cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do analog number representations underlie the meanings of young children’s verbal numerals?

Children learn to count, and even learn the cardinal meanings of the first three or four verbal numerals ("one" through "three" or "four"), before they master the numerical significance of counting. If so, it follows that the cardinal meanings of those first few numerals cannot be derived, initially, from their place in the count list and the counting routine. What non-verbal representations, then, support the cardinal meanings of verbal numerals before children have mastered how counting does so? Four experiments addressed the commonly adopted assumption that in the earliest period of learning the meanings of number words, children map verbal numerals to regions of the analog number system (ANS), a system of representation with numerical content that is widely attested in animals and in human infants. Experiment 1 confirmed that children who know what "three" means, but who do not yet know what "four" means, and do not yet know how counting represents number, can be easily taught the meaning of "four," if they are trained to indicate sets of four when they are paired with a series of sets that contrast numerically with four. If children learn "four" by mapping the word to an ANS representation of sets of four, and if such ANS value-to-word mappings underlie the meanings of other known numerals early in development, then analogous teaching should enable young children to establish a ANS value-to-word mapping for between "ten" and sets of 10 as specified by the ANS. Furthermore, the ease of learning should be a function of the ratio of the number of individuals in the comparison set to 10. Three further experiments tested these hypotheses by attempting to teach young Cardinal Principle-knowers the meaning of the word "ten," under the same training conditions "three-"knowers are easily taught the meaning of "four". The children learned which picture in each training pair had "ten." However, test trials with novel animals and spatial configurations showed that they had failed to learn what set sizes should be labeled "ten", even when, after training, they were asked to indicate a set of 10 vs. a set of 20 or 30 (well within the ratio sensitivity of the ANS even early in infancy). Furthermore, there was no effect of ratio on success during test trials. These data provide new evidence that ANS value-to-word mappings do not underlie the meanings of number words early in development. We discuss what other non-verbal representations might do so, and discuss other ways the ANS may support learning how counting represents number.
Location of health professionals: The supply side

Abstract Urban/regional economic analyses help explain several features of health service providers including output determination. Spatial agglomerations increase factor productivity, and therefore rents paid and wages earned. Larger agglomerations imply higher rents and wages, justifying the clustering of health professionals in large cities and medical centers. We show for 372 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas (2013) that health professionals’ wages increase significantly with increased total employment, but fall as the proportion of the total labor force comprised by the sectors within the regional economy increases. Rents respond similarly, although with smaller elasticities. The wage-rental ratio (W/R) decreases with total regional employment, but increases with jobs per thousand in the health sector. Exogenous factors like heating and cooling degree days are consistent with slight positive increases in the W/R. Inclusion of W/R in a model that accounts for the covariance of wages and rents yields supply elasticities from + 3.47 to + 7.20 for all medical providers, and from + 0.22 to + 0.43 for registered nurses. These interregional elasticities (particularly for nurses) are consistent with estimates in other contexts.
Effect of heavy atoms on photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization in liquids.

Abstract Given its short hyperpolarization time (∼10 −6 s) and mostly non-perturbative nature, photo-chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) is a powerful tool for sensitivity enhancement in nuclear magnetic resonance. In this study, we explore the extent of 1 H-detected 13 C nuclear hyperpolarization that can be gained via photo-CIDNP in the presence of small-molecule additives containing a heavy atom. The underlying rationale for this methodology is the well-known external-heavy-atom (EHA) effect, which leads to significant enhancements in the intersystem-crossing rate of selected photosensitizer dyes from photoexcited singlet to triplet. We exploited the EHA effect upon addition of moderate amounts of halogen-atom-containing cosolutes. The resulting increase in the transient triplet-state population of the photo-CIDNP sensitizer fluorescein resulted in a significant increase in the nuclear hyperpolarization achievable via photo-CIDNP in liquids. We also explored the internal-heavy-atom (IHA) effect, which is mediated by halogen atoms covalently incorporated into the photosensitizer dye. Widely different outcomes were achieved in the case of EHA and IHA, with EHA being largely preferable in terms of net hyperpolarization.
Photogeneration of Nonlinear Excitations in Semiconducting Polymers: Fast Response Nonlinear Optical Phenomena

In traditional three-dimensional semiconductors, the four-fold (or six-fold, etc.) coordination of each atom to its neighbor through covalent bonds leads to a rigid structure. In such systems, therefore, the electronic excitations can usually be considered in the context of this rigid structure leading to the conventional concepts of electrons and holes as the dominant excitations. The situation in semiconductor polymers is quite different; the two-fold coordination makes these systems generally more susceptible to structural distortion. As a result, the dominant “electronic” excitations are inherently coupled to chain distortions. Thus, solitons, polarons and bipolarons are the excitations of major importance in this novel class of one-dimensional polymer semiconductors. These semiconducting polymers are, therefore, fundamentally and inherently nonlinear. Moreover, the major structural rearrangements (to form the solitons, bipolarons, etc.) which lead to the nonlinear optical properties are known to occur on time scales of order 10−13 seconds [1].
On lowering S-adenosylmethionine.

