cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Properties of the sockeye salmon virus (Oregon strain).

SummarySeveral important characteristics of the sockeye salmon virus have been determined. It replicates abundantly in cultures of sockeye salmon cells, producing characteristic cytopathic effects. Most of the new virus produced is released into the culture fluid. The particle size was estimated by membrane filtration to be in the range of 110-165 mμ. The maximum rate of virus replication was found in the temperature range from 13 to 18°, and no replication occurred at 23°, although host cells grew well at that temperature. Virus infectivity was destroyed by ether, indicating the presence of essential lipids. Resistance of the agent to inhibition by 5-bromodeoxyuridine offers presumptive evidence that its nucleic acid is RNA.
Specially Up-Regulated and Highly Expressed Genes in Thymus of the H_(22) Tumor-Bearing Mice with Pathogenic Toxin-Exuberance Syndrome

Objective To investigate the characteristics of the gene expression in thymus of the H22 tumor-bearing mice with pathogenic toxin-exuberance syndrome.Methods By the quantitative four diagnosis and syndrome differentiation methods and Gene Chip Mouse Exon 1.0ST Array,we detected the thymus Gene Expression of H22 Tumor-bearing Mice with different syndromes,and screened out the up-regulated genes of pathogenic toxinexuberance syndrome in the year of 2006'and 2009'.Results In the year of 2006 and 2009 data there were 108 up-regulated genes in uniform of pathogenic toxin-exuberance syndrome which happened on the tumor early stage.Among the expression of the fifteen highest genes,there were eight genes which were the same in the two different years'experiment.They were trim30,S-ept6,Mcm3,Supt16h,Vps35,Smc3,Rslld1 and Pa2g4.The other genes,such as Smcla,Eif3s10,Phf6,Sesn1,Iws1,Lin7c,ltch,TAX1BP1,Ifi204,Pnn,Ptbp2,Ascc3,Ddx10 and Luc712 were different.These genes were most about cell proliferation,the expression and regulations of genes.Conclusion ①The highly expressed genes in theymus of pathogenic toxin-exuberanec syndrome are most about the expression and replicatio of genes.These are connected with the fast growth of tumor of this syndrome.It also means that the thymus are in a state of passive and active immunity comprensation.②These genes are specially expressed in pathogenic toxin-exuberance syndrome compared with the pideficiency syndrome which is also happened on early stage,and with other syndromes,it shows that different syndromes of H22 tumor-bearing mice have very different gene expression in thymus.
Pulmonary Crohn's Disease in Down Syndrome: A Link or Linkage Problem.

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder that primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract. It may have pulmonary involvement, which has been rarely reported in pediatric patients. Down syndrome (DS) has been associated with increased frequency of autoimmune diseases. However, associations between CD and DS have been rarely reported. We present the case of a 5-year-old girl with known DS and a history of chronic intermittent abdominal pain who presented with persistent pneumonia. Her workup included a chest computed tomography (CT) scan that showed multiple noncalcified pulmonary nodules. An extensive infectious workup was done that was negative. CT-guided needle biopsy of the lung nodules showed necrotizing granulomas. This raised concern for primary CD with extraintestinal pulmonary manifestation. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy were performed, and colon biopsies showed scattered epithelioid granulomas. Based on this information, there was consensus that her lung nodules were secondary to CD. She was started on standard therapy for CD, and her abdominal and respiratory symptoms gradually improved. However, she continues to have mild residual lung calcification and fibrosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of pulmonary CD in a child with DS. The natural history of pulmonary CD in the pediatric population is not very well studied. Furthermore, since DS has been well known to be associated with increased frequency of malignancies and autoimmune conditions due to immune dysregulation, it is difficult to predict the severity and possible complications in this patient.
Globalization And The Cultural Impact On Technical Communication

Technical communication in a multi-cultural online classroom requires an important awareness when the instructor assumes a Western approach to the instructional experience. This paper explores how an intercultural classroom is changing, and how instructors are called to meet the needs of the ever-evolving technical communication field while preparing students of all national origins for the global work place. Through addressing the current advancements that are occurring in the technical communication field, suggestions are provided for adequate textbook selections that will ensure all students are capable of learning regardless of national origin, race, or preferred language, and recommendations are offered regarding instructor pedagogical adjustments that will further enable learning in an intercultural classroom. In the 21st century, many advancements are occurring in the technical communication field, and students of all national origins, race, and language preferences need to be able to connect with an instructor from the West who is wanting to prepare the students for the technical communication work field, post-graduation.
Determinants of Enterprise Performance in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Does the Micro-Evidence Tell Us?

