cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimal Levels of All Major Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Younger Age and Functional Disability in Older Age: The Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry 32-Year Follow-Up Health Survey

Background— The associations of optimal levels of all major cardiovascular disease risk factors, that is, low risk, in younger age with subsequent cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality have been well documented. However, little is known about associations of low-risk profiles in younger age with functional disability in older age. Methods and Results— The sample included 6014 participants from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry Study. Low-risk status, defined as untreated systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≤120/≤80 mm Hg, untreated serum total cholesterol <5.18 mmol/l, not smoking, body mass index < 25 kg/m2, and no diabetes mellitus, was assessed at baseline (1967 to 1973). Functional disability, categorized as (1) any disability in activities of daily living (ADLs), (2) any disability in instrumental ADLs but not in ADL, or (3) no disability, was assessed from the 2003 health survey. There were 39% women, 4% Black, with a mean age of 43 years and 6% low-risk status at baseline. After 32 years, 7% reported having limitations in performing any ADL and 11% in any instrumental ADL only. The prevalence of any ADL limitation was lowest in low-risk people and increased in a graded fashion with less-favorable risk factor groups ( P trend <0.001). Compared with those with 2+ high-risk factors, the multivariable-adjusted odds of having any disability in ADLs versus no disability in people with low risk, any moderate risk, and 1 high-risk factor at baseline were lower by 58%, 48%, and 37%, respectively. Results were similar for instrumental ADLs, in both men and women. Conclusions— Having an optimal cardiovascular disease risk factor profile at younger age is associated with the lowest rate of functional disability in older age.
New insights into upper airway innate immunity.

BackgroundProtecting the upper airway from microbial infection is an important function of the immune system. Proper detection of these pathogens is paramount for sinonasal epithelial cells to be a...
High-Energy Infrared Femtosecond Optical Parametric Oscillator Synchronously Pumped by a Thin-Disk Laser

An optical parametric oscillator has been constructed to test energy scalability using a 1.0-ps, thin-disk-based pump producing 455-fs pulses at 7.08 MHz tunable from 1.99 to 2.20 μm with energies up to 345 nJ.
Enhancer Remodeling during Adaptive Bypass to MEK Inhibition Is Attenuated by Pharmacologic Targeting of the P-TEFb Complex

Targeting the dysregulated BRAF-MEK-ERK pathway in cancer has increasingly emerged in clinical trial design. Despite clinical responses in specific cancers using inhibitors targeting BRAF and MEK, resistance develops often involving nongenomic adaptive bypass mechanisms. Inhibition of MEK1/2 by trametinib in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) induced dramatic transcriptional responses, including upregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) comparing tumor samples before and after one week of treatment. In preclinical models, MEK inhibition induced genome-wide enhancer formation involving the seeding of BRD4, MED1, H3K27 acetylation, and p300 that drives transcriptional adaptation. Inhibition of the P-TEFb-associated proteins BRD4 and CBP/p300 arrested enhancer seeding and RTK upregulation. BRD4 bromodomain inhibitors overcame trametinib resistance, producing sustained growth inhibition in cells, xenografts, and syngeneic mouse TNBC models. Pharmacologic targeting of P-TEFb members in conjunction with MEK inhibition by trametinib is an effective strategy to durably inhibit epigenomic remodeling required for adaptive resistance.Significance: Widespread transcriptional adaptation to pharmacologic MEK inhibition was observed in TNBC patient tumors. In preclinical models, MEK inhibition induces dramatic genome-wide modulation of chromatin, in the form of de novo enhancer formation and enhancer remodeling. Pharmacologic targeting of P-TEFb complex members at enhancers is an effective strategy to durably inhibit such adaptation. Cancer Discov; 7(3); 302-21. ©2017 AACR.This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 235.
Comprehensive Methods for Leaf Geometric Morphometric Analyses

Leaf morphometrics are used frequently by several disciplines, including taxonomists, systematists, developmental biologists, morphologists, agronomists, and plant breeders to name just a few. Leaf shape is highly variable and can be used for identifying species or genotypes, developmental patterning within and among individuals, assessing plant health, and measuring environmental impacts on plant phenotype. Traditional leaf morphometrics requires hand tools and access to specimens, but modern efforts to digitize botanical collections make digital morphometrics a readily accessible and scientifically rigorous option. Here we provide detailed instructions for performing some of the most informative digital geometric morphometric analyses available: generalized Procrustes analysis, elliptical Fourier analysis, and shape features. This comprehensive procedure for leaf shape analysis is comprised of six main sections: A) scanning of material, B) acquiring landmarks, C) analysis of landmark data, D) isolating leaf outlines, E) analysis of leaf outlines, and F) shape features. This protocol provides a detailed reference for applying landmark and outline analysis to leaf shape as well as describing leaf shape features, thus empowering researchers to perform high throughput phenotyping for diverse applications.
Curcumin interacts with sildenafil to kill GI tumor cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress and reactive oxygen/ nitrogen species.

