cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endothelin and nitric oxide interact to regulate stretch-induced ANP secretion

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of the permissive effect of atrial stretch on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion and the mechanism for the rapid termination of endothelin (ET) signaling following the removal of ET-dependent stimuli. Basal ANP release was not affected by either an elevation or inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) activity, but stretch-stimulated ANP release was significantly reduced from 144 +/- 20% to -3 +/- 7% of the baseline by increased NO activity. Furthermore, while the response to ET alone at low pressure was 37 +/- 13% of the baseline ANP secretion rate (P > 0.05), this response increased to 137 +/- 27% (P < 0.05) when NO activity was blocked, a response equal to the control high-pressure response (144 +/- 20%). Thus the reduction in NO activity is a permissive effect of stretch, and NO can rapidly terminate an ET-stimulated ANP response. Therefore, stretch-induced ANP secretion is regulated by a reciprocal interaction between locally produced ET, which appears to increase, and NO, which appears to decrease.
The Impact of Pre-Hospital Administration of Lactated Ringer's Solution versus Normal Saline in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract Lactated Ringer's (LR) and normal saline (NS) are both used for resuscitation of injured patients. NS has been associated with increased resuscitation volume, blood loss, acidosis, and coagulopathy compared with LR. We sought to determine if pre-hospital LR is associated with improved outcome compared with NS in patients with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI). We included patients receiving pre-hospital LR or NS from the PRospective Observational Multicenter Major Trauma Transfusion (PROMMTT) study. Patients with TBI (Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] head ≥3) and without TBI (AIS head ≤2) were compared. Cox proportional hazards models including Injury Severity Score (ISS), AIS head, AIS extremity, age, fluids, intubation status, and hospital site were generated for prediction of mortality. Linear regression models were generated for prediction of red blood cell (RBC) and crystalloid requirement, and admission biochemical/physiological parameters. Seven hundred ninety-one patients received ei...
Comparison of a Rapid Method of Counting Bacteria in Milk with the Standard Plate Method

In the usual, or standard, method of milk analysis, a very small fraction of a cubic centimeter of milk is plated, and incubated long enough for the bacteria to grow into colonies visible to the naked eye. In my method a comparatively low dilution of milk* is made with nutrient agar, spread over a definite area on a microscopic glass slide, and incubated only until the small colonies are visible under a compound microscope. These little colonies are then rendered prominent and easy to count by the following method of staining. The culture is dried down, fixed in the flame, treated with 10*^ acetic acid in alcohol to prevent the agar from firmly binding the stain, and stained with a 1: 4 dilution of Loeffler's methylene blue, applied for 2 minutes. The stain is then partially washed out in alcohol or water and the preparation dried for examination. The colonies are a deep blue, while the agar background is only tinged or quite clear. (Fig. 1). The counting is done under the low power of a compound microscope, a 2/3 or 1/2 inch (16 or 12 mm.) objective and an eyepiece of medium power. To determine the area of the microscopic field the diameter is measured with a stage micrometer and the formula ttR2 applied. The area of the little plate is 400 sq. mm. (2 by 2 cm.), and the area of the microscopic field 2 mm. with a common combination of lenses. Thus the area of the plate becomes 200 times that of the microscopic field. The number of colonies in a field of the microscope, multiplied by 200, and again multiplied by the dilution of the milk used in making the plates, gives the number of bacteria per cubic centimeter of milk. At least 20 fields should be counted and these should be selected mechanically to avoid errors proceeding from the personal equation.
Non-merohedrally twinned crystals of N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine: an excellent triphenylamine-based hole transporter.

N,N′-Bis(3-methyl­phenyl)-N,N′-di­phenyl-1,1′-bi­phenyl-4,4′-di­amine (TPD), C38H32N2, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21 with a pseudo-orthogonal lattice, rather than the previously reported orthorhombic space group P212121 [Kennedy, Smith, Tackley, David, Shankland, Brown & Teat (2002). J. Mater. Chem. 12, 168–172]. The asymmetric unit consists of two independent mol­ecules, A and B, which are arranged along the [100] direction to form vertical layers of alternately stacked A and B mol­ecules. Molecule A shows a great deal of rotational movement in the four terminal aryl rings, resulting in two disordered tolyl groups split over two sites, while mol­ecule B exhibits an almost cis configuration of the two terminal tolyl groups with respect to these ring planes.
The Dimensions of Public Service Motivation and Sector Work Preferences

