cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters as New Model Catalysts

Many industrial catalysts involve nanoscale metal particles (typically 1–100 nm), and understanding their behavior at the molecular level is a major goal in heterogeneous catalyst research. However, conventional nanocatalysts have a nonuniform particle size distribution, while catalytic activity of nanoparticles is size dependent. This makes it difficult to relate the observed catalytic performance, which represents the average of all particle sizes, to the structure and intrinsic properties of individual catalyst particles. To overcome this obstacle, catalysts with well-defined particle size are highly desirable.In recent years, researchers have made remarkable advances in solution-phase synthesis of atomically precise nanoclusters, notably thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters. Such nanoclusters are composed of a precise number of metal atoms (n) and of ligands (m), denoted as Aun(SR)m, with n ranging up to a few hundred atoms (equivalent size up to 2–3 nm). These protected nanoclusters are well-defined ...
Abstract 1270: Elevated levels of poly(ADP-ribose) lead to novel apoptotic signaling and the induction of caspase-independent cell death

The metabolism of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) is activated by DNA damage, where PAR polymerase-1 (PARP-1) transfers ADP-ribose onto nuclear proteins to form PAR and PAR glycohydrolase (PARG) catalyzes its degradation. Previous findings show that high levels of PAR lead to its presence in the cytoplasm, where it signals the release of the proapoptotic protein, apoptosis inducing factor (AIF). Our studies suggest that inhibiting PAR glycohydrolase (PARG), and thus promoting increased levels of PAR, will increase the efficacy of anti-cancer agents by promoting this alternative cell death pathway mediated by AIF. The objective of this study is to elucidate the pathway of cytoplasm PAR cell death signaling in cancer cells. We utilized MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells to reveal the ability of AIF to induce cancer cell death following caspase inhibition. In addition, PARG null embryonic trophoblast stem cells were utilized to determine the cytoplasmic PAR signaling pattern and to purify the PAR-modified nuclear proteins released in the cytoplasm. FACS analysis demonstrated equivalent levels of cell death with or without caspases and Western blot revealed a robust release of AIF from the mitochondria following DNA damage. Following low-dose DNA-damaging agent treatment in PARG null cells, cytoplasmic PAR was detected concurrently with AIF translocation to the nucleus, as shown by Western blot and confocal immunofluorescence. In PARG null cells in the absence of stress, cytoplasmic PAR levels were maximal after 3 days as shown by cell fractionations and Western blot. The cytoplasmic fraction containing PAR was then purified using dihydroxyboronyl Bio-Rex affinity chromatography. The purified PAR-modified proteins were treated with phosphodiesterase to remove all PAR and SDS-PAGE analysis demonstrated several proteins ranging from 20-50 kDa, which together serve as the cytoplasmic signal that causes AIF release from the mitochondria. These proteins potentially reveal novel nuclear-to-mitochondrial cell signaling ligands that are necessary for the induction of the AIF pathway of caspase-independent cell death. Taken together, the results demonstrate the importance of AIF in cancer cell death and novel insight into the cell death signaling by PAR that produces AIF-mediated cell death. Therefore, ability to increase PAR levels by inhibiting PARG is potentially a unique method to induce the death of cancer cells by an alternative cell death pathway. This research was supported by funding from the American Cancer Society and the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1270.
Near Infrared Imaging Using US Localization To Assess Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

Background: Pilot data obtained from a novel ultrasound (US)-guided diffusive-wave optical tomography in the near infrared (NIR) spectrum showed that it is feasible to use this technique to monitor vascular changes within breast tumors during neoadjuvant chemotherapy. These changes correlated well to tumor pathologic response. The earlier study was performed at a single hospital with a smaller patient pool and the tumor vascular assessment was made at a period of two treatment cycles. The objectives of this study are: (i) to validate the initial findings with a larger patient pool, and (ii) to assess vascular changes at every treatment cycle and to correlate early vascular changes with the tumor pathological response.Materials and Methods: 13 patients who underwent neoadjuvant treatment were recruited from two hospitals from December 2007 to May 2009 and their tumor vascular content was assessed with a combined imager consisting of a commercially available US system coupled to a NIR imager (NIR/US). Patients were imaged before their treatment, at the end of every treatment cycle and before their definitive surgery. The co-registered US was used to localize the tumor and to guide the NIR imaging reconstruction, and the NIR imager was used to map the tumor vascular distribution which was assessed based on a percentage total hemoglobin (%tHb) concentration normalized to the pre-treatment level. Of the 13 patients, 12 patients had contrast enhanced MRI before treatment and prior to surgery. The NIR results were compared with MRI findings. At treatment completion, pathological assessment revealed three response groups: complete or near-complete responders (A), partial responders (B), and non-responders (C).Results: There were four complete or near-complete responders, five partial responders, and four non-responders. The mean %tHbs of groups of A, B and C at the treatment completion were 38%±7.0%, 57.3%±5.7%, and 91.0%±10.1%, respectively (differences statistically significant, p Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 5016.
Cognitive Benefits of Online Social Networking for Healthy Older Adults

