cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RADIOCARBON DATING | AMS Radiocarbon Dating

This section summarizes the use of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for radiocarbon dating measurements. It expands on the principles already laid out in the sections on ‘Principles of Radiocarbon Dating’ and ‘Conventional Radiocarbon Dating.’ The great advantage of AMS is that it allows dating of very small, submilligram (<0.5 mg C) samples of carbon to routine precisions of about 0.3% (±24 radiocarbon years). Higher precisions, down to about 0.2%, can be obtained by longer counting times or multiple measurements.
A Hybrid Algorithm to Solve Traveling Salesman Problem

The TSP problem is a typical one in the field of combinatorial optimization. After study other researchers’ related works, this paper presents a hybrid algorithm based on simulated annealing, ant colony and genetic in reference to previous research, in order to improve computing performance. Algorithms of this paper are used for solving traveling salesman problem, and the simulation contrast test results show that the algorithm has better convergence speed and optimal results; it also shows that the algorithm is feasible and effective.
A dynamic policy license for flexible spectrum management

Abstract Electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communications is fully allocated by regulatory authorities, but this does not mean that it is fully utilized. Demand for greater capacity and new services requires new regulatory and technical models for spectrum sharing. This paper develops a regulatory model denoted the dynamic policy license. The dynamic policy license combines the assurances to licensees that come from holding a fixed license while maintaining regulatory flexibility. A dynamic policy license is similar to a traditional spectrum license that specifies a bandwidth, power, center frequency, location, and other parameters. However, one or more of these parameters is subject to change by the regulator over time. The allowed changes are restricted by the license to provide assurances and predictability to the licensee. The opportunities and challenges that this presents to both regulators and licensees is described. For instance, the dynamic policy license can be a regulatory tool for more aggressive spectrum sharing.
Assessing lymph node status in patients with kidney cancer

Accurate detection of lymph node involvement on pre-operative imaging in patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is critical for determination of disease stage, one of the most significant prognostic factors in RCC. The presence of lymph node involvement in RCC doubles a patient's risk of distant metastasis and significantly reduces their 5-year survival. Currently, lymph node involvement in patients with RCC is evaluated with numerous modalities, with rapid advancements occurring across these modalities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each modality and utilize sensitivities and specificities to determine the highest performing modalities for accurate lymph node involvement in renal cancer. A comprehensive computer-based literature search of full-length original research English language studies of human subjects with biopsy-proven RCC was performed to evaluate publications on the diagnostic performance of color Doppler sonography (CDS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), lymphotrophic nanoparticle enhanced MRI (LNMRI), multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT), F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and PET/CT for evaluation of lymph node status in kidney cancers in articles that were published prior to May 2018. Limited studies were available for evaluating CDS performance for determination of lymph node involvement in renal cancer. While CT is the most common modality for nodal staging, due to its availability and relatively low expense, it did not demonstrate the highest performance of the modalities examined for determination of lymph node status in patients with RCC. Of the modalities examined, MRI demonstrated the highest sensitivity (92-95.7%) for detection of lymph node involvement in RCC. Studies of lymph node involvement in RCC using both MRI and CT indicated that using the current diameter criteria (greater than 1 cm) for determination of positive lymph nodes should be re-evaluated as micro-metastases are frequently overlooked. Studies evaluating lymph node involvement with FDG-PET had the highest specificity (100%), indicating FDG-PET is the preferred modality for confirming lymph node involvement and extent of involvement. However, due to the low sensitivity of FDG-PET, clinicians should be skeptical of negative reports of lymph node involvement in RCC patients. Further studies examining determination of lymph node involvement in renal cancer across modalities are greatly needed, current literature suggests utilizing a combination of MRI and FDG-PET may offer the highest accuracy.
Trypanosomatid Deoxyhypusine Synthase Activity Is Dependent on Shared Active-Site Complementation between Pseudoenzyme Paralogs

Trypanosoma brucei is a neglected tropical disease endemic to Africa. The polyamine spermidine is essential for post-translational hypusine modification of eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), which is catalyzed by deoxyhypusine synthase (TbDHS). In trypanosomatids, deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) activity is dependent on heterotetramer formation between two paralogs, DHSc and DHSp, both with minimal activity on their own due to missing catalytic residues. We determined the X-ray structure of TbDHS showing a single functional shared active site is formed at the DHSc/DHSp heterodimer interface, with deficiencies in one subunit complemented by the other. Each heterodimer contains two NAD+ binding sites, one housed in the functional catalytic site and the second bound in a remnant dead site that lacks key catalytic residues. Functional analysis of these sites by site-directed mutagenesis identified long-range contributions to the catalytic site from the dead site. Differences between trypanosomatid and human DHS that could be exploited for drug discovery were identified.
An experimental comparison of composite and grab sampling of stream water for metagenetic analysis of environmental DNA