L-Dopa produces a marked lowering of brain S-adenosylmethionine (8), but nicotinamide, although also a methyl group acceptor, does not (3). It would be interesting to have a theoretical explanation for this difference in activity, especially if it would help in the selection of new agents which might have S-adenosylmethionine lowering activity.
Understanding Islamophobia and Its Effects on Clinicians

Islamophobia has been on the rise both in public discourse and in the media. The rising prevalence of this form of discrimination has significant mental health implications for the discriminators, the victims, and mental health clinicians. Conceptualizing Islamophobia as a form of religious and racial discrimination allows for greater exploration of the term itself and the negative implications of using the suffix “-phobia.” Continued use of such a misnomer may be a disservice to those suffering from religious and racial discrimination as well as psychiatric illness. Psychiatrists are very likely to come across anti-Muslim views espoused by patients and potentially even by other clinicians, which can be especially jarring. However, psychiatrists are also in the unique position of being able to explore and potentially challenge patients’ anti-Muslim views as they would any other distorted thought process in the course of treatment, lending to a possibility of more empathetic learning and understanding of our patients. As a result, it is important that we develop a framework to understand “Islamophobia” and consider its effects. The aim of this chapter is twofold: to offer a critical exploration of the basis of the term “Islamophobia” in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the implications of its use and to discuss current trends in anti-Muslim sentiment in the clinic setting and offer a future framework for addressing them.
Abstract 3913: PDK1 drives susceptibility ofNOTCH1mutant head and neck squamous carcinoma to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibition

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is primarily driven by the loss of tumor suppressor genes. Although approaches to target driver oncogenes have been clinically successful, targeting tumor suppressors has been challenging. To address this translational gap, we previously demonstrated that HNSCC cell lines with loss of function (LOF) NOTCH1 mutations (NOTCH1MUT n=14) were more sensitive to 6 PI3K pathway inhibitors (Omipalisib, Alpelisib, Bimiralisib, Dactolisib, Copanlisib, Apitolisib) than NOTCH1WT cells (n=45). In contrast to PIK3CAMUT cell lines, NOTCH1MUT lines underwent significant apoptosis after PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibition. NOTCH1MUT lines also showed significantly reduced clonogenic growth and significant tumor growth inhibition in both oral orthotopic and subcutaneous xenograft models. We employed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology to knock out NOTCH1 gene in two NOTCH1WT lines, PJ34 and UMSCC49. After Omipalisib treatment, NOTCH1-KO lines showed decreased cell viability compared to parental lines. The NOTCH1 knock out lines showed significantly increased apoptosis after Omipalisib treatment compared to parental lines (PJ34 KO: 1.62-fld, P Citation Format: Vaishnavi Sambandam, Li Shen, Shaohua Peng, Tuhina Mazumdar, Curtis Pickering, Jeffrey Myers, Jing Wang, Mitchell Frederick, Faye Johnson. PDK1 drives susceptibility of NOTCH1 mutant head and neck squamous carcinoma to PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibition [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3913.
Abstract 4272: Suppression of epigenetic regulator NURF leads to autophagy mediated chemo-and immune sensitization of triple negative breast cancer

Dysregulation of the epigenome is implicated in initiation and progression of variety of cancers and their acquired resistance to chemotherapy. As such, targeting epigenetic regulators has the potential to modulate tumor cell biology and reestablish tumor cell sensitivity to chemotherapy and/or radiation. Our studies demonstrate that silencing of the epigenetic regulator Nucleosome Remodeling Factor (NURF) sensitizes breast tumor cells to chemotherapy and enhances the anti-tumor immune response. Compared to controls, NURF KD 4T1 breast tumor cells exposed to doxorubicin (Dox) show increased DNA damage (gamma H2AX staining) and autophagy (acridine orange staining) in vitro and enhanced growth inhibition both in vitro and in vivo. NURF KD also sensitizes 4T1 cells to doxorubicin stimulated Natural Killer (NK) cell antitumor activity ex vivo, which is associated with a cytokine/chemokine secreted by doxorubicin exposed NURF KD cells; potential candidates are CCL5, TNFa and CCL2. The importance of NK cells for the enhanced growth control of doxorubicin treated NURF KD cells was confirmed using a mAb depletion approach. Autophagy may be instrumental in NK cell activation and elimination of tumor cell targets by mediating cytokine secretion. Sensitization of NURF KD 4T1 cells to doxorubicin, both increased autophagy and enhanced NK cell activity, were also observed using a small molecule inhibitor of NURF, suggesting that NURF can also be targeted pharmacologically. Our studies suggest that enhanced doxorubicin induced DNA damage and autophagy (cell autonomous effects) and NK cell cytotoxic activity (cell non-autonomous affects) may be primary contributors to immune sensitization in NURF KD cells. Increased cell autonomous antitumor effects by doxorubicin in concert with increased cell non-autonomous immunogenicity could help to achieve tumor regression, reduce metastasis, and possibly promote long term remission in breast cancer. Citation Format: Liliya Tyutyunyk, David A. Gewirtz, Joseph Landry, Nga Dao. Suppression of epigenetic regulator NURF leads to autophagy mediated chemo-and immune sensitization of triple negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4272.
Amygdala Arginine Vasopressin Modulates Chronic Ethanol Withdrawal Anxiety-Like Behavior in the Social Interaction Task.

