cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Secure and Resilient Cloud Services for Enhanced Living Environments

It is critical to provide enhanced living environments (ELEs) to people with special needs (such as the elderly and individuals with disabilities) that offer 24/7 continuous monitoring and control of the environment and access to care services when needed. Recently, there has been a strong interest in building ELEs using implantable and wearable sensors, and wireless sensor networks that are supported by cloud computing. However, ELE technologies and information are vulnerable to cyberattacks and exploitations that can lead to life-threatening scenarios such as incorrect medical diagnoses. This article presents a platform that offers secure and resilient services for ELEs. The main components of the platform are the ELE end nodes, secure gateway, and a secure and resilient cloud computing system. End nodes collect ELE variables and human body signals that are stored securely in the cloud using a secure gateway. The secure gateway manages communication between the end nodes and the cloud services using biocyber metrics for authentication. In addition, the cloud architecture provides the required ELE services at any time and from anywhere in a resilient manner.
From spatial turn to mobilities turn

This article reflects on the contributions of the late John Urry to sociology and to its spatial turn especially by developing the new mobilities paradigm. The proposition of this monograph issue of Current Sociology is that space has not yet been appropriately incorporated into sociology. But although partially true, Urry argued that this misses the significance of ‘the mobilities turn’ that swept through and incorporated the spatial turn within sociology but also within other disciplines. Tracing the spatial turn back to the 1980s, the article describes how the new mobilities paradigm grew out of and extended emerging theorizations of space. It argues that Urry’s work advanced a sociology of space though his focus on mobile spatializations and relational space. This included the distribution of agency between people, places, and material assemblages of connectivity; a broader shift in the spatial imagination of mobilities towards ‘non-representational’ social theory; the emergence of new methodologies t...
Obstructive Reproductive Tract Anomalies: A Review of Surgical Management.

Mullerian anomalies include a spectrum of anatomic variants of the genital tract arising from abnormal embryologic development, ranging from incomplete resorption of uterine septa to complete vaginal agenesis. Nonobstructive anomalies are often recognized later than obstructive anomalies, because women do not present with pain. However, nonobstructive anomalies frequently have a negative impact on sexual and reproductive health, and careful evaluation and management of these disorders is warranted. This review focuses on the surgical management of nonobstructive Mullerian anomalies.
Vitamin D and plasma cell dyscrasias: reviewing the significance

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a clonal plasma cell disorder and precursor disease to multiple myeloma and other related cancers. While MGUS is considered a benign disorder, with a low risk of disease progression, patients have altered bone microarchitecture and an increased risk of bone fracture. In addition, alterations in immune function are regularly found to correlate with disease activity. Vitamin D, an important hormone for bone and immune health, is commonly deficient in multiple myeloma patients. However, vitamin D deficiency is also prevalent in the general population. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current understanding of vitamin D in health and disease and to parallel this with a review of the abnormalities found in plasma cell dyscrasias. While some consensus statements have advocated for vitamin D testing and routine supplementation in MGUS, there is no clear standard of care approach and clinical practice patterns vary. Further research is needed to better understand how vitamin D influences outcomes in MGUS patients.
Treatment of retinal pigment epithelial detachment secondary to exudative age-related macular degeneration.

Abstract Purpose This pilot study evaluated the combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) as a treatment in patients with a pigment epithelial detachment (PED) due to exudative age-related degeneration (AMD). Methods We analyzed seven consecutive patients between September 1, 2015 and September 1, 2017 with a PED secondary to exudative AMD who were treated with full fluence standard PDT and a series of monthly intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. Follow-up ranged between 3 and 24 months. Variables collected for the purpose of this study included baseline best-corrected visual acuity converted to logMAR (logarithm of minimum angle of resolution), central macular thickness, and maximum PED height. This information was then reviewed at subsequent follow-ups. Results The PED completely resolved in 4/7 eyes while three patients had a significant improvement in PED size with a corresponding improvement in visual acuity. Initial PED heights ranged from 147 to 423 μm and was reduced by an average of 255.7 μm (83.2% average reduction, range −143 to - 405 μm). Initial CMT ranged from 223 to 719 μm and was reduced by an average of 225.7 μm (54.4% average reduction, range −88 to - 529 μm). Mean logMAR VA improved from 0.669 (Snellen equivalent 20/93, [20/40 to 20/200]) to 0.269 (Snellen equivalent 20/37, [20/25 to 20/80]) at last follow-up. No complications were observed in our patients. Conclusions and Importance PED in the setting of exudative AMD showed an excellent response to a combined multimodal approach that includes PDT with intravitreal anti-VEGF injection followed by a monthly anti-VEGF schedule. Most importantly, visual acuity showed a significant improvement from baseline. If confirmed by future studies, this would offer another treatment avenue for this difficult-to-treat consequence of exudative AMD.
Duplicate avoidance in depth-first search with applications to treewidth

