cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid Resolution of Truncated Intermediate Problems

The determinant method of truncation is a useful computational adjunct in seeking tight lower bounds to eigenvalues of self-adjoint operators commonly found in science and engineering. The primary computational effort and bottleneck in this method involves finding and labeling selected roots of a determinant of a nonlinear matrix-valued function — the Weinstein-Aronszajn perturbation determinant. The best previous algorithms for resolving this problem directly were simply variants of the secant method and had at best a local superlinear rate of convergence. Worse, these methods frequently failed either due to encounters with singularities that lie interspersed among the desired roots or due to a mislabeling of the index of a root — thus leading to erroneous eigenvalue bounds.
After-School: An Innovative Model to Better Understand the Mathematics Learning of Latinas/os

At the heart of our discussion is a concern to better understand how to transform the inequitable schooling conditions of Latinas/os, especially in mathematics. People experience mathematics differently based on their gender, race, ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status (Gutstein, 2005; Gutstein, Lipman, Hernandez & de los Reyes, 1997; Khisty & Chval, 2002; Martin, 2006). Mathematics learning, like other educational components, is a racialized form of experience (Martin, 2006) and is not, as some perceive it, a neutral discipline, free of social and political biases and consequences. Latinas/os’ disproportionate patterns of mathematics failure influence their continued underrepresentation in higher education, professional careers, and higher socioeconomic levels. Even in light of efforts since the 1960s to address the educational and social conditions surrounding Latinas/os, radical transformation of hegemonic views of Latinas/os has fallen short, and perhaps no other place is this more evident than in the classroom and in mathematics.
Deep Speaker Embeddings with Convolutional Neural Network on Supervector for Text-Independent Speaker Recognition

Lexical content variability in different utterances is the key challenge for text-independent speaker verification. In this paper, we investigate using supervector which has ability to reduce the impact of lexical content mismatch among different utterances for supervised speaker embedding learning. A DNN acoustic model is used to align a feature sequence to a set of senones and generate centered and normalized first order statistics supervector. Statistics vectors from similar senones are placed together and reshaped to an image to maintain the local continuity and correlation. The supervector image is then fed into residual convolutional neural network. The deep speaker embedding features are the outputs of the last hidden layer of the network and we employ a PLDA back-end for the subsequent modeling. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional GMM-UBM i-vector system and is complementary to the DNN-UBM i-vector system. The score level fusion system achieves 1.26% ERR and 0.260 DCF10 cost on the NIST SRE 10 extended core condition 5 task.
Outcomes of Bioprosthetic Valves in the Pulmonary Position in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Background There are limited data on the incidence of prosthetic valve dysfunction (PVD) after pulmonary valve replacement (PVR). The purpose of this study was to determine the longevity of bioprosthetic valves in the pulmonary position and the factors associated with bioprosthetic valve longevity in adults with congenital heart disease. Methods This retrospective review of adults with bioprosthetic PVR was conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota from 1990 to 2017. The study end point was PVD, defined as peak velocity greater than 4 m/s, severe prosthetic regurgitation, or both. For the purpose of this study we assessed bioprosthetic valve longevity by using 3 different indices: (1) cumulative incidence of PVD, (2) incidence density of PVD, and (3) time to PVD. Results There were 807 bioprosthetic PVRs in 573 patients. PVD occurred in 267 (33%) prostheses. Time to PVD was 12.6 ± 3.9 years, the incidence of PVD was 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.0 to 3.4) cases per 100 prosthesis-years, and the 15-year cumulative incidence was 48% (95% CI, 43%- to 53%). No difference in prosthesis longevity by type of prosthesis implanted was observed. The multivariate risk factors for PVD were a history of atrial fibrillation (hazard ratio [HR], 1.36; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.54; P = .014), and greater than moderate right ventricular dysfunction (HR, 1.21, 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.48; P = .049). Postoperative anticoagulation with a vitamin K antagonist was associated with a lower risk of PVD (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.92; P = .038). Conclusions The limited longevity of bioprosthetic valves poses significant concerns about the cumulative lifetime risk of reinterventions. Prospective studies are required to determine if interventions such as treatment of atrial fibrillation and postoperative anticoagulation will delay the occurrence of PVD.
Efficient PFAS Removal by Amine-Functionalized Sorbents: Critical Review of the Current Literature

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of persistent and mobile fluoro-organic chemicals that have been detected in many water supplies, and their recommended safe concentrations in drinking water are as low as 6 ng/L. Current technological advances suggest that amine-containing sorbents can provide alternative solutions to PFAS control in the treatment of municipal water and wastewater at relatively low PFAS concentrations. The objective of this review is to provide critical analysis of the development and application of amine-containing sorbents for PFAS removal. The removal of PFAS by aminated sorbents relies on the combined effects of three main factors: (i) electrostatic interactions with functional groups of the sorbent, (ii) hydrophobic interactions with the sorbent and between PFAS molecules, and (iii) sorbent morphology. The design of next-generation sorbents should take into consideration these three factors and their relative contribution. We also provide an outlook an...
Soil Organic Matter Impacts on Sugarcane Production on Florida Mineral Soils

Sugarcane growth on mineral soils in Florida can often be highly variable as related to the nature of the soils. The soil factor that best relates to sugarcane growth is soil organic matter content. Very stunted sugarcane is also associated with high nematode populations, which indicate high risk of crop damage. This new 4-page publication of the UF/IFAS Agronomy Department discusses grower options for evaluating and increasing soil organic matter. Written by J. Mabry McCray and Stewart Swanson.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ag441
Development of a spring-based weight system for halo gravity traction for complex pediatric spinal deformity.

