cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute mountain sickness.

AFIT 57-YEAR-OLD MALE trekker/climber presented at Dingboche, Nepal (4420 m), with severely limited exercise tolerance (it was an effort for him to walk from his room to the dining area), headache, and nausea. These symptoms first appeared 2 days earlier when he returned to Lobouche (5029 m) after climbing Kalapatar (5600 m). With rest and hydration, he felt better in a few hours. The next day, he walked from Lobouche to Dingboche without incident, although his pace was slower than normal. The following day at Dingboche, he presented with severe exercise intolerance, nausea, and headache. These symptoms persisted from about 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM with little change. There were no obvious pulmonary symptoms. His respiratory rate was 12–14/min, pulse 90, and oxygen saturation 92%. His gait was broad based and shuffling, but there was no obvious ataxia. Based on previous experience on Aconcagua, the patient attributed the problem to dehydration, drank copious amounts of fluid (water mixed with electrolyte packages), and produced large quantities of pale urine, particularly after lying supine. He had developed similar symptoms at 5944 m on Aconcagua, where he was treated with a pill for cerebral edema and descended to 4267 m vomiting on the way down. At 4267 m, he was diagnosed with dehydration and treated with what was probably 250 mL of IV fluid and oral hydration. He improved and was able to catch a ride on a helicopter 36 h later when it came to pick up another climber with high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). He was physically very fit. During the past year, he bicycled across the United States, participated in marathon cross-country ski races, and was active in ski mountaineering. The guide on the trip and a physician member of the party thought the symptoms were related to acute mountain sickness (AMS) and early high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), rather than dehydration. Since the patient was physically unable to walk down in his current condition, his symptoms had deteriorated in spite of descending 610 m from Lobouche to Dingboche, and the group was leaving the following morning for Island Peak (6187 m), a helicopter was requested for the following morning to take the patient back to Kathmandu. It was also decided that even if the patient improved by the following morning he should still be evacuated by helicopter; his symptoms might return if he tried to walk down alone or with a Sherpa, and there would be no trip leader or physician traveling with him.
The political and social context of silicone breast implant use in the United States.

Silicone breast implants have been used for breast enlargement and reconstruction after mastectomy since 1963. It is estimated that they have been implanted in over 2 million women in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required manufacturers of the implants to submit evidence of their safety and effectiveness. The implants have been shown to benefit women in psychological studies. Physical risks include capsular contracture (affecting up to half of wearers), impaired mammographic results, implant rupture, and possibly connective tissue disease. Human studies would benefit from improved research design, including controls and long-term follow-up. Professional societies of plastic surgeons, whose members benefit commercially from breast augmentation and reconstruction, have campaigned forcefully for the continued and increased use of breast implants by women.
Mathematics for the Average College-Bound Student.

Mathematics educators continue to be concerned with developing the best cur riculum for the college-bound student in secondary school. This is certainly an im portant concern, but too often we become so involved in this problem that we over look a related and equally important prob lem. Far too many students who eventually go on to college are not in the "college bound" group while they are in secondary school. This article deals with the curricu lum for these students. In his article, "What Should Not Be in the Algebra and Geometry Curricula of Average College-bound Students?" (1980), Zalman Usiskin implies that the "average college-bound student" of today takes a high school curriculum that in cludes two years of algebra with some trigonometry, one year of geometry, and a year of precalculus mathematics. This claim is correct if average college-bound student refers to the high school freshman who has decided, beyond any reasonable doubt, that he or she is going to college and has decided to follow the mathematics teacher's advice on how to prepare for college. This definition, although appro priate to Usiskin's article, does lead us to overlook the growing number of students who are actually college bound but either do not know it or have decided not to follow our advice as to an appropriate college preparatory curriculum. I feel that, unfortunately, the curriculum mentioned in the preceding paragraph may actually be the curriculum of the ex ceptional college-bound student and not that of the average college-bound student. For the purpose of this article, I will define average college-bound student to mean the average student who actually becomes part of a college freshman class. For this student the standard mathematics curriculum may include very few, if any, of the courses mentioned.
Strange parallels : Southeast Asia in global context, c 800-1830

Blending fine-grained case studies with overarching theory, this book seeks both to integrate Southeast Asia into world history and to rethink much of Eurasia's premodern past. It argues that Southeast Asia, Europe, Japan, China, and South Asia all embodied idiosyncratic versions of a Eurasian-wide pattern whereby local isolates cohered to form ever larger, more stable, more complex political and cultural systems. With accelerating force, climatic, commercial, and military stimuli joined to produce patterns of linear-cum-cyclic construction that became remarkably synchronized even between regions that had no contact with one another. Yet this study also distinguishes between two zones of integration, one where indigenous groups remained in control and a second where agency gravitated to external conquest elites. Here, then, is a fundamentally original view of Eurasia during a 1,000-year period that speaks to both historians of individual regions and those interested in global trends.
11 – Selection in Metapopulations: The Coevolution of Phenotype and Context

