cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Serotonin and a Role in the Modulation of Cholinergic Transmission in the Mammalian Prevertebral Ganglia

The view that sympathetic ganglia receive synaptic inputs exclusively from cholinergic preganglionic neurons situated in the spinal cord is undergoing rapid revision as evidence accumulated in the past few years clearly indicates that sympathetic ganglia, particularly the abdominal prevertebral ganglia (celiac-superior mesenteric plexus and inferior mesenteric ganglion) receive cholinergic as well as non-cholinergic inputs from the central and/or peripheral nervous system (3, 4, 23).
Trends in Cardiovascular Health Metrics in Obese Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1988–2014

Background No study has quantified trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiovascular health metrics among obese people in the United States in recent years. Methods and Results We examined the secular changes in cardiovascular health metrics and key cardiovascular disease risk factors among obese adults (aged ≥20 years) in the United States. We included 18 626 obese adults (body mass index ≥30) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III and NHANES 1999–2014. Among those obese adults, there were decreases in mean systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol levels and increases in mean high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and mean hemoglobin A1c levels. Prevalence of blood pressure health and lipid health remained stable during the period 1988–2014, whereas prevalence of blood glucose health decreased significantly during this period. Prevalence of freedom from cardiovascular disease risk factors remained stable at ≈15% among the adult obese population during the period 1988–2014, whereas prevalence of presence of all 3 risk factors increased from 16.4% to 22.4% during this period, commensurate with a decline in those with 1 to 2 risk factors (from 69.6% to 62.4%). Conclusions During the past 3 decades, blood pressure health and blood lipid health remained stable or improved, whereas blood glucose health deteriorated among adult obese population. This resulted in an overall decrease in cardiovascular health status among obese adults and greater risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The data argue for interventions targeted to those obese persons who are metabolically unhealthy to stem rising rates of diabetes mellitus.
On Staying Focused: Response to Thom Brooks’ How Not To Save the Planet

It’s easy to experience a slight vertigo effect when viewing a chart displaying the Holocene era of climate history. The striking isolation of the past 10,000 years of stable and accommodating aver...
Aktion: The Holocaust in Rovno

This chapter is a reconstruction of the details of the massacre at Rovno in November 1941. I have presented the overlapping eyewitness accounts of perpetrators, bystanders, and victims in what is a stunning and deeply painful chapter in human history.
First-Order and Second-Order Questions in the Politics

Some of the difficulties of the Politics arise from acknowledged defects in the text — lacunae, abrupt transitions, obscure or faulty internal references, and so forth — and from Aristotle’s sometimes ‘annoyingly inconsequential’ style of writing, his awkward manner of developing a program of inquiry.1 About these sources of difficulty there is little that can be done. We have inherited this text and the peculiar habits of this writer.
Automatic tattoo image registration system

Surveillance systems are very important for law enforcement and military applications. Capturing a biometric modality at a distance and under difficult conditions is a very challenging process. While face or gait can be used to identify an individual in such application, tattoos can also help in the identification process whenever available. Tattoos are considered a soft biometric and in some scenarios may be the only clue that can be used to verify the identity of a suspect or to rule out a suspect. One of the major challenges in tattoo recognition systems is image registration, i.e. the alignment of one tattoo image to a reference image. Accurate registration can greatly improve recognition accuracy. In this paper, we propose a two-level automatic tattoo registration and correction system based on SIFT descriptors and the RANSAC algorithm with a homography model. By using image quality index techniques and a post-processing step (where we refine our original registration results by an automated correction process where outliers are first identified and then re-processed), our system is able to demonstrate accurate registration results. We tested our registration system using two tattoo image databases. The first one is the NIST-Tatt-C database with 109 subjects collected under uncontrolled condition, and the second one is the new WVU tattoo database (WVU-Tatt) with 79 subjects, which is collected under controlled conditions. Experimental results show that, first, we obtained 100% registration accuracy in both databases. Then, the effect of our registration process on tattoo recognition performance was assessed when using both the NIST-Tatt-C database where the accuracy improved from 54.13% (no registration) to 100% (with registration) and the WVU-Tatt database where the accuracy improved from 86.08% (no registration) to 98.73% (with registration).
High resolution strain deformation measurement of vascular tissue with ultrasound array and local spatial autocorrelation

