cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tracheoplasty for long segment congenital tracheal stenosis: analysis of 29 patients over two decades

Abstract Purpose: The authors determined the long-term outcome of patients who underwent surgical repair of long-segment congenital tracheal stenosis (LCTS) and compared the quality of cartilage graft and slide tracheoplasty techniques. Methods: Twenty-nine patients underwent surgical repair of LCTS at 29 days to 9 years of age. In 26 patients, more than 50% of the entire length of the trachea was involved. The early 12 patients (1981 through 1992) were treated with a costal cartilage graft for tracheal reconstruction. The remaining 17 patients (1997 through 2002) were treated with slide tracheoplasty. For both procedures, a median sternotomy was preferred because of convenience when using extracorporeal circulation and for simultaneous repair of associated cardiovascular anomalies. Results: Of the 12 patients who underwent a costal cartilage graft, 8 survived (66%). Six of these patients are free of disease, but 2 have persistent airway problems. Three patients died of residual stenosis and 1 of unrelated disease. Of the 17 patients who underwent slide tracheoplasty, 13 survived (76%), and 10 are free of disease. Three patients continue to require a stent because of tracheomalacia and granulation. Two patients died of cardiac failure, 1 of granulation, and 1 of aspiration pneumonia. Conclusions: The authors challenged LCTS with a unique surgical approach and succeeded in making an incurable disease curable. When the cartilage graft technique is compared with slide tracheoplasty, however, the latter is preferable because it preserves native tracheal tissue with less frequent complications.
Evaluation of a metal artifact reduction technique in tonsillar cancer delineation

Abstract Purpose Metal artifacts can degrade computed tomographic (CT) simulation imaging and impair accurate delineation of tumors for radiation treatment planning purposes. We investigated a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-based metal artifact reduction technique in tonsillar cancer delineation. Methods and Materials Eight patients with significant artifact and tonsil cancer were evaluated. Each patient had a positron emission tomography (PET)-CT and a contrast-enhanced CT obtained at the same setting during radiotherapy simulation. The CTs were corrected for artifact using the metal deletion technique (MDT). Two radiation oncologists independently delineated primary gross tumor volumes (GTVs) for each patient on native (CT nonMDT ), metal corrected (CT MDT ), and reference standard (CT PET/nonMDT ) imaging, 1 week apart. Mixed effects models were used to determine if differences among GTVs were statistically significant. Two diagnostic radiologists and 2 radiation oncologists independently qualitatively evaluated CTs for each patient. Ratings were on an ordinal scale from –3 to +3, denoting that CT MDT was markedly, moderately, or slightly worse or better than CT nonMDT . Scores were compared with a Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results The GTV PET/nonMDT were significantly smaller than GTV nonMDT ( P = .004) and trended to be smaller than GTV MDT ( P = .084). The GTV nonMDT and GTV MDT were not significantly different ( P = .93). There was no significant difference in the extent to which GTV nonMDT or GTV MDT encompassed GTV PET/nonMDT ( P = .33). In the subjective assessment of image quality, CT MDT did not significantly outperform CT nonMDT . In the majority of cases, the observer rated the CT MDT equivalent to (53%) or slightly superior (41%) to the corresponding CT nonMDT . Conclusions The MTD modified images did not produce GTV MDT that more closely reproduced GTV PET/nonMDT than did GTV nonMDT . Moreover, the MTD modified images were not judged to be significantly superior when compared to the uncorrected images in terms of subjective ability to visualize the tonsilar tumors. This study failed to demonstrate value of the adjunctive use of a CT corrected for artifacts in the tumor delineation process. Artifacts do make tumor delineation challenging, and further investigation of other body sites is warranted.
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition and Anti-Soman Efficacy of Homologs of Physostigmine

ABSTRACTInhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity by physostigmine (PHY) is reversible due to spontaneous decarbamylation. Physostigmine has been shown to be effective as a pretreatment against potent anticholinesterase poisons (e.g., soman) in experimental animals, yet it is short acting and causes undesirable side effects in mammals. The two-fold purpose of this study was 1) to determine whether extension of the N-substituted alkyl chain (N-SAC) of PHY from N-methyl to N-ethyl (I), N-propyl (II), N-isopropyl (III), N-butyl (IV) or N-heptyl (V) affects anti-AChE potency and spontaneous decarbamylation of inhibited AChE of guinea pig blood in vitro and in vivo, and 2) to see whether chain extension affects efficacy as pretreatment in poisoning by soman. The in vitro AChE inhibition studies were done using whole blood incubated at 37°C for 30 min. All 5 homologs possessed anti-AChE activity with I50s ranging from 1.1 to 27.6 × 10−7M; compound III was the least potent in vitro and in vivo. Lengthen...
Implementation of Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, an Integrated Project-Based Course on Materials Science and History of Technology

