cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3157: Serial droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker in Phase 1 clinical trials for patients (pts) with KRAS mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Introduction: Phase 1 clinical trials of novel therapeutics have historically focused on toxicity, but increasingly are doubling as efficacy studies in biomarker-enriched populations. Given the small sample sizes (∼3-6 patients per dose), response on imaging may be a coarse marker of therapeutic effect. Here we piloted serial ddPCR of plasma cfDNA as a PD marker in a phase I combination study of a MEK inhibitor and a CDK 4/6 inhibitor in patients with RAS mutated cancers. Methods / Results: Twenty-five pts with RAS-mutated cancer (incl. 17 patients with KRAS-mutant NSCLC) have been enrolled to date in a phase I dose escalation trial of the MEK inhibitor PD-0325901 with the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (NCT02022982). Plasma for cfDNA genotyping was collected at baseline prior to therapy and at the beginning of cycle 2. Plasma genotyping for KRAS G12X mutations was performed using a validated and highly quantitative droplet digital PCR assay. Pts were enrolled in 5 dose level cohorts ranging from 75 mg palbociclib daily (3 weeks on, 1 week off) with 2 mg PD-0325901 BID (3 weeks on 1week off) to 125 mg palbociclib daily with 8 mg PD-0325901 BID (Table). KRAS mutations were detected in 14/24 pts at baseline (59%, median 1402 copies/mL plasma, range: 11-93000), consistent with the previously reported sensitivity of 64%. A second blood draw at cycle 2 was obtained for all 14 pts. A positive plasma response, defined as decrease of KRAS G12X mutants from first to second dose, was observed in 6 pts (range -6% - -100%) with the most plasma responders (n = 4 pts) at the maximum administered dose. At lower administered doses, there was a median increase in plasma KRAS mutant levels. Conclusions: Increasing dose levels resulted in more consistent decreases in KRAS mutation in cfDNA, consistent with a dose-dependent pharmacodynamic effect.These results highlight the potential value of serial plasma ddPCR as a PD marker in early phase clinical trials. Citation Format: Cloud P. Paweletz, Geoffrey R. Oxnard, Nora Feeney, John F. Hilton, Leena Gandhi, Khanh T. Do, Adrienne Anderson, Andrew Wolanski, Alexander Tejeda, Jessie M. English, Paul T. Kirschmeier, Pasi A. Janne, Geoffrey I. Shapiro. Serial droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarker in Phase 1 clinical trials for patients (pts) with KRAS mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3157.
Geospatial Multimedia Data for Situation Recognition

Many emerging problems increasingly rely on integrating complex heterogeneous sensor streams, ranging from photos, texts, environmental data streams and other participating human sensors. The diversity of data types from disparate sensors poses a major challenge in data aggregation and assimilation. EventShop was originally designed for situation recognition using diverse data sources. We propose and develop new interpolation and prediction models on top of EventShop, allowing for effective ingesting and combining appropriate data streams to improve data quality and predict specific situations. We also incorporate data from participatory sensing into the system. The synergy of data gives powerful insight into better understanding of evolving situations, in which participatory sensing is integrated with the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the enhanced system is used for two real-world problems: asthma risk management and smart city.
Editorial: Polar and Alpine Microbiology-Earth's cryobiosphere.

Microorganisms, representing all three domains of life, have successfully colonised Earth's cold environments that span from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from high mountain-range environments to the deep ocean, and include permafrost soils, marine sediments, and sea and glacial ice. Most of the Earth's biosphere is characterised by low temperatures (<5°C), and there is thus considerable interest in understanding the activities and adaptations of the microorganisms, as well as the ecological interactions of microbial communities active in these habitats. High altitude and high latitude regions on Earth are experiencing rapid changes in climate, with impacts on microbial activities and biogeochemical cycles. Clearly, knowledge of the distribution, biodiversity and functional roles of microorganisms inhabiting polar and alpine environments is essential to our understanding of ecosystem processes in a changing climate. Polar and alpine (high latitude and high altitude) regions, as with rest of our globe, share high genetic and functional diversity of prokaryotes (archaea, bacteria) and eukaryotes (microalgae and microfungi), as well as their viruses. Microbes are present in wide diversity and abundance and in all types of polar and alpine habitats (atmosphere, ice, snow, soils, permafrost, freshwater, marine). Due to their evolutionary antiquity, prokaryotic and also eukaryotic microbes are widely adapted to extremes. In high altitude and high latitude ecology, the central importance is low temperature (lack of solar radiation and/or its diurnal extremes) together with related environmental factors. The seasonal and diurnal variations of temperature create a series of water gradients ranging from solid to aquatic to vapour. These patterns differ in periodicity, amplitude, synchronicity and regularity. However, there is no generally accepted value for the lower temperature limit for life on the Earth (or potentially other planets or moons). Psychrophilic microbes have evolved a range of adaptations of all cellular constituents to counteract the potentially deleterious effects of … [↵][1]*E-mail: haggblom{at}sebs.rutgers.edu [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
A Closer Look at Who “Chokes Under Pressure”