Over the last half-century, per capita income in Latin America has stagnated relative to the United States and other benchmarking countries. Growth accounting techniques reveal that slow productivity growth is at the root of this weak performance, calling for detailed analyses and appropriate and timely policy responses. In addition to macroeconomic and regulatory factors, productivity depends crucially on microeconomic aspects and on the specific strategies and decisions of individual firms, though such microeconomic decisions have been seldom studied in a quantitative and comparative manner. This chapter focuses on this issue, highlighting the presence of heterogeneity across firms in the region and introducing the specific analysis of the drivers of this heterogeneity which is contained in the following chapters.
Hemingway, the Preservation Impulse, and Cultural Geography

Godfrey discusses Ernest Hemingway as a cultural geographer, tying his literary aesthetic to the field of humanist geography and investigating in particular the way that Hemingway’s literary places are forms of historical and emotional preservation. She points out that, in a very real sense, much of Hemingway’s writing—beginning with the earliest Nick Adams stories—represents his impulse to preserve forever the places he once knew and loved. As Hemingway moved on from place to place throughout his life, out of Paris, Spain, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho (even if he was leaving a place and intending to return), he was in a sense forcing his own displacement, a displacement that awakened his creative energies.
Adult onset still’s disease masquerading as acute coronary syndrome

Adult onset still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder characterized by high fevers, arthralgia, salmon rash and leukocytosis. It is a diagnosis of exclusion and popularly diagnosed by the Yamaguchi criteria. Cardiac involvement in AOSD causing myocarditis is seldom seen. Echocardiography is an important measure of cardiac manifestation, but a more characteristic confirmation is obtained by the cardiac MRI. It is an increasingly recognized noninvasive alternative to the gold standard endomyocardial biopsy. In this case, mid myocardial enhancement in the absence of left ventricular dysfunction was consistent with a diagnosis of myocarditis in AOSD. The delay in diagnosis was caused by AOSD masquerading as acute coronary syndrome. This case highlights the importance of early recognition of myocarditis in an atypical presentation of AOSD which results in early immunomodulatory therapy and an improved clinical outcome.
Early Predictors of Relapses versus Pseudorelapses in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (P6.156)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to review cases of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) relapses and pseudorelapses to identify earlier predictors for differentiating between these at onset of symptoms. Background: NMOSD is a relapsing-remitting autoimmune disease that preferentially attacks the optic nerves and spinal cord. Each relapse can cause permanent damage leading to long-term symptoms. Exacerbations of symptoms may be due to another relapse or due to a pseudorelapse, a non-immune mediated abnormality that leads to worsening symptoms from a previous attack. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 78 patients with NMOSD (70[percnt] female, 57[percnt] NMO-IgG seropositive) who were admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital for workup and treatment of a presumed relapse. All subjects obtained an MRI as part of their workup, as well as blood and urine testing for metabolic and infectious etiologies. A relapse was defined as a change in physical exam correlating with a new or enhancing MRI lesion. Factors considered to be early predictors of relapses versus pseudorelapses were analyzed by Fisher’s test. Results: Among 78 NMOSD subjects admitted to the hospital for presumed relapse, 61 had a confirmed relapse while 17 had an unchanged MRI and an identifiable cause of pseudorelapse. The most common causes of pseudorelapse were infection, pain and dysautonomia. The only early predictor that differentiated relapse from pseudorelapse among this NMOSD patient population was vision loss (p=0.0115). Race, sex, presentations of weakness, numbness and bowel/bladder dysfunction, white blood cell count or urinary tract infection were not significantly different among patients with relapses versus pseudorelapses. Conclusions: Vision loss in NMOSD is strongly suggestive of a true relapse versus a pseudorelapse. Pseudorelapses localized to the spinal cord presented similarly to true relapses and could only be distinguished by a negative MRI in the context of an infectious or metabolic etiology. Disclosure: Dr. Kessler has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mealy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Levy has received personal compensation for activities with Alexion, Guidepoint Global, and Genzyme. Dr. Levy has received research support from Acorda Therapeutics, Sanofi, Alexian, TG Therapeutics, and TerumoBCT.
Evaluating the use of supplementary cementitious materials to mitigate damage in cementitious materials exposed to calcium chloride deicing salt

Abstract This paper discusses the role of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in reducing damage caused by calcium oxychloride formation. Calcium oxychloride is a destructive product of a reaction between calcium hydroxide (CH) that exists in a cementitious matrix and CaCl 2 that can enter the pores of the matrix when it is used as a deicing salt. Paste samples were prepared where a percentage of ordinary portland cement was replaced with various types of SCM (including fly ash, slag, and silica fume). This paper examined the amount of calcium oxychloride that formed using low-temperature differential scanning calorimetry, and damage development detected using acoustic emission. Thermogravimetric analysis was also performed to determine the relationship between the amount of CH in cementitious materials and the amount of calcium oxychloride formation. The results show that the use of SCM is effective in reducing the calcium oxychloride formation and resulting damage when cementitious materials are exposed to various compositions of solution containing CaCl 2 . The explanation of the benefit of using SCM is that it can reduce the calcium oxychloride formation due to a reduction in the amount of CH in the cementitious materials through pozzolanic reaction and dilution of cement. As a result, cementitious materials with SCM exposed to CaCl 2 may experience less damage and have a longer service life.
Heterogeneity in Treatment Response of Spine Metastases to Spine Stereotactic Radiosurgery Within "Radiosensitive" Subtypes.