A novel method for direct estimation of axial, lateral and shear strains in tissue using high frame rate ultrasound images is developed. Conventionally, strains are calculated from the spatial derivatives of displacements in different directions, which would result noise amplification and therefore low accuracy of the estimation. The new method uses the local properties of autocorrelation functions to estimate strains directly as parameters of an affine transformation. Unlike other methods in strain measurement, the assumption of isotropic material is not included in the proposed method. The components of strain tensor are estimated independently but concurrently. The spatial constraints of soft tissue on strain tensor is imposed implicitly through spatial autocorrelation of local ultrasonic images. This spatiotemporally resolved measurement enable us to perform principal decomposition to achieve 2-D deformation mode. Error analysis using synthesized ultrasound images show that the accuracy of strain measurement can achieve up to 0.1% for all components. The proposed method is particularly suitable for in-situ measurement of anisotropic soft tissue such as vascular endothelial lining and applicable to use as a point-of-care technique to detect cardiovascular disorders.
Read-enhanced spin memories augmented by phase transition materials (Invited)

Spin based memories have garnered major interest in recent times. With all of the alluring features like-non-volatility, zero-stand by leakage and dense integration in array, they suffer from not having satisfactory distinguishability between stored memory states. Recently, a novel approach of using Phase transition materials (PTM) to assist magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) in spin memories has been proposed. This paper presents an overview of the design approach, challenges and benefits of two proposed ways of designing PTM assisted spin memories. One of the approach that uses a PTM in parallel to MTJ in read path is only applicable for memories with separate read-write paths. This approach can achieve over 1.7X better distinguishability in stored data, at least 20% increase in read stability and 4X larger sense margin (SM). On the other hand, another design which uses PTM in series with MTJ can be used for a broader spectrum of cell topologies and achieves over 17X boost in cell tunneling magneto resistance with 45% higher read stability and ∼60% more SM. No area penalties are associated with either of these techniques.
Inflammation and Autism: From Maternal Gut to Fetal Brain

Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of behavioral disorders in the offspring of affected mothers. Two recent studies highlight how maternal inflammation disrupts inhibitory interneuron networks and suggest that the maternal gut microbiome may be a contributing risk factor for MIA-induced behavioral abnormalities.
INCIDENCE OF MAJOR ADVERSE CARDIOVASCULAR AND LIMB EVENTS IN MEDICARE PATIENTS WITH PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE

In clinical trials, the cardiovascular (CV) event rate is often defined by cardiac and cerebrovascular events. This underestimates the true CV disease burden, particularly in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), who are at risk for adverse limb events. The incidence of a combined endpoint
Probabilistic assessment of aviation CO2 emission targets

Abstract Passenger demand for air transportation is expected to continue growing into the future. The increase in operations will undoubtedly lead to an escalation in harmful carbon dioxide emissions, an adverse effect that governing bodies have been striving to mitigate. The International Air Transport Association has set aggressive environmental targets for the global aviation industry. This paper investigates the achievability of those targets in the US using a top-down partial equilibrium model of the aviation system complemented with a previously developed fleet turnover procedure. Three ‘enablers’ are considered: aircraft technologies, operational improvements and sustainable biofuels. To account for sources of uncertainty, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to run a multitude of scenarios. It was found that the likelihood of meeting all targets is extremely low (0.3%) for the expected demand growth rates in the US. Results show that biofuels have the most impact on system CO2 emissions, responsible for an average 64% of the total savings by 2050 (with aircraft technologies and operational improvements responsible for 31% and 5%, respectively). However, this impact is associated with high uncertainty and very dependent on both biofuel type and availability.
From Corn to Norms: How IP Entitlements Affect What Stand-Up Comedians Create

In There’s No Free Laugh (Anymore): The Emergence of Intellectual Property Norms and the Transformation of Stand-Up Comedy, 94 Virginia L. Rev. 1787 (2008), we explored how, why, and what stand-up comedians have created at different points in the history of stand-up comedy. From this study, we offered insights into how intellectual property (“IP”) law affects human motivation to create, how legal and non-legal motivations interact, and how the emergence of IP entitlements (in comedians’ case, norm-based entitlements) may change creative practices. We offered a static analysis of how stand-up comedians use social norms as a substitute for formal IP law in order to protect their jokes and comedic routines, and a dynamic analysis of how these norms came into being over the last half century. In this short piece for the Virginia Law Review's In Brief, we reply to a group of thoughtful responses to our article by Professors Michael Madison, Jennifer Rothman, Henry Smith, and Katherine Strandburg.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the Intersection of Autophagy and Immunity: Insights from Human Genetics

Studies using human genetics have identified more than 160 loci that affect the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Several of these genes have been found to play key roles in the process of autophagy, a lysosome-based degradation pathway. Although historically considered to be a relatively nonselective process of degradation of cytosolic contents, autophagy has recently been revealed to have several selective and immune-specific functions that are relevant to the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis, including xenophagy, mitophagy, antigen presentation, secretion, and inflammasome regulation. In this chapter, we review the evidence that links autophagy-related genes, their immune-specific functions, and possible mechanisms of IBD pathogenesis. We summarize the basic molecular events underlying general and selective autophagy and present evidence suggesting possible pathogenic mechanisms revealed by studies of IBD-associated risk alleles of ATG16L1 and IRGM. Finally, we review chemical biology-based experimental approaches for identifying autophagy regulatory pathways that may have implications for the development of therapeutics.
THOR: THermal-aware Optimizations for extending ReRAM Lifetime