Public service motivation (PSM) is a needs-based approach to motivation. People may sate this need in different ways, including direct government service. This article investigates the relationship between individuals’ PSM and their work sector (pubic, nonprofit, or for-profit) preferences. It asks, “Does PSM affect an individual’s preference for the sector of the economy in which they would ideally be employed?” Our findings indicate that PSM, measured in dimensional form, is a moderate indicator of an individual’s sector preference: as PSM increases (particularly, the Self-Sacrifice dimension), the attractiveness of working in the public and nonprofit sector, relative to the for-profit sector, also increases. Focusing on a preservice sample of undergraduate students allows us to conclude that PSM is a need people have prior to entering the workplace, and it may indeed drive whether an individual works in the government, nonprofit, or for-profit sector.
Toward completely automated vowel extraction: Introducing DARLA

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is reaching further and further into everyday life with Apple’s Siri, Google voice search, automated telephone information systems, dictation devices, closed captioning, and other applications. Along with such advances in speech technology, sociolinguists have been considering new methods for alignment and vowel formant extraction, including techniques like the Penn Aligner (Yuan and Liberman, 2008) and the FAVE automated vowel extraction program (Evanini et al., 2009, Rosenfelder et al., 2011). With humans transcribing audio recordings into sentences, these semi-automated methods can produce effective vowel formant measurements (Labov et al., 2013). But as the quality of ASR improves, sociolinguistics may be on the brink of another transformative technology: large-scale, completely automated vowel extraction without any need for human transcription. It would then be possible to quickly extract vowels from virtually limitless hours of recordings, such as YouTube, publicly available audio/video archives, and large-scale personal interviews or streaming video. How far away is this transformative moment? In this article, we introduce a fully automated program called DARLA (short for “Dartmouth Linguistic Automation,” http://darla.dartmouth.edu), which automatically generates transcriptions with ASR and extracts vowels using FAVE. Users simply upload an audio recording of speech, and DARLA produces vowel plots, a table of vowel formants, and probabilities of the phonetic environments for each token. In this paper, we describe DARLA and explore its sociolinguistic applications. We test the system on a dataset of the US Southern Shift and compare the results with semi-automated methods.
Exact calculation of loop formation probability identifies folding motifs in RNA secondary structures

RNA secondary structure prediction is widely used to analyze RNA sequences. In an RNA partition function calculation, free energy nearest neighbor parameters are used in a dynamic programming algorithm to estimate statistical properties of the secondary structure ensemble. Previously, partition functions have largely been used to estimate the probability that a given pair of nucleotides form a base pair, the conditional stacking probability, the accessibility to binding of a continuous stretch of nucleotides, or a representative sample of RNA structures. Here it is demonstrated that an RNA partition function can also be used to calculate the exact probability of formation of hairpin loops, internal loops, bulge loops, or multibranch loops at a given position. This calculation can also be used to estimate the probability of formation of specific helices. Benchmarking on a set of RNA sequences with known secondary structures indicated that loops that were calculated to be more probable were more likely to be present in the known structure than less probable loops. Furthermore, highly probable loops are more likely to be in the known structure than the set of loops predicted in the lowest free energy structures.
Utility of point of care assessment of platelet reactivity (using the PFA-100®) to aid in diagnosis of stroke.

Abstract Background Rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients presenting with symptoms of stroke is needed to facilitate the timely delivery of proven effective treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The aim of this study was to determine whether early assessment of platelet reactivity in patients presenting with symptoms of AIS was associated with a diagnosis of AIS, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or stroke mimic. Methods This prospective study included patients with symptoms of AIS treated at an inner-city emergency department (ED). Blood samples were obtained and assayed for platelet reactivity (quantified by closure time). Patients were grouped by discharge diagnosis into: AIS, TIA, or stroke mimic. Binary logistic regression model was used to predict the association of closure time with the final diagnosis of 1) either AIS or TIA or, 2) stroke mimic. Results Of 114 patients enrolled, 32 were diagnosed with AIS, 33 TIA, and 49 were diagnosed as a stroke mimic. There was no significant difference in closure times among patients with a diagnosis of AIS or TIA versus stroke mimic. A history of migraines and history of seizures were independently associated with lower odds of an AIS or TIA diagnosis (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.94 and OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.88, respectively). Conclusion Closure time was not found to be a clinically reliable differentiator of patients with a diagnosis of AIS, TIA, or stroke mimic in the ED.
Bone Loss in HIV Infection

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is an established risk factor for low bone mineral density (BMD) and subsequent fracture, and treatment with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) leads to additional BMD loss, particularly in the first 1-2 years of therapy. The prevalence of low BMD and fragility fracture is expected to increase as the HIV-infected population ages with successful treatment with cART. Mechanisms of bone loss in the setting of HIV infection are likely multifactorial, and include viral, host, and immune effects, as well as direct and indirect effects of cART, particularly tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and the protease inhibitors (PIs). Emerging data indicate that BMD loss following cART initiation can be mitigated by prophylaxis with either long-acting bisphosphonates or vitamin D and calcium supplementation. In addition, newer antiretrovirals, particularly the integrase strand transfer inhibitors and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), are associated with less intense bone loss than PIs and TDF. However, further studies are needed to establish optimal bone sparing cART regimens, appropriate screening intervals, and preventive measures to address the rising prevalence of fragility bone disease in the HIV population.
Object-Detection-Based Video Compression for Wireless Surveillance Systems