Depth-first search is effective at solving hard combinatorial problems, but if the problem space has a graph structure the same nodes may be searched many times. This can increase the size of the search exponentially. We explore two techniques that prevent this: duplicate detection and duplicate avoidance. We illustrate these techniques on the treewidth problem, a combinatorial optimization problem with applications to a variety of research areas. The bottleneck for previous treewidth algorithms is a large memory requirement. We develop a duplicate avoidance technique for treewidth and demonstrate that it significantly outperforms other algorithms when memory is limited. Additionally, we are able to find, for the first time, the treewidth of several hard benchmark graphs.
Rating Academic Research

The societal production chains extending from academic research to eventual commercial applications are examined. The theory of the role of knowledge in economic development is briefly reviewed. Some common metrics to evaluate the inputs and outputs from academic research are listed.
Drugs Acting on the Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is a coordinated motor system that consists of innervated cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands. The ANS maintains homeostasis and provides a coordinated response to external stimulation. Much of homeostasis occurs involuntarily, but some autonomic processes have a degree of voluntary control (urination, sexual activity). The major components are the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This review will focus on those aspects of the autonomic nervous system that are most crucial in the clinical assessment and treatment of disease. Many elements of the ANS, thermoregulation and the emotional component to sympathetic stimulation, for example, will be omitted.
Tuberculosis exposure in a day-care center: recommended management.

Background This article describes the contact investigation, clinical evaluation, and prophylactic treatment of the children and staff members in a day-care center after exposure to a teaching assistant with tuberculosis (TB). Methods The investigation included baseline and follow-up tuberculin skin testing, history and physical examinations, and chest radiographs. Directly observed prophylactic therapy with isoniazid was recommended for all exposed children with a negative evaluation and all children with positive skin test reactions and normal chest radiographs. Treatment was discontinued in children with negative skin test results at follow-up. Adult staff members were screened with baseline and follow-up skin tests and were referred for chest radiographs if skin test reactions were positive. Results In 3 of the 141 exposed children and 3 of the 41 adult staff members, tuberculin skin tests yielded positive results. No active TB disease was found. Conclusions Isoniazid prophylaxis, administered by directly observed prophylactic therapy in the children, was effectively administered and tolerated in the day-care setting.
Learning from inconsistent and unreliable annotators by a Gaussian mixture model and Bayesian information criterion

Supervised learning from multiple annotators is an increasingly important problem in machine leaning and data mining. This paper develops a probabilistic approach to this problem when annotators are not only unreliable, but also have varying performance depending on the data. The proposed approach uses a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC) to find the fittest model to approximate the distribution of the instances. Then the maximum a posterior (MAP) estimation of the hidden true labels and the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation of quality of multiple annotators are provided alternately. Experiments on emotional speech classification and CASP9 protein disorder prediction tasks show performance improvement of the proposed approach as compared to the majority voting baseline and a previous data-independent approach. Moreover, the approach also provides more accurate estimates of individual annotators performance for each Gaussian component, thus paving the way for understanding the behaviors of each annotator.
Reversibility of Iron Loading in Transferrin-Deficient Mice

An abundant serum metal-binding protein, transferrin is a critical factor in mammalian iron homeostasis. As transferrin is essential for iron delivery for erythropoiesis, transferrin-deficient patients and mice develop anemia but also a paradoxical systemic iron overload. Iron overload results from deficiency in hepcidin, a peptide hormone synthesized largely by the liver that inhibits dietary iron absorption and macrophage iron efflux. Using transferrin-deficient mice, we have previously shown that transferrin deficiency leads to hepcidin deficiency via two mechanisms. First, the anemia and/or hypoxia that results from inadequate iron delivery to bone marrow actively suppresses hepcidin expression by the liver. Second, transferrin directly stimulates hepcidin expression by the liver independently of transferrin's role in erythropoiesis; this second mechanism is dependent upon hemojuvelin, a bone morphogenetic protein coreceptor essential for hepcidin expression that is mutated in juvenile hemochromatosis. Here we present data examining the reversibility of iron loading in transferrin deficiency. Measurement of tissue metal levels in adult transferrin-deficient mice demonstrated progressive and systemic iron loading yet minimal to moderate changes in levels of other metals. Treatment of adult transferrin-deficient mice with exogenous transferrin normalized red cell parameters and hepcidin levels and reduced iron load in most organs. To further investigate the reduced tissue iron burden in transferrin-treated mice, we employed iron-loaded cell lines to demonstrate that cellular iron efflux can be stimulated by transferrin and that this efflux is specific to iron but not manganese or zinc. Current studies focus on two goals. First, we are determining if the reduction in tissue iron load represents solely a redistribution of iron stores to the erythron or additionally excretion of iron via urine and/or feces by measuring whole body iron levels in mice before and after transferrin treatment. Second, we are identifying transporters required for mobilization of iron stores using expression profiling of known and putative iron transporters in mouse tissues and validating the role of transporters of interest using our cell culture model. Results of these studies and their implications will be presented. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Assessment of Renal Function

