cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical treatment of tricuspid valve insufficiency promotes early reverse remodeling in patients with axial-flow left ventricular assist devices

Objective The HeartMate II (Thoratec Corp, Pleasanton, Calif) continuous-flow left ventricular assist device has emerged as the standard of care for patients with advanced heart failure. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and early effectiveness of concomitant tricuspid valve procedures in patients undergoing implantation of a HeartMate II device. Methods From February 2007 to April 2010, 83 patients underwent HeartMate II left ventricular assist device implantation. Of these, 37 patients had concomitant tricuspid valve procedures (32 repairs, 5 replacements) for severe tricuspid regurgitation. The effects of a tricuspid valve procedure on tricuspid regurgitation and right ventricular remodeling were assessed comparing echocardiographic findings at baseline and 30 days after left ventricular assist device implantation. Overall survival was also compared. Results Patients undergoing a concomitant tricuspid valve procedure had more tricuspid regurgitation (vena contracta, 5.6 ± 2.1 mm vs 2.9 ± 2.0 mm; P P = .05), higher mean right atrial pressure (17.4 ± 7.1 mm Hg vs 14.9 ± 5.1 mm Hg; P = .03), and a higher Kormos score (2.6 ± 2.1 vs 1.2 ± 1.4; P = .0008) preoperatively. One month after surgery, tricuspid regurgitation was worse in patients who underwent left ventricular assist device implantation alone (+18.6%), whereas it improved significantly in patients undergoing a concomitant tricuspid valve procedure (−50.2%) ( P = .005). A corresponding significant reduction in right ventricular end-diastolic area (33.6% ± 6.2% vs 30.1% ± 9.7%; P = .03) and a trend toward better right ventricular function (55.5% ± 79.7% vs 35.7% ± 60.5%; P = .28) were noted in patients undergoing a concomitant tricuspid valve procedure. Survival was comparable between the 2 groups. Conclusions In patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation undergoing left ventricular assist device implantation, a concomitant tricuspid valve procedure effectively reduces tricuspid regurgitation and promotes reverse remodeling of the right ventricle.
Interaction of α-Agglutinin and a-Agglutinin,Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sexual Cell Adhesion Molecules

alpha-Agglutinin and a-agglutinin are complementary cell adhesion glycoproteins active during mating in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They bind with high affinity and high specificity: cells of opposite mating types are irreversibly bound by a few pairs of agglutinins. Equilibrium and surface plasmon resonance kinetic analyses showed that the purified binding region of alpha-agglutinin interacted similarly with purified a-agglutinin and with a-agglutinin expressed on cell surfaces. At 20 degrees C, the K(D) for the interaction was 2 x 10(-9) to 5 x 10(-9) M. This high affinity was a result of a very low dissociation rate ( approximately 2.6 x 10(-4) s(-1)) coupled with a low association rate (= 5 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1)). Circular-dichroism spectroscopy showed that binding of the proteins was accompanied by measurable changes in secondary structure. Furthermore, when binding was assessed at 10 degrees C, the association kinetics were sigmoidal, with a very low initial rate. An induced-fit model of binding with substantial apposition of hydrophobic surfaces on the two ligands can explain the observed affinity, kinetics, and specificity and the conformational effects of the binding reaction.
Emergency Department Visits Secondary to Amusement Ride Injuries in Children

BACKGROUND:: Amusement rides are located not only in large amusement parks but also at local fairs and carnivals, in shopping malls, and at schools, and are even rented for private use. Millions of children in the United States participate in amusement rides annually. The amusement park industry has a vested interest in the safety of its equipment, and indeed, reports of severe injury or death are rare compared to the huge number of rides per year. Nonetheless, injuries severe enough to require an emergency department (ED) visit occur, and this study aims to quantify and describe those injuries in children. METHODS:: The code for amusement rides was used to cull data for children age 18 years and younger from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database, part of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. This database includes a probability sample of hospital EDs in the United States from which national estimates can be calculated. Incidences of musculoskeletal injuries (fractures, dislocations, and sprains/strains) by age group as well as demographic variables were examined. RESULTS:: Extrapolated numbers indicate that approximately 9200 children are treated annually in a hospital-based ED secondary to an amusement ride injury. Average age is 8.5 years, with both sexes evenly represented. The vast majority of children (95%) are treated and released. Ninety percent of fractures and 81% of dislocations occurred in aged younger children (2-12 years), whereas sprains/strains were the most frequent musculoskeletal injury in adolescents. Fractures of the upper extremity are more prevalent than of the lower extremity, and the majority of fractures occur distal to the elbow or knee. CONCLUSIONS:: Catastrophic injury and death are rare secondary to amusement ride injuries, although those reports often make headline news. Less severe injuries are also uncommon; however, such injuries do occur, and there are little data describing the incidence or patterns of these injuries in children. This study, despite many limitations of the available data, provides the pediatric orthopaedic surgeon with information, which may, in turn, assist in continued advocacy efforts for safety within the amusement ride industry.Â Language: en
Reduced complexity dynamic programming based on policy iteration