Objectives Research suggests that older adults who remain socially active and cognitively engaged have better cognitive function than those who are isolated and disengaged. This study examined the efficacy of learning and using an online social networking website, Facebook.com, as an intervention to maintain or enhance cognitive function in older adults. Method Forty-one older adults were assigned to learn and use Facebook (n = 14) or an online diary website (active control, n = 13) for 8 weeks or placed on a waitlist (n = 14). Outcome measures included neuropsychological tests of executive functions, memory, and processing speed and self-report questionnaires about social engagement. Results The Facebook group showed a significant increase in a composite measure of updating, an executive function factor associated with complex working memory tasks, compared to no significant change in the control groups. Other measures of cognitive function and social support showed no differential improvement in the Facebook group. Discussion Learning and using an online social networking site may provide specific benefits for complex working memory in a group of healthy older adults. This may reflect the particular cognitive demands associated with online social networking and/or the benefits of social engagement more generally.
Leptin Stimulates Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone Release From Cultured Intact Hemihypothalami and Enzymatically Dispersed Neurons

Leptin is a peptide released by adipocytes that has profound effects on central regulation of body metabolism. The present study represents an investigation into leptin effects on hypothalamic control of reproductive function, specifically on GnRH release. Adult male rats (gonadectomized or sham-operated) were used as donors of hypothalamic tissue that was used as intact hemihypothalami or as enzymatically dispersed hemihypothalami in a perifusion culture system. Continuous samples were collected at 10-min intervals for 8 to 10 hr and were assayed to measure temporal changes in GnRH release in response to various doses of leptin infused into the perifusion chambers. Leptin at the highest dose (10–8 M) resulted in consistent and significant stimulation of GnRH release. There were no effects of treatment for surgical preparation (gonadectomy versus sham) or tissue preparation (intact versus dispersed hemihypothalami). The results of this study support the hypothesis that leptin plays a direct stimulatory ro...
Immune‐Related Adverse Events From Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Immunotherapy for cancer treatment has come of age, specifically with the use of immune checkpoint antibodies directed against molecules such as CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1. Single-agent and combinatorial approaches utilizing these agents and other immunotherapies that may enhance antitumor effects are under investigation. With increasing clinical use of these agents, an appreciation for their toxicities comes to the fore. Adverse events that occur as a result of the immunologic effects of these therapies are termed "immune-related adverse events" (irAEs), and range in both frequency and severity in reported single-agent and combination studies. Improvements in our understanding of how and why irAEs develop and how to effectively manage them are needed. Herein we provide a state-of-the-art synopsis of the incidence, clinical features, mechanisms, and management of selected irAEs with immune checkpoint inhibitors currently in use.
Brain natriuretic peptide and Tei-index for assessing preoperative left heart function in infants with congenital heart diseases

Objectives To evaluate systolic and diastolic function of heart in infants with congenital heart diseases (CHD) by brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in serum and Tei-index of left ventricle before operation.Methods Experiment group included 60 infants with CHD.Control group included 20 infants with pediatric surgery disease.Serum concentration of BNP was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Tei-index and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) were examined by Doppler echocardiography.Results Concentrations of serum BNP and Tei-index of left ventricle gradually increased while LVEF gradually decreased in cardiac functional grading 0,Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ group.Analysis of variance indicated that there were statistical significances among the groups (P0.05).Linear correlation analysis indicated that concentrations of serum BNP positively correlated with Tei-index of left ventricle and cardiac functional grading (r1=0.73,P0.01;r2=0.62,P0.01),negatively correlated with LVEF (r3=-0.48,P0.01);Teiindex of left ventricle positively correlated with cardiac functional grading (r4=0.57,P0.01),negatively correlated with LVEF(r5=-0.52,P0.01);LVEF negatively correlated with cardiac functional grading (r=-0.56,P0.01).The serum BNP and Tei-index were significantly increased with the severity of heart function.Serum BNP and Tei-index positively correlated with heart function and had a negative correlation with LVEF.Conclusions Concentration of serum BNP and Tei-index can quickly and accurately evaluate heart function of infants with CHD before operation.
Multiple Restriction Sites Per la Molecule Recognized by T Cell Clones

Previous studies have strongly suggested that la molecules are stimulatory determinants recognized in mixed lymphocyte reactions and in some manner restrict the recognition of normal antigens by antigen recognizing T cells. Studies from our laboratory have demonstrated the existence of “hybrid” la molecules formed by the combinatorial association of alpha (α) and beta (β) chains. Such products can be recognized by Fl restricted T cell clones. Utilizing two monoclonal anti-I-Ak antibodies, we have been able to subdivide (C57B6/J x A/J) Fl restricted T cell clones into two groups: one of which recognizes the Aα kAβ k molecule, and the other group which recognizes the Aα kAβ k molecule (1). Using a large panel of monoclonal anti-I-Ak antibodies, it has been possible to extend these studies. We suggest that there exists more than one restriction site per la molecule based on differential monoclonal antibody blocking studies using several Fl restricted T cell clones.
Psychosocial Clusters and their Associations with Well-Being and Health: An Empirical Strategy for Identifying Psychosocial Predictors Most Relevant to Racially/Ethnically Diverse Women's Health.

