cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adverse Clinical Event Peer Review Must Evolve to Be Relevant to Quality Improvement

Self-regulation is a defining hallmark and privilege of the medical profession. A fundamental component of self-regulation is peer review of adverse clinical events to support high-quality care. Peer review has been part of medical practice for centuries, with reports of its use in ancient Greece and 11th century Arabic medicine.1 In the United States, peer review initially occurred as morbidity and mortality conferences.2 By the mid-20th century, hospitals began forming peer review committees, not only for quality assurance but also to provide protection against malpractice litigation and to satisfy external regulation by licensure boards.3,4 Unfortunately, both the culture and process of contemporary peer review can undermine its effectiveness in improving quality of care. Contemporary peer review often focuses on individual blame, causing many clinicians to view peer review as a personal affront. This can inhibit frank and open discussions about the root causes underlying the adverse event and potential strategies for improvement. This inhibition, in turn, may lead to systematic under-reporting of events. It may also contribute to reviewer bias, with many reviewers assuming that the mere presence of a review indicates individual wrongdoing or culpability.5 This culture of individual blame is also at odds with the evidence that most adverse clinical events arise from system failures. The 1999 Institute of Medicine To Err is Human report emphasized that most adverse clinical events resulting in patient harm are not because of providers’ lack of competence, intentions, or hard work.6 Rather, the system of care delivery is generally the root cause of most adverse events. The peer review process also …
Activity Video Analysis via Operator-Based Local Embedding

High dimensional data sequences, such as video clips, can be modeled as trajectories in a high dimensional space, and usually exhibit a low dimensional structure intrinsic to each distinct class of data sequence [1]. In this paper, we proposed a novel geometric framework to investigate the temporal relations as well as spatial features in a video sequence. Important visual features are preserved by mapping a high dimensional video sequence to operators in a circulant operator space (image operator space). The corresponding operator sequence is subsequently embedded into a low dimensional space, in which the temporal dynamics of each sequence is well preserved. In addition, an algorithm for human activity video classification is implemented by employing Markov models in the low dimensional embedding space, and illustrating examples and classification performance are presented.
Comparison study of gastrinomas between gastric and non-gastric origins

Gastrinomas are one of the neuroendocrine tumors with potential distant metastasis. Most gastrinomas are originated from pancreas and duodenum, but those of gastric origin have been much less reported. The aim of the study is to compare gastrinomas of gastric and non-gastric origins. Four hundred twenty-four patients with neuroendocrine tumor by histological proof in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou branch in the past 10 years were included. A total of 109 (25.7 %) cases were identified of upper gastrointestinal origins, of which 20 (18.3 %) were proven gastrinomas. The clinical characteristics were collected and analyzed retrospectively. In our study, 21 tumors of the 20 cases were identified by pathologic proof, 11 (55 %) had resection or endoscopic mucosa resection, 9 of gastric origins, 9 of duodenal origins, 2 of pancreatic origins, and 1 of hepatic origins. One case had multiple lesions. Patients with gastric gastrinomas had older age, higher levels of gastrin, seemingly smaller tumor size (p = 0.024, 0.030, and 0.065, respectively), and usually lower grade in differentiation (p = 0.035). Though gastric gastrinomas had a high recurrent rate (80 %), the lymph node and liver involvement was less common. Gastrinomas with liver involvement/metastasis had a high mortality rate where 80 % died of liver dysfunction. Gastrinomas originating from stomach had higher gastrin level and lower tumor grading and presented at older age. The long-term outcome was probably better than non-gastric origin because of lower grading and less lymph node and liver involvement.
Implicit Taxes Collected by State Liquor Monopolies

State monopolization or taxation aresupposedly justified because of negativeexternalities from alcohol consumption, butrecent research questions the efficacy ofsuch policies, suggesting that their actualgoals may be revenue-generation.Consideration of this hypothesis isfacilitated by estimates of the implicittaxes charged in monopoly states, whichgenerally are substantially higher thantaxes in non-monopoly states. Evidencethat monopolization and high taxes do notaffect the level of externalities is alsoexplained by adjustments that rationalindividuals make to avoid the consequencesof such policies, thus providing furthersupport for the revenue-maximizationhypothesis.
Diesel fuels from biomass

The demand for transportation fuels—gasoline (for cars), diesel (for trucks and cars), and kerosene (for aircraft)—is predicted to increase. The fastest growth will be ob- served for kerosene, in competition with diesel, inducing constraints on diesel. At the same time, all of these fuels are derived mainly from oil (more than 95 %), thus generating grow- ing, uncontrolled CO 2 emissions. Therefore, production of diesel derived from biomass (the so-called biodiesel) appears as a major objective. In this paper, we describe the existing in- dustrial processes, discuss the possible improvements, and present the new routes (the "sec- ond-generation" processes) under development that will allow biodiesel to gain a significant percentage of the diesel (and maybe of middle distillates) pool.
Three-Dimensional Behavior of Remolded Clay