Previous research has shown that the higher one's working memory capacity, the more likely his/her performance is to be negatively impacted by performance pressure. In the current research we examined potential explanations for this finding by assessing the relation between pressure-induced performance deficits (i.e. “choking under pressure”) in math-based problem solving and individual differences in both working memory (as assessed via complex span tasks) and attentional control (as assessed via two measures from an Eriksen Flanker task). We find higher working memory only relates to “choking under pressure” when individuals were low in attentional control. These results further elucidate the mechanism by which high-pressure scenarios can lead to errors in performance and carry implications for developing effective intervention strategies to prevent poor performance in high-stakes situations.
When Hypothetical Vulnerability Becomes Actual: Research Participation and the Autonomy of Pregnant Women

Various national and international research guidelines and regulations limit the inclusion of pregnant women in clinical research by classifying them as vulnerable. This exclusion has widely acknowledged negative consequences for the health of women, foetuses, and future children. Another negative consequence is the threat to a pregnant woman’s autonomy and agency when she is treated as a ‘vulnerable’ person without cause. Research guidelines and regulations around the world continue to be overly protectionist. The limitations on autonomy they imply (and create) infantilise pregnant women, treating them ‘as if’ they are vulnerable – as if they, in fact, lack autonomy and the capacity to make informed choices about their own research participation. The hypothetical ‘as if’ becomes actual as research guidelines and regulations effectively reduce the autonomy and agency of pregnant women, making them unable to protect their own interests, including their interests in protecting their future children.
The Los Angeles County hub-and-provider network for promoting the sustained use of extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) in Los Angeles County (2010–2015)

Extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) is a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) that is used in conjunction with psychosocial treatment for substance use disorder. It is associated with a reduction in the number of days that patients use alcohol or opioids, in cravings and drug-seeking behaviors, and in healthcare utilization costs, as well as improved medication adherence rates for patients in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs and improved quality of life. Despite the clinical effectiveness of XR-NTX, its clinical use has been slow to develop. There is little research describing the utilization of XR-NTX over time at the treatment-system level and few documented attempts to promote MAT by creating a system to explicitly promote and sustain MAT use. This study examines changes between April 1, 2010, and March 30, 2015, in the utilization patterns of XR-NTX for SUDs as promoted and delivered in a system of "medication hubs," comprised of community providers and a medication coordinating center, and training efforts. This system was implemented as part of a large demonstration project that was designed to provide access to XR-NTX in Los Angeles County. Our findings indicated an increase in the initiation of XR-NTX (59% increase) and subsequent doses (89% increase) from Year 1 to Year 5 of the project (p<0.001). These findings suggest that it is possible to improve MAT utilization (in this case XR-NTX) through the use of a system of care that minimizes MAT payment issues for providers and patients, provides an infrastructure (medication hubs and SUD treatment providers), promotes system coordination, and educates providers.
Prevalence of hypomagnesemia in patients with HER2–positive breast cancer receiving pertuzumab treatment.

e11608 Background: Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor-2 (HER2) is a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGFR) family of transmembrane receptors and is overexpressed in ~20% of breast cancers...
The Copy Number Control System of the 2μm Circle Plasmid of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae

Most eukaryotic extra-chromosomal elements are found in mitochondria or chloroplasts, or are transient viral visitors. There are just a handful of stably maintained nuclear plasmids, and of these, only the 2μm circle plasmid of S. cerevisiae has been investigated in detail. Although this plasmid is a compact 6 kbp in size, and has only four genes, it nevertheless has a site specific recombination system, a partition system, a copy number amplification system and a copy number control system. These inter-dependent systems provide the plasmid with a distinctively eukaryotic solution to the problem of maintenance in a population.
Is Explanatoriness a Guide to Confirmation? A Reply to Climenhaga

We (2013, 2014) argued that explanatoriness is evidentially irrelevant in the following sense: Let H be a hypothesis, O an observation, and E the proposition that H would explain O if H and O were true. Then our claim is that Pr(H | O & E) = Pr(H | O). We defended this screening-off thesis (SOT) by discussing an example concerning smoking and cancer. Climenhaga (Philos Sci, forthcoming) argues that SOT is mistaken because it delivers the wrong verdict about a slightly different smoking-and-cancer case. He also considers a variant of SOT, called “SOT*”, and contends that it too gives the wrong result. We here reply to Climenhaga’s arguments and suggest that SOT provides a criticism of the widely held theory of inference called “inference to the best explanation”.
High-throughput creation and functional profiling of eukaryotic DNA sequence variant libraries using CRISPR/Cas9