Publisher Summary Considering the role of indirect genetic effects in metapopulations, this chapter shows that it is important to determine how trait evolution is affected by local context, which traits contribute to local context, how trait and context are correlated ecologically and genetically, and whether variation in mean fitness leads to selection among contexts. The chapter highlights the fact that the traits affected by context may be the same or different from those traits contributing to the context, and that these may or may not be genetically correlated. Furthermore, even in the absence of among-deme selection, metapopulations permit the coevolution of phenotype and context, whereas the more traditional evolutionary genetic models do not. Finally, the chapter discusses how these considerations influence the coevolution of species in metacommunities where the presence or absence of interacting species contributes to a variation in the local context.
Physiological characterization of blastocyst hatching mechanisms by use of a mouse antihatching model

Objectives To use the protein-free medium blastocyst antihatching model to characterize physiological events that mediate hatching. Design In a series of four prospective experiments, our aims were to [1] test the efficacy of the antihatching model and assisted hatching; [2] exam the influence of initial in vivo developmental stage and late serum supplementation on hatching inhibition; [3] discount the role of zona hardness and physical expansion directly affecting hatching; and [4] provide evidence that the trophectoderm is directly responsible for secreting a zona lysin. Setting University-based research laboratory. Results Culturing two- to eight-cell mouse embryos in serum-free human tubal fluid (HTF) medium significantly reduced hatching levels to ≤2%, however, hatching increased to 10.7% when initially culturing morula-stage embryos. Hatching was effectively rescued to control levels when embryos were placed in HTF with serum at the early blastocyst stage. There was no difference in blastocyst total cell numbers or zona pellucida digestion intervals between culture treatments. Finally, we showed that trophectodermal vesicles, devoid of inner cell mass, are capable of hatching under control conditions. Conclusions The primary mechanism of blastocyst hatching is not physical expansion and abnormal zona hardness is not responsible for hatching inhibition. Certain extracellular precursors found in serum (e.g., amino acids) are required in culture medium upon cellular determination of trophectoderm (i.e., morula to blastocyst stage) to facilitate the intrinsic secretion of an undefined hatching factor.
Outpatient administration of BEAM conditioning prior to autologous stem cell transplantation for lymphoma is safe, feasible, and cost-effective

High-dose BEAM chemotherapy (BCNU, etoposide, Ara-C, and melphalan) followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is frequently used as consolidative therapy for patients with recurrent or refractory Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The BEAM regimen has traditionally been administered over 6 days in the hospital, with patients remaining hospitalized until hematologic recovery and clinical stability. In an effort to reduce the length of hospitalization for these patients, our institution has transitioned from inpatient (IP) to outpatient (OP) administration of BEAM conditioning. Here, we report the results of an analysis of the feasibility, cost, complications, and outcomes for the initial group of patients who received OP BEAM compared to a prior cohort of patients who received IP BEAM. Patient and disease characteristics were comparable for the two cohorts, as were engraftment kinetics. Length of hospital stay was reduced by 6 days for the OP cohort (P < 0.001), resulting in a cost savings of more than $17,000 per patient. Fewer complications occurred in the OP cohort, including severe enteritis (P = 0.01), organ toxicities (P = 0.01), and infections (P = 0.04). Overall survival rate up to 3 years posttransplant was better for the OP cohort (P = 0.02), likely due to differences in posttransplant therapies. We conclude that OP administration of BEAM conditioning is safe and may offer significant advantages, including decreased length of hospitalization, reduced costs, decreased risks for severe toxicities and infectious complications, and likely improvement in patient satisfaction and quality of life.
Claudin-4 activity in ovarian tumor cell apoptosis resistance and migration

Claudin-4 is a transmembrane protein expressed at high levels in the majority of epithelial ovarian tumors, irrespective of subtype, and has been associated with tumor cells that are both chemoresistant and highly mobile. The objective of this study was to determine the functional role that claudin-4 plays in apoptosis resistance and migration as well as the therapeutic utility of targeting claudin-4 activity with a small mimic peptide. We examined claudin-4 activity in human ovarian tumor cell lines (SKOV3, OVCAR3, PEO4) using in vitro caspase and scratch assays as well as an in vivo mouse model of ovarian cancer. Claudin-4 activity was disrupted by treating cells with a small peptide that mimics the DFYNP sequence in the second extracellular loop of claudin-4. Claudin-4 expression was also altered using shRNA-mediated gene silencing. Both the disruption of claudin-4 activity and the loss of claudin-4 expression significantly increased tumor cell caspase-3 activation (4 to 10-fold, respectively) in response to the apoptotic inducer staurosporine and reduced tumor cell migration by 50 %. The mimic peptide had no effect on cells that lacked claudin-4 expression. Female athymic nude mice bearing ZsGreen-PEO4 ovarian tumors showed a significant decrease in ovarian tumor burden, due to increased apoptosis, after treatment with intraperitoneal injections of 4 mg/kg mimic peptide every 48 h for three weeks, compared to control peptide treated mice. Claudin-4 functionally contributes to both ovarian tumor cell apoptosis resistance and migration and targeting extracellular loop interactions of claudin-4 may have therapeutic implications for reducing ovarian tumor burden.
Bioinspired Controller Based on a Phase Oscillator