Olin College sophomores participate in integrated course blocks that merge technical content with business, arts, humanities, and social science topics, allowing students to work on engineering projects that have broader implications than the purely technical. In this paper, we present Paul Revere: Tough as Nails, a multidisciplinary course block that combines an introductory materials science course with a history of technology course and a large scale project. In Paul Revere, students explore connections between historical and technological materials science developments through examinations of Paul Revere’s metallurgical work and analyses of the relevant social, environmental, political, and economic aspects that contribute to ancient and modern technologies. The explicit linkages among technical, non-technical, and hands-on aspects of the course improve learning of traditional topics, help drive interdisciplinary thinking, and lead to a high level of student satisfaction and motivation throughout the semester.
Effect of forebrain dopamine depletion on novelty-induced place preference behavior in rats.

Abstract Novelty-induced place preference behavior of rats was studied in two experiments. In the first experiment, separate groups of animals were habituated to a distinct environment 30 min daily for either zero, one,two, four or eight days. On the day following the last habituation day, animals were allowed 15 min free access to both the habituated (familiar) and a distinct novel environment. The results revealed a significant novelty preference in the two-, four- and eight-day habituation groups. In these same animals, the rate of horizontal and vertical activity was lower in the novel environment relative to the familiar environment. The influence of forebrain dopamine (DA) projections on novelty preference behavior was studied in the second experiment. Animals were given an injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nucleus accumbens or were given sham surgery, and then they were given four habituation days to one environment. Novelty-induced place preference was blocked in the lesioned animals, as the amount of time spent in the novel and familiar environments was not significantly different. Lesioned animals also failed to show a difference in locomotor activity between the novel and familiar environents. Subsequent assay data revealed that the 6-OHDA lesion reduce DA levels in the nucleus accumbens, anterior striatum and olfactory tubercles by over 65% as compared to sham surgery. These results suggest that novelty preference behavior may be mediated by a central DA pathway similar to that involved in other types of reinforcing stimuli, such as food, water and drugs of abuse.
Impact of Communication Reliability on a Cooperative Collision Warning System

This paper evaluates the effect of communication reliability on a cooperative collision warning system (CCWS). The CCWS estimates and communicates vehicle positions, and predicts and processes future trajectories for collision decision making. The feasibility of the system design has been demonstrated in previous work, and this paper focuses on the robustness and reliability of the system by analyzing the error propagation and its impact on detection performance. This paper uses the Kalman filter technique to statistically characterize the trajectory prediction error, incorporates communication-induced error as part of the prediction error, and then determines the probability of conflicts and the quality of detection performance. Results with experimental data are presented to demonstrate the reliability of the system.
The double-edged sword of fibronectin in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in Westernized countries, derives from a non‐resolving inflammation of the large arteries. A critical step in the initiation of an atherosclerotic plaque is the expansion of intimal space (the area between the endothelial cell (EC) lining and the medial smooth muscle cell layer) in susceptible regions of arteries (Tabas et al, 2007). The disease‐prone locations are largely determined by arterial blood flow characteristics, with branch points and the lesser curvatures of arteries, where the flow is turbulent, being particularly disposed to plaque formation. At these sites, the normally thin intimal space expands with the deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM), which then serves as a sticky surface to trap LDL particles that are constantly crossing the endothelial layer to enter the artery. One reason for this retention is that the apoB100 molecule on the LDL particle has a specific domain that binds tightly to the ECM, and genetic causation studies in a mouse model of atherosclerosis have shown that when this domain is deleted, plaque burden is significantly reduced despite equivalent hyperlipidemia (Skalen et al, 2002). As implied by the ‘Response to Retention’ hypothesis (Tabas et al, 2007), the retained lipoprotein particles set in motion the invasion of the arterial wall by monocytes that quickly become macrophages that engorge themselves on cholesterol and the other lipids to form foam cells. Foam cells not only physically expand the plaque, but by secreting a variety of chemokines and cytokines, they also create and amplify an inflammatory state (Fig 1). Figure 1. Plasma derived FN promotes atherogenesis in mouse models of atherosclerosis. pFN, synthesized in the liver, is deposited in susceptible regions of the arteries and contributes to early atherosclerotic lesion formation and the recruitment of smooth muscle cells that shape the fibrous cap of advanced lesions (upper panel). …
BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO REPEATED HUMAN INTRUSION BY BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOGS (CYNOMYS LUDOVICIANUS)