Background: Strategies for identifying the most relevant psychosocial predictors in studies of racial/ethnic minority women’s health are limited because they largely exclude cultural influences and they assume that psychosocial predictors are independent. This paper proposes and tests an empirical solution. Methods: Hierarchical cluster analysis, conducted with data from 140,652 Women’s Health Initiative participants, identified clusters among individual psychosocial predictors. Multivariable analyses tested associations between clusters and health outcomes. Results: A Social Cluster and a Stress Cluster were identified. The Social Cluster was positively associated with well-being and inversely associated with chronic disease index, and the Stress Cluster was inversely associated with well-being and positively associated with chronic disease index. As hypothesized, the magnitude of association between clusters and outcomes differed by race/ethnicity. Conclusions: By identifying psychosocial clusters and their associations with health, we have taken an important step toward understanding how individual psychosocial predictors interrelate and how empirically formed Stress and Social clusters relate to health outcomes. This study has also demonstrated important insight about differences in associations between these psychosocial clusters and health among racial/ethnic minorities. These differences could signal the best pathways for intervention modification and tailoring.
The Impact of Careless and Random Responding on Juvenile Forensic Assessment: Susceptibility of Commonly Used Measures and Implications for Research and Practice

Forensic assessment experts and practice guidelines strongly endorse appraisal of response styles that can distort psychological assessment results and lead to serious interpretive errors, includin...
Visual Configuration of Mobile Privacy Policies

Mobile applications often require access to private user information, such as the user or device ID, the location or the contact list. Usage of such data varies across different applications. A notable example is advertising. For contextual advertising, some applications release precise data, such as the user's exact address, while other applications release only the user's country. Another dimension is the user. Some users are more privacy demanding than others. Existing solutions for privacy enforcement are neither app- nor user- sensitive, instead performing general tracking of private data into release points like the Internet. The main contribution of this paper is in refining privacy enforcement by letting the user configure privacy preferences through a visual interface that captures the application's screens enriched with privacy-relevant information. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach w.r.t. advertising and analytics, which are the main third-party consumers of private user information. We have implemented our approach for Android as the VisiDroid system. We demonstrate VisiDroid's efficacy via both quantitative and qualitative experiments involving top-popular Google Play apps. Our experiments include objective metrics, such as the average number of configuration actions per app, as well as a user study to validate the usability of VisiDroid.
Managing Retail Budget Allocation between Store Labor and Marketing Activities

The performance of a retail store depends on its ability to attract customer traffic, match labor with incoming traffic, and convert the incoming traffic into sales. Retailers make significant investments in marketing activities (such as advertising) to bring customers into their stores and in-store labor to convert that traffic into sales. Thus, a common trade-off that retail store managers face concerns the allocation of a store's limited budget between advertising and labor to enhance store-level sales. To explore that trade-off, we develop a centralized model to allocate limited store budget between store labor and advertising with the objective of maximizing store sales. We find that a store's inherent potential to drive traffic plays an important role, among other factors, in the relative allocation between advertising and store labor. We also find that as advertising instruments become more effective in bringing traffic to stores, managers should not always capitalize this effectiveness by increasing their existing allocations to advertising. In addition, we discuss a decentralized setting where budget allocation decisions cannot be enforced by a store manager and present a simple mechanism that can achieve the centralized solution. In an extension, we address the budget allocation problem in the presence of marketing efforts to shift store traffic from peak to off peak hours and show that our initial findings are robust. Further, we illustrate how the solution from the budget allocation model can be used to facilitate store level sales force planning/scheduling decisions. Based on the results of our model, we present several insights that can help managers in budget allocation and sales force planning.
A Novel Intracranial Pressure Readout Circuit for Passive Wireless LC Sensor

We present a wide frequency range, low cost, wireless intracranial pressure monitoring system, which includes an implantable passive sensor and an external reader. The passive sensor consists of two spiral coils and transduces the pressure change to a resonant frequency shift. The external portable reader reads out the sensor's resonant frequency over a wide frequency range (35 MHz–2.7 GHz). We propose a novel circuit topology, which tracks the system's impedance and phase change at a high frequency with low-cost components. This circuit is very simple and reliable. A prototype has been developed, and measurement results demonstrate that the device achieves a suitable measurement distance (>2 cm), sufficient sample frequency (>6 Hz), fine resolution, and good measurement accuracy for medical practice. Responsivity of this prototype is 0.92 MHz/mmHg and resolution is 0.028 mmHg. COMSOL specific absorption rate simulation proves that this system is safe. Considerations to improve the device performance have been discussed, which include the size of antenna, the power radiation, the Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) choice, and the signal processing algorithm.
Assessment of PlanIQ Feasibility DVH for head and neck treatment planning.

