cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Location of abnormal parathyroid glands: lessons from 810 parathyroidectomies

Abstract Background Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is commonly treated with targeted parathyroidectomy (PTX) guided by preoperative imaging and intraoperative parathormone monitoring. Despite advanced imaging techniques, failure of parathyroid localization still occurs. This study determines the anatomical distribution of single abnormal parathyroid glands, which may help direct the surgeon in PTX when preoperative localization is unsuccessful. Methods A retrospective review of prospectively collected data of 810 patients with pHPT who underwent initial PTX at a tertiary medical center was performed. All patients had biochemically confirmed pHPT and single-gland disease. Abnormal parathyroid gland localization was determined at time of operation, correlated with operative and pathology reports, and confirmed by operative success defined as eucalcemia for ≥6 mo after PTX. Patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia, secondary, tertiary, or familial hyperparathyroidism, multiglandular disease, parathyroid cancer, and ectopic glands were excluded. Data were analyzed by chi-square and Z -test analyses. Results Among 810 patients who underwent PTX for pHPT, single abnormal parathyroid glands were unequally distributed among the four eutopic locations (left superior, 15.7%; left inferior, 31.3%; right superior, 15.8%; right inferior, 37.2%; P P P Conclusions This large series of patients suggests that single eutopic abnormal parathyroid glands are more likely to be inferior. In men, moreover, if an abnormal parathyroid gland is not localized preoperatively, the right inferior location should be explored first. Nevertheless, successful PTX remains predicated on knowledge of parathyroid anatomy, experience, and judgment of the surgeon.
Postoperative Cerebral and Somatic Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Saturations and Outcome in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Background Circulatory vulnerability reflected by low systemic venous oxygen saturation after surgical palliation of hypoplastic left heart syndrome predicts adverse neurologic outcome and reduced survival, and targeting venous saturation may improve outcome. We herein test the hypothesis that near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived cerebral and somatic/renal regional saturations can predict survival. Methods Patient data, from a prospective Institutional Review Board-approved registry of hemodynamic measures after initial palliation of hypoplastic left heart syndrome, were analyzed with logistic and multivariable mixed regression methods to determine relationships between standard hemodynamic measures, direct and NIRS measures of saturation, and outcome. The primary outcome measure was survival through hospital discharge and 30 days. Results From the entire cohort of 329 patients, complete data for comparative analysis of physiologic predictors were available from 194 patients. The early survival rate was 92.1%; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used in 8.8% of patients. The mean arterial pressure, arterial cerebral, and somatic cerebral NIRS saturation differences were significantly higher for survivors versus nonsurvivors. Multivariable analysis found cerebral and somatic NIRS saturations, heart rate, and arterial pressure as predictors of outcome. Bivariate analysis of mean arterial pressure and somatic saturation allowed early identification of low cardiac output and high mortality risk. Conclusions Continuous noninvasive measurement of regional cerebral and somatic NIRS saturations in the early postoperative period can predict outcomes of early mortality and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use in hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Because outcomes were strongly determined by NIRS measures at 6 hours, early postoperative NIRS measures may be rational targets for goal-directed interventions.
Effect of release from prison and re-incarceration on the viral loads of HIV-infected individuals

Objectives.The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of release from prison and subsequent re-incarceration on the viral loads of HIV-infected individuals receiving highly active antire...
Frequency of Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Volume-Mediated Declines in Ejection Fraction in Patients Receiving Potentially Cardiotoxic Cancer Treatment.

We sought to determine the frequency by which decreases in left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) with and without increases in end-systolic volume (LVESV) influenced early cancer treatment-associated declines in LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or LV mass. One hundred twelve consecutively recruited subjects (aged 52 ± 14 years) with cancer underwent blinded cardiovascular magnetic resonance measurements of LV volumes, mass, and LVEF before and 3 months after initiating potentially cardiotoxic chemotherapy (72% of participants received anthracyclines). Twenty-six participants developed important declines in LVEF of >10% or to values
Cost-Effectiveness of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: a Critical Review

This review aims to summarize and appraise published cost-effectiveness studies on stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). We performed a Medline search of cost-effectiveness studies of SRS, SBRT, and other cancer treatment modalities such as surgery and systemic therapy from 2006 to 2016. We included studies that used both modeling and retrospective review techniques. We excluded studies of benign disease. We defined a strategy whose incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is ≤$50,000/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) as “clearly cost-effective,” a strategy whose ICER is ≤$100,000/QALY as “probably cost-effective,” and a strategy ≤$200,000/QALY as “possibly cost-effective.” We appraised modeling studies by determining whether or not they conform to the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Good Research Practices (ISPOR) in modeling task force good research practices in model transparency and validation. We identified 24 studies that met inclusion criteria. Treatment sites included brain, bone, liver, lung, pancreas, and prostate. SRS and SBRT were clearly cost-effective strategies in 17 studies, probably cost-effective in 3 studies, and possibly cost-effective in 2 studies. Of the 16 modeling studies,15 conformed to transparency best practices; however, only 6 studies performed rigorous validation as described by the ISPOR guidelines. SRS and SBRT are likely to be cost-effective management strategies across a large variety of treatment sites and techniques. However, rigorous model validation techniques are lacking in these modeling studies.
Thallium-isotopic compositions of euxinic sediments as a proxy for global manganese-oxide burial