The influence of the intermediate principal stress on the stress-strain, pore pressure, and strength characterstics of normally consolidated, remolded clay has been studied using conventional triaxial compression tests and cubical triaxial tests with independent control of the three principal stresses. For the same value of the minor principal stress, the specimens showed increasing slope of the effective stress ratio-strain curve with increasing value of the intermediate principal stress. The strain-to-failure decreased and the pore pressure increased initially and both remained approximately constant at high intermediate principal stresses. The effective strength of the clay increased from triaxial compression to a maximum before a slight decrease at triaxial extension. The undrained strength decreased slightly with increasing intermediate principal stress. Observations regarding the applicability of the normality condition of classical plasticity theory were made. Similarities and differences in behavior of clay and sand were examined.
Nursing practice related to peritoneal catheter exit site care and infections.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to obtain information from nephrology nurses on existing policies and protocols related to peritoneal catheter exit site care and treatment of exit site infections. DESIGN This was an explorative, descriptive study. SAMPLE/SETTING Fifty-four nurses who attended the 1995 Consensus Conference on Peritoneal Dialysis at the 26th Annual American Nephrology Nurses' Association National Symposium completed a survey questionnaire on exit site care and management of exit site infections. METHODS A survey was mailed to nephrology nurses preregistered to attend the 1995 ANNA Consensus Conference related to peritoneal dialysis at the 26th National Symposium. Surveys were also collected at the meeting. RESULTS Hydrogen peroxide and povidone iodine are frequently used in the nursing care of both healing and chronic exit sites. Almost all of the dialysis units require patients to stabilize or secure the catheter. The majority of respondents had a standardized method of assessing exit sites. Risk factors for exit site infections are presented for both the immediate post-catheter insertion period and the well-healed exit site. There were many different combinations of cleansing agents used to treat inflamed and infected exit sites. CONCLUSIONS Procedures for exit site care vary widely. Prospective, randomized studies of exit site care protocols and cleansing agents are necessary to determine the most effective procedures to promote healthy exit sites.
Function and Molecular Genetics of Photosystem I

Photosystem I functions as plastocyanin: ferredoxin oxidoreductase in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. It contains the photosynthetic pigments and five electron transfer centers (A0, A1, Fx, FA, and FB) that are bound to the PsaA. PsaB, and PsaC proteins. In addition, photosystem I contains at least eight other polypeptides that are accessory in their functions. Recent X-ray crystallography of photosystem I from cyanobacteria at 4 A resolution has revealed its structure and overall organization. Application of molecular genetics has now become indispensable to determine the role of individual amino acid that provide precise environment for the cofactors to function in efficient transfer of energy and electrons. In this review, we focus on the recent developments in understanding of the function, and molecular genetics of photosystem I.
Mastering the game of Go with deep neural networks and tree search

The game of Go has long been viewed as the most challenging of classic games for artificial intelligence owing to its enormous search space and the difficulty of evaluating board positions and moves. Here we introduce a new approach to computer Go that uses ‘value networks’ to evaluate board positions and ‘policy networks’ to select moves. These deep neural networks are trained by a novel combination of supervised learning from human expert games, and reinforcement learning from games of self-play. Without any lookahead search, the neural networks play Go at the level of stateof-the-art Monte Carlo tree search programs that simulate thousands of random games of self-play. We also introduce a new search algorithm that combines Monte Carlo simulation with value and policy networks. Using this search algorithm, our program AlphaGo achieved a 99.8% winning rate against other Go programs, and defeated the human European Go champion by 5 games to 0. This is the first time that a computer program has defeated a human professional player in the full-sized game of Go, a feat previously thought to be at least a decade away.
Of Hobgoblins and Justice O'Connor's Jurisprudence of Equality

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is, I’m sure, tired of being identified as the jurist who holds the fate of constitutional law in her hands. In this short essay, I’d like to unpack a few of the supposed idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies in Justice O’Connor’s jurisprudence of equality. Equal protection law is, of course, a huge topic, so I am going to narrow my focus to the most contentious area of equal protection, and the one where Justice O’Connor has made her most visible mark on legal doctrine—the area of race-based decisions undertaken by government.
Fluorescence microscopy with isotropic resolution using three objectives

Widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopy using a single objective suffer from poor resolution and a strong anisotropy between the lateral and axial resolution. Coherently combining the excitation and emission from two coaxial objectives improves the axial resolution up to sevenfold, but leaves the lateral resolution unchanged. Here we investigate the coherent combination of three objectives to create a point spread function (PSF) that is isotropic with higher resolution in the plane of the objectives. We develop a theoretical framework for simulating the performance of interferometric imaging with three objectives. Using three identical objectives with a large working distance and 0.9 numerical aperture (NA), the full-width half maximum of the confocal PSF is 135 nm compared to the lateral FWHM of 274 nm for imaging with a single objective at a wavelength of 515 nm.
Opening Access to STEM Experiences One Day at a Time: Successful Implementation of a School-wide iSTEM Day

Creating partnerships that leverage skill sets from universities and corporate entities to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is often discussed in theory. However, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes how one STEM business, university educators, and middle school administrators and teachers successfully developed and implemented an integrated STEM education (iSTEM) experience for all eighth-grade students at a local middle school. We created a professional learning community to establish the goals and vision for the iSTEM day, which included the use of instructionally sound pedagogical methods, intellectually stimulating learning experiences, and a deeply developed understanding of the school context. Our team successfully completed a one-day learning experience that focused on the fundamental concept of osmosis and problem-solving skills. However, the broader impacts of this day included a new collaborative network between the university, the company, and the middle school that remains intact and productive.
Modifying the Pore Size of Resorcinol Formaldehyde Aerogels for Fabrication of Hollow Spheres for Direct Drive ICF Experiments

This work investigates an alternative way to modify the pore size of a 100 mg/cc resorcinol formaldehyde (R/F) aerogel without any significant change to the aerogel target density. This was successfully accomplished by an addition of hydrophilic polymer additive [Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) or Poly Acrylic Acid (PAA)] to the R/F precursor solution which acts as an impurity in the reaction. The polymer can modify the cross linking or aggregation of the primary particles which can change the structure formation of the aerogel, thus changing the pore size. This paper will discuss this process modification and the fabrication of hollow, large pore R/F aerogel spheres that are used for direct drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) cryogenic ice layering experiments at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). The aerogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen gas adsorption, and ultra small angle x-ray scattering (USAXS).
Epigenetics of chronic pain after thoracic surgery.

Purpose of review Chronic pain after surgery is a major public health problem and a major concern for perioperative physicians. Thoracic surgery presents a unique challenge, as thoracotomy is among the highest risk surgeries to develop persistent postsurgical pain. The purpose of this review is to discuss the relevance of research in pain epigenetics to patients with persistent pain after thoracic surgery. Recent findings Recent advances have linked chronic pain states to genetic and epigenetic changes. Progress in our understanding of chronic pain has highlighted the importance of immune modulation of pain. It is possible that epigenetic changes driving chronic pain occur in the perioperative setting via histone modification and DNA methylation. Summary The transition from acute to chronic pain after thoracic surgery may be mediated by epigenetics. Here, we discuss epigenetic modifications that have been discovered in animal models of chronic pain that may predispose patients to persistent neuropathic pain after thoracic surgery.
Lessons Learned in the Application of Thermal Test Requirements for Spacecraft Units

While the emphasis of spacecraft unit thermal testing has historically focused on ground verification of electronic units, demonstrating workmanship and performance for other types of spacecraft units is equally important for a space program to achieve its mission objectives. This paper addresses thermal test environments and testing parameters that increase the test effectiveness for various spacecraft units. Rationale is provided for unit test requirements. A comparison of these test environments and parameters with requirements specified in MIL-STD-1540E for military spacecraft units shows that the thermal test requirements specified in MIL-STD-1540E are reasonable.
An analysis of glass–glass CIGS manufacturing costs

Abstract This article examines current cost drivers and potential avenues to reduced cost for monolithic, glass–glass Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) modules by constructing a comprehensive bottom-up cost model. For a reference case where sputtering plus batch sulfurization after selenization (SAS) is employed, we compute a manufacturing cost of $69/m2 if the modules are made in the United States at a 1 GW/year production volume. At 14% module efficiency, this corresponds to a manufacturing cost of $0.49/WDC and a minimum sustainable price (MSP) of $0.67/WDC. We estimate that MSP could vary within ±20% of this value given the range of quoted input prices, and existing variations in module design, manufacturing processes, and manufacturing location. Potential for reduction in manufacturing costs to below $0.40/WDC may be possible if average production module efficiencies can be increased above 17% without increasing $/m2 costs; even lower costs could be achieved if $/m2 costs could be reduced, particularly via innovations in the CIGS deposition process or balance-of-module elements. We present the impact on cost of regional factors, CIGS deposition method, device design, and price fluctuations. One metric of competitiveness-levelized cost of energy (LCOE) – is also assessed for several U.S. locations and compared to that of standard multi-crystalline silicon (m(c-Si)) and cadmium telluride (CdTe).
Abstract 3570: Differential expression of the melanoma inhibitor of apoptosis protein (ML-IAP)/Livin in patients with ulcerated and non-ulcerated melanomas