Introduction Designing a radiation plan that optimally delivers both target coverage and normal tissue sparing is challenging. There are limited tools to determine what is dosimetrically achievable and frequently the experience of the planner/physician is relied upon to make these determinations. PlanIQ software provides a tool that uses target and organ at risk (OAR) geometry to indicate the difficulty of achieving different points for organ dose–volume histograms (DVH). We hypothesized that PlanIQ Feasibility DVH may aid planners in reducing dose to OARs. Methods and materials Clinically delivered head and neck treatments (clinical plan) were re-planned (re-plan) putting high emphasis on maximally sparing the contralateral parotid gland, contralateral submandibular gland, and larynx while maintaining routine clinical dosimetric objectives. The planner was blinded to the results of the clinically delivered plan as well as the Feasibility DVHs from PlanIQ. The re-plan treatments were designed using 3-arc VMAT in Raystation (RaySearch Laboratories, Sweden). The planner was then given the results from the PlanIQ Feasibility DVH analysis and developed an additional plan incorporating this information using 4-arc VMAT (IQ plan). The DVHs across the three treatment plans were compared with what was deemed “impossible” by PlanIQ's Feasibility DVH (Impossible DVH). The impossible DVH (red) is defined as the DVH generated using the minimal dose that any voxel outside the targets must receive given 100% target coverage. Results The re-plans performed blinded to PlanIQ Feasibilty DVH achieved superior sparing of aforementioned OARs compared to the clinically delivered plans and resulted in discrepancies from the impossible DVHs by an average of 200–700 cGy. Using the PlanIQ Feasibility DVH led to additionalOAR sparing compared to both the re-plans and clinical plans and reduced the discrepancies from the impossible DVHs to an average of approximately 100 cGy. The dose reduction from clinical to re-plan and re-plan to IQ plan were significantly different even when taking into account multiple hypothesis testing for both the contralateral parotid and the larynx (P < 0.004 for all comparisons). No significant differences were observed between the three plans for the contralateral parotid when considering multiple hypothesis testing. Conclusions Clinical treatment plans and blinded re-plans were found to suboptimally spare OARs. PlanIQ could aid planners in generating treatment plans that push the limits of OAR sparing while maintaining routine clinical target coverage goals.
Truth and Scientific Change

The paper seeks to answer two new questions about truth and scientific change: (a) What lessons does the phenomenon of scientific change teach us about the nature of truth? (b) What light do recent developments in the theory of truth, incorporating these lessons, throw on problems arising from the prevalence of scientific change, specifically, the problem of pessimistic meta-induction?
Disney in Doha: Arab Girls Negotiate Global and Local Versions of Disney Media

This article explores the ways that Al Jazeera’s Jeem TV —an Arabic channel aimed at preteens in the Middle East and North Africa ( MENA )—increasingly relies on content from Disney to fill its schedule, while also adapting it to better reflect cultural norms and sensitivities in the Arab Gulf. Specifically, the essay examines how Jeem’s rewriting, re-editing and dubbing strategies are transforming the gendered meanings of Disney films and TV shows in both constructive and restrictive ways. While previous scholarship has shed crucial light on young peoples’ negotiations with Disney content (Lemish et al. 1998; Lemish and Reznik 2011; Wasko, Phillips and Meehan 2001), little is known about Middle Eastern Arab girls’ responses to original and censored versions of Disney media—which, in the latter case, are being redesigned for their benefit. Through close analysis of Jeem’s Disney offerings and research with Arab female college students in Doha, my analysis aims to fill this gap. In the process, it highlights Arab girls’ diverse (and sometimes resistant) negotiations with gendered contradictions in Jeem’s output—thus underscoring the challenges faced by children’s television producers in the region as they endeavor to balance local stories (and traditions) with popular global entertainment.
Performance (Off-Design) Cycle Analysis for a Turbofan Engine with Interstage Turbine Burner

This report presents the performance of a steady-state, dual-spool, separate-exhaust turbofan engine, with an interstage turbine burner (ITB) serving as a secondary combustor. The ITB, which is located in the transition duct between the high- and the low-pressure turbines, is a relatively new concept for increasing specific thrust and lowering pollutant emissions in modern jet-engine propulsion. A detailed off-design performance analysis of ITB engines is written in Microsoft(Registered Trademark) Excel (Redmond, Washington) macrocode with Visual Basic Application to calculate engine performances over the entire operating envelope. Several design-point engine cases are pre-selected using a parametric cycle-analysis code developed previously in Microsoft(Registered Trademark) Excel, for off-design analysis. The off-design code calculates engine performances (i.e. thrust and thrust-specific-fuel-consumption) at various flight conditions and throttle settings.
The New Inotropic Agents