UA is the oldest method of diagnostic urine testing, first used more than 6,000 years ago [20]. Often neglected by the clinicians and poorly performed by laboratories, it is an inexpensive, readily available, and easy to interpret test with or without automated analyzers. It is an excellent indicator of a variety of renal functions, and some people consider it as a medical “poor man’s” biopsy of the kidney.
Principles of Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases are diagnosed by detection of a bacterium, virus, fungus, protozoan, or helminth in a patient with a compatible clinical illness. The methods of detection include cultivation of bacteria and fungi on growth medium, isolation of viruses in cell culture, and identification of the agent biochemically, antigenically, or genetically. Infectious diseases can also be identified by detection of a specific immune response, usually antibodies, that develop during the course of illness. Visualization of an agent in infected tissue can provide a diagnosis based on specific morphological characteristics or identify the category of organism, for example, gram-positive or gram-negative bacterium or virus (e.g., eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in neurons in rabies virus infection). Methods that detect and allow visualization of antigens (immunohistochemistry) or nucleic acid sequences ( in situ hybridization) provide more specific diagnoses. Detection of specific nucleic acid sequences amplified by polymerase chain reaction is a powerful molecular diagnostic tool.
Chronic Medical Conditions and CA125 Levels among Women without Ovarian Cancer.

Background: Randomized trials using the biomarker CA125, with or without pelvic ultrasound, have failed to show a clear benefit of general population screening for ovarian cancer. In part this may be due to a lack of information about conditions, besides ovarian cancer, that can alter CA125 levels and affect specificity or sensitivity. We evaluated the association between common medical conditions and CA125 levels among women without ovarian cancer. Methods: We used data and specimens from 2,004 women without ovarian cancer who participated in the New England Case Control study between 1992 and 2008. Participants completed in-person interviews and donated blood samples at enrollment. We measured CA125 using the CA125II assay and calculated the association between medical conditions and log-transformed CA125 using linear regression. Results: The median age of participants was 53 years and 1,119 (56%) were postmenopausal. The average CA125 level was 14.5 units/mL for premenopausal and 11.7 for postmenopausal women. Among premenopausal women, CA125 was significantly lower for women with colon polyps (p=0.06) and hysterectomy (p=0.01) and significantly higher with endometriosis (p=0.05). CA125 was also significantly higher in premenopausal women with coronary artery disease (CVD) (p<0.01, n=2 cases) but not among postmenopausal with CVD (n=79). Further, among postmenopausal women, CA125 was significantly lower for women with osteoporosis, hypercholesterolemia, and osteoarthritis (p=0.03, 0.02 and 0.01 respectively) and higher for women with a history of inflammatory bowel disease (p=0.04). Conclusions: Several chronic diseases are associated with CA125, which could influence the interpretation of CA125 in the context of ovarian cancer screening.
True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the 20th Century. By Emily Skidmore. (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2017. Pp. 253. $27.00.)

Rural America at the turn of the twentieth century was more queer than the contemporary imaginary would have it—and yet, the queers were not all that queer. This is the crux and central tension of ...
Utilizing Precision Medicine to Estimate Timing for Surgical Closure of Traumatic Extremity Wounds.

Background:Both the frequency and high complication rates associated with extremity wounds in recent military conflicts have highlighted the need for clinical decision support tools (CDST) to decrease time to wound closure and wound failure rates.Methods:Machine learning was used to estimate both su
The Pediatric Inventory for Parents: Development of a short-form in fathers of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Background The Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP) is a 42-item measure of paediatric parenting stress that results in 84 responses. Although this measure has been extensively validated, the number of items in the instrument may hinder clinical applicability. Methods The current study reports on the development of a short-form of the PIP using data from 344 fathers of children with type 1 diabetes. Recommendations for short-form development as well as item response theory (IRT) were used to construct a 13-item PIP Short-Form that results in 26 responses. Results The retained items were chosen to reflect the content domains of the original form of the PIP and demonstrated acceptable item fit under the partial credit model (PCM; Infit and Outfit indices closest to one and items with thresholds across the span of the latent trait). Conclusions The PIP Short-Form may allow health care professionals to more feasibly assess paediatric parenting stress among parents of children with chronic health conditions. Future studies are needed to validate this new short-form.
The JUUL E-Cigarette Elevates the Risk of Thrombosis and Potentiates Platelet Activation:

Background:Smoking is the main preventable cause of death in the United States and worldwide and is associated with serious cardiovascular health consequences, including thrombotic diseases. Recent...
Reimagining the Nation: Gender and Bodily Transgressions in Breath, Eyes, Memory