Background: Cutaneous malignant melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer with an extremely poor prognosis for the patients diagnosed with metastatic disease. Ulceration has been correlated with an increased risk of death within a given thickness range, however, the biologic basis for the development of ulceration is poorly understood. Livin, an inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP), is overexpressed in various cancers and possesses both the ability to protect from cell death and to promote it once it is cleaved. It is unknown whether there is a differential cellular expression of livin in ulcerated versus non-ulcerated melanomas. Methods: To explore the role of livin in relation to ulceration, other clinicopathological factors and survival of melanoma patients, we have performed semiquantitative immunohistochemical analysis of livin expression as measured by percentage and intensity (levels) of cells immunoreactive for livin in tumor specimens having both ulcerated and non-ulcerated areas from 50 melanoma lesions. Results: Superficial as well as deep melanoma cells located in non-ulcerated areas of tumor had higher percentage of cytoplasmic immunopositivity for livin when compared with melanocytes in the ulcerated areas of the melanoma (p Citation Format: Nitin Chakravarti, Dawen Sui, Denai R. Milton, Wen-Jen Hwu, Elizabeth A. Grimm, Victor G. Prieto. Differential expression of the melanoma inhibitor of apoptosis protein (ML-IAP)/Livin in patients with ulcerated and non-ulcerated melanomas. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3570.
Treatment of Cognition in the Schizophrenia Spectrum: The Context of Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Evidence-based approaches and modalities for targeting and treating the cognitive impairments of schizophrenia have proliferated over the past 15 years. The impairments targeted are distributed across the cognitive spectrum, from elemental perception, attention, and memory, to complex executive and social-cognitive functioning. Cognitive treatment is most beneficial when embedded in comprehensive programs of psychiatric rehabilitation. To personalize comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, practitioners and participants must select from a rapidly expanding array of particular modalities and apply them in the broad context of the participant's overall recovery. At present, no particular treatment, cognitive or otherwise, can be considered more important or primary than the context in which it is applied. Persistent difficulty in dissemination of new technology for severe and disabling mental illness compounds the significance of the context created by a full treatment array. In this article, a case-study of a mental health service system is described, showing the broad-ranging effects of degrading the rehabilitative context of treatments, obviating the benefits of cognitive treatment and other modalities. To realize the promise of cognitive treatment, the problems that prevent dissemination and maintenance of complete psychiatric rehabilitation programs have to be addressed.
Integral Equation Analysis of Microwave Integrated Circuits

Most of the analysis methods presently available for the analysis of microstrip structures are either limited to or optimized for planar geometries with simple, regular shapes.1“4 The modern microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits, however, cannot always be considered planar and they are usually far from being simple.5‘6 Therefore, it is increasingly important to have at one’s disposal techniques, which would make it possible to accurately and rigorously analyze more complex circuit geometries. In this paper, we describe an integral equation approach, which we find especially suitable for this task.
A Positive Theory of Accounting-Based Management by Exception

While traditional budget and control systems operate on the principle of management by exception (MBE), the planning and control dichotomy is not well-justified by normative theories. Normative theories typically presume omniscient rationality, which means that unless MBE introduces new information into the control phase, budgeting and communicating MBE thresholds would have no value and ‘tight target’ would become a vacuous term. Instead, I present a positive analysis of MBE, where MBE thresholds alleviate the investigator’s burden of retrieving the details from the planning phase while preserving enough information to maintain effective control. I identify a threshold-based MBE algorithm which approximates the performance of the normative policy, suggesting that simple static threshold-based communication – in general –can be effective and should not be ignored by accounting theory. An equivalence between normative theory and perfectly flexible budgets helps me to explain the popularity of static budgets.
Understanding heterogeneity in older adults: Latent growth curve modeling of cognitive functioning

Background: Clarifying relationships between specific neurocognitive functions in cognitively intact older adults can improve our understanding of mechanisms involved in cognitive decline, which ma...
Non-Bayesian Accounts of Evidence: Howson’s Counterexample Countered

ABSTRACTThere is a debate in Bayesian confirmation theory between subjective and non-subjective accounts of evidence. Colin Howson has provided a counterexample to our non-subjective account of evidence: the counterexample refers to a case in which there is strong evidence for a hypothesis, but the hypothesis is highly implausible. In this article, we contend that, by supposing that strong evidence for a hypothesis makes the hypothesis more believable, Howson conflates the distinction between confirmation and evidence. We demonstrate that Howson’s counterexample fails for a different pair of hypotheses.
Financial Crises, Income Levels and Access to Finance