Purpose To characterize outcomes of metastatic colorectal and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) histologies, compared with other radiosensitive histologies, treated with spine stereotactic radiosurgery with regard to local control, overall survival, and predictors of response. Methods and Materials A total of 127 patients with 148 spine stereotactic radiosurgery–treated metastatic lesions at our institution between 2003 and 2013 were reviewed. We assessed clinical endpoints in relation to histologic type, including local control (LC) and overall survival (OS), using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results For all patients, the 1- and 2-year actuarial rates for LC were 82.6% and 75.8%, and rates for OS were 72.9% and 51.5% respectively. Among tumor histologies, 1-year cumulative incidence rates of local failure for thyroid, breast, lung, and colon cancer were 8.7%, 7.0%, 26.6%, and 39.6%, respectively. When analyzed together, NSCLC and colorectal cancers had significantly greater cumulative incidence rates at 1 and 2 years (30.4% and 38.7%, respectively) than other histologies (8.0% and 14.1% respectively, P=.0008). Non-small cell lung cancer/colorectal tumor status was a significant predictor of local failure in a competing risk univariate model (hazard ratio 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.07-4.17, P=.03) and multivariate model (hazard ratio 2.35, 95% confidence interval 1.12-4.92, P=.024). Conclusions Spine stereotactic radiosurgery is an effective strategy in achieving local control of spine metastases, particularly among radiosensitive histologies. However, a subset of these classically defined histologies (NSCLC and colorectal) has a propensity toward local failure. In addition to resulting in poorer OS outcomes, the poor LC rates seen in NSCLC and colorectal cancers in this study are more consistent with a radioresistant phenotype, suggesting the need for optimized dosing regimens in this subgroup.
Sleep, biological rhythms and aging.

There has been a recent confluence of the stream of biorhythm or chronobiologic research and sleep research. There is clear evidence that, within sleep research, there has been an increasing response to the biorhythm approach. It will be my purpose to review this intersection of research, the findings relative to the aging of sleep and the conceptual implications for sleep viewed as a biorhythm. From my perspective, I am convinced that these conceptual implications far exceed, in ultimate value, the details of the particular findings.
Pretreatment seizure semiology in childhood absence epilepsy.

Objective: To determine seizure semiology in children with newly diagnosed childhood absence epilepsy and to evaluate associations with short-term treatment outcomes. Methods: For participants enrolled in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, comparative-effectiveness trial, semiologic features of pretreatment seizures were analyzed as predictors of treatment outcome at the week 16 to 20 visit. Results: Video of 1,932 electrographic absence seizures from 416 participants was evaluated. Median seizure duration was 10.2 seconds; median time between electrographic seizure onset and clinical manifestation onset was 1.5 seconds. For individual seizures and by participant, the most common semiology features were pause/stare (seizure 95.5%, participant 99.3%), motor automatisms (60.6%, 86.1%), and eye involvement (54.9%, 76.5%). The interrater agreement for motor automatisms and eye involvement was good (72%–84%). Variability of semiology features between seizures even within participants was high. Clustering analyses revealed 4 patterns (involving the presence/absence of eye involvement and motor automatisms superimposed on the nearly ubiquitous pause/stare). Most participants experienced more than one seizure cluster pattern. No individual semiologic feature was individually predictive of short-term outcome. Seizure freedom was half as likely in participants with one or more seizure having the pattern of eye involvement without motor automatisms than in participants without this pattern. Conclusions: Almost all absence seizures are characterized by a pause in activity or staring, but rarely is this the only feature. Semiologic features tend to cluster, resulting in identifiable absence seizure subtypes with significant intraparticipant seizure phenomenologic heterogeneity. One seizure subtype, pause/stare and eye involvement but no motor automatisms, is specifically associated with a worse treatment outcome.
Mobile context-aware cognitive testing system

Traditional cognitive testing for older adults can be inaccessible, expensive, and time consuming. The development of computerized cognitive tests (CCTs) has made strides to alleviate such issues with traditional cognitive testing. Self-administered CCTs allow for individuals to test rapidly and conveniently on various devices. However, such tests may not factor in relevant contextual information pertinent to the testing situation (e.g., is the user in a proper environment or context to test?). This dissertation aims to develop a mobile, context-aware cognitive testing system (CACTS) capable of tracking and analyzing contextual information during CCTs. By utilizing mobile device sensors and user input, the proposed context-aware system will capture ambient and behavioral data during testing to compliment user performance results. This research will help provide insight into the contextual factors that are relevant to the user's testing efficacy and performance in CCTs.
CME planning series: article five of five, using commitment to change within educational activities.