For the most part, the nation has been constructed and imagined as male and heterosexual. Women, on the other hand, are regarded as second-class citizens, constructed as pawns in the national discourse and not as key players. In this essay, I explore how Caribbean women writers, Edwidge Danticat and Jamaica Kincaid, not only debunk the exclusionary practices in the nationalist/masculinist discourse but also rewrite the heteronormative structure of the nation by constructing alter/native spaces beyond the reach of the nation-state. In these alter/native spaces, the female protagonists, Tante Atie, Louise, Sophie, Lucy, challenge bodily (border) restrictions, forcing the nation to reexamine its citizenship policy, to rescript the narrative of heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity.
Developments in the Market for Assisted Living: Residential Care Availability in 2017

Abstract Objectives Describe how the availability of assisted living (AL) and dementia-specific AL vary across counties and correlate with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Design Maps, univariate statistics, and standardized mean differences show the differences between counties with high and low levels of AL market penetration, and between counties with and without dementia-specific AL. Setting and Participants Data collected from state agencies on licensed AL communities, capacity, and geographic location, and population characteristics from the Area Health Resource file. We include novel and previously undescribed data on dementia-specific AL licenses in 21 states. Measures AL market penetration is reported as the number of AL units or beds per 1000 persons over age 65 years in a county. Results In comparison to counties with the lowest AL penetration, high-penetration counties had higher high school and college education attainment (mean 25.3% vs 18.5%) and median annual income ($56,000 vs $46,800), and lower poverty (12.8% vs 17.3%) and unemployment rates (3.9% vs 5.1%). Compared to counties with AL but no dementia-specific care, counties with dementia care had substantially higher college attainment (24.6% vs 17.7%) and had higher urbanity index (3.8 vs 5.6 on a 1-9 scale, 1 most urban). Counties with dementia care also had, on average, 16% more in median household income ($54,200 vs $46,400) and 40% greater home value ($159,800 vs. $113,600). Conclusions and Implications Large socioeconomic disparities persist among counties without any AL or low penetration of AL in their borders in comparison to those with high AL penetration, as well as between counties with and without dementia-specific AL communities. There may be a mismatch in need and availability of residential care options for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias that contributes to the disproportionate share of racial/ethnic minorities with dementia in nursing homes. Lack of available AL beds in the communities where Medicaid individuals reside could make rebalancing efforts doubly difficult, in that Medicaid enrollees may be reluctant to move out of their neighborhoods.
Data-driven parameter optimization for the synthesis of high-quality zeolitic imidazolate frameworks via a microdroplet route

Abstract As an emerging strategy for the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a microdroplet-based spray method holds merits of improved heat and mass transfer rates, which allows the formation of MOF crystals in a much faster manner. To optimize the spray route for the MOF synthesis, further exploration is needed to understand the dominant variables controlling the quality of the products. With a series of experiments and advanced computational analysis, we present here general guidance for the synthesis of representative zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (i.e., ZIF-8 and ZIF-67) using the spray route.
Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting or Valve Surgery is Associated with Increased Mortality Following Heart Transplantation under the New Donor Heart Allocation System

Purpose Literature indicates that history of cardiac surgery prior to HTx portends poor post-HTx survival, although the impact of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve surgery remains unknown. We sought to determine the effect of these two procedures on survival following HTx under the new allocation system. Methods The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was queried for adults who underwent first time, single-organ HTx between October 2018 and March 2020. Recipients who had a prior isolated CABG or isolated open-heart valve procedure were included in the I-CABG/valve group. Recipients with history of 1) no cardiac surgery, 2) other cardiac surgery, and 3) concomitant CABG and valve surgery were included in the non-I-CABG/valve group. 180-day survival following HTx was analyzed between groups using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards analysis. Results Of the 2,688 recipients included in this study, 313 (11.6%) were included in the I-CABG/valve group. 1,666 (62.0%) had no history of cardiac surgery prior to HTx. Those in the I-CABG/valve group were significantly older (58.3±9.7 vs. 52.3±13.2, p Conclusion Under the new allocation system, recipients with a history of isolated CABG/valve surgery are at greater risk of 180-day post-HTx mortality. These recipients may require careful considerations prior to undergoing HTx.
Tides and Tribulations: English Prize Law and the Law of Nations in the Seventeenth Century

By the 17th century, the English legal landscape was looking like a battlefield, characterised by the ongoing antagonism and rivalry between the common law courts and the civilian Court of Admiralty. Judges of both English court systems vied with one another to gain the right to deal with litigation involving traders, merchants and seamen. And it seemed at a certain point that the common lawyers had, in fact, won. But there was one aspect of the Admiralty Court that displayed a very international character and which would not succumb to the dominance of the common law: prize. This paper will explain the development of English prize law, giving insight into why it was important to retain an internationally-based legal authority similar to that of its European counterparts, as per the Law of Nations. Despite the commonality of laws between England and that of other nations as far as prize was concerned, a uniformity of practice was also not necessarily guaranteed and the intertwinement of the law of nations language on the one hand and pragmatic and political considerations on the other will, too, be a focal point of this article.
The MathDeck Formula Editor: Interactive Formula Entry Combining LaTeX , Structure Editing, and Search