Oscillatory behavior is important for tasks such as walking and running. We are developing methods to add energy to enhance or vary the oscillatory behavior based on the phase angle. Both the amplitude and frequency of oscillation can be modulated by adjusting the forcing function based on the sine and cosine of the phase angle. Pendulum systems are simulated using our phase controller. We show that a double-pendulum can be controlled using an oscillator.
EFFECT OF FREEZE DRYING, SPRAY DRYING, AND STABILIZERS ON FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FISH PROTEIN CONCENTRATE

A study was conducted to define some of the functional properties of IPA extracted hake FPC (fish protein concentrate). Also, we investigated possible methods of improving the functional properties of FPC by foaming a water slurry and adding stabilizers and then spray drying or freeze drying. Certain functional properties such as bulk density, pH, wettability, percent overrun, emulsion stability, emulsion capacity, water swelling index and water binding index, and suspended solids were measured. The results were compared with soy flour and soy isolate. Spray drying or freeze drying of an aqueous slurry of FPC brought about the following significant changes: (a) made a totally wettable material, (b) slightly increased water swelling index and water binding index, (c) reduced the bulk density, and (d) the stabilizer Tween 80 improved the overrun of the whipped product.
Qualitative methods for studying health information behaviors

Qualitative methods can be used to understand and interpret human behaviors in a variety of contexts, including people's health information behaviors. This panel will discuss current applications of qualitative methods in this context, with emphasis on three examples: visual elicitation techniques, qualitative content analysis, and grounded theory approaches. The audience will be encouraged to discuss additional qualitative approaches and mixed methods, and how they might be applied to studies of health information behaviors.
Criteria to Screen Molecular Tests for the Diagnosis of Herpes Simplex Virus in the Central Nervous System have no Propensity to Harm.

Objectives: Investigators have ruled out herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection without the detection of herpes simplex deoxyribonucleic acid in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (i.e., HSV polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) by laboratory (normal CSF white blood cell count and protein) and clinical criteria (age ≥2 years, no history of human immunodeficiency virus or solid-organ transplant). Compared to HSV PCR of all samples, the algorithm saves money in test costs and may decrease exposure to acyclovir by illustrating the low probability that the patient has HSV. Concern exists that algorithm use may cause harm through alteration of empiric acyclovir treatment in patients with true HSV central nervous system infection. Methods: All Department of Veterans Affair's patients with a positive HSV PCR of the CSF between 2000 and 2013 were identified and their medical records reviewed to determine the extent and possible impact of omitted HSV PCR testing by the algorithm. Results: Of 6357 total results, 101 patients had a positive CSF HSV PCR in the study period. Among the positive CSF HSV PCR results, the algorithm excluded 7 (7%) from PCR testing. Record review indicated these seven patients not tested by the algorithm with a positive CSF HSV PCR were considered by their attending physician not to have active HSV. Conclusion: The algorithm to screen HSV tests had no propensity to harm.
Scalability of microring-based crossbar for all-to-all optical interconnects

We investigate the scalability of all-to-all crossbar switch with microring resonators. State-of-the-art −18.1 dB crosstalk in resonators cannot support a 4×4 switch fabric while below −40 dB crosstalk is necessary for 32 × 32 switch fabrics.
Letter by Zakeri and Redfield Regarding Article, “Influence of Left Atrial Function on Exercise Capacity and Left Ventricular Function in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction”

We read with great interest the study by von Roeder et al1 which highlighted a pivotal role for left atrial (LA) functional remodeling in human heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).1 The authors report impaired LA conduit strain occurring at an early stage of HFpEF, where 1/3rd of patients had a normal brain type natriuretic peptide, and left ventricular (LV) concentric remodeling was apparently absent (equivalent end-diastolic volume and LV mass index between HFpEF and controls). We …
Association of Age With Risk of Hospitalization for Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Preterm Infants With Chronic Lung Disease.