Use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess distributions of aquatic and semi-aquatic macroorganisms is promising, but sampling schemes may need to be tailored to specific objectives. Given the potentially high variance in aquatic eDNA among replicate grab samples, compositing smaller water volumes collected over a period of time may be more effective for some applications. In this study, we compared eDNA profiles from composite water samples aggregated over three hours with grab water samples. Both sampling patterns were performed with identical autosamplers paired at two different sites in a headwater stream environment, augmented with exogenous fish eDNA from an upstream rearing facility. Samples were filtered through 0.8 μm cellulose nitrate filters and DNA was extracted with a cetyl trimethylammonium bromide procedure. Eukaryotic and bacterial community profiles were derived by amplicon sequencing of 12S ribosomal, 16S ribosomal, and cytochrome oxidase I loci. Operational taxa were assigned to genus with a lowest common ancestor approach for eukaryotes and to family with the RDP Classifier software for prokaryotes. Eukaryotic community profiles were more consistent with composite sampling than grab sampling. Downstream, rarefaction curves suggested faster taxon accumulation for composite samples, and estimated richness was higher for composite samples as a set than for grab samples. Upstream, composite sampling produced lower estimated richness than grab samples, but with overlapping standard errors. Furthermore, a bimodal pattern of richness as a function of sequence counts suggested the impact of clumped particles on upstream samples. Bacterial profiles were insensitive to sample method, consistent with the more even dispersion expected for bacteria compared with eukaryotic eDNA. Overall, samples composited over 3 h performed equal to or better than triplicate grab sampling for quantitative community metrics, despite the higher total sequencing effort provided to grab replicates. On the other hand, taxon-specific detection rates did not differ appreciably and the two methods gave similar estimates of the ratio of the common fish genera Salmo and Coregonus at each site. Unexpectedly, Salmo eDNA dropped out substantially faster than Coregonus eDNA between the two sites regardless of sampling method, suggesting that differential settling affects the estimation of relative abundance. We identified bacterial patterns that were associated with eukaryotic diversity, suggesting potential roles as biomarkers of sample representativeness.
Conventions, Reasons and the Law

According to Marmor, many critics thought that Hart had not given any good reason to think that the rules of recognition are conventions, and in any case, no conventional understanding of such rules is plausible. Others, including Marmor himself, defended this conventionalism about the rules of recognition, albeit, on different grounds. His main aim in this essay is to clarify his position and provide some further arguments in support of the view that constitutive conventions are at the foundation of law. In particular, he tries to show, in the face of the criticisms that its proposal has received from Postema, that it is still necessary to postulate the constitutive character of the rule of recognition. Indeed, Postema has argued that it was sufficient to extend the notion of coordination employed by Lewis and himself at some earlier time (he now prefers to speak in terms of “cooperation”) to argue that it is not necessary to take Marmor’s step. In contrast, Marmor argues that there are innumerable conventional practices, which it would be wrong to describe as solutions to preexisting coordination problems. In his view, insisting on coordination belittles the talent and inventiveness of human beings. Our sophisticated social practices are not limited to solving the problems with which we find ourselves. People create practices that they consider valuable to undertake. And one of them is the legal practice.
Rewriting Interpolants

We give a method of constructing an interpolant for linear equality, and inequality constraints over the rational numbers. Our method is based on efficient rewriting techniques, and does not require the use of combination methods. The interpolant is constructed in such a way that it reflects the structure of the rewrite proof.
Abstract 247: Identification of the GABAAreceptor in melanoma brain metastases patient tumors and demonstration that it is a viable drug target using benzodiazepine-derivatives