Resistive RAM (ReRAM) is an emerging memory technology that has been proposed as a promising alternative for DRAM-based main memory. In addition to being more scalable and non-volatile, ReRAM also has the capability of performing logic functions. In this paper, we aim to investigate using 3D stacked ReRAM to achieve a scalable and high-performance memory system architecture. 3D integration of ReRAM crossbar layers (i.e., 3D crossbar) is a potential method for further improving ReRAM density. However, 3D architectures typically suffer from high operating temperatures, which adversely impact ReRAM reliability and device performance. The objective of this study is to address ReRAM endurance limitations, which is a major drawback for such resistive memory technologies. Specifically, we analyze the impact of temperature on ReRAM endurance in 3D and 2.5D stacking designs and show that stacking ReRAM onto multicore dies (i.e., 3D stacking design) may cause lifetime concerns. We then propose a novel solution to improve the access efficiency and reduce the number of accesses to the overheated ReRAM banks. The goal of our mechanism which is mainly utilized for the 2.5D design, is to perform slower and fewer accesses to hot banks to cool them. Evaluation results show that our technique called THOR, can achieve 2.06× lifetime enhancement and 7.5°C peak temperature reduction over a baseline design with only 1.9% performance degradation while running on the 2.5D design.
Minority Students' Perspectives on Chemistry in an Alternative High School

Latinas/os form the largest minority group in the U.S. and they are growing more rapidly than any other ethnic group in this country. However, the number of Latinas/os in chemistry is not proportional to their population; they are noticeably absent from the physical science fields. Little research has explored the circumstances that Latino students encounter in high school chemistry. In this exploratory study, four Mexican American students and one Native American student were interviewed and observed in a physical science class at an alternative school that enrolled predominantly Latino students. Five underlying themes were found: negative perceptions of science, benefits and disadvantages of alternative school science, traditional teaching methods versus student-centered teaching, outreach possibilities, and changes in stereotypes of scientists. A further investigation and more in-depth contextual knowledge is needed in order to determine more precisely what caused the students to have their opinions on physical science. Key Words: Secondary Students, Mexican American, Chemistry Attitudes, and Alternative Schools
Accessory mammillary bodies formed by the enlarged lateral mammillary nuclei: cytoarchitecture

Post mortem examination of the hypothalamus of a 79-year-old woman, deceased in cardiac arrest without recorded neurological symptoms, revealed well-defined spherical protrusions located rostro-laterally to the mammillary bodies that appear to be regular size when compared to normal. Cytoarchitectonically, these accessory mammillary bodies are formed by the enlarged lateral mammillary nucleus that is normally a thin shell over the medial. The mammillary nuclei appear to function synergistically in memory formation in rats; however, the functional consequences of the present variation are difficult to interpret due to lack of human data. Most importantly, in addition to the possible functional consequences, lateral mammillary bodies can be falsely identified as various neuropathological processes of the basal diencephalon including gliomas; therefore, it is extremely important to disseminate this unique morphological variant among clinicians.
The power of public procurement: social equity and sustainability as externalities and as deliberate policy tools

Cities in the USA are facing the impacts of climate change and socio-economic disparities on a daily basis. In response, local governments are leading other public and even private organisations on sustainability efforts in general and in sustainable procurement in particular. The research on what drives a local government's involvement in sustainable procurement is scarce. This study analyses survey responses from 207 US regional and local governments to create a model analysing organisational, regional socio-economic, and regional demographic variables and demonstrates that political leanings, degree of professionalisation, and access to decision makers are the most significant predictors of variance in adoption of sustainable procurement practices. We conclude that ethical spending of public dollars to achieve sustainable outcomes (i.e., sustainable procurement) is more likely to be influenced by the political leanings of the population than by the capacity of the local government to institute and enforce sustainable practices.
Traits track taxonomy.