Importance It is unknown whether the age threshold (≤24 months) for preterm infants with chronic lung disease (CLD) to receive immunoprophylaxis for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as currently recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines correctly identified infants at higher risk for hospitalization for RSV. Objective To determine the age when the risk of hospitalization for RSV among preterm infants with CLD becomes equivalent to the risk for healthy, 1-month-old term infants who do not qualify for immunoprophylaxis. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective cohort study was conducted of 1 018 593 healthy term infants and 5181 preterm infants with CLD using Medicaid billing records (Medicaid Analytic eXtract files) from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2010, linked to Florida and Texas birth and death certificates. Exposures Age-trend discrete time logistic regression models within a survival analysis framework were developed, adjusting for covariates including the use of immunoprophylaxis, to compare the risk of hospitalization of preterm infants ( Main Outcomes and Measures Age at which risk of hospitalization for RSV among preterm infants with CLD equals the risk for healthy term infants at age 1 month. Results The study cohort included 1 018 593 healthy term infants and 5181 preterm infants with CLD; because patients could reenter the cohort for a second or third season, the total study cohort consisted of 1 880 531 healthy term infant-seasons (926 206 girls and 954 325 boys; mean [SD] age at first season entry, 12.6 [9.6] months) and 8680 CLD infant-seasons (3519 girls and 5161 boys; mean [SD] age at first season entry, 15.1 [9.1] months). Among term infants with siblings, the risk of hospitalization for RSV averaged across all covariate strata was 9.0 (95% CI, 8.4-9.6) per 1000 patient season-months at 1 month of age. The risk of hospitalization for RSV among preterm infants with CLD became similar to that of 1-month-old term infants at an age of 18.5 months (95% CI, 15.6-22.8). Conclusions and Relevance The age threshold at which the risk of hospitalization for RSV among qualifying preterm infants with CLD approximates that of healthy term infants supports the current American Academy of Pediatrics practice guideline recommending RSV prophylaxis until a maximum of 24 months of age.
Visualizing Events Under Solvent-Gradient and Insights Thereof

This paper describes graphical methods to visualize variations in mobile phase composition inside a chromatographic column under solvent-gradient conditions, and how these variations affect movement of analyte bands. Based on the visualization techniques, the report explains how variations in composition “experienced” by an analyte, which is moving, are different from variations experienced by a static point inside the column. For example, if a linear gradient is created by the system, every point inside the column will experience the same linear variation of composition, although at different times, assuming that the solvent-gradient created at the mixer propagates through the system intact and undisturbed. For an analyte, on the other hand, the variation could be strongly non-linear because normally it travels with varying speed along the column during a gradient run. And because different analytes travel with different speeds, solvent-gradient experienced by the analytes will not be the same, even under the same method condition. Although these events are captured in the fundamental equation of solvent-gradient chromatography and generally understood by researchers working with gradient theories, the visualization methods discussed here may provide a clearer imagery of events for wider appreciation.
Constructivist Teaching Practices

Constructivism implies teaching techniques based on the notion that students’ prior knowledge profoundly impacts their understanding of subject matter, that students learn best when they apply knowledge in authentic contexts, engage in dialogue with their peers and others, and should strive for understanding of core ideas as opposed to memorizing and repeating a list of facts (Windschitl, 1999).
Endovascular Treatment of Arteriovenous Malformations Using Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer

Over the past two decades, endovascular embolization has become a fundamental part of a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Several embolic agents are now an intrinsic part of the neurointerventional armamentarium. However, none has represented as remarkable an improvement as the introduction of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH). In conjunction with n-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA), EVOH has revolutionized the endovascular management of intracranial AVMs because of its ability to systematically deliver a sufficient volume of the embolic agent to the nidus and pedicles without extension into the venous drainage. The clinical decision to treat an AVM is facilitated by preoperative risk stratification; the first question to be addressed is whether to treat the AVM; and, if so, the second question is how to treat it. Endovascular EVOH embolization is primarily applied as an adjunct treatment to microsurgical resection or radiosurgery. Few cases are amenable to angiographic cure by embolization alone. The goal of this chapter is to describe the pertinent properties, endovascular techniques, and pitfalls for the endovascular management of intracranial AVMs using EVOH.
Economic Burden of Veno-occlusive Disease in Patients With B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in the United States.