Background Chronic ethanol (EtOH) exposure induces neurobehavioral maladaptations in the brain though the precise changes have not been fully explored. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA) regulates anxiety-like behavior induced by withdrawal from chronic intermittent EtOH (CIE) exposure, and the arginine vasopressin (AVP) system within the CEA regulates many anxiety-like behaviors. Thus, adaptations occur in the CEA AVP system due to chronic EtOH exposure, which lead to anxiety-like behaviors in rats. Methods Chronic exposure to a low-dose EtOH (4.5% wt/vol) induces anxiety-like behavior in rats. Wistar or Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to a modified CIE or CIE, while intra-CEA microinjections of AVP or a V1b receptor antagonist were used to elicit or block withdrawal-induced anxiety. Additionally, AVP microinjections into the CEA were given 24 hours following 15 days of continuous high-dose EtOH (7% wt/vol), a time period when rats no longer express anxiety. Chemogenetics was also used to activate the basolateral amygdala (BLA) or deactivate the dorsal periaqueductal gray=(dm/dlPAG) therefore PAG=periaqueductal gray to elicit or block withdrawal-induced anxiety. Results AVP microinjected into the CEA in lieu of exposure to the first 2 cycles of CIE was sufficient to induce anxiety-like behavior in these commonly used rat strains. The V1b receptor antagonist, but not an oxytocin receptor agonist, into the CEA during the first 2 withdrawal cycles suppressed anxiety. However, activation of the BLA in lieu of exposure to the first 2 cycles of CIE was insufficient to induce anxiety-like behavior. AVP microinjection into the CEA 24 hours into withdrawal reelicited anxiety-like behavior, and deactivation of the dm/dlPAG reduced this effect of CEA AVP. Conclusions Taken together, this study demonstrates a role of CEA AVP and a CEA-dm/dlPAG circuit in the development of anxiety induced by CIE. Such information is valuable for identifying novel therapeutic targets for alcohol- and anxiety-associated disorders.
Teaching Effective and Positive Parenting Skills

Raising a child with ASD, or any special need, can cause any parent to have second thoughts about what they are doing. Especially hard in ASD is the fact that behaviors are often hard to understand, and often the child seems capable enough to do better. Viewing behaviors caused by autism as skills not yet learned can go a long way to creating success for the child and feelings of competence for the parent. Techniques presented here that lead to positive and effective parenting are simple and easy to communicate. Ask children to do things about which the parent has control. Use a child’s passions to encourage positive behaviors.
Changes in offer and acceptance patterns for pediatric kidney transplant candidates under the new Kidney Allocation System.

Stakeholders have expressed concerns regarding decreased deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT) rates for pediatric candidates under the Kidney Allocation System (KAS). To better understand what might be driving this, we studied Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients kidney offer data for 3642 pediatric (age <18 years) kidney-only transplant candidates between December 31, 2012 to December 3, 2014 (pre-KAS) and December 4, 2014 to January 6, 2017 (post-KAS). We used negative binomial regression and multilevel logistic regression to compare offer and acceptance rates pre- and post-KAS. We stratified by donor age (<18, 18-34, and 35+ years) and KDPI (<35% and ≥35%) to reflect differing allocation prioritization pre-KAS and post-KAS. As might be expected from prioritization changes, post-KAS candidates were less likely to receive offers for donors 18-34 years old with KDPI ≥ 35% (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR]: 0.18 0.210.25 , P < .001), and more likely to receive offers for donors 18-34 years old and KDPI < 35% (aIRR: 1.12 1.201.29 , P < .001). However, offer acceptance practices also changed post-KAS: kidneys from donors 18-34 years old and KDPI < 35% were 23% less likely to be accepted post-KAS (adjusted odds ratio: 0.61 0.770.98 , P = .03). Using kidneys from donors 18-34 years old with KDPI < 35% post-KAS to the same extent they were used pre-KAS might be an effective strategy to mitigate any decrease in DDKT rates for pediatric candidates.
Chapter 1 – Mathematical Preliminaries