This study addressed behavioral responses by black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) to human intrusion in urban and rural environments in Boulder, Colorado. We expected that if prairie dogs habituate to repeated disturbances, they should allow a recurring human intruder to approach closer over time before sounding an alarm bark or initiating concealment. We also predicted that urban colonies could be approached more closely than rural colonies before displaying an avoidance response. Four colonies (2 rural and 2 urban) were approached >100 times over a 7-month period. Rather than exhibiting habituation, prairie dogs demonstrated increased responsiveness in concealment behavior, retreating to their burrows earlier, with recurring disturbances. Barking distances did not change consistently with repeated intrusion, but, over time, prairie dogs barked less frequently when performing their avoidance response, a result with implications for prairie dog management. Rural colonies had higher initial concealment distances, and these distances increased more rapidly with repeated intrusion than did concealment distances in urban colonies. Thus, rural prairie dogs may be more sensitive to human intrusion than urban prairie dogs.
A generalized ATM traffic model and its application in bandwidth allocation

To guarantee end-to-end performance for multimedia services, performance bounds are imposed on individual nodes. Under these bounds maximum call arrival rates supported and maximum channel utilization realized are determined. This is essentially a bandwidth allocation and call admission control problem, and thus knowledge of source behavior is critical. To this end, the elementary ON/OFF source is used to model a wide variety of the services that are expected in a broadband network. The authors characterize this source using basic parameters and show how to model representative voice, data, and video sources. They supply these parameters to extent Weinstein's cutoff formula to compute cell overload that occurs during statistical multiplexing. The overload analysis presents a simple method of dimensioning buffer sizes at a node to meet delay and cell loss requirements. >
Home Range and Activity of Northern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) in the Sierra Nevada

Abstract We measured size of home range (adaptive kernel and minimum convex polygon methods), size of nest trees, and distance to nest trees during nightly activity of 13 northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) in two types of forests in Plumas Co., California. We used 95 and 50% adaptive kernel and 95% minimum convex polygon analyses to determine home ranges. Juvenile males had smaller home ranges (6.3 ± 1.6 ha) than adult males (25.5 ± 4.0 ha). There was no significant difference in area of home range by gender or type of forest among adults. Mean size of home range was 29.3 ± 4.5 ha for all adults. Most nests were cavities in live trees and snags, although some external nests were used. Mean distance from locations of northern flying squirrels to the nearest nest tree did not vary throughout the night; however, females tended to travel farther from nest trees.
Wide Band Modeling and Parameter Identification for Magnetostrictive Actuators

Smart materials, such as magnetostrictive and piezoelectric materials and shape memory alloys, display certain coupling phenomena between applied electromagnetic or thermal fields and their mechanical properties. This leads to complicated constitutive behaviors of actuators built from these materials and limits their effective use. In this paper, we introduce a model for magnetostrictive actuators that effectively captures phenomenological behavior over the frequency range 0-800 Hz. The model includes rate-independent hysteresis, classical eddy current losses, excess losses, magneto-elastic coupling and inertial effects. In related work, we had shown the existence, uniqueness and stability of weak solutions to this model for voltage inputs in the space L2(0,T) cap Linfin (0,T) and external mechanical forces in the space L2(0,T). In this paper, we also propose a method for identifying parameters related to the eddy current and excess losses. Our method holds the hysteresis loss per cycle at a constant value as the frequency of the input voltage is changed, which then allows the identification of the parameters related to eddy and excess losses using linear programming. Our theoretical analysis indicates that the lead resistance cannot be assumed to have a constant value at frequencies higher than 800 Hz, which means that the skin effect becomes important at higher frequencies.
Vehicle Routing Problem with Metric Temporal Logic Specifications

This paper proposes a novel version of the vehicle routing problem (VRP). Instead of servicing all the customers, feasible solutions of the VRP instance are forced to satisfy a set of complex high-level tasks given as a metric temporal logic (MTL) specification, which allows complex quantitative timing constraints to be incorporated into the problem. For the resulting vehicle routing problem with metric temporal logic specifications (VRPMTL), a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) based algorithm is provided that solves the problem to optimality. Examples for optimal multi-UAV mission planning are provided where MTL is used as a high level language to specify complex mission tasks.
NMR Probes of Molecular Dynamics: Overview and Comparison with Other Techniques

NMR spin relaxation spectroscopy is a powerful approach for characterizing intramolecular and overall rotational motions in proteins. This review describes experimental methods for measuring laboratory frame spin relaxation rate constants by high-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy, together with theoretical approaches for interpreting spin relaxation data in order to quantify protein conformational dynamics on picosecond-nanosecond time scales. Recent applications of these techniques to proteins are surveyed, and investigations of the contribution of conformational chain entropy to protein function are highlighted. Insights into the dynamical properties of proteins obtained from NMR spin relaxation spectroscopy are compared with results derived from other experimental and theoretical techniques.
Adeno-Associated Virus RNAs Appear in a Temporal Order and Their Splicing Is Stimulated during Coinfection with Adenovirus