Abstract Purpose The goal of this study was to evaluate the incidence, inpatient mortality, and economic burden of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) in adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the United States. Methods Using MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database and Medicare Supplemental and Coordination of Benefits Database, data for patients with B-cell ALL from April 1, 2009, to October 31, 2016, were extracted by using diagnosis codes. VOD was identified based on clinical criteria and expert opinions. Patients with VOD were followed up from diagnosis of VOD until the earliest occurrence of inpatient death, end of continuous enrollment, end of study period, or for a maximum of 100 days. The incidence of VOD and VOD-associated inpatient mortality were calculated. VOD-related health care costs based on paid adjudicated claims were calculated. Findings Of the 2571 adults with B-cell ALL, the overall incidence of VOD was low at 3.4% (88 of 2571). Of these patients with VOD, 52% (46 of 88) experienced multiorgan failure and were identified as having severe VOD. VOD was only identified in patients having undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (5.4% [88 of 1624]). The inpatient mortality rate of those with any VOD over the 100-day postindex period was 26.1%, and the inpatient mortality was even higher for patients with severe VOD (37.0%). Total mean (SD) medical costs per patient during the 100 days’ post-VOD diagnosis were $55,975 ($160,335); mean (SD) costs per patient were ∼4-fold higher for severe ($86,953 [$206,906]) versus nonsevere ($22,047 [$72,847]) VOD. Implications Clinical criteria were used to identify VOD events and thus VOD might be underdiagnosed. The mortality of VOD also might be underestimated because only inpatient deaths are captured in the data. The incidence and mortality of VOD could also be underestimated because we focused on adult patients who might receive reduced-intensity treatment. The economic burden of VOD may be underestimated because the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code specific for defibrotide was not available, and thus the cost for defibrotide might not be included. Finally, as the study population consisted of patients with commercial or Medicare supplemental insurance, results may not be generalizable to all patients with VOD in the United States. Although VOD occurred infrequently in adults with B-cell ALL, it was associated with high inpatient mortality and substantial costs. Patients with severe VOD were associated with highest mortality and highest costs. Given the clinical and economic burden associated with VOD, it is important that patients at high risk for VOD be identified and treated to minimize this risk.
Relationship Dissatisfaction, Emotion Regulation, and Physical Intimate Partner Aggression in Heavy-Drinking, Conflict-Prone Couples: A Dyadic Analysis:

Relationship dissatisfaction is a known risk factor for intimate partner aggression (IPA). However, the possible effect of weak emotion regulation skills on this association is unclear, particularl...
Restoring Trust after an Insider Breach: Both the Genders Matter—CEOs and Users

There is limited research providing guidelines to CEOs, particularly female CEOs, about the efficacy of different responses (i.e. apology and denial) in the aftermath of an insider privacy breach i...
Quantum Spin-Orbit Electronic State Selection of Atomic Transition Metal Vanadium Cation for Chemical Reactivity Studies.

By combining a pulsed laser ablation vanadium atom (V) beam source with the two-color laser sequential electric field pulse scheme for pulse field ionization-photoion (PFI-PI) detection, we have developed a quantum spin-orbit state selected transition metal ion source for ion-molecule reaction studies. As a demonstration, we show that the V+ ion can be prepared in the single spin-orbit levels of its three lowest quantum electronic states, V+[a5DJ ( J = 0-4), a5FJ ( J = 1-5), and a3FJ ( J = 2-4)], achieving laboratory kinetic energy ( Elab) resolutions of ≤0.2 eV. The precursor V atom beam is first excited to high- n Rydberg states by resonance-enhanced visible-ultraviolet laser photoexcitation via the V*[3d3(4F) 4s4p (3P°)] neutral intermediate state. The total photon energy is tuned in the regions from 54 380 to 63 520 cm-1 to cover the photoionization energies for the formation of these spin-orbit states. Sharp Rydberg transitions converging to the V+[a5DJ ( J = 1 and 2)] spin-orbit levels are identified in the respective PFI-PI spectra for the V+[a5DJ ( J = 0 and 1)] states. The analysis of these Rydberg members observed yields an ionization energy of 54 412.65 ± 0.15 cm-1 for V atom, which is in excellent accord with the literature value of 54 413 ± 1 cm-1 eV. In order to understand the profile for the PFI-PI spectrum of V+ ion observed and thus obtain reliable Stark shift corrections by using the sequential PFI-PI detection scheme, we have also examined the PFI-PI spectrum for Ar+(2P3/2) in detail by varying the retarding as well as the PFI electric field pulses.
A Longitudinal Evaluation of Wraparound’s Impact on Youth Mental Health Service Use:

Wraparound is a care coordination model that has shown effectiveness for serving children and youth with significant emotional and behavioral health needs and their families. The current study eval...
Putting the gap on the map

The measurement of the charge density wave energy gap in high-temperature superconducting cuprates uncovers new links between competing states.
Stance Classification, Outcome Prediction, and Impact Assessment: NLP Tasks for Studying Group Decision-Making

In group decision-making, the nuanced process of conflict and resolution that leads to consensus formation is closely tied to the quality of decisions made. Behavioral scientists rarely have rich access to process variables, though, as unstructured discussion transcripts are difficult to analyze. Here, we define ways for NLP researchers to contribute to the study of groups and teams. We introduce three tasks alongside a large new corpus of over 400,000 group debates on Wikipedia. We describe the tasks and their importance, then provide baselines showing that BERT contextualized word embeddings consistently outperform other language representations.
Children’s Medical Care in the Courts

Children’s Medical Care in the Courts. In the early twentieth century courts struggled to redefine adults’ duties in light of heightened attention to children’s physical welfare. Prior to 1800, courts had deferred to the authority of parents—particularly of fathers—in matters pertaining to the children living in their own households. But medical attendance increasingly came to be regarded as necessary for maintaining the health and life of a child, and the legal doctrine of parens patriae empowered the state to enforce a parental duty to seek physician’s services when needed. The mixed outcomes of religious-based medical neglect cases demonstrate that delineating a precise meaning for the term “medical attendance” proved to be no straightforward task.
Antarctica in Retrospect