Abstract Thallium (Tl) isotopes are a new and potentially powerful paleoredox proxy that may track bottom water oxygen conditions based on the global burial flux of manganese oxides. Thallium has a residence time of ∼20 thousand years, which is longer than the ocean mixing time, and it has been inferred that modern oxic seawater is conservative with respect to both concentration and isotopes. Marine sources of Tl have nearly identical isotopic values. Therefore, the Tl sinks, adsorption onto manganese oxides and low temperature oceanic crust alteration (the dominant seawater output), are the primary controls of the seawater isotopic composition. For relatively short-term, ∼million years, redox events it is reasonable to assume that the dominant mechanism that alters the Tl isotopic composition of seawater is associated with manganese oxide burial because large variability in low temperature ocean crust alteration is controlled by long-term, multi-million years, average ocean crust production rates. This study presents new Tl isotope data for an open ocean transect in the South Atlantic, and depth transects for two euxinic basins (anoxic and free sulfide in the water column), the Cariaco Basin and Black Sea. The Tl isotopic signature of open ocean seawater in the South Atlantic was found to be homogeneous with e205Tl = −6.0 ± 0.3 (±2 SD, n = 41) while oxic waters from Cariaco and the Black Sea are −5.6 and −2.2, respectively. Combined with existing data from the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, our Atlantic data establish the conservatism of Tl isotopes in the global ocean. In contrast, partially- and predominantly-restricted basins reveal Tl isotope differences that vary between open-ocean (−6) and continental material (−2) e205Tl, scaling with the degree of restriction. Regardless of the differences between basins, Tl is quantitatively removed from their euxinic waters below the chemocline. The burial of Tl in euxinic sediments is estimated to be an order of magnitude less than each of the modern ocean outputs and imparts no isotopic fractionation. Thallium removal into pyrite appears to be associated with a small negative fractionation between −1 and −3 e205Tl, which renders Tl-depleted waters below the chemocline enriched in isotopically-heavy Tl. Due to the quantitative removal of Tl from euxinic seawater, Tl isotope analyses of the authigenic fraction of underlying euxinic sediments from both the Black Sea and Cariaco Basin capture the Tl isotope value of the oxic portion of their respective water column with no net isotope fractionation. Since the Tl isotope composition of seawater is largely dictated by the relative fraction of Mn-oxide burial versus oceanic crust alteration, we contend that the Tl isotope composition of authigenic Tl in black shales, deposited under euxinic conditions but well-connected to the open ocean, can be utilized to reconstruct the Tl isotope composition of seawater, and thus to reconstruct the global history of Mn-oxide burial.
Evaluation of Direct Bladder Stimulation with Stainless Steel Woven Eye Electrodes

Abstract Encouraged by recent clinical reports of micturition induced in patients by direct bladder stimulation, we conducted a study of optimum methods of direct bladder stimulation. During surgery six male cats received eight large surface-area woven eye electrodes sutured to the bladder wall serosa, four on the bladder dome and four adjacent to the trigone area. Two additional small surface-area single knot electrodes were sutured in the trigone area. Suprapubic and intraperitoneal tubes were placed for pressure recording and bladder filling. Leg and pelvic floor EMG electrodes were also used for tethered recordings. One to eight weeks after surgery, optimum stimulation methods were evaluated as the animal freely moved about a urodynamic recording cage. Electrodes in the trigone region were more effective than electrodes on the dome and induced bladder contractions and voiding similar to spontaneously induced voiding with bladder filling. Large surface area, woven eye electrodes, composed of multi-stranded 316LVM stainless steel wire, were more effective than smaller surface area single knot electrodes. High stimulating frequencies (40 Hz) were better than lower frequencies (10 to 20 Hz), and a 1 millisecond pulse duration was optimal. Pulsing with stimulating currents from 10 to 25 mA induced effective bladder contractions with voiding when applied for 3 seconds. However, lower currents using longer stimulation periods were also effective. Bipolar electrodes with both electrodes on the bladder wall were superior to monopolar arrangements with the positive ground electrode along the animal’s back. We concluded that in the able-bodied cat model, bladder contractile activity for micturition can be induced with direct bladder stimulation and with little discomfort. An effective stimulation protocol consists of capacitor-coupled monophasic pulses with large surface area bipolar electrodes in the trigone region. Stimulating parameters of 40 Hz, 1 msec., 10 to 25 mA applied for 3 seconds were optimal. In addition, based on corrosion resistance observations, the electrodes are quite suitable for long-term studies.
Assessment of Diagnostic Tests and Instruments