-Commitment to change is an educational practice that encourages participants to commit to doing something differently in their respective practices based on an educational activity. Evidence suggests that such commitment increases the likelihood that changes in behavior will occur above and beyond what might be expected from participation without explicit commitments. Educators should consider options for incorporating this practice into their educational activities.
THE LUTHERAN IDENTITY OF JOSQUIN’S MISSA PANGE LINGUA: RENAISSANCE OF A RENAISSANCE MASS

In sixteenth-century Germany, both Catholics and Lutherans circulated and performed Josquin’s Missa Pange lingua, even though its model, the hymn Pange lingua, was associated with Eucharistic practices that were exclusively Catholic. This source-based study reveals how Lutherans selected the Missa Pange lingua for performance over other available masses and adapted it for their liturgical and pedagogical needs. Two printed sources of the mass offer perspectives on how Lutherans might have negotiated the polemical rituals and theology associated with the Missa Pange lingua alongside an aesthetic interest in the work. The intention of this study is not to de-emphasise the connection between the Missa Pange lingua and its borrowed melody or the initial Catholic identity of the mass. Rather, the Lutheran identity of the Missa Pange lingua provides an additional layer to the early reception history of this work and a case study of the Lutheran appropriation of Catholic music.
Fluorescent-Probe Studies of Contractile Proteins

The present knowledge of the mechanism of muscle contraction and cell movement at the molecular level comes from an accumulation of experimental evidence obtained using a wide variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques. In relatively recent times, the use of intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence probes has provided useful information about the kinetic intermediates, mobility, binding, orientation, intramolecular distances, and site environment of the globular head region of the myosin molecule, both free in solution and as a part of the intact muscle “cross-bridges” that are thought to be the impellers of biological movement.
Applications of multi-time methods to pattern recognition and other problems

Systems of difference equations containing small parameters are studied by a constructive perturbation scheme analogous to the one developed by the authors for the study of differential equations. The method results in an averaging procedure for difference equations, and it is particularly well suited to certain highly oscillatory, nonlinear systems. The method is applied to problems from population genetics, pattern recognition, regression analysis, and the numerical analysis of stiff differential equations.
Coronary Remodeling and Interventional Strategies

In light of new and evolving paradigms of vascular remodeling of the coronary artery, previous restenosis models developed for balloon angioplasty and new devices may be overly simplistic and inadequate to guide optimal coronary interventional strategies. The prevailing models of coronary restenosis have been largely derived from single scalar measures of the lumen radius using quantitative angiography, such as pre-intervention, post-intervention, or 6 month follow-up minimum lumen diameter [1, 2], or the relationships between these scalars [3]. Under such models of restenosis, the diameter of the follow-up lumen is positively associated with the diameter of the immediate post-procedure lumen, and different devices appear to illicit relatively equivalent mean renarrowing responses proportional to their acute gains, for a variety of studied patient samples [4]. Therefore, devices that can be shown to achieve large acute lumens on a consistent basis, such as stents, have been found to achieve large follow-up lumens and corresponding lower restenosis rates than balloon angioplasty (which does not achieve a large acute lumen on a consistent basis) [5–7].
Instruments for Attaining Urban Sustainability The Case for Tradable Vehicle Use Permits

What is now a litany among environmentalists and urban planners, the list of ills to be attributed to the unbridled use of the private vehicle is long, and getting longer: huge economic losses due to congestion on roads and highways, air, water and land pollution, loss of habitat due to road building and development, loss of farmland, destruction of social cohesiveness and now global climate change. In the U.S., perhaps the world’s best (worst?) example of the overuse of the private automobile, a full 31% of its carbon dioxide emissions are generated in the transport sector.
Disulfide-linked human stem cell factor dimer: Method of identification and molecular comparison to the noncovalent dimer