Antarctica is a place that does not give up her secrets easily. A casual observer might be impressed by the natural beauty of the landscape or by the brutally cold climate, depending on the weather at the time. Geologists who come to study the Transantarctic Mountains are initially overwhelmed by the Niagara of information that confronts them. This is true of mountainsides of exposed granitic gneisses of the Granite Harbor Intrusives, of whole mountain ranges composed of flat-lying sedimentary rocks of the Beacon Supergroup which attains a thickness of 3 km, not to mention the profusion of massive sills of Ferrar Dolerite that intruded the sedimentary rocks, and the thick plateaus of Kirkpatrick Basalt that was poured out onto the eroding surface of the Beacon rocks. How did all these rocks form on the edge of the East Antarctic craton? Whatever geological activity is recorded by the rocks of the Transantarctic Mountains took place in a tectonic setting of continental rifting, compressive subduction, and amalgamation of continental fragments, all of which occurred during 585 million years of geologic time between 750 and 165 Ma.
History of Minimally Invasive and Robotic Assisted Surgery in Pediatric Urology

The development of minimally invasive and robotic techniques in Pediatric Urology has been a slow yet steady progression over the last 4 decades. The emergence of new technologies and importantly the responses to those technological changes provides a unique insight into how surgery evolves and may provide insight into how we can anticipate and embrace its future. This chapter surveys the key themes in the evolution of Pediatric Urological MIS and robotic surgery.
TRIAD XI: Utilizing simulation to evaluate the living will and POLST ability to achieve goal concordant care when critically ill or at end-of-life-The Realistic Interpretation of Advance Directives.

Objective Utilize simulation to evaluate if living wills (LW) or POLST achieves goal concordant Care (GCC) in a medical crisis. Methods Nurses and resident-physicians from a single center were randomized to a clinical scenario with a living will (LW), physician orders for life sustaining treatment (POLST) or no document. Primary outcomes were resuscitation decision and time to decision. Secondary outcome was the effect of education. Results Total enrollment was 57 and less than 30% received prior training. Types of directives were linked to resuscitation decisions (P = .019). Participants randomized to "No Document" or POLST specifying "CPR" performed resuscitation. If a terminal condition presented with a POLST/ do not resuscitate-comfort measures only (DNR-CMO), 73% resuscitated. The LW or POLST specifying DNR combined with medical support resulted in resuscitations in 29% or more of the scenarios. Documents did not significantly affect median time-to-decision (P = .402) but decisions for "No Document" and POLST/CPR were at least 10 s less than other scenarios. Scenarios involving POLST DNR/Limited Treatment had the highest median time of 43 s. Prior training in LWs and POLST exerted a 10% improvement in decision making (P = .537). Conclusion GCC was not always achieved with a LW or POLST. This conclusion supports prior research identifying problems with the interpretation and discordance with LW's and POLST.
Statistics for Laboratory Scientists and Clinicians: A Practical Guide

Understanding the underlying principles of statistical techniques and effectively applying statistical methods can be challenging for researchers at all stages of their career. This concise, practical guide uses a simple, engaging approach to take scientists and clinicians working in laboratory-based life science and medical research through the steps of choosing and implementing appropriate statistical methods to analyse results. The author draws on her extensive experience of advising students and researchers over the past 30 years, breaking down complex concepts into easy-to-understand units. Practical examples using free online statistical tools are included throughout, with illustrations and diagrams employed to keep jargon to a minimum. Sample size calculations and considerations are covered in depth, and the book refers to types of data from experiments that clinicians and lab-based scientists are likely to encounter. Straightforward, accessible and encouraging throughout, this is a go-to reference for researchers who want to achieve statistical autonomy.
Scaffolding the Case Analysis in an Organizational Behavior Course: Making Analytical Language Explicit:

This article describes an innovative interdisciplinary collaboration between English faculty and an organizational behavior (OB) professor to scaffold case analysis writing in an upper-level OB cou...
The influence of exposure to violence on adolescents’ physical aggression: The protective influence of peers