In the absence of overwhelming valvular or peripheral vascular abnormalities, loss of functioning myocardium and the sequence of events it provokes is the primary pathophysiologic abnormality which leads to myocardial failure, and ultimately to congestive heart failure [1]. Confronted with an increased hemodynamic load, the remaining myocardium hypertrophies and thereby maintains an adequate level of cardiac performance. However, for reasons which are probably not related to the primary process itself, and are still poorly understood, the hypertrophic myocardium eventually fails, leading to depressed cardiac performance. At that point, the peripheral circulation adjusts to the decreased cardiac output by raising arteriolar resistances in order to maintain systemic arterial pressure, and by redistributing blood flow in order to maintain perfusion of essential organs [2].
Airway thermal volume in humans and its relation to body size

Serikov, Vladimir B., E. Heidi Jerome, Neal W. Fleming, Peter G. Moore, Frederick A. Stawitcke, and Norman C. Staub.Airway thermal volume in humans and its relation to body size.J. Appl. Physiol. 8...
Poeticizing Ecology/Ecologizing Poetry: Reading Elizabeth Bishop’s “Poem” Ecologically

In “Poeticizing Ecology/Ecologizing Poetry: Reading Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘Poem’ Ecologically,” we argue that ecological poetry is a kind of ecopoetry that undergirds “nature poetry” and environmental/activist poetry. Ecological poetry is also best put into conversation with deconstruction. This argument, informed by Timothy Morton’s claim that “deconstruction and ecology should talk to one another,” entails challenging previous arguments about what counts as ecopoetry but also the status of the lyric in general. We synthesize James Longenbach’s position in The Resistance of Poetry with Nick Selby’s argument in “Ecopoetries in America” to examine the relationship between close reading and reading ecologically. Rather than an ethical stance perceived in the content of the poem, to read ecologically requires attention to form and linguistic indeterminacy, not only because deconstruction and ecology are alike, but also because poetry is comprised of language, the usage of which “revels in duplicity and disjunction.” Deconstruction is the best approach to divergent perspectives on nature, or the way a poem offers, in Nick Selby’s view, not a clear purchase or single overarching view, but “a struggle to get nature right.” We contend that to give space to alterity, to allow the otherness not only of nature but also of language itself in its capacity for referentiality is to expand the “marked” space of ecology (in the terms set forth by G. Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form). We support this claim with a reading of Bishop’s “Poem,” which we acknowledge as an atypical choice for what constitutes ecological poetry. A borderline ekphrastic poem, “Poem” allows us to talk not only about the space inherent in nature and language but between text and image, or poem and painting. What we find in our reading of Bishop’s “Poem” is a contingency between the poem and the painting, rather than a classical attempt of one to overpower the other, to speak for the other as the more authoritative sign. We find the uncanny or strange quality of Bishop’s ekphrastic approach to an amateurish painting that she calls “sketch” a way to further substantiate Morton’s claim about the relevance of deconstruction to ecology. Through our reading of the poem we argue that no entity completely coincides with itself because ecological thinking has helped us to see how every entity is shot-through with traces of the other; we ourselves are made up of other lifeforms; life is made up of nonlife. To think ecologically is to think the other within the self (especially including all the nonhuman others), within any entity whatsoever.
Bone Health and Endocrine Care of Boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Data from the MD STARnet.

BACKGROUND Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are at high risk of endocrine and bone health complications resulting from the high glucocorticoid (GC) doses used to treat this condition. There are limited data characterizing the clinical management of these complications. OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of bone health screening, endocrinologist evaluation, and use of endocrine and bone health pharmacotherapy in the clinical care of males with DMD. METHODS A population based cohort study using data from the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance, Tracking, and Research Network (MD STARnet) was conducted. Clinical data was abstracted from the medical records of 683 males with DMD at five surveillance sites across the US. RESULTS A DXA scan had been documented in 24% of cases; the percentage of cases with DXA varied across surveillance sites from 13% to 43%, p < 0.001. History of fracture and greater disease duration were associated with greater odds of having a DXA. Only 4.7% of cases had documentation of an endocrinologist evaluation. The frequency of documented endocrine and bone health pharmacotherapy use included calcium (42.8%), vitamin D (36.6%), bisphosphonates (13.3%), growth hormone (1.9%), testosterone (1.7%), insulin (1.2%), and metformin (0.3%)Conclusions:A low percentage of DMD males had record of DXA scan, endocrinologist evaluation, or treatment with endocrine or bone health pharmacotherapy. Endocrine and bone health care may represent an unmet need in the DMD population.
A dynamical approach to low-cost shortcut to adiabaticity

By introducing a class of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians we propose an approach to low-cost shortcut to adiabaticity. Our approach focuses on dynamical properties of the system and has application in STIRAP, tunable mode filtering.
Happy ears for many years: selected papers from the 2018 Annual Conference of the National Hearing Conservation Association.