Publisher Summary Stem cell factor (SCF) functions in the early stages of hematopoiesis, and is an important growth factor involved in the development and function of other cell lineages, including melanocytes and germ cells. Two soluble SCF 1-165 forms recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli in a non-glycosylated form (rhSCF) and by mammalian cells in a glycosylated form contain native SCF structure and are biologically functional. SCF binds to its receptor, kit, to elicit its specific biological functions. There are two intramolecular disulfide bonds present in each monomer of SCF molecule, and the production of active rhSCF from E. coli requires an oxidative folding procedure to recover its biological activity. The intermediate forms appear to reach steady state equilibrium and are important folding intermediates. Two off-pathway intermediates are dimers linked by a single intermolecular disulfide bond. These two intermediates exist during early folding time and disappear after folding. In the final folding mixture, the major folded SCF is the noncovalently linked dimer sodium dodecyl sulfate-dissociable (SDS) and a small fraction is SDS-nondissociable dimer. This chapter describes strategy and methodology leading to the verification of the structure of SDS-nondissociable SCF dimer. The dimer is covalently linked by four intermolecular disulfide bonds involving all cysteinyl residues. The cysteines are paired as in the non-covalently associated dimer except that all pairings are intermolecular rather than intramolecular. The understanding in molecular properties of the noncovalently and covalently linked dimers provides some insights to the structure and function of SCF. The study described in the chapter implies that the overall quatemary structure, including interactions at the dimer interface, would be similar for the disulfide-linked and non-covalently associated dimers. In considering the structure of SCF, there are many reasons to expect similarity to the structure of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). X-ray crystallographic structure of M-CSF dimer includes the four-helix bundle for each monomer that had been proposed for both M-CSF and SCF.
Combination therapy with atorvastatin and celecoxib delays tumor formation in a Fanconi anemia mouse model

Background Fanconi anemia is an inherited bone marrow failure disorder associated with a high incidence of leukemia and solid tumors. Currently, no interventions to prevent or delay the formation of solid tumors are available. Procedure Two of the most important hallmarks of Fanconi anemia are inflammation and oxidative stress. In this study, we administrated the antioxidant atorvastatin and the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib to cohorts of Fancd2-/- /Trp53+/- mice, a model of Fanconi anemia. Treatment started at weaning and continued until the mice developed a palpable mass or suffered from >20% weight loss. Tumor samples and selected tissues were subjected to histopathological examination. χ2 test was performed to analyze tumor incidence, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were evaluated with log-rank test. In addition, a small cohort of mice was monitored for the safety of the drugs. Results The combined oral administration of both drugs significantly delayed tumor onset in Fancd2-/- /Trp53+/- mice. Specifically, the treatment delayed the onset of ovarian tumors in Fancd2-/- /Trp53+/- mice and increased the mean ovarian tumor-free survival time by 17%, whereas this combinatorial drug regimen did not have a significant effect on other tumor types. In addition, no detrimental effects on hematopoiesis from the drug treatment were observed during a 12-month safety monitoring. Conclusions The data presented here suggest that a combination of atorvastatin and celecoxib may be a good candidate for chemoprevention in Fanconi anemia.
Public engagements with smog in urban China: Knowledge, trust, and action

Abstract Air pollution in China, increasingly known in policy circles and in popular discourse as “smog” (wumai), has aroused broad concern among citizens and in the international community. Although poor air quality has been a feature of urban life for decades in China, public engagement with the issue is a more recent phenomenon. In this article, we examine public knowledge and perceptions of smog, public trust in various sources of information about smog, and various actions, both individual and institutional, that people believe can be effective in managing and mitigating smog. We draw upon qualitative interviews and quantitative survey data collected in Tangshan, a heavily industrialized city in northern China. Our findings illustrate that smog, with its effects on human health and quality of life, is perceived as a serious concern that people encounter every day. Various information sources on the severity of air pollution, including online media content and mobile apps, are increasingly accessed by the public. Our findings suggest that trust in these information sources is shaped by a variety of demographic factors, especially educational attainment. We also find a sense of ambivalence among study participants about which specific individual and institutional measures can and should be taken to manage and mitigate the effects of smog. We discuss these findings in light of recent research on the role of public awareness and engagement in environmental protection campaigns.
Checking the pregnancy checkbox: Evaluation of a four‐state quality assurance pilot