Writing formulas in LaTeX can be difficult, especially for complex formulas. MathDeck simplifies LaTeX formula entry by: 1) allowing rendered formulas to be edited directly alongside their associated LaTeX strings, 2) helping build formulas from smaller ones, and 3) providing searchable formula cards with associated names and descriptions. Cards are searchable by formula and title.
Rational approach to drug discovery for human schistosomiasis

Human schistosomiasis is a debilitating, life-threatening disease affecting more than 229 million people in as many as 78 countries. There is only one drug of choice effective against all three major species of Schistosoma, praziquantel (PZQ). However, as with many monotherapies, evidence for resistance is emerging in the field and can be selected for in the laboratory. Previously used therapies include oxamniquine (OXA), but shortcomings such as drug resistance and affordability resulted in discontinuation. Employing a genetic, biochemical and molecular approach, a sulfotransferase (SULT-OR) was identified as responsible for OXA drug resistance. By crystallizing SmSULT- OR with OXA, the mode of action of OXA was determined. This information allowed a rational approach to novel drug design. Our team approach with schistosome biologists, medicinal chemists, structural biologists and geneticists has enabled us to develop and test novel drug derivatives of OXA to treat this disease. Using an iterative process for drug development, we have successfully identified derivatives that are effective against all three species of the parasite. One derivative CIDD-0149830 kills 100% of all three human schistosome species within 5 days. The goal is to generate a second therapeutic with a different mode of action that can be used in conjunction with praziquantel to overcome the ever-growing threat of resistance and improve efficacy. The ability and need to design, screen, and develop future, affordable therapeutics to treat human schistosomiasis is critical for successful control program outcomes.
Size exclusion chromatography of petroleum samples using amino-bonded silica phase

Abstract Amino-bonded silica phase, frequently used in adsorption chromatographic mode for petroleum analysis, was evaluated for the separation of petroleum components based on polymer liquid chromatographic modes (viz. size exclusion, critical condition, and interaction). After verification of the stationary phase for polymer chromatography using polystyrene standards at different compositions of cyclohexane and dichloromethane, a similar approach was attempted for a distilled fraction of a crude oil. The approach was successful in size exclusion chromatographic mode whereas other modes were partially achievable because of the complex nature of petroleum samples. Subsequently, size exclusion mode was applied in crude oils with different American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity values. An inverse linear relationship between the API gravity value and the average molecular weights of the aromatic compounds of crude oils was established. It was found that the weight average molecular weight (Mw) was more sensitive to changes in API gravity values of the crude oils in comparison to number average molecular weight (Mn). Additionally, crude oil with lower API gravity value reflected broader distribution of species. Further studies on crude oils with lower API gravity value (
The Subretrofacial Nucleus: A Major Site of Action for the Cardiovascular Effects of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 Agonist Drugs

The purpose of our study was to determine the CNS site(s) where activation of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 receptors influence arterial blood pressure. To achieve this purpose the prototypic 5-HT1A and 5-HT2 receptor agonist drugs, 8-OH-DPAT and DOI, respectively, were microinjected into sites in the medulla oblongata known to control central sympathetic outflow in chloralose anesthetized cats while monitoring femoral arterial blood pressure and heart rate (ECG). Microinjection of 8-OH-DPAT (20 ng) into the subretrofacial nucleus in 6 animals produced large decreases in mean blood pressure. Heart rate was unaffected. Pretreatment with the 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, BMY-8227, prevented the response. Microinjection of DOI (100 and 300 ng, N = 6 animals) into the subretrofacial nucleus produced significant increases in mean arterial pressure, again, unaccompanied by any significant change in heart rate. These results indicate that the subretrofacial nucleus is a major site of CNS action for the blood pressure effects of 5-HT receptor agonist drugs.
Gene-expression profile of the ageing brain in mice.

Ageing of the brain leads to impairments in cognitive and motor skills, and is the major risk factor for several common neurological disorders such as Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease (PD). Recent studies suggest that normal brain ageing is associated with subtle morphological and functional alterations in specific neuronal circuits, as opposed to large-scale neuronal loss1. In fact, ageing of the central nervous system in diverse mammalian species shares many features, such as atrophy of pyramidal neurons, synaptic atrophy, decrease of striatal dopamine receptors, accumulation of fluorescent pigments, cytoskeletal abnormalities, and reactive astrocytes and microglia2. To provide the first global analysis of brain ageing at the molecular level, we used oligonucleotide arrays representing 6,347 genes to determine the gene-expression profile of the ageing neocortex and cerebellum in mice. Ageing resulted in a gene-expression profile indicative of an inflammatory response, oxidative stress and reduced neurotrophic support in both brain regions. At the transcriptional level, brain ageing in mice displays parallels with human neurodegenerative disorders. Caloric restriction, which retards the ageing process in mammals, selectively attenuated the age-associated induction of genes encoding inflammatory and stress responses.
Accuracy, Reliability, and Refractoriness in a Coincidence-Anticipation Task

