cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decision Support Tool to Estimate and Reduce the Probability of Readmission for Congestive Heart Failure Patients

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a condition where blood flow from the heart through the body is inadequate, causing congestion in the lungs and swelling in the body's tissues. An urban university teaching hospital is able to treat and assign post-discharge resources to patients diagnosed with CHF. Despite the current treatment methods and assignment of post-discharge resources, the rate of readmission for patients returning to the hospital within 30 days remains higher than the level expected by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This project proposes the development of a decision support tool to assist the hospital in reducing the readmission rate for patients diagnosed with CHF. The project initially analyzes medical comorbidities and social factors of patients to identify correlations with a patient's probability of readmission. A discriminant analysis baseline model constructed from an electronic health record database (September 2015 to December 2018) projects the readmission probability for a patient. Subsequently, a correlation study determines which post-discharge resources are associated with reducing the readmission probability in patients with specific combinations of medical comorbidities and social factors. Ultimately, the decision support tool analyzes a patient's unique combination of medical severity and social factors to project the patient's probability of readmission and provides a tailored list of suggested post-discharge resources to reduce the probability of readmission for that patient.
Review of Research into Misconceptions and Misunderstandings in Physics and Mathematics

Many diagnostic methods have been used to analyze data from large-scale assessments such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the prior research on misconceptions and misunderstandings in physics and mathematics is extensive. This literature review provides an overview of different diagnostic models that have been used to explore student attributes and misconceptions in mathematics and science and how they compare to the methodology used in this study. A comprehensive review of prior research into student misconceptions and misunderstandings in physics related to gravitational force and in mathematics related to linear equations connects the established literature to the current study.
Congenital sensori-neural deafness associated with onycho-osteo dystrophy and mental retardation (D.O.O.R. syndrome).

A characteristic syndrome is described in which congenital sensori-neural deafness is associated not only with onychodystrophy but also with congenital bony anomalies the most characteristic of which are tri-phalangeal thumbs, bi-phalangeal digits of hands and feet, and dystrophic terminal phalanges of some of the fingers and toes. In addition, there is mental retardation and the dermatoglyphics are characterized by the presence of 10 arches and elevation of the atd angles. The syndrome is inherited as an autosomal recessive.
Black Box Recursive Translations for Molecular Optimization

Machine learning algorithms for generating molecular structures offer a promising new approach to drug discovery. We cast molecular optimization as a translation problem, where the goal is to map an input compound to a target compound with improved biochemical properties. Remarkably, we observe that when generated molecules are iteratively fed back into the translator, molecular compound attributes improve with each step. We show that this finding is invariant to the choice of translation model, making this a "black box" algorithm. We call this method Black Box Recursive Translation (BBRT), a new inference method for molecular property optimization. This simple, powerful technique operates strictly on the inputs and outputs of any translation model. We obtain new state-of-the-art results for molecular property optimization tasks using our simple drop-in replacement with well-known sequence and graph-based models. Our method provides a significant boost in performance relative to its non-recursive peers with just a simple "for" loop. Further, BBRT is highly interpretable, allowing users to map the evolution of newly discovered compounds from known starting points.
Overlapping evidence of innate immune dysfunction in psychotic and affective disorders.

Abstract Disturbances of the immune system and immune responses after activation are a common finding in neuropsychiatric disorders. Psychotic and affective disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) also share high rates of comorbidity with inflammatory and metabolic disorders. Evidence of elevated circulating inflammatory cytokines, altered numbers and function of immune cells, and evidence of neuroinflammation including activation of microglia in the brain have been found in patients with SCZ, BD and MDD. Often these findings correlate to psychological state at the time of measurement. However, significant variation exists across these studies in many aspects, creating challenges in identifying a specific signature of immune dysfunction in these disorders. Innate immune dysfunction, and alterations in monocytes, the critical sentinel cells of the innate immune system, have been seen repeatedly in all three of these disorders, with frequent overlap in findings. In this review, dysfunction specific to the innate arm of the immune system is compared for overlapping evidence across three major psychotic and affective disorders.
Global environmental impacts of silver nanoparticle production methods supported by life cycle assessment