Description of technique. Describes the redesign of free-weight-based halo gravity traction wheelchairs and walkers to a spring-based system. The treatment of severe pediatric spinal deformities is challenging and associated with significant morbidity. Halo gravity traction (HGT) can be utilized to assist in the correction of severe spinal deformities. A time period of traction may also be used to medically optimize patients prior to surgery. Implementing HGT therapy requires specialized equipment, specially trained hospital staff, as well as significant commitment from caregivers. This study describes the transition from a free weight-based HGT equipment to a spring-based weight system. The new system is expected to decrease the burden of care and improve safety for patients and their families. A thorough interview process was carried out to gather data on existing HGT systems. All stakeholders, including orthopedic technicians, nurses, surgeons, patients and their families were asked questions on how to improve the equipment and process. With colleagues at a partner children’s hospital, new HGT wheelchairs and walkers with a spring-based weight system were designed and built. Spring-based weight HGT wheelchairs and walkers are more economical to build, safer, and easier to operate than free-weight-based systems. A cost analysis found that spring-based systems cost $780 less compared to free weight-based systems. In addition, the new spring-based wheelchairs and walkers are about 50% lighter with improved weight distribution making them safer to operate and easier to transport. There is consensus among surgeons, nurses, and families that the redesigned units are easier to operate. Spring-based weight HGT systems are economically viable and clinically effective for pre-operative traction for children with severe spinal deformities. They are well tolerated by patients and easy to care for by nursing and surgical staff. III.
Digital technology for management of severe mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Increasingly, digital technologies, especially mobile telecommunications and smartphone apps, are seen as a novel tool for managing severe mental disorders (SMDs) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there is a need to identify best practices in the use of digital technologies to effectively reach, support, and manage care for patients living with SMDs. In this review, we summarize recent studies using digital technology to manage symptoms and support clinical care for this patient population and discuss new opportunities to advance digital psychiatry research and practice in LMICs. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies evaluating digital interventions for clinical populations living with SMDs in LMICs are limited. Yet, across recent articles surveyed, digital technology appears to yield diverse benefits for this at-risk patient population. These benefits include improved medication adherence, appointment adherence, reduced instances of relapse, and fewer re-hospitalizations. SUMMARY: Continued rigorous research evaluating effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of digital technologies in reaching, treating, and managing symptoms and supporting clinical care for patients with SMDs in LMICs is vital. The urgency for remote approaches for delivering specialized psychiatric care is particularly pronounced because of the immediate and long-term impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on access to in-person services. Future research should emphasize participatory approaches rooted in a process of codesign with target users, in order to achieve clinically effective remotely delivered digital mental health interventions.
Purposing aesthetics in historic preservation: advocating, signifying, and interpreting aesthetics

Aesthetics is a pillar consideration in historic preservation. Yet, purposing aesthetics for historic preservation ends seems to lag behind the opportunities. Utterly subjective, aesthetics poses challenges for the preservation community worldwide to moderate, accommodate, and purpose aesthetics in heritage programs. The challenges revolve around the assessment of aesthetical purposing in three domains. These domains include the community disposition towards accommodating aesthetics (advocacy), the criteria and strategies for assessing the aesthetic value of historic resources (signification), and, the standards for treating historic resources in preservation projects (interpretation). This study, therefore, assesses the trends for purposing aesthetics in historic preservation thought and practice through three platforms: advocating aesthetics, signifying aesthetics, and interpreting aesthetics. The study completed literature content analysis on aesthetics in general and aesthetics in historic preservation in particular. Further, because of the perspective of the study, the works of international and country preservation programs provided information relevant to advocacy, signification, and interpretation of aesthetics that have been refined by classification, comparison, and exemplification methods. Among others, these works include those of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the U.S. National Historic Preservation Program in the National Park Service. The study culminated with general and platform-specific conclusions. First, as the three proposed platforms (advocacy, signification, and interpretation) maintain structural and serial relationships, they constitute a relevant and feasible framework for assessing aesthetical purposing. Second, as the aesthetical purposing assessment followed a broad, international perspective, the conclusions of the study are commensurate with the selective scope of information used from international and country preservation programs. Third, the contribution to aesthetical purposing at each of the three platforms can be measure only in general, and at times, subjective terms. Highlights: Proposing aesthetical advocacy, aesthetical signification, and aesthetical interpretation as a platform framework to assess the purposing of aesthetics was feasible. As aesthetical purposing was approached from a broad, international perspective, the conclusions of the study commensurate with the selective scope of information used. The contribution to aesthetical purposing at each of the three platforms is hard to measure; however, the indications point to uneven contribution.
A New Weak Lensing Analysis of MS1224.7+2007