Many distributed wireless surveillance applications use compressed videos for automatic video analysis tasks. However, the accuracy of object detection--which is essential for video analysis--can be reduced because lossy compression degrades video quality. Current standardized video-encoding schemes can cause temporal fluctuation for encoded blocks in stable background areas of a raw video, which strongly affects object-detection accuracy. To obtain better object-detection performance on compressed videos, the authors introduce a standards-compliant video-encoding scheme that can suppress unnecessary temporal fluctuation in stable background areas. New mode-decision strategies, designed for both intra- and interframes, reduce the temporal fluctuation while maintaining acceptable rate-distortion performance. Experimental results show that, compared with traditional encoding schemes, the proposed scheme improves object-detection performance and results in lower bit rates with comparable quality.
Multiplicative white noise: The Wick-Malliavin approximation

In this chapter, we consider Wiener chaos expansion (WCE) for elliptic equations with multiplicative noise. Unlike the stochastic collocation methods (SCM), a direct application of WCE will lead to a fully coupled linear system. To sparsify the resulting linear system, we present WCE with the use of Ito-Wick product and an approximation/reduction technique called Wick-Malliavin approximation. Specifically, we consider Wick-Malliavin approximation for elliptic equations with lognormal coefficients and use the Wick product for elliptic equations with spatial white noise as coefficients. Numerical results demonstrate that high-order Wick-Malliavin approximation is efficient even when the noise intensity is relatively large.
Six steps to destruction

Cell division relies on the properly timed activation and destruction of certain regulatory proteins. New work shows that many rounds of phosphorylation can help to establish the timing of protein destruction.
A narrative review of the construct of hedonic hunger and its measurement by the Power of Food Scale.

Introduction The term 'hedonic hunger' refers to one's preoccupation with and desire to consume foods for the purposes of pleasure and in the absence of physical hunger. The Power of Food Scale (PFS) was developed as a quantitative measure of this construct in 2009. Since then, over 50 published studies have used the PFS to predict appetite-related outcomes including neural, cognitive, behavioural, anthropometric and clinical measures. Objective This narrative review evaluates how closely the PFS captures the construct it was originally presumed to assess and to more clearly define hedonic hunger itself. Methods The measure's relationship to four domains is reviewed and summarized: motivation to consume palatable foods; level of actual consumption of such foods; body mass; and subjective loss-of-control over one's eating behaviour. Findings are synthesized to generate a more accurate understanding of what the PFS measures and how it may relate to the broader definition of hedonic hunger. Results Results suggest that the PFS is closely related to motivation to consume palatable foods and, in extreme cases, occurrence of loss-of-control eating episodes. PFS scores are not consistently predictive of amount of food consumed or body mass. Conclusions Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of behavioural health, and avenues for further inquiry are identified.
The impact of length of stay on recovery measures in faith-based addiction treatment.

OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of length of stay among homeless men in faith-based residential addictions recovery on physical activity, depression, self-esteem, and nicotine dependence. DESIGN AND SAMPLE A time series design was utilized to measure changes in the four quality measures at program entry and at 3, 6, and 9 months following admission. The sample consisted of 175 homeless residents enrolled in a faith-based residential recovery program. MEASURES Paired t tests were used to determine the change in average instrument response from admission to each follow-up period. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey posthoc tests were used to assess for differences in length of stay between demographic variables. RESULTS Statistically significant improvements were noted in self-esteem and depressive symptomatology at 3 and 6 months following admission and in physical activity levels at 3 months following admission. Nicotine dependence scores declined at 3 and 6 months but were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Time spent in this faith-based spiritual recovery program had a significant impact on depression, self-esteem, and physical activity. Recommendations for future study include conducting research to analyze the relationship between distinct program elements and quality indicators and comparing faith-based programs to other similar programs and to publicly funded secular recovery programs.
“Someone Else's Land is Our Garden!”: Risky Labor in Taipei's Indigenous Food Boom

In recent years, Taiwan has seen a surge of interest in the foodways of indigenous Austronesian people. Public and scholarly discourse tends to focus on either indigenous foodways9 cultural significance or the healthiness of food items eaten by indigenous people. These two dominant perspectives, however, have obfuscated the issue of labor. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in an urban indigenous community in the Taipei region, this article addresses what I call risky labor behind the maintenance of indigenous foodways today, especially in urban contexts where many indigenous people have settled over the last forty years. It discusses two forms of risky labor: (1) the gendered labor of urban indigenous women who acquire food items by encroaching upon state and private properties and (2) the intellectual labor of urban indigenous people who share knowledge about indigenous foodways with nonindigenous Han Chinese urbanites.
Surface Relaxation and Vibrational Excitations on the Si (001) 2 × 1 Surface