Primary cutaneous melanoma is often successfully treated in early stages in patients with regional disease. While distant metastatic disease, including brain metastasis, that develops in most stage IV melanoma patients, carries a particularly poor prognosis with median overall survival of only 4-5 months. Standard-of-care treatment of brain metastases includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. The fact that melanoma is a radio-resistant cancer, significantly limits treatment options for melanoma that has metastasized to the brain. There is clearly a significant demand for new therapeutic approaches. We have conducted a whole transcriptomic analysis of melanoma brain metastases to provide insight into molecular changes that may contribute to metastasis as well as to identify potential therapeutic targets in the metastasized cancer. Total RNA was extracted from 29 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) melanoma brain metastatic samples, libraries constructed and enriched for transcript fragments with coding regions. Libraries were subjected to Transcriptome Capture (TCap) targeting 21,415 genes, which represents more than 98% of the total RefSeq exome. Sequencing was performed on the Illumina HiSeq platform. Gene expression analysis of melanoma brain metastatic samples reveals high expression levels of ion channels, including subunits of the ligand-gated neurotransmitter GABAA receptors. We will present differential expression analysis between recent melanoma transcriptomic studies [1, 2] and melanoma brain metastases samples. More than 20% of FDA approved drugs target ion channels. We report that repurposing of one such class of drugs targeting GABAA receptors can impair melanoma cell viability in vitro and reduce tumor volume in vivo. GABAA receptors can serve as a potential therapeutic target for treatment brain metastasis. References 1. Akbani, et al. (The Cancer Genome Atlas Network, TCGA). Genome classification of cutaneous melanoma. Cell 2015; 161(7): 1681-1696. 2. Tirosh, et al. Dissecting the multicellular ecosystem of metastatic melanoma by single-cell RNA-seq. Science 2016; 352 (6282): 189-196. Citation Format: Milota Kaluzova, Tahseen Nasti, Hiao-Rong Chen, Lindsey Lowder, Robert Press, Havi Rosen, Manali Rupji, Laura Kallay, Rikesh Patel, Andre Burnham, Maxwell Xu, Alexandra Ross, Havva Keskin, Erin Connelly, Benjamin Izar, Cory Adamson, Jeffrey Olson, Jing Su, Walter Curran, Ragini Kudchadkar, Matthew Schniederjan, Stewart Neill, David Lawson, Michael Chan, Jeanne Kowalski, Mohammad Khan, Daniel Pomeranz Krummel, Soma Sengupta. Identification of the GABAA receptor in melanoma brain metastases patient tumors and demonstration that it is a viable drug target using benzodiazepine-derivatives [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 247.
Soy isoflavones: database development, estrogenic activity of glycitein and hypocholesterolemic effect of daidzein

vi GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 A. Introduction 1 B. Dissertation Organization 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 4 A. Plant Sources and Analytical Chemistry of Isoflavones 4 B. Sources of Isoflavone Standards: Isolation. Purification and ChemicalSynthesis 15 C. How Do Plants Make Isoflavones? 17 D. .Are Isoflavones Good Antioxidants? 19 E. Estrogenic or Antiestrogenic? 21 F. Isoflavone Metabolism and Bioavailability 31 G. Are Isoflavones Cancer Preventive? 35 H. Soy Protein is Hypocholesteroiemic, What About Soy Isoflavones? 41 I. Soy Isoflavones: Cure for Postmenopausal Osteoporosis? 44 J. Isoflavones and Alcohol Intake 46 K. References 47
Human factors considerations in designing a personalized mobile dialysis device: An interview study

Abstract Recent technical advances have enabled the creation of mobile dialysis device prototypes. These prototypes have been tested for their ability to allow an individual to be dialyzed continuously rather than sporadically. The most recent prototype of a mobile dialysis device aims at increased functionality, which suggests that human factors issues (e.g., efficiency, bulkiness, and weight) are now considered carefully. This study describes advances in the design of an Ambulatory Kidney to Improve Vitality (AKTIV), using an interview protocol during the early stages of product development to capture patients' and caregivers' reactions. The AKTIV has the potential to improve patients' quality of life and decrease mortality rates. The goal of our study is to examine patients' and caregivers’ design preferences and feature considerations for an AKTIV. We interviewed 22 participants (age M = 57.50, SD = 13.30), of whom 12 were female and 16 were patients. A pre-interview survey was distributed to the participants, and semi-structured interviews were subsequently held. The pre-interview results show that the belt and backpack designs were preferred over the shoulder bag and distributed designs. The participants also indicated on their pre-interview forms that safety and accuracy were more important to them than attachment ease, comfort, compactness, or operational simplicity. Invisibility and mobility were frequently mentioned when determining the strengths of each of the five design types during the interviews. Finally, individual differences in preferences for the various design types and attributes were identified. The results from our study have important implications for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction in relation to AKTIV prototypes and products. The findings from this interview study will help to ensure engineers and clinicians have target parameters for redesigning the AKTIV.
Integrating sustainability into new product development: The role of organizational leadership and culture

While corporate sustainability research continues to grow, we contend that key organizational factors influence the ability of firms to strategically integrate sustainability orientation to the performance of new products. Using data from 349 product developers, this paper examines organizational factors that instill a sustainability orientation leading to market performance of new products. Specifically, we construct a model where organizational leadership (i.e., leadership practices, employee incentives, and a focus on patents), and culture (i.e., innovation culture and geocentricity) lead to sustainability orientation that results in the translation of firm resources into improved new product development outcomes. Our results support our contention; sustainability orientated firms are likely to realize improved market performance of new products as these firms benefit from an innovative organizational culture exposed to the global environment with complementary leadership that provides focus and reward mechanisms for employees.
COVID-19 Therapeutics for Solid Organ Transplant Recipients; 6 Months Into the Pandemic: Where Are We Now?