Publisher Summary This chapter presents some mathematical preliminaries. It is a mere collection of definitions and theorems given without a proof. The chapter discusses the relevant material in three sections: analysis and topology, probability theory, and algebra. The first section covers such basic topics as linear spaces, normed and metric spaces, point-set topology, measures, and the different notions of convergence encountered in analysis. The second section covers the probability measures, distribution functions, random variables, and their interconnections. It defines the Lebesgue spaces, states the Riesz Representation Theorem, and gives a brief overview of Markov processes and Markov chains. The last section deals with diagrams, semigroups, groups, and semigroup and group endomorphisms and introduces free semigroups and free groups. It also provides a brief review of category theory and direct and inverse limits.
Design and Characterization of InfiniBand Hardware Tag Matching in MPI

Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard uses (source rank, tag, and communicator id) to properly place the incoming data into the application receive buffer. The act of searching through the receive queues and finding the appropriate match is called Tag Matching (TM). In the state-of-the-art MPI libraries, this operation is either being performed by the main thread or a separate communication progress thread. Either way leads to underutilization of the resources and major synchronization overheads leading to less optimal performance. Mellanox ConnectX-5 network architecture has introduced a feature to offload the Tag Matching and communication progress from host to InfiniBand network card. This paper proposes a Hardware Tag Matching aware MPI library and discusses various aspects and challenges of leveraging this feature in MPI library. Moreover, it characterizes hardware Tag Matching using different benchmarks and provides guidelines for the application developers to develop Hardware Tag Matching-aware applications to maximize their usage of this feature. Our proposed designs are able to improve the performance of non-blocking collectives up to 42% on 512 nodes and improve the performance of 3Dstencil application kernel on 7168 processes and Nekbone on 512 processes by a factor 40% and 3.5%, respectively.
Abstract 13451: Upregulation of CaMKII and Contrast Changes of Cardiac β1- and β3-Adrenergic Signaling Pathways in a Humanized Angiotensinogen Model of Hypertension

Background: The transgenic rats expressing the human AGT gene [TGR (hAGT) L1623] (hAogen) is an established humanized model of hypertension. Recently we further found that this model is associated ...
A Promising Nutraceutical Eriodictyon californicum, A “Holy Herb,” with its Healing Abilities Against Oxidative Stress

Natural products have undeniably contributed to the development of the reform of the pharma industry for human health. Natural products themselves are known for their wide diversity, of both chemical structure and biological functionality. This makes them attractive for new drug development. Antioxidant-rich natural products that can be included in the daily diet represent a growing range of nutraceuticals. Thus, in search of effective nutraceutical agents, for the first time, we studied the antioxidant potential of an herb E. californicum, also known as yerba santa or “holy herb,”. This plant originates in the California and Oregon regions of North America and was previously consumed in tea or eaten by Native Americans and Spanish settlers to treat headaches, coughs, colds, and asthma. Various studies have shown that the leaves of this plant are rich in flavonoids. Flavonoid sterubin, and eriodyctiol are considered as the main bioactive component and have been used to mask bitter taste in many food and pharmaceutical applications. In the present investigation, the ethanol extract of E. californicum leaves was screened for other important classes of bioactive molecules. A qualitative study determined the presence of saponins, phlobatannins, phenols, tannins, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, and steroids in addition to flavonoids. Efforts were made to quantify total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. To explore the mechanism of action for antioxidant activity, the effect of extract was studied on superoxide and hydroxyl radicals. The leaves were found to be rich in phenol content (78.58 ± 0.016 μg GAE/mg) and flavonoid content (6.76 ± 0.003 μg QE/mg. At a concentration of 1.0 mg/ml, the extract showed 93.39 % inhibition of DPPH radicals, 57.36% inhibition of superoxide radicals, and 80.89% inhibition of hydroxyl radicals. The extract exhibited significant reducing property in a dose-dependent fashion. This study reveals that E. californicum leaves are a rich source of antioxidants and can be used as a nutraceutical to help fight against oxidative stress borne diseases.
Regulation of retinal membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) by negative calcium feedback and RD3 protein

This article presents a brief overview of the main biochemical and cellular processes involved in regulation of cyclic GMP production in photoreceptors. The main focus is on how the fluctuations of free calcium concentrations in photoreceptors between light and dark regulate the activity of retinal membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) via calcium sensor proteins. The emphasis of the review is on the structure of RetGC and guanylyl cyclase activating proteins (GCAPs) in relation to their functional role in photoreceptors and congenital diseases of photoreceptors. In addition to that, the structure and function of retinal degeneration-3 protein (RD3), which regulates RetGC in a calcium-independent manner, is discussed in detail in connections with its role in photoreceptor biology and inherited retinal blindness.
An Optimal Function-Provided Scheme for Energy Storage System Configured in Windfarm