Assessment of accuracy and reliability of screening tests such as detection of cancer and depression is important in clinical and research studies. Although a diagnostic test may not be accurate, the criteria for the disease of interest are well defined, such as cancer cells for detecting breast cancer using mammography. In many studies, we are also interested in less transparent, multidimensional constructs such as quality of life. The latent and multidimensional nature of the latter construct often requires that we probe into various attributes of the construct such as physical, psychological and social functioning of an individual in the case of quality of life. Not only are the criteria less well defined, indeed in many cases the gold standard simply does not exist, but the multitude of assessments also needs to be synthesized to create a few meaningful scales to facilitate assessment of such latent constructs for clinical and research use. In this chapter, we discuss methods for assessing the accuracy of diagnostic tests and validating measurement scales for latent, multidimensional constructs. In the latter case, we also provide a brief overview of the construction of an instrument for assessing such latent constructs to help readers gain familiarity with this increasingly important tool for modern clinical practice and research. We use real study data to illustrate the methods discussed, along with the software used to facilitate the analysis.
DYNA3D/ParaDyn Regression Test Suite Inventory

The following table constitutes an initial assessment of feature coverage across the regression test suite used for DYNA3D and ParaDyn. It documents the regression test suite at the time of production release 10.1 in September 2010. The columns of the table represent groupings of functionalities, e.g., material models. Each problem in the test suite is represented by a row in the table. All features exercised by the problem are denoted by a check mark in the corresponding column. The definition of ''feature'' has not been subdivided to its smallest unit of user input, e.g., algorithmic parameters specific to a particular type of contact surface. This represents a judgment to provide code developers and users a reasonable impression of feature coverage without expanding the width of the table by several multiples. All regression testing is run in parallel, typically with eight processors. Many are strictly regression tests acting as a check that the codes continue to produce adequately repeatable results as development unfolds, compilers change and platforms are replaced. A subset of the tests represents true verification problems that have been checked against analytical or other benchmark solutions. Users are welcomed to submit documented problems for inclusion in the test suite,more » especially if they are heavily exercising, and dependent upon, features that are currently underrepresented.« less
A variational approach to the question of temporal stability of equilibrium models of solar prominences. I - The formal theory

A Lagrangian approach to the equations describing small amplitude departures from equilibrium of solar prominences is presented. Seven quantities are derived which, by analogy to the concepts of energy, momentum, and angular momentum, are conserved under conditions corresponding to ignorable coordinates of classical mechanics. It is expected that these conservation laws will be useful as criteria of accuracy in obtaining eigenfrequencies for the perturbation equations when numerical techniques are used. The method is capable of handling complicated spatial dependences and has internal criteria for assessing the accuracy of any given numerical convergence scheme.
Longitudinal Patterns in Clinical and Imaging Measurements Predict Residual Survival in Glioblastoma Patients.

The growing amount of longitudinal data for a large population of patients has necessitated the application of algorithms that can discover patterns to inform patient management. This study demonstrates how temporal patterns generated from a combination of clinical and imaging measurements improve residual survival prediction in glioblastoma patients. Temporal patterns were identified with sequential pattern mining using data from 304 patients. Along with patient covariates, the patterns were incorporated as features in logistic regression models to predict 2-, 6-, or 9-month residual survival at each visit. The modeling approach that included temporal patterns achieved test performances of 0.820, 0.785, and 0.783 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for predicting 2-, 6-, and 9-month residual survival, respectively. This approach significantly outperformed models that used tumor volume alone (p < 0.001) or tumor volume combined with patient covariates (p < 0.001) in training. Temporal patterns involving an increase in tumor volume above 122 mm3/day, a decrease in KPS across multiple visits, moderate neurologic symptoms, and worsening overall neurologic function suggested lower residual survival. These patterns are readily interpretable and found to be consistent with known prognostic indicators, suggesting they can provide early indicators to clinicians of changes in patient state and inform management decisions.
The G protein-biased PZM21 and TRV130 act as partial agonists of μ-opioid receptors signaling to ion channel targets