Abstract In this paper, a forward method is introduced for solving the dynamic programming equations of Bellman. This is in contrast to most existing methods for dynamic programming which solve the problem backwards. A key advantage is that the forward dynamic programming approach can be systematically simplified to provide computation/optimality trade-offs. Such trade-offs are lacking in backwards iterative methods which tend to be “all or nothing” propositions. A second advantage is that the computation is independent of the state dimension. These properties together offer some promise for circumventing the “curse of dimensionality” on many problems of practical interest. Due to a strong connection with the work of Bellman on policy iteration, the method is denoted as the Iteration in Policy Space (IPS) algorithm. Several examples are given to demonstrate the general usefulness of the method.
The sorption of certain transplutonium ions on amorphous zirconium phosphate

Abstract The sorption of tracer concentrations of Am(III), Cm(III), Bk(IV) and Cf(III) on amorphous zirconium phosphate with a PO4/Zr mole ratio of 1·34 was investigated. Tracer Ce(III), Eu(III), and U(VI) were also included in the study. The distribution coefficients were investigated at 75°C as a function of time and nitric acid concentration. Small separation factors were found for ions with the same charge; large separation factors were found for Bk(IV)/Cm(III), and U(IV)/Am(III). The phosphate hydrolysis of amorphous zirconium phosphates with varying PO4/Zr mole ratios was studied between 1 M and 10−3 M nitric acid concentrations at 75°C. Spectrophotometric and neutron activation analysis techniques were used to detect small concentrations of phosphate ion.
Parametric and non-parametric modeling of short-term synaptic plasticity. Part I: computational study

Parametric and non-parametric modeling methods are combined to study the short-term plasticity (STP) of synapses in the central nervous system (CNS). The nonlinear dynamics of STP are modeled by means: (1) previously proposed parametric models based on mechanistic hypotheses and/or specific dynamical processes, and (2) non-parametric models (in the form of Volterra kernels) that transforms the presynaptic signals into postsynaptic signals. In order to synergistically use the two approaches, we estimate the Volterra kernels of the parametric models of STP for four types of synapses using synthetic broadband input–output data. Results show that the non-parametric models accurately and efficiently replicate the input–output transformations of the parametric models. Volterra kernels provide a general and quantitative representation of the STP.
The Bioethics of iPS Cell―Based Drug Discovery

The ability to generate human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells presents exciting prospects for drug discovery and the development of safer, more effective drugs. Given the enormous potential for iPS cell-based drug development, what ethical issues could possibly cloud this new biomedical horizon?
Perceived Racial Discrimination as a Barrier to College Enrollment for African Americans

African Americans trail European Americans in terms of academic achievement, even when accounting for differences in socioeconomic status. One cause of this gap may be racial discrimination. In the current article the authors hypothesized that early perceived racial discrimination (by 5th grade) would predict college enrollment, mediated by changes from 7th grade to 10th grade in academic orientation, college aspirations and expectations, and deviance tolerance. Participants were 750 African Americans from the Family and Community Health Study. A structural equation model that controlled for socioeconomic status and earlier academic performance supported the hypothesis, with the exception that discrimination did not influence aspirations. The effect of discrimination on expectations, however, was moderated: Participants with high future orientation maintained high expectations in spite of discrimination. These results suggest that discrimination discourages some African Americans from pursuing higher educ...
B vitamins and plasma homocysteine concentrations in an urban and rural area of Costa Rica.

Objective: We studied the association between total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations and folate, B12, and B6 status in the urban and rural areas of Costa Rica.Subjects and Methods: We determined plasma tHcy concentrations and assessed dietary folate, B12 and B6 intake by a food frequency questionnaire in 462 subjects selected by stratified random sampling in the urban and rural areas of Puriscal, Costa Rica. Plasma folate and vitamin B12 concentrations were measured in women.Results: THcy concentrations were higher (p < 0.01) in the rural compared with the urban area: 12.0 μmol/L vs. 8.9 μmol/L in men, and women 7.3 μmol/L vs. 5.5 μmol/L in women, respectively. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (greater than 15.0 μmol/L) was twice as high in rural compared with urban men (19.8% vs. 10.8%, p = 0.06) and women (6.6% vs. 3.4%, p = 0.26). Most study subjects (98%) had folate intakes that were less than the recommended 400 μg/day. In women, 31% of those living in the urban area and 40% of those i...
Buprenorphine therapy for opioid addiction in rural Washington: the experience of the early adopters.