Construction of genetic variant libraries with phenotypic measurement is central to advancing today9s functional genomics, and remains a grand challenge. Here, we introduce a Cas9-based approach for generating pools of mutants with defined genetic alterations (deletions, substitutions and insertions), along with methods for tracking their fitness en masse. We demonstrate the utility of our approach in performing focused analysis of hundreds of mutants of a single protein and in investigating the biological function of an entire family of poorly characterized genetic elements. Our platform allows fundamental biology questions to be investigated in a quick, easy and affordable manner.
Case 65: Another Awake Craniotomy

You are scheduled to do provide anesthesia care for an awake craniotomy. The patient is a 73-year-old female who has a left frontal lobe glioma. The patient is classified as an ASA 3 and has a BMI of 35. She had the following comorbidities: hypertension on metoprolol and recent onset epilepsy. The latter is treated with Keppra (levetiracetam), valproic acid (valproate), and Tapclob (clobazam). Her vital signs and ECG are all within normal limits, and she has consented to an awake craniotomy under local anesthesia with intermittent analgesia and sedation with remifentanil and propofol, respectively.
INNOVATION AND SYMBOL MANIPULATION IN FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Fifth Generation Computer Systems, if successfully developed, will be excellent vehicles for Expert Systems applications. Fundamental is a software methodology known as Knowledge Engineering. Knowledge, not inference, is the key to high levels of performance of Expert Systems. A considerable variety of Expert Systems applications, most having great potential payoff, are already being worked on. Scientific innovations in knowledge acquisition will be required. Innovations leading to an efficient industrial technology for Knowledge Engineering will also be necessary. Managers must exhibit imagination, and the willingness to take technological risks to realize the enormous potential benefit from Fifth Generation systems.
The past, present, and future importance of fire in tropical rainforests

The tropics bring to mind picturesque beaches and idyllic visions of seemingly endless tropical rainforests. Often overlooked, however, is that the tropics are also comprised of vast areas of savanna, montane grasslands, dry deciduous and dry thorn forests, as well as mangroves, deserts, wetlands, and a multitude of other ecosystems; many of these ecosystems burn frequently. The tropics cover one-third (33.7%) of the planet’s land surface. They contain over 40% of the world’s forests, the vast majority of all species, and are home to over 35% of the human population (Cochrane, 2009a). Satellite detections of thermal anomalies also show that the tropics experience more fires per year than anywhere else on Earth (Figure 7.1). In this region, where fire dominates many landcover types, sit the world’s richest storehouse of biodiversity within what appear to be nearly fire-immune tropical rainforests.
Suspected pokeweed toxicity in a boer goat.

A 5-y-old Boer goat buck was presented to a University veterinary hospital with a history of acute bloody diarrhea. Pokeweed toxicity was diagnosed from history of plant ingestion and by ruling out other possible diagnoses. The goat responded to supportive therapy and was discharged after 4d.
Inherited vestibular and vestibulocerebellar disorders

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses that several neurotological disorders causing recurrent episodes of vertigo have long been recognized to occur in families, and therefore may have a genetic basis: bilateral vestibulopathy, episodic ataxia, benign recurrent vertigo, and familial meniere's disease. These disorders have overlapping clinical features that suggest potentially shared mechanisms. The chapter reviews that clinically the effects of bilateral vestibulopathy are often subtle and the affected patients may not even be aware of them. Some patients will have episodes of vertigo, but others will have only mild imbalance and visual distortion due to oscillopsia. If the bilateral vestibular loss occurs early in life, it may be compensated for without ever causing significant symptoms. The loss of vestibular function is compensated for by other sensory systems, particularly somatosensation and vision. By contrast, hearing loss even to a mild degree is readily apparent to the patient and so hearing loss families are much more readily identified.
Platelet Aggregates Induced by Red Blood Cell Injury

It has recently been demonstrated that a single-pulse ruby red laser beam of moderate strength produces enough heat to rupture red blood cells in the rapidly moving flow of an arterial vessel. The resulting clump of damaged red cells adheres to the vessel wall and is quickly covered with adhesive platelets. It was also demonstrated that the same strength laser beam did not cause a platelet aggregate if the vessel was perfused with saline or platelet rich plasma at the time the laser beam was delivered. (5) The fact that platelets did not adhere to the vessel wall when blood flow was restored suggested that the laser had not produced sufficient endothelial damage to initiate aggregation. McKenzie, Arfors, Hovig, and Matheson (3) have recently reported results of ultrastructure studies at sites of laser injury and state that there is minimal damage to endothelial cells.
Abstract 3179: TORC1/2 inhibition sensitizes MYC-driven medulloblastoma cells to carboplatin chemotherapy