Opioids exert many of their acute effects through modulating ion channels via G{beta}{gamma} subunits. Some of their side effects are attributed to {beta}-arrestin recruitment, and several biased agonists that do not activate this pathway have been developed recently. Here we tested the effects of TRV130, PZM21 and herkinorin, three G-protein biased agonists of -opioid receptors (OR), on ion channel targets. Compared to the full OR agonist DAMGO, all three biased agonists induced smaller activation of G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels (GIRK2), and smaller inhibition of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin (TRPM3) channels. Furthermore, co-application of TRV130 or PZM21, but not herkinorin reduced the effects of DAMGO on both ion channels. CaV2.2 was also inhibited less by PZM21 and TRV130 than by DAMGO. TRV130, PZM21 and herkinorin were also less effective than DAMGO in inducing dissociation of the Gi /G{beta}{gamma} complex. We conclude that TRV130, PZM21 are partial agonists of OR.
The Role of Natural Disaster Insurance in Recovery and Risk Reduction

Natural disaster losses have been increasing worldwide. Insurance is thought to play a critical role in improving resilience to these events by both promoting recovery and providing incentives for ...
360proto: Making Interactive Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Prototypes from Paper

We explore 360 paper prototyping to rapidly create AR/VR prototypes from paper and bring them to life on AR/VR devices. Our approach is based on a set of emerging paper prototyping templates specifically for AR/VR. These templates resemble the key components of many AR/VR interfaces, including 2D representations of immersive environments, AR marker overlays and face masks, VR controller models and menus, and 2D screens and HUDs. To make prototyping with these templates effective, we developed 360proto, a suite of three novel physical--digital prototyping tools: (1) the 360proto Camera for capturing paper mockups of all components simply by taking a photo with a smartphone and seeing 360-degree panoramic previews on the phone or stereoscopic previews in Google Cardboard; (2) the 360proto Studio for organizing and editing captures, for composing AR/VR interfaces by layering the captures, and for making them interactive with Wizard of Oz via live video streaming; (3) the 360proto App for running and testing the interactive prototypes on AR/VR capable mobile devices and headsets. Through five student design jams with a total of 86 participants and our own design space explorations, we demonstrate that our approach with 360proto is useful to create relatively complex AR/VR applications.
MobiEye: An Efficient Cloud-based Video Detection System for Real-time Mobile Applications

In recent years, machine learning research has largely shifted focus from the cloud to the edge. While the resulting algorithm- and hardware-level optimizations have enabled local execution for the majority of deep neural networks (DNNs) on edge devices, the sheer magnitude of DNNs associated with real-time video detection workloads has forced them to remain relegated to remote execution in the cloud. This problematic when combined with the strict latency requirements that are coupled with these workloads, and imposes a unique set of challenges not directly addressed in prior works. In this work, we design MobiEye, a cloud-based video detection system optimized for deployment in real-time mobile applications. MobiEye is able to achieve up to a 32% reduction in latency when compared to a conventional implementation of video detection system with only a marginal reduction in accuracy.
A New Perspective for Professionals in Practice

Every fall, our department often receives calls and e-mails from students who just graduated from our university. They are enthusiastic and eager to talk about their new jobs, but their voices and messages sometimes reveal an unspoken anxiety. Sometimes they actually say, "I have no idea what I'm doing!" even though they have previously demonstrated excellent teaching skills. Like most new professionals, they have few reliable routines or tangible landmarks to guide them in their new jobs. They can Google the directions to their assigned schools or the homes of their clients, but there is no map to lead them to the best instructional decisions or professional practices. Later they begin to build routines that work best for them as they perform their duties and to distance themselves from their formal university educations. By the end of their first year of working, their confidence has increased; they have crossed the bridge from the abstract world of the university to the urgent and purposeful world of work. When we see them several years later at conferences and meetings, they greet us like old friends instead of the people who knew all the answers. They have discovered that we couldn't teach them everything they needed to know. As they make the transition from learning to working, professionals often seek out information in books and journals to help them solve the questions they must answer daily. Professionals who are working in instructional roles--teachers of children and adults or orientation and mobility instructors--may have different expectations of their professional literature than do students, administrators, or university faculty members. They seek information that will guide them in the best strategies and approaches to use in teaching. As students, they wanted to know how visual impairment affects groups of people and what questions they should ask to prepare for their future roles. As professionals, they seek reading materials that reflect and affect their day-to-day experiences with the people with whom they work. Although research studies may provide an understanding of macro trends and outcomes, professionals are often most interested in literature that describes ways to affect their work with individuals every day. This literature may include research that reports effective teaching interventions, innovative strategies that have been applied with subpopulations such as people with additional disabilities, and instructional tools and products. The interest in practical information was evident in many responses to a recent JVIB readers' survey, in which many readers asked for more information to guide them in their work with people who are visually impaired. One respondent asked for "Concrete, specific suggestions, tips to improve my practice...." In response to that individual and others who made similar requests, JVIB will initiate a new section entitled Practice Perspectives, which will present the knowledge and experiences of professionals who work, in a variety of settings, with people who are visually impaired. …
Potential main group amine borane-based chemical hydrogen storage molecular systems