We present a realistic theoretical study of surface vibrational excitations for the 2 × 1 reconstructed Si (001) surface. The extensive reconstruction of this surface is found to localize a number of interesting surface modes. These include a band whose eigenvector consists of a rocking motion of surface dimers and an unanticipated optical mode localized in the first two subsurface layers. Using a tight-binding theory for structural energies, the model incorporates the effects of bond rehybridization at the surface.
Emerging social engineering in the wireless classroom

Code It! fosters mathematics learning environments where pre-algebra students use handheld technologies to confidently and enjoyably explore and learn about functions. The resources we developed---server-based and handheld software and paper-based student and teacher texts---were packaged as a 20-session unit on code making and breaking and designed to boost students' understanding of mathematical functions and their facility with the multiple representations of tables, graphs and symbols. We field tested the wireless system with two teachers and 120 middle school students during a five week summer school, and conducted studies on the features and function of the technology as a learning and teaching resource. We report on project development and research, focusing on what we learned about the strengths and difficulties of wireless handheld technology in the mathematic classroom, and the emerging social engineering that helped students overcome the technological constraints.
Recent Progress in Sol-Gel Science and Technology

In the past five years, significant progress has been made in both science and technology of materials derived from the sol-gel process. Some of these important advances are smmarized in this review. They include the scientific understanding of the behavior of the complex liquid solutions used in sol-gel reactions, the synthesis and properties of uniquely new organic-inorganic hybrid materials, the application of the sol-gel process to optics and the preparation of thin films, especially ferroelectric thin films.
Incidence of Endemic Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the United States.

Importance Leishmaniasis is recognized as an endemic human disease in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Yet despite case reports of endemic human leishmaniasis in the United States, and well-documented occurrences of disease in various animal vectors and reservoirs, the endemicity of leishmaniasis in North America has not yet been established. Moreover, leishmaniasis is not a federally reportable disease in the United States. Clinical awareness of endemic disease therefore remains low, with North American physicians considering leishmaniasis a tropical disease. Objective To assess the endemicity of human leishmaniasis in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional multicenter observational study reviewed cases of human leishmaniasis occurring in the United States from 2007 through 2017. Previously diagnosed, deidentified cases of leishmaniasis were reported by the institutions of the authors and acknowledged contributors, as well as the Texas Department of State Health Services. Cases of leishmaniasis were identified by searching by disease name (leishmaniasis) or International Classification of Diseases, 9th and 10th Revisions diagnosis codes in the respective laboratory information systems. Exposures Via examination of deidentified demographics, cases of leishmaniasis were classified as one of the following: (1) documentation of no history of travel outside of the United States within 10 years; (2) positive history of travel outside of the United States within 10 years; or (3) unknown or no documentation of travel history. Main Outcomes and Measures Cases of leishmaniasis were considered endemic if identified in patients with documentation of no travel history outside of the United States within 10 years. Results Of the 69 novel cases of human cutaneous leishmaniasis identified in this study, 41 (59%) were endemic; the median age at diagnosis was 61 years (range, 3-89 years), and 28 (68%) of the endemic cases occurred in female patients. Twenty-two (32%) cases had documentation of Leishmania speciation performed by polymerase chain reaction, and in 100% of these cases the infectious organism was identified as Leishmania mexicana. Conclusions and Relevance Human cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in the United States, and, at least regionally, is acquired endemically more frequently than it is via travel. Our data argue in favor of making leishmaniasis a federally reportable disease and may have substantial implications on North American public health initiatives, with climate models predicting the number of citizens exposed to leishmaniasis will double by 2080.
OTU-005 Targeting expanded gut homing effector T cell lineages in GI-GVHD: a new therapeutic paradigm

Introduction Acute graft versus host disease may affect the gastrointestinal track (aGI-GvHD) in up to 60% of haematopoetic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients who develop GvHD resulting in significant morbidity. Half of these patients will develop steroid refractory disease which is associated with high mortality (up to 90%) due to lack of safe and efficacious therapies. Here we test the hypothesis that the integrin α4β7/Madcam-1 pathway is clinically important in the pathogenesis of human aGI-GvHD. Methods Prospective experimental study, recruiting HSCT recipients with aGI-GvHD (n=10) and controls [IBD (n=36) and non-IBD controls (n=32)]. Samples collected included peripheral blood and distal colonic biopsies. The β7 +CD4+compartment was phenotyped with a multiparametric flow cytometry panel. MADCAM-1 and S100A8 (the calprotectin subunit, biomarker of intestinal damage) expression in the gut were tested with RT-PCR. Clinical data on aGI-GvHD patients treated with vedolizumab were prospectively collected. Results Within the effector memory population (CD3 +CD4+CD45RA-CD45RO+CCR7-) there was significant enrichment of β7 +effector memory cells in both inflammatory conditions (IBD: 24%±2.7, aGI-GvHD: 29%±6.5 vs. controls: 17%±1.1, both p Conclusions For the first time, we show that aGI-GvHD is associated with significant expansion of gut homing effector lineages, most notably Th1 and Th17 cells. Interestingly the ligand for the α4β7 integrin (Madcam-1) is also highly expressed in gut tissue from aGI-GvHD patients, supporting further the therapeutic targeting of this gut homing pathway. Our promising clinical data on vedolizumab use have the potential to change the landscape of treatment in this condition.
Spectral investigation of solar energy absorption and light transmittance in a water-filled prismatic glass louver

