cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quartics and Quintics

In this section we will briefly examine some of the more entertaining properties of curves $$C\subseteq \mathbb{C}{{\mathbb{P}}_{2}}$$ (5.1) defined by equations $$F\left( {{X}_{0}},{{X}_{1}},{{X}_{2}} \right)=0,$$ where F is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 4. We will assume that C is nonsingular, that is, the partial derivatives $$\frac{\partial F}{\partial {{X}_{j}}},j=0,1,2,$$ have no common zeros in ℂℙ2.
Effects of uncertainty in upper-stem diameter information on tree volume estimates

Almost all relevant data in forestry databases arise from either field measurement or model prediction. In either case, these values have some amount of uncertainty that is often overlooked when doing analyses. In this study, the uncertainty associated with both measured and predicted data was quantified for upper-stem diameter at 5.27 m. This uncertainty was propagated through a tree taper model into predictions of individual-tree volume. The effects of uncertainty on individual-tree volume predictions and population estimates of total volume were assessed. Generally, when little or no systematic measurement deviation was present, less uncertainty was associated with field-measured diameters compared to model predictions. However, diameters predicted from a model were preferred when systematic deviations in field measurement exceeded approximately 0.2 cm. Comparisons of results obtained from an alternative taper model showed that more precise estimates of population totals might be obtained without upper-stem diameter information. Upper-stem diameter information increases the prediction accuracy of individual-tree volume, and thus, models using this information may be preferable in applications such as timber sales containing high-value trees. Due to the various factors that influence measurement and modeling uncertainty, foresters are encouraged to make similar evaluations in the context of their specific activities.
Ecosystem model comparisons: science or fantasy world?

Ecosystem models have been used extensively to evaluate the impact of environmental change and management practices on ecosystem dynamics. Recent results from model comparison activities suggest there are substantial differences among models in predicted ecosystem impacts of altered climatic change scenarios in spite of the fact that the simulated model results are similar for current climatic conditions. These results suggest that there is substantial uncertainty about the ability of ecosystem models to simulate the effect of environmental changes on ecosystem dynamics and that it is risky to use results from only one ecosystem model. The results also suggest that there is substantial uncertainty about the combined impact of changing climate and atmospheric CO2 level on ecosystem dynamics, and about the interactive impact of nutrient availability and environmental stress on plant growth. The existing model comparisons have been very effective at highlighting scientific uncertainty and suggest critical research needed to enhance our ability to simulate ecosystem response to environmental changes.
The Effects of Consumer Engagement Behavior on the Growth of Social Media Brand Community: Evidence From an SME

In recent years, there has been increasing attention to how consumers' roles and behaviors can shape and affect social media based brand communities. In this study the authors examine the dynamic relationships between specific consumer engagement behaviors and the growth rate of social media brand community over time. The results of their study suggest that the overall consumer engagement behavior has a significant predictive relationship with the growth rate of brand community in both short term and long term. While each type of positive consumer engagement behavior alone is not a significant indicator of the growth rate of brand community, a combination of them, as a whole, has a positive predictive relationship with the growth rate of brand community. When the effect of promotional posts is taken into consideration, consumer sharing is found to have relatively stronger and faster predictive relationship with the growth rate of brand community, followed by commenting and liking, than other consumer engaging activities. Negative consumer engagement behaviors in general do not play a significant role in predicting the growth rate of brand community in long term, but it does lead to adverse effect in the short term. This study sheds insights on the dynamic effects of consumer engagement behavior in building and growing social media based brand communities.
Effects of Stunning Method and Time Interval from Stunning to Exsanguination on Blood Splashing in Pork

Summary Two studies were designed to test the effects of stunning method and time interval between stunning and exsanguination on blood splashing in pork muscle. In study I, 82 market weight barrows and gilts were assigned randomly to one of two treatments using captive bolt (CB) stunning with either a short (S; 18.5 + 11.1 s) or a delayed (D; 144.7 +- 36.8 s) time interval to exsanguination. More (P .05) blood splashing. Carcasses in the CB-D group had more (P .05) for the CB-S, E-S and E-D groups. The gluteus medius muscle of pigs in the CB-D group had more (P<.05) blood splashing than did the other muscles from pigs in this group. Blood splashing in the diaphragm was correlated with blood splashing in the ham face (.69), cured ham (.69), gluteus medius (.71), gluteus accessorius (.48) and obturatorius internus (.54).
The pathogens and pests of chestnuts.