Abstract The thermodynamics as a function of the temperature for the decomposition of the substituted amine boranes X(NH2BH3)3 and X(BH2NH3)3 for X = N and P and E(NH2BH3)4 and E(BH2NH3)4 for E = C and Si were predicted using composite correlated molecular orbital G3(MP2) theory. The relative stabilities of isomers were explained using bond dissociation energies. Equilibrium concentrations of products with respect to temperature were determined using Gibbs free energy minimization. The activation energy for loss of the first H2 was calculated at the G3(MP2)B3 level and is larger than the respective bond dissociation energy to lose terminal BH3 or NH3 via dative bond cleavage. Dipole moments and polarizabilities were calculated at the DFT/B3LYP level and boiling points were calculated at the DFT/BP/COSMO-RS level. Planar fits were developed for the boiling points of N(BH2NH3)3, P(BH2NH3)3, C(BH2NH3)4, and Si(BH2NH3)4 dehydrogenation products using dipole moment, polarizability, and solvent cavity surface area.
Surgical oncologist and liver cancer expert Dr. Tim Pawlik on the potential of pharmacological and surgical approaches in biliary tract cancer.

With ‘Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cancer Awareness Month’ and ‘World Cholangiocarcinoma Day’ approaching in February, the Editorial team of Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs has taken strides t...
Cladribine, cytarabine, and GCSF with and without mitoxantrone (CLAG ± M) is highly effective for poor risk acute myeloid leukemia with adverse karyotype and prior hypomethylating therapy

The regimen of cladribine, cytarabine, and filgrastrim with mitoxantrone (CLAG-M, GCLAM) has shown significant promise for upfront therapy of secondary acute myeloid leukemia (now known as AML with...
Characterization of the 2019 Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology Standardized Letter of Recommendation.

Background Traditional letters of recommendation used for postgraduate medical training applications have multiple limitations, including a lack of clarity, inflated and overly flattering assessments, and low reliability between interpreting faculty. A micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology (MSDO) standardized letter of recommendation (SLOR) was created to improve the efficiency, validity, and stratification of applicants to dermatology fellowship training programs. Objective To analyze the MSDO SLOR for trends in grading based on letter-writer and applicant characteristics and to evaluate its ability to demonstrate differences between applicants. Methods Standardized letter of recommendations received by 4 fellowship programs from the 2019 San Francisco Match application cycle were reviewed retrospectively. Results Two hundred forty-nine SLORs were analyzed from 140 applicants. Grade inflation and limited variability in scores were evident. Higher scores correlated with the length of the relationships between letter-writers and applicants and with female letter-writer gender. There was no applicant gender or ethnicity bias detected. Conclusion Despite score inflation, the MSDO SLOR allows for differentiation between fellowship applicants. Future studies are needed to further evaluate the reliability of the SLOR and find ways to improve its content.
Title: Single center experience comparing two clinically available donor derived cell free DNA tests and review of literature

Abstract The introduction of assays for donor-derived cell-free DNA into clinical transplant medicine has provided an additional method to assess allograft health. We compared the performance of two of these assays, Prospera™ and AlloSure®. A series of 15 paired-samples from individual kidney transplant recipients were tested using both Prospera™ and AlloSure® assays simultaneously. Test performances were determined using the company cutoff of >1% to indicate active rejection. Additional analysis was also performed using a cutoff of 0.5%. Acute rejections were all confirmed by biopsy. There was one discordant result for 15 paired-samples when using a cutoff level of 1%, and results were concordant using a cutoff level of 0.5%. Seven biopsy were performed, six of which showed rejection. Using cutoff of 1%, Prospera™ identified 80% (4/5) of T cell-mediated rejections (TCMR) compared to 60% for AlloSure® (3/5). Both assays recognized the only case of antibody-mediated rejection. When using cutoff level of 0.5%, both assays correctly identified all cases of rejection. In this cohort, the two tests showed different sensitivities when using the validated cutoff of 1% dd-cfDNA, and the same sensitivity when using a lower cutoff of 0.5%. The result accuracy was confirmed by kidney biopsy.
Critical Race Theory and Scholarly Analyses of Race in France