Abstract Considering their antimicrobial, electrical and optical properties, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most common type of engineered nanomaterials found in consumer products. AgNPs may be synthesized through multiple methods, including chemical, biological and physical techniques; however, literature suggests that the manufacturers prefer to use physical and chemical methods (85 %) rather than biological. This work presents cradle-to-gate life cycle impact assessments in order to evaluate global environmental impacts of six different AgNPs synthesis routes (two chemical and four physical) along with thirteen different inventories and a mass based functional unit of 1 kg of AgNPs. Results are then combined with the annual global AgNPs production estimates, and global environmental impact calculations are performed based on both optimistic and skeptical estimations. Since AgNPs production volumes are forecasted to increase drastically, industrial scale AgNPs syntheses are modeled and future life cycle impacts are projected using three different scale-up factors. Furthermore, given that each industry has specific preferences for properties of AgNPs (i.e. size, surface area) and those are dependent on the synthesis methods, industry based environmental impact projections are developed for industries where the majority of AgNPs are used such as textiles; coatings, paints and pigments; consumer electronics and optics; cosmetics; medical and packaging. Results show that scaling up may reduce the environmental emissions up to 90 % globally, and up to 83 % per industrial sector which suggest that the global environmental impact of AgNPs may vary significantly as a function of the synthesis method, scale, and desired product application.
Chapter 6 – Orthosteric Drug Antagonism

This chapter discusses how the real time relative kinetics of agonist and antagonist offset from the receptor determines whether or not orthosteric antagonists produce competitive, a hemi-equilibrium state or non-competitive antagonism. These kinetics effects also are discussed in terms of the target coverage produced in vivo. In addition to these mechanisms, chemical antagonism (interaction between ligands) and irreversible antagonism are considered.
Preoperative bone health assessment and optimization in spine surgery.

Objective The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the bone health in preoperative spine surgery patients. This information will provide a framework to understand the needs and methods for providing bone health optimization in elective spine surgery patients. Methods A retrospective study of 104 patients undergoing bone health optimization was performed. Patients were selected based on risk factors identified by the surgeon and suspected compromised bone health. Evaluation included history and examination, laboratory investigations, and bone mineral density (BMD) at 3 sites (femoral neck, lumbar spine, and radius). Patients' bone status was classified using WHO criteria and expanded criteria recommended by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). The 10-year Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) scores of the hip and major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) were calculated with and without femoral neck BMD, with spine BMD, and with the trabecular bone score (TBS). Antiresorptive and anabolic agents were provided in accordance with meeting NOF criteria for treatment of osteoporosis. Results The mean patient age was 69.0 years, and 81% of patients were female. The mean historical height loss was 5.6 cm, and 54% of patients had a history of fracture. Secondary osteoporosis due to chronic renal failure, inflammatory arthritis, diabetes, and steroid use was common (51%). The mean 25-hydroxy vitamin D was 42.4 ng/ml and was normal in 81% of patients, with only 4 patients being deficient. The mean T-scores were -2.09 (SD 0.71) of the femoral neck, -0.54 (1.71) of the lumbar spine, and -1.65 (1.38) of the distal radius. These were significantly different. The 10-year FRAX MOF score was 20.7%, and that for hip fracture was 6.9% using the femoral neck BMD and was not significantly different without the use of BMD. The FRAX risk-adjusted score using the lumbar spine BMD and TBS was significantly lower than that for the hip. Osteoporosis was present in 32.1% according to WHO criteria compared with 81.6% according to NOF criteria. Antiresorptive medications were recommended in 31 patients and anabolic medications in 44 patients. Conclusions Surgeons can reliably identify patients with poor bone health by using simple criteria, including historical height loss, history of fracture, comorbidities associated with osteoporosis, analysis of available imaging, and calculation of FRAX score without BMD. High-risk patients should have BMD testing and bone health assessment. In patients with osteoporosis, a comprehensive preoperative bone health assessment is recommended and, if warranted, pharmacological treatment should be started.
Taking an interest in small animal research programs.

There are administrative challenges inherent to any animal research program – from hiring vets and care staff to approving and overseeing protocols to reporting to the relevant authorities. Small institutions, with limited resources and available staff compared to ‘research juggernauts,’ can have extra hurdles to cross when administering their animal research programs.
Noninvasive quantification of target availability during therapy using paired-agent fluorescence tomography.