Publisher Summary The name “chestnut” refers to seven species of deciduous, nut-bearing trees found native and introduced throughout the world. In 1838, a root disease was reported on European chestnut in Portugal, and soon after this “ink disease” was found in several other parts of southern Europe. Ink disease is assumed to have entered the United States in the mid-l800s, and probably accounted for the recession of American chestnut from large areas in the Gulf and Mid-Atlantic states in the United States, and inland to the foothills and mountains of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. Chestnut blight, or chestnut bark disease is caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica Barr, formerly called Endothia parasitica And. & And. The fungus enters wounds, grows in and under the bark, and eventually kills the cambium all the way around the twig, branch, or trunk. From 1982 through 1986, the 317 cankers that developed on American chestnut stems in 50 sprout clumps were treated with H strains. European chestnuts (C. sativa) were distributed throughout southern Europe from the Caucasus mountains, and the nuts have become an important food source, both cooked whole and ground into flour. Chestnuts are actually fruits, with shells enclosing cotyledons. Two species of weevils lay eggs in the nuts, and the developing larvae make the nuts unmarketable.
The Impact of Frequency and Tone of Parent–Youth Communication on Type 1 Diabetes Management

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of frequency and tone of parent–youth communication on glycemic control as measured by the Family Communication Inventory (FCI). Adolescence provides a unique set of diabetes management challenges, including suboptimal glycemic control. Continued parental involvement in diabetes management is associated with improved HbA1c outcomes; however, diabetes-related conflict within the family can have adverse effects. Although it is clear that communication plays an important role in diabetes outcomes, the specific impact of frequency and tone of such communication is largely understudied. A total of 110 youths with type 1 diabetes and their parents completed questionnaires assessing diabetes-related adherence, family conflict, and family communication (i.e., frequency and tone) during a routine clinic visit. Routine testing of HbA1c was performed. Youth- and parent-reported frequency of communication were unrelated to HbA1c. Instead, greater discrepancies between parents and children on reported frequency of communication (most commonly parents reporting frequent and youth reporting less frequent communication) corresponded with poorer glycemic control and increased family conflict. More positive tone of communication as rated by youth was associated with lower HbA1c. Diabetes-related communication is more complex than conveyed simply by how often children and their parents communicate. Tone of communication and discrepancies in a family’s perception of the frequency of communication were better than frequency as predictors of glycemic control. The FCI appears to capture the frequency and tone of diabetes-related communication, though larger-scale studies are warranted to inform future use of this scale.
Taxing Citizens in a Global Economy

This Article addresses a fundamental issue underlying the U.S. tax system in the international context: the use of citizenship as a jurisdictional basis for imposing income tax. As a general matter, the United States is the only economically developed country that taxes its citizens abroad on their foreign income. Despite this broad general assertion of taxing jurisdiction, Congress allows citizens abroad to exclude a limited amount of their income earned from working outside the United States. Influential lobbying groups, including businesses that employ significant numbers of U.S. citizens abroad, argue that this exclusion is necessary in order to keep American business competitive overseas. Recently, these groups have argued that modern developments, including lowered barriers to trade and the increased mobility of workers, strengthen this argument, and that the United States must allow an unlimited foreign earned income exclusion, or perhaps abandon citizenship-based taxation altogether, in order to remain competitive. This article analyzes how modern developments in the global economy affect the case for citizenship-based taxation. The article concludes that recent globalization trends strengthen, rather than weaken, the general case for taxing U.S. citizens living abroad. Moreover, it concludes that these modern developments weaken the case for giving preferential treatment to income earned by citizens working abroad.
Acute experimental esophagitis impairs signal transduction in cat lower esophageal sphincter circular muscle.

Abstract It has been previously shown that induction of experimental esophagitis in the cat by esophageal perfusion for 30 minutes with 0.1N HCl for 4 consecutive days results in a significant reduction of in vivo lower esophageal sphincter (LES) resting pressure and in vitro spontaneous tone without affecting esophageal response to KCl. It has also been shown that basal LES tone and LES contraction in response to acetylcholine depend on the release of calcium from intercellular stores, whereas esophageal contraction is mediated by extracellular calcium. The present report shows that esophageal acid perfusion impairs the transduction pathway mediating lower esophageal sphincter contraction in response to acetylcholine through release of intracellular calcium because LES strips and single cells no longer contract in response to acetylcholine if calcium is removed from the physiologic salt solution. This suggests that either the intracellular calcium stores or the release mechanisms that mediate maintenance of tone and contraction in response to acetylcholine may be damaged. However, the acid perfusion has no effect on the acetylcholine response in the esophagus, which is mediated by the influx of extracellular calcium. In the LES circular muscle, the injury results in reduced levels of inositol phosphates without affecting resting levels of 5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate or 5′-cyclic guanosine monophosphate. The reduced levels of 1,4,5-inositol trisphosphate are consistent with impairment in the mechanisms responsible for release of intracellular calcium, although concurrent damage to calcium stores may also occur.
Drama Is for Life! Recreational Drama Activities for the Elderly in the UK