With the increasing penetration of wind energy into the system, the natural characteristic of the wind power challenges the operation of the system. In the company of the maturity of energy storage technologies, the utility-scale energy storage system (ESS) is suggested to be a practical solution for windfarm operation. Owing to the multiple functions required to the ESS in the windfarm, the capacity usage planning of the ESS needs better optimization for balancing the financial objectives and emergency support needs. In this paper, an optimal function-provided scheme and corresponding control strategies for ESS configured in the windfarm is proposed. The proposed optimal function-provided scheme could reasonably plan the usage of the ESS in the windfarm so that the financial benefit bringing and emergency power support capacity could be ensured at the same time. A case study has been provided at the end of the paper. With the simulation results, the proposed optimal function-provided scheme finds the equilibrium of multiple functions coordination of ESS and every function’s performance guaranteed.
Association of Medicaid Expansion with In-Hospital Outcomes After Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

Abstract Objectives Multiple studies have shown improved outcomes and higher utilization of care with the increase of insurance coverage. This study aims to assess whether Medicaid expansion (ME) has changed the utilization and outcomes of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in the United States. Design Retrospective observational study. Materials Data of patients undergoing AAA repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative (2010-2017). Methods Interrupted time-series (ITS) analysis was utilized to evaluate changes in annual trends of postoperative outcomes after elective AAA repair before and after 2014. We also assessed if these trend changes were significant by comparing the changes in states which adopted ME in 2014 versus nonexpansion states (NME), and conducting a difference-in-difference analysis. Primary outcomes included in-hospital mortality and adverse events (bowel and leg ischemia, cardiac, renal, respiratory, stroke and return to the OR). Results A total of 19,143 procedures were included (Endovascular: 85.8% and open: 14.2%), of which 40.9% were performed in ME States. Compared to preexpansion trends (P1), there was a 2% annual increase in elective AAA repair in ME states (P1: -1.8% versus P2: +0.2%, P Conclusions While no association between ME and increased survival was noted in states which adopted ME, there was a significant increase of elective AAA cases and EVAR utilization and a decrease in in-hospital complications in ME States.
Organic Transformations Enabled by Yolk–Shell and Core–Shell Structured Catalysts

Nanomaterial-based catalysts have become powerful promoters for catalyzing chemical reactions. However, nanomaterials tend to agglomerate during the reaction process, and thus deteriorating their catalytic performance. In the past few years, core–shell and yolk–shell nanostructures have been demonstrated as a promising solution to minimize the problem. This chapter focuses on the recent development of yolk–shell or core–shell nanomaterial-catalyzed organic transformations. These reactions are reduction including hydrogenation of aldehyde group, nitroaromatics and C=C bond, oxidation of alcohols to carbonyls and styrene to benzaldehyde, Suzuki cross-coupling and cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) and Knoevenagel condensation-nitro reduction, and oxidation-Knoevenagel condensation cascade reactions. As demonstrated in these processes, these nanocatalysts offer the unrivaled capacity of reducing agglomeration while enhancing the catalyst performance in terms of size and chemoselectivity and catalyst stability and robustness for recycling and reuse. Therefore, the nanocatalytic machinery holds great potential for developing new and practically useful reactions, which may be difficult or impossible to achieve by homogenous and other heterogeneous catalytic systems.
The zebrafish meiotic cohesion complex protein Smc1b is required for key events in meiotic prophase I

ABSTRACT The eukaryotic structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins are involved in key processes of chromosome structure and dynamics. SMC1β was identified as a component of the meiotic cohesion complex in vertebrates, which aids in keeping sister chromatids together prior to segregation in meiosis II and is involved in association of homologous chromosomes in meiosis I. The role of SMC1β in meiosis has primarily been studied in mice, where mutant male and female mice are infertile due to germ cell arrest at pachytene and metaphase II stages, respectively. Here, we investigate the function of zebrafish Smc1b to understand the role of this protein more broadly in vertebrates. We found that zebrafish smc1b is necessary for fertility and has important roles in meiosis, yet has no other apparent roles in development. Therefore, smc1b functions primarily in meiosis in both fish and mammals. In zebrafish, we showed that smc1b mutant spermatocytes initiated telomere clustering in leptotene, but failed to complete this process and progress into zygotene. Furthermore, mutant spermatocytes displayed a complete failure of homolog pairing and synapsis. Interestingly, meiotic DNA double strand breaks occurred in the absence of Smc1b despite failed pairing and synapsis. Overall, our findings point to an essential role of Smc1b in the leptotene to zygotene transition during zebrafish spermatogenesis. In addition, ovarian follicles failed to form in smc1b mutants, suggesting an essential role in female meiosis as well. Our results indicate that there are some key differences in Smc1b requirement in meiosis among vertebrates: while Smc1b is not required for homologue pairing and synapsis in mice, it is essential for these processes in zebrafish.
Principal component analysis of hybrid functional and vector data