In this study, we examine the impact of the 2008 Global Crisis on “access to finance” in high-income OECD, high-income non-OECD, middle-income, and low-income countries. We use three measures of access to finance. These are “Number of bank branches per 100,000 adults”, “Value traded of top 10 traded companies to total value traded (%)”, and “Market capitalization outside of top 10 largest companies to total market capitalization (%)”. During the run-up to the crisis and immediately after the crisis, we do not find any significant change in any of the three “access to finance” measures. We find that, during the crisis, only middle-income countries were affected significantly. These countries were affected in only one of the measures which is “Value traded of top 10 traded companies to total value traded (%)”. This measure went up and this change is marginally significant. We conclude that the global crisis only affected “access to finance” in middle-income countries.
Interpolation and Approximation

This chapter begins with a discussion of interpolation. Polynomial interpolation for a function of a single variable is analyzed, and implemented through Newton, Lagrange and Hermite forms. Intelligent selection of interpolation points is discussed, and extensions to multi-dimensional polynomial interpolation are presented. Rational polynomial interpolation is studied next, and connected to quadric surfaces. Then the discussion turns to piecewise polynomial interpolation and splines. The study of interpolation concludes with a presentation of parametric curves. Afterwards, the chapter moves on to least squares approximation, orthogonal polynomials and trigonometric polynomials. Trigonometric polynomial interpolation or approximation is implemented by the fast Fourier transform. The chapter concludes with wavelets, as well as their application to discrete data and continuous functions.
Surgical Intervention for Portal Hypertension

In 2010, surgery for complications of portal hypertension is largely ­limited to liver transplantation. The use of surgical shunts and devascularization procedures for variceal bleeding is now limited to unusual patients who have bleeding refractory to medical management, cannot be managed by TIPS, and have sufficiently preserved liver function so that they do not need a liver transplant. This chapter gives an outline of the different types of surgical shunts available to decompress varices and of the approach devascularization procedures take in managing patients with refractory bleeding, and summarizes the most current outcome data for these treatments.
A Road Map of Motivic Homotopy and Homology Theory

The parallel constructions of Motivic Homotopy and Motivic Homology are based on the construction of stable homotopy and homology in topology. Instead of starting with topological spaces and using the unit interval [0, 1] to define homotopy, one starts with smooth schemes over a fixed field k and uses the affine line A1 = Spec(k[t]). The constructions are related by two functors from homotopy to homology which, by analogy, we call Hurewicz functors. Here is the main diagram, or road map.
SIMULATING PASSIVE SOLAR PERFORMANCE USING INDUSTRIAL DYNAMICS MODELS

ABSTRACT Industrial Dynamics as a tool for simulating the performance of Passive Solar Systems has been demonstrated. A model has been developed, parametrically tested, and applied to a test array currently under study. The application of Industrial Dynamics to the field of solar analysis is particularly effective as a pedagogical tool and can be used in predicting passive component performance. This methodology and sample runs will be discussed.
Postprandial sleep in healthy men

Twenty-one healthy men between 18 and 30 years of age were studied to determine the effects of midday food intake on sleep. Twelve subjects were administered liquid carbohydrate meals at lunchtime on 2 consecutive days. Subjects slept on 22 of the 24 study days for an average of 93 minutes during 3 hours of postprandial polysomnographic recording. Nine subjects were used as controls and were deprived of a lunch meal. Six of the nine subjects slept for an average of 30 minutes during the postprandial period. This time was significantly shorter than that of subjects in the meal condition (p < 0.005). There was no difference in latency to sleep onset following food intake between the two study groups. The results of this study suggest that lunchtime food intake does not promote the initiation of sleep, but that it does increase the duration of sleep episodes occurring during the postprandial period.
Sex Differences in Human Brain Structure and Function: Relevance to Learning and Memory

Sex influences on brain function are ubiquitous. They are found in studies ranging from human behavior to single neurons in cell culture, and everywhere in between. The implications of this simple fact are enormous. This chapter aims to contribute a perspective from studies of the human brain. Driven largely by the advent of human-brain-imaging methods, investigators are routinely uncovering previously unsuspected sex influences. The chapter aims to describe some of the more intriguing findings of recent years, and highlights the issue more directly by focusing on a particular domain in which sex influences are increasingly apparent, namely, the domain of emotional memory.
Reexamining the Link Between Economic Downturns and Racial Antipathy: Evidence That Prejudice Against Blacks Rises During Recessions:

Scholars have long argued that economic downturns intensify racial discord. However, empirical support for this relationship has been mixed, with most recent studies finding no evidence that downturns provoke greater racial animosity. Yet most past research has focused on hate crimes, a particularly violent and relatively infrequent manifestation of racial antipathy. In this article, we reexamine the relationship between economic downturns and racial acrimony using more subtle indicators of racial animosity. We found that during economic downturns, Whites felt less warmly about Blacks (Studies 1 and 2), held more negative explicit and implicit attitudes about Blacks, were more likely to condone the use of stereotypes, and were more willing to regard inequality between groups as natural and acceptable (Study 2). Moreover, during downturns, Black musicians (Study 3) and Black politicians (Study 4) were less likely to secure a musical hit or win a congressional election.
A tunable assay for modulators of genome-destabilizing DNA structures.