As co-editors for this International Journal of Audiology (IJA) special supplement, we are pleased to introduce seven papers covering innovative, impactful research that represent a selected subset...
Classical molecular simulations of complex, industrially-important systems on the intel paragon

Abstract Advances in parallel supercomputing now make possible molecular-based engineering and science calculations that will soon revolutionize many technologies, such as those involving polymers and those involving aqueous electrolytes. We have developed a suite of message-passing codes for classical molecular simulation of these industrially-important systems on the Intel Paragon and summarize some of the results. Nonequilibrium, multiple time step molecular dynamics lets us investigate the rheology of molecular fluids. Chain molecule Monte Carlo simulations in the Gibbs ensemble permit calculation of phase equilibrium of long-chain molecular systems. Complementary equilibrium molecular dynamics yields fundamental insight into the technologically-important problem of liquid-liquid phase separation in polymer blends. Parallel codes for quaternion dynamics using techniques for handling long-range Coulombic forces allow study of ion pairing in supercritical aqueous electrolyte solutions.
Transcriptome analysis of testis reveals the effects of developmental exposure to bisphenol A or 17α-ethinylestradiol in medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can induce abnormalities in organisms via alteration of molecular pathways and subsequent disruption of endocrine functions. Bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are ubiquitous EDCs in the environment. Many aquatic organisms, including fish, are often exposed to varying concentrations of BPA and EE2 throughout their lifespan. Both BPA and EE2 can activate estrogenic signaling pathways and cause adverse effects on reproduction via alteration of pathways associated with steroidogenesis. However, transcriptional pathways that are affected by chronic exposure to these two ubiquitous environmental estrogens during embryonic, larval, and juvenile stages are not clearly understood. In the present study, we examined transcriptional alterations in the testis of medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) chronically exposed to a low concentration of BPA or EE2. Medaka were exposed to BPA (10 μg/L) or EE2 (0.01 μg/L) from 8 h post-fertilization (as embryos) to adulthood 50 days post fertilization (dpf), and transcriptional alterations in the testis were examined by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Transcriptomic profiling revealed 651 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between BPA-exposed and control testes, while 1475 DEGs were found between EE2-exposed and control testes. Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed a significant enrichment of "intracellular receptor signaling pathway", "response to steroid hormone" and "hormone-mediated signaling pathway" in the BPA-induced DEGs, and of "cilium organization", "microtubule-based process" and "organelle assembly" in the EE2-induced DEGs. Pathway analysis showed significant enrichment of "integrin signaling pathway" in both treatment groups, and of "cadherin signaling pathway", "Alzheimer disease-presenilin pathway" in EE2-induced DEGs. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and insertion-deletion (Indel) analysis found no significant differences in mutation rates with either BPA or EE2 treatments. Taken together, global gene expression differences in testes of medaka during early stages of gametogenesis were responsive to chronic BPA and EE2 exposure.
Baseline High Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I Level Below Limit of Quantitation Rules Out Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Emergency Department.

The objective of our study was to determine the utility of a baseline high sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnI) value below the limit of quantitation to rule-out acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with any suspicious symptoms of a cardiac etiology. We enrolled subjects presenting to the ED with symptoms suspicious for AMI. Blood specimens were collected within 1 hour after a triage electrocardiogram. Cardiac troponin I was measured using the Beckman Coulter Access hs-cTnI assay. The diagnosis of AMI was adjudicated by 2 cardiologists using the Third Universal Definition of AMI and Roche Diagnostics Troponin T Generation 5 assay with all available clinical data at 30 days after presentation. A total of 567 subjects had all data required for data analyses. AMI was diagnosed in 46 (8.1%) patients. Two hundred thirty-two (40.9%) individuals had presentation hs-cTnI results <4.0 ng/L. None of the patients with baseline hs-cTnI <4.0 ng/L had an AMI, yielding a negative predictive value of 100.0% and a sensitivity of 100%, and a good prognosis (no AMIs or cardiac-related deaths at 30 days). In this single-center ED study, a baseline presenting novel hs-cTnI value of <4.0 ng/L effectively ruled out AMI in 40.9% of all patients presenting to the ED and having any symptoms suspicious for AMI. Importantly all patients, not only those with chest pain, and those having symptoms for any duration or those with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis were included.
Efficient Graph-Based Active Learning with Probit Likelihood via Gaussian Approximations

Author(s): Miller, Kevin; Li, Hao; Bertozzi, Andrea L | Abstract: We present a novel adaptation of active learning to graph-based semi-supervised learning (SSL) under non-Gaussian Bayesian models. We present an approximation of non-Gaussian distributions to adapt previously Gaussian-based acquisition functions to these more general cases. We develop an efficient rank-one update for applying "look-ahead" based methods as well as model retraining. We also introduce a novel "model change" acquisition function based on these approximations that further expands the available collection of active learning acquisition functions for such methods.
Morphometric Study of the Posterior Fossa: Identification of Practical Parameters for Tailored Selection of Surgical Routes to the Petroclival Region