Immuno-oncological treatment strategies that target abnormal receptor profiles of tumors are an increasingly important feature of cancer therapy. Yet, assessing receptor availability (RA) and drug-target engagement, important determinants of therapeutic efficacy, is challenging with current imaging strategies, largely due to the complex nonspecific uptake behavior of imaging agents in tumors. Herein, we evaluate whether a quantitative noninvasive imaging approach designed to compensate for nonspecific uptake, MRI-coupled paired-agent fluorescence tomography (MRI-PAFT), is capable of rapidly assessing the availability of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in response to one dose of anti-EGFR antibody therapy in orthotopic brain tumor models. Methods: Mice bearing orthotopic brain tumor xenografts with relatively high EGFR expression (U251) (N=10) or undetectable human EGFR (9L) (N=9) were considered in this study. For each tumor type, mice were either treated with one dose of cetuximab, or remained untreated. All animals were scanned using MRI-PAFT, which commenced immediately after paired-agent administration, and values of RA were recovered using a model-based approach, which uses the entire dynamic sequence of agent uptake, as well as a simplified "snapshot" approach which requires uptake measurements at only two time points. Recovered values of RA were evaluated between groups and techniques. Hematoxylin & eosin (HE p = 0.89; AUC-ROC = 0.55), nor did we observe a difference between treated EGFR(+) tumors compared to treated and untreated EGFR(-) tumors. Notably, the snapshot paired-agent strategy quantified drug-receptor engagement within just 30 minutes of agent administration. Examination of the targeted agent alone showed no capacity to distinguish tumors either by treatment or receptor status, even 24h after agent administration. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a noninvasive imaging strategy enables rapid quantification of receptor availability in response to therapy, a capability that could be leveraged in preclinical drug development, patient stratification, and treatment monitoring.
Landscapes of Trust: An Investigation of Posthurricane Engagement and Recovery

Background: This project interrogates how nonprofessionals are included or excluded in a professional-led disaster recovery process after Hurricane Michael along Florida's Gulf Coast. Disaster nonp...
Development and application of sensitive, specific, and rapid CRISPR-Cas13-based diagnosis.

Nucleic acid detection is a necessary part of medical treatment and fieldwork. However, the current detection technologies are far from ideal. A lack of timely and accessible testing for identifying cases and close contacts has allowed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative virus of the ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, to spread uncontrollably. The slow and expensive detection of mutations-predictors for chronic diseases such as cancer-form a barrier to personalized treatment. A recently developed diagnostic assay is ideal and field-ready-it relies on CRISPR-Cas13. CRISPR-Cas13 works similarly to other CRISPR systems: Cas13 is guided by a crRNA to cleave next to a specific RNA target sequence. Additionally, Cas13 boasts a unique collateral cleavage activity; collateral cleavage of a fluorescent reporter detects the presence of the target sequence in sample RNA. This system forms the basis of CRISPR-Cas13 diagnostic assays. CRISPR-Cas13 assays have >95% sensitivity and >99% specificity. Detection is rapid (<2 h), inexpensive ($0.05 per test), and portable-a test using lateral flow strips is akin to a pregnancy test. The recent adaptation of micro-well chips facilitates high-level multiplexing and is high-throughput. In this review, we cover the development of CRISPR-Cas13 assays for medical diagnosis, discuss the advantages of CRISPR-Cas13-based diagnosis over the traditional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and present examples of detection from real patient samples.
Long-term stabilization of DNA at room temperature using a one-step microwave assisted process

Long-term stabilization of DNA is needed for forensic, clinical, in-field operations and numerous other applications. Although freezing (<−20 °C) and dry storage are currently the preferential methods for long-term storage, a noticeable pre-analytical degradation of DNA over time, upfront capital investment and recurring costs have demonstrated a need for an alternative long-term room-temperature preservation method. Herein, we report a novel, fast (~5 min) silica sol–gel preparation method using a standard microwave-initiated polymerization reaction amenable to stabilization of DNA. The method involves use of one chemical, tetramethoxy silane (TMOS) and eliminates the use of alcohol as co-solvent and catalysts such as acids. In addition, the process involves minimal technical expertise, thus making it an ideal choice for resource-challenged countries and in-field applications. The sol–gel is capable to store and stabilize Escherichia coli DNA in ambient conditions for 210 days. DNA recovered from the sol–gel showed no significant nucleolytic and/or oxidative degradation, outperforming conventional storage conditions at −20 °C, and reported state-of-the-art technology.
Non-standard state thermodynamics of metal electrodeposition

Abstract The development of new high temperature electrolytes is hindered by lack of information about their thermodynamic solution properties, which must be determined through experiments or modeling. Current models, however, are unable to accurately predict the behavior of the complex multicomponent liquids that make up such electrolytes, and gathering sufficient experimental data for a full analysis is lengthy and expensive. Even if the properties of an electrolyte are well-determined, the link between their thermodynamics and the extent of codeposition that will occur during electrolysis remains unclear. Previous endeavors aimed at linking the difference in deposition potential Δ E of two elements to their codeposition behavior focused on binary cathode alloys that formed ideal solutions. Herein, this approach is generalized to multicomponent cathodes exhibiting real solution ( a i ≠ x i ) behavior. Through this methodology, targeted experimental data and classical Gibbs energy curves can be used in combination to map out the thermodynamic nature of complex electrolytes. To facilitate this effort, a new thermodynamic reference state for activity is derived that allows one to determine electrolyte activities directly from Δ E . The merits of this approach are tested against experimental case studies and compared to traditional standard state assumptions.
Indomethacin Treatment Post-irradiation Improves Mouse Parotid Salivary Gland Function via Modulation of Prostaglandin E2 Signaling