We have used a quantitative RNase protection assay to characterize the relative accumulation and abundance of individual adeno-associated virus type 2 (AAV) RNAs throughout the course of AAV-adenovirus coinfections and preinfections. We have demonstrated that there is a previously unrecognized temporal order to the appearance of AAV RNAs. First, unspliced P5-generated transcripts, which encode Rep78, were detectable prior to the significant accumulation of other AAV RNAs. Ultimately, as previously demonstrated, P19-generated products accumulated to levels greater than those generated from P5, and P40-generated transcripts predominated in the total RNA pool. Second, the percentage of each class of AAV RNA that was spliced increased during infection, and the degree of this increase was different for the P5/P19 products than for those generated by P40. At late times postcoinfection, approximately 90% of P40 products, but only approximately 50% of RNAs generated by P5 and P19, were seen to be spliced; thus, the AAV intron was removed to different final levels from these different RNA species. We have shown that each of the AAV RNAs is quite stable; the majority of each RNA species persisted 6 h after treatment with actinomycin D. Quantification of the accumulation of individual AAV RNAs, over intervals during which degradation was negligible, allowed us to infer that at late times during infection the relative strength of P5, P19, and P40 was approximately 1:3:18, respectively, consistent with the steady-state accumulated levels of the RNAs generated by each promoter. All AAV RNAs exited to the cytoplasm with similar efficiencies in the presence or absence of adenovirus; however, adenovirus coinfection appeared to stimulate total splicing of AAV RNAs and the relative use of the downstream intron acceptor. Our results confirm and extend previous observations concerning the appearance and processing of AAV-generated RNAs.
A modified hyperbolic congruential frequency hop codes for asynchronous event signaling

We show that the modified hyperbolic congruential frequency hop codes have almost ideal properties for code division multiple access (CDMA) communications, that is, for any pair of the codewords they have at most two hits for any frequency shift under a synchronous environment and at most four hits for any time and frequency shift under an asynchronous environment. Efficient algorithms for decoding the proposed codes are presented subsequently. We further demonstrate the applicability of the codes by showing a one way asynchronous CDMA communication system over power distribution line networks. >
Revocation Trends: A Threat to the Legitimacy of Community-Based Corrections:

Community-based correctional agencies exist in an institutional environment where maintaining legitimacy is essential for organizational success. Maintaining legitimacy has emerged as an even more salient issue in recent times given the current economic state. This article argues that the growing number of offenders who are incarcerated after their unsuccessful termination from community supervision represents a prominent threat to the legitimacy of community-based correctional organizations. This article draws attention to the relationship between revocation trends and the legitimacy of community corrections. In addition, strategies to enhance legitimacy by mitigating the effects of community corrections failures are addressed.
Incremental action recognition using feature-tree

Action recognition methods suffer from many drawbacks in practice, which include (1)the inability to cope with incremental recognition problems; (2)the requirement of an intensive training stage to obtain good performance; (3) the inability to recognize simultaneous multiple actions; and (4) difficulty in performing recognition frame by frame. In order to overcome all these drawbacks using a single method, we propose a novel framework involving the feature- tree to index large scale motion features using Sphere/Rectangle-tree (SR-tree). The recognition consists of the following two steps: 1) recognizing the local features by non-parametric nearest neighbor (NN), 2) using a simple voting strategy to label the action. The proposed method can provide the localization of the action. Since our method does not require feature quantization, the feature- tree can be efficiently grown by adding features from new training examples of actions or categories. Our method provides an effective way for practical incremental action recognition. Furthermore, it can handle large scale datasets due to the fact that the SR-tree is a disk-based data structure. We have tested our approach on two publicly available datasets, the KTH and the IXMAS multi-view datasets, and obtained promising results.
The Influence of Social Norms on College Student Alcohol and Marijuana Use.

The Alcohol and Other Drug survey (adapted from D. Thombs, 1999) was administered to 235 undergraduates at a southeastern university to assess the influence that gender-specific normative perceptions have on 2 substance abuse patterns. Multiple regression analyses confirmed that gender-specific normative beliefs accounted for variance in alcohol use intensity and frequency of marijuana use beyond the variance accounted for by sociodemographic variables. Implications for college counselors are discussed.
Chemicals Associated with Decreases in the Incidence of Mononuclear Cell Leukemia in the Fischer Rat