Applied Theatre is an inclusive term used to host a variety of powerful, community-based participatory processes and educational practices. Historically, Applied Theatre practices include Theatre-in-Education (TiE), Theatre-in-Health Education (THE), Theatre for Development (TfD), prison theatre, community theatre, theatre for conflict resolution/reconciliation, reminiscence theatre with elderly people, theatre in museums, galleries and heritage centres, theatre at historic sites, and more recently, theatre in hospitals. In this paper we are positioning the application of recreational dramatic activities with older adults (55+) under Applied Theatre and we are exploring the benefits they offer to the participants. We are concerned that their health and wellbeing in western societies is not prioritized and it is clear that loneliness in particular is a current and ongoing issue. We will present research results from a drama dissertation study that took place in a community hall in the South East England where drama is placed at the core of their practice with old populations. Data was collected by a mixed method (semi-structured interviews and semi-immersive observations) and was critically discussed amongst the authors to conclude that attending recreational drama classes brings a certain degree of happiness, social belonging and improvement of interaction with others to old people’s lives.
La política del individuo en El juguete rabioso de Roberto Arlt

En este articulo propongo leer en El juguete rabioso (1926) de Roberto Arlt, una reafirmacion del individuo que se reconoce como actor de su vida, dueno de sus deseos constituidos al borde de la norma social. Arlt desplaza y difiere la nocion de individuo burgues (a traves del mecanismo de la traicion, tema de la novela), para acceder a un individuo que no cede en su deseo. Esa insistencia del deseo posibilita –como lo expreso Ranciere– el ‘desacuerdo’ con ‘la configuracion sensible donde se definen las partes y sus partes o su ausencia’ en una ya dada comunidad. En ultima instancia, lo que propongo en este articulo es leer la novela de Arlt como re-politizante de la literatura en el Rio de la Plata
LENGTH–WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS AND BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS FOR 34 FISH SPECIES FROM TRÊS IRMÃOS RESERVOIR, LOWER TIETÊ RIVER BASIN, SP - BRAZIL

The length-weight relationship of fish species is widely used in fisheries monitoring programs and it is an important tool for proposing stock management measures. The objective of this study was to estimate the growth parameters of 34 species belonging to the fish community captured by experimental fishery in the Tres Irmaos reservoir, Tiete river. The biological and ecological characteristics of these species are also presented in order to understand the profile of the present fish community. The fish were collected during ten experimental fishing seasons between October/2015 and February/2018, with quarterly frequency using four types of fishing gear. All fish captured were identified and the total length - TL (cm), standard length - SL (cm) and total weight - TW (g) were measured. The length-weight relationship was established using the linear regression TW vs SL (log-transformed): log (TW) = log (a) + b log (SL), where a is the regression curve intercept (coefficient related to body shape) and b is the coefficient of regression (exponent indicating the type of growth). A total of 7,319 individuals was identified, comprising five orders: Characiformes (7 Families), Siluriformes (5 Families), Perciformes (1 Family), Cichliformes (1 Family) and Cyprinodontiformes (1 Family). The most abundant species were Plagioscion squamosissimus (N=1,513), Geophagus sveni (N=1,160), Serrasalmus maculatus (N=1,049) and Metynnis maculatus (pacu-CD) (N=974), all of them being target species for professional artisanal fishing, with the exception of pacu-CD, which is discarded since it has no commercial interest. From the whole set of analyzes 15 species (44.1%) have positive allometric growth type (3.15≤ b ≤3.59), 14 (41.2%) isometric (2.98≤ b ≤ 3.08), and 5 (14.7%) negative allometric growth (2.7 ≤ b ≤ 2.90). Among the species studied nine reached a maximum length above that of the FishBase: Cichla piquiti (TL= 55.4 cm), Crenicichla haroldoi (SL= 21.5 cm), C. jaguarensis (SL= 23.5 cm), Cyphocharax nagelii (TL= 22.9 cm), Hypostomus ancistroides (TL= 28.5 cm), Metynnis maculatus (TL= 19.5 cm), Piaractus mesopotamicus (SL= 60.0 cm), Roeboides descalvadensis (SL= 11.3 cm) and Schizodon borellii (TL= 40.0 cm).
OpenVX Graph Optimization for Visual Processor Units