Background The 2003 revision of the standard United States death certificate included a set of "pregnancy checkboxes" to ascertain whether a woman was pregnant at the time of her death or within the preceding year. Studies validating the pregnancy checkbox have indicated a potentially high number of errors, resulting in inflated maternal mortality rates. In response to concerns about pregnancy checkbox data quality, four state health departments implemented a quality assurance pilot project examining the accuracy of the pregnancy checkbox for 2016 deaths. Methods State staff conducted searches for birth or fetal death reports that matched a death certificate, within a year of death. If a pregnancy checkbox was marked, but no match was found between certificates, confirmation of the pregnancy was attempted through active follow-up with the death certifier. From December 2017 to January 2018, the quality assurance pilot was evaluated through three focus groups with key stakeholders. The evaluation aimed to describe opportunities and challenges to implementation, sustainability, and lessons learned. Results Opportunities for implementing the pilot included written documentation of the quality assurance process, improved certifier response, improved data quality, and increased data timeliness for Maternal Mortality Review Committees. Challenges included initial delays in certifier response, staff turnover, high caseloads in relation to resources, and lack of pilot prioritization in the health department. All four pilot states plan to sustain the pregnancy checkbox quality assurance process in some capacity. Conclusions Implementing quality assurance processes for the pregnancy checkbox may ultimately improve state and national maternal death data quality.
Manuskrip Keagamaan di Masjid Popongan: Kajian Kodikologi dan Pemetaan Isi

This article examines religious manuscripts stored in the Popongan mosque, Klaten, Central Java. As a preliminary study, this article describes the physical aspects of the manuscript as well as mapping the topics contained. The approach used is philology and historical perspective that is in it. As a manuscript born in a pesantren community, the Popongan manuscript reflects the struggle of students and scholars in the process of learning and transmission of Islamic scholarship in the late 19th century. Through the Popongan manuscripts we can see the diversity of the fields of study studied by the students and their learning methods. In this case, pesantren has taken an important role in the practice of Islamic learning and at the same time as an important subject in the history of islamization in Indonesia
Site of Origin of the Ophthalmic Artery Influences the Risk for Retinal Versus Cerebral Embolic Events.

Background Embolic events leading to retinal ischemia or cerebral ischemia share common risk factors; however, it has been well documented that the rate of concurrent cerebral infarction is higher in patients with a history of transient ischemic attack (TIA) than in those with monocular vision loss (MVL) due to retinal ischemia. Despite the fact that emboli to the ophthalmic artery (OA) and middle cerebral artery share the internal carotid artery (ICA) as a common origin or transit for emboli, the asymmetry in their final destination has not been fully explained. We hypothesize that the anatomic location of the OA takeoff from the ICA may contribute to the differential flow of small emboli to the retinal circulation vs the cerebral circulation. Methods We report a retrospective, comparative, case-control study on 28 patients with retinal ischemia and 26 patients with TIA or cerebral infarction caused by embolic events. All subjects underwent either computed tomography angiography or MRA. The location of the ipsilateral OA origin off the ICA was then graded in a blinded fashion and compared between cohorts. Vascular risk factors were collected for all patients, including age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhythmia, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and smoking. Results We find that in patients with retinal ischemia of embolic etiology, the ipsilateral OA takeoff from the ICA is more proximal than in patients with cerebral infarcts or TIA (P = 0.0002). We found no statistically significant differences in demographic, vascular, or systemic risk factors. Conclusions We find that the mean anatomical location of the OA takeoff from the ICA is significantly more proximal in patients with MVL due to retinal ischemia compared with patients with TIA or cerebral ischemia. This finding contributes significantly to our understanding of a long observed but poorly understood phenomenon that patients with MVL are less likely to have concurrent cerebral ischemia than are patients with TIA.
Scalable and Balanced Policy Enforcement through Hybrid SDN-Label Switching

Software-defined networks facilitate automatic poli- cy enforcement with dynamic routing of flows through a sequence of middleboxes that offer the required network functions. As a result, network policy enforcement based on middleboxes, which is tedious and error-prone to perform in traditional IP networks, is greatly simplified. However, TCAM-based flow tables in SDN are small and energy-demanding, which limits the scalability of policy enforcement. This paper proposes a hybrid SDN-label switching scheme that combines TCAM- based switching (in SDN) at the network edge with label switching in the network core to provide scalable policy enforcement without compromising per-flow management capability. A linear optimization is proposed to balance workloads among the middleboxes. We demonstrate on OMNET++ that our proposed solution incurs much smaller processing/communication overhead and achieves better load-balancing when comparing with the prior art.
Development of standard protocol for the cGMP production of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from different source tissues