Annually, >600,000 new cases of head and neck cancer (HNC) are diagnosed worldwide with primary treatment being surgery and radiotherapy. During ionizing radiation (IR) treatment of HNC, healthy salivary glands are collaterally damaged, leading to loss of function that severely diminishes the quality of life for patients due to increased health complications, including oral infections and sores, cavities, and malnutrition, among others. Therapies for salivary hypofunction are ineffective and largely palliative, indicating a need for further research to uncover effective approaches to prevent or restore loss of salivary gland function following radiotherapy. Previous work in our lab implicated prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as an inflammatory mediator whose release from radiation-exposed cells promotes salivary gland damage and loss of function. Deletion of the P2X7 purinergic receptor for extracellular ATP reduces PGE2 secretion in irradiated primary parotid gland cells, and salivary gland function is enhanced in irradiated P2X7R-/- mice compared to wild-type mice. However, the role of PGE2 signaling in irradiated salivary glands is unclear and understanding the mechanism of PGE2 action is a goal of this study. Results show that treatment of irradiated mice with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) indomethacin, which reduces PGE2 production via inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), improves salivary gland function compared to irradiated vehicle-treated mice. To define the signaling pathway whereby PGE2 induces salivary gland dysfunction, primary parotid gland cells treated with PGE2 have increased c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) activation and cell proliferation and reduced amylase levels and store-operated calcium entry (SOCE). The in vivo effects of blocking PGE2 production were also examined and irradiated mice receiving indomethacin injections have reduced JNK activity at 8 days post-irradiation and reduced proliferation and increased amylase levels at day 30, as compared to irradiated mice without indomethacin. Combined, these data suggest a mechanism whereby irradiation-induced PGE2 signaling to JNK blocks critical steps in saliva secretion manifested by a decrease in the quality (diminished amylase) and quantity (loss of calcium channel activity) of saliva, that can be restored with indomethacin. These findings encourage further attempts evaluating indomethacin as a viable therapeutic option to prevent damage to salivary glands caused by irradiation of HNC in humans.
Obama and Civil Rights Policy

This paper examines the Obama Presidency’s civil rights’ accomplishments. The paper will assess explicit policy areas of civil rights including voting rights, education, housing, employment and criminal justice. Second, appointments in the areas of civil rights agencies will be evaluated. For purposes of this project, Civil Rights are defined as policy areas of race, gender, sexuality and immigration.In addition to a policy approach, the policy areas are addressed institutionally, across a number of federal agencies, independent commissions, as well as the federal courts. Institutional appointments in the Civil Rights units in a number of agencies including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will also be evaluated. Who did the President appoint in the administrative agencies, independent commissions and the federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, which have responsibility for adjudicating civil rights cases. Admittedly, this is an ambitious agenda and how much can actually be accomplished, will have to be considered in the next months. If necessary the paper’s goals may have to be narrowed considerably.
Recent advances in hemodynamics: noncoronary applications of a pressure sensor angioplasty guidewire.

The use of the pressure sensor coronary guidewire is expanding into the peripheral circulation as well as into the realm of valvular heart disease. Small mechanistic studies and case reports have described the use of pressure wire technology in the renal and femoral arteries as well as in mechanical aortic valves. The use of this technology to measure hemodynamically significant stenoses in noncoronary locations will be discussed and a review of basic and more advanced hemodynamics in relation to problems encountered in clinical practice will be provided. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A web-based infrastructure for recording user demonstrations of mobile manipulation tasks

Learning from demonstration (LfD) is a common technique applied to many problems in robotics, such as populating grasp databases, training for reinforcement learning of high-level skill sets and bootstrapping motion planners. While such approaches are generally highly valued, they rely on the often time-consuming process of gathering user demonstrations, and hence it becomes difficult to attain a sizeable dataset. In this paper, we present a tool capable of recording large numbers of high-dimensional demonstrations of mobile manipulation tasks provided by non-experts in the field. Our tool accomplishes this via a web interface that requires no additional software to be installed beyond a web browser, as well as a scalable architecture that is capable of supporting 10 concurrent demonstrators on a single server. Our architecture employs a lightweight simulation environment to reduce unnecessary computations and improve performance. Furthermore, we show how our tool can be used to gather a large set of demonstrations of a mobile manipulation task by leveraging existing crowdsource platforms. The data set collected has been made available to the robotics community. We also present experiments in which we apply demonstrations collected through our infrastructure to teach a robot how to grasp, to teach a robot how to perform dexterous manipulation tasks such as scooping and to accelerate motion planning for full-body manipulation tasks.
CaO insulator and Be intermetallic coatings on V-base alloys for liquid-lithium fusion blanket applications