Abstract Introduction This study examined the degree to which peers can serve as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effects of exposure to violence (i.e., victimization, witnessing violence) on adolescents' physical aggression. Four specific dimensions of peer influence were examined — friends' support for nonviolence, friends' support for fighting, peer pressure for fighting, and friends’ delinquent behavior. Methods Analyses were conducted on four waves of data collected every 3 months (i.e., fall, winter, spring, summer) from a predominantly African-American (78%) sample of 2575 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders attending three public middle schools in the United States. The sample was 52% female, with a mean age of 12.3 years (SD = 1.00). Results Findings for relations with victimization differed by sex. For boys, low levels of friends' delinquent behavior attenuated the relation between victimization and changes in physical aggression across all three waves. The protective effect of low levels of peer pressure for fighting was only evident in the winter for boys, whereas the protective effect of friends' support for nonviolence was only evident in the summer. For girls, high levels of friends’ support for nonviolence attenuated the relation between victimization in the winter and changes in physical aggression in the spring. In contrast, none of the peer factors moderated the relation between witnessing violence and physical aggression. Conclusions Findings suggest that prevention and interventions that increase positive peer influences and decrease negative peer influences may benefit adolescents by reducing risks associated with victimization.
The Impact of Climate Change on GDP Growth and National Wealth

Addressing climate change could cost the U.S. in the trillions of dollars in the future. How the nation will finance such a costly venture is yet to be determined. The upside of these expenditures is an increase in economic activity and GDP. The downside is that the economic activity might not improve the next generation’s standard of living significantly because a significant amount of human and produced capital will be devoted to fighting the effects of climate change.
Berlin’s Strategic Moment

As Germany prepares to take on the chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (osce) in 2016 in the midst of Europe’s worst security crisis in a generation, crisis management is in the foreground—with a focus on containing risk and preventing escalation through diplomacy and sanctions against Russia. Yet Berlin is also fundamentally re-shaping its foreign and security policy across the board. Ultimately, Germany’s goal must be to restore a peaceful European security order: not on the terms of Vladimir Putin, but on the basis of the principles enshrined in the osce.
Tracking concept drift in a single neuron

We consider the performance of a variety of learning algorithms for single linear threshold neurons where the weights of the neuron change as training examples are presented. We restrict the weight changes to small changes referred to as the concept drift problem. The performance of the different learning algorithms (tracking algorithms) is defined by the average generalization error which is dependent on the concept drift, the nature of the tracking algorithm, the information given to the tracking algorithm, and the number of inputs, n. We analytically determine the average generalization error for a wide variety of tracking algorithms and different types of concept drift. We model this problem as a system identification problem with a single target neuron and a single tracking neuron. >
The International Citizens' Tribunal for Sudan Case Number: ICTS-1 the Prosecutor Against Omar Hasan Ahmad Al-Bashir President of the Government of Sudan

This Indictment served as the basis for the presentation of the case against President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan before an International Citizens' Tribunal for Sudan. The model Indictment charged al-Bashir with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur under the most current theories of individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law. The Tribunal was staffed by a panel of African and North American jurists, Nobel Peace Prize winner Wole Soyinko of Nigeria presiding. The proceedings themselves involved oral testimony by a former member of the Department of State, a journalist active in Darfur, a representative of Physicians for Human Rights, and several survivors of the Sudanese regime, among others.
Estimating Maximum Possible Environmental Loading Amounts of Cryptosporidium parvum Attributable to Adult Beef Cattle

Populations of beef cattle represent a potential non-point source of environmental contamination for Cryptosporidium parvum if on-farm management practices fail to minimize transport from bovine manure to adjacent water sources. Characterizing this risk of contamination requires several parameters to be estimated, the most important being a valid and precise estimate of the oocyst loading rate per animal unit. The oocyst loading rate is defined in this study as the total number of oocysts excreted by a cohort of adult beef cows during a 24[emsp4 ]h period. We propose a methodology for estimating this parameter for low prevalent populations whereby the majority of individuals are test negative. Under specific degrees of confidence and at the population scale, this methodology generates estimates for maximal oocyst loading based on the sensitivity of the diagnostic test and the point prevalence and intensity of fecal shedding from a cross-sectional survey of the target population. Our cross-sectional survey on California beef cows generated a prevalence of infection of 1.1 % (6/557) and an intensity of oocyst shedding ranging from 219 to 5,491 oocysts/g, with a geometric mean of 835 oocysts/g from six positive cows. Negative binomial estimate of the percent recovery of the diagnostic assay was 0.235. Based on this percent recovery and using approximately 19.4[emsp4 ]mg of feces per assay, the DT90 of our assay, defined as the concentration of oocysts at which our diagnostic assay had a 90 % probability of detecting one or more oocysts in a sample, was 755 oocyst/g feces. At a 95 % confidence level, the estimated maximum number of oocysts being excreted in the feces of California beef cows ranged from 4.8 to 14.4 oocysts/g feces/cow, or 7.7×104 to 2.3×105 oocysts/beef cow/day.
On Parameterizing Models of Antigen-Antibody Binding Dynamics on Surfaces – A Genetic Algorithm Approach and the Need for Speed

This paper discusses the performance of a simple GA for parameterizing a particular biomodel consisting of a set of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations. Comments are offered on the need for speed that motivates choice of language and processing platform for solving scaled problems.
Gaseous hydrocarbonair detonations