Background: The introduction of buprenorphine as office-based treatment for opioid dependence was designed to expand treatment capacity, but virtually there are no data about use of this medication in rural areas. Methods: The survey of the first cohort of physicians in rural Washington State who obtained buprenorphine waivers (2002-2010) to determine the volume of treated patients, physician appraisal of the efficacy of this treatment, and perceived barriers to treatment was conducted. Twenty-four (73 percent) of the 33 rural buprenorphine-certified physicians practicing in the state were interviewed in 2010. Results: Twenty physicians (83 percent) were actively prescribing buprenorphine/naloxone for treatment of addiction. Those currently prescribing averaged 23 active patients and had treated 125 patients since certification. All respondents reported that buprenorphine was efficacious in the treatment of addiction and 95 percent recommended that other rural colleagues adopt buprenorphine treatment. The following four major barriers were cited: 1) lack of adequate financial support from Medicaid, the largest source of third-party coverage for these patients; 2) unavailability of local mental health and behavioral addiction treatment services; 3) difficulty in finding consultants to assist in managing complex patients; and 4) shortages of other rural physicians providing this service. Conclusions: Buprenorphine is viewed as a highly effective treatment of opioid addiction by early adopters in rural Washington State, but relatively few rural physicians currently provide this service. Inadequate insurance coverage, a shortage of effective links with consultants and colleagues, and the lack of mental health services are persistent barriers to the use of this modality in rural Washington State.
Witnesses, Spatial Practices, and a Land Dispute in Colonial Oaxaca

At approximatety eight o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of June, 1719, Don Gaspar Aguero de los Reyes y San Pelayo, the alcalde mayor (Spanish magistrate) of the district of Villa Alta, Oaxaca, prepared to depart on horseback from the town square of the Zapotec pueblo of San Juan Juquila toward four disputed parcels of land. Standing with him in the square were the cabildo officers of San Juan Juquila and San Juan Tanetze, who had been engaged in a legal battle over the land for four years. Their lawyers stood with them. Juan Tirado, a district interpreter, and court witnesses (in lieu of an official notary) translated and notarized the proceedings. From his perch on the back of his horse, the alcalde mayor read the legal decision in the dispute, which the interpreter translated for the benefit of the Zapotec officials. The auxiliary judge, who rendered the decision in the case from the distance and comfort of the diocesan seat of Antequera, had ordered that the land in question should be divided equally between the two pueblos. The lawyer for the cabildo of Tanetze voiced his official protest and vowed to appeal the case to the Real Audiencia. The alcalde mayor registered the protest. Then, he addressed another group of men who had been waiting in the wings: Juan de Yllescas, Andres Ramos, Juan Baptista, Pedro Hernandes, and Nicolas Santiago, all natives of the Zapotec pueblo of San Miguel Talea, and all of whom had testified in an earlier probanza on behalf of the pueblo of Juquila. Through his interpreter, the magistrate swore them in as witnesses and ordered them to guide the group to the disputed territory, identify the parcels of land and their borders, and determine where they should be divided. From this point on, the Zapotec witnesses took the lead and proceeded toward the disputed territory along the Camino Real, with their “faces pointing south.” In this manner, the legal ritual of boundary marking (amojonamiento) began.
Once you're choosing, nobody's perfect: is more information necessarily better in oocyte donor selection?

Abstract Despite a growing body of research examining the psychosocial issues involved in oocyte donation, few studies have examined the role of information in the process of donor selection. The aim of this interview-based qualitative study was to understand how donor oocyte recipients relate to information provided about potential oocyte donors, how they use this information to select donors and their preferences for, and reactions to, various types of information provided to them. Donor oocyte recipients who underwent treatment between 1995 and 2011 were recruited for participation from an academic centre for reproductive medicine. Twenty-two oocyte donor recipients participated. Findings indicate that recipients use information to select donors who they believe would enable them to fulfill their priorities: having a healthy child and ‘passing' as genetically related. Obtaining more specific information prompted a focus on donor imperfections and presented a burden of choosing. Moreover, for participants preferring distance, having more information created dilemmas by making the donors less abstract. Although more information and options are often desired by oocyte donor recipients, increased choice can also present psychological dilemmas and emotional costs. Further research is needed to investigate the influence of information-related conflicts on patient decision-making, post-treatment emotional adjustment and disclosure decisions.
Quintuple-modality (SERS-MRI-CT-TPL-PTT) plasmonic nanoprobe for theranostics.

A unique quintuple-modality theranostic nanoprobe (QMT) is developed with gold nanostars for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), two-photon luminescence (TPL) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). The synthesized gold nanostars were tagged with a SERS reporter and linked with an MRI contrast agent Gd3+. In vitro experiments demonstrated the developed QMT nanoprobe to be a potential theranostic agent for future biomedical applications.
Disruption of the gastroduodenal artery and right gastric artery following blunt trauma

Abdominal vascular injuries and specifically injury to the visceral arteries occur uncommonly as the result of blunt trauma. This is a report of disruption of both the gastroduodenal and right gastric arteries as the result of blunt trauma.
Complex stimulus relations and exclusion in severe mental retardation