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Tumors having high levels of c-MYC have the worst clinical prognosis, with only a minority of patients surviving. To address this unmet clinical need, we generated a human neural stem cell model of high medulloblastoma that recapitulated the most aggressive subtype phenotypically and by mRNA expression profiling. We performed an in silico analysis of these cells, which predicted that mTOR inhibitors would be potential therapeutic agents. The dual TORC1/2 inhibitor TAK228 (also known as MLN128 and INK128) is orally bioavailable and penetrates the brain. TAK228 is currently in early clinical trials for adults with glioblastoma. We hypothesized that TAK228 would have activity against MYC-driven medulloblastoma. We tested this hypothesis using the MYC amplified medulloblastoma cell lines D425 and D283 as well as our human neural stem cell models. We determined that TAK228 was effective in inhibiting both mTORC1/2 as measured by western blots showing decreased p-S6 and p-AKT473 expression. P-S6 expression is decreased by 90% and p-AKT expression is decreased by 70% in D425 cell lines treated with 20nM TAK228. We found that treatment with TAK228 decreases cell growth in D425 and D283 high-MYC medulloblatoma cell lines at concentrations of 20nM (D425 p Citation Format: Rachael E. Maynard. TORC1/2 inhibition sensitizes MYC-driven medulloblastoma cells to carboplatin chemotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3179.
An evaluation of Molly cow model predictions of ruminal metabolism and nutrient digestion for dairy and beef diets

Model evaluation, as a critical process of model advancement, is necessary to identify adequacy and consistency of model predictions. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the accuracy of Molly cow model predictions of ruminal metabolism and nutrient digestion when simulating dairy and beef cattle diets; and (2) to identify deficiencies in representations of the biology that could be used to direct further model improvements. A total of 229 studies (n = 938 treatments) including dairy and beef cattle data, published from 1972 through 2016, were collected from the literature. Root mean squared errors (RMSE) and concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) were calculated to assess model accuracy and precision. Ruminal pH was very poorly represented in the model with a RMSE of 4.6% and a CCC of 0.0. Although volatile fatty acid concentrations had negligible mean (2.5% of mean squared error) and slope (6.8% of mean squared error) bias, the CCC was 0.28, implying that further modifications with respect to volatile fatty acid production and absorption are required to improve model precision. The RMSE was greater than 50% for ruminal ammonia and blood urea-N concentrations with high proportions of error as slope bias, indicating that mechanisms driving ruminal urea N recycling are not properly simulated in the model. Only slight mean and slope bias were exhibited for ruminal outflow of neutral detergent fiber, starch, lipid, total N, and nonammonia N, and for fecal output of protein, neutral detergent fiber, lipid, and starch, indicating the mechanisms encoded in the model relative to ruminal and total-tract nutrient digestion are properly represented. All variables related to ruminal metabolism and nutrient digestion were more precisely predicted for dairy cattle than for beef cattle. This difference in precision was mostly related to the model's inability to simulate low forage diets included in the beef studies. Overall, ruminal pH was poorly simulated and contributed to problems in ruminal nutrient degradation and volatile fatty acid production predictions. Residual analyses suggested ruminal ammonia concentrations need to be considered in the ruminal pH equation, and therefore the inaccuracies in predicting ruminal urea N recycling must also be addressed. These modifications to model structure will likely improve model performance across a wider array of dietary inputs and cattle type.
Research on commutation failure of Jinsu DC transmission project caused by a complex AC fault

Commutation failure is an important factor on safe and stable operation of the receiving-end power grid for high voltage direct current (HVDC) project. A commutation failure event in Jinsu DC transmission project caused by a complex AC failure was taken as background, process of fault and action sequences of protection was introduced, and the reason of the commutation failure and protection action was analysed from principle. Real-time digital simulation (RTDS) was connected to the true-type device of ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) control and protection to form a closed-loop simulation platform. The commutation failure event was inversed, and the simulation result was compared with the actual recorded wave. The results show that abnormal AC voltage leads to the commutation failure.
“The Walls Are So Silent”: Spaces of Confinement and Gendered Meanings of Incarceration in South African Commemorative Art

AbstractThis paper explores artistic and activist work that has arisen in response to episodes of violence committed by the apartheid state against anti-apartheid activists. More specifically, it c...
Recruitment and initial socialization into adapted physical education teacher education

While much has been learned about the socialization of physical education teachers through occupational socialization theory, less is known about the socialization of adapted physical educators. Th...
Gene Expression Profiling and Biomarkers in ARDS