OpenVX is a standardized, cross-platform software framework to aid in development of accelerated computer vision, machine learning, and other signal processing applications. Designed for performance optimization, OpenVX allows the programmer to define an application using a graph-based programming model, where the nodes are selected from a repertoire of pre-defined kernels and the edges represent the flow of successive images between pairs of kernels. The graph-based representation exposes spatial and temporal concurrency and provides tuning opportunities to the managing runtime library. In this paper, we present a performance model-based approach for optimizing the execution of OpenVX graphs on the Texas Instruments C66x Digital Signal Processor (DSP), which has similar characteristics to other widespread DSPs such as the Qualcomm Hexagon, Nvidia Programmable Vision Accelerator, and Google Visual Pixel Core. Our approach involves training performance models to predict the impact of tile size and node merging on performance and DRAM utilization. We evaluate our models against randomly-generated, valid, and executable OpenVX graphs.
Effect of temperature on silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Silicon is considered a promising anode candidate to replace graphite in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for electric vehicle (EV) applications, given its high capacity (approximately 10 times higher than graphite) and, consequently, the higher energy density it can provide. However, to ensure that silicon can be used in EVs, it is necessary to determine whether it can withstand the temperature changes that an EV can experience. For this purpose, we evaluate the electrochemical performance of silicon-graphite (Si-Gr) half-cells at 4 different temperatures and explore the effect of adding fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) to the electrolyte. We observe that cells cycled without FEC are temperature-sensitive; that is, the specific capacity, cyclability, and coulombic efficiency of Si-Gr vary as a function of the temperature applied. Conversely, the presence of FEC in the cell stabilizes the electrochemical behavior of Si-Gr, diminishing its sensitivity to temperature and providing similar reversible capacity, coulombic efficiency, and cycle-life. In this manuscript, we provide an explanation of the reasons causing this phenomenon along with other side effects of temperature, as proved by several characterization techniques.
Race-Based Differences in Routine Cytogenetic Profiles of Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Abstract Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common hematologic malignancy for which standard therapy does not offer a cure. Incidence of MM in African-Americans is twice that of Caucasians, suggesting differences in either environmental or genetic risk factors. Historically, black patients have also had a slightly better prognosis than white patients, suggesting racial differences in prognostic factors such as cytogenetics. Since metaphase cytogenetic profiles are routinely collected in MM patients, we sought to determine if race-based differences in cytogenetics exist, using data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) cancer registry. Methods: Using CPT codes, 88271-88275, 88291, 88299, 88365, 83896, 88237, 88261-88264, 88280, 88283, and 88285, we identified 988 patients with MM diagnosed between 1998 and 2009, who also had standard metaphase cytogenetic analysis performed on a bone marrow specimen at the time of diagnosis (228 Black and 585 White) . Fisher’s exact test was used to assess for race-based differences in the following cytogenetic abnormalities: 13q deletion, Hypodiploidy, Hyperdiploidy, and translocations involving chromosome 14. Results: Among the 988 patients in the cohort, normal cytogenetic profiles, isolated Y chromosome deletion, or no mitotic activity were observed in 704(71%) patients. Translocations involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain (chromosome 14) (n=4) were uncommonly observed on routine cytogenetics, such that no statistical conclusions could be drawn. Hyperdiploidy was noted in 13/228(5.7%) of the black and 45/585(7.7%) of the white patients (p=0.32). Similarly 13q deletions were detected in 8/228(3.5%) black patients, and 21/585(3.6%) of the white patients (p=0.96). Hypodiploidy was also not significantly different in black 4/228(1.8%) and white patients 12/585(2.0%). Conclusion: This is the largest study of race-based differences in MM cyogenetics presented to date. We found no significant race-based differences in standard metaphase cytogenetics. Future studies should focus on determining if race-based differences can be discovered using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or molecular testing not available for this retrospective study. Our study adds to this growing body of evidence suggesting that metaphase cytogenetic differences are not a significant factor in MM outcome disparities. Disclosures Carson: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau.
Are school psychologists’ special education eligibility decisions reliable and unbiased?: A multi-study experimental investigation

Abstract Nearly 50 years of research show persistent racial disproportionality in the identification of special education disabilities, but the underlying mechanisms for these disparities remain largely unexplored. Because ambiguous regulations defining disabilities may allow subjectivity and unlawful differential treatment (i.e., racial bias or discrimination) in the special education eligibility process, an important target of study is disparate treatment of students by race in evaluations required to determine eligibility. School psychologists have long been recognized as highly influential in this process and in schools' resultant decisions. We used a 3 × 2 mixed factorial experimental design in three studies with simulated case report data to measure the influence of race and assessment data on school psychologists' perceptions of students’ eligibility for special education in cases centering on emotional disturbance, intellectual disability, or autism, respectively. Participants included 302 practicing school psychologists in three states across the three experiments. There was little evidence of racial disparity, but participants tended to render decisions unsupported by, and even contrary to, evaluation data. Implications for research, practice, and professional development are discussed.
Isolated Nuclei Stiffen in Response to Low Intensity Vibration