Abstract Exclusion of stimuli involved in complex stimulus relations was examined in a severely retarded young man. On two-comparison arbitrary auditory-visual matching-to-sample trials, the subject learned first to select (a) either of two different food items in response to the same spoken-name sample of (b) the same food item in response to either of two different spoken names. Then, on exclusion test trials, a food involved in one or the other type of relation was displayed with a novel food (i.e., one not yet related to a name); the spoken-name sample was also novel. On such trials, the subject selected the novel food, apparently excluding the food involved in learned relations. The study systematically replicates and extends research on exclusion performance of low-functioning mentally retarded individuals and provides additional data on relational learning in this population.
THE FEDERALIST PRESS AND SLAVERY IN THE AGE OF JEFFERSON

(2003). The Federalist Press and Slavery in the Age of Jefferson. The Historian: Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 1303-1329.
Oxidation of 7-Ethoxycoumarin and Conjugation of Umbelliferone by Intact, Viable Epidermal Cells from the Hairless Mouse

Intact, viable (>80%) epidermal cells were isolated from the hairless mouse. These cells metabolized 7-ethoxycoumarin (7-EC) to umbelliferone (UMB) (3 pmol/min/10 6 cells) and UMB to the sulfate and glucuronide conjugates (1 pmol/min/10 6 cells). The rate of oxidation in intact cells compared well with that in disrupted cells with added NADPH, but conjugation proceeded more rapidly in disrupted cells with added cofactors, due to a combination of "activation" of the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, and to a limitation of activity by the concentration of UDP-glucuronic acid in the intact cells. Pretreatment of the animals with 5,6-benzoflavone resulted in a 5-fold increase in the rate of oxidation, and a 2-fold increase in both the rate of conjugation and the intracellular concentration of UDP-glucuronic acid. UDP-glucuronic acid concentration in isolated cells increased during incubation with glucose, and was regenerated to a steady-state concentration on incubation of cells with UMB. Pretreatment of animals with 5,6-benzoflavone decreased the percentage of metabolite conjugated (from 30% to 15%), whereas adding an inhibitor of oxidation, ellipticine, to cells isolated from pretreated animals, increased the percentage of metabolite conjugated (from 15% to 40%). Sulfation of UMB was almost undetectable, except at very low concentrations ( 70% of the products of 7-EC oxidation in the skin may remain unconjugated.
Myocardial infarction due to multiple coronary-ventricular fistulas

Coronary-ventricular fistulas have been described in both right and left coronary arteries and have been implicated in causing cardiac symptoms and coronary ischemia. We present a case of three-vessel coronary-ventricular fistulas emptying into both ventricles, associated with a left-to-right shunt and a myocardial infarction.
Efficient group cuts for integer programs

Gomory's group relaxation for integer programs has been refined by column generation methods and dual ascent algorithms to identify a set of candidate solutions which are feasible in the relaxation but not necessarily so in the original integer program. Attempts at avoiding branch and bound procedures at this point have focussed on providing extra group constraints which eliminate all or most of the candidate solutions so that further ascent can take place. It will be shown that a single constraint usually of order 2 or 3, can eliminate all of the candidate solutions.
Clinical Spectrum, Morbidity, and Mortality in 113 Pediatric Patients with Mitochondrial Disease

Objectives The aim of this study was to elucidate the frequency of major clinical manifestations in children with mitochondrial disease and establish their clinical course, prognosis, and rates of survival depending on their clinical features. Methods We performed a retrospective review of the medical records of 400 patients who were referred for evaluation of mitochondrial disease. By use of the modified Walker criteria, only patients who were assigned a definite diagnosis were included in the study. Results A total of 113 pediatric patients with mitochondrial disease were identified. A total of 102 (90%) patients underwent a muscle biopsy as part of the diagnostic workup. A significant respiratory chain (RC) defect, according to the diagnostic criteria, was found in 71% of the patients who were evaluated. In this cohort, complex I deficiency (32%) and combined complex I, III, and IV deficiencies (26%) were the most common causes of RC defects, followed by complex IV (19%), complex III (16%), and complex II deficiencies (7%). Pathogenic mitochondrial DNA abnormalities were found in 11.5% of the patients. A substantial fraction (40%) of patients with mitochondrial disorders exhibited cardiac disease, diagnosed by Doppler echocardiography; however, the majority (60%) of patients had predominant neuromuscular manifestations. No correlation between the type of RC defect and the clinical presentation was observed. Overall, the mean age at presentation was 40 months. However, the mean age at presentation was 33 months in the cardiac group and 44 months in the noncardiac group. Twenty-six (58%) patients in the cardiac group exhibited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 29% had dilated cardiomyopathy, and the remainder (13%) had left ventricular noncompaction. Patients with cardiomyopathy had an 18% survival rate at 16 years of age. Patients with neuromuscular features but no cardiomyopathy had a 95% survival at the same age. Conclusions This study gives strong support to the view that in patients with RC defects, cardiomyopathy is more common than previously thought and tends to follow a different and more severe clinical course. Although with a greater frequency than previously reported, mitochondrial DNA mutations were found in a minority of patients, emphasizing that most mitochondrial disorders of childhood follow a Mendelian pattern of inheritance.
Performance study of buffering within switches in local area networks