Galaxy cluster mass distributions are useful probes of Omega_0 and the nature of the dark matter. Large clusters will distort the observed shapes of background galaxies through gravitational lensing allowing the measurement of the cluster mass distributions. For most cases, the agreement between weak lensing and radial velocity mass measurements of clusters is reasonably good. There is, however, one significant exception, the z=0.32 cluster MS1224.7+2007, which has a lensing mass substantially larger than the virial mass and also a very high mass-to-light ratio. Since this controversial object might be an unusually dark mass a follow-up study is definitely warranted. In this paper we study the mass and light distributions of MS1224+2007 out to a projected radius of 800/h kpc by measuring the gravitationally-induced distortions of background galaxies. We detect a shear signal in the background galaxies in the radial range 27.5 arcsec < r < 275 arcsec at the 5.5 sigma level. The resultant mass map exhibits a peak centered on the dominant cluster galaxy and strong evidence for substructure which is even more strongly seen in the galaxy distribution. Assuming all the detected shear is due to mass at z=0.32 we find cluster mass-to-light ratio of M/L_R = 640 +/- 150. The mass profile is quite flat compared to other clusters, disagreeing with a pseudo-singular isothermal sphere at the 95% confidence level. Our mass and M/L estimates are consistent with the previous weak lensing result. The discrepancy between the lensing and virial mass remains although it might be partially explained by subclustering and infall perpendicular to the line-of-site. This cluster remains a candidate dark object deficient in baryons and as such severely tests cosmological models.
Noncontrast assessment of blood-brain barrier permeability to water: Shorter acquisition, test-retest reproducibility, and comparison with contrast-based method.

Purpose Assessment of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability without the need for contrast agent is desirable, and the ability to measure the permeability to small molecules such as water may further increase the sensitivity in detecting diseases. This study proposed a time-efficient, noncontrast method to measure BBB permeability to water, evaluated its test-retest reproducibility, and compared it with a contrast agent-based method. Methods A single-delay water extraction with phase-contrast arterial spin tagging (WEPCAST) method was devised in which spatial profile of the signal along the superior sagittal sinus was used to estimate bolus arrival time, and the WEPCAST signal at the corresponding location was used to compute water extraction fraction, which was combined with global cerebral blood flow to estimate BBB permeability surface area product to water. The reliability of WEPCAST sequence was examined in terms of intrasession, intersession, and inter-vendor (Philips [Ingenia, Best, the Netherlands] and Siemens [Prisma, Erlangen, Germany]) reproducibility. Finally, we compared this new technique to a contrast agent-based method. Results Single-delay WEPCAST reduced the scan duration from approximately 20 min to 5 min. Extract fraction values estimated from single-delay WEPCAST showed good consistency with the multi-delay method (R = 0.82, P = .004). Group-averaged permeability surface area product values were found to be 137.5 ± 9.3 mL/100 g/min. Intrasession, intersession, and inter-vendor coefficient of variation of the permeability surface area product values were 6.6 ± 4.5%, 6.9 ± 3.7%, and 8.9 ± 3.0%, respectively. Finally, permeability surface area product obtained from WEPCAST MRI showed a significant correlation with that from the contrast-based method (R = .73, P = .02). Conclusion Single-delay WEPCAST MRI can measure BBB permeability to water within 5 min with an intrasession, intersession, and inter-vendor test-retest reproducibility of 6% to 9%. This method may provide a useful marker of BBB breakdown in clinical studies.
The Gods of Indian Country: Religion and the Struggle for the American West: Jennifer Graber. 2018 New York: Oxford University Press 288 pp., ISBN 978-0-19-027961-5

In The Gods of Indian Country, Jennifer Graber addresses the general neglect of religion in histories of the American West through a compelling examination of Kiowa opposition to U.S. colonialism. ...
Machine Learning for Optimal Inverter Operation in Distribution Grids

Smart inverters have been advocated as a fast-responding voltage control solution in distribution grids with renewables. Nevertheless, finding the optimal inverter setpoints for reactive power in near real time can be computationally and communication-wise taxing. We put forth two deep neural network (DNN)-based approaches to facilitate inverter control. The first approach is a learning-to-optimize scheme, where a DNN is used by the electric utility to predict the optimal power flow (OPF) minimizers once presented with the new grid loading conditions. The novel feature here is that this DNN is trained to match not only the minimizers, but also their sensitivities with respect to the OPF problem parameters. This is a unique feature for the learning-to-optimize setup yielding a dramatic improvement on data efficiency. The second approach targets a decentralized control scheme, where inverter control curves are modeled as DNNs that are jointly trained through an OPF formulation via stochastic primal-dual updates. Thanks to a flexible DNN architecture, the inverters can be partially driven by a utility control signal depending on the available communication specifications.
Impact of a Multimodal Analgesia Protocol on Inpatient and Outpatient Opioid Use in Acute Trauma.