Introduction The petroclival region is an integral part of the skull base. It can harbor different pathologies and provides access to the petroclival junction and cerebellopontine angle. We present the results of the morphometric analysis of the posterior fossa and a prediction model to enable skull base surgeons to choose an optimal surgical corridor considering patient's bony anatomy. Methods Ninety patients (14 to assess interobserver reliability) with temporal bone computed tomography were selected. Exclusion criteria included patients Results The average age was 49.5 years (55%) for males. The mean clival length and surface areas were 44.2 mm (standard deviation [SD] ± 4.1) and 8.1 cm2 (SD ± 1.3). The mean petrous apex and translabyrinthine corridors volumes were 2.2 cm3 (SD ± 0.6) and 10.1 cm3 (SD ± 3.7). The mean petroclival angle at the internal auditory canal (IAC) was 154.9 degrees (SD ± 9). The clival length correlated positively with clival surface area (rho = 0.6, p Conclusion The petroclival region is complex and with high variability of surgical significance. The use of preoperative measurements of the clival length and petroclival angle as part of surgical planning that could help the surgeon to choose an optimal surgical corridor by overcoming the anatomical variability elements.
Opioid use prior to liver transplant is associated with increased risk of death after transplant.

Abstract Background Opioids are generally discouraged and used sparingly in liver transplant (LT) candidates prior to LT. This study examined the relationship between opioid use at the time of LT and graft and patient survival following transplantation. Methods A retrospective single center cohort study of LT recipients from June 2012 to December 2019 was performed. Primary outcomes were graft and patient survival, analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models; primary predictor was active opioid prescription at LT. Results 751 LT recipients were included; 16% had an opioid prescription at LT. Post-transplant death was significantly greater in opioid users (pvalue Conclusion Opioid use at LT is associated with a markedly increased risk of death following transplant.
DynaTune: Dynamic Tensor Program Optimization in Deep Neural Network Compilation

Recently, the DL compiler, together with Learning to Compile has proven to be a powerful technique for optimizing deep learning models. However, existing methods focus on accelerating the convergence speed of the individual tensor operator rather than the convergence speed of the entire model, which results in long optimization time to obtain a desired latency. In this paper, we present a new method called DynaTune, which provides significantly faster convergence speed to optimize a DNN model. In particular, we consider a Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) model for the tensor program optimization problem. We use UCB to handle the decision-making of time-slot-based optimization, and we devise a Bayesian belief model that allows predicting the potential performance gain of each operator with uncertainty quantification, which guides the optimization process. We evaluate and compare DynaTune with the state-of-the-art DL compiler. The experiment results show that DynaTune is 1.2--2.4 times faster to achieve the same optimization quality for a range of models across different hardware architectures.
Adam Smith’s Advocacy and Support for His Theory of Imprecise Probability Means That It Was Impossible for Him To Be a Utilitarian of Any Type, Benthamite or other: Any and All Types of Utilitarianism Necessarily Require Precise Probability As Advocated by Bentham in Chapter Four of His 1787 the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Adam Smith demonstrated, repeatedly in his The Wealth of Nations in 1776 on, for example, pp.105-113,pp.227-244, pp.419-423,and p.714, his commitment and adherence to his theory of imprecise and inexact probability assessment that completely conflicted with Bentham’s exact, linear and additive approach based on precise probability. In chapter Four of his 1787 The Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham lays out an explicit and detailed account of precise probability. Bentham explains clearly how his Max Utility approach is to be implemented. Bentham’s Max U approach requires, as a necessary condition, the use of precise probabilities (what he calls uncertainties) and precise numerical outcomes that are linear and additive so that aggregate “happiness” (material goods) can be maximized. Of course, this is precisely what Adam Smith rejected in his virtue ethics approach. Smith’s integration of uncertainty into a decision making approach based on imprecise probability has apparently been overlooked by every single historian, economist, philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, political scientist, and decision theorist who has written on Smith in the 20th and 21st centuries. This ignorance is demonstrated in the sterile, ongoing controversy, engaged in by numerous academic writers on Adam Smith, as to whether or not he was a utilitarian, semi-utilitarian, nonutilitarian, or anti-utilitarian. A knowledge of Smith’s imprecise approach to probability immediately leads to the clear cut decision that he must have been either a nonutilitarian or an anti-utilitarian. There is no other possible conclusion once Smith’s imprecise view of probability is acknowledged, highlighted and brought to the attention of readers of The Wealth of Nations.
Ultrasound measurement of transmural fiber orientation and 3D tissue strain in excised myocardium under uniaxial loading

The noninvasive measurement with ultrasound of myofiber orientation and 3D tissue strain through the tissue thickness during the application of uniaxial tension is demonstrated on porcine myocardium. Complex tissue deformation, including rotation of myofiber sheets, during the application of stretch is observed.
Antimicrobial resistance in food-borne pathogens.