This preface to a special issue on Race and the Law of La Revue des Droits de l'Homme, presents a genealogy of Critical Race Theory, framed in light of the tendency in France to avoid fulsome scholarly discussions of racial identity, racial inequality and racial attitudes. The preface also frames its genealogy in light of political attacks on CRT that have been launched both in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Its genealogy frames the origins of CRT in the context of increased scholarly interest in race as a social construction during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the additional context of 1970s, 80s, and 90s scholarship that questioned universalizing and colorblind legal regimes of nations that purported to guarantee equality without regard to race. It also locates CRT within the larger universe of Critical Theory, including Critical Legal Studies, and examines concepts such as social construction, intersectionality, whiteness, structural racism and identity performance.
'I'm not a doctor, but I can sew a mask': The face mask home sewing movement as a means of control during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, a widespread shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) specifically N95 face masks were exposed. This need was quickly answered by home sewers who did not hesitate to answer the request of medical professionals to help fill the PPE shortage. As the United States entered a national quarantine, home sewers turned to social media, specifically Instagram to share their participation and communicate the need to recruit others to join them in their mask sewing efforts. This research aimed to interpret the Instagram post messages shared to understand the motivations of participation in mask sewing efforts. Social media hashtags were used to identify the messages related to home sewing face masks for the pandemic. A netnographic qualitative research approach uncovered five overarching themes: this is helping me, call to action, do it right, rising to the occasion and I'm ready for this.
Albright's Chemical Engineering Handbook

Physical and Chemical Properties A.H. Harvey Mathematics in Chemical Engineering D. Ramkrishna and S.H. Tringh Engineering Statistics D.W. Siderius Thermodynamics of Fluid Phase and Chemical Equilibria K.C. Chao, D.S. Corti, and R.G. Mallinson Fluid Flow R. Darby Heat Transfer K.J. Bell Radiation Heat Transfer Z.M. Zhang and D.P. DeWitt Mass Transfer J.R. Fair Industrial Mixing Technology D.E. Leng, S.S. Katti, and V. Atiemo-Obeng Liquid-Liquid Extraction D.W. Tedder Chemical Reaction Engineering J.B. Joshi and L.K. Doraiswamy Distillation J.R. Fair Absorption and Stripping J.R. Fair Adsorption K.S. Knaebel Process Control J.B. Riggs and W. Korchenski Conceptual Process Design, Process Improvement, and Trouble Shooting D.R. Woods and A.N. Hrymak Chemical Process Safety R.W. Prugh Environmental Engineering: A Review of Issues, Regulations, and Resources B.P. Carpenter, D.E. Watson, and B.C. Carpenter Biochemical Engineering J.M. Lee Measuring Physical Properties L.F. Albright Selecting Materials of Construction (Steels and Other Metals) D.A. Hansen Solid/Liquid Separation F.M. Tiller, W. Li, and W. Chen Drying: Principles and Practice A.S. Mujumdar Dry Screening of Granular and Powder Materials A.J. DeCenso and N. McCauley Conveying of Bulk Solids F. Thomson Principles and Applications of Electrochemical Engineering P.N. Pintauro Patents and Intellectual Property M.H. Heines Communication F.S. Oreovicz Ethical Concerns of Engineers L.F. Albright
Abstract P248: The DCM-Causing D230N Tropomyosin Mutation Produces an Age-Dependent Phenotype in Mice that Is Influenced by Transgene Dosage

A recent study in two large multigenerational families demonstrated a novel mutation in tropomyosin (Tm), Asp230Asn (D230N) that caused DCM with a unique natural history resulting in a striking bimodal disease distribution. Infants and young children with the D230N Tm mutation presented with a severe, often fatal DCM while adults developed a mild to moderate clinical phenotype. Position 230 in tropomyosin is proximal to the C-terminal unwinding of tropomyosin that is essential for the Tm-Tm overlap and for the Tm-cardiac troponin T (cTnT) interaction. We hypothesized that the age-dependent remodeling is a result of temporal isoform switches in the closely linked Tm-binding partner cTnT. To directly address this hypothesis, we used the regulated in vitro motility assay to determine the biophysical effects of the D230N Tm mutation as well as the effects of cTnT isoform changes on the regulatory function of thin filaments. We have found that both wild type and D230N Tm filaments inhibit filament sliding at low calcium indicating that the D230N mutation does not completely disrupt regulation. However in the presence of high calcium the D230N Tm mutation significantly decreases the maximal velocity of filament sliding (3.790 ± 0.1333 microns/sec, n=98) as compared to the wild type filaments (4.900 ± 0.1044, microns/sec n=76). These findings support an altered Tm-cTnT interaction because at maximal calcium concentrations, the myofilament activation at the level of cardiac troponin is not properly transmitted to tropomyosin thus decreasing the activity of myosin-ATPase. In order to extend our biophysical observations and to provide translational insight, we generated a D230N Tm transgenic mouse model. In preliminary studies we demonstrate that at two months the D230N transgenic mice have evidence for early dilatation. In addition, the differences in ventricular remodeling were highly dependent on transgene dose. At six months, we observed dilatation of the ventricle and thinning of the walls compared to non-transgenic siblings. However, the differences were not as marked as those at the two-month time point. Collectively, these findings support an age-dependent DCM phenotype that is modulated by transgene dosage.
Pleural controversy: Aetiology of pneumothorax