Regions of genomic instability are not random and often co-localize with DNA sequences that can adopt alternative DNA structures (i.e. non-B DNA, such as H-DNA). Non-B DNA-forming sequences are highly enriched at translocation breakpoints in human cancer genomes, representing an endogenous source of genetic instability. However, a further understanding of the mechanisms involved in non-B DNA-induced genetic instability is needed. Small molecules that can modulate the formation/stability of non-B DNA structures, and therefore the subsequent mutagenic outcome, represent valuable tools to study DNA structure-induced genetic instability. To this end, we have developed a tunable Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based assay to detect triplex/H-DNA-destabilizing and -stabilizing ligands. The assay was designed by incorporating a fluorophore-quencher pair in a naturally-occurring H-DNA-forming sequence from a chromosomal breakpoint hotspot in the human c-MYC oncogene. By tuning triplex stability via buffer composition, the assay functions as a dual-reporter that can identify stabilizers and destabilizers, simultaneously. The assay principle was demonstrated using known triplex stabilizers, BePI and coralyne, and a complementary oligonucleotide to mimic a destabilizer, MCRa2. The potential of the assay was validated in a 384-well plate with 320 custom-assembled compounds. The discovery of novel triplex stabilizers/destabilizers may allow the regulation of genetic instability in human genomes.
Direct thermal visualization of micro-scale hydrogen evolution reactions in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells

Abstract The heat generated from electrochemical reactions has been considered one of the most significant issues in terms of the reliability of energy conversion devices. So far, no systematic study on the relation between heat generation and electrochemical reaction exists, especially in the form of experiments. In this study, changes of the temperature distribution and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the catalyst coated membrane (CCM) in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs) are in-situ visualized with the help of a novel PEMEC design, thermal spectroscopy and high-speed visualization system. At the channel-scale, the temperature increases rapidly for most of the active areas, and finally reaches the equilibrium state at 27 °C. The temperature distribution is non-uniform throughout the process. In addition, a series of pore-scale analyses are provided to clarify the relation between the temperature distribution and electrochemical reaction area. More interestingly, the rapid heat generation areas are found to be in a good agreement with the electrochemical reaction areas, which confirms that the heat is released during the reaction processes. Finally, the temperature evolution phenomena on the LGDL surface have also been recorded. These findings could help better understand the correlation between the cathode side electrochemical reaction and heat generation.
Cancer immunotherapy and its renal effects

With the advent of the era of immunotherapy, there has been marked increased survival in several cancers such as advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, urothelial carc...
So Far, So Good

Is that a role for the churches? If we "baptised" the new Parliament at its kirking (maybe even acted as its godparents), do we have a responsibility to stick by it? "Critical solidarity" has been a key term of the churches' engagement world-wide and it has been expressed by many local congregations in making contact with their MSPs on the basis of a shared commitment to the well-being of their communities. Getting the right balance between "critical" and "solidarity" may be the tricky bit. Theologically, we shouldn't be surprised to see bits of the old sinful self emerge amid the new politics it is our theological realism about people and power that has made us advocates of an open and participative Parliament. This briefing looks at some of the early developments in light of what the Scottish churches have said along these lines, and is intended to stimulate debate as well as asking where we should be applying pressure.
Redesigning Planning, Governance, and Policies to Achieve Multiple Sustainable Development Goals

In this issue of One Earth, zu Ermgassen et al. provide recommendations for transforming policies such as “no net loss” to effectively mitigate the full range of impacts from infrastructure development. But will avoiding harm be enough? A redesign of policies might be needed for achieving the full suite of Sustainable Development Goals.
Coronary Bifurcation Lesions

Bifurcation lesions are relatively common and intervention on them is associated with higher rates of MACE, more complexity, and longer procedure times. Overall, the last 10 years since the advent of drug-eluting stents, cardiologists have become more aggressive in their treatment for these difficult lesions. Most randomized data (with the exception of DKCRUSH trial) have demonstrated parity in outcomes using a provisional approach to bifurcation work. Nevertheless, there are certain situations where a two-stent approach seems logical, including large side vessels, high-grade disease in either branch of the bifurcation, and heavily angulated lesions. Many techniques for dedicated approaches to treating bifurcations exist, but available evidence suggests that either the culotte technique or DK crush technique is probably the preferred method of intervention. Over the coming years, more information will become available about the newer bifurcation-specific stent designs and how they perform compared to current options. Until then, interventional cardiologists must use common sense and good clinical judgment to help shape decision making for treating bifurcation lesions.
Key events and challenges: a computational text analysis of the 115th house of representatives on Twitter

To determine to what extent politicians publicly discuss environmental issues in line with public opinion and economic characteristics of their constituents, we conducted a computational text analy...
Using pre-prandial blood glucose to assess eating in the absence of hunger in free-living individuals.