ABSTRACT Background Multimodal analgesia protocols have been implemented after elective surgery to reduce opioid use, however there is limited data on utility after polytrauma. Therefore, we investigated the impact of a multimodal analgesia protocol on inpatient and post-discharge outpatient opioid use after polytrauma. Methods A retrospective review of patients admitted to a Level I trauma center between September 2017-February 2018 (prior to multimodal protocol; “pre-cohort”) and October 2018-April 2019 (after multimodal protocol; “post-cohort”) was performed. An outpatient controlled substance registry was utilized to capture morphine milligram equivalents (MME) and gabapentin dispensed in the 6 mo after injury. Results 620 patients were included (295 pre-cohort, 325 post-cohort). Total inpatient MME decreased from 177.5 mg-130 mg (P= 0.01) between the cohorts. Daily inpatient MME decreased from 70.8 mg-44.7 mg (P Conclusion Implementation of an updated multimodal analgesia protocol decreased total MME, daily MME, hydromorphone, and oxycodone consumed while increasing gabapentin use. This suggests that while reducing opioid usage in-hospital is critical to reducing outpatient usage, multimodal pain protocols may lead to an increase in gabapentin prescriptions and utilization after discharge.
Resource Allocation in Vibration Energy Harvesters

This paper studies the optimization of mechanics and resource allocation in linear vibration energy harvesters operating under an overall size constraint. In such harvesters, the volume aspect ratio and the stroke direction should be carefully selected to maximize output power and power density. Further, because the proof mass and spring stroke must share the available size along the stroke direction, a mass-stroke design trade-off results; the trade-off is optimized here. The optimization further leads to a universal metric the enables the comparison of linear vibration energy harvesters designed to operate in a limited volume. Examination of this metric results in guidelines and best practices for selecting harvester dimensions and shape for a given volume constraint, all based on the dimensional harvester optimization for maximum size-constrained output power. This paper offers several key contributions. First, it provides an evaluation and optimization of the impact that volume shaping and volumetric resource allocation have on the output power of linear vibration energy harvesters. Second, it develops a “universal normalized surface” relating output power to dimensional harvester design. The surface expresses the performance limit of space-constrained linear vibration energy harvesters in terms of their output power density. This leads to universal guidelines for harvester design. Finally, benchmarking harvesters reported in the literature against the universal surface demonstrates that their output performances lie on or below the surface, despite large variations in their exogenous design variables such as vibration amplitude, frequency, volume etc. Thus, this paper offers an effective method to evaluate mechanical design and optimization in state-of-the-art linear vibration energy harvesters under volume constraints, a scenario suited for IoT applications. [2021-0074]
The Impact of Prior Fragility Fractures on Complications After Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study

Abstract Background The impact of prior fragility fractures and osteoporosis treatment before total hip arthroplasty (THA) on postoperative complications is unclear. The purpose of this study was to characterize the effect of prior fragility fractures and preoperative osteoporosis treatment on short-term complications and secondary fragility fractures after THA. Methods A propensity score–matched retrospective cohort study was conducted using a commercially available database to (1) characterize the impact of prior fragility fractures on rates of short-term complications after THA and (2) evaluate if osteoporosis treatment before arthroplasty reduces risk of postoperative complications. Rates of periprosthetic fracture, revision THA, and fragility fractures were compared via multivariable logistic regression. Results After 1:1 propensity score matching, 2188 patients were assigned to each cohort. Patients with a fragility fracture in the 3 years preceding THA were more likely to sustain a periprosthetic fracture (1 year: 1.7% vs 1.0%, odds ratio [OR] 1.89; 2 years: 2.1% vs 1.1%, OR 1.82), fragility fracture (1 year: 4.7% vs 1.1%, OR 3.59; 2 years: 6.7% vs 1.7%, OR 3.21), and revision THA (1 year: 2.7% vs 1.7%, OR 1.65; 2 years: 3.1% vs 1.9%, OR 1.58). Among patients with a prior fragility fracture, only 13.8% received osteoporosis pharmacotherapy before THA. Rates of all complications were statistically comparable postoperatively for patients with and without pre-THA osteoporosis treatment. Conclusions Fragility fractures within 3 years before THA are associated with significantly increased risk of periprosthetic fracture, all-cause revision, and secondary fragility fractures postoperatively. Preoperative osteoporosis treatment may not decrease risk of postoperative complications.
Influence of Polyenoic Acids on Arachidonic Acid Metabolism and Platelet Function