A novel technique based on isotope analysis shows that, compared to ecosystem type, evolutionary history explains more variation in bacterial growth traits along an elevation gradient. This knowledge could help move microbial ecologists toward improved predictive models of soil processes.
Continuity and semileptonic B (s) → D (s) form factors

Abstract Small changes in the masses of massive external scattering states should correspond to small changes in the non-perturbative parameterization of form factors in quantum field theory, as long as the relevant energy range is not near strong deformations. Here, the definition of “small” is investigated and applied to S U ( 3 ) breaking in semileptonic B ( s ) → D ( s ) transitions. When unitarity and analyticity are imposed, the differences in the form factors for semileptonic B → D versus B s → D s decays are found to be within O ( 1 % ) over the entire kinematic range, not just at zero recoil, which is consistent with results from lattice calculations and differs from the expectation using HQET alone.
Bladder cancer and its mimics: a sonographic pictorial review with CT/MR and histologic correlation

Bladder cancer is the most common cancer of the urinary system and often presents with hematuria. Despite its relatively high incidence, bladder cancer is often under-recognized sonographically. Moreover, even when bladder abnormalities are identified, numerous other entities may mimic the appearance of bladder cancer. Given the incidence and prevalence of bladder cancer, it is important to recognize its variable appearance sonographically and distinguish it from its common mimics. We review the sonographic appearance of bladder cancer and its mimics, providing correlative CT/MR imaging as well as pathology. We stress the importance and advantage of ultrasound as a dynamic imaging modality, with the ability to optimize distinguishing bladder cancer from similar-appearing entities.
Post-crisis India’s Merchandise Export Growth: What Has Changed?:

This article comprehensively examines the growth and pattern of India’s merchandise exports during and following the financial crisis period (2007–08 to 2016–17) using Directorate General of Commer...
Phenotypic Switch of Endovascular Trophoblasts in Decidual Vasculopathy with Implication for Preeclampsia and Other Pregnancy Complications.

Background: This study aims to investigate decidual vasculopathy in preeclampsia at term and its relationship to spiral artery remodeling at implantation sites. Study design: Implantations sites wi...
Common neural responses to romantic rejection and acceptance in healthy adults.

Although romantic rejection and acceptance have a strong impact on mood in adults, their neural response patterns are relatively unexplored. The present study used functional magnetic resonance ima...
Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Review.

Importance Worldwide, the burden of heart failure has increased to an estimated 23 million people, and approximately 50% of cases are HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Observations Heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by dyspnea or exertional limitation due to impairment of ventricular filling or ejection of blood or both. HFrEF occurs when the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is 40% or less and is accompanied by progressive left ventricular dilatation and adverse cardiac remodeling. Assessment for heart failure begins with obtaining a medical history and physical examination. Also central to diagnosis are elevated natriuretic peptides above age- and context-specific thresholds and identification of left ventricular systolic dysfunction with LVEF of 40% or less as measured by echocardiography. Treatment strategies include the use of diuretics to relieve symptoms and application of an expanding armamentarium of disease-modifying drug and device therapies. Unless there are specific contraindications, patients with HFrEF should be treated with a β-blocker and one of an angiotensin receptor–neprilysin inhibitor, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, or angiotensin receptor blocker as foundational therapy, with addition of a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist in patients with persistent symptoms. Ivabradine and hydralazine/isosorbide dinitrate also have a role in the care of certain patients with HFrEF. More recently, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have further improved disease outcomes, significantly reducing cardiovascular and all-cause mortality irrespective of diabetes status, and vericiguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator, reduces heart failure hospitalization in high-risk patients with HFrEF. Device therapies may be beneficial in specific subpopulations, such as cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with interventricular dyssynchrony, transcatheter mitral valve repair in patients with severe secondary mitral regurgitation, and implantable cardiac defibrillators in patients with more severe left ventricular dysfunction particularly of ischemic etiology. Conclusions and Relevance HFrEF is a major public health concern with substantial morbidity and mortality. The management of HFrEF has seen significant scientific breakthrough in recent decades, and the ability to alter the natural history of the disease has never been better. Recent developments include SGLT2 inhibitors, vericiguat, and transcatheter mitral valve repair, all of which incrementally improve prognosis beyond foundational neurohormonal therapies. Disease morbidity and mortality remain high, with a 5-year survival rate of 25% after hospitalization for HFrEF.
Deepcode and modulo-SK are designed for different settings

We respond to [1] which claimed that "Modulo-SK scheme outperforms Deepcode [2]". We demonstrate that this statement is not true: the two schemes are designed and evaluated for entirely different settings. DeepCode is designed and evaluated for the AWGN channel with (potentially delayed) uncoded output feedback. Modulo-SK is evaluated on the AWGN channel with coded feedback and unit delay. [1] also claimed an implementation of Schalkwijk and Kailath (SK) [3] which was numerically stable for any number of information bits and iterations. However, we observe that while their implementation does marginally improve over ours, it also suffers from a fundamental issue with precision. Finally, we show that Deepcode dominates the optimized performance of SK, over a natural choice of parameterizations when the feedback is noisy.
Advanced fuels from ethanol – a superstructure optimization approach