The objective of this study is to develop (a) stable CaO insulator coatings at the liquid-Li/structural-material interface, with emphasis on electrically insulating coatings that prevent adverse MHD-generated currents from passing through the V-alloy wall, and (b) stable Be-V intermetallic coatings for first-wall components that face the plasma. Electrically insulating and corrosion-resistant coatings are required at the liquid-Li/structural interface in fusion first-wall/blanket applications. The electrical resistance of CaO coatings produced on oxygen-enriched surface layers of V-5%Cr-5%Ti by exposing the alloy to liquid Li that contained 0.5-85 wt.% dissolved Ca was measured as a function of time at temperatures between 250 and 600/spl deg/C. Crack-free Be/sub 2/V intermetallic coatings were also produced by exposing V-alloys to liquid Li containing Be as a solute. These techniques can be applied to various shapes (e.g., inside/outside of tubes, complex geometrical shapes) because the coatings are formed by liquid-phase reactions.
A fully-integrated self-tuned transformer based step-up converter

In this paper a fully integrated inductive Step-Up converter is presented. This converter is based on a self-tuned sinusoidal oscillator using two integrated transformers. The circuit converts a 1.8 V voltage supply to 10 V output voltage at 500 /spl mu/A output current. The Step-Up converter is fabricated using the ST 0.18 /spl mu/m M8 CMOS process. The overall core area is 300 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 423 /spl mu/m.
Purveyor Organizations and the Implementation of Employee Assistance Programs

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have diffused rapidly, but few studies have examined the processes of this diffusion, and most of these have focused on the characteristics of the organizations adopting EAPs. This article addresses the “purveyor organizations ” that market EAPs to others. The authors hypothesized that the greater the purveyor organization's integration of and managerial control over its subunit for EAP service delivery, the more supportive relationships the purveyor organization has with treatment organizations within its community, and that the higher its level of sociopolitical acceptability, the more successful it will be in encouraging organizations adopting EAPs to implement them fully. Using survey data from 724 occupational program consultants from purveyor organizations, the authors conducted a multivariate analysis. Their findings support the hypotheses that these features of purveyor organizations affect the extent to which EAPs are implemented, with managerial control over t...
Using Environmental Externalities to Regulate the Risk of Harm From Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The idea that environmental damage from industrialization is external to the economic market for industrial products has become of increasingly practical importance as the result of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention seeks: […] stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally, ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.1
Treatment of nicotine dependence

Drug and nondrug interventions used in treating nicotine dependence are reviewed. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Risks of smoking-related disease and death decline sharply when smokers quit, but 26% of Americans continue to smoke. Most smokers find it extremely difficult to quit smoking because of their nicotine addiction. Nonpharmacologic interventions used to promote smoking cessation include behavioral therapy, setting a specific date for quitting, receiving advice to quit from a health care professional, follow-up visits to review progress, self-help approaches, group counseling, filtration devices, hypnosis, and acupuncture. The efficacy of these approaches ranges from substantial to almost nil. The only pharmacologic agent with FDA-approved labeling for use in smoking-cessation therapy is nicotine. When used in conjunction with appropriate nonpharmacologic interventions, nicotine-replacement therapy roughly doubles the rate of quitting obtained with placebo. Nicotine-replacement therapies consist of nicotine transdermal (patch) systems and nicotine chewing gum. The nicotine patch is the first-line replacement therapy because it is effective when accompanied by only minimal (as opposed to more intensive) nonpharmacologic interventions and because it is easier to use and comply with than gum. Clonidine, antidepressants, and buspirone require further study to determine what role, if any, they should play in the treatment of nicotine dependence. The stages of smoking cessation are precontemplation, contemplation, action, and maintenance; interventions are selected on the basis of the stage the smoker is in. Nicotine dependence is difficult to treat, but there are aids that boost a smoker's chances of quitting. Nicotine patches and chewing gum offer the most effective pharmacologic options, especially when combined with behavioral interventions and counseling.
Chapter 2 Raman and Resonance Raman Spectroscopy