Background & Aim Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) hold great potential for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine because of their ability for self-renewal and differentiation into tissue-specific cells such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. MSCs are important pieces in the process of tissue development, maintenance and repair, producing secretory factors that support engraftment and trophic functions. For that reason, they are currently being used in hundreds of clinical trials as a promising treatment option for a variety of clinical conditions, with an increasing evidence of therapeutic efficacy. MSC constitute a heterogeneous subset of stromal regenerative cells which can be harvested from several adult tissues. Initially MSC were identified in bone marrow but currently they can be harvested from several autologous and allogeneic sources, including adipose tissue, peripheral blood, lungs, marrow spaces of long bone, synovial fluids, periodontal ligament, dental pulp and muscle. In addition, MSCs are also obtained from placenta, umbilical cord and cord blood. Notably, MSCs obtained from various sources differ in their biological characteristics, CFU-F efficiency, specific markers, multi-lineage differentiation as well as paracrine functions which may determine their different clinical applications. The use of MSC from different sources together with the fact that most laboratories use their own standardized protocols for cell expansion results in a clear variability in cell preparations between labs which can lead to variability in the outcome of experiments and clinical trials across different laboratories and institutions. Investigations have attempted to address this issue of unpredictable outcomes by seeking to establish standard practices for the isolation, characterization, and maintenance of cells in culture. The development of uniform protocols for the expansion and preparation of MSCs is crucial to improve comparison of results, for the exploitation of MSC clinical potential and for a successful translation of approaches to the clinic. Methods, Results & Conclusion Here we will present the development of a standardized protocol for a consistent and efficient cGMP production of clinically relevant numbers of MSCs obtained from different source tissues, using MSC NutriStem® XF Basal Medium supplemented with PLTGold®, a fully xenogeneic free human platelet lysate.
Identification of Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Patients Using Instrumented Shoes and Artificial Neural Networks

Freezing of gait is an episodic phenomena faced by many patients with Parkinson’s disease. It is characterized by episodes during which patients are unable to generate effective forward stepping movements, despite absence of motor deficits. It has been postulated that the degree of freezing can be reduced by providing external sensory feedback to the patients during the event. However, this intervention could be facilitated by accurate identification of freezing events in real-time. This manuscript presents an Artificial Neural Network model which uses signals recorded by an instrumented footwear to predict if a walking subject is having a freezing episode. Our model presented in this paper is capable of continuously predicting freezing of gait events at a high temporal resolution of 50 Hz, using a 0.5 second window of data recorded by the instrumented shoes, with a sensitivity of 96.0±2.5%, a specificity of 99.6±0.3%, a precision of 89.5±5.9%, and an accuracy of 99.5±0.4%. This algorithm was tested with data collected from 10 patients with Parkinson’s disease with frequent freezing of gait episodes.
The Impact of Cognitive Biases on Fraudulent Behavior: The Leeson Case

Inattentional blindness, also known as perceptual blindness, is the phenomenon of not being able to see things that are actually there. This concept is not covered in traditional accounting classes in general and forensic accounting and auditing in particular. We discuss why forensic accountants and auditors should be aware of inattentional blindness and we show how it may impact the behavior of the individuals investigating and being investigated. We use a video to illustrate how this concept could be meaningfully incorporated into a teaching curriculum with a focus on forensic accounting and auditing. In particular, we provide illustrations of how this video could be used in forensic accounting and auditing classes to heighten student awareness of how "blind spots" could adversely affect the investigation process. We conclude by using the Leeson/Barings scandal (involving the fraud that brought down Barings bank) to illustrate how inattentional blindness can occur in a real-life fraud situation. We also provide additional material showing the relevance of inattentional blindness to the Madoff Ponzi scandal.
Teaching Place Value to Students With Learning Disabilities in Mathematics

According to National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), students must develop a conceptual understanding of place value by second grade to understand that mathematics processes are more th...
The carpal tunnel syndrome.

At the Cleveland Clinic the diagnosis of carpal-tunnel syndrome has been made in 654 hands of 439 patients during the last seventeen years. The typical patient with this syndrome is a middle-aged housewife with numbness and tingling in the thumb and index, long, and ring fingers, which is worse at night and worse after excessive activity of the hands. The sensory disturbances, both objective and subjective, must be directly related to the sensory distribution of the median nerve distal to the wrist; but pain may be referred proximal to the wrist as high as the shoulder. There is usually a positive Tinel sign over the median nerve at the wrist, and the wrist-flexion test I described is also usually positive. About half of the patients also have some degree of thenar atrophy. If steroid injections into the carpal tunnel give only transient relief, treatment should be by complete section of the transverse carpal ligament. This procedure will almost always relieve the patient's pain and numbness in the hand, and in many cases will also cure the paralysis of the thenar muscles, which may be present.
Changes in brain metabolites and resting-state connectivity in collegiate basketball players as a function of play time.