We propose a practical principal component analysis (PCA) framework that provides a nonparametric means of simultaneously reducing the dimensions of and modeling functional and vector (multivariate) data. We first introduce a Hilbert space that combines functional and vector objects as a single hybrid object. The framework, termed a PCA of hybrid functional and vector data (HFV-PCA), is then based on the eigen-decomposition of a covariance operator that captures simultaneous variations of functional and vector data in the new space. This approach leads to interpretable principal components that have the same structure as each observation and a single set of scores that serves well as a low-dimensional proxy for hybrid functional and vector data. To support practical application of HFV-PCA, the explicit relationship between the hybrid PC decomposition and the functional and vector PC decompositions is established, leading to a simple and robust estimation scheme where components of HFV-PCA are calculated using the components estimated from the existing functional and classical PCA methods. This estimation strategy allows flexible incorporation of sparse and irregular functional data as well as multivariate functional data. We derive the consistency results and asymptotic convergence rates for the proposed estimators. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method through simulations and analysis of renal imaging data.
Our Ethical Responsibility

Given the great impact we have had on our planet since the industrial revolution, it is important to examine our ethical relationship with nature and how it evolved as the industrial revolution proceeded. Certainly, for much of the history of the West, and for many people today, anthropocentrism is the central tenet of our existence. In the last century, new ideas have emerged that place value on nature and that seek to limit our impacts. While the origins of these ideas are complex, the development of a land ethic through the writings of Aldo Leopold, and the development of environmental regulation through the work of Rachel Carson are fundamental cornerstones of environmental ethics. In addition, in the last several decades, writings in the areas of deep ecology, ecofeminism, applied theology, animal rights, and business ethics have contributed greatly to the understanding about why we should care about our planet.
Package-Level Integration of Liquid Cooling Technology with Microchannel IHS for High Power Cooling

Liquid cooling using an integrated microscale heat exchanger is a promising future technology option to address issues associated with integrated circuit thermal management. A new class of liquid cooling technology that involves package-level integration for enhanced stack-up thermal resistance, thus providing superior thermal performance compared to the state-of-the-art air- or liquid-cooled solutions across a broad range of package applications, is described in this paper. This innovative, liquid cooling technology concept called Micro-Channel IHS (i.e., MC-IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader)) involves introducing internal liquid-flow microchannels into the IHS lid in the package, such that IHS effectively becomes an integrated "cold-block" and eliminates the TIM interface between cold plate and IHS. MC-IHS prototypes, which emulate high-end XPU device were built on a TTV to characterize thermal performance. Thermal test results showed that MC-IHS technology can provide ~30% superior cooling capability over a standard cold plate and can reach performance of R f-in of ~0.05 °C/W with >1,000 W cooling capability. New class of future XPU products can take advantage of this cooling capability to significantly improve computing performance.
JCAST: Sample-specific protein isoform databases for mass spectrometry-based proteomics experiments

Abstract JCAST is an open-source Python software tool that allows users to easily create custom protein sequence databases for proteogenomic applications. JCAST takes in RNA sequencing data containing alternative splicing junctions as input, models the likely translatable protein isoform sequences within a particular sample, performs in silico translation using annotated open reading frames, and outputs sample-specific protein sequence databases in FASTA format to support downstream mass spectrometry data analysis of protein isoforms. This article describes the functionality and usage of the JCAST software and documents a stable code repository for user access.
Sexual and reproductive health concerns of women with epilepsy beginning in adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract Background Women with epilepsy (WWE) have potentially unique concerns regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Prior studies of WWE have focused narrowly on pregnancy and preconception experiences, and have not addressed concerns of nulliparous adolescent and young adult women not actively seeking pregnancy. Methods We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with WWE 18–45 years of age. We sampled to maximize diversity of age and parity, and intentionally included many adolescent and young adult nulliparous women not actively planning pregnancy. Interviews broadly addressed participants’ SRH concerns and experiences. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Two coders performed qualitative analysis using thematic analysis with deductive and inductive approaches. Results Twenty WWE (median age 23 years, range 18–43 years) completed interviews. Twelve were nulliparous, six had children, one had a history of miscarriage only, and two were currently pregnant. WWE’s narratives revealed significant concerns about family planning and reproductive health in the context of epilepsy, including: 1) seizures endangering pregnancies and children 2) teratogenic effects of antiseizure medication, 3) heritability of epilepsy, 4) antiseizure medication and epilepsy impacting fertility, and 5) interactions between antiseizure medication and contraception. Conclusion WWE, including nulliparous adolescent and young adult women who are not actively planning pregnancy, have significant concerns about how their epilepsy interacts with SRH. SRH counseling for WWE should begin during adolescence and be incorporated into the transition process from pediatric to adult healthcare. Insights from WWE may aid in the creation of relevant patient-facing educational resources as well as provider-facing training and tools to meaningfully support the reproductive decision-making of WWE throughout their childbearing years.
Pediatric cervical kyphosis in the MRI era (1984-2008) with long-term follow up: literature review