Abstract The purpose of this study was to obtain further evidence concerning human performance in a particular type of anticipation task commonly termed the transit reaction. It was found that: (a) Performance can be exceptionally accurate; (b) the absolute error for performance with knowledge of results was significantly smaller than the error for performance without knowledge of results; (c) a small systematic constant error was found to persist for performance with and without knowledge of results; (d) both absolute and constant errors increased with the introduction of catch trials; (e) the correlation coefficients (.86—.54) suggested that the measures were at least modestly reliable; and (f) the estimated refractory period was 149 msec.
Inhibition of proliferation of T47D human breast cancer cells: alterations in progesterone receptor and p53 tumor suppressor protein.

We have investigated the influence of three structurally different but functionally related compounds [1, 10 ortho-phenanthroline (phenanthroline), Rifampicin and aurin tricarboxylic acid (ATA)] on the rate and the extent of proliferation of progesterone-responsive T47D human breast cancer cells. These compounds have previously been used in this laboratory and have been shown to modulate properties of nucleic acid binding proteins. Because p53 and the progesterone receptor (PR) are both DNA binding proteins that appear to regulate proliferation of breast cells, alterations in T47D cell p53 and PR levels were examined to determine their relevance in cell proliferation. T47D cells were grown in the absence of phenol red and in the presence of 5% fetal calf serum with or without charcoal stripping in the presence of the inhibitors. The rate of proliferation of cells grown in Rifampicin containing medium exhibited nearly 70% inhibition. Phenanthroline, a known metal chelator, was an effect ive inhibitor of proliferation at 3 mM reducing the cell number by more than 75%. ATA (0.24–2.4 µg/ml) inhibited the growth of the cells by nearly 50%. Analysis of the mechanism of action of these compounds revealed that treatment with these compounds caused specific changes in the molecular composition of T47D cell PR. Whereas ATA caused increased stability of PR isoforms, Rifampicin induced a upshift in the mobility of PR in SDS gels – a phenomenon associated with hyperphosphorylation of steroid receptors (SRs). Phenanthroline treatment (> 2 mM) caused a complete down-regulation of PR and the tumor suppressor protein, p53. The downregulation of p53 paralleled the changes in the molecular composition of PR. We propose that the inhibition of T47D cell proliferation by phenanthroline, Rifampicin and ATA results from a number of cellular changes that include regulation of p53 and PR. (Mol Cell Biochem 175: 81–89, 1997)
N-Acetylation of glucosamine-6-phosphate in Leuconostoc mesenteroides.

Abstract A partially purified enzyme (120-fold) from Leuconostoc mesenteroides catalyzed the reversible N-acetylation of d-glucosamine-6-phosphate. Coenzyme A was not required and inhibited the reaction rate. Neither d-glucosamine nor N-acetyl-d-glucosamine served as a substrate for the reversible reaction. The enzyme preparation retained 50% of its original activity after 5 min at 100 C. The Km for acetate was 7.7 × 10−2m in the presence of 2 × 10−2md-glucosamine-6-phosphate. The Km for d-glucosamine-6-phosphate was 5.0 × 10−3m in the presence of 0.64 m acetate. The product of the reaction was characterized by comparison with N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-6-phosphate prepared by enzymatic phosphorylation of N-acetyl-d-glusamine. The characterization tests were: chromatographic migration, acid hydrolysis, enzymatic dephosphorylation, sodium borohydride reduction, and periodate oxidation. The equilibrium constant for the reaction was about 7.5 m for the expression K = (d-glucosamine-6-phosphate)(acetate)/N-acetyl-d-glucosamine-6-phosphate. The standard free energy of the reaction was approximately 1,200 cal per mole.
Determination of the Grüneisen γ for Beryllium at 1.2 to 1.9 Times Standard Density

The curve that represents the locus of material states attainable directly by single-shock compression is termed a Hugoniot. Most existing very-high-pressure equation-of-state information is obtained by shock techniques and thus lies on that curve. The shocking process results in an increase in entropy. Thus the isotherm, the isentrope, and the Hugoniot, centered at a common initial-state point, correspond to successively higher energy states for a given material compression. The region in the pressure-volume plane between the principal isentrope and principal Hugoniot will be the subject of this report. That region will be investigated by using flash radiography to directly observe shocks and rarefactions in preshocked materials. The experiments to be described here will be interpreted in terms of the Mie-Gruneisen equation of State. Values of the Gruneisen parameter will be determined by comparing experimentally-attained states with states of corresponding volume on the principal Hugoniot. The results of different experimental techniques and different final compressions can thereby be reduced to a common basis of comparison — the Gruneisen parameter — and some conclusions concerning the high-pressure equation of State of beryllium can be formulated.
Coase and the Courts: Economics for the Common Man