The nucleus, central to all cellular activity, relies on both direct mechanical input and its molecular transducers to sense and respond to external stimuli. While it has been shown that isolated nuclei can adapt to force directly ex vivo, nuclear mechanoadaptation in response to physiologic forces in vivo remains unclear. To gain more knowledge regarding nuclear mechanoadaptation in cells, we have developed an atomic force microscopy (AFM) based experimental procedure to isolate live nuclei and specifically test whether nuclear stiffness increases following the application of low intensity vibration (LIV) in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Results indicated that isolated nuclei, on average, were 30% softer than nuclei tested within intact MSCs. When the nucleus was isolated following LIV (0.7g, 90Hz, 20min) applied four times (4x) separated by 1h intervals, stiffness of isolated nuclei increased 75% compared to controls. LIV-induced intact MSC and nuclear stiffening required functional Linker of Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton (LINC) complex but was not accompanied by increased levels of nuclear envelope proteins LaminA/C or Sun-2. Indicating LIV-induced changes in the chromatin structure, while depleting LaminA/C or Sun-1&2 resulted in a 47% and 39% increased heterochromatin to nuclear area ratio in isolated nuclei, ratio of heterochromatin to nuclear area was decreased by 25% in LIV treated nuclei compared to controls. Overall, our findings indicate that increased apparent cell stiffness in response to exogenous mechanical challenge in the form of LIV are in-part retained by increased nuclear stiffness and changes in chromatin structure in MSCs.
Renal Replacement Therapy in Patients With Stage IV Cancer Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit With Acute Kidney Injury at a Comprehensive Cancer Center Was Not Associated With Survival.

Introduction:In patients with advanced cancer, prolongation of life with treatment often incurs substantial emotional and financial expense. Among hospitalized patients with cancer since acute kidn...
The development of a measure to assess social reactions to self-injury disclosure

Only approximately half of individuals engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) ever disclose their behavior. Yet there is a dearth of research aimed at understanding NSSI disclosure and the outcomes of choosing to disclose, such as social reactions to NSSI disclosure. The current study aimed to develop and validate a measure of perceived social reactions to the disclosure of NSSI, the Self-Injury Social Reactions Questionnaire (SI-SRQ). Results supported a three-factor structure of the SI-SRQ assessing positive (tangible aid, emotional support) and negative social reactions in undergraduate (n = 269), community (n = 217), and recent NSSI (n = 129) samples. The internal consistencies of the resultant subscales, in addition to the convergent validity, were also supported. The development of the SI-SRQ provides an avenue to enhance our knowledge of the relationship between social reactions to NSSI disclosure and disclosure outcomes, which may help inform educational efforts about responding to NSSI disclosures more effectively.
Inner SPACE: 400-Micron Isotropic Resolution MRI of the Human Brain.

Objectives: Clinically relevant neuroanatomy is challenging to teach, learn and remember since many functionally important structures are visualized best using histology stains from serial 2D planar sections of the brain. In clinical patients, the locations of specific structures then must be inferred from spatial position and surface anatomy. A 3D MRI dataset of neuroanatomy has several advantages including simultaneous multi-planar visualization in the same brain, direct end-user manipulation of the data and image contrast identical to clinical MRI. We created 3D MRI datasets of the postmortem brain with high spatial and contrast resolution for simultaneous multi-planar visualization of complex neuroanatomy. Materials and Methods: Whole human brains (N=5) were immersion-fixed in 4% formaldehyde for 4 weeks, then washed continuously in water for 48 hrs. The brains were imaged on a clinical 3-T MRI scanner with a 64-channel head and neck coil using a 3D turbo spin echo sequence with 400-micron isotropic resolution (voxel = 0.064 mm3; time = 7 hrs). Besides resolution, this sequence has multiple adjustments to improve contrast compared to a clinical protocol, including 93% reduced turbo factor and 77% reduced effective echo time. Results: This MRI microscopy protocol provided excellent contrast resolution of small nuclei and internal myelinated pathways within the basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem and cerebellum. Contrast was sufficient to visualize the presence and variation of horizontal layers in the cerebral cortex. 3D isotropic resolution datasets facilitated simultaneous multi-planar visualization and efficient production of specific tailored oblique image orientations to improve understanding of complex subcortical anatomy. Conclusions: We created an unlabeled high-resolution digital 3D MRI dataset of neuroanatomy as an online resource for readers to download, manipulate, annotate and use for clinical practice, research and teaching that is complementary to traditional histology-based atlases. Digital MRI contrast is quantifiable, reproducible across brains and could help validate novel MRI strategies for in vivo structure visualization.
Accurate imputation of histone modifications using transcription

Transcription is correlated with a variety of post-translational modifications to core histones, yet we still know relatively little about the precise and causal nature of their relationship. In particular, whether histone modifications serve a regulatory role, for example by marking functional elements for later activation, remains debated. Here we trained a support vector regression to infer the genomic distribution of 11 widely studied histone modifications using nascent transcription as input. Transcription captured the variation in active histone modifications, including punctate promoter and enhancer marks (e.g., H3K4me3, H3K4me1, and H3K27ac) and elongation marks (e.g., H3K36me3), down to single-nucleosome resolution at an accuracy that rivaled the correspondence between independent ChIP-seq experiments. The relationship between active histone modifications and transcription was conserved in all cell types examined. Surprisingly, transcription also accurately predicted the repressive chromatin mark H3K27me3. However, unlike active marks, H3K27me3 was found in two distinct patterns in different cell types: one pattern in fully differentiated cells covered broad regions with low levels of transcription, and a second pattern in stem cells was associated with transcription start sites of weakly transcribed genes. Transcription accurately identified bivalent promoters in embryonic stem cells, as well as other complex chromatin states identified by chromHMM. Although transcription accurately predicted nearly all histone modifications, we found a subset of DNase-I hypersensitive sites that were refractory to prediction, precluding models in which transcription initiates pervasively as a consequence of open chromatin. Our results demonstrate that histone modifications are tightly correlated with transcription, and provides a new tool for genome annotation using a single experiment.
Dysphagia after Stroke: An Unmet Antibiotic Stewardship Opportunity.