Abstract Water-filled prismatic glass louver was proposed to save energy consumptions in buildings because such innovative louvers can harvest solar energy as well as improve daylighting quality rather than “block” sunlight like traditional louvers. To enable this technology the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) energy harvest and visible (VIS) light transmittance was investigated via Monte Carlo simulations in this case study. The 7-band spectral model for glass and water was evaluated and adopted for several cases of solar spectra of different air mass (AM) coefficients with both direct and diffuse irradiation. Absorption and transmittance in different band regimes as well as in water and glass respectively were differentiated and compared. Practical solar data in Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Golden were utilized to demonstrate the performance of the proposed louver under different locations and realistic conditions. Results show that the device facing normally to direct sunlight can harvest around 51–54% of the total solar energy and transmit 74–76% VIS for daylighting in the range of AM1 to AM3. In particular for AM1.5, VIS transmittance reaches 76% for both direct and diffuse irradiation; UV absorption achieves 80% and 85% and IR absorption reaches 64% and 82% for diffuse and collimated irradiation, respectively. In all the three places tested, the device absorbs about 81% IR and 87% UV, and transmits about 76% VIS.
InfoSec Process Action Model (IPAM): Targeting Insiders' Weak Password Behavior

ABSTRACT The possibility of noncompliant behavior is a challenge for cybersecurity professionals and their auditors as they try to estimate residual control risk. Building on the recently proposed ...
The Fundamentals in Meteorology Inventory: Validation of a tool assessing basic meteorological conceptual understanding

The Fundamentals in Meteorology Inventory (FMI) concept inventory exam was recently developed to gauge understanding of fundamental meteorological concepts among introductory meteorology students. ...
Re-examining the innovation post-adoption process: The case of Twitter discontinuance

Abstract This study proposes a conceptual framework for innovation post-adoption behavior. The model emphasizes that innovation discontinuance is not the end of the innovation diffusion process but one of the stages. The post-adoption process is portrayed in a manner analogous to Rogers's innovation adoption process, but depending on the type of discontinuance—intermittent or permanent—the respective decision-making process could be quite different. For intermittent discontinuers, the movement through different stages is cyclical, involving multiple stages: pre-evaluation, evaluation, preparation, discontinuance, post-action, and readoption. To provide support for the applicability of this framework, this study compares the post-adoption behavior between Twitter intermittent discontinuers and permanent discontinuers (N = 253). Survey results show that permanent discontinuers are more likely to seek and try out alternative SNSs, whereas intermittent discontinuers are more likely to search for solutions to reduce disturbance. Also, this study argues that Twitter readoption could be a planned or unplanned action. However, this readoption is generally a temporary decision to fulfill short-term needs and gratifications. It does not generate continuance commitment and loyalty to the platform.
Red meat and processed red meat consumption behaviour of healthcare professionals: do they participate in the World Health Organization's view of red meat carcasses and red meat carcinogens?

Objective This study investigated the consumption behaviours of healthcare professionals in relation to red meat and processed red meat products. Design This study included a questionnaire conducted through face-to-face interviews with 149 health professionals. The purpose of the questionnaire was to determine the extent to which health professionals agreed with the WHO classification of red meat and processed red meat on their list of carcinogenic products. Setting This research was carried out in Izmir, which is Turkey's third largest city. The survey was conducted in 2016 by holding face to face interviews with forty-three specialist doctors, sixteen doctors, twelve dentists, sixty-four nurses and fourteen pharmacists. Subjects Nationally representative sample of healthcare professionals in Turkey. Results People educated in healthcare are especially cautious about the consumption of processed red meat products. The results of the research revealed the importance of processing and cooking patterns in red meat consumption preferences. Conclusions The consequences of the research, in terms of breaking down prejudices and overcoming the anxieties of those with health concerns who do not consume red meat, are important. In fact, the results show that healthcare professionals consume red meat, but they are more careful in their consumption of processed red meat products. This result is in line with the WHO report.
Live Tissue Video-Microscopy Of Different Vascular Beds In The Eye: A Microcosmosm Of Untouched Microcirculation