A significant treatment-related decrease in the incidence of mononuclear cell leukemia (MCL) was identified in Fischer-344/N rats for 20 chemicals tested in the National Toxicology Program's 2-yr carcinogenicity bioassay. Fourteen of the 20 chemicals caused decreases of MCL in both male and female rats; 6 of the 20 caused a significant decrease only in males and a marginal or no decrease in female rats. Seventeen of the chemicals associated with a decrease in MCL had a free aromatic amine or nitro functional groups that could be metabolized to free amines. With 1 exception, all 14 chemicals causing a decrease in MCL in both sexes produced spleen toxicity in the 13-wk studies. Reduced body weight and decreased survival, related either to toxicity or to an increase in other types of lethal neoplasms, did not contribute to the decreases in MCL observed in chemical exposure groups. Thirteen of the 20 chemicals were positive in Salmonella tests, and 15 were associated with increases in neoplasms at other sites...
Explicitly Teaching Struggling Writers Strategies for Mastering the Writing Process

Students are often asked to write reports for science, history, and other content-area classes. Struggling writers and many of their classmates are unsure about how to plan and write reports. This article presents a strategy for planning and writing reports and describes how a general and special education teacher team-taught this strategy to a classroom of fifth-grade students.
Einsatz von Reifegradmodellen im Prozessmanagement

Die kontinuierliche Prozessverbesserung stellt eine der Hauptaufgaben des Prozessmanagements dar. In der betrieblichen Praxis kommen hierfur vermehrt Reifegradmodelle zum Einsatz, die bei der Erhebung des Istzustandes und der Identifikation von Verbesserungspotenzial unterstutzen konnen. Unternehmen versprechen sich davon verschiedene Nutzenaspekte, wie z.B. Wettbewerbsvorteile, beachten jedoch oftmals Schwachstellen nicht, z.B. die mangelnde Ausrichtung an Unternehmenszielen. Basierend auf den Grundlagen von Reifegradmodellen werden im Folgenden Nutzenaspekte und Schwachstellen von Reifegradmodellen im Prozessmanagement im Allgemeinen und anhand eines Fallbeispiels aufgezeigt. Das Prozessmanagement sollte sich diese verdeutlichen und gegeneinander abwagen, um eine fundierte Entscheidung mit Blick auf die Einfuhrung eines Reifegradmodells treffen zu konnen.
Corporations, Democracy, and the Public Good

Organizational theorists have had much to say about how environments affect organizations but have said relatively little about how organizations shape their environment. This silence is particularly troubling, given that organizations, in general, and corporations, in particular, now wield inordinate political power. This article illustrates three ways in which corporations can undermine representative democracy and the public good: promoting legislation that benefits corporations at the expense of individual citizens, the capturing of regulatory agencies by those whom the agencies were designed to regulate, and the privatization of functions that have historically been the mandate of local, state, and federal governments.
Influence of diet and genetics on hypertension and renal disease in Dahl salt-sensitive rats

Experiments examined the influence of diet and genetics on hypertension and renal disease in inbred Dahl salt-sensitive (SS/Mcw) rats and consomic rats in which chromosomes 16 (SS.BN16) or 18 (SS.B...
Absorber simulation and design using a nonequilibrium stage model

A nonequilibrium stage model of multicomponent separation processes is used to simulate three representative nonisothermal gas absorption processes: (i) the absorption of ammonia from air using water, (ii) the purification of an acid gas stream using cold methanol and (iii) a process in which a heavy hydrocarbon oil is used to absorb a mixture of lighter hydrocarbons. The temperature profiles and terminal stream compositions predicted by the model compare well with experimental measurements on the ammonia/air/water and acid gas/methanol systems. The case study involving the absorption of light hydrocarbons is used to demonstrate that there can be large differences between designs based on the nonequilibrium stage model and the efficiency-modified-equilibrium-stage model. On emploie un modele, a plusieurs etages, hors d'equilibre, de precedes de separation de melanges complexes pour simuler trois exemples representatifs de precedes d'absorption non isothermes de gaz, a savoir: (i) l'absorption de l'ammoniac de l'air, en employant l'eau; (ii) la purification d'un courant de gaz acide au moyen de methanol refroidi; (iii) un precede dans lequel on emploi une huile lourde d'hydrocarbures pour absorber un melange d'hydrocarbures legers. Les profils de temperature et les compositions du courant de sortie que le modele a predits concordent bien avec les mesures experimentales faites dans le cas des systemes ammoniac/air/eau et gaz acide/methanol. On emploie l'etude de cas impliquant l'absorption d'hydrocarbures legers pour demontrer qu'il peut exister de grandes differences dans les calculs bases sur le modele hors d'equilibre, a etages multiples et ceux obtenus par le modele qui consiste a modifier l'efficacite calculee en supposant l'equilibre.
Quality and quantity: new strategies to improve immunotherapy of cancer