The goal of antibiotic stewardship is to improve antibiotic use, often by reducing unnecessary treatment. Bedside dysphagia screening tools help identify patients at high risk of aspiration following stroke. Presence of dysphagia does not indicate a need for antibiotic treatment. Therefore, this retrospective, cohort study was developed to evaluate the association of dysphagia and antibiotic prescribing following stroke. There were 117 patients included. Patients were placed into 2 cohorts based on the results of the dysphagia screening, with 55 patients positive for dysphagia and 62 patients negative for dysphagia. Patients with dysphagia tended to be older, had higher National Institutes of Health stroke scores, and lower renal function. Patients with dysphagia were prescribed more empiric antibiotics than those without dysphagia (18.2% vs. 3.2%, p = 0.01). This resulted in 53 antibiotic days of therapy in the dysphagia cohort compared to 19 antibiotic days of therapy in the no dysphagia cohort (p = 0.1). No patients later developed pneumonia and only one patient was started antibiotics after 48 h. Two cases of Clostridioides difficile were reported. Both patients were in the dysphagia cohort and received antibiotics. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that positive chest x-ray findings and failed dysphagia screen were independent conditions associated with initiating antibiotics. These findings indicate that antibiotic use was higher in patients following stroke with a positive dysphagia screen. Close monitoring of stroke patients, particularly when positive for dysphagia, might be an under-recognized antibiotic stewardship opportunity.
HyNTP: A Distributed Hybrid Algorithm for Time Synchronization

This paper presents a distributed hybrid algorithm that synchronizes the time and rate of a set of clocks connected over a network. Clock measurements of the nodes are given at aperiodic time instants and the controller at each node uses these measurements to achieve synchronization. Due to the continuous and impulsive nature of the clocks and the network, we introduce a hybrid system model to effectively capture the dynamics of the system and the proposed hybrid algorithm. Moreover, the hybrid algorithm allows each agent to estimate the skew of its internal clock in order to allow for synchronization to a common timer rate. We provide sufficient conditions guaranteeing synchronization of the timers, exponentially fast. Numerical results illustrate the synchronization property induced by the proposed algorithm as well as its performance against comparable algorithms from the literature.
155 Opportunities and Challenges of Teaching Laboratory Content of a Swine Discipline-focused Course with Limited Swine Access

In spring semester, 2020, ANSC 412: Swine Production and Management (4 credits, lecture and laboratory) was offered in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University following a period of nonappearance in the curriculum Simultaneously, planned renovation of the campus swine teaching farm required depopulation of the existing herd Hence, animal access for course laboratories was restricted for the 2020 spring and fall semesters The objective is to present strategies to achieve effective laboratory learning objectives with limited livestock access Average course enrollment in 2020 spring and fall semesters was 11 students of junior and senior standing The course laboratory was held for two hours weekly for fifteen weeks COVID-19 interruption of the spring semester, and arrival of pigs to the campus swine teaching farm in the fall semester, necessitated creation of ten equivalent laboratory sessions per semester Example laboratory sessions include: panels with swine industry professionals, Pork Quality Assurance version 4 0 certification, virtual farm tours, evaluating genetic merit with National Swine Registry Swine Testing and Genetic Evaluation System EPD data and indexes, understanding leastcost diet formulation with diet formulation software, creating and implementing a Secure Pork Supply enhanced biosecurity plan for the campus swine farm, and multiple case study models of troubleshooting reproductive deficiencies with the US Pork Center of Excellence National Swine Reproduction Guide Laboratory session execution facilitated achievement of TAMU Department of Animal Science programmatic learning outcomes, specifically: understanding animal breeding programs, animal husbandry, reproductive management, and nutrient conversion, and assessing business models and application of animal management strategies In future semesters with unrestricted swine access for teaching, live-animal handling will be emphasized in the syllabus, yet preservation of effective classroom-based laboratories will persist These methods have value for instructors operating without campus swine resources and those whose laboratory content has been impacted by COVID-19 disruption [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Animal Science is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )
Functional fluorescently-tagged human profilin