Epidemiologic discoveries suggesting beneficial effects of fish diets in lowering the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Greenland Eskimos and Japanese fishermen have prompted many dietary studies aimed at prevention of CVD. Fish fats are rich in -3 polyenoic acids such as eicosa-pentaenoic acid (EPA, 20 : 5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22 : 6). Several studies have attributed the salutary influence of a fish diet to the presence of large amounts of these fatty acids. A beneficial effect of polyenoic acids may be related to competitive inhibition of platelet arachidonic acid metabolism or to production of antiplatelet metabolites via the vascular cyclooxygenase or platelet lipoxygenase pathway. In this study we have examined polyenoic-acid-induced in vitro platelet dysfunction and followed the in vivo effects of these fatty acids in modulating ex vivo platelet function. The fatty acids evaluated in this study (EPA and DHA) were potent inhibitors of arachidonic acid conversion to thromboxane. Therefore, they blocked agonist-induced release of granule contents and irreversible aggregation of platelets. However, polyenoic-acid-induced inhibition of thromboxane synthesis was transient and could be reversed by washing platelets. Although radiolabeled polyenoic acids (EPA/DHA) were incorporated into membrane phospholipids, when stirred with agonists they did not generate significant quantities of cyclooxygenase metabolites. Platelets metabolized these fatty acids efficiently via the lipoxygenase pathway. Oral ingestion of two capsules of EPA™ (Shaklee Products, EPA 300 mg; DHA 130 mg) per day for 60 days or 15 capsules per day for 3 days had no significant effect on agonist-induced irreversible aggregation of platelets. Results of our investigation suggest that polyenoic-acid-induced inhibition of platelet function may be related to their ability to compete with substrate arachidonic acid for the active site on the enzyme rather than to the inhibitory metabolites formed via vascular cyclooxygenase or the platelet lipoxygenase pathway. In vivo studies suggest that ingestion of large amounts of the fatty acids may be essential to obtain any beneficial effect.
Post-Permanency Continuity: What Happens After Adoption and Guardianship From Foster Care?

A new dynamic faces the U.S. child welfare system. Since 1998 there has been a simultaneous decrease in children in state custody and increase in children in subsidized adoptive and guardianship homes. In 2013 there were 2.8 children in federally assisted adoptive or guardianship homes for every child in a federally assisted foster home. While generally lauded as positive, little empirical research chronicles the post-adoption or post-guardianship outcomes of these children, and there is no agreed-upon terminology for children who leave their legally permanent homes prior to becoming adults. This study examined outcomes for 21,629 children adopted or taken into guardianship, and tracked for at least 10 years, or until age 18. Most (87%) did not reenter foster care or experienced another type of temporary or long-term interruption in care. Based on the experiences of the 13%, this study suggests new terminology, post-permanency discontinuity, to describe these experiences.
Origin of cosmic electrons from about 100 to 1000000 GeV

The origin of high-energy cosmic electrons is considered. It is found that electrons of energies below 1000 GeV could have been produced by local supernovae associated with known radio remnants. At higher energies, observations of muon-poor air showers indicate the existence of electrons at 1,000,000 GeV which may have originated entirely from the supernova Vela X.
Identification and functional characterization of two type VI collagen receptors, alpha 3 beta 1 integrin and NG2, during avian corneal stromal development.

Purpose The development and maintenance of extracellular matrix architecture in the corneal stroma is associated with abundant type VI collagen deposition. This collagen has been implicated in mediating both cell-matrix and matrix-matrix interactions. Although corneal fibroblasts spread extensively on this collagen, its role in corneal development has not been elucidated. Methods To clarify the role of this collagen, two type VI collagen receptors were studied during corneal development using immunochemical techniques: alpha 3 beta 1 integrin and an integral membrane proteoglycan, NG2. Results At embryonic day 6, these receptors were present in a diffuse pattern on cells within the cornea and juxtacorneal regions, indicating a migratory phenotype. At embryonic day 14, when the stroma is fully differentiated, alpha 3 and NG2 were localized in a punctate pattern on a subset of corneal fibroblasts, whereas beta 1 was more ubiquitously expressed. Colocalization of NG2 and type VI collagen indicated that this collagen was present and punctate in its organization was associated with NG2-positive cells. Immunochemical analyses at embryonic days 5 and 14 revealed alpha 3 and beta 1 at 155 kDa and 120 kDa, respectively, and demonstrated that these subunits were interacting to form a heterodimer. NG2 was present with a core protein of 330 kDa and an intact proteoglycan of approximately 600 kDa, and analysis of stromal lysates indicated a chondroitin sulfate-containing proteoglycan. Matrix-receptor cross-linking demonstrated the interaction of beta 1 and NG2 in periocular mesenchyme cells and corneal fibroblasts with type VI collagen, whereas only a subset of cells expressed alpha 3, indicating the presence of another beta 1 integrin. No variations between in vivo and in vitro expression of either alpha 3 beta 1 or NG2 were observed. Conclusions These data indicate that two receptors for type VI collagen, alpha 3 beta 1 and NG2, are present during corneal stromal development, with a functional interaction of these receptors with type VI collagen. These interactions may play a role in corneal cell migration, development, and maintenance of corneal architecture.
Duality of nonsupersymmetric large N gauge theories