Cervical kyphosis is rare in the pediatric population. It may be syndromic or acquired secondary to laminectomy, neoplasia, or trauma. Regardless, this should be avoided to prevent progressive spinal deformity and neurological deficit. Long-term follow-up is needed to evaluate fusion status, spine growth, potential instability, and neurological function. A retrospective review of 27 children (6 months to 16 years) with cervical kyphotic deformity was performed and limited to the MRI era until 2008, to provide a long-term follow-up after which complex instrumentation was available. There were 27 patients, 19 syndromic (average age 5.36 years), and 8 non-syndromic (average age 14 years). Syndromes encountered were spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED) 4, spondylometaphyseal dysplasia 1, unnamed collagen abnormality syndrome 1, osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) 2, Aarskog syndrome 1, Weaver syndrome 1, Larsen syndrome 1, multiple cervical level disconnection syndrome 1, Klippel-Feil 3, congenital absence of C2 pars 4. Non-syndromic cases; 2 with neurofibromatosis (NF1) and prevertebral tumors, fibromatosis 1, spontaneous kyphosis 1, and postlaminectomy 4. Factors considered were age, pathology, flexibility on cervical spine dynamic films, reduction with traction and spinal cord compression. Patients with flexible kyphosis underwent dorsal fixation. Children with non-flexible ventral compression/kyphosis had crown halo traction. Irreducible kyphosis had ventral decompression and fusion as well as dorsal fusion. Eleven of 19 syndromic children with flexible and reducible kyphosis underwent dorsal fixation alone. Four of 8 non-syndromic (2 NF1) needed ventral and dorsal approaches. The preoperative deformity (global and local Cobb angles) as well as neurological status improved. Growth during follow-up was not impaired, and we did not encounter instability or junctional kyphosis. The only complications were seen in syndromic patients. One patient with SED showed delayed cantilever bending of the ventral fusion mass requiring reoperation, and 1 other OI child had left C5 and C6 nerve root weakness after anterior C4 and C5 decompression which resolved over 1 year. One child with SED developed cervicothoracic junction scoliosis 18 years later after thoracic scoliosis surgery. Syndromic pathology presented early with neurological dysfunction and 24% had rigid kyphosis. An attempt at traction/reduction was successful as in Tables 1 and 2. The majority exhibited long-term improvement in kyphosis and function. A treatment algorithm and literature review is presented.
Densitometry Techniques in Medicine Today

The field of bone densitometry has grown rapidly, particularly in the past 15 years. Many techniques are now available from which the physician may choose. Although the clinical application of these technologies is relatively recent, the history of densitometry began over 60 years ago.
Creep–fatigue Interaction Testing

Fatigue fives in metals are nominally time independent below 0.5 T(sub Melt). At higher temperatures, fatigue lives are altered due to time-dependent, thermally activated creep. Conversely, creep rates are altered by super. imposed fatigue loading. Creep and fatigue generally interact synergistically to reduce material lifetime. Their interaction, therefore, is of importance to structural durability of high-temperature structures such as nuclear reactors, reusable rocket engines, gas turbine engines, terrestrial steam turbines, pressure vessel and piping components, casting dies, molds for plastics, and pollution control devices. Safety and lifecycle costs force designers to quantify these interactions. Analytical and experimental approaches to creep-fatigue began in the era following World War II. In this article experimental and life prediction approaches are reviewed for assessing creep-fatigue interactions of metallic materials. Mechanistic models are also discussed briefly.
Empirical Propagation Models

The empirical models are based on extensive experimental data and statistical analysis which enable us to compute the received signal level in a given propagation medium. Many commercially available computer aided prediction tools are based on these models.
Bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis associated with the use of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor adalimumab.

A 51-year-old woman was referred for evaluation of progressive dyspnea of 3 months’ duration. She had received 3 doses of adalimumab for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis prior to the onset of her dyspnea. Her chest examination revealed absent diaphragmatic movement with inspiration. Spirometry showed a severe restrictive defect. Radiologic studies confirmed the diagnosis of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis. Laboratory and radiologic workup excluded other possible causes of the diagnosis. Adalimumab was discontinued, and she was treated with bilevel positive airway pressure ventilation and intravenous immunoglobulin. Three months later, the diaphragmatic paralysis persisted. This is the second reported case of bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis occurring in a patient who had received adalimumab. Acute neuropathies are rare side effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors.
Ethnicity and time to institutionalization of dementia patients: a comparison of Latina and Caucasian female family caregivers.