// Jane L. Roberts 1 , Andrew Poklepovic 2 and Laurence Booth 1 1 Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0035, USA 2 Departments of Biochemistry and Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0035, USA Correspondence to: Laurence Booth, email: laurence.booth@vcuhealth.org Keywords: sildenafil, autophagy, chaperone, death receptor, ER stress Received: February 06, 2017 Accepted: April 15, 2017 Published: August 02, 2017 ABSTRACT The present studies focused on the ability of the phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitor sildenafil to enhance the anti-cancer properties of clinically relevant concentrations of the dietary diarylheptanoid curcumin. In gastrointestinal tumor cells, sildenafil and curcumin interacted in a greater than additive fashion to kill. Inhibition of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway suppressed killing by ~50%, as did blockade of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Sildenafil and curcumin reduced mTORC1 and mTORC2 activity and increased Beclin1 levels and the numbers of autophagosomes and autolysosomes in cells in a PERK-eIF2α-dependent fashion. Knock down of Beclin1 or ATG5 partially suppressed killing. In contrast, stable knock out of ATG16-L1 unexpectedly enhanced killing, an effect not altered by Beclin1/ATG5 knock down. Curcumin and sildenafil exposure reduced the expression of MCL-1, BCL-XL, thioredoxin and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) in an eIF2α-dependent fashion. Curcumin and sildenafil interacted in a greater than additive fashion to increase the levels of reactive oxygen species; knock down of thioredoxin or SOD2 enhanced killing and over-expression of thioredoxin or SOD2 suppressed killing. In vivo , curcumin and sildenafil interacted to suppress the growth of colon cancer tumors. Multiplex analyses of plasma taken after drug exposure at animal nadir indicated that the levels of M-CSF, CXCL-9, PDGF and G-CSF were significantly increased by [curcumin + sildenafil] and that expression of CXCL1 and CCL5 were significantly reduced. Cells isolated from in vivo treated [curcumin + sildenafil] tumors were resistant to in vitro [curcumin + sildenafil] exposure, a phenotype that was blocked by the colon cancer therapeutic regorafenib.
Elemental Sulfur Use and Associations with Pediatric Lung Function and Respiratory Symptoms in an Agricultural Community (California, USA)

Background: Elemental sulfur, “the oldest of all pesticides,” is the most heavily used agricultural pesticide in California and Europe. Sulfur is considered relatively safe and is used in both conv...
Human Argonaute3 has slicer activity

Of the four human Argonaute (AGO) paralogs, only AGO2 has been shown to have slicer activity. The others (AGO1, AGO3 and AGO4) have been thought to assemble with microRNAs to form slicer-independent effector complexes that bind target mRNAs and silence gene expression through translational repression and deadenylation but not cleavage. Here, we report that recombinant AGO3 loaded with miR-20a cleaves complementary target RNAs, whereas AGO3 loaded with let-7a, miR-19b or miR-16 does not, indicating that AGO3 has slicer activity but that this activity depends on the guide RNA. Our cleavage assays using chimeric guides revealed the significance of seed sequence for AGO3 activity, which depends specifically on the sequence of the post-seed. Unlike AGO2, target cleavage by AGO3 requires both 5'- and 3'-flanking regions. Our 3.28 A crystal structure shows that AGO3 forms a complete active site mirroring that of AGO2, but not a well-defined nucleic acid-binding channel. These results demonstrating that AGO3 also has slicer activity but with more intricate substrate requirements, explain the observation that AGO3 has retained the necessary catalytic residues throughout its evolution. In addition, our structure inspires the idea that the substrate-binding channel of AGO3 and consequently its cellular function, may be modulated by accessory proteins.
Performance limits of a nonlinear frequency division multiplexed system due to the Raman effect

The Raman effect causes higher-order solitons to break apart, leading to inter-symbol interference, even in the ideal case without propagation losses. The power threshold of this effect is 10 dBm for a two-eigenvalue QPSK system.
Topological phases of topological-insulator thin films

We study the properties of a thin film of topological insulator material. We treat the coupling between helical states at opposite surfaces of the film in the properly-adapted tunneling approximation, and show that the tunneling matrix element oscillates as a function of both the film thickness and the momentum in the plane of the film for ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$. As a result, while the magnitude of the matrix element at the center of the surface Brillouin zone gives the gap in the energy spectrum, the sign of the matrix element uniquely determines the topological properties of the film, as demonstrated by explicitly computing the pseudospin textures and the Chern number. We find a sequence of transitions between topological and nontopological phases, separated by semimetallic states, as the film thickness varies. In the topological phase, the edge states of the film always exist but only carry a spin current if the edge potentials break particle-hole symmetry. The edge states decay very slowly away from the boundary in ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$, making ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$, where this scale is shorter, a more promising candidate for the observation of these states. Our results hold for free-standing films as well as heterostructures with large-gap insulators.
The DISCOVER Study 3-Year Results: Feasibility and Usefulness of Microscope-Integrated Intraoperative OCT during Ophthalmic Surgery.