This chapter focuses on the occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) phenotypes among selected food-borne bacteria, with emphasis on isolates recovered from foods of animal origin and the potential public health consequences. Once an AMR determinant becomes widely disseminated in different ecosystems, it is difficult to conduct trace studies to identify particular origins. It may be possible, however, to track the spread of resistant organisms after the introduction of a new animal antimicrobial drug. Continuous monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility/ resistance profiles in food-borne pathogens is needed in order to identify important trends that signify a need to amend antimicrobial use practices. Bacterial isolates recovered from ill people are sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, GA, by participating state and local health departments. Enterococci were readily isolated from all retail meats tested, ranging, on average, from 88%of pork chops to 98% of all chicken breasts sampled, which is consistent with other studies from the United States. The enteric habitat of Escherichia coli in animals provides an easy source of contamination for animal-derived meats at slaughter and at points downstream in the food production process. Transmission of resistance genes from normally nonpathogenic species to more virulent organisms within the animal or human intestinal tract may be an important mechanism for acquiring clinically relevant AMR organisms. The evolution and propagation of transmissible plasmids in Salmonella and E. coli carrying resistance to eight or more antimicrobials are particularly worrisome.
ARUBA: A Risk-Utility-Based Algorithm for Data Disclosure

Dealing with sensitive data has been the focus of much of recent research. On one hand data disclosure may incur some risk due to security breaches, but on the other hand data sharing has many advantages. For example, revealing customer transactions at a grocery store may be beneficial when studying purchasing patterns and market demand. However, a potential misuse of the revealed information may be harmful due to privacy violations. In this paper we study the tradeoff between data disclosure and data retention. Specifically, we address the problem of minimizing the risk of data disclosure while maintaining its utility above a certain acceptable threshold. We formulate the problem as a discrete optimization problem and leverage the special monotonicity characteristics for both risk and utility to construct an efficient algorithm to solve it. Such an algorithm determines the optimal transformations that need to be performed on the microdata before it gets released. These optimal transformations take into account both the risk associated with data disclosure and the benefit of it (referred to as utility). Through extensive experimental studies we compare the performance of our proposed algorithm with other date disclosure algorithms in the literature in terms of risk, utility, and time. We show that our proposed framework outperforms other techniques for sensitive data disclosure.
Cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis: potential for improving radiation therapy.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the information available about apoptosis and assesses its potential use to enhance the efficacy of radiation therapy. There are two different avenues through which augmentation of apoptosis might improve cancer therapy. As cancer cells may die by apoptotic processes after exposure to radiation, targeting the apoptotic process might be expected to alter therapeutic success. It is possible to greatly enhance the death of the cancer cells after exposure to therapeutic agents. It is also possible to contemplate therapies that might directly induce apoptosis in tumor cells without the application of toxic agents. The application of various hormonal agents or blockage of autocrine growth factor loops is also included. The chapter discusses the induction of apoptosis in cancer cells by therapeutic agents, especially ionizing radiation, and describes some of the genetic mechanisms known to control that induction and their link to cell proliferation. However, the manipulation of apoptosis or of cellular proliferation checkpoints will affect survival of tumor cells after treatment with toxic agents such as radiation.
Buscando pistas para prevenir la violencia urbana en Colombia: conflictos y agresión entre niños (as) y adolescentes de Bogotá

La mayor parte de la violencia colombiana no tiene relacion directa con el conflicto armado; sin embargo, la violencia interpersonal ha recibido mucho menos atencion academica que la violencia politica. Este articulo resume los resultados de un estudio reciente sobre conflictos entre ninos(as) y adolescentes que viven en condiciones socio–economicas dificiles en Bogota. Por medio de entrevistas a 56 estudiantes (entre 8.0 y 14.2 anos), se recogieron y analizaron 128 historias de conflictos recientes entre amigos(as) o companeros(as). Los resultados indican que el nivel de agresion, y, en especial, de agresion fisica es mucho mas alto que lo encontrado en estudios similares realizados en paises desarrollados. Aunque muchos participantes podian pensar en alternativas pacificas y constructivas para manejar sus conflictos, casi ninguno las utilizo en situaciones reales. Se propone que el papel que juegan los(as) terceros(as), las fuertes emociones durante los conflictos, la falta de entrenamiento y practica, y el querer quedar bien durante la entrevista son posibles explicaciones de esta distancia entre pensamientos y acciones. Se discuten diversas implicaciones de los resultados del estudio para la evaluacion de la convivencia y para el desarrollo de intervenciones efectivas en la prevencion de la violencia por medio de la educacion.
Crystallization process in thin films of GeSbTe

Phase-change (PC) rewritable optical recording uses a focused laser beam to reversibly switch a submicron-sized area of a thin chalcogenide film between its amorphous and crystalline states. Information is generally stored in these media in the form of melt-quenched amorphous marks on a crystalline background.