As in the general population with COVID-19 infection, therapeutic interventions in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients have evolved over time. The preceding 6 months of the pandemic can be divided into 2 main therapeutic eras: the early era and the later era. The first era was characterized by widespread use of drugs such as hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin, lopinavir-ritonavir, and tocilizumab. More recently, with the publication of larger trials, there has been increasing use of remdesivir, dexamethasone, and convalescent plasma, with rapid proliferation of clinical trials including a wide variety of investigational and repurposed agents with antiviral or immunomodulatory effects. This overview focuses on what is known about the effects of different therapies in SOT recipients with COVID-19, mainly from case series and, more recently, larger multicenter registries; as well as outlining the information that will be needed in order to optimize management and outcomes in SOT recipients with COVID-19 in the future.
Economic effects of shifting airport activity in the Los Angeles metro region

Abstract We estimate the economic effects of a reallocation of passenger traffic from congested Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Ontario International Airport (ONT). We find that the relative market shares of the two airports are a function of time and distance, relative fares, and absolute frequencies. Given increasing congestion and population growth patterns, there appears to be potential for expanded operations at Ontario, with resulting economic and environmental benefits. We define the potential market as those travelers choosing LAX despite being closer in travel time and distance to ONT, based on specific postal codes. Using estimates of the value of time, vehicle and aircraft operating costs, and emissions, we calculate the potential effects of shifting both for the average individual passenger and for 10 percent of the potential market from LAX to ONT. These estimated shifts would require only a relatively small percentage change in flight operations. We estimate the value of time and cost savings for both private and ride-sharing services at between $6 million and $11 million annually for a 10 percent shift, depending on whether parking fee differentials are included. The parking fee differentials represent just over half the estimated savings for private vehicle travelers, and to some degree may reflect locational rents rather than resource costs to the overall economy. We also estimate potential reductions in CO2 emissions of more than 4200 tons annually for a 10 percent shift, as well as meaningful reductions in hydrocarbons, CO, and NOx.
Examining historical mercury sources in the Saint Louis River estuary: How legacy contamination influences biological mercury levels in Great Lakes coastal regions

Industrial chemical contamination within coastal regions of the Great Lakes can pose serious risks to wetland habitat and offshore fisheries, often resulting in fish consumption advisories that directly affect human and wildlife health. Mercury (Hg) is a contaminant of concern in many of these highly urbanized and industrialized coastal regions, one of which is the Saint Louis River estuary (SLRE), the second largest tributary to Lake Superior. The SLRE has legacy Hg contamination that drives high Hg concentrations within sediments, but it is unclear whether legacy-derived Hg actively cycles within the food web. To understand the relative contributions of legacy versus contemporary Hg sources in coastal zones, Hg, carbon, and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in sediments and food webs of SLRE and the Bad River, an estuarine reference site. Hg stable isotope values revealed that legacy contamination of Hg was widespread and heterogeneously distributed in sediments of SLRE, even in areas lacking industrial Hg sources. Similar isotope values were found in benthic invertebrates, riparian spiders, and prey fish from SLRE, confirming legacy Hg reaches the SLRE food web. Direct comparison of prey fish from SLRE and the Bad River confirmed that Hg isotope differences between the sites were not attributable to fractionation associated with rapid Hg bioaccumulation at estuarine mouths, but due to the presence of industrial Hg within SLRE. The Hg stable isotope values of game fish in both estuaries were dependent on fish migration and diet within the estuaries and extending into Lake Superior. These results indicate that Hg from legacy contamination is actively cycling within the SLRE food web and, through migration, this Hg also extends into Lake Superior via game fish. Understanding sources and the movement of Hg within the estuarine food web better informs restoration strategies for other impaired Great Lakes coastal zones.
A Scoping Review of Virtual Reality Interventions for Youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the methods and outcomes of virtual reality (VR) interventions aimed at improving symptoms for youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The authors conducted a scoping review of studies that used VR interventions to improve the skills of youth with ADHD. We searched seven databases for articles published between 2000 and 2021 using “virtual reality” and “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” as key terms. Participants were between 6 and 18 years. The searched yielded 157 articles and 8 were reviewed. VR interventions resulted in improvement in attentional skills, short-term memory, and, at times, impulsivity of participants. Most studies depicted a classroom setting, and virtual teachers providing cues were helpful in improving the performance of participants on continuous performance tasks. Samples were often limited to young boys and comorbid mental health problems were exclusionary criteria. Except for one study, research was quasi-experimental in nature, and examining whether improvements were related to the VR interventions would require RCTs in future studies. VR interventions provide promising results for treating attentional deficits among youth with ADHD; more research is needed to determine if these interventions are effective. Future research needs to focus on VR interventions for adolescents. Assessment of real-world skills, such as improvement in academic functioning and interpersonal relationships, is needed. Further research in this nascent field should also examine the practical implications and cost-effectiveness of using VR to improve classroom behavior, academic performance, and social-emotional functioning of youth with ADHD.
The Impact of the CYP2D6 "Enhancer" Single Nucleotide Polymorphism on CYP2D6 Activity.