Purpose To report the 3-year assessment of feasibility and usefulness of microscope-integrated intraoperative OCT (iOCT) during ophthalmic surgery. Design Prospective, consecutive case series. Participants Adult participants undergoing incisional ophthalmic surgery with iOCT imaging who consented to be enrolled in the Determination of Feasibility of Intraoperative Spectral-Domain Microscope Combined/Integrated OCT Visualization during En Face Retinal and Ophthalmic Surgery (DISCOVER) study. Methods The DISCOVER study is a single-site, multisurgeon, institutional review board-approved investigational device prospective study. Participants included patients undergoing anterior or posterior segment surgery who underwent iOCT imaging with 1 of 3 prototype microscope-integrated iOCT systems (i.e., Zeiss Rescan 700, Leica EnFocus, or Cole Eye iOCT systems). Clinical characteristics were documented, iOCT was directed by the operating surgeon at predetermined surgical time points, and each surgeon completed a questionnaire after surgery to evaluate the usefulness of iOCT during surgery. Main Outcome Measures Feasibility of iOCT based ability to obtain an OCT image during surgery and usefulness of iOCT based on surgeon reporting during surgery. Results Eight hundred thirty-seven eyes (244 anterior segment cases and 593 posterior segment cases) were enrolled in the DISCOVER study. Intraoperative OCT demonstrated feasibility with successful image acquisition in 820 eyes (98.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 96.8%–98.8%). In 106 anterior segment cases (43.4%; 95% CI, 37.1%–49.9%), the surgeons indicated that the iOCT information impacted their surgical decision making and altered the procedure. In posterior segment procedures, surgeons reported that iOCT enabled altered surgical decision making during the procedure in 173 cases (29.2%; 95% CI, 25.5%–33.0%). Conclusions The DISCOVER iOCT study demonstrated both generalized feasibility and usefulness based on the surgeon-reported impact on surgical decision making. This large-scale study confirmed similar findings from other studies on the potential value and impact of iOCT on ophthalmic surgery.
Healthy Food Identification: Food Cues and Claims Affect Speeded and Thoughtful Evaluations of Food

This study investigated the impact of food claims, food cues, and objective health characteristics on health categorization speed and accuracy, believability of claims and perceptions of health, and taste for food items. One hundred twenty-four young adults were exposed to counterbalanced food item images, which varied by directness of visual food cues, type of food claims (health-related vs. taste-related), and objective healthfulness in a fully crossed design across three different food items. Participants categorized the foods as healthy or unhealthy in a speeded task and evaluated the perception of claim believability and perceptions of health and taste after exposure to images of the food items. Direct visual cues, especially when used with health claims, improved health and taste perception ratings and aided believability of health claims even for objectively unhealthy food products.
Optimal low-density lipoprotein concentration for cardiac allograft vasculopathy prevention.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major risk factor influencing graft loss and patient survival following orthotopic heart transplant. Allograft vasculopathy is a multifactorial process, which includes both immunologic and non-immunologic mechanisms. Given the non-immunological risk factors for vasculopathy, particularly hyperlipidemia, it is intuitive that reducing a patient's LDL would help attenuate the disease process. Multiple studies have shown benefits with the use of statin therapy. However, current heart transplant guidelines do not give a specific recommendation as to what LDL goal should be achieved in this patient population. This study is a retrospective cohort analysis designed to determine the relative risk of developing cardiac allograft vasculopathy with respect to different LDL goals. Median LDL level of <100 mg/dL was shown to significantly reduce the risk of developing cardiac allograft vasculopathy. Twelve of 37 patients with an LDL ≥100 mg/dL (32.4%) developed CAV vs 25 of 157 patients (15.9%) with an LDL <100 mg/dL (P = .021). Furthermore, a delay in to time to cardiac allograft vasculopathy was seen when a median LDL concentration of <100 mg/dL was achieved. This benefit was not extended when a goal concentration of <70 mg/dL was targeted.
Dead Grass: Foreclosure and the Production of Space in Maricopa County, Arizona

A wide variety of economic, social, political and moral explanations have been given for why the foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s occurred. Yet many of the tensions provoked by the uptick in foreclosure proceedings, their resolution during the foreclosure recovery process, and the insight they provide into the function of American space remain unexplored. This article uses Lefebvre’s The Production of Space as a framework to explore the spatial and ecological contradictions of suburban development in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona, USA, and the ways those contradictions were drawn into relief by the foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s. Analysis through this Lefebvrian lens uncovers symbolic meanings assigned to urban ecologies and their ruliness as a means of drawing legal devices such as nuisance laws and housing codes into a more-than-human frenzy. This article follows a growing tradition of scholarship that employs Lefebvrian insights to identify and explicate urban planning dilemmas.
Automatic Recovery of Corrupted Font Encoding in PDF Documents Using CNN-based Symbol Recognition with Language Model

In this paper, we present a novel solution for the problem of text extraction from PDF documents with incorrect encoding of embedded fonts. Instead of using a full-scale optical character recognition (OCR) for such documents, our system detects problematic fonts and focuses on their restoration, rather than the actual text. It parsimoniously uses a convolutional neural network (CNN) for performing optical character recognition (OCR) of individual glyphs, classifying them to homoglyph groups. Font glyph-character mappings are recovered by combining glyph location information with a language model. We compare our approach against a fullscale OCR baseline on a new dataset of multilingual PDF files that we made available to the research community. Our evaluation on a variety of test cases shows that our approach has a consistently lower error rate and a significantly faster processing time.
Designing a Mix of Synchronous and Asynchronous Media for VMT