Starting from Seiberg's electric-magnetic duality for supersymmetric QCD, we construct dual pairs of non-supersymmetric gauge theories. This is accomplished by first taking the large N limit of supersymmetric QCD and its dual partner and then performing a special ``orbifold projection'' recently introduced by Kachru and Silverstein. We argue that in the large N limit the two projected theories remain dual. The non-supersymmetric gauge theories which can be studied in this fashion have non-supersymmetric field content, chiral fermions and exactly massless scalar matter.
The NMDA receptor subunits NR2A and NR2B show histological and ultrastructural localization patterns similar to those of NR1

Neuronal plasticity associated with learning, memory and development is controlled, in part, by NMDA receptors, which are complexes consisting of the subunit NMDAR1 (NR1) and one or more NMDAR2 subunits (NR2A-NR2D). We made a polyclonal antibody to a C-terminus peptide of NR2A. In analysis of transfected cell membranes, this antibody recognizes NR2A and NR2B, and to a slight extent, NR2C and NR2D. In Western blots of rat brain, the antibody labeled a single band that comigrated with NR2A and NR2B. This antibody (NR2A/B) did not cross-react with extracts from transfected cells expressing other glutamate receptor subunits, nor did it label non-neuronal tissues. Immunostained sections of rat brain showed significant staining throughout the nervous system, including olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, caudate-putamen, and many brainstem nuclei, as well as in neurons of spinal cord and sensory ganglia. This widespread distribution of staining was similar to that found with an antibody to NR1, supporting the presence of functional NR1/NR2 complexes throughout the nervous system. In the cerebellum, in contrast to staining with NR1 antibody, Purkinje cell staining with NR2A/B antibody was low, indicating that these neurons may lack functional NMDA receptors. EM examination revealed dense staining in dendrites and postsynaptic densities in cerebral cortex and hippocampus, similar to those seen with antibody to NR1. Since functional NMDA receptor complexes at synapses appear to require both NR1 and NR2 subunit proteins for full function, this study provides structural evidence for functional NR1/NR2 receptors in vivo in the nervous system.
Checking your SOCCs and feet: the molecular mechanisms of Ca2+ entry in skeletal muscle.

It has long been known that skeletal muscle contraction persists in the absence of extracellular Ca2+. Nevertheless, recent evidence indicates that multiple distinct Ca2+ entry pathways exist in skeletal muscle: one active at negative potentials that requires store depletion (store-operated calcium entry or SOCE) and a second that is independent of store depletion and is activated by depolarization (excitation-coupled calcium entry or ECCE). This review highlights recent findings regarding the molecular identity, subcellular localization, and inter-relationship between SOCE and ECCE in skeletal muscle. The respective roles of ryanodine receptors (RyRs), dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs), inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs), canonical transient receptor potential channels (TRPCs), STIM1 Ca2+ sensor proteins, and Orai1 Ca2+ permeable channels in mediating SOCE and ECCE in skeletal muscle are discussed. Differences between SOCE and ECCE in skeletal muscle with Ca2+ entry mechanisms in non-excitable cells are also reviewed. Finally, potential physiological roles for SOCE and ECCE in skeletal muscle development and function, as well as other currently unanswered questions and controversies in the field are also considered.
Glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of type 2 diabetes

The possibility that high, long-term intake of carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed as glucose may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes has been a long-standing controversy. Two main mechanisms have been hypothesized, one mediated by increases in insulin resistance and the other by pancreatic exhaustion as a result of the increased demand for insulin. During the past decade, several lines of evidence have collectively provided strong support for a relation between such diets and diabetes incidence. In animals and in short-term human studies, a high intake of carbohydrates with a high glycemic index (a relative measure of the incremental glucose response per gram of carbohydrate) produced greater insulin resistance than did the intake of low-glycemic-index carbohydrates. In large prospective epidemiologic studies, both the glycemic index and the glycemic load (the glycemic index multiplied by the amount of carbohydrate) of the overall diet have been associated with a greater risk of type 2 diabetes in both men and women. Conversely, a higher intake of cereal fiber has been consistently associated with lower diabetes risk. In diabetic patients, evidence from medium-term studies suggests that replacing high-glycemic-index carbohydrates with a low-glycemic-index forms will improve glycemic control and, among persons treated with insulin, will reduce hypoglycemic episodes. These dietary changes, which can be made by replacing products made with white flour and potatoes with whole-grain, minimally refined cereal products, have also been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and can be an appropriate component of recommendations for an overall healthy diet.
The Regulation of Body and Skeletal Muscle Protein Metabolism by Hormones and Amino Acids