rs5758550 has been associated with enhanced transcription and suggested to be a useful marker of CYP2D6 activity. As there are limited and inconsistent data regarding the utility of this distant "enhancer" single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), our goal was to further assess the impact of rs5758550 on CYP2D6 activity toward two probe substrates, atomoxetine (ATX) and dextromethorphan (DM), using in vivo urinary metabolite (DM; n = 188) and pharmacokinetic (ATX; n = 70) and in vitro metabolite formation (ATX and DM; n = 166) data. All subjects and tissues were extensively genotyped, the "enhancer" SNP phased with established CYP2D6 haplotypes either computationally or experimentally, and the impact on CYP2D6 activity investigated using several linear models of varying complexity to determine the proportion of variability in CYP2D6 activity captured by each model. For all datasets and models, the "enhancer" SNP had no or only a modest impact on CYP2D6 activity prediction. An increased effect, when present, was more pronounced for ATX than DM suggesting potential substate-dependency. In addition, CYP2D6*2 alleles with the "enhancer" SNP were associated with modestly higher metabolite formation rates in vitro, but not in vivo; no effect was detected for CYP2D6*1 alleles with "enhancer" SNP. In summary, it remains inconclusive whether the small effects detected in this investigation are indeed caused by the "enhancer" SNP or are rather due to its incomplete linkage with other variants within the gene. Taken together, there does not appear to be sufficient evidence to warrant the "enhancer" SNP be included in clinical CYP2D6 pharmacogenetic testing.
Health Care Utilization for Privately and Publicly Insured Children During Autism Insurance Reform

We examined the effects of insurance type on health service utilization among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following autism insurance reform by analyzing the most recent data from the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health. Families with private insurance were less likely to report that their health insurance covered needed services compared to families with public insurance. Privately versus publicly insured children were not significantly different in receiving behavioral or medication treatment, or in parental frustration in efforts to obtain services. However, parents’ frustration escalated with increased ASD severity. Findings from this study suggest the need for continuing to improve implementation of health insurance reform legislation and providing adequate ASD-related services for children with private insurance.
Selective Activation Dynamics: A Minimal Path Approach

Surface diffusion[1] or transition between stable (or metastable) states presents well-known computational difficulties, particularly when the dynamical bottlenecks separating the initial and final (stable or metastable) states are not known. Conventional methods for studying rare event activations are based on transition state theory[2, 3, 4].The application of this approach requires prior knowledge of the mechanism or pathway for the activation process. For multidimensional systems, it is a challenging problem to determine the transition state numerically without assuming any particular configurations [5, 6].Various innovations have been put forward to improve or go beyond the transition state theory. Examples are the accelerated dynamics approach[7] and the transition path approach[8, 9, 10].In reference [11], we have proposed a novel approach to the calculation of the rate for activated processes based on the path integral solution of Langevin equation. In this paper, we pursue further the idea proposed there and fully establish the minimal path approximation. According to the path integral formulation of the Langevin equation, the probability for an arbitrary path connecting the initial and the final configurations is determined by a positive-definite “action” functional. It is shown that the paths having the minimal action dominate over all others for low temperatures. Taking advantage of this fact, the expectation value of a physical observable is computed as the weighted average of its values along the minimal paths. The minimal paths are found through integrating an activation equation and a deactivation equation (both second order differential equations). This minimal path approach does not require prior knowledge of the “transition states” nor that of the stable/metastable states. Instead, through sampling of intermediate states and integrations along the minimal activation/deactivation paths, both can be found by a numerical effort on the level of Monte-Carlo sampling in the phase space. It is important to note that not only is the prior knowledge of the transition state unnecessary, the implementation of the minimal path method also avoids the usual approximations involved in the transition state theory, which becomes increasingly inaccurate in the limit of low frictional damping.
Mimsy: A System for Stock Market Analysis

This paper describes a real-world application built on top of the CORAL deductive database system. This application is meant to demonstrate the power of CORAL not only as a deductive database but also as a generic extensible database system. Mimsy is a stock market historical reporting system that can answer questions about daily stock market pricing data. The paper describes the Mimsy system, and issues related to its design and implementation.
Abstract P063: A Systematic Review of Current Dietary Policies for Reducing Cardiometabolic Diseases in the Middle East