Objectives: To compare rates of institutionalization of dementia patients cared for by Latina and Caucasian female caregivers and to explore which caregiver and care-recipient characteristics predicted institutionalization. Design: Longitudinal. Setting: San Francisco Bay area, California. Participants: Two hundred sixty-four female caregivers of dementia patients (154 Caucasian women, 110 Latinas) who participated in an intervention project designed to reduce caregiver stress and may represent a sample that is more stressed and motivated than a general sample of caregivers. Measurements: Number of days between baseline interview and institutionalization was recorded over an 18-month period. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with the log rank statistic was used to test for ethnic differences in time to institutionalization. Cox regression analyses were conducted to determine whether care-recipient or caregiver characteristics (e.g., care-recipient age and memory and behavior problems; caregiver depression, years of education, income, and views of the caregiving role) significantly interacted with ethnicity to explain time to institutionalization. Results: Latinas delayed institutionalization significantly longer than their Caucasian counterparts; care-recipient characteristics or caregiver demographics did not explain these results, although Latinas who identified greater benefits or more-positive aspects of the caregiving process at baseline were less likely to institutionalize their loved one than those who reported fewer benefits of caregiving. Less-acculturated Latinas were significantly more likely to identify positive aspects of caregiving than more-acculturated Latinas. Conclusion: Latina dementia caregivers delay institutionalization significantly longer than female Caucasian caregivers. In addition, Latino cultural values and positive views of the caregiving role are important factors that may significantly influence their decision to institutionalize loved ones with dementia.
The past, present, and future (?) of crime-related forensic accounting methodology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the origins of crime-related forensic accounting methodology in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The author describes how these early methods have evolved through the use of technology. Findings – The author also discusses the next generation of crime-related forensic accounting tools and techniques which, although in limited use today, will grow to widespread use in the near future. Originality/value – This viewpoint is a summary of a presentation made at the 3rd National Forensic Accounting Teaching and Research Symposium held at the Queensland University of Technology on February 10, 2014.
A Necessary and Sufficient Condition for Robust Stability of Time-Variant Discrete Interval Matrix Systems

A necessary and sufficient condition for the stability of time variant interval matrices is presented. This condition allows to test stability in a finite number of steps.
CXCR2−/− Mice Show Enhanced Susceptibility to Herpetic Stromal Keratitis: A Role for IL-6-Induced Neovascularization

Ocular infection with HSV results in a blinding immunoinflammatory lesion known as herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK). Early preclinical events include inflammatory cell, mainly neutrophils, infiltration of the stroma, and neovascularization. To further evaluate the role of neutrophils in pathogenesis, HSV infection was compared in BALB/c and mice of the same background, but lacking CXCR2, the receptor for chemokines involved in neutrophil recruitment. Our results show clear differences in the outcome of ocular HSV infection in CXCR2-/- compared with control BALB/c mice. Thus, CXCR2-/- animals had minimal PMN influx during the first 7 days postinfection, and this correlated with a longer duration of virus infection in the eye compared with BALB/c mice. The CXCR2-/- mice were also more susceptible to HSV-induced lesions and developed HSK upon exposure to a dose of HSV that was minimally pathogenic to BALB/c mice. The basis for the greater HSK lesion susceptibility of CXCR2-/- mice was associated with an elevated IL-6 response, which appeared in turn to induce the angiogenic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor. Our results serve to further demonstrate the critical role of angiogenesis in the pathogenesis of ocular lesions.
Effect of Needle Brand, Needle Bevel Grind, and Silicone Lubrication on Contamination of Joints With Tissue and Hair Debris After Arthrocentesis

Objective To assess contamination of joints with tissue and hair debris after arthrocentesis. Study Design Experimental. Animals Fetlock joint tissues (n = 6 horses). Methods Soft tissue flaps including joint capsule were dissected from the dorsal aspect of fetlock joints of 6 anesthetized horses leaving an intact proximal base (“live” model) or with complete excision and immediate mounting to a wooden frame (“fresh” model). Needles were inserted through joint tissues and saline solution was flushed through them into tissue culture plate wells, and then examined for tissue and hair debris. Nine needle types were assessed; variables included needle brand, needle bevel grind, needle size, and silicone lubrication. Results No significant difference was detected between “live” and “fresh” models for hair or tissue contamination. Compared to 20g hypodermic needles, 19g lubricated and 19g non-lubricated needles had a significantly greater odds ratio (OR) for hair contamination. Nineteen-gauge non-lubricated needles had a significantly greater OR for hair contamination than 19g lubricated needles. No significant differences in ORs were identified between type of needle bevel grind, brands of disposable hypodermic needles, or brands of spinal needles for hair or tissue contamination. Conclusions Nineteen-gauge needles significantly increase the risk of joint contamination with hair compared to 20g needles; non-lubricated 19g needles have the greatest risk. All other needle types tested in this study have similar risks for tissue and hair contamination after arthrocentesis.