For many decades, it has been recognized that insulin, growth hormone, glucocorticoids, insulin-like growth factor 1, thyroid hormones, and other hormones regulate body protein metabolism. It has been more recently recognized, but not understood, that humor factors present in states of acute and chronic inflammation could have a strong impact on protein turnover. Most recently, the role of amino acids, acting as signaling molecules, has become increasingly clarified. In aggregate, these factors (together with neuromuscular activity) determine the balance of body protein mass. We will review some of these data, particularly focusing on amino acids, insulin, and the growth hormone axis and their actions in muscle and how these relate to whole-body protein metabolism.
Role of inflammatory pathway and cells on glioma cell response to chemotherapy

The inflammatory pathway molecule STAT3 has previously been linked to chemotherapy resistance in glioma tumors. More specifically, we have found that a subset of glioma cells, glioblastoma cancer stem cells (gCSCs) play an integral role in the micro tumor environment that may be primarily responsible for this characteristic. Following STAT3 silencing through siRNA transfection, combined with chemotherapeutic treatments, drug efficacy was shown to have increased minimally in a 3D spheroid model. Additionally, transwell migration assays indicate that soluble factors produced by macrophages increase gCSC motility. Through the investigation of STAT3 silencing in an engineered tumor model and the migratory characteristics of the heterogeneous glioma population, we further understand the role both the inflammatory molecule STAT3 and the primary inflammatory cells play in the increased drug resistance and migration of glioma tumors.
Class-Dependent Assignment in cluster-based servers

A cluster-based server consists of a front-end dispatcher and several back-end servers. The dispatcher receives incoming requests, and then assigns them to back-end servers for processing. Our goal is to devise an assignment policy that has good response time performance, and is practical to implement in that the amount of information used by the dispatcher is relatively small, so that the attendant computation and communication overheads are low. In contrast to extant assignment policies that apply the same assignment policy to all incoming jobs, our approach calls for the dispatcher to classify incoming jobs as long or short, and then use class-dependent assignment policies. Specifically, we propose a policy, called CDA (Class Dependent Assignment), where short jobs are assigned in Round-Robin manner as soon as they arrive, while long jobs are deferred and assigned only when a back-end server becomes idle. Furthermore, when processing a long job, a back-end server is not assigned any other jobs.Our approach is motivated by empirical evidence suggesting that the sizes of files traveling on the Internet follow power-law distributions, where long jobs constituting a small fraction of all incoming jobs actually account for a large fraction of the overall load. To gauge the performance of the proposed policy, we exercised it on empirical data traces measured at Internet sites serving the 1998 World Cup. Since the assignment of long jobs incurs computational overhead as well as extra communication overhead, we studied the performance of CDA as function of the fraction of jobs classified as long. Our study shows that classification of even a small fraction of jobs as long can have a profound impact on overall response time performance. More speciafically, our experimental results show that if less than 3% of the jobs are classified as long, then CDA outperforms traditional policies, such as Round-Robin, by two orders of magnitude. From an implementation viewpoint, these results support our contention that CDA-based assignment is a practical policy combining low overhead and greatly improved performance.
The visual pigment of a stomatopod crustacean, Squilla empusa

Stomatopod crustaceans are visually active animals which have large, mobile compound eyes of unique design. Aspects of their ecology and behavior suggest they may be able to discriminate hues. Isolated rhabdoms of the squillid stomatopod,Squilla empusa, were investigated using microspectrophotometry and fluorometry. A single rhodopsin, ofλmax507 nm, exists in the main rhabdom. Its stable metarhodopsin, withλmax503 nm, possesses typical arthropod fluorescence characteristics. No evidence was found for a visual pigment with peak absorption in the ultraviolet. Vision in this animal might therefore be monochromatic.
Gamma-ray monitoring of sediment consolidation tests

Abstract A gamma-ray transmission method is discussed for measuring the water content of marine sediment samples during consolidation testing. This method permits obtaining consolidation curves for sediment cores while still in the core liner, thereby eliminating several sources of sample disturbance. A narrow beam of gamma-rays is passed through the sample to a detector and counting equipment. The attenuation of this beam is a function of the sample density and hence water content or void-ratio. Equations are developed for calculating water content from gamma-counts. The results of experiments are presented confirming the validity of these equations.
Gender, Social Class, and Exclusion: Collegiate Peer Cultures and Social Reproduction:

This article explores gender and class exclusion among college students. The authors use qualitative data to explore how students talk about gender and class exclusion and quantitative data to mode...
C-13 chemical shifts of the carbonyl group—VI: Transannular interactions in mesocyclic compounds†

The utility of C-13 NMR in detecting transannular interactions of a carbonyl group with O, S and N in eight-membered ring compounds has been studied. The C-13 carbonyl chemical shifts were determined in two solvents, employing frequency-sweep and pulse/Fourier transform techniques. The results confirm earlier conclusions based upon other physical methods and indicate that C-13 NMR should prove useful in studies of such interactions.
The Sonographer’s Role in Meaningful Use