I. Genomic and Proteomic Approaches to the Study of ARDS Although the cute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was described 40 years ago, the advances in diagnostic and treatment options have been progressing slowly. Part of the reason for this slow pace is due to the difficulty in establishing a method for the unbiased diagnosis of this syndrome. Currently, the diagnosis of ARDS/acute lung injury (ALI) is clinical, and is described according to the American-European Consensus Conference (AECC) definition by a series of clinical findings including acute onset, severe hypoxemia, the presence of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, and no evidence of heart failure (1). However, there are several problems with the current clinical criteria for diagnosis. One problem is that there has been found to be a large degree of interobserver variability in applying the radiographic criteria to the diagnosis of ARDS (2). This large degree of variability makes it difficult to identify subsets of patients with the potential to benefit from more targeted therapy, and also makes it difficult to select patients for ongoing clinical trials. Furthermore, the difficulty in identifying patients with the disease makes it difficult to further the understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease in certain groups of patients, such as those with sepsis, trauma, pancreatitis, and certain types of surgery. Another problem with the AECC clinical diagnosis of ARDS is that attempts to validate the clinical criteria by comparison with pathologic findings have revealed that the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis is only moderate when compared to the pathologic diagnosis of diffuse alveolar damage (3).
A bi-fidelity method for the multiscale Boltzmann equation with random parameters

Abstract In this paper, we study the multiscale Boltzmann equation with multi-dimensional random parameters by a bi-fidelity stochastic collocation (SC) method developed in [52] , [70] , [71] . By choosing the compressible Euler system as the low-fidelity model, we adapt the bi-fidelity SC method to combine computational efficiency of the low-fidelity model with high accuracy of the high-fidelity (Boltzmann) model. With only a small number of high-fidelity asymptotic-preserving solver runs for the Boltzmann equation, the bi-fidelity approximation can capture well the macroscopic quantities of the solution to the Boltzmann equation in the random space. A priori estimate on the accuracy between the high- and bi-fidelity solutions together with a convergence analysis is established. Finally, we present extensive numerical experiments to verify the efficiency and accuracy of our proposed method.
Mechanical Properties of Steel Fiber–Reinforced Self-Consolidating Controlled Low-Strength Material for Pavement Base Layers

AbstractA material selected for pavement base layers must possess the structural capacity to withstand stresses and strains caused by vehicle loading and environmental factors. Self-consolidating b...
Social Validity and Teachers' Use of Evidence-Based Practices for Autism.

The autism intervention literature focuses heavily on the concept of evidence-based practice, with less consideration of the acceptability, feasibility, and contextual alignment of interventions in practice. A survey of 130 special educators was conducted to quantify this “social validity” of evidence-based practices and analyze its relationship with knowledge level and frequency of use. Results indicate that knowledge, use, and social validity are tightly-connected and rank the highest for modeling, reinforcement, prompting, and visual supports. Regression analysis suggests that greater knowledge, higher perceived social validity, and a caseload including more students with autism predicts more frequent use of a practice. The results support the vital role that social validity plays in teachers’ implementation, with implications for both research and practice.
The Form of the White Ethno-State: Dunkirk (2017) Omits Indian Soldiers for White Vulnerable Bodies

Zachary Michael Powell argues that the absence of Indian soldiers in the film, alongside its all-white cast, works to reinforce the idea of the white ethnocentrism in Dunkirk (2017). Powell makes the case that the complete omission of the approximately 1000 Indian troops that were also trapped on the beach makes the prioritization of white bodies in the film inherently problematic. To illustrate this, Powell analyzes the film’s editing, mise-en-scene, and its special effects and finds that each is structured around white bodily vulnerability. Powell worries that the film, as a central conception of white nationhood, could be inspiring to the far-right’s anti-immigration discourse as it doesn’t allow viewers to see or conceptualize a multiracial nation via the complete negation and erasure of Indian soldiers.
A discontinuous Galerkin method for the Aw-Rascle traffic flow model on networks

Abstract Macroscopic models for flows strive to depict the physical world by considering quantities of interest at the aggregate level versus focusing on each discrete particle in the system. Many practical problems of interest such as the blood flow in the circulatory system, irrigation channels, supply chains, and vehicular traffic on freeway systems can all be modeled using hyperbolic conservation laws that track macroscopic quantities through a network. In this paper we consider the latter, specifically the second-order Aw-Rascle (AR) traffic flow model on a network, and propose a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for solving the AR system of hyperbolic partial differential equations with appropriate coupling conditions at the junctions. On each road, the standard DG method with Lax-Friedrichs flux is employed, and at the junction, we solve an optimization problem to evaluate the numerical flux of the DG method. As the choice of well-posed coupling conditions for the AR model is not unique, we test different coupling conditions at the junctions. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the high-order accuracy, and comparison of results between the first-order Lighthill-Whitham-Richards model and the second-order AR model. The ability of the model to capture the capacity drop phenomenon is also explored.
Interval Colorectal Cancer 2006-2015: Novel Observations

Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) with colonoscopy has been credited for the majority of the decline in mortality over the past 40 years. However, colonoscopy is hampered by frequent interval cancers (ICs) occurring within 36 months after the last examination. Risk factors for IC imply that most misses are amenable to improved colonoscopic techniques. This study had two primary objectives: (1) to determine whether the proportion of persons with ICs has declined in association with improved approaches to the quality of colonoscopy and (2) to determine unrecognized causes for missed diagnoses. This is a retrospective, single-center study of persons with CRC having been diagnosed within 6–36 months since the most recent colonoscopy between 2006 and 2015. Participants, ages 50 and 89 years, were evaluated specifically for technical features and findings of the most recent colonoscopy. Thirty-nine persons met the inclusion criteria for IC. Mean age was 69.3 years, range 50–86 years, women were 58%, races included 95% Caucasian, 2.5% Asian, and 2.5% African-American, and history of a first-degree relative with CRC was 26%. Symptoms led to the interval diagnosis in 83%, including iron-deficient anemia (38%), bleeding (25%), abdominal/pelvic pain (18%), and change in bowel habit (2.5%). Preexisting neoplasia was present in 72%. The CRC was located in the proximal colon in 51%. Late-stage disease was present in 45%. When compared to persons with an initial diagnosis of screen-detected late-onset CRC, differences were noted for older age, more women, more with a family history of CRC, and more with late-stage disease. The ratio of interval cancers to new cancers ranged between 6 and 11.5%. Findings indicating a “difficult examination” were observed in 14 cases (36%) compared to “easy or no difficulty” examinations in 25 (65%) cases. In a biennial analysis of IC rates between 2006 and 2015, the percentage of IC remained stable between 6 and 11.5%. ICs have been stable constituting 6–11.5% of all CRCs. A “difficult examination” was often associated with IC, may be a risk factor for this problem, and may be an important clue warranting further study.
Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a pre-excitation disorder of the heart. There are several types, depending on the type of involvement of the AV node and the accessary pathway. Certain types may have a genetic component. Treatment options include ablation of the abnormal connection between the atria and ventricles and drug therapy to slow conduction.
The Effect of Predator Chemical Cue Age on Antipredator Behavior in the Wolf Spider Pardosa milvina (Araneae: Lycosidae)

The wolf spider, Pardosa milvina, exhibits reduced movement when detecting chemical cues (silk and excreta) from a larger wolf spider, Hogna helluo. We tested if cue age influenced Pardosa activity. Pardosa response was measured during 1-h trials using video-tracking equipment. Five treatments of predator cues were used: 5-day-old, 1-day-old, 1-h-old, and fresh cues and a control lacking predator cues. Pardosa moved significantly more slowly on substrates with fresh or 1-h-old cues compared to all other treatments and spent less time walking in all Hogna treatments relative to the control except with 5-day-old cues. Pardosa survived longer in the presence of Hogna with fresh compared to older cues. Prey may evaluate cue age as a measure of predation risk and grade antipredator behavior accordingly.
Spectral Scaling Laws in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence Simulations and in the Solar Wind

The question is addressed as to what extent incompressible magnetohydrodynamics can describe random magnetic and velocity fluctuations measured in the solar wind. It is demonstrated that distributions of spectral indices for the velocity, magnetic field, and total energy obtained from high-resolution numerical simulations of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence are qualitatively and quantitatively similar to solar wind observations at 1?AU. Both simulations and observations show that in the inertial range the magnetic field spectrum Eb is steeper than the velocity spectrum Ev with Eb Ev and that the magnitude of the residual energy ER = Ev ? Eb decreases nearly following a k ?2 ? scaling.
Reconstructing velocity and pressure from noisy sparse particle tracks using constrained cost minimization