The challenges of designing computer support for education have shifted considerably in recent years, with, e.g., the rapid growth of the Web, online learning and social networking. New human–computer interaction (HCI) design approaches, methods, tools and theories are now required to analyze and understand interactions and learning of online groups. This chapter first reviews a number of issues related to the new software and pedagogy challenges. It then presents the approach of the VMT research project to address these issues by combining support for integrated synchronous and asynchronous collaboration media. The VMT system integrates a lobby, small-group chat rooms, multiple shared work spaces and community wiki pages to foster learning at the individual, small-group and community levels. The use of this system for a college HCI course is reported. The VMT Project illustrates the application of design-based research to system development, the theory of group cognition as a conceptual framework and an adaptation of chat interaction analysis for HCI design.
Experimental and Numerical Results for Diffusion Bonded Joints

Commercially pure Fe and Ni have been diffusion bonded. Pure Cu (99.999%) and Au-20Sn eutectic alloys have been used to bond Fe while Cu has been used to bond Ni. Fe bonded using Cu at 1071°C for 10 h showed ~20 µm thick residual Cu in the bond centerline. However, at 1100°C bonding temperature for 10 h the residual Cu disappeared and the Cu content of the joint centerline was ~ 7wt.%. Although Sn forms intermetallics with both Fe and Au, no intermetallics were found when Au- 20Sn eutectic was used to bond Fe at 600-650°C for 10h. Ni bonded at 1071°C for 10h contained 40 wt.% Cu in the joint centerline with the Cu content decreasing gradually with increasing distance from the bondline. Cu content in the bond centerline decreased to 35wt.% at 1100°C for 10 h. The concentration profiles of Cu in a Ni-Cu diffusion couple were simulated with DICTRA/Thermocalc. The simulated profiles were comparable to the experimental profiles. The ultimate tensile strengths obtained for Fe-Cu system were 245 and 276 MPa at 1085±1 and 1090±1°C for 10 h, respectively.
Challenging the dialogic promise: how Ben & Jerry’s support for Black Lives Matter fosters dissensus on social media

Within digital landscapes, public relations research suggests organizations and publics do not always operate in ways that scholars originally predict. Fitting with the theme of this special issue,...
Effect of 21 August 2017 solar eclipse on surface-level irradiance and ambient temperature

The temporal variation in the direct normal irradiance, diffuse horizontal irradiance, global horizontal irradiance, and ambient temperature was quantified during the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse. The magnitude and obscuration of the eclipse at the observation location were 0.97 and 96.94%, respectively. A two-axis sun tracker equipped with a pyrheliometer, a shaded pyranometer, an unshaded pyranometer, and a pyrgeometer were utilized to obtain the solar irradiance measurements. Thermistors contained within the pyrheliometer and the pyrgeometer were used to quantify changes in temperature. Unfortunately, on the day of the eclipse, the weather conditions were not ideal and periodic cloud coverage impacted measurements of the direct normal irradiance. As such, solar irradiance and temperature data from 2 days prior, when the weather conditions were near-ideal, are presented for comparison. The temperature of the air as measured by the thermistors enclosed within the pyrheliometer and pyrgeometer recorded an average temperature drop of 8.49 °C. The minimum temperature was recorded approximately 47 min after totality. The diffuse horizontal irradiance reached a maximum value of 495.9 W/m2 shortly after the start of partial eclipse and dropped to a minimum value of 0 W/m2 near totality. Similarly, the global horizontal irradiance reached a maximum value of 1138 W/m2 and dropped to a minimum value of 1.54 W/m2 near totality. For reference, at the same time of day, but 2 days prior, the diffuse horizontal irradiance and global horizontal irradiance were at values of 89.2 W/m2 and 962 W/m2, respectively, under clear sky conditions. The rate of decrease in the temperature of the air as well as in the diffuse and global horizontal irradiances after first contact and before totality was greater than the rate of increase in these parameters after totality. The difference in the magnitude of these gradients before and after totality is largely attributed to normal diurnal variations as the solar eclipse occurred in the afternoon.
The Right of the Governed: Foucault’s Theoretical Political Turn

This paper aims to understand the theoretical-political turn of Foucault constructed from 1978, which led him to a distancing from the Maoist left and to a return to the notion of subjectivity within a perspective of liberty, in the context of his governmentality studies. The historical-institutional aspects relating to his theoretical and political shift will be discussed, with basis on biographical sources and texts by the author published at that time. The conclusion is that Foucault used both Marxist and neoliberal contributions, avoiding reducing the politics to a confrontation between two projects, but considering it a complex field of plural strategies. He also began to theorize about the rights historically known as the ‘right of the governed,’ led by the question: ‘how to become subject without being subjected?’.
GnRH Agonist Improves Hyperandrogenism in an Adolescent Girl With an Insulin Receptor Gene Mutation