Pneumothoraces are classified as spontaneous, traumatic and iatrogenic. Spontaneous pneumothoraces that occur without recognized lung disease are termed primary spontaneous pneumothoraces (PSP), whereas those that occur due to an underlying lung disease are termed secondary spontaneous pneumothoraces. The aetiology of secondary, traumatic or iatrogenic pneumothoraces is not usually debated. However, the aetiology of PSP is potentially controversial and often debated. Therefore, PSP is the focus of this article. There are several purported causes, which include blebs, bullae, emphysema-like changes (ELC) and pleural porosity. The controversy is valid because of the importance of recurrence prevention. This article reviews the current available evidence for the causes of PSP. The causes of PSP are likely a combination ELC, pleural porosity and other potential factors.
Addressing Systemic Discrimination: Public Enforcement and the Role of the EEOC

Cases challenging systemic discrimination have always constituted an important slice of litigation under Title VII. Early government enforcement efforts sought thorough-going reform of employment practices in major industries. Private litigants have also pursued cases alleging systemic discrimination through class action litigation. The Supreme Court’s decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, however, made it considerably more difficult for private plaintiffs to pursue claims of systemic discrimination by raising the bar for certifying class actions. In the wake of the Court’s decision in Wal-Mart, many urged the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) to use its enforcement powers to take up the slack. Because the EEOC is not required to certify a class or to satisfy the requirements of Rule 23 when bringing a suit on behalf of a group of employees, it appears that Wal-Mart does not affect its ability to pursue systemic cases. This Essay explores the possibilities and the limitations of the EEOC, acting in its role as enforcer of Title VII’s prohibition on employment discrimination, to address systemic discrimination in the workplace. It starts by considering the potential for vigorous EEOC enforcement in cases of systemic discrimination. As a matter of formal statutory authority, the EEOC appears empowered to pursue litigation targeting employer policies and practices that systematically limit opportunities for women, racial minorities and other protected groups, and indeed, the EEOC’s recent strategic plans place increased emphasis on systemic litigation. In actual practice, however, the agency faces significant constraints on its ability to fully leverage its enforcement powers. Its systemic enforcement efforts are hampered by significant resource constraints, especially given a shrinking budget and the agency’s heavy workload of individual charges of discrimination. In addition, the agency’s initiatives can be checked by Congress and the courts, and both branches have recently signaled some disagreement with the EEOC’s systemic efforts.
Removing Protections for Wolves and the Future of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (1973)

In June of 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing gray wolves (Canis lupus, Linnaeus) from Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections throughout the conterminous United States. The proposed rule depends on a definition of endangerment that is inconsistent with the legislative history and historical implementation of the ESA, as well as numerous court rulings. The proposed rule also asserts that areas where wolves once existed but no longer exist are “unsuitable habitat” because people in these areas lack tolerance for wolves. That claim entirely ignores a significant body of scientific knowledge that suggests otherwise. By effectively narrowing the definition of endangered species and ignoring the best available science on tolerance for wolves, the proposed rule would set an unfortunate precedent with far-reaching consequences, including dramatically limiting recovery efforts for other species protected by the ESA.
Evolution of polaron size in La 2 − x Sr x NiO 4

Transport and paramagnetic susceptibility studies of single-crystal La 2 - x Sr x NiO 4 samples in the range 0.2 ≤x≤0.55 reveal an evolution with increasing x from multicenter to small polarons and a giant Van Vleck contribution to the susceptibility that decreases as x increases. Unlike the system La 2 - x Sr x CuO 4 where a dynamic segregation of itinerant-electron and localized-electron phases orders at lowest temperatures into a superconductive phase, the Coulombic repulsion between holes in La 2 - x Sr x NiO 4 reduces the polaron volume as x increases to stabilize charge-ordered phases over the range 0.33≤x≤0.50. Existing perturbation theory does not appear to be applicable to the large Van Vleck component of the paramagnetic susceptibility that is observed.
Lewis antigen alterations in gastric cancer precursors.

Abstract To explore the dynamics of the progressive loss of cell differentiation observed in the gastric precancerous process, the abnormal expression of Le a antigen in the gastric epithelium was investigated. Gastric biopsy specimens of 122 subjects with Le(a − b+) phenotype who had intestinal metaplasia of the gastric mucosa were studied. The subjects are residents of a rural area in the Colombian Andes with very high risk of gastric cancer. The abnormality was detected with increasing frequency in lesions with other markers of progression of the precancerous process, namely, colonic-type of morphology of the metaplastic cells, expression of sulfomucins, and dysplastic changes. The concomitant expression of the abnormal Le a antigen and sulfomucins was found to be a more reliable marker of more advanced lesions such as colonic metaplasia and dysplasia than either marker alone.
Signal detection using change point analysis in postmarket surveillance.