We develop a superstructure framework for the design of biorefineries for ethanol upgrading into advanced biofuels to replace gasoline, jet fuel or diesel. The framework integrates catalysis, process synthesis, and fuel property modelling towards the design of biorefineries producing fuels with specified properties. The proposed framework is applied to identify strategies for the upgrading of ethanol into one or more fuels with specific properties. We discuss the trade-off between profit and biorefinery complexity, as well as the relation among fuel property constraints, the optimal upgrading strategy selected, and process economics. Finally, we show how to find the optimal biorefinery associated with a particular chemistry or catalyst. The results presented constitute the first systematic study of ethanol upgrading considering, simultaneously, fuel and process design.
A machine learning model for identifying patients at risk for wild-type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, an often unrecognized cause of heart failure, is now treatable with a transthyretin stabilizer. It is therefore important to identify at-risk patients who can undergo targeted testing for earlier diagnosis and treatment, prior to the development of irreversible heart failure. Here we show that a random forest machine learning model can identify potential wild-type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy using medical claims data. We derive a machine learning model in 1071 cases and 1071 non-amyloid heart failure controls and validate the model in three nationally representative cohorts (9412 cases, 9412 matched controls), and a large, single-center electronic health record-based cohort (261 cases, 39393 controls). We show that the machine learning model performs well in identifying patients with cardiac amyloidosis in the derivation cohort and all four validation cohorts, thereby providing a systematic framework to increase the suspicion of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis in patients with heart failure.
Nanoparticle-Mediated Heating: A Theoretical Study for Photothermal Treatment and Photo Immunotherapy

Plasmonic metal nanoparticles are efficient absorbers of optical energy and thus can serve as a heat source for photothermal therapy. In this study, time-dependent solutions to the heat-flow equation are derived for the temperature elevation of tissue arising from the absorption of light by a suspension of plasmonic nanoparticles. Analytical solutions for the temperature are obtained assuming the diffusion approximation for light transport. Two types of heat sources are considered: heat production arising from a point source of light and from planewave illumination. The results will provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of experimental systems for photothermal treatment and photo immunotherapy.
Die Organisation der Macht

Bis zu diesem Punkte haben wir die soziale Organisation eines Betriebes als das untersucht, was wir als „Management“ oder Betriebsleitung und „Arbeiterschaft“ bezeichneten. Diese Strukturen zeigten sich sowohl getrennt als auch einander uberschneidend. Jede von ihnen hat eine formelle und eine informelle Organisation. Im Management wie in der Arbeiterschaft bekleiden die Menschen formelle und informelle Rollen. Wir haben einzelne dieser Rollen recht eingehend beschrieben.
Asymptotic Relative Efficiency: Basics

Two competing test statistics may differ in their sensitivity to deviations from the null hypothesis. A standard comparison is the asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) – the limit, as sample sizes grow, of the ratio of the sample sizes needed for the two tests to attain the same power. Keywords: power; sample size; Pitman efficiency; asymptotics
Potential MCNP Enhancements for NCT

MCNP,1 a Los Alamos National Laboratory Monte Carlo radiation transport code, is currently widely used in the medical community for a variety of purposes including treatment planning, diagnostics, beam design, tomographic studies, and radiation protection. This is particularly true in the Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT) community as evidenced by the numerous uses of MCNP in various publications.2 The current widespread medical use of MCNP after its general public distribution in about 1980 attests to the code’s general versatility and usefulness, particularly since its development to date has not been influenced by medical applications. This paper discusses enhancements to MCNP that could be implemented at Los Alamos for the benefit of the NCT community. These enhancements generally fall into two categories, namely 1) those that have already been developed to some extent but are not yet publically available, and 2) those that seem both needed based on our current understanding of NCT goals, and achievable based on our working knowledge of the MCNP code.
Calculation of minimum number of registers in 2-D discrete wavelet transforms using lapped block processing

This paper considers architecture design of lapped block processing based discrete wavelet transforms. The emphasis is on computing the minimum number of registers required for various data format converters. Using life-time analysis, it is shown that the total number of on-chip line delays required for this architecture is approximately (N-1) where N is the order of the FIR filters used for the computation of the discrete wavelet transform. >
Searches for ova in the human uterus and tubes: I. Review, clinical methodology, and summary of findings

Abstract This work was undertaken in an effort to determine the postovulatory age of human ova based on morphologic criteria. Nine ova, recovered from 132 patients, are described. Case reports include menstrual data, time of operation, basal body temperature, location of ovum in the female tract, and histology of the corpus luteum and the endometrium. Ovular morphologic characteristics are no better than other criteria of time of ovulation.
Comparing Least-squares and Quantile Regression Approaches to Analyzing Median Hospital Charges