Type A insulin resistance (IR) is caused by heterozygous mutations in the insulin receptor gene. It presents with mild acanthosis nigricans, severe IR, and hyperandrogenism in the absence of obesity or lipodystrophy. Treatment aims to improve insulin sensitivity and decrease androgens. An adolescent girl was evaluated for secondary amenorrhea and prominent hirsutism. She had a normal body mass index, and laboratory testing revealed an elevated LH to FSH ratio (LH 11.6 mIU/mL, FSH 4.2 mIU/mL), testosterone 96 ng/dL (reference range A(pGly1032Asp)]. After standard treatment of hirsutism and hyperinsulinism failed, a trial of GnRH agonist therapy improved hyperandrogenism and reduced ovarian size while severe IR persisted. We describe an adolescent with type A IR who experienced resolution of clinical and biochemical hyperandrogenism during GnRH agonist treatment. Given the patient's marked reduction in testosterone and hirsutism despite persistent hyperinsulinism, this case challenges the idea that insulin increases steroidogenesis independently of gonadotropin effect. GnRH agonist therapy should be considered in the treatment of hyperandrogenism in severe cases of IR.
Synthetic pterocarpans with anti-HIV activity

Abstract Several pterocarpans were synthesized and tested in vitro for activity against HIV. 9-Alkoxy-8-hydroxy-3-methoxypterocarpans exhibited activities in the μM range.
Spinal Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Spine and Limb Pain: A Systematic Review of RCTs and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract Objective To synthesize the evidence regarding the effect of spinal stimulation (SS) vs medical therapy (MT) and the effect of newer SS technologies vs conventional SS on pain reduction in patients with intractable spine or limb pain. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted by a reference librarian. The literature search encompassed January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2017. Reviewers worked independently to select and appraise trials. Random-effect meta-analysis and frequentist indirect comparison methods were used to compare the three interventions. Results were expressed as odds ratio (OR) or weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% CIs. Results We identified 12 trials enrolling 980 patients. Compared with MT, SS significantly increased the odds of reducing pain by 50% or more in three trials (OR, 13.01; 95% CI, 4.96-34.17) and significantly reduced pain as measured by visual analogue scale scores in three trials (WMD, 1.43 scale points; 95% CI, 0.16-2.71). Using the common comparator of MT, newer stimulation technology (eg, high-frequency 10 kilohertz spinal stimulation, Burst, dorsal root ganglion) was associated with increased odds of pain relief compared with conventional SS (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.35-3.19). Conclusions In patients with intractable spine/limb pain, SS was associated with better pain reduction than MT. New stimulation technology was likely associated with better pain reduction than conventional stimulation.
Using Peer Review in the Undergraduate Laboratory.

This paper describes the benefits of using peer review in the undergraduate laboratory. The paper provides a template for guiding the review as well as specific suggestions for reviewers. When applied at the University of North Dakota, the peer-review process improved the writing and the level of analysis of student laboratory reports. The reviewers also reported gaining valuable insights into their own writing.
Beam Deflection Measurement of Air n2 in Mid-IR

We used the polarization-resolved beam-deflection technique to separate the bound-electronic and molecular-rotational components of the transient nonlinear refraction (NLR) of ambient air in the Mid-infrared spectral range below the ionization threshold.
Clinical presentations and outcomes of the children with tuberculous meningitis: An experience at a tertiary care hospital.

Objective To determine the clinical presentations and outcomes of the children suffering from tuberculous meningitis. Methods This prospective, descriptive study was conducted at the Children's Hospital and the Institute of Child Health, Multan, Pakistan, from February to December 2015. The Pakistan Paediatric Association scoring chart for tuberculosis was used as a tool for the probable diagnosis. The clinical symptoms with their durations were noted. Clinical stages of tuberculous meningitis, cerebrospinal fluid analysis and computerised tomography brain findings were noted for each patient. The outcomes in the form of death or neurological disabilities at the time of hospital discharge were noted. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis. Results Of the 40 participants, 25(62.5%) were males and 15(37.5%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 4.24±3.32 years. Besides, 26(65%) patients were less than 5 years of age. All the patients (100%) were categorised as stage 3 tuberculous meningitis. The history of prolonged duration of fever 39(97.55%) and altered level of sensorium 40(100%) were the most common clinical presentations. Moreover, 2(5%) patients died during this study. All the 38(95%) survivors had neurological disabilities. There were motor deficits in 37(97.4%) patients, altered level of sensorium in 35(92%), cranial nerve palsies in 9(23.5%), epilepsy in 29(76.3%) and hydrocephalus in 32(84%) patients. Conclusions The children were the most vulnerable group for the worst form of tuberculous meningitis and had a grave outcome.
Using a Concept Map With RECALL to Increase the Comprehension of Science Texts for Children With Autism

Learning science is important for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as knowledge of science allows students to understand their natural world, and science, technology, engineering, and ...
Cellular tic tac au-toe-mata

A cellular automaton consists of a lattice (consisting of cells), states, rules (which determine the next state of each cell), and a neighborhood (the surrounding cells that each cell uses in determining its next state). A standard cellular automaton advances at a discrete time interval, and changes every cell concurrently; however, we can consider cellular automata in which only a specific cell is chosen, and it, along with its neighborhood, is changed based upon the rules of the automaton. Thus, we can consider a game in which two players take turns attempting to cause the cellular automaton to achieve some specific configuration, although this configuration is possibly different for each player. My project will investigate such cellular automata, specifically ones with "tic-tac-toe" like winning formations (a win is created by achieving some number, say five, of one state in a row).
Social media hospital ratings and HCAHPS survey scores