The arguments collectively known as the Coase Theorem criticize the judicial policy of requiring businesses to ‘internalize’ their external costs of production, i.e., pay for the social costs their production incurs such as environmental or noise pollution. Coase argues that the policy of internalization often leads to economic inefficiency rather than efficiency maximization, contrary to what Pigouvian economic analysis asserts. The right to be free of the external costs of production ought to be based, instead, on Coase’s total product rule: Courts should allocate rights according to what maximizes overall total production and thereby maximize social welfare.Coasian analysis has been the bedrock of the Chicago Law and Economics school of thought pretty much since Coase’s paper, The Problem of Social Costs, was published in the Journal of Law and Economics in 1960. Though since its inception, there have been debates both as to the Coase Theorem’s validity and its meaning (in part because it invariably leads to a redistribution of wealth to the more advantaged), no one has evaluated the Coase Theorem for its economic correctness, that is, is it correct economic analysis per se?In this Article, I demonstrate with economic analysis, especially with the economic “theory of the 2nd best,” that Coase’s total product rule does not promote economic efficiency any more or less than judicial policies that focus on traditional principles of fairness and equity. In fact I show, from an economic analysis perspective, that Coase's total product rule serves primarily as a mechanism for redistributing wealth (as surmised by Coase’s political critics) and not to maximize total product as he claims.Although Coase implicitly claims that his approach does not contain value choices, an analysis of his economic methodology indicates that his theory does indeed mask one.
Effectiveness Of Pairing Weekly Reading Assignments And Quiz With Audience Response System For Neurology Resident Learning (P1.315)

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether incorporating Audience Response System (ARS) into quiz following weekly reading assignments enhanced resident’s gaining knowledge, motivated independent reading, and improved studying discipline BACKGROUND: The weekly assigned reading and preparatory examination improved scores with American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination and passing rate of American Board of Surgery. ARS has been used for various activities from surveying game show audiences to interactive didactic lectures with medical students and residents. With increasing resident’s duty hour constraints and the difficulty of incorporating required didactic activities into a busy schedule, we initiated a weekly reading assignment and weekly quiz administered with ARS, Clicker Quiz, in July 2012. DESIGN/METHODS: A 22-item questionnaire was developed and the survey was conducted online in October 2013. The results were analyzed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Eight out of nine residents responded (89%). All respondents agreed Clicker Quiz was a strong motivator and the exercise of reading one article a week helped 88% of the respondents in applying the newly learned information into their patient care. Eighty eight percent agreed reading articles followed by a quiz was more effective than reading articles without one. Compared to paper-based test or self-paced computerized test, 66% agreed Clicker Quiz helped learning and retaining the information for future reference; 83% agreed Clicker Quiz strongly motivated them to read articles. Seventy six percent felt we should expand the use of ARS to other educational activities, such as basic neuroscience lectures, as it provides the motivation for studying as well as a real-time feedback on the individual’s learning. CONCLUSIONS: Pairing weekly reading assignments with ARS quizzes was well received by residents and improved their studying routine and overall educational experience. Weekly Clicker Quiz is a novel educational tool that enhances learning without encroaching on resident’s duty hours. Disclosure: Dr. Hasan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fry has nothing to disclose. Dr. DeToledo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kim has nothing to disclose.
Treatment of thyrotoxicosis during pregnancy with propranolol

The treatment of two pregnant thyrotoxic patients with propranolol alone is discussed. One patient had a spontaneous remission during pregnancy wile taking propranolol. In the other patient treatment with propranolol allowed postponement of definitive therapy until after delivery, when the fetus was no longer at risk. There were no complications of therapy in either patient and both infants were normal. The use of propranolol in thyrotoxicosis is discussed and the pertinent literature is reviewed. Regional anesthesia is preferred over general anesthsia in patients taking propranolol. Patients taking propranolol who require general anesthesia for delivery should have continuous monitoring of electrocardiogram and central venous pressure. To this date no method of therapy has been free of fetal side effects. Surgical treatment is associated with occasional abortion or premature labor; antithyroid medication occasionally results in fetal goiter or cretinism.
Gradient- and spin-echo MR imaging of the brain.