Background and purpose Magnetic resonance (MR) biomarkers are emerging for sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the effect of play time has not been characterized. Our goal was to characterize brain and inflammatory marker changes as a function of play time. Methods Nine male players (21±2 years old) from a single collegiate basketball team were included. MR imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopy, and plasma were collected pre, mid, and postseason. Game time played was calculated for each subject. Changes in brain volume, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), metabolites (normalized to total creatine, tCr), temperature, structural and functional connectivity, and inflammatory markers were quantified. Results Myo-inositol/tCr in the left frontal white matter and brain temperature in the left frontal lobe varied significantly between time points. Glutamate (Glu/tCr) in the right frontal white matter and N-acetylaspartate in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) were negatively associated with minutes played. Midseason play time was associated with stronger blood-oxygen-level-dependent correlations between PCC and occipital areas, and weaker correlations between PCC and superior frontal connectivity. PCC Glu/tCr was positively associated with connectivity between the PCC and posterior supramarginal gyrus at preseason and with connectivity across time points among several right hemisphere regions. Volume, DTI, and inflammatory markers did not vary significantly. Conclusion Given that MR parameters vary with game play time in the absence of diagnosed injury, play time should be considered as a factor in sports-related TBI research.
Critérios de seleção de patologias para investigação em Saúde

We try to identify the criteria leading to the selection for investigation of certain pathologies. Its goal is to verify whether these criteria are adequate to the global health research needs and respond to the main global public health problems. We tried to confront what the published scientific information says with our own experience as a member of the Ethics Committee for Clinical Research. Most of the open access repositories consulted, refers, mostly, to specific pathologies, with few references to priorities or selection of priorities. The EuropePMC search engine, the most significant of which we have found, identifies nearly 40.000 entries. We analyzed some of the articles by the ethical, methodological approach to medical research and its priorities, namely, patient participation. Interactions between antiretroviral drugs and injecting drug use and the inclusion of drug user patients in clinical trials where only be investigated by pharmaceutical companies (and the researchers themselves), with the confrontation and pressure from the main Community Advisory Boards (CAB), in particular European CAB. The selection and arbitration between pathologies for research does not seem, comparatively, to raise interest on the part of researchers and the Academy. The research funders define the financeable areas. In pharmaceutical companies, it is the economic return, with little interest and social impact of the research results. Diseases in low-resource or rare countries and regions are not an interesting market. Multilateral organizations and global foundations have been responsible for prioritizing funding for research in areas of greatest global and social impact.
SCALPEL: Exploring the Limits of Tag-enforced Compartmentalization

We present Secure Compartments Automatically Learned and Protected by Execution using Lightweight metadata (SCALPEL), a tool for automatically deriving compartmentalization policies and lowering th...
The Fisher information function and scoring in binary ideal point item response models: a cautionary tale.

This article examines the Fisher information functions, I(θ) , and explores implications for scoring of binary ideal point item response models. These models typically appear to have I(θ) that are bimodal and identically equal to 0 at the ideal point. The article shows that this is an inherent property of ideal point IRT models, which either have this property or are indeterminate and thus violate the likelihood regularity conditions. For some models, the indeterminacy can be resolved, generating an effectively unimodal I(θ) , albeit with violated regularity conditions. In other cases, I(θ) diverges. All reasonable ideal point IRT models exhibit this behaviour. Users should exercise caution when relying on asymptotics, particularly for shorter assessments. Use of simulated plausible values or prediction from a fully Bayesian estimation is recommended for scoring.
Inner hair cell stereocilia displacement in response to focal stimulation of the basilar membrane in the ex vivo gerbil cochlea.

Abstract The inner hair cells in the mammalian cochlea transduce mechanical signals to electrical signals that provide input to the auditory nerve. The spatial-temporal displacement of the inner hair cell stereocilia (IHCsc) relative to basilar membrane (BM) displacement is central to characterizing the transduction process. This study specifically focuses on measuring displacement of the stereocilia hair bundles in the radial dimensions where they are most sensitive. To simplify the mechanical response of the cochlear partition, a mechanical probe was used to drive the BM. Optical imaging was used to measure radial displacement of the inner hair cell stereocilia local to the probe in ex vivo gerbil cochleae. The mechanical probe displaced the BM in the transverse direction using sinusoidal stimuli with frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 42.5 kHz. IHCsc displacement measurements were made in the radial dimension as a function of their longitudinal location along the length of the BM. The results were used to quantify the frequency response, longitudinal space coupling, traveling wave velocity, and wavelength of the radial displacement of the stereocilia. The measurements were centered at two best frequency locations along the BM: Proximal to the round window (first turn), and in the second turn. At both locations, frequency tuning was seen that was consistent with published place maps. At both locations, traveling waves were observed simultaneously propagating basal and apical from the probe. The velocity of the traveling waves at the center frequency (CF) of the location was higher in the first turn than in the second. As the stimulus frequency increased and approached CF for a location, the traveling wavelength decreased. Differential motion of the BM and IHCsc was observed in the second turn as the stimulus frequency increased toward CF. The longitudinal coupling measured in this study was longer than observed in previous studies. In summary the results suggest that the shape of the wave patterns present on the BM are not sufficient to characterize the displacement of the IHCsc.