Our ability to understand and intervene on eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) as it occurs in peoples' natural environments is hindered by biased methods that lack ecological validity. One promising indicator of EAH that does not rely on self-report and is easily assessed in free-living individuals is glucose. Here, we hypothesize that elevated pre-prandial blood glucose concentrations (PPBG), which reflect a source of readily-available, short-term energy, are a biological indicator of EAH. This was a 7-day observational study of N = 41, 18-24 year old men and women with BMI < 25 kg/m2 (60%) or BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (40%). We collected data using ecological momentary assessment from people in their natural environments. We defined EAH by self-report (perceived EAH) and by PPBG thresholds using two methods (standardized, PPBG < 85 mg/dl; personalized, PPBG < individual fasting levels). Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data. N = 963 eating events were reported. There were significantly (p < .05) fewer perceived EAH events (25%) as compared to standardized (62%) and personalized PPBG-defined EAH events (51%). Consistent with published literature, perceived EAH was more likely to occur at a higher PPBG (p < .01), particularly among participants with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (pint < .01). Additionally, discordance between perceived EAH and PPBG-defined EAH, indicating a perception of hunger at an eating event when PPBS was elevated, was less likely among participants with a BMI < 25 kg/m2 vs. those with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (pint < .01) as well as at snacks vs. meals (pint < .01). These findings provide preliminary support for using PPBG as a biological indicator of EAH in free-living individuals.
Computer Extracted Features from Initial H&E Tissue Biopsies Predict Disease Progression for Prostate Cancer Patients on Active Surveillance

In this work, we assessed the ability of computerized features of nuclear morphology from diagnostic biopsy images to predict prostate cancer (CaP) progression in active surveillance (AS) patients. Improved risk characterization of AS patients could reduce over-testing of low-risk patients while directing high-risk patients to therapy. A total of 191 (125 progressors, 66 non-progressors) AS patients from a single site were identified using The Johns Hopkins University's (JHU) AS-eligibility criteria. Progression was determined by pathologists at JHU. 30 progressors and 30 non-progressors were randomly selected to create the training cohort D1 (n = 60). The remaining patients comprised the validation cohort D2 (n = 131). Digitized Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) biopsies were annotated by a pathologist for CaP regions. Nuclei within the cancer regions were segmented using a watershed method and 216 nuclear features describing position, shape, orientation, and clustering were extracted. Six features associated with disease progression were identified using D1 and then used to train a machine learning classifier. The classifier was validated on D2. The classifier was further compared on a subset of D2 (n = 47) against pro-PSA, an isoform of prostate specific antigen (PSA) more linked with CaP, in predicting progression. Performance was evaluated with area under the curve (AUC). A combination of nuclear spatial arrangement, shape, and disorder features were associated with progression. The classifier using these features yielded an AUC of 0.75 in D2. On the 47 patient subset with pro-PSA measurements, the classifier yielded an AUC of 0.79 compared to an AUC of 0.42 for pro-PSA. Nuclear morphometric features from digitized H&E biopsies predicted progression in AS patients. This may be useful for identifying AS-eligible patients who could benefit from immediate curative therapy. However, additional multi-site validation is needed.
On the extreme rays of the cone of $3\times 3$ quasiconvex quadratic forms: Extremal determinats vs extremal and polyconvex forms.

This work is concerned with the study of the extreme rays of the convex cone of $3\times 3$ quasiconvex quadratic forms (denoted by ${\cal C}_3$). We characterize quadratic forms $f\in {\cal C}_3,$ the determinant of the acoustic tensor of which is an extremal polynomial, and conjecture/discuss about other cases. We prove that in the case when the determinant of the acoustic tensor of a form $f\in {\cal C}_3$ is an extremal polynomial other than a perfect square, then the form must itself be an extreme ray of ${\cal C}_3;$ when the determinant is a perfect square, then the form is either an extreme ray of ${\cal C}_3$ or polyconvex; and finally, when the determinant is identically zero, then the form $f$ must be polyconvex. The zero determinant case plays an important role in the proofs of the other two cases. We also make a conjecture on the extreme rays of ${\cal C}_3,$ and discuss about weak and strong etremals of ${\cal C}_d$ for $d\geq 3.$ where it turns out that several properties of ${\cal C}_3$ do not hold for ${\cal C}_d$ for $d>3,$ and thus case $d=3$ is special. These results recover all previously known results (to our best knowledge) on examples of extreme points of ${\cal C}_3$ that were proved to be such. Our results also improve the ones proven by the first author and Milton [20].
Significant issues for the future of product innovation