Today's demanding applications, such as multimedia, require higher network transfer rates. Traditional local area networks (LANs) will not be able to provide the throughput required by these applications. The use of switches in LANs is an effective technique to increase the throughput of the network. These switches have finite buffers at their input and output ports. The size of these buffers affect the packet loss rate. It also affect the delay at the switch as packets may have to wait for the output buffer to become available. We study the effect of buffer sizes within these switches. We show how the buffer size is related to the performance of the switch as well as overall performance of the LAN.
Intramyocardial Periprosthetic Aortic Valve Aneurysm

A healed periprosthetic aortic valve abscess with an intramyocardial cavity is demonstrated by angiography and transesophageal echocardiography.
Trade and Production Fragmentation : Central European Economies in European Union Networks of Production and Marketing

Developments driven by trade liberalization and tehcnological progress mean that old development strategies, based on state intervention and trade protection, no longer work. Global competition has brought a growing emphasis on product standards, rapid innovation, adaptability, and speedy response. Technology has made possible the fragmentation of production. Firms that become part of global production and distribution networks do not have to be foreign-owned, as many multinationals contract out the delivery of services and products. Foreign involvement facilitates the transfer of managerial and technological know-how, so firms benefit from becoming part of a network. Small producers, rather than servicing small local markets, can supply large firms abroad. Foreign participation--through outsourcing or direct investments--may offer direct access to a parent company's global networks. Becoming part of a multinational's production and distribution network is a cheap way to market products. But the unprecedented globalization of the production process has brought the integration of trade and the disintegration of production, with deep implications for the international division of labor. Have Central European economies been able to take advantage of the global fragmentation and disintegration of production and the division of labor? Ten countries--Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia--have made large strides toward readjusting their production structures to international markets, mainly in the European Union. And trade in industrial products has lost its pre-transition idiosyncratic character. All 10 economies apear to be on the same track as the European Union in changing patterns of trade with the networks the authors discuss. Progress is advanced in furniture (most of the 10 economies) and automobiles (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and is gaining momentum in"information revolution"networks (Estonia and Hungary). Progress in industrial integration with the European Union has been uneven. The first-tier economies (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) are much less so and, despite relatively low wages, have no comparative advantage in assembly in EU markets. Among first-tier economies, three stand out: Estonia and Hungary (in integration into"information revolution"markets) and Slovakia (in restructuring its automotive sector).
A computationally efficient finite-element/analytical model for simulating electric machines with rotor movement

A new approach for simulating electric machines by combining the finite element method with an analytical model of the air gap is presented. Although the initial setup of the model makes the approach more computationally intensive than traditional finite element analysis (FEA) for the simulation of a single rotor position, the simulation of subsequent rotor positions is dramatically faster than traditional FEA. As such, the approach is suitable for use in simulating electric machines as part of a larger dynamic simulation, such as that of an electric vehicle. The approach exploits the fact that only certain spatial harmonics of the magnetic field exist in the air gap of conventional machine designs to improve computational performance. Simulation results validate the accuracy and speed of the proposed method.
A Phyletic Perspective on Cell Growth

Commonalities, as well as lineage-specific differences among bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, are reviewed in the context of (1) the coordination of cell growth, (2) the flow of mass and energy affecting the physiological status of cells, (3) cytoskeletal dynamics during cell division, and (4) the coordination of cell size in multicellular organs and organisms. A comparative approach reveals that similar mechanisms are used to gauge and regulate cell size and proliferation, and shows that these mechanisms share similar modules to measure cell size, cycle status, competence, and number, as well as ploidy levels, nutrient availability, and other variables affecting cell growth. However, this approach also reveals that these modules often use nonhomologous subsystems when viewed at modular or genomic levels; that is, different lineages have evolved functionally analogous, but not genomically homologous, ways of either sensing or regulating cell size and growth, in much the same way that multicellularity has evolved in different lineages using analogous developmental modules.
Hydrodynamic cavitation as a tool to control macro-, micro-, and nano-properties of inorganic materials

Hydrodynamic cavitation was shown to be a powerful tool for the synthesis of nanostructured catalysts, ceramics, and piezoelectrics in high phase purities. The macro-, micro-, and nano- properties of solid-state materials could be controlled through adjusting the cavitational regime during synthesis by simple mechanical adjustment. The synthesis of nanostructured titania, piezoelectrics, perovskites, supported and unsupported cobalt molybdates, and Pd and Ag supported on alumina illustrate changes in morphology and size of crystals, growth in a preferred orientation of crystallites, and control of crystallographic strain and size compared to classically prepared materials. The high shear and cavitational forces during synthesis induce micro-strain into the materials and are a function of the Reynolds and cavitation numbers.
Association Between Travel Distance and Metastatic Disease at Diagnosis Among Patients With Colon Cancer