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19:866–875 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Background: Emergency department (ED) and hospital charges obtained from administrative data sets are useful descriptors of injury severity and the burden to EDs and the health care system. However, charges are typically positively skewed due to costly procedures, long hospital stays, and complicated or prolonged treatment for few patients. The median is not affected by extreme observations and is useful in describing and comparing distributions of hospital charges. A least-squares analysis employing a log transformation is one approach for estimating median hospital charges, corresponding confidence intervals (CIs), and differences between groups; however, this method requires certain distributional properties. An alternate method is quantile regression, which allows estimation and inference related to the median without making distributional assumptions. Objectives: The objective was to compare the log-transformation least-squares method to the quantile regression approach for estimating median hospital charges, differences in median charges between groups, and associated CIs. Methods: The authors performed simulations using repeated sampling of observed statewide ED and hospital charges and charges randomly generated from a hypothetical lognormal distribution. The median and 95% CI and the multiplicative difference between the median charges of two groups were estimated using both least-squares and quantile regression methods. Performance of the two methods was evaluated. Results: In contrast to least squares, quantile regression produced estimates that were unbiased and had smaller mean square errors in simulations of observed ED and hospital charges. Both methods performed well in simulations of hypothetical charges that met least-squares method assumptions. When the data did not follow the assumed distribution, least-squares estimates were often biased, and the associated CIs had lower than expected coverage as sample size increased. Conclusions: Quantile regression analyses of hospital charges provide unbiased estimates even when lognormal and equal variance assumptions are violated. These methods may be particularly useful in describing and analyzing hospital charges from administrative data sets.
Small Intestinal Biopsy in a Patient with Crohn's Disease of the Duodenum: The Spectrum of Abnormal Findings in the Absence of Granulomas

The case is reported of a patient who presented with an occult anemia that was due to Crohn's disease of the duodenum. The initial evaluation revealed low serum levels of iron, folate, and carotene, and a small bowel series was abnormal but not diagnostic of Crohn's disease. Numerous small intestinal biopsy specimens were obtained from the duodenum and proximal jejunum in an unsuccessful attempt to make a diagnosis. It was shown by radiography and laparotomy 2 yr later that the patient had Crohn's disease of the proximal small intestine. This report provides a detailed analysis of the spectrum of abnormalities found by peroral mucosal biopsy in this patient. These abnormalities were patchy and included flattened mucosa, an abnormal surface epithelium which was infiltrated by large numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, increased plasma cells and polymorphonuclear leuckocytes within the lamina propria, crypt abscesses, erosions, granulation tissue, and pyloric gland metaplasia, all in the absence of granulomas. Crohn's disease should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of a proximal small bowel mucosal disease, especially when a constellation of acute inflammatory changes is present.
Thermal Electron Capped Hemisphere Spectrometer (TECHS) for Ionospheric Studies

A miniaturized capped hemisphere electrostatic analyzer optimized for measuring naturally occurring ionospheric thermal electron phase space distributions in the core (typically less than 1 eV) and into the superthermal energy regime, has been built, tested and flown to an apogee of 1450 km in the Earths topside cleft ionosphere aboard a NASA sounding rocket. Key elements of the required experimental technique for this range of electron energies include miniaturization as required by the magnetized state of the target electrons, application of an aperture bias and boom deployment to minimize the spurious effects of non-zero spacecraft potential, and use of copper black surface coatings to minimize the transmission of unwanted electrons and UV photons. Detection and angular imaging of selected electrons at the capped hemisphere exit aperture is accomplished using a microchannel plate detector and an 8-segment discrete anode. We present here an elaboration of the instrument concept, some results of laboratory testing of flight and prototype instruments and an example of cleft region topside ionospheric electron observations.
The social acceptability of handheld umbrellas for sun protection

Summary Purpose Little is known about handheld umbrella (HU) use for sun protection in the United States. We sought to determine whether women consider the HU a socially acceptable form of sun protection and whether viewing pictures of famous women carrying umbrellas is influential. Methods This is a cross-sectional survey study of 382 women. Participants viewed a collage of famous women carrying umbrellas to assess effect on social acceptability. Results Twelve percent had used a HU for sun protection. Participants were more likely to use an umbrella after viewing the collage (P < 0.001). The majority would consider umbrella use if recommended by a dermatologist. Independent predictors of social acceptability were age, had not lived in another country, sun protective clothing use and no sunscreen use, while skin color, ethnicity and education were not. Mean rating of social acceptability was an intermediate score of 5.41 (1 = not acceptable, 10 = totally acceptable) and increased to 5.88 postcollage (P < 0.001). Conclusion Social acceptability of HUs was moderate. Popular media may play a role in whether women view HUs as a socially acceptable form of sun protection. Dermatologists may consider recommending HUs as an adjunct but not replacement for other methods of sun protection.
Introduction to the Symposium-in-print: Photoisomerization Pathways, Torsional Relaxation and the Hula Twist¶

A review of recent literature on volume-conserving cis-trans photoisomerization reaction mechanism, including hula twist, is presented. Differences between substrates trapped in amorphous solids and chromophores that are protein bound are discussed.
Consequences of child exposure to war and terrorism.