In their study comparing gradient- and spin-echo (GRASE) and T2-weighted fast spin-echo imaging of the brain, Rockwell et al [(1)][1] conclude that T2-weighted GRASE images are better at depicting lesions with paramagnetic susceptibility effects. Although this is likely true, as fast-spin-echo
Novel Organotypic Culture Model of Cholangiocarcinoma Progression

Aim: Recent studies have suggested that increased α-smooth muscle-actin positive myofibroblastic cells (α-SMA positive CAF) in the desmoplastic stroma may relate to a more aggressive cancer and worse survival outcomes for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients. To facilitate investigating cellular and molecular interactions between α-SMA positive CAF and cholangiocarcinoma cells related to ICC progression, we developed a novel 3-D organotypic culture model of cholangiocarcinoma that more accurately mimics the stromal microenvironment, gene expression profile and select pathophysiological characteristics of desmoplastic ICC in vivo. Methods: This unique model was established by co-culturing within a type I collagen gel matrix, a strain of cholangiocarcinoma cells (derived from an ICC formed in syngeneic rat liver following bile duct inoculation of spontaneously-transformed rat cholangiocytes) with varying numbers of clonal α-SMA positive CAF established from the same tumor type. Results: Cholangiocarcinoma cells and α-SMA positive CAF in monoculture each exhibited cell-specific biomarker gene expression profiles characteristic of stromal myofibroblastic cell versus malignant cholangiocyte cell types. In comparison, the gene expression profile and histopathological characteristics exhibited by the organotypic co-culture closely resembled those of whole tissue samples of the parent orthotopic ICC. We further showed α-SMA positive CAF to significantly enhance cholangiocarcinoma cell “ductal-like” growth and cancer cell migration/invasiveness in vitro, as well as to promote upregulated expression of select genes known to be associated with ICC invasion. Conclusion: This novel organotypic model provides an important new resource for studying the effects of microenvironment on cholangiocarcinoma progression in vitro and may have potential as a preclinical model for identifying molecularly targeted therapies.
Behavioral inhibition and test anxiety: An empirical investigation of Gray's theory☆

Abstract Gray's theory that behavioral inhibition and anxiety reflect activation of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) was examined in high and low test anxious (TA) subjects. A computerized go/no go discrimination task was employed to assess tendencies for responding to obtain reward versus responding to avoid punishment or non-reward. Consistent with Gray's theory, increased behavioral inhibition was observed in high TA subjects. In addition, increased behavioral inhibition was found in the condition which involved punishment as compared to the condition which involved non-reward for incorrect responses. TA group differences were greater in the non-reward condition than in the punishment condition. This finding suggests that the punishment condition was highly aversive and masked group differences. High TA subjects responded as if the BIS was activated in both conditions, whereas low TA subjects responded as if the BIS was activated only in the punishment condition. Consistent with Gray's theory, over-sensitivity of the BIS was viewed as a propensity for increased sensitivity to stimuli signaling punishment or non-reward, resulting in behavioral inhibition.
57 THE EFFECT OF INTERHOSPITAL TRANSPORT VARIABLES ON THE SURVIVAL OF CRITICALLY ILL NEONATES WITH RDS

57 THE EFFECT OF INTERHOSPITAL TRANSPORT VARIABLES ON THE SURVIVAL OF CRITICALLY ILL NEONATES WITH RDS
Irrelevant thoughts, emotional mood states, and cognitive task performance

In two experiments, we investigated the relationship shared by irrelevant thoughts, emotional mood states, and cognitive task performance. At an empirical level, irrelevant thoughts were defined as thoughts that did not facilitatesuccessful task performance. We used the same general procedure for both experiments: three groups of college students received happy-, neutral- (control), or sad-mood inductions and performed a memory task. The procedure for obtaining thoughts varied between experiments. The subjects in Experiment 1 listed their thoughts after the memory recall task. In Experiment 2, the subjects were tape-recorded while performing a memory task and producing concurrent verbal protocols. The subjects in both experiments then judged their thoughts in terms of frequency, intensity,and irrelevance. Wefound a similar pattern of results in both experiments: (1) The proportions ofirrelevant thoughts and recall performance were -negatively related, and (2) happy and sad studentsproduced reliably greater proportions of irrelevant thoughts than did neutral (control) students.
Total Cost of Ownership: Elements and Implementation

While total cost of ownership concepts are widely discussed, in practice most firms do not utilize the total cost concept in purchasing. This article uses findings from studies of nine firms that use total cost of ownership to define the total cost of ownership concept and benefits. A framework for classifying cost elements is developed. The article concludes with a discussion of key total cost of ownership implementation issues, and explores two approaches to implementation of total cost of ownership concepts in purchasing.
Lupus erythematosus associated with erythema multiforme: Does Rowell’s syndrome exist?

We describe a patient with lupus erythematosus who experienced an unusual erythema multiforme-like eruption suggestive of Rowell's syndrome. We compare our case and 9 other reports of lupus erythematosus associated with erythema multiforme to the 4 cases reported by Rowell. Our findings indicate that Rowell's original criteria are not well preserved. The coexistence of lupus erythematosus with erythema multiforme does not impart any unusual characteristics to either disease, and the immunologic disturbances in such patients are probably coincidental.
Kappa as a measure of pattern in sequential data

The kappa statistic is suggested as a means to index the degree to which particular patterns occur in social interaction. It is suggested that the value of the kappa statistic for each interaction be used as a dependent measure. Particular formulas for kappa are derived for undirectional dependence, bidirectional dependence, other additive patterns, and for dominance.