Background: Cardiometabolic diseases such as CVD and diabetes are rising rapidly in many regions, especially the Middle East. Governments could reduce these burdens by targeting suboptimal diets, but little is known about national dietary policies in this region. Objective: To systematically investigate, summarize, and identify gaps in national dietary policies in 22 Middle Eastern nations. Methods: Using PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines, we systematically searched PubMed, Econ Lit, PAIS, Cochrane library, AGRIS, Web of Science, CABI, and CINAHL for original studies, reviews, and organizational reports on national dietary policies adopted in these countries; Google searches are ongoing. We searched for dietary policies in 6 categories: media/education, labeling/consumer info, taxes/subsidies, school programs, workplace approaches, and direct bans/mandates. We evaluated 13 dietary targets of interest (Figure). Studies were excluded if published prior to 1980, described only local (subnational) policies, or only provided data on policies for food safety, micronutrient deficiency, hunger, or other issues without at least one focus on cardiometabolic risk. Results: From 3866 identified studies, 17 met inclusion criteria. We found 4 types of dietary policies (media/education, labeling/consumer information, taxation/subsidies, direct bans/mandates) in 9 countries of the region (Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Sudan, United Arab Emirates) that targeted 7 dietary factors (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unprocessed red meat, trans fats, sodium, dietary fiber) . Details of these policies will be presented, as well as current gaps (Figure). Conclusions: Our findings highlight existing national dietary policies that have been adopted to reduce cardiometabolic diseases in the Middle East, as well as remaining major policy gaps, thereby identifying current progress and opportunities for policy innovation.
Speaker normalization with the band-pass transform

This paper presents a new spectral transformation for speaker normalization called the "band-pass transform" (BPT). From the framework of the bilinear transformation (BT), the BPT is a new frequency warping resulting from a mapping of a prototype band-pass (BP) filter into a general BP filter. The BPT offers two degrees of freedom enabling complex warpings of the frequency axis. Estimation of the BPT parameters is performed using the Nelder-Mead algorithm. Our experimental results include a study of the BPT performance. BPT performs better than other VTLN methods and offers a gain of 1.13% absolute on Hub-5 English Eva101 set.
Understanding physiology by acting out concepts

Typically, classes in anatomy and physiology are taught via lecture and visual aids. This seems to work well for students who are primarily auditory and visual learners but not for those who learn better through kinesthetic experiences. This is the first report describing the use of improvisation to act out physiological concepts within an anatomy and physiology course. Improvisational techniques encourage active participation and allow students to personally interact with and experience difficult concepts in the classroom. In this paper, sensory modality preferences for learning will be discussed briefly. Improvisational techniques will be described, and examples of improvisations useful to convey intricate physiological concepts will be provided. Last, student responses to the use of improvisational techniques in an anatomy and physiology course will be reported.
Leukocyte-derived growth factor links the PDGF and CXC chemokine families of peptides.

Leukocytes produce many biological mediators that orchestrate the subsequent cellular events during wound healing. We have identified a novel cytokine, leukocyte-derived growth factor (LDGF), which is mitogenic for connective tissue cells. Sequence analysis of the LDGF peptide revealed that it is a precursor of other known peptides including platelet basic protein (PBP), connective tissue activating peptide III (CTAP-III), and neutrophil activating peptide 2 (NAP-2). None of these shorter peptides are active as mitogens for fibroblasts. LDGF appears to stimulate fibroblast growth by stimulation of tyrosine kinase activity of the PDGF receptors. One of the truncated products of LDGF, NAP-2, is a potent neutrophil chemoattractant. Peptides larger than NAP-2, such as PBP and CTAP-III, are not active as neutrophil chemoattractants. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the LDGF peptide must remain intact in order to retain its fibroblast mitogenic activity. If the LDGF peptide is processed to release ...
Case 2: A “Bad” Question

Many years ago, while working as an anesthesiologist and critical care registrar (resident) in King Edward VIII Hospital, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, I got interested in the following question:
Malignant melanoma metastatic to the larynx: treatment and functional outcome.

The review considers management strategies for malignant melanoma metastatic to the larynx. This rare clinical entity lacks clear treatment recommenda­tions because extirpative surgery can often result in severe functional debilitation in patients with limited life expectancy. Here, we report a case of melanoma metastatic to the larynx in a patient with a prior his­tory of Hodgkin lymphoma. The patient was treated with partial laryngectomy and local radiation therapy. The rationale for treatment decisions and for surgical and radiotherapeutic techniques and the associated literature are discussed.
Hurricane track variability and secular potential intensity trends

Sea surface temperature in the tropical North Atlantic has been shown to co-vary with hurricane activity on a broad range of time-scales. One general hypothesis for this observed relationship is based on the theory of potential intensity (PI) whereby the local ambient environment determines the maximum intensity that a hurricane can achieve. Under this theory, climate change and resultant changes in PI can affect the distribution of hurricane intensities by modulating the upper extreme values. Indeed, PI averaged over the tropical North Atlantic during the hurricane season has been increasing in concert with sea surface temperature, which introduces an expectation for a secular upward shift in the distribution of hurricane intensities. However, hurricane tracks also largely determine the local storm-ambient environment and thus track variability introduces additional ambient PI variability. Here we show that this additional variance removes the observed secular trend in mean summertime tropical North Atlantic PI, and there is no tacit expectation that hurricanes have become stronger based solely on PI theory. The observed trends in integrated metrics such as hurricane power dissipation are then more likely to be caused by changes in storm frequency and duration due to broader scale regional variability than secular intensity changes due solely to ambient thermodynamics.
Management of well-differentiated thyroid cancer in 2010: perspectives of a head and neck surgical oncologist.