Adoptive immunotherapy is a promising approach for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer. Several lines of research are currently focusing on the development of different technologies to facilitate the induction and expansion of antigen-specific T cells. Here, we discuss two current articles that affect the field of adoptive immunotherapy. One article describes the engineering of artificial antigen-presenting cells, which promise to replace the cumbersome dendritic-cell approach for the in vitro generation of large numbers of antigen-specific T cells. The second development is a description of a new technique for the detection of functionally active antigen-specific T cells, which will enhance the ability to control the quality of the T cells to be used in adoptive immunotherapy. Together, these exciting findings will advance the field of immunotherapy.
Time Domain Reflectometer for measuring liquid waste levels in a septic system

A Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) level measurement device capable of generating and receiving electromagnetic waves for the measurement of waste water is presented. The primary objective is to measure the height of waste water in a tank and design an efficient measuring device. The TDR is based on the reflection mechanism, in which the time delay between the transmitted and reflected signals helps to determine the distance from the source to the surface of water, which is later used to calculate the height of water in the tank. The TDR is built using a 74AC14 IC, which is capable of producing pulse signals with very low rising and falling times that provide greater accuracy. Thus, the generated pulse signals are transmitted into the probe inserted in a tank. The total time taken by the pulse to travel the path to and from is calculated, which in return helps in calculating the height of the liquid in the tank. The functioning of the proposed TDR circuit and the biaxial probe is also tested in the laboratory.
Depression in older adults.

OverviewDepression affects an estimated 15% to 19% of Americans ages 65 and older living in a variety of settings, yet the illness often goes unrecognized and untreated. Known risk factors for older adults include having chronic medical conditions, physical or cognitive functional decline, polypharm
Epidemiological characteristics of malignant tumors among children in Pudong district of Shanghai in 2002-2010

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of malignant tumors among children aged 0-14 years in Pudong district of Shanghai from 2002 to 2010. Methods Data of morbidity and mortality of malignant tumors among children were collected through Shanghai cancer registry system and follow up management system,and verified with vital statistics data.International Children's Tumor Classification System(ICCC-3)was used for classification analysis. Results Total 283 new children cases with malignant tumors were diagnosed from 2002 to 2010with the crude incidence of 121.86 and the standardized incidence of 124.03 per 1 000 000 population.Majority of cases were in age group of 0-4years.The top three malignant tumors were found to be leukemia,CNS tumors and lymphoma.During the same period,121 children died of cancer with the crude mortality rate of 52.10 and the standardized mortality rate of 54.19 per 1 000 000 population.The highest mortality rates were found in age group of 0-4and 5-9years which were close,while,the lowest was found in age group of 10-14 years.CNS tumors,leukemia and malignant bone tumors were the top three cancers causing the death of cases. Conclusions The morbidity and mortality of malignant tumors among children are relatively low in Pudong district.The incidence is lower than that of Western countries,but slightly higher than the overall incidence of Shanghai,which varies with gender and age.
Hemodynamic study of superior mesenteric artery in functional children recurrent abdominal pain with color Doppler ultrasonography

Objective To study the hemodynamic changes of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) of functional children recurrent abdominal pain(RAP),and to explore the correlation of hemodynamic changes.Methods The SMA diameter(D),blood flow volume(Q),peak systolic velocity(PSV),end diastolic velocity(EDV),pulsatility indices(PI)and resistance indices(RI)were measured by ultrasound in 40 children with functional RAP,and the results were compared with 45 subjects in control group.Results The PSV,EDV,Q and D of SMA in functional RAP group were significantly lower than those in control group(P0.01).While there was no significant difference of PI and RI between the two groups.Conclusion The decrease of some hemodynamic indexes of SMA in children with functional RAP has important reference value for clinical diagnosis of functional RAP.
I Beg to Introduce Myself

Though he was without a college degree and had essentially no formal training in mathematics, Ramanujan had accumulated a massive collection of formulas, all recorded in his notebooks without proof. Eager to share his work with others, he began to publish some of his findings, beginning in 1911 by submitting problems to the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. At first, nobody paid attention, or at least no one was able to solve his problems. For example, one of the problems that he challenged readers to solve was to find the value of $$ \sqrt{1+2\sqrt{1+3\sqrt{1+\cdots }}}. $$ What number was represented by this infinite nested square root?
English language learners and reading instruction: A review of the literature

ABSTRACTThe growing English language learner (ELL) population in the United States warrants an examination of reading intervention effectiveness with this population. The reading achievement of ELLs is of particular concern due to the importance of reading skills and the innate language barriers that exist for ELLs. This article reviews existing literature between January 2003 and July 2015 that examined the effectiveness of reading interventions with ELLs. Specifically, studies with large effect sizes that included phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, and/or vocabulary within intervention components and outcome measures were reviewed. Results indicate the effectiveness of multifaceted interventions for phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension, as well as the importance of vocabulary instruction to increase vocabulary outcomes. Identified interventions are discussed, including published interventions available for practitioners.
The vortex of three-dimensional mapping with a centrifugal ventricular assist device.