On January 24, 2009, newly sworn-in President Obama uttered a bold promise: “To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health records in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives” (http://www.healthmu.org/radiology/index.php). It’s those words that marked the beginning of health care reform. In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed. Within this bill was the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act. With it came a large number of dollars to incentivize the move toward electronic health records and the use of health information technology. The Continuing Extension Act of 2010 included language that removed outpatient from the hospital-based category in terms of the fee schedule that Medicare uses to determine the place of service. This moved most interpreting physicians into the eligible professional category. Along with moving interpreting physicians ...
Routine activity and victimization at work

This paper introduces the idea of “domain-specific” models of victimization as a means of improving the fit between theoretical concepts in routine activity theory and available data. Peoples' activity and their victimization experience can be divided into domains such as work and leisure. This paper focuses on the work domain. It demonstrates that activities performed as part of the occupational role affect the risk of victimization at work to a much greater degree than demographic characteristics of workers. These findings provide support both for routine activity theory generally and for domain-specific models as a particular approach to testing the theory.
Dosable solvates of ivacaftor with high boiling point liquids

Ivacaftor (also known as VX-770) is a small molecule currently in development for treatment of cystic fibrosis. In the present work, we describe an effort to create novel solvates, formed with 2-methylbutyric acid and isobutyric acid respectively, in pursuit of a more robust and reliable scale-up process. The solvates were characterized by X-ray crystallography, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and dynamic vapor sorption. The vapor sorption analysis showed the isobutyric acid solvate to be less stable than the 2-methylbutyric acid solvate, which became the focus of subsequent investigations. The 2-methylbutyric acid solvate was administered to rats and dogs in a series of pharmacokinetic studies, and showed excellent in vivo bioavailability. Thus, using liquid-state co-formers led to a solid form that is bioavailable, as well as stable and processable, suggesting that using such liquid-state co-formers could potentially benefit pharmaceutical development more broadly.
Selective Tricuspidization and Aortic Cusp Extension Valvuloplasty: Outcome Analysis in Infants and Children

Background Encouraging early outcomes of emerging aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty techniques have redirected attention to nonreplacement strategies in the management of younger patients with aortic insufficiency or aortic stenosis. Outcome analysis after aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty in infants and children was undertaken. Methods From July 1987 to December 2008, 78 patients younger than 10 years of age underwent aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty in the form of pericardial cusp extension and selective use of tricuspidization. Sixteen (20.5%) patients were younger than 1 year of age. Twenty-seven had bicuspid aortic valve, 34, congenital aortic valve stenosis, and 17, congenital or acquired aortic insufficiency or aortic stenosis. Forty-two patients had balloon valvuloplasty or surgical valvotomy before aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty. Median follow-up was 12.4 years (range, 0.1 to 21.6 years). Freedom from aortic valve replacement (AVR) and determinants of outcome were analyzed. Results There were no early or late deaths. During the follow-up period, 23 patients (29.5%) had Ross operation and 8 patients (10.2%) had other AVR. The z values of left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, aortic annulus, aortic sinus diameter, sinotubular junction diameter, and left ventricular wall thickness before AVR were 3.8 ± 2.95, 2.1 ± 1.15, 4.2 ± 1.22, 1.78 ± 1.24, and 2.92 ± 1.31, respectively. Actuarial freedom from AVR at 1, 5, and 10 years was 97.3 ± 2.0%, 71.3 ± 5.8%, and 55.6 ± 6.9%, respectively. Conclusions Aortic cusp extension valvuloplasty with tricuspidization allows left ventricular reverse remodeling with satisfactory long-term durability and freedom from AVR. Used selectively, it represents a reliable and effective approach in infants and children with congenital or acquired abnormal aortic valve.
Feminist scholarship: Implications for information management and research

Abstract A type of feminist scholarship, standpoint epistemology, provides a methodology that can enrich information management and research. Standpoint epistemology is a compromise between the objectivity of positivism and the extreme relativity of techniques in feminist research diversify the information professional's services and studies.
Vascularized bone grafting of scaphoid nonunions

Scaphoid fractures represent the most common carpal fracture and must always be included in the differential diagnosis for wrist pain in the athlete. In the short-term, nonunions may result in mild discomfort; however, the long-term sequelae of nonunions result in a predictable descent into wrist arthrosis. Athletes with excellent compensatory ability and multiple incentives to continue in sport may neglect these injuries until significant disruption of the scaphoid blood supply or arthritic changes have already occurred. The restoration and evaluation of scaphoid vascularity represent a challenging and important area of hand surgery. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography (CT) scans have important roles in evaluating these injuries before and after surgery. Stable fixation and the use of local pedicled bone grafting or free vascularized grafts are the mainstays of treatment. Although technically more complex, better results have been reported with vascularized bone grafting and fixation compared with fixation and nonvascularized grafting alone, especially in cases of proximal pole avascular necrosis.