To empirically verify whether patient hospital satisfaction ratings on social media such as Yelp provide similar information as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys.,OLS and ordinal regressions performed on secondary data obtained from Yelp.com and 2016 Hospital Compare database disclosed by CMS.,Results show that the patient hospital satisfaction ratings from Yelp can predict the patient experience of care domain scores obtained through the annual HCAHPS surveys and are also positively and significantly correlated to the overall hospital quality performance scores given by CMS.,Study suggests that social media patient review information could be used to supplement the information obtained from HCAHPS surveys, thereby providing hospitals more accurate information about their patient experiences.,Hospital leaders need not wait an entire year to receive their HCHAPS scores to know about the issues related to their patient experience that need improvement and can periodically refer to free Yelp patient review scores on Yelp.com to obtain similar information.,To the best of knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate that patient reviews freely obtained from social media sites like Yelp can provide similar information as obtained from HCAHPS surveys and can thus be used to supplement HCAHPS.
Exercise Capacity, Coronary Artery Fatty Plaque, Coronary Calcium Score, and Cardiovascular Events in Subjects With Stable Coronary Artery Disease.

Background Aerobic exercise capacity is inversely associated with cardiovascular and all‐cause mortality in men and women without coronary artery disease (CAD); however, a higher amount of vigorous...
American health policy and management

The paper gives a detailed description of the main features of American medical services,the characteristics of American hospitals,the responsibilities of hospital presidents and the problems faced by them.In addition,it introduces the macro-management of American hospitals and the existing problems. Key words: America; Health policy; Hospital management; Management method
An UWB-based communication protocol design for an infrastructure-free cooperative navigation

In this paper, we design a practical medium access control (MAC) protocol for an infrastructure-free cooperative navigation method for a group of firefighters which utilizes an ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for inter-agent ranging and communication. Specifically, our focus in this paper is on developing a communication protocol for the DWM1000 UWB transceiver that works in a robust and energy-efficient manner for our cooperative navigation system. Our proposed solution is a dynamic time division multiple access (DTDMA) in conjunction with a novel negotiation-based rescheduling method. The negotiation-based rescheduling method is designed based on the characteristic features of our cooperative navigation algorithm of interest. We demonstrate our result using a field test and a complexity analysis.
Improved anisotropic hydrodynamics ansatz

We introduce an improved form for the anisotropic hydrodynamics distribution function which explicitly takes into account the free-streaming and equilibrating contributions separately. We demonstrate that with this improvement one can better reproduce exact results available in the literature for the evolution of moments of the distribution function, in particular, for moments which contain no powers of the longitudinal momentum in their definition ($m=0$ moments). Using the resulting dynamical equations, we extract the non-equilibrium attractor associated with our improved anisotropic hydrodynamics ansatz and demonstrate that the improvement also allows one to better reproduce the exact dynamical attractor obtained using kinetic theory in the relaxation time approximation, particularly at early rescaled times and for $m=0$ moments.
The Wealth and Poverty of Self-governing Communities

Hayek's emphasis on the rule of law as a source of economic and political well-being underestimates how customary and informal institutions contribute to the common good in countries where the government is predatory. While customary governance can sometime be subjected to local tyrannies, it is often characterized by robust constraints on local decision-makers that enable good governance. Our analysis shows that Elinor Ostrom's studies of self-governance are a necessary complement to Hayek's theories of the path to well-being.
HD-tDCS as a neurorehabilitation technique for a case of post-anoxic leukoencephalopathy.

Post-anoxic leukoencephalopathy is a rare event that causes global demyelination secondary to anoxic injury. Given the nature and extent of the damage, cognitive and functional deficits are typical...
An Alternative Volume-Based Method to Assess Stridor Risk in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Background: Cuff leak tests are done to evaluate the risk for post-extubation stridor. Miller and Cole reported that differences between inspired-expired tidal volume (VT) during cuff deflation while on volume control ventilation produced high positive predictive value (0.80) and specificity (0.98) using a cut-off of Methods: In 2010 we initiated this procedure as part of systematic screening of all mechanically-ventilated patients at high risk for stridor. Test ventilator settings were standardized (Volume Control, VT: 8-10 mL/kg, constant flow: 50-60 L/min, inspiratory time: 1-1.5 s). Subjects had their upper airways suctioned prior to cuff deflation and were sedated for the procedure. Expired VT was recorded beginning 6 breaths after cuff deflation; the subsequent 3 breaths were averaged. Extubation trials occurred within 1-12 h following the test. Data was analyzed using Fisher Exact test with alpha set at 0.05. Results: Between May 2010 and February 2018, 756 cuff leak tests were performed; followed by a trial of extubation. The majority (73%) were either trauma/surgical or neurocritical care subjects. A cut-off for expired VT of Conclusions: A simplified volume-based cuff leak test using only expired VT and a cut-off value of 100 mL was very reliable in predicting the absence of post-extubation stridor. Although leaks of 1. Miller RL, Cole RP. Association between reduced cuff leak volume and postextubation stridor. Chest 1996;110(4):1035-1040. 2. Phillips J, Pangilinan L, Mangalindan E, et al. Ventilator compression volume compensation does not maintain pre-set tidal volume. Respir Care 2016;61(10):OF9.
Tree shrews do not maintain emmetropia in initially-focused narrow-band cyan light.