Publisher Summary In the biochemical context Raman spectroscopy is used principally to monitor thevibrational motions of atoms within a molecule. Since the vibrational spectrum is sensitive to the molecule's conformation and environment the Raman spectrum is used to probe the detailed chemistry of the biochemical molecule under study. The physical origin of Raman scattering lies in inelastic collisions between the molecules composing the liquid and photons which are the particles of light making up the light beam. An inelastic collision means that there is an exchange of energy between the photon and the molecule with a consequent change in energy, and hence wavelength, of the photon. Moreover, since total energy is conserved during the scattering process the energy gained or lost by the photon must equal an energy change within the molecule. It follows that by measuring the energy gained or lost by the photon one can probe changes in molecular energy. The changes in the molecule's energy are called transitions between molecular energy levels. As already mentioned, in biochemical studies Raman spectroscopy is concerned primarily with the molecule's vibrational energy level transitions although the resonance Raman effect also provides detailed information on electronic energy levels.
Comprehensive mutation profiling by next-generation sequencing of effusion fluids from patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Mutation analysis for personalized treatment has become increasingly important in the management of different types of cancer. The advent of new DNA extraction protocols and sequencing platforms with reduced DNA input requirements might allow the use of cytology specimens for high-throughput mutation analysis. In this study, the authors evaluated the use of effusion fluid for next-generation sequencing-based, multigene mutation profiling. METHODS Four specimens from each of 5 patients who had at least stage III, high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma were selected: effusion fluid; frozen tumor; formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tumor; and matched normal blood. Frozen tumors from each patient were previously characterized by The Cancer Genomic Atlas (TCGA). DNA was extracted from all specimens and was sequenced using a custom hybridization capture-based assay. Genomic alterations were compared among all specimens from each patient as well as with mutations reported in TCGA for the same tumors. RESULTS In total, 17 distinct somatic mutations were identified in the cohort. Ten of 17 mutations were reported in TCGA and were called in all 3 malignant specimens procured from the patients. Of the remaining 7 mutations, 2 were called in all 3 specimens, and the other 5 were sample-specific. Two mutations were detected only in the cytology specimens. Copy number profiles were concordant among the tumors analyzed. CONCLUSIONS Cytology specimens represent suitable material for high-throughput sequencing, because all mutations described by TCGA were independently identified in the effusion fluid. Differences in mutations detected in samples procured from the same patient may reflect tumor heterogeneity. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2015;123:289–97. © 2015 American Cancer Society.
More Evidence Confirming the Safety of General Anesthesia in Pediatric Dermatologic Surgery

Outpatient surgical procedures performed in medicine have been increasing, as has the use of general anesthesia. Children are more likely to require general anesthesia for procedures because of developmental constraints limiting their cooperation. Dermatology procedures are typically painful and can require time to perform and thus necessitating the use of general anesthesia. Studies evaluating safety and complication rates associated with the use of general anesthesia in children are needed to determine the safety of this practice. The purpose of this investigation was to assess whether the use of general anesthesia to perform pediatric dermatology surgical procedures was associated with any significant adverse events. A retrospective chart review was conducted for eligible patients with a procedure code in the range of 10,040-19,499 for a period of 2 years. Records were reviewed for documentation of any unplanned visits, events or complications. A total of 681 procedures were reported for 226 unique patients with 235 diagnoses. No anesthesia-related adverse events were identified in any of these patients. Eleven patients had documentation of minor complications of the wound. General anesthesia can be used safely in pediatric dermatology surgery patients without associated complications in the appropriate setting, indication, and patient population, using state-of-art technology and equipment, and experienced pediatric-trained anesthesiologists.
Oral adverse events in cancer patients treated with VEGFR-directed multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Summary Objectives This study characterized the incidence and clinical features of oral adverse events among cancer patients who received VEGFR-directed multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VR-TKI) therapies. Methods Electronic medical records of adult cancer patients treated with sunitinib, sorafenib, regorafenib, pazopanib, cabozantinib, imatinib, and bevacizumab therapy at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 2009 to 2012 were reviewed. Data collected included patient characteristics, oral and non-oral adverse events, and time to onset. Time oral adverse event-free was the primary outcome. Results A total of 747 patients with 806 individual courses of therapy were treated for a median of 3.9 months with sunitinib (n = 161), sorafenib (n = 172), regorafenib (n = 15), pazopanib (n = 132), cabozantinib (n = 23), imatinib (n = 144), or bevacizumab (n = 159) for lung cancer (21%), gastrointestinal stromal tumor (15%), and metastatic renal cell carcinoma (13%). An oral adverse event was reported in 23.7% of patients at a median of 1.9 months after starting therapy. The most commonly reported oral adverse event was oral mucosal sensitivity (dysesthesia), occurring in 12% of patients, typically without clinical findings. Multivariate models showed patients who received VR-TKI therapy were at greater risk of any oral adverse event compared with patients treated with imatinib or bevacizumab. Patients receiving VR-TKI therapy who developed an oral adverse event were also at increased risk for hand-foot skin reaction (15.9%). Conclusions VR-TKI associated oral adverse events are characterized primarily by dysesthesia with lack of clinical signs. Oral dysesthesia is more commonly associated with VR-TKIs than with bevacizumab or imatinib. Management is largely empirical and requires further investigation.
Generic incident model for use in large-scale evacuation simulations

