables has decreased. The correlation of education related factors has been higher from the start and has increased slightly in recent years suggesting a need for increased awareness about the opioid epidemic.
Intracranial Hemorrhage in Biliary Atresia

Significant numbers of infants diagnosed with biliary atresia (BA) initially present with intracranial hemorrhage associated with vitamin K deficiency. Preventing and treating intracranial hemorrhage, which may lead to death or severe neurological sequelae in survivors, are important issues in the management of BA. Prophylactic vitamin K administration regimens are still insufficient to prevent intracranial hemorrhage in BA. The treatment of coagulopathy with intravenous vitamin K and fresh frozen plasma administration is effective within 24 hours. Urgent surgical intervention for intracranial hemorrhage including craniotomy followed by Kasai portoenterostomy may contribute to improving native liver survival. Early detection through nationwide screening of BA may confer advantages in preventing intracranial hemorrhage, as well as improving native liver survival; however, currently, no screening programs show an impact on intracranial hemorrhage in the management of BA.
The Anatomy of a Divorce

When there are so many challenges to women's bodily and reproductive autonomy, it is difficult to select a case that serves as a metonym for the ongoing, everyday war on women that is waged in what...
Distributions with Sufficient Statistics for Multivariate Location Parameter and Transformation Parameter

The form of distributions with sufficient statistics for multivariate location parameter is discussed, and a formula for the rank of such family is obtained. We also give generalizations of these formulas for more general transformation parameters.
B Cell Depletion with Anti-CD79 mAbs Ameliorates Autoimmune Disease in MRL/lpr Mice

MRL/lpr mice develop a spontaneous systemic lupus erythematosus-like autoimmune syndrome due to a dysfunctional Fas receptor, with contributions from other less well-defined genetic loci. The removal of B cells by genetic manipulation not only prevents autoantibody formation, but it also results in substantially reduced T cell activation and kidney inflammation. To determine whether B cell depletion by administration of Abs is effective in lupus mice with an intact immune system and established disease, we screened several B cell-specific mAbs and found that a combination of anti-CD79α and anti-CD79β Abs was most effective at depleting B cells in vivo. Anti-CD79 therapy started at 4–5 mo of age in MRL/lpr mice significantly decreased B cells (B220+CD19+) in peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleens. Treated mice also had a significant increase in the number of both double-negative T cells and naive CD4+ T cells, and a decreased relative abundance of CD4+ memory cells. Serum anti-chromatin IgG levels were significantly decreased compared with controls, whereas serum anti-dsDNA IgG, total IgG, or total IgM were unaffected. Overall, survival was improved with lower mean skin scores and significantly fewer focal inflammatory infiltrates in submandibular salivary glands and kidneys. Anti-CD79 mAbs show promise as a potential treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus and as a model for B cell depletion in vivo.