Emerging time-resolved volumetric PIV techniques have made simultaneous measurements of velocity and pressure fields possible. Yet, in many experimental setups, satisfying the spatial and temporal resolution requirements is a challenge. To improve the quality of sparse and noisy data, this paper introduces a constrained cost minimization (CCM) technique, which interpolates unstructured particle tracks to obtain the velocity, velocity gradients, material acceleration, hence the pressure, on a Eulerian grid. This technique incorporates physical constraints, such as a divergence-free velocity field and curl-free pressure gradients. The performance is evaluated using synthetic particle tracks for an unsteady double gyre and direct numerical simulations data for a turbulent channel flow, with varying particle concentrations and added errors. The errors in pressure, calculated using omni-directional integration, and correlations with the original data are compared to those obtained using the singular value decomposition (SVD) interpolation technique. The CCM errors are mostly lower, and the correlation is higher and less sensitive to particle sparsity and added errors compared to those of SVD. The synthetic particle traces are also projected onto four planar images to evaluate the performance of the new procedure together with shake-the-box (STB) particle tracking. A comparison of pressure spectra and correlation with the original data show very good agreement for the CCM method. Hence, CCM appears to be an effective method for improving the interpolation of sparse data. Sample experimental data obtained in the shear layer behind a backward-facing step demonstrate the application of STB and CCM to resolve the pressure field in coherent vortex structures.
Risk-aware sensor scheduling and tracking of large constellations

Abstract Commercial proposals for large constellations of satellites present a major problem in the field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA). Space traffic management systems must produce accurate and timely predictions of potential collisions for operators to perform evasive maneuvers. This requires precise orbit determination solutions, but limitations on sensor resources can impair tracker performance. This work presents an integrated tasking and tracking system that can autonomously task a network of ground sensors to track large constellations with the goal of identifying hazardous conjunctions. The sensor scheduling approach combines information gain maximization with predicted probability of collision to produce a single reward function for tasking. The labeled multi-Bernoulli filter, a multi-target filter capable of resolving data ambiguity, processes the data and the resulting catalog estimate drives another round of scheduling. A tracking simulation involving 4,545 satellites in low-Earth orbit and a network of twelve ground-based sensors demonstrates how this scheduling method can focus on high-risk targets while maintaining custody of the entire constellation. A conjunction assessment is performed using the estimated catalog at the end of the tracking phase, and the accuracy of the analysis is used to evaluate the scheduling method’s efficacy.
Working with the US Government: Information Resources

This document provides information on how companies and researchers in machine translation can work with the U.S. Government. Specifically, it addresses information on (1) groups in the U.S. Government working with translation and potentially having a need for machine translation; (2) means for companies and researchers to provide information to the United States Government about their work; and (3) U.S. Government organizations providing grants of possible interest to this community.
Veterans' Insights on Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback to Treat Fibromyalgia-Related Pain

Abstract Background Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) is a self-management strategy that guides individuals to breathe at a designated resonance frequency of the cardiovascular system. Resonant breathing may reduce FM-related symptoms as well as improve physical functioning and quality of life. Although prior research recommends HRVB for chronic pain, we found no studies testing the feasibility for individuals with FM regarding protocol adherence or acceptability of the treatment. Aims To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) protocol in a group of Veterans with fibromyalgia (FM). Design A multi-method feasibility and acceptability study. Settings A Veterans Health outpatient pain medicine clinic. Participants/Subjects We enrolled 7 women and 3 men between the ages of 33 and 68 years with a diagnosis of FM. Methods We enrolled 10 veterans in a HRVB study using a recommended protocol to treat FM. Veterans were given a HRVB device, emWave2, and instructed to practice at home twice daily for 20 minutes per session. Following a 7-week intervention period, we conducted an end of study focus group. We used content analysis to develop themes to determine the feasibility of engaging in HRVB and adhering to the intervention protocol, as well as insights of veterans about the intervention. Results Three common themes emerged: intervention implementation, protocol adherence, and self-awareness. Conclusions Results of this study suggest difficulties operating the emWave2 and scheduling challenges interfered with HRVB implementation. However, veterans reported self-awareness of the benefits of HRVB, positive physiological effects, and improved psychological effects. Future studies require a larger sample size to provide a deeper insight.
International Law as a Belief System. By Jean d’Aspremont. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017. xvi + 154 pp. HB £85.

In International Law as a Belief System, Jean d’Aspremont grapples with the role international lawyers play in constructing their field. The book represents a consolidation of ideas originating elsewhere, notably in the pages of this journal and in a collection of the author’s essays published in 2015. In this new and insightful work, d’Aspremont aims ‘to make international lawyers sensitive to an image of what they are potentially thinking when they deploy the modes of legal reasoning prescribed by the fundamental doctrines of international law they are trained to apply’ (117). He invites us to imagine international law as a belief system, with the ultimate aim of suspending our belief so as to unlearn and re-think the entrenched forms of international legal discourse we often take for granted. This is a heuristic rather than a descriptive exercise and so is intended to ‘make familiar things unfamiliar, and thereby to make them differently noticeable’.
Could plant extracts have enabled hominins to acquire honey before the control of fire