Purpose Signal detection methods have been used extensively in postmarket surveillance to identify elevated risks of adverse events associated with medical products (drugs, vaccines, and devices). However, current popular disproportionality methods ignore useful information such as trends when the data are aggregated over time for signal detection. Methods In this paper, we applied change point analysis (CPA) to trend analysis of medical products in a spontaneous adverse event reporting system. CPA was used to detect the time point at which statistical properties of a sequence of observations change over time. Two CPA approaches, change in mean and change in variance, were demonstrated by an example using neurostimulator adverse event dataset. Results Two significant change points associated with upward trends were detected in June 2008 (n = 20, p < 0.001) and May 2011 (n = 51, p = 0.003). Further investigation confirmed battery issues and expansion of the indication for use could be possible causes for the occurrence of these change points. Two time points showed extremely low number of loss of therapy events, two cases in October 2009 and three in November 2009, which could be the result of reporting issues such as underreporting. Conclusion As a complimentary tool to current signal detection efforts at FDA, CPA can be used to detect changes in the association between medical products and adverse events over time. Detecting these changes could be critical for public health regulation, adverse events surveillance, product recalls, and regulators' understanding of the connection between adverse events and other events regarding regulated products. © 2015 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key limitations in WDM systems and networks

Future higher-performance systems will be more complex than today's systems since the wavelength domain will be used to help route signals through different static or reconfigurable network paths. In these next-generation systems, several parameters may vary which would have deleterious effects in a WDM environment, including: variable insertion losses, channel addition and deletion (i.e., add/drop multiplexing), unstable laser power, non-uniform EDFA gain, fast gain transients in EDFA cascades, and non-uniform accumulation of dispersion and nonlinearities. In order to ensure robust system operation, we discuss in this paper various dynamic schemes for compensating damaging effects so that these complex systems maintain high performance. Additionally, optical networks will provide high-speed point-to-point connections and passive wavelength routing, but the true power of optics for high-throughput networking will require advances in high-speed optical switching. Significant functions and capabilities can be enabled by high-speed optical switches and cross-connects, but issues regarding control and routing are ripe for extensive research. We highlight one function, that being all-optical packet header replacement.
Morpheus: Learning configurations by example

Cloud computing presents a model to automatically deploy workloads using standard templates. However, reconfiguring the application to work in the new environment is manual and time-consuming. In this work, we present Morpheus to automatically configure new instances of a workload by leveraging a pre-configured instance. Morpheus uses a configured instance of a workload, annotated with the configuration information, and automatically configures new instances of the workload. It is important to note that it can configure application instances that may be installed differently or may be running a different version of the application, middleware or operating system. Morpheus first maps configuration files from the template instance to configuration files in each new instance. In the second phase, configuration nodes in source file are mapped to the target file and configuration information is automatically added in the target instance. The mapping is performed using text and structure analysis in the configuration files. We used Morpheus to automatically deploy new workloads for a wide variety of multi-tier enterprise/web applications. It was able to deploy them without any manual intervention in 13-68 minutes for 100% of the workloads.
Maximum ingested food size in captive anthropoids

Objectives Maximum ingested food size (Vb) is an empirically tested performance variable that can shed light on feeding energetics and adaptation in the masticatory system. Until now, this variable had been tested in strepsirrhines alone among primates. Here, we present the first data on Vb in a broad sample of anthropoid primates and describe scaling patterns. Materials and Methods Vb data on anthropoids were collected under captive conditions at the Philadelphia Zoo and compared with published data on strepsirrhines. Data on Vb were scaled against individual body mass and were compared with experimentally determined toughness and stiffness values for the test foods. Results Unlike in strepsirrhines, where essentially Vb scales isometrically with body mass, Vb in anthropoids scales with negative allometry. There is a significant effect of food material properties on Vb, although bite size in anthropoids varies less based on food properties than in strepsirrhines. Large folivorous strepsirrhines follow the anthropoid trend in bite size scaling, but large frugivorous ones take especially large bites. Discussion Negative scaling of bite size in the anthropoids sampled could be due to reduced adaptation for gape. Some early anthropoids likely evolved adaptations for maximizing mechanical advantage and fatigue resistance in the chewing muscles, resulting in reduced gape. This might have channeled them toward smaller bites of more-resistant foods and away from taking large bites. This might also be the case for some folivorous strepsirrhines. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:92–104, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Designing Functional Virtual Learning Communities Using the Bola Ola Method

This paper explores how social media and the likes of Web 2.0 are gaining ground in e-learning and virtual communities. The paper argues that successful learning in virtual learning communities (VLCs) require cultural sensitivity given that technological tools in these communities were not originally designed for learning. The paper uses the dimensions of cultural variability to identify some of the cultural challenges in VLCs. Subsequently, the Bola Ola method is presented as a way to address cultural challenges and effective use of VLCs. Finally, implications are presented as well. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2011.03.045