The eye offers the unique possibility of direct visualization of microvessels in readily accessible tissues. Due to the compact anatomy of the eye, different microvascular beds of different embryological origin can be examined in albino mice without traumatic tissue preparation, Epifluorescence microscopy in combination with different fluorescent dyes has been applied. To observe individual cells in vessels, rhodamine 6G can be used to stain leukocytes and platelets, and acridine orange stains nuclei of leukocytes and endothelial cells. Fluorescein-isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran labels plasma.Iris, limbus, conjunctival and choroidal vessels under normal and inflammatory conditions (endotoxin-induced uveitis) were examined in BALB/c mice and Lewis rats. Digital video technology can be applied to intravital microscopy with great benefit: video quality remains on a high level and the amount of time for the quantification procedure and the need of expensive software is reduced compared to classical video recording.
Microorganisms associated with incisional infections after gastrointestinal surgery in dogs and cats

Objective To determine the rate of incisional infections after gastrointestinal surgery in dogs and cats and describe the aerobic bacteria isolated from these infections. Study design Retrospective study. Animals Client-owned dogs (n = 210) and cats (n = 66). Methods Records of dogs and cats that underwent gastrointestinal surgery at the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania were reviewed for surgical procedures, presence of an infection, bacterial species isolated, perioperative antimicrobials administered, and outcome. Results The median duration of follow-up was 14 days (4-35). Incisional infections were recorded in 7% (20/276) of cases. Among those 20 cases, culture results were available in 12 of 20 cases. The most common bacterial isolate cultured was Escherichia coli. The most common perioperative antimicrobials administered to treat incisional infection were cefazolin and cefoxitin. Only two of the bacterial isolates were susceptible to these antimicrobials. Bacteria isolated from incisional infections were most often susceptible to chloramphenicol, imipenem, and gentamicin. Conclusion Bacterial isolates from incisional infections in this population consisted of native gastrointestinal flora, which was often resistant to the most commonly used perioperative antimicrobials. Clinical significance Contamination at time of surgery is the most likely source of incisional infection after gastrointestinal surgery. This rate of infection justifies more rigorous intraoperative hygiene protocols and evaluation of the antimicrobials' susceptibility of causative bacteria to guide antimicrobial treatment.
Pareto optimal design space exploration of cyber-physical systems

Abstract Cyber-physical systems (CPS) integrate a variety of engineering areas such as control, mechanical, and computer engineering in a holistic design effort. While interdependencies between the different disciplines are key attributes of CPS design science, little is known about the impact of design decisions of the cyber part on the overall performance qualities of the system. To investigate these dependencies, this paper proposes a simulation-based Design Space Exploration (DSE) framework that considers detailed cyber system parameters such as cache size, bus width, and voltage levels in addition to physical and control parameters of the CPS. We propose a DSE algorithm that explores the parameter configurations of the cyber-physical sub-system in order to approximate the Pareto-optimal design points with respect to design objectives such as energy consumption and control stability. For validation, we have successfully applied the proposed framework to an inverted-pendulum application. Here, our holistic evaluation of the Pareto-optimal points reveals the presence of non-trivial trade-offs that are imposed by the control, physical, and detailed cyber parameters. For instance, the identified energy and control optimal design points comprise configurations with a wide range of CPU speeds, sampling rates, and cache configurations following non-trivial zigzag patterns. The proposed framework could identify and manage these trade-offs and, as a result, is an imperative first step to automate the search for superior cyber-physical system configurations.
Langevin monte carlo rendering with gradient-based adaptation

We introduce a suite of Langevin Monte Carlo algorithms for efficient photorealistic rendering of scenes with complex light transport effects, such as caustics, interreflections, and occlusions. Our algorithms operate in primary sample space, and use the Metropolis-adjusted Langevin algorithm (MALA) to generate new samples. Drawing inspiration from state-of-the-art stochastic gradient descent procedures, we combine MALA with adaptive preconditioning and momentum schemes that re-use previously-computed first-order gradients, either in an online or in a cache-driven fashion. This combination allows MALA to adapt to the local geometry of the primary sample space, without the computational overhead associated with previous Hessian-based adaptation algorithms. We use the theory of controlled Markov chain Monte Carlo to ensure that these combinations remain ergodic, and are therefore suitable for unbiased Monte Carlo rendering. Through extensive experiments, we show that our algorithms, MALA with online and cache-driven adaptation, can successfully handle complex light transport in a large variety of scenes, leading to improved performance (on average more than 3× variance reduction at equal time, and 7× for motion blur) compared to state-of-the-art Markov chain Monte Carlo rendering algorithms.
Abstract 15723: Risk Factors of Fluoropyrimidine Induced Cardiotoxicity Among Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Introduction: Cancer patients are at increased risk of experiencing cardiotoxicity during their fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. However, risk factors for fluoropyrimidine-induced cardiotoxicit...
The Role of Perceived Utilitarian and Hedonic Value in Predicting Use of Location-Based Anonymous Social Networking Sites

Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the popularity of location-based anonymous social networking sites (LB-ASNS). Although anonymity and site specificity have been reported to be the major attractions of these platforms, there exists a severe paucity of studies that have investigated the adoption behavior of LB-ASNS using the Technology Acceptance Model as the primary theoretical framework. The goal of this study is to utilize an extended version of TAM to explain the actual use of LB-ASNS. We demonstrate the applicability of TAM in the realm of LB-ASNS. Our results suggest that the quality and enjoyment afforded by these platforms are major predictors of actual use.
When More is Still Not Enough: A Case of Ceftazidime-Avibactam Resistance in a Burn Patient.

Burn patients have numerous risk factors for multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) and altered pharmacokinetics, which both independently increase the risk of treatment failure. Data on appropriate antimicrobial dosing are limited in this population and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for beta-lactams is impractical at most facilities. 1-3 Technology is available that can detect genetic markers of resistance, but they are not all encompassing, and often require specialized facilities that can detect less common genetic markers. 4-5 Newer antimicrobials can help combat MDROs, but additional resistance patterns may evolve during treatment. Considering drug shortages and antimicrobial formularies, clinicians must remain vigilant when treating infections. This case report describes the development of resistance to ceftazidime-avibactam in a burn patient. The patient was a 54- year-old burn victim with a 58% total body surface area (TBSA) thermal burn who underwent multiple courses of antibiotics for various Pseudomonal infections. The initial Pseudomonal wound infection was sensitive to cefepime, aminoglycosides, and meropenem. A subsequent resistant pseudomonal pneumonia was treated with ceftazidime-avibactam 2.5 grams every 6 hours due to the elevated MIC to cefepime (16mcg/mL) and meropenem (>8mcg/mL). Although, the patient improved over 7 days, the patient again spiked fevers and had increased white blood counts (WBC). Repeat blood cultures demonstrated a multidrug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to ceftazidime-avibactam of 16mcg/mL, which is above the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoint of 8mcg/mL. At first, resistance was thought to have occurred due to inadequate dosing, but genetic work demonstrated multiple genes encoding beta-lactamases.
Study protocol and rationale for a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of solriamfetol to treat binge eating disorder

Abstract Introduction Binge eating disorder (BED) is an important public health problem associated with severe psychosocial and medical consequences for which treatment options are limited. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the novel dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (DNRI) solriamfetol in the treatment of BED. Methods This study is a 12-week, randomized (1:1 ratio), placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group, 2-arm clinical trial of solriamfetol in 64 outpatients with BED. The primary outcome is binge-eating day frequency as assessed by take-home patient-completed binge eating diaries. Secondary outcomes include binge-eating episode frequency and scores on The Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Binge Eating (YBOCS-BE) and Clinical Global Severity (CGI S) scale. Discussion To our knowledge this is the first randomized, double-blind protocol investigating the safety and efficacy of solriamfetol in BED. We highlight the background and rationale for this study, including a discussion on using DNRIs in BED. Trial registration This study was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov , identifier NCT04602936 , on Oct 26, 2020 https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04602936 .
The Aerodynamic Forces on a Slender Low (or High) Wing, Circular Body, Vertical Tail Configuration

UTILIZING THE techniques outlined in references 1 and 2, it is a fairly simple matter to determine the aerodynamic lift, pitching moment, side force, and yawing moments due to angle of attack, pitching angular velocity, sideslip, yawing angular velocity, and the rates of change of these quantities for the slender configuration shown in Fig. 1. I t is more tedious but none the less straightforward to find the above-mentioned forces and moments due to rolling angular velocity and its rate of change as well as the rolling moment due to all the previously mentioned motions. The only requirement is that one find the conformal mapping of the cross section of the configuration (see Fig. 2) onto a circle with no distortion at infinity. If we call the crosssection plane the z plane and the circle plane the f plane, this conformal mapping is given by:
Truly Frugal Pet: Is It Possible?