Purpose Health care access and advanced cancer stage are associated with oncologic outcomes for numerous common cancers. However, the impact of patient travel distance to health care on stage at diagnosis has not been well characterized. Methods This study used a historical cohort of patients with colon cancer in the National Cancer Data Base from 2003 through 2010. The primary outcome, stage at diagnosis, was evaluated using hierarchical regression modeling. A secondary outcome was time to receipt of initial therapy that was evaluated using Cox shared frailty modeling. Results Among 296,474 patients with colon cancer (mean age, 68 ± 13.6 years; 47.6% male; 78.5% white), 3.9% traveled ≥ 50 miles to the diagnosing facility. Fewer black patients, patients with higher income, and patients with lower education traveled longer distances (trend test P < .001 for all). Patients traveling ≥ 50 miles were more likely to present with metastatic disease compared with those traveling less than 12.5 miles (odds ratio ...
Nitrous Oxide and the Inhalation Anesthetics

Nitrous oxide is the most commonly used inhalation anesthetic in dentistry and is commonly used in emergency centers and ambulatory surgery centers as well. When used alone, it is incapable of producing general anesthesia reliably, but it may be combined with other inhalation and/or intravenous agents in deep sedative/general anesthestic techniques. However, as a single agent, it has impressive safety and is excellent for providing minimal and moderate sedation for apprehensive dental patients. To gain a full appreciation of the pharmacology, physiologic influences, and proper use of nitrous oxide, one must compare it with other inhalation anesthetics. The purpose of this CE article is to provide an overview of inhalation anesthetics in general and to address nitrous oxide more specifically in comparison.
Cell cycle arrest and the evolution of chronic kidney disease from acute kidney injury

For several decades, acute kidney injury (AKI) was generally considered a reversible process leading to complete kidney recovery if the individual survived the acute illness. Recent evidence from epidemiologic studies and animal models, however, have highlighted that AKI can lead to the development of fibrosis and facilitate the progression of chronic renal failure. When kidney injury is mild and baseline function is normal, the repair process can be adaptive with few long-term consequences. When the injury is more severe, repeated, or to a kidney with underlying disease, the repair can be maladaptive and epithelial cell cycle arrest may play an important role in the development of fibrosis. Indeed, during the maladaptive repair after a renal insult, many tubular cells that are undergoing cell division spend a prolonged period in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. These tubular cells recruit intracellular pathways leading to the synthesis and the secretion of profibrotic factors, which then act in a paracrine fashion on interstitial pericytes/fibroblasts to accelerate proliferation of these cells and production of interstitial matrix. Thus, the tubule cells assume a senescent secretory phenotype. Characteristic features of these cells may represent new biomarkers of fibrosis progression and the G2/M-arrested cells may represent a new therapeutic target to prevent, delay or arrest progression of chronic kidney disease. Here, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of the biology of the cell cycle and how cell cycle arrest links AKI to chronic kidney disease.
Safeguarding cooperation in Synergy MAC

Cooperative communication is a novel, diversity-improving technique that holds great promise for the future of wireless networks. But in order to fully exploit this diversity realized at the physical layer, the idea of node cooperation needs to be extended to other layers of the protocol stack as well. Synergy MAC is one such extension to the MAC sublayer. As per this protocol, whenever a source intends to transmit some data to the destination, it solicits the support of its neighbors for the ensuing data transfer. When one a willing neighbor is identified as the relay, the source transmits its data to the destination by forwarding it via the enlisted relay. In doing this, not only does Synergy MAC realize spatial diversity but is also able to achieve faster transmission speeds. However, relay assisted two hop transmission in Synergy MAC gives rise to numerous concerns about its security. To address these concerns, appropriate security schemes need to be adapted to suit Synergy MAC. In this paper, we discuss various security issues introduced by cooperation in Synergy MAC and utilize two security schemes to address those problems. The techniques that are discussed here enable popular security schemes like WEP, WPA and WPA2 to successfully operate with Synergy MAC.
A Jamming Theory of Politics

Competitive political elites frequently offer conflicting, irreconcilable accounts of policy-relevant information. This presents a problem for members of the public who lack the skill, time, and attention to become experts on every complicated policy question that might arise. To analyze problems like these, this article presents a formal theory of political communication with competitive senders who have privately known preferences. In equilibrium, senders can jam messages from their opponents; that is, they can send messages designed to leave receivers uncertain about who has sent a truthful message. The article identifies differences between jamming and existing theories, reports empirical predictions, and discusses substantive implications for the politics of representation, the judiciary, and expertise.
Reconciling Rationality with Deterrence: A Re-Examination of the Logical Foundations of Deterrence Theory

This article argues that classical (or rational) deterrence theory is logically inconsistent, empirically inaccurate and prescriptively deficient. In its stead it offers an alternative theoretical framework – perfect deterrence theory – that makes consistent use of the rationality postulate and is in accord with the empirical literature of deterrence. Perfect deterrence theory’s axiomatic base, its empirical expectations and its most significant policy prescriptions are highlighted and contrasted with those of classical deterrence theory. The theory’s implications for current policy debates about a national missile defense system, arms control, US policy toward China and Russia, and inter-state negotiations in general, are discussed.
Stressed Value-at-Risk