Abstract In this issue, William Souder and Robert Thomas present their thoughts on two issues they feel will shape aspects of our approach to effective new product development in coming years. Souder, stimulated by a recent trip to New Zealand, reflects on the different approaches to the management of new products he found in a variety of smaller, family-controlled businesses he visited. Both the need for documented processes and the emphasis on time-to-market were diminished in these organizations, characterized by family involvement and continuity in operations. In these companies, expectations for growth were set by those running and owning the business. There was time to work on projects and fund progress from cash flows. Does this reflect persistence, or flexibility? Souder simply points out that it seems to provide an effective platform for business growth in certain international arenas, asks us to ponder the consequences for ourselves, and states that we should not be too quick to label these practices as limited in scope or only suitable for low-tech products. Robert Thomas reminds us that new product forecasting no longer is limited to projections of future sales. He writes about evolution in the field, with a particular emphasis on our growing need to forecast based on analogies. As we increasingly have access to information about products in other companies and in other lands, we have an increasing opportunity to discover ways to incorporate this knowledge into our business plans. These essays continue a year-long series of contributions that the editor-in-chief solicited from members of the editorial board. Members were asked to reflect upon changes and opportunities that they see influencing our profession during the coming decade. Both of these short essays are designed to introduce new perspectives. It is not essential that you agree with the recommendations, but we hope that you are stimulated as you reflect on the issues they discuss.
Deciphering the mechanism of action of antitubercular compounds with metabolomics

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB), one of the oldest and deadliest bacterial diseases, continues to cause serious global economic, health, and social problems. Current TB treatments are lengthy, expensive, and routinely ineffective against emerging drug resistant strains. Thus, there is an urgent need for the identification and development of novel TB drugs possessing comprehensive and specific mechanisms of action (MoAs). Metabolomics is a valuable approach to elucidating the MoA, toxicity, and potency of promising chemical leads, which is a critical step of the drug discovery process. Recent advances in metabolomics methodologies for deciphering MoAs include high-throughput screening techniques, the integration of multiple omics methods, mass spectrometry imaging, and software for automated analysis. This review describes recently introduced metabolomics methodologies and techniques for drug discovery, highlighting specific applications to the discovery of new antitubercular drugs and the elucidation of their MoAs.
Caregiver strain among North American parents of children from the Autism Treatment Network Registry Call-Back Study:

Elevated caregiver strain is common and linked to poor health in parents of children with autism. Yet, little research has examined caregiver strain longitudinally and in geographically diverse sam...
Decisive disappearance search at high $\Delta m^2$ with monoenergetic muon neutrinos

``KPipe'' is a proposed experiment which will study muon neutrino disappearance for a sensitive test of the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{m}^{2}\ensuremath{\sim}1\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{eV}}^{2}$ anomalies, possibly indicative of one or more sterile neutrinos. The experiment is to be located at the J-PARC Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility's spallation neutron source, which represents the world's most intense source of charged kaon decay-at-rest monoenergetic (236 MeV) muon neutrinos. The detector vessel, designed to measure the charged-current interactions of these neutrinos, will be 3 m in diameter and 120 m long, extending radially at a distance of 32 to 152 m from the source. This design allows a sensitive search for ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ disappearance associated with currently favored light sterile neutrino models and features the ability to reconstruct the neutrino oscillation wave within a single, extended detector. The required detector design, technology, and costs are modest. The KPipe measurements will be robust since they depend on a known energy neutrino source with low expected backgrounds. Further, since the measurements rely only on the measured rate of detected events as a function of distance, with no required knowledge of the initial flux and neutrino interaction cross section, the results will be largely free of systematic errors. The experimental sensitivity to oscillations, based on a shape-only analysis of the $L/E$ distribution, will extend an order of magnitude beyond present experimental limits in the relevant high-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{m}^{2}$ parameter space.
Coherence Effects in Pump-Probe Measurements with Collinear, Copropagating Beams

When pump-probe measurements are performed using pulses originating from the same laser, it is necessary to consider the coherent interaction of the two pulses in determining material relaxation rates on the time scale of the pulse duration. In the usual geometry in which the beams cross at an angle the effects of the coherent coupling on the observed signal are well known [1–4]. In this case the coherent contribution to the signal may be viewed as a scattering of the pump radiation into the probe direction by a spatial grating induced when the pump and probe are simultaneously present in the sample. We consider here the influence of coherence effects on pump-probe measurements with collinear, copropagating beams of orthogonal polarization. Despite the fact that the grating vanishes in this geometry, we find, in contradiction with earlier predictions [4], that the coherent interaction still remains.