A pivotal issue in this post-election year concerns the containment of health care costs, currently absorbing about 14% of the GDP. This is clearly an inopportune time to promote a diagnostic technique at a seemingly staggering cost, for widespread public acceptance. This note addresses the question: must PET always be “big science”? (1) Our conclusion is simple: it needn’t be. With a realistic institutional self-perception, a hospital can chart a sensible course to contain the capital outlays and operating expenses for the in-house cyclotron, scanner and the oft-forgotten radiochemical facility that bridges production and the user. Only a few years ago, the target was to provide a $2 million PET center. Today, most new installations are requesting $5–10 million to start up from scratch, with promise of a three-year forgiveness before coming up to clinical speed. Staffing, service contracts and equipment amortization drive up the PET center’s operating budget toward a million dollars a year, necessitating thousands of thousand dollar scans per year to break even. No PET center in the world has even remotely approached this performance.
Physiologic Considerations in the Surgery of Infants

THE physiologic responses to surgical situations encountered in infancy and early childhood differ from those expected in adult patients. As the age of a child increases, his physiology approaches that of an adult and conversely the younger (or at times the smaller) the pediatric patient, the greater is his variation in physiologic response. The differences are not solely quantitative, and many deviations from the expected are encountered when the sick infant is treated like a miniature adult.
Changes in strawberry volatile sulfur compounds due to genotype, fruit maturity and sample preparation

Nineteen volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), including ten thioesters and eight alkyl sulfides, were quantified using solid phase microextraction–gas chromatography–pulsed flame photometric detection in 12 Florida strawberry cultivars. The major headspace VSCs in all 12 cultivars were methanethiol and methyl thioacetate, together comprising 77–95% of the total VSCs. Concentrations for the 13 major strawberry VSCs were determined at five maturity stages. Pureed fruit produced 10–20 times more headspace volatiles than did intact berries. The relative distribution between total alkyl sulfides and total thioesters was similar from both sample preparation methods but the relative distribution of individual sulfides, especially alkyl sulfides, was appreciably different. VSCs found in the highest concentrations from intact fruit included methanethiol, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. In pureed fruit, highest VSCs included hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and methional. The comparison of concentrations with odour threshold in water suggests that methanethiol was the predominant aroma active VSC at all maturity stages. Total volatile sulfurs (y) increased dramatically during the final two maturity stages (x = 3,4) as described by y = 92.929x2 − 111.41x + 28.457 (R2 = 0.996). ‘Strawberry Festival’ and ‘Florida Radiance’ were distinguished from 10 other cultivars in principal component analysis (PCA) score plots, primarily due to high thioester concentrations. ‘Dover’, ‘Rosa Linda’ and ‘Florida Belle’ were the oldest cultivars and formed a distinct group in the PCA score plot characterized by relatively high sulfide and low thioester concentrations. Relative VSC composition appears to be a genetically controlled trait. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Studies on the characterization of the sodium-potassium transport adenosinetriphosphatase. IV. Properties of a lubrol-solubilized beef brain microsomal enzyme.

Abstract Lubrol extracts containing (Na + K)-activated adenosine triphosphatase of high specific activity could be prepared from NaI-treated beef-brain microsomes. In the presence of 20 m m imidazole buffer (pH 6.0), 2.5 m m Na 2 ATP, 40 m m NaCl, and 6% Lubrol the enzyme retained about 80% of its initial activity after 5 days' storage at 5 °. Gel chromatography of Lubrol extracts on 6% agarose columns not containing Lubrol gave a single peak of (Na + K)-activated adenosine triphosphatase with an apparent molecular weight of 670,000, which is identical to that previously found for the enzyme in Lubrol extracts of guinea pig microsomes. The fact that the same apparent molecular weight was obtained when the enzyme was prepared from brains from different species and by different methods lends support to the view that the 670,000 molecular weight component is a true molecular species. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation partially separated the (Na + K) -activated adenosine triphosphatase from the ouabain-insensitive adenosine triphosphatase, the unbound Lubrol, and other protein. At equilibrium the (Na + K)-activated adenosine triphosphatase peak gave a density of 1.05, which is intermediate between that of the α- and β-lipoproteins of serum. The Na-K ATPase could be separated from half to two-thirds of the non-Na-K ATPase protein by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. It is concluded that the (Na + K)-activated adenosine triphosphatase is a lipoprotein which can be solubilized and separated from other protein in the membrane and from unbound solubilizing detergent.
Variational calculations on the binding energy of the alpha particle (I): Hard-core potentials

Abstract The upper bound and the lower bound for the energy of the alpha particle are calculated. The two-body interaction used is a central, static potential with hard core which describes the low-energy scattering data and yields the experimental p-p 1S0 phase shifts up to around 300 MeV. Numerical integrations are carried out by a Monte-Carlo method. The effect of using different forms of variational wave functions is investigated. The results obtained are −29.3 MeV for the upper bound and −83.8 MeV for the lower bound.
Primal and dual DEA measures of capacity utilization

Summary form only given as follows. This paper extends earlier work on specification of output capacity and utilization in an output oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework (which we refer to as primal approach) to what we call a dual approach, which introduces input prices and cost. This provides a link to the traditional measures of capacity in the economics literature based on cost functions. This also provides several alternative DEA options for applied work.