Stressed Value at Risk (Stressed VAR) in its advanced framework provides a realistic measure of market risk tailored for stressed market environments. The simpler regulatory version of Stressed VAR is a special case. Stressed VAR corrects various deficits of ordinary VAR in times of market stress. Stressed VAR incorporates scenario analysis in a VAR setting in a sophisticated and consistent fashion. The mathematical framework is familiar and simple, designed to be understandable in a practical way by risk managers, traders, and regulators. Specifically, the familiar Gaussian (normal) probability formalism is employed, but in a completely different way than for ordinary VAR, designed to account for tail risk and collective behavior. The two main ingredients for Stressed VAR are "fat-tail volatilities" that account for outlier events in the risk factors, and stressed correlations between risk factors that account for collective market participant behavior in stressed markets. This information is provided as input to standard Monte Carlo simulation to determine stressed market risks for a given portfolio. The VAR with the inputs of the fat-tail volatilities and the stressed correlations is the Stressed VAR. Bloomberg LP is implementing Stressed VAR in the PORT portfolio system.
Signal reconstruction from short-time Fourier transform magnitude

In this paper, a signal is shown to be uniquely represented by the magnitude of its short-time Fourier transform (STFT) under mild restrictions on the signal and the analysis window of the STFT. Furthermore, various algorithms are developed which reconstruct signal from appropriate samples of the STFT magnitude. Several of the algorithms can also be used to obtain signal estimates from the processed STFT magnitude, which generally does not have a valid short-time structure. These algorithms are successfully applied to the time-scale modification and noise reduction problems in speech processing. Finally, the results presented here have similar potential for other application areas, including those with multidimensional signals.
Using Popular Education With Health Promotion Students in the USA

Recent publications have called for new approaches to training the next generation of health promotion professionals, for whom effective practice depends on understanding how systemic inequities are created and function and how they can be dismantled. These approaches gain particular urgency in the context of recent trends toward commodification of knowledge at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. Popular education, a liberatory pedagogy, has been used in social movements around the world for decades. In a health promotion context, its use has been associated with increased empowerment and improved health. To explore the potential of popular education (PE) for helping health promotion students develop a systemic analysis of power and privilege and the concrete skills needed to address health and social inequities, we conducted a case study in the context of a community organizing class in a Master's in Public Health curriculum. Analysis of mixed methods data collected from students suggested that PE, with its focus on concrete practices and interactions, is a valid alternative to conventional pedagogy and a useful complement to liberatory pedagogies more common in university classrooms. Application of PE in higher education will require overcoming barriers, including student resistance and institutional pressures that discourage its use.
First Amendment Limitations on Trademark Rights

The First Amendment's free speech clause limits the government's ability to grant and enforce trademark rights in words, names, and symbols. Congress and courts currently incorporate free speech values directly into certain parts of trademark doctrine. Congress protects free expression in the Federal Trademark Act, more commonly known as the Lanham Act, by only granting rights in distinctive marks, limiting exclusive trademark rights, and allowing certain defenses, such as the fair use defense. When interpreting the Lanham Act, some courts have protected expression by narrowly construing trademark rights and broadly applying statutory and common law defenses. A few have even considered an independent First Amendment defense. Certain judges have also taken First Amendment interests into account when drafting remedies in trademark cases. Despite this deference to First Amendment interests in the trademark statute and litigation, Congress and courts have also allowed trademark law to suppress expression that is constitutionally protected. Trademark law unduly restricts the free flow of commercial expression when firms are allowed to register and protect trademarks consisting of descriptive terms and catchy slogans. Some common law trademark doctrines, such as the doctrine of initial interest confusion, may limit consumers' access to information about competing goods on the Internet. When construing the Lanham Act, some courts have not adequately protected the unauthorized use of another's mark in expression on the Internet and in artistic works. This chapter analyzes how Congress and courts currently protect, and fail to protect, First Amendment values when granting and enforcing trademark rights.
The Test of Leadership

As we study the leadership styles, especially in large business organizations, we come across leaders who are mostly transactional. They motivate their subordinates through a mechanism of give and take. For securing improved bottom lines for the organization, subordinates are expected to deliver higher returns. Higher productivity, improved efficiency, implementation of cost effective methods and establishing superior relationship among clients and customers are linked to Key Result Areas (KRAs) and Key Performance Indices (KPIs) of individuals. Acknowledging the enhanced performance of subordinates, managers usually provide higher incentives. At times they offer hefty increments and in some very exceptional cases place the superior performers in accelerated career progression path. This scheme serves as a win-win opportunity. On the one hand the organizations turn healthier, whereas on the other hand employees derive higher rewards, lead a superior life style and continue to remain as key contributors.
Chemical Behavior of Systox Isomers in Biological Systems