A 67-year-old man implanted with a HeartWare LVAD for ischaemic cardiomyopathy as a bridge to cardiac transplantation presented with refractory monomorphic ventricular tachycardia despite optimized volume status, impeller speed, and heart failure, and anti-arrhythmic drug therapy. …
Social Behavior of Adult Male New Zealand White Rabbits Housed in Groups or Pairs in the Laboratory

Rabbits are usually singly housed in laboratories, but a new emphasis on providing social housing for social species has prompted exploration of alternative housing for this species. However, a paucity of literature on the social behavior of rabbits in captivity has prevented scientific-based recommendations for appropriate housing. This study involved a descriptive analysis of the social behavior of rabbit bucks in the laboratory in 3 different housing situations: in groups in pens, in pairs in cages, and singly in cages. Based on study observations and the natural history of wild rabbits, bucks engage in affiliative social behaviors, but current caging may not allow for the expression of species-typical behaviors, thereby resulting in continued aggression.
Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities in DNA-Encoded Library Research: An Academic Point of View

DNA-encoded chemical libraries (DECLs) are pools of DNA-tagged small molecules that enable facile screening and identification of bio-macromolecule binders. The successful development of DECLs has led to their increasingly important role in drug development, and screening hits have entered clinical trials. In this review, we summarize the development and currently active research areas of DECLs with a focus on contributions from groups at academic institutes. We further look at opportunities and future directions of DECL research in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology based on the symbiotic relationship between academia and industry. Challenges associated with the application of DECLs in academic drug discovery are further discussed.
Effects of curcumin on Helicobacter pylori infection

Background: Curcumin is a well-established natural molecule with significant biological and pharmaceutical effects. Its effects on Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection have been repeatedly confirmed both in animal and human models. This study directly compared five different samples to evaluate if the effects are general or if they differ among samples. Methods: Using a mouse model, we studied the effects of curcumin on lipid peroxide (LPO) level, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and urease activity, number of colonized bacteria, levels of anti-H. pylori antibodies, biofilm formation, IFN-γ, IL-4, gastrin and somatostatin levels in serum, and minimum inhibitory concentration. In addition, we evaluated the effects on biofilm production and antibacterial antibody response. Results: In all tests, one sample (Sabinsa) was consistently the most active. Conclusions: All curcumin samples showed some anti-H. pylori effects, but only some of the tested samples had significant activity.
Introduction: Speech and Language in the Brain—Framing Multiple Perspectives

Rapid developments in the field of non-invasive neuroimaging have yielded exquisite details about brain structure and connectivity. This volume capitalizes on the details, presenting multiple perspectives on language organization in the brain that take the reader from the seat of phonology and phonetics, to thought, meaning, and memory, and the evolutionary basis of speech and language abilities. Methodological advances highlight the importance of functional and structural connectivity analyses in recognition of the brain working as a dynamic whole. A growing awareness of the role of frequency-specific neural oscillations in sensory and cognitive processing in combination with causal modeling is bringing us closer to more realistic models of speech and language processing grounded in the neurosciences.
Fecal incontinence as a moderator between dietary intake and depressive symptoms among a sample of older adults obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Objectives: Many studies have established a relationship between diet and mental health, as well as the importance of bowel health. Further, with increased evidence of a gut–brain bidirectional rel...
Development of nuisance periphytic algae in laboratory streams in relation to enrichment and velocity

Accrual of periphyton biomass in artificial channels responded more to increased SRP (soluble reactive phosphorus) concentration over a range of 2 to 75 µg l−1 than to velocity ranging from 5 to 75 cm s−1. Accrual increased in proportion to increased SRP up to about 25 µg l−1; but further increase was not as pronounced above that concentration, presumably due to a saturation of uptake rates. Velocity enhanced accrual between 5 and 25 cm s−1, apparently by maximizing the nutrient concentration gradient between surrounding water and the cell surface. This enhancement effect may prevail at velocities ≤15 cm s−1, as had been suggested previously. Velocities up to 75 cm s−1 did not cause scouring and loss of biomass from surfaces, however, a result which was unexpected. Review of the literature suggested that a biomass of 100 to 150 mg chl a m−2 may represent a nuisance condition. That level was attained in these experiments at between 15 and 25 µg l−1 SRP , which is suggested as a critical P concentration in running water. Although field observations are necessary to verify the validity of these levels, a mechanism-based model of periphyton accrual represented the observed pattern of development in these artificial channels.
Cancer immunotherapy in a neglected population: The current use and future of T-cell-mediated checkpoint inhibitors in organ transplant patients