Abstract We asked if emmetropia, achieved in broadband colony lighting, is maintained in narrow-band cyan light that is well focused in the emmetropic eye, but does not allow for guidance from longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LCA) and offers minimal perceptual color cues. In addition, we examined the response to a −5 D lens in this lighting. Seven tree shrews from different litters were initially housed in broad-spectrum colony lighting. At 24 ± 1 days after eye opening (Days of Visual Experience, DVE) they were housed for 11 days in ambient narrow-band cyan light (peak wavelength 505 ± 17 nm) selected because it is in focus in an emmetropic eye. Perceptually, monochromatic light at 505 nm cannot be distinguished from white by tree shrews. While in cyan light, each animal wore a monocular −5 D lens (Cyan −5 D eyes). The fellow eye was the Cyan no-lens eye. Daily awake non-cycloplegic measures were taken with an autorefractor (refractive state) and with optical low-coherence optical interferometry (axial component dimensions). These measures were compared with the values of animals raised in standard colony fluorescent lighting: an untreated group (n = 7), groups with monocular form deprivation (n = 7) or monocular −5 D lens treatment (n = 5), or that experienced 10 days in total darkness (n = 5). Refractive state at the onset of cyan light treatment was low hyperopia, (mean ± SEM) 1.4 ± 0.4 diopters. During treatment, the Cyan no-lens eyes became myopic (−2.9 ± 0.3 D) whereas colony lighting animals remained slightly hyperopic (1.0 ± 0.2 D). Initially, refractions of the Cyan −5 D eyes paralleled the Cyan no-lens eyes. After six days, they gradually became more myopic than the Cyan no-lens eyes; at the end of treatment, the refractions were −5.4 ± 0.3 D, a difference of −2.5 D from the Cyan no-lens eyes. When returned to colony lighting at 35 ± 1 DVE, the no-lens eye refractions rapidly recovered towards emmetropia but, as expected, the refraction of the −5 D eyes remained near −5 D. Vitreous chamber depth in both eyes was consistent with the refractive changes. In narrow-band cyan lighting the emmetropization mechanism did not maintain emmetropia even though the light initially was well focused. We suggest that, as the eyes diverged from emmetropia, there were insufficient LCA cues for the emmetropization mechanism to utilize the developing myopic refractive error in order to guide the eyes back to emmetropia. However, the increased myopia in the Cyan −5 D eyes in the narrow-band light indicates that the emmetropization mechanism nonetheless detected the presence of the lens-induced refractive error and responded with increased axial elongation that partly compensated for the negative-power lens. These data support the conclusion that the emmetropization mechanism cannot maintain emmetropia in narrow-band lighting. The additional myopia produced in eyes with the −5 D lens shows that the emmetropization mechanism responds to multiple defocus-related cues, even under conditions where it is unable to use them to maintain emmetropia.
Real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography evaluation of intracardiac masses.

UNLABELLED The size of an intracardiac mass (vegetation, tumor, or thrombus) is an important predictor for embolic events and for response to treatment. Maximum diameter measurements from two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography are routinely used to determine mass size. However, most masses are irregularly shaped, making it difficult to accurately image or select the largest diameter. The selection of a diameter that is not truly the largest may lead to underestimation of the true size of the mass and a misrepresentation of the patients' prognosis. Three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography images the entire volume of a mass allowing for accurate measurements in multiple planes. We tested the hypothesis that measurements of the maximum diameter of a mass by 3D echocardiography are larger than those obtained by 2D echocardiography. METHODS Patients with findings of an intracardiac mass by 2D transthoracic (TTE) or transesophageal (TEE) echocardiogram were imaged using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) within 24 hours. The complete mass was acquired on RT3DE. Maximum mass diameter was measured on 2D and RT3DE. Comparison of measurements between RT3DE and 2D was performed using correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analyses. RESULTS In 19 masses evaluated in 17 patients, there was a strong correlation between 2D TTE and RT3DE maximum diameter measurements (R2 = 0.88, P < 0.01) but correlation was fair for 2D TEE (R2 = 0.48, P = 0.02). In addition, 2D maximum diameter also correlated with 3D volumes (R2 = 0.72, P < 0.01 for TTE and R2 = 0.56, P < 0.01 for TEE). However, there was a consistent underestimation of maximum diameter measured by 2D (TTE and TEE) regardless of the size, location, and etiology of the mass. 2D TTE underestimates cardiac mass size by 24.6% (P < 0.001) compared to RT3DE and 2D TEE underestimated size by 19.8% (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION These findings suggest that RT3DE may be the technique of choice for the noninvasive evaluation of intracardiac mass size.
Decreased thermal tolerance as a trade-off of antibiotic resistance