A thorough knowledge of the chemical behavior and reactions of systemic insecticides in biological systems is essential in order to define clearly the nature of the toxic substance or substances derived by the system. Systemic insecticides are defined as those which are absorbed and translocated to other parts of the plant, thus exerting their toxic influence on insects throughout the entire plant. A systemically active substance may exert its action by being absorbed and distributed unchanged, as appears to be the case with some derivatives of 2-fluoroethyl alcohol (Schrader 1952), or it may be acted upon by certain systems in the plant and converted to toxic metabolic products. In general, the organo-phosphorus compounds appear to fall in the latter category, and it is with these substances that a great deal of effort has been expended upon the elucidation of their chemical behavior in biological systems. The identification and knowledge of the physico-chemical properties of these metabolic poisons is important not only from the standpoint of residual hazards to mammals but also for a clearer understanding of the systems involved, thus laying the foundation for th.3 development of future systemics.
Parthenogenesis in the tropical gekkonid lizard, Nactus arnouxii (Sauria: Gekkonidae)

As currently diagnosed, Nactus arnouxii includes unisexual and bisexual populations. The geographic distribution of each type was estimated by sex-ratio analysis of samples from southwestern Pacific islands. Males were absent from southern Vanuatu (excluding Aneityum), New Caledonia, and all islands to the east that have been sampled. Both types of populations appear to be present on Aneityum. Chromosome and protein analyses showed that the bisexual populations are highly polytypic and probably consist of more than one biological species. The unisexual N. arnouxii were diploid, highly heterozygous, and showed no genetic segregation. The absence of segregation suggests clonal reproduction, substantiating parthenogenesis. The high heterozygosity of the unisexuals indicates their origin through hybridization. One parent was genetically similar to the extant bisexual population from northern Vanuatu. The other parent has not been identified, but its genetic characteristics are predicted by phylogenetic analysis.
Dual Photoreactivity of a New Rh2(II,II) Complex for Biological Applications.

A new Rh2(II,II) complex containing one dppn (benzo[i]dipyrido[3,2-a:2,3-c]phenazine) ligand with an extended π-system, cis-H,H-[Rh2(OCCH3NH)2(dppn)(CH3CN)2]2+ (2), was synthesized and characterized. The dppn ligand, which serves as a DNA base pair intercalator, chelates to a single Rh center and is positioned trans to the amidato N atoms of the bridging acetamide ligand. This ligand also possesses a low-lying dppn-centered 3ππ* state that is advantageous for the sensitization of singlet oxygen (1O2), which complex 2 produced with a quantum yield, Φ 1O2460, of 0.22(7) with 460 nm excitation. In addition, one equivalent of CH3CN is released from 2 upon irradiation with visible light, generating cis-H,H-[Rh2(OCCH3NH)2(dppn)(H2O)(CH3CN)]2+ in aqueous media with photoinduced ligand exchange quantum yield, ΦLE450, of 0.0033(1). Thermal denaturation and relative viscosity studies are consistent with a π-stacking interaction of 2 with double-stranded DNA together with covalent binding to the duplex upon irradiation with visible light. Therefore, 2 exhibits dual photoreactivity towards DNA, making it potentially useful for photochemotherapy with enhanced activity relative to compounds able to achieve only one mode of cell death upon irradiation.
U–Pb and Hf isotopic analyses of detrital zircons from the Taku terrane, southeast Alaska

The Taku terrane consists of metamorphosed Carboniferous through Triassic marine clastic strata, volcanic rocks, and limestone that occur along the western margin of the Coast Mountains in southeastern Alaska. These rocks are juxtaposed along mid-Cretaceous thrust faults over Jura-Cretaceous basinal strata of the Gravina belt to the west and beneath Proterozoic through Carboniferous metamorphic rocks of the Yukon–Tanana terrane to the east. This paper presents U–Pb ages and Hf isotope analyses of detrital zircons from the Taku terrane, and compares these values with information from the adjacent Wrangellia, Alexander, and northern and southern portions of the Yukon–Tanana terrane (YTTn and YTTs). These comparisons suggest that ( i ) Carboniferous strata of the Taku terrane were shed mainly from mid-Paleozoic igneous rocks of YTTs, ( ii ) Permian strata of the Taku terrane were shed from mid-Paleozoic igneous rocks and intraformational Lower Permian volcanic rocks of YTTs as well as Upper Permian volcanic rocks exposed in YTTn, and ( iii ) Triassic sandstones were shed from mid-Paleozoic igneous rocks of YTTs, whereas conglomerates were shed mainly from mid-Paleozoic arc rocks in YTTn. Hf isotope analyses of Paleozoic zircons record increasing continental input during Silurian–Devonian and Permian phases of magmatism. Similarities in isotopic characteristics, combined with stratigraphic and geochemical information presented by previous workers, suggest that strata of the Taku terrane accumulated on (and partly as lateral equivalents of) rocks of YTTs, and that the combined assemblages formed outboard or along strike of YTTn.