ABSTRACT Objective To review the terminology and controversy regarding the performance of prophylactic lymph node dissection for patients without evidence suggestive of pathologic adenopathy. Methods Terminology of lymph node levels in the neck and chest, and the issues regarding lymph node dissection, are reviewed. In addition, differences between lymph nodes are reviewed and discussed. Results Management of lymph nodes in this disease process has become the most contentious aspect of surgical decision-making due to the ambiguity of their prognostic significance and the prevalence of nodal metastases in very early primary tumors. Performance of prophylactic central compartment node dissection is not technically any more difficult than therapeutic node dissection when clinically significant nodes are encountered. It is therefore reasonable to consider this technique as an important adjunct to a total thyroidectomy for the purpose of enhanced disease staging, prevention of nodal recurrence, and avoidance of having to re-enter the previously operated central compartment. A recent study is reviewed and discussed in detail. The literature regarding the prognostic significance of extracapsular spread in lymph nodes is also presented. Conclusions Morphologic characteristics of metastatic lymph nodes in thyroid cancer vary greatly. However, the reporting of these differences is lacking. The presence of extracapsular extension in a lymph node has prognostic significance. The clinician should be aware of these variations and the impact that they may have on recurrence risk and disease-specific survival. (Endocr Pract. 2010;16:903-912)
Continuous gentamicin therapy using an IntraEAR microcatheter for Meniere's disease: a retrospective study.

Abstract Objectives: The study goals were to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of continuous gentamicin therapy (CGT) in the treatment of Meniere's disease and to evaluate the effect of flow rate. Study Design: In a retrospective study, physicians who were known to have used CGT in the treatment of Meniere's disease were asked to report patient information on a standardized data collection form. Results: In patients treated with low-flow CGT, vertigo was eliminated or substantially controlled in 90%, tinnitus was improved in 69%, pressure was improved in 77%, hearing was worse in 23%, and vestibular function was ablated in only 14% of patients. Conclusion: On the basis of an average 10-month follow-up period, of the methods currently available to treat Meniere's patients with gentamicin, low-flow CGT seems to provide an excellent combination of vertigo control and tinnitus and pressure improvement, with a relatively low risk to hearing and vestibular function. Significance: The clinical use of low-flow CGT appears to be justified based on these data. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2002;126:244-56.)
Recognition Time for Letters and Nonletters: Effects of Serial Position, Array Size, and Processing Order.

Three experiments address the question of whether end-effects (the advantage for the first and last letters in multi-letter arrays) are due to sensory or cognitive factors. The basic strategy used was to compare letters with symbol stimuli that do not lend themselves to top-down processing. Serial position functions using central fixation were obtained in the first experiment for letters, digits, and symbols. End-effects were present with both letters and digits, indicating that processes limited to word recognition cannot be responsible for end-effects. Five-symbol arrays, however, yielded U-shaped reaction time functions, with poorest performance at the initial and terminal positions. The effects of array size and retinal placement were investigated with letters and symbols in a second experiment. Multi-letter and symbol arrays differed primarily in that letters showed end-effects that were independent of retinal placement, whereas symbols did not. The conclusion that multi-letter and symbol arrays are not processed in the same way was tested in a third experiment. Using a paradigm that eliminated processing order as a variable, the experiment obtained identical effects of ordinal position within an array for letters, digits, and symbols. It is concluded that sensory factors cannot provide a viable account of letter end-effects and that letter and nonletter comparisons can improve our understanding of the sensory and cognitive factors involved in letter perception.
Adsorption of acetic acid on hydroxylated NiO(111) thin films

Abstract Ni(100) has been exposed to O2 to form ∼3 monolayer crystalline NiO(111) thin films and the films have been characterized by HREELS, XPS, AES and acetic acid adsorption. The NiO(111) is Ni2+-polar and contains approximately 65% of the surface nickel sites terminated by isolated OH with substantial ionic character. The hydroxyls appear to serve a stabilizing role for the thermodynamically metastable NiO(111) surface and also to provide a condensation mechanism for interaction with the acetic acid. While there are Ni2+OHads surface sites available for adsorption, at least some of the hydroxyls associated with the NiO(111) film are occluded or otherwise inaccessible. The XP and HREEL spectral data support an assignment of adsorbate formation to a bridging acetate species.
Monte Carlo simulations of two-dimensional fermion systems with string-bond states

We describe an application of variational Monte Carlo to two-dimensional fermionic systems within the recently developed tensor-network string-bond state (SBS) ansatz. We use a combination of variational Monte Carlo and stochastic optimization to optimize the matrix-product state matrices representing the ground state. We present results for a two-dimensional spinless fermion model including nearest-neighbor Coulomb interactions and determine using finite-size scaling the phase boundary between charge-ordered insulating and metallic phases. This approach can treat frustrated systems and be easily extended to for fermions with spin.
Catalytic hydroxylation of [Closo-B12H12]2−—adaptation of the Periana reaction to a polyhedral borane