Incidents and accidents can have a negative impact on the travel-time of road travelers; this impact is especially important during an evacuation. Many factors influence the rate and impact of incidents on a road facility (e.g., rainy conditions, driver behavior, pot-holes in the road); this has caused many transportation models to steer clear of generic incidents models. However, evacuation models do not require the high-fidelity that many other transportation models require. This paper introduces a new generic incident/accidents model that determines incident probabilities based on the modeled Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and determines the effects of the incident in terms of lane closes and road capacity reductions. It was implemented in the Real-time Evacuation Planning Model (RtePM) which is a tool used to help emergency planners determine the evacuation time required to clear user-defined regions in the USA.
STARNET: An Integrated Services Broadband Optical Network with Physical Star Topology

We propose a new broadband local area network, STARNET, based on a physical passive star topology. STARNET implements both a packet network and a high-speed WDM circuit interconnect, which are simultaneously available to every node of the network and operate independently. As a result, STARNET supports very diverse types of traffic in an optimal way. Each node requires only two lasers and its structure permits to effectively achieve frequency stabilization for the whole network. An effort toward an experimental demonstration of a 4-node, 3 Gbit/s per node, FDDI-compatible (at the packet network level) STARNET is currently in progress at Optical Communication Research Laboratory, Stanford University.
Adaptive strategies for the prevention of demoralization in prolonged bicultural conflict and interaction

The objectives of this research are to present certain adaptive strategies used by the members of a society when exposed to conflict and interaction with a different culture for decades or centuries and to demonstrate that the use of these strategies minimizes or prevents sociocultural disintegration and the resulting demoralization. The setting of the study is the Christianization and ‘westernization’ that took place from 1510 till around 1773 in three districts of Goa, a former Portuguese state on the western coast of India. Information on the history of Portuguese India was studied in the archives and libraries in Goa, the United States, Portugal and other European countries. Five adaptive strategies were used by Hindus who converted to Christianity, by Hindus who refused to convert and by Europeans, including Catholic missionaries, who were in charge of the conversions. They are called transformational mapping, privatization, individuation, cohesiveness and pragmatism. Examples of each strategy are gi...
The Relation Between Parental Racial Socialization and African Americans’ Racial Ideologies

Racial ideology shapes how African Americans interpret the world and cope with race-related issues and events. A complex interaction of individual, family, and group experiences in one’s sociocultu...
Commuting and Energy Consumption: Toward an Equitable Transportation Policy

Abstract Like other major metropolitan areas, the urban complex that extends from Los Angeles to Orange County faces numerous transportation challenges. Daily traffic congestion, reduced productivity and loss of income, air pollution, environmental degradation and significant energy consumption are only a few outcomes of the millions of miles travelled every day on the region’s highways and streets. An important response to this significant urban challenge has been the desire for further expansion of an efficient public transportation network and increasing densities in particular areas within the larger metropolitan region. In this paper, we estimate the current energy consumption patterns in various communities, arguing that policy attempts to achieve higher density and better jobs-housing balance should fully consider the social geography of our metropolitan areas and their close relationship with energy consumption patterns.
Removal of impurities from transcription factor preparations that alter their DNA‐binding properties

Biochemical studies of transcriptional activators are important for understanding their detailed mechanism of action. Such experiments generally employ chimeric constructs comprised of fused DNAbinding and activation domains that are expressed in, and purified from, Escherichia coli, since full-length activators are usually difficult to express. We report here that such preparations contain chaperone impurities that affect the DNA-binding properties of the activator, for example sharply reducing the halflife of the protein‐DNA complex. A simple method to remove these troublesome contaminants is described.
Acid suppression therapy may not alter malignant progression in Barrett's metaplasia showing p53 protein accumulation

Abstract OBJECTIVES: Several previous studies have shown that malignant progression in Barrett’s metaplasia (BM) occurs even in patients treated with fundoplication or acid suppression therapy (AST). The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that AST may not alter malignant progression in BM if key genes involved in DNA repair and cell cycle control, particularly p53, are defective. METHODS: Initial and follow-up biopsies from 21 patients with BM treated with AST and observed for 1–13 yr were entered in the study. All biopsies were graded for dysplasia and evaluated for p53 protein accumulation and oxidative DNA damage by immunohiostochemistry, using antibodies to p53 and to 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, respectively. DNA ploidy was determined using image analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier curves, log rank test, and multivariate regression. RESULTS: Patients with p53 positive initial biopsies were more likely to have progression in dysplasia grade (p = 0.022) and DNA ploidy status (p = 0.023) than those with p53 negative biopsies. In eight patients AST resulted in significant reduction in oxidative DNA damage in the five patients with p53-negative initial biopsies, but not the three with p53 positive ones (p = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that failure of AST to alter malignant progression in BM may be due, at least in part, to defects in DNA repair and cell cycle control resulting from p53 gene mutation, present before AST treatment. Although AST may be effective in preventing further DNA damage, it is unlikely to alter progression in genetically unstable cells.
Meniscal subluxation: association with osteoarthritis and joint space narrowing