Although the indications for immune checkpoint inhibitors continue to grow, organ transplant recipients with advanced malignancies have been largely excluded from clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of these therapies given their need for chronic immunosuppression and the risk of allograft rejection. With the rapid growth of transplant medicine and the increased risk of malignancy associated with chronic immunosuppression, it is critical that we systematically analyze the available data describing immune checkpoint blockade in the organ transplant population. Herein we provide a current and comprehensive review of cases in which immune checkpoint blockade was used on organ transplant recipients. Furthermore, we discuss the differences in efficacy and risk of allograft rejection between CTLA-4 and PD-1 inhibitors and make recommendations based on the limited available clinical data. We also discuss the future of immune checkpoint blockade in this subpopulation and explore the emerging data of promising combination therapies with mTOR, BRAF/MEK, and BTK/ITK inhibitors. Further clinical experience and larger clinical trials involving immune checkpoint inhibitors, whether as monotherapies or combinatorial therapies, will help develop regimens that optimize anti-tumor response and minimize the risk of allograft rejection in organ transplant patients.
Examining the duality of Holland's RIASEC types: Implications for measurement and congruence

Abstract Despite theoretical impetus that a person's vocational personality consists of two affective aspects (liking and disliking) there has been little research into this duality of vocational personality. Using semantic differential techniques, we conducted two studies that assessed people's affective responses to different RIASEC work activities. These studies make three contributions. First, in line with Holland's (1997) broader view of vocational interests as a vocational personality, we report evidence for a duality, one based on what people like (work activities they are drawn to); and another based on what people dislike (work activities they are averse to). Second, the emotion interest is shown to be but one potential indicator of vocational personality. By capturing other types of affective response to work activities, different aspects of vocational personality can be assessed. Third, the duality of vocational personality is applied to Holland's congruence hypothesis. A new type of vocational personality misfit—passive-incongruence is tested that relates negatively to intrinsic job satisfaction. Passive-incongruence also provides incremental validity in predicting intrinsic satisfaction with the variance once accounted for by traditional congruence being subsumed by passive-incongruence. These results suggest that examining what people characteristically dislike (find boring) might be important to understanding job satisfaction.
Application of molecular mass spectrometry for the structural characterization of a dna-protein cross-links

To date, many different analytical methods have been used to investigate the cross-linking reaction mechanism and to obtain the chemical structure of DNA-Protein Cross-links (DPCs). Direct MS analysis of DPCs is challenging because of the ionization properties of DNA and the protein. However, peptide sequencing and mass spectrometry (MS) as analytical techniques are playing increasingly important roles for the structure determination of DPCs model. In our previous study, a novel approach was presented for purification, detection and quantification of DPCs by newly developed inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS/MS), which allows sub-ppb detection of S and P, key heteroelements in DNA and proteins. In this study, we enhanced our previously developed method and it was complemented by the use of molecular MS to allow complete characterization of a DNA-protein cross-link. First, a small molecule model is utilized to identify the adduct structure that will likely occur in an intact DNA-protein cross-link. We investigate the thermal stability of DNA-protein cross-links, both in an intact DPC and a small molecule adduct to determine feasibility of digestion/thermal degradationof DNA without the cross-link information being lost. Thermal degradation was conducted to reduce the cross-linked DNA into a single nucleoside. The remaining protein-nucleoside adduct then was proteolytically digested, generating a peptide-nucleoside adduct. The absence of the phosphate moiety allows for facile structural characterization via electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Additional calculations were done for peptide matching allowing us to determine the cross-link location in the protein, made possible via MS/MS analysis. Additionally, we show that steric effects play an important role in DPC formation.
Thermophysical Properties of Gaseous Tungsten Hexafluoride From Speed-of-Sound Measurements

The speed of sound was measured in gaseous WF6 using a highly precise acoustic resonance technique. The data span the temperature range from 290 to 420 K and the pressure range from 50 kPa to the lesser of 300 kPa or 80% of the sample's vapor pressure. At 360 K and higher temperatures, the data were corrected for a slow chemical reaction of the WF6 within the apparatus. The speed-of-sound data have a relative standard uncertainty of 0.005%. The data were analyzed to obtain the ideal-gas heat capacity as a function of the temperature with a relative standard uncertainty of 0.1%. These heat capacities are in reasonable agreement with those determined from spectroscopic data. The speed-of-sound data were fitted by virial equations of state to obtain the temperature dependent density virial coefficients. Two virial coefficient models were employed, one based on square-well intermolecular potentials and the second based on a hard-core Lennard–Jones intermolecular potential. The resulting virial equations reproduced the sound-speed data to within ±0.005% and may be used to calculate vapor densities with relative standard uncertainties of 0.1% or less. The hard-core Lennard–Jones potential was used to estimate the viscosity and the thermal conductivity of dilute WF6. The predicted viscosities agree with published data to within 5% and can be extrapolated reliably to higher temperatures.