Abstract Detonation cell width measurements were made on mixtures of air and methane, ethane, dimethylether, nitroethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, 1,2-epoxypropane, n-hexane, 1-nitrohexane, mixed primary hexylnitrate, n-octane, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, cyclooctane, 1-octene, cis-cyclooctene, 1,7-octadiene, 1-octyne, n-decane, 1,2-epoxydecane, pentylether, and JP4. Cell width measurements were carried out at 25 and 100°C for some of these fuelair mixtures. For the stoichiometric alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, there is a very slight decrease in detonation cell width with increasing initial temperature from 25°C to 100°C, although the differences are within the experimental uncertainties in cell width measurements. Also within the uncertainty limits of the measurements, there is no variation in detonation cell width with increase fuel molecular weight for n-alkanes from ethane to n-decane. Molecular structure is found to affect detonability for C8 hydrocarbons, where the saturated ring structure is more sensitive than the straight-chain alkane, which is more sensitive than the branched-chain alkane. Unsaturated alkenes and alkynes are more sensitive to detonation than saturated alkanes. However, the degree of sensitization decreases with increasing molecular weight. Addition of functional groups such as nitro, nitrate, epoxy, and ethers is found to significantly reduce the detonation cell width from the parent n-alkane. Nitrated n-alkanes can be more sensitive than hydrogenair mixtures. The increase in sensitivity of epoxy groups appears to be related to the oxygen to carbon ratio of the molecule. A numerical model, using a simplified ZND analysis and a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism, was used to interpret the experimental results. The model indicates the effect that each factor—fuel molecule size, fuel structure, initial temperature, bond saturation, and inclussion of different functional groups—has on the computed induction length under detonation conditions.
Accelerated thinning of the near‐Earth plasma sheet caused by a bubble‐blob pair

[1] In the late stage of a substorm growth phase, the magnetic field in the near-Earth region is highly stretched. We assume that such conditions can lead to violation of the frozen-in-flux condition, allowing transfer of plasma from one flux tube to another and creating a plasma blob tailward of a plasma bubble. In this letter we present results of a simulation where we artificially impose a bubble-blob pair by introducing a disturbance in PV5/3 in the near-Earth plasma sheet. In the subsequent evolution, as calculated by the equilibrium version of the Rice Convection Model (RCM-E), the bubble surges earthward and the blob moves tailward, while the magnetic field between them weakens and the localized cross-tail current density increases. We speculate that, at substorm onset, there could be a positive feedback in which the breakdown of the frozen-in condition would increasingly make the current sheet thinner until magnetic reconnection occurs.
Flavonoid Structure Affects the Inhibition of Lipid Peroxidation in Caco-2 Intestinal Cells at Physiological Concentrations

The antioxidant activity of flavonoids in cell-free systems has been studied extensively. We compared flavonoids with different structural features on their abilities to protect live Caco-2 intestinal cells from lipid peroxidation due to hydrogen peroxide and Fe(2+) treatment. Flavonoids with o-dihydroxyl or vicinal-trihydroxyl groups, including quercetin, myricetin (flavonol), luteolin (flavone) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG; flavanol), when co-incubated with a mixture of 30 micro mol/L H(2)O(2) and 30 micro mol/L FeSO(4), prevented the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) at 1 or 10 micro mol/L in at least one of two separate experiments. In experiments in which flavonoids were preincubated with cells but removed before the 30 micro mol/L H(2)O(2) and Fe(2+) treatment, quercetin at 0.1 micro mol/L, EGCG at 1 micro mol/L and luteolin at 10 micro mol/L exerted protective effects in at least one of two experiments. Kaempferol (flavonol) and the isoflavones, genistein and daidzein, did not prevent lipid peroxidation at 0.1-10 micro mol/L in either co- or preincubation experiments. None of the flavonoids tested at 0.1-10 micro mol/L increased H(2)O(2) and Fe(2+)-induced lipid peroxidation after co- or preincubation. In summary, these observations support the importance of plant-based food items such as vegetables, fruits and teas in the diet.
Posterior border movements of the human mandible

Abstract Needle point tracings were obtained from 12 conscious subjects. While these same subjects were under the influence of general anesthesia and curare, needle point tracings were again obtained. The condyles of the patients under anesthesia and curare could be moved further posteriorly than the conscious posterior border position.
A bacterial model system for chromosomal targeting

Abstract A system that permits efficient site-specific chromosomal targeting of foreign DNA on the Escherichia coli chromosome has been developed, using the FLP site-specific recombination system derived from the yeast 2 mu plasmid. The system demonstrates the feasibility of using site-specific recombination for this purpose, and provides a means to gather information on parameters that may affect chromosomal targeting to guide efforts to establish similar systems in higher eukaryotes. In this model system, the efficiency of integration of foreign DNA is affected by the location of the target site in the chromosome, and the structure of the recombination sites.