Per-B-hydroxylation of a polyhedral borane anion has been demonstrated by the catalytic hydroxylation of icosahedral [closo-B(12)H(12)](2-) using soft electrophiles such as platinum group metal catalysts or iodine cation. A new route to [closo-B(12)(OH)(12)](2-) from [closo-B(12)H(12)](2-) without the use of H(2)O(2) oxidant provides an alternative hydroxylation process.
Sulfur and nitrogen compounds in urban aerosols

This paper reports results from a detailed chemical and meteorological data base that has been accumulated for the New York City subregion. Aerosol sampling during August 1976 and February 1977 sampling periods was done only in an urban New York site and a background site at High Point, NJ. The sampling program was expanded to Brookhaven (Long Island) and New Haven, Connecticut sites during summer 1977 and winter 1978 sampling. Time resolution for aerosol filter samples was 6 hr, with some 3 hr sampling for the latter three periods. Parameters measured included chemical constituents: strong acid (quartz filters only), ammonium, sulfate and nitrate, sulfuric acid (limited data); physical parameters: aerosol size distributions by cascade impactor, cyclone sampler, EAA, on optical counter and a special diffusion battery-CNC apparatus; light scattering nephelometer and other instrumentation; chemically-speciated size classification by diffusion sampler; trace metals by atomic absorption; halogen compounds by NAA; meteorological measurements of RH, temperature, wind speed and direction; gaseous measurements of SO/sub 2/, ozone, NO/sub x/ and hydrocarbons at some locations for some sampling periods. The existence of aerosol sulfate in the ambient environment predominantly in the chemical form of sulfuric acid mostly neutralized by ammonia is now well documented. Themore » average composition of fine particle (< 3.5 ..mu..m) sulfate in summer 1976 aerosols was approximately that letovicite ((NH/sub 4/)/sub 3/H(SO/sub 4/)/sub 2/). Based on the impactor data, about 85% of the aerosol sulfate mass was in the fine particle fraction. About 50% of this aerosol sulfate was deduced to be in the suboptical size regime (< 0.25 ..mu..m) from diffusion processor data. The H/sup +//SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ ratio in suboptical aerosols did not significantly differ from that in fine fraction aerosol. The coarse particle sulfate was not associated with H/sup +/ or NH/sub 4//sup +/ and comprised about 15% of the sulfate mass.« less
DOUBLE BAND RUBBER IMPRESSIONS.

Abstract A technique has been described which uses telescoping copper bands and rubber base elastic impression materials for making impressions of preparations for full crowns. The impression material is forced into the gingival regions by hydraulic action. Many kinds of impression materials can be used to make this technique valuable for making impressions for fixed restorations.
Pharmaco-enzyme kinetic simulations of experimental interactions among multiple antineoplastic drugs

Abstract Several models of DNA synthesis based on enzyme kinetics are examined, the most inclusive of them referring to in vivo simulations. They are open systems based on Michaelis-Menten kinetics for enzymes of deoxynucleotide and DNA synthesis, and incorporate complex biochemical feedback controls as well as intracellular nucleotide and enzyme concentrations. Both steady state and transient situations have been studied. The responses of such systems to single and multiple administration of drugs under steady state conditions, and to single and time-sequenced multiple drug administration under transient conditions are described and compared to available experimental results. In the process, a quantitative drug index is defined to describe the interaction of two or more drugs at steady state conditions. Our simulations demonstrate that it may be possible to reverse the type, as well as the intensity, of the interaction between two drugs by increasing the concentration of a third drug, and that transient deviations from steady state pool sizes may have profound influence on drug action in a manner which cannot be predicted by steady state results. In particular, a change in the order of two drugs given sequentially may give rise to significant differences in total DNA synthesis. Finally, our results indicate a strong sensitivity of the model to small structural or quantitative changes. This suggests that variations in enzyme activities observed among different cell lines will give rise to differential drug responses which may be simulated properly only by a realistic model, utilizing real values for all constants and including all known pathways. Preliminary results with such a model are described.
Left-right symmetry and supersymmetric unification.

The existence of an SU(3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2${)}_{\mathit{L}}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2${)}_{\mathit{R}}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}U(1) gauge symmetry with ${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{L}}$=${\mathit{g}}_{\mathit{R}}$ at the TeV energy scale is shown to be consistent with supersymmetric SO(10) grand unification at around ${10}^{16}$ GeV if certain new particles are assumed. The additional imposition of a discrete ${\mathit{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry leads to a generalized definition of R parity as well as highly suppressed Majorana neutrino masses. Another model based on SO(10)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SO(10) is also discussed.