Abstract Objective Since complete meniscectomy leads to knee OA, we investigated the potential links among meniscal subluxation, joint space narrowing and symptomatic OA. Materials and methods 233 cases with symptomatic knee OA and 58 asymptomatic controls underwent radiography and MR imaging of the knee. Joint space narrowing was measured on weight-bearing PA fluoroscopy-positioned radiographs. The amount of medial or lateral meniscal subluxation was measured on coronal MR images. The prevalence and severity of meniscal subluxation was compared in cases and controls. We evaluated the correlation of the degree of meniscal subluxation with joint space narrowing, Kellgren and Lawrence grade, and two major risk factors for the development of OA, age and weight. Results Cases had more medial and lateral subluxation than controls. Mean medial meniscal subluxation was 5.1mm in cases and 2.8mm in controls ( P =0.001). Modest degrees of meniscal subluxation were common in both cases and controls: 81% of cases and 64% of controls had ≥3mm of subluxation; age and gender adjusted ( P =0.006). Severe degrees of subluxation were almost unique to OA cases (e.g. prevalence of ≥7mm, 35% cases vs. 7% controls, P 0.001). Among controls, severe degrees of subluxation were present only in those with radiographic joint space narrowing (defined as ≥grade 1 narrowing on a 0–3 scale). In cases, there was a strong correlation between the degree of medial meniscal subluxation and the severity of medial joint space narrowing (r=0.56, P =0.0001). Similar results were present in the lateral compartment. Meniscal subluxation did not correlate with age or weight. Conclusion Meniscal subluxation is highly associated with symptomatic knee OA. In subjects with osteoarthritis, increasing meniscal subluxation on MR correlates with the severity of joint space narrowing.
A process evaluation of the implementation of a computer-based, health provider-delivered HIV-prevention intervention for HIV-positive men who have sex with men in the primary care setting

There is increasing interest in using healthcare providers to deliver HIV-prevention services to their patients. Unfortunately, lack of counselling skills and time constraints within busy clinics serve as barriers to such efforts. The Providers Advocating for Sexual Health Initiative (PASHIN) study used state-of-the-art computer technology to assess each participant's risk behaviours and to determine the patient's readiness for changing each behaviour. The computer synthesized the participant-entered data, determined the targeted risk behaviour and printed a behavioural theory-based provider advice sheet and a 3-point patient prescription for the targeted risk behaviour. Since the intervention does not require providers to spend time performing a detailed sexual-risk assessment and it does not require providers to have received extensive counselling training, it has the potential to minimize some of the barriers associated with provider-delivered interventions. Thus, the purpose of this process evaluation was to assess how the PASHIN intervention was implemented in the field, including issues such as the fidelity of implementation and health providers' views on and experience with implementing the intervention. Overall, the results demonstrated that the computer-based, provider-delivered intervention was successfully delivered by providers within the context of regularly scheduled treatment sessions with HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) patients. The majority of providers (79.4%) and patients (83.5%) reported that the quality of HIV-prevention services delivered during these sessions was 'good'. The majority of the providers also reported that they had received adequate training, felt more confident in communicating HIV-prevention issues with their patients and provided more HIV-prevention counselling to their patients, due to the project. However, the experience of delivering HIV-prevention counselling during an 18-month period did not appear to change providers' attitudes toward a provider-delivered HIV-prevention intervention nor their belief in the effectiveness of HIV prevention in general. Future studies should focus on how to enhance providers' acceptance and commitment to delivering HIV-prevention counselling to their patients during the clinic visit.
k-Primitivity of digraphs

Abstract Let D be a directed graph (digraph) on n vertices. The digraph D is said to be primitive if for some m , between any ordered pair of vertices of D there is a directed walk of length m from the first vertex to the other. Here our focus is a generalization of primitivity, called k -primitivity, where k -arc-colorings of digraphs are considered. Let k max ( n ) be the maximum k for which there exists a k -coloring of some strong n -tournament that is k -primitive. We show that ( n − 1 2 ) ⩽ k max ( n ) ( n 2 ) − ⌈ n 4 ⌉ .
Pondering Packing Peanut Polymers

Both polystyrene and cornstarch are made of polymers, which are long-chain molecules that have a basic repeating unit. Some polymers are polar (such as cornstarch), while others are nonpolar (such ...