Acts of war and terrorism are increasingly prevalent in contemporary society. Throughout history, weaponry has become more efficient, accurate, and powerful, resulting in more devastation and loss of human life. Children are often overlooked as victims of such violence. Around the world, children are exposed to violence in multiple forms, frequently developing traumatic stress reactions. Such reactions are best understood within the context of social–emotional and cognitive development, as children respond differently to the stress of violence depending on their developmental level. Furthermore, the violence of war and terrorism often results in a multitiered cascade of negative life events including loss of loved ones, displacement, lack of educational structure, and drastic changes in daily routine and community values. These numerous losses, challenges, and stresses affect children's brains, minds, and bodies in an orchestrated whole-organism response. This paper describes these effects, synthesizing the current state of research on childhood traumatic stress reactions from the fields of neuroscience, clinical psychology, and pediatric diagnostic epidemiology.
Students' Knowledge of Aging and Career Preferences.

The increased number of older adults attributes to a rising need for future professionals to work in gerontology. Understanding the influence of students' career choices is important. A qualitative study was conducted after students' taking a gerontology course to explore students' knowledge and career preference in gerontology. The results were that students reported higher competency in that their knowledge was higher. Although increased knowledge did not necessarily encourage students to choose careers in gerontology, it may have made students more amenable toward accepting working with the aging population in the future. The study offers suggestions on how to increase students' competency level in practice.
John Adams, Cicero and the Traditions of Republicanism

ABSTRACT John Adams' approach to republican politics emphasizes the need to check and balance powers in a republican constitution, but also the need to check the power of the ‘aristocracies' that arise in society. The need for checks on power is explained in terms of the weakness of human reason relative to the passions, and in terms of the need for harmony and justice to promote happiness in society. Adams retains a Ciceronian view of the origins of human society and of republican government, and relies on Cicero's definitions of ‘people' and ‘republic' to help frame his Defense of the Constitutions of the United States of America. His approach is conservative in that part of his defense is to stress that the colonial governments that existed before Independence were republican, and that the institutions of the colonial governments were the primary models for the new state constitutions after Independence. The study suggests that historical interpretations of the ‘republican tradition' are better underst...
Purification and properties of rubrophilin: a novel brain specific membrane polypeptide.

Rubrophilin, a unique brain specific polypeptide, was purified to apparent homogeneity from microsomal fractions of bovine brains. The peptide stains pink with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 (C.I. No. 42660) under specific conditions, has an apparent Mr of 53,000, and is acidic with an apparent pI of 4.9. The purification involves initial solubilization of delipidated microsomes in sodium dodecyl sulfate, followed by ammonium sulfate fractionation, reversed ammonium sulfate gradient elution from diatomaceous earth, gel filtration on polyacrylamide (Biogel P-200), gradient elution chromatography from hydroxylapatite, and reverse-phase chromatography from phenyl-Sepharose. A yield of about 5 mg of rubrophilin was obtained from 9 g of microsomal proteins. Amino acid analysis shows that rubrophilin contains only nine amino acids with residues/mol as follows: alanine (102), glutamic acid (97), lysine (65), proline (55), aspartic acid (48), glycine (44), serine (37), threonine (35), and valine (10). Cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, tyrosine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, histidine, and arginine could not be detected. Relative rubrophilin content of vertebrate brains was as follows: mammals greater than birds greater than reptiles greater than fishes. It is present in mouse retina and human neuroblastoma cell cultures but could not be detected in octopus optic lobe or in cultured C-6 rat glioma cells.
Bicyclooctanes: cis-bicyclo[3.3.0]octa-2,6 and 2,7-diene-2-carboxylic acids

Abstract Two independent routes to each of the title acids, useful in the synthesis of natural products, are presented. The sequences commence with readily available materials which are amenable to the preparation of multigram quantities. Complete 13 C spectral data is supplied for intermediates and products.
Significance of thermodynamic and physical characteristics on permeation of ions during membrane separation: Hydrated radius, hydration free energy and viscous effects