Profilin is an essential regulator of actin and microtubule dynamics and therefore a critical control point for the normal division, motility, and morphology of cells. Most studies of profilin have focused on biochemical investigations using purified protein because high cellular concentrations (121 {micro}M) present challenges for conventional imaging modalities. In addition, past studies that employed direct labeling or conventional fusion protein strategies compromised different facets of profilin function. We engineered a fluorescently-labeled profilin that retains native activities with respect to phosphoinositide lipids, actin monomers, formin-mediated actin assembly, and microtubule polymerization. This fluorescent profilin directly binds to dimers of tubulin (kD = 1.7 {micro}M) and the microtubule lattice (kD = 10 {micro}M) to stimulate microtubule assembly. In cells, our tagged profilin fully rescues profilin-1(-/-) cells from knockout-induced perturbations to cell shape, actin filament architecture, and microtubule arrays. Thus, this labeled profilin-1 is a reliable tool to investigate the dynamic interactions of profilin with actin or microtubules in live cell and in vitro applications.
Issues for Further Research

The breadth and complexity of the CAD domain stands in sharp contrast to the limited domains of previous natural language interfaces. Unlike most previous work on natural language interfaces, in which there could be reasonable hope that a first implementation would be essentially complete, our ambitions prescribe incremental development of Cleopatra. Another consequence of the diversity of the CAD domain is that we cannot predict, a priori, what changes and enhancements future extensions of domain and analysis of “real” use might necessitate.
Fetal oxygen content is restored with Oxyglobin resuscitation after maternal hemorrhage.

Red cell substitutes are used to treat hypovolemia but their effects on the fetus have never been evaluated. Fifteen chronically instrumented, adult, Suffolk-cross ewes (56 kg, median weight) and their fetuses were studied at 132-day gestational age (term = 147 days). Ewes were bled 20 mL kg−1 over 1 hour, randomized to receive 20 mL kg−1 IV over 30 minutes of a red cell substitute (Oxyglobin, OXY, n = 5), hetastarch (HTS, n = 5), or autologous blood (CTL, n = 5), and then monitored for 2 additional hours. Signed-rank tests compared within groups (overall p = 0.10) and rank-sum tests compared OXY to CTL and HTS (overall p = 0.05), each with Bonferroni corrections. Hemorrhage resulted in maternal hypotension (from a mean blood pressure of 98 mm Hg to 48 mm Hg, median) and decreased arterial oxygen content (from 12.2 mL dL−1 to 11.1 mL dL−1) and fetal hypoxemia (from a PaO2 of 20 to 15.9 mm Hg, 2.7–2.1 kPa), mixed acidosis (from a standard base excess of 3.4 mmol L−1 to −1.0 mmol L−1 and an increase in PaCO2 tension from 51 to 57 mm Hg, 6.8–7.6 kPa) and decreased arterial oxygen content (from 8.1 mL dL−1 to 3.9 mL dL−1). Resuscitation restored blood pressure in all ewes and arterial oxygen content in only CTL and OXY ewes. Fetal oxygen content immediately returned to baseline with CTL (7.1 mL dL−1) and OXY (8.0 mL dL−1) but was never restored with HTS (4.7 mL dL−1). At 60 minutes after resuscitation, fetal oxygen content was higher with OXY (8.3 mL dL−1) than with HTS (4.7 mL dL−1). In all groups, fetal metabolic acidosis persisted. The concentration of free hemoglobin in fetal plasma did not change with OXY. In conclusion, restoration of maternal blood volume and pressure does not necessarily imply restoration of fetal oxygen content. Fetal oxygen content was restored only with blood or Oxyglobin. This effect was due to re-establishment of maternal oxygen content and not due to placental transfer of Oxyglobin.
The thermal decomposition of oxalates

Abstract The thermal decomposition of silver oxalate has been carried out under isothermal conditions using atmospheres of nitrogen, air, oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as under vacuum. The decomposition results obtained are treated by conventional methods to obtain the reaction mechanisms, φ(α), and by the integral method to obtain the rate constants and hence the Arrhenius parameters. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used to follow the energy profile of the decomposition and in each case the decomposition has been found to be exothermic and the final product to be silver metal. The exothermic nature can be explained on the basis of conventional thermodynamics, although a release of the strain set up in the solid during the decomposition is proposed to account for the unsymmetrical energy profiles obtained.
Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinomas defined on the basis of mitosis and necrosis: a clinicopathologic study of 58 patients.