Abstract Evolutionary theory predicts that adaptations, including antibiotic resistance, should come with associated fitness costs; yet, many resistance mutations seemingly contradict this prediction by inducing no growth rate deficit. However, most growth assays comparing sensitive and resistant strains have been performed under a narrow range of environmental conditions, which do not reflect the variety of contexts that a pathogenic bacterium might encounter when causing infection. We hypothesized that reduced niche breadth, defined as diminished growth across a diversity of environments, can be a cost of antibiotic resistance. Specifically, we test whether chloramphenicol-resistant Escherichia coli incur disproportionate growth deficits in novel thermal conditions. Here we show that chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria have greater fitness costs at novel temperatures than their antibiotic-sensitive ancestors. In several cases, we observed no resistance cost in growth rate at the historic temperature but saw diminished growth at warmer and colder temperatures. These results were consistent across various genetic mechanisms of resistance. Thus, we propose that decreased thermal niche breadth is an under-documented fitness cost of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that the cost of antibiotic resistance shifts rapidly as the environment changes; these context-dependent resistance costs should select for the rapid gain and loss of resistance as an evolutionary strategy.
Outcomes associated with scheduling or up-scheduling controlled substances.

Abstract Background Many nations place drugs into various “schedules” according to their risk of abuse and/or recognized medical value that vary in terms of their restrictions. To mitigate diversion or abuse, drugs sometimes get rescheduled or are scheduled for the first time. Until now, there have not been efforts to integrate lessons from across the range of such past events. Methods and data We searched for peer-reviewed evaluations of instances of (re-)scheduling drugs in the United States after 1969 and a comparably large set of instances from other countries. Those 109 articles were supplemented by 30 others found in other ways but not meeting those search criteria (e.g., because the information on rescheduling was a minor part of a more general article). Findings Findings are reported for many outcomes and with diverse measures over different timelines, making standardization of outcomes difficult. For more than half of the events for which quantitative outcomes were reported, there were declines in use-related measures by at least 40 percent. It is common for there to be reports of increases in indicators pertaining to other substances, sometimes more dangerous but sometimes less dangerous; overall, substitution appears to occur, but be partial. Conclusion Scheduling and up-scheduling can – though does not always – have substantial effects on a range of outcomes. Substitution to other substances is a possibility and so should be anticipated.
Representation in American Cities: Who Runs for Mayor and Who Wins?:

Business leaders emerge as key players in canonical accounts of urban politics, but data limitations have hampered efforts to quantify their role in city politics. Drawing on an original dataset th...
Enhancing chemotherapy for ovarian, breast and brain cancers by targeting protein translation with RNA interference

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 14-18, 2007; Los Angeles, CA 3754 We have demonstrated that the eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3) complex subunit c (eIF3c) is overexpressed in subsets of ovarian and breast carcinomas and gliomas. EIF3c one of eleven subunits of the eIF3 complex and is required for the initiation of protein translation. Recently, eIF3 was shown to directly interact with mTOR, an activator of eIF4e, which is abnormally activated in many cancer types. Activation of mTOR also results in protein translation-mediated increases in the abundance of cyclin D1, which is prognostic in many cancers and is rate-limiting for the G1/S phase cell cycle transition. Inhibition of the PI3-kinase/mTOR pathway is known to increase the chemosensitivity of breast and ovarian carcinoma and glioma cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that therapies that target eIF3c downstream of mTOR will enhance chemotherapies used to treat these cancers. We first demonstrated that eIF3c overexpression increased protein translation in each of three cell lines used in this study, including MDA-MB-435s breast carcinoma, SKOV3 ovarian carcinoma, and U251MG glioblastoma cells. To do so, we co-transfected SV40-luciferase and increasing doses of eIF3c and conducted luciferase assays. SV40-Luciferase expression was linearly related to eIF3c expression demonstrating that eIF3c increased protein translation in the cells that we investigated. RNA interference was used to knock down eIF3c expression in MDA-MB-435s and SKOV3, and U251MG cell lines. We determined the resultant effects of eIF3c siRNA and six doses of doxorubicin (0-1000 nM) or cisplatin (0-40 μM) on proliferation by MTT assays. Two of three siRNAs were effective for depleting eIF3c in all cell lines. EIF3c siRNA inhibited proliferation of SKOV3 cells by ~20% regardless of cisplatin dose. EIF3c siRNA inhibited proliferation of MDA-MB-435s cells by ~60%, essentially eliminating MDA-MB-435s proliferation regardless of doxorubicin dose. Inhibition of U251MG cell proliferation by eIF3c siRNA was most potent at low cisplatin doses (0-5 nM). EIF3c is an effective target for inhibiting the proliferation of ovarian, breast, and brain cancer cells caused by overactive protein translation. This study demonstrated at least additive reduction in the proliferation of SKOV3 or U251MG cells by the combined use of eIF3c siRNA and cisplatin, and that the combined use of eIF3c siRNA and doxorubicin was even more potent for inhibiting the proliferation of MDA-MB-435s cells. The development of therapeutics that target eiF3c could result in effective chemotherapy at lower drug doses and therefore could result in improved survival by women with breast or ovarian cancers, and patients with gliomas.