Honey is increasingly recognized as an important food item in human evolution, but it remains unclear whether extinct hominins could have overcome the formidable collective stinging defenses of honey bees during honey acquisition. The utility of smoke for this purpose is widely recognized, but little research has explored alternative methods of sting deterrence such as the use of plant secondary compounds. To consider whether hominins could have used plant extracts as a precursor or alternative to smoke, we review the ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and plant chemical ecology literature to examine how humans use plants in combination with, and independently of, smoke during honey collection. Plant secondary compounds are diverse in their physiological and behavioral effects on bees and differ fundamentally from those of smoke. Plants containing these chemicals are widespread and prove to be remarkably effective in facilitating honey collection by honey hunters and beekeepers worldwide. While smoke may be superior as a deterrent to bees, plant extracts represent a plausible precursor or alternative to the use of smoke during honey collection by hominins. Smoke is a sufficient but not necessary condition for acquiring honey in amounts exceeding those typically obtained by chimpanzees, suggesting that significant honey consumption could have predated the control of fire.
Resorption of bone implants. The effect of in vivo incorporation of a diphosphonate and fluoride on resorption.

abstract Weanling isogenously related rats were divided into one control group, one group given a fluoride supplement of 100 parts/10 6 of F − in the drinking water, and a third group given 0.5 mg per kg body weight of phosphorus as dichloromethylene diphosphanic acid (Cl 2 MDP). The rats were labeled with 1 μCi per g body weight of 3 H proline and 40 μCi of 45 Ca. Four weeks after labeling, the animals were sacrificed and one scapula was implanted subcutaneously in the back of an isogenously related rat of the same age. The other scapula was stored in a freezer pending analysis. After another 4 weeks the implants were recovered and the radio-activity of each isotope was compared with that of the initially stored scapulae. A 30–40 % loss of activity was found, refiecting a consider-able loss of bone. However, this loss was significantly lower ( P 2 MDP was given to the donor animals, whereas fluoride treatment did not affect the resorption.
Constructs that contribute to student satisfaction for participating in graduate-level courses delivered by full motion interactive fiber optic communications network

The purpose of this study was to measure constructs that contribute to gradtiate student satisfaction with interactive televised courses that have been taught via Iowa Communications Network (ICN). In this study student satisfaction with the instructor's communication and teaching skills, accessibility of the instructor out of classroom, course management, course content, and quality of technology was measured by using die Student Satisfaction with ICN (SSICN) questionnaire. Students' needs and their suggestions to improve the quality of education through ICN were identified through five open-ended questions. The population for the study was 690 graduate students who took ICN courses between spring 1996 and spring 1997. From the population, 300 students were selected by using stratified random sampling design. The SSICN questionnaire was mailed to students in the fall. 1997. Two follow-up contacts were made to non-respondents. Descriptive statistics were calculated for each item. Using t-tests to investigate the student satisfaction with each construct, student differences in ratings based on site-type and gender were explored. A correlation analysis was done to investigate the relationships between student satisfaction, age, and motivation. A content analysis of the responses to the open-ended questions indicated student satisfaction with their positive learning experience using interactive televised courses through ICN. The t-test analysis revealed that there were significant differences between male and female students in their satisfaction with accessibility of instructor out of classroom. However, no significant differences were found between male and female students' satisfaction with the constructs when considering only students in the origination site. When
THE PROVISION OF COUNSELING SERVICES AMONG SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS: AN EXPLORATION OF TRAINING, CURRENT PRACTICES, AND PERCEPTIONS

Although school psychologists have been called on in recent literature to assume a leadership role in a collective and comprehensive effort to address students’ mental health needs, many practitioners find that their professional roles continue to be narrowly focused on special education-related activities, such as individualized assessment and eligibility determination. Meanwhile, students’ mental health needs have never been greater. The current study focused specifically on school psychologists’ provision of school-based counseling, an activity that has been shown to be effective in addressing students’ mental health needs, as well as a professional role that many practitioners have expressed a desire to expand. A national sample of school psychologists responded to an Internet survey related to various aspects of counseling service delivery, including their training to provide services, current practices, and perceptions of the importance for school psychologists to assume the responsibility of providing school-based counseling services.
Purification of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase and associated factors

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) that has been purified using a wide variety of techniques. In addition to continuing interest in its fundamental enzymatic properties, purified RNAP is used as a tool for the investigation of transcriptional control mechanisms, and for the preparation of specific RNA transcripts. The chapter focuses on techniques developed for the purification of RNAP and its associated factors from the model gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Bacillus subtilis RNAP has a complex subunit structure. The minimal catalytic moiety, consisting of the ββ´α 2 complex, is associated with two ω subunits to generate the core enzyme. Methods are also summarized for the production and purification of individual σ factors and the σ subunit, important reagents for the reconstitution of defined holoenzyme species. In a few applications, it is desirable to purify individual RNAO subunits or associated factors..