BACKGROUND Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinomas (PDTC) occupy an intermediate position at the prognostic level on the spectrum of thyroid carcinoma progression. However, their histologic definition is controversial. The objective of the current study was to assess the prognostic significance of PDTC defined on the basis of mitosis and necrosis and search for prognostic markers within this group of tumors that are predictive of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). METHODS PDTC was defined as thyroid carcinoma with follicular cell differentiation at the histologic and/or immunohistochemical levels and displaying tumor necrosis and/or ≥ 5 mitoses per 10 high-power fields (×400). Retrospective chart review and microscopic examination identified 58 patients with primary tumors meeting the above criteria and seen at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center between 1992 and 2004. These 58 patients were analyzed for various histologic, clinical, and imaging parameters. Each parameter was correlated with OS and PFS. RESULTS Of the 58 patients studied, 22 (38%) patients died of disease with a 5-year OS rate of 60%. Forty-three of the 58 patients (74%) developed disease recurrence or disease progression, with a 5-year PFS rate of 25%. The median follow-up for the entire patient population was 42.6 months (range, 4–205 mos). A tumor size > 4 cm was found to be correlated with a decreased PFS time (P < 0.001). Those tumors with a capsule demonstrated a significantly improved OS compared with unencapsulated tumors (P = 0.001). The extent of capsular invasion was found to be a significant adverse factor for PFS (P = 0.05). The presence of extrathyroid extension into perithyroid soft tissue was found to be correlated with a decreased OS (P = 0.001) and PFS (P = 0.004). Of 27 patients with distant metastasis, 19 (70%) had concentrated radioactive iodine (RAI) at their metastatic sites. On multivariate analysis, extrathyroid extension and tumor size emerged as the only significant variables in predicting PFS (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01, respectively) whereas extrathyroid extension was found to be the sole independent prognostic factor for OS (P = 0.01). Growth pattern and cell type did not appear to influence outcome. CONCLUSIONS PDTC defined on the basis of mitosis and necrosis constitutes a group of tumors that is more aggressive and homogeneous than PDTC defined by growth pattern. Within this group of patients, microstaging (tumor size, the extent of capsular invasion, and, especially, extrathyroid extension), and not growth pattern or cell type, is able to stratify patients into different prognostic categories. RAI uptake occurs in a significant number of patients with PDTC. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Effect of rapid rigor mortis processes on protein functionality in pectoralis major muscle of domestic turkeys.

The pale, soft, exudative (PSE) phenomenon in turkey pectoralis major (breast) muscle was studied using a combination of biochemical, meat quality, microscopic, and gel electrophoresis techniques. Breast muscle samples were collected from turkeys characterized by slow vs fast postmortem glycolysis assessed by muscle pH at 20 min after death. The PSE group was characterized by lower muscle ATP (P < .05) and higher lactate levels (P < .05) compared with the normal group. Excess water-holding capacity and cooking yield were significantly lower (P < .05) in the PSE group than in normal turkeys. Breast muscle of the PSE group was also lighter (P < .05) than that in the normal group as determined by Minolta L* values. The SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that phosphorylase, a soluble enzyme, became tightly associated with the myofibrils in muscle from the PSE group. Also, less myosin could be solubilized from PSE vs normal myofibril samples. The results indicate that irreversible myosin insolubility due to low pH and high-temperature conditions is decisive in the development of PSE turkey breast muscle.
Coping with syntactic ambiguity or how to put the block in the box on the table

Sentences are far more ambiguous than one might have thought. There may be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of syntactic parse trees for certain very natural sentences of English. This fact has been a major problem confronting natural language processing, especially when a large percentage of the syntactic parse trees are enumerated during semantic/pragmatic processing. In this paper we propose some methods for dealing with syntactic ambiguity in ways that exploit certain regularities among alternative parse trees. These regularities will be expressed as linear combinations of ATN networks, and also as sums and products of formal power series. We believe that such encoding of ambiguity will enhance processing, whether syntactic and semantic constraints are processed separately in sequence or interleaved together.
Influence of Chronic Ascorbic Acid Deficiency and Excessive Ascorbic Acid Intake on Bile Acid Metabolism and Bile Composition in the Guinea Pig

The influence of chronic ascorbic acid (AA) deficiency and excessive ascorbate consumption on bile acid metabolism, liver and plasma cholesterol levels, hepatic microsomal cytochromes and biliary lipid composition was investigated. Male weanling guinea pigs were fed a cereal-based scorbutigenic diet supplemented with four levels of AA for 7 weeks: deficient, 15 and 30 mg/kg; control, 500 mg/kg; and excess, 20,000 mg/kg. Bile acid kinetic parameters were determined following the intraperitoneal administration of [24-14C] chenodeoxycholic acid. Dietary extremes of AA caused similar alterations in the parameters studied. Relative to the control group, the deficient and excess groups exhibited reduced cytochrome P-450 concentration, lower cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity, lower bile acid turnover rate, prolonged bile acid half-life and increased plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations. Deficient and excess groups also exhibited lower biliary cholesterol saturation (i.e., increased bile acid-neutral sterol ratios) than controls. Urinary bile acid excretion was 2- to 3-fold higher in excess guinea pigs than in the other three groups. The data demonstrate the exceptional susceptibility of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity to alteration by dietary extremes of AA, resulting in marked inhibition of bile acid synthesis and elevation of cholesterol levels by both inadequate and excessive AA intake.