Abstract Selected thermodynamic and physical characteristics of ions were compared in relation to their permeation ability during membrane filtration. The characteristics analyzed included ionic radius, hydrated radius, hydration free energy, Jones–Dole viscosity coefficient (B). Correlations between ionic parameters were analyzed to explain the ability of some ions to permeate by rearranging the water molecules (i.e., soft ions) within their hydration shells during transport as well as near membrane inter-ionic interactions. Hydrated size and strength of the hydration shell significantly affect ability of ions to permeate through the thin film membranes. Selectivity of membrane processes depend on the hydration free energy of ions. Ion selectivity of a membrane (or partitioning of ions on the membrane) is governed by differences in relative free energies between the solution and membrane phases. The Jones–Dole coefficient (B) for both cations and anions show strong correlations with selected thermodynamic characteristics including entropy of hydration and hydration free energy. The order of ions with respect to selected parameters show similarities with the Hofmeister series which is often used to explain the ability of ions to interact with hydrogen in proteins. The same ability (i.e., interaction with hydrogen) affects the behavior of ions both near and within membrane, allowing some ions to permeate either by size exclusion or ability to rearrange the hydration waters under shear forces during transport.
A numerical simulation of inertial waves in a rotating fluid

Abstract Inertial waves in a fluid-filled rotating cylinder are studied using a numerical simulation. A perturbation applied along the centerline at the midplane of a right circular cylinder is used to excite these internal waves. A primitive variable, time-marching finite difference solution of the linearized axisymmetric governing equations is used to obtain the flow and pressure fields. Results compare well with theoretical predictions and are displayed graphically.
Interaction of oxygen with clean aluminum surfaces by measurement of work function changes

Abstract Work function changes were used to study the interaction of clean bulk aluminum surfaces with oxygen in the low pressure region (10 −6 to 10 −8 torr). The effect of temperature and pressure on these work function changes indicated that the amount of oxygen adsorbed on the outer surface of the aluminum at these pressures was very small. Low outer surface adsorption was due to the high rate of incorporation of oxygen into the aluminum subsurface. The chemisorbed oxygen led either to a structure of high work function or to a structure of low work function relative to the work function of the clean aluminum depending on experimental conditions. Comparison of results of this work with results of previous studies of adsorption of water on aluminum showed that the lowered work function was definitely a result of oxygen interaction instead of water contamination as proposed by other investigators.
Partially obstructing antral web—A distinct clinical entity

Abstract Partially obstructing antral webs can cause perplexing feeding problems and poorly defined pain syndromes in infants and children. Three infants with recurrent postprandial vomiting and a fourth older child with recurrent post-prandial epigastric discomfort were diagnosed by upper GI series using a technique which specifically attempts to visualize the often elusive web. Excision of the web and pyloroplasty resulted in complete resolution of symptoms and a return to normal growth and development.
Treatment of Parkinson's disease: what's in the non-dopaminergic pipeline?

Dopamine depletion resulting from degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons is the primary neurochemical basis of the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). While dopaminergic replacement strategies are effective in ameliorating these symptoms early in the disease process, more advanced stages of PD are associated with the development of treatment-related motor complications and dopamine-resistant symptoms. Other neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems are expressed in the basal ganglia and contribute to the extrapyramidal refinement of motor function. Furthermore, neuropathological studies suggest that they are also affected by the neurodegenerative process. These non-dopaminergic systems provide potential targets for treatment of motor fluctuations, levodopa-induced dyskinesias, and difficulty with gait and balance. This review summarizes recent advances in the clinical development of novel pharmacological approaches for treatment of PD motor symptoms. Although the non-dopaminergic pipeline has been slow to yield new drugs, further development will likely result in improved treatments for PD symptoms that are induced by or resistant to dopamine replacement.
The refined inviscid stability condition and cellular instability of viscous shock waves

Abstract Combining the work of Serre and Zumbrun, Benzoni-Gavage, Serre, and Zumbrun, and Texier and Zumbrun, we propose as a mechanism for the onset of cellular instability of viscous shock and detonation waves in a finite-cross-section duct, the violation of the refined planar stability condition of Zumbrun–Serre, a viscous correction of the inviscid planar stability condition of Majda. More precisely, we show for a model problem involving flow in a rectangular duct with artificial periodic boundary conditions that transition to multidimensional instability through violation of the refined stability condition of planar viscous shock waves on the whole space generically implies for a duct of sufficiently large cross-section, a cascade of Hopf bifurcations involving more and more complicated cellular instabilities. The refined condition is numerically calculable as described by Benzoni-Gavage–Serre-Zumbrun.
Implementing bathhouse-based voluntary counselling and testing has no adverse effect on bathhouse patronage among men who have sex with men:

Implementing HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) in bathhouses is a proven public health strategy for reaching high-risk men who have sex with men (MSM) and efficiently identifying new HIV ...