cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Retrospective comparison of thromboelastography results to postmortem evidence of thrombosis in critically ill dogs: 39 cases (2005–2010)

Objective To determine whether there is an association between thromboelastography (TEG) data and necropsy evidence of thrombosis in a cohort of critically ill dogs. Design Retrospective study (2005–2010). Setting University teaching hospital. Animals Thirty-nine client-owned critically ill dogs for which TEG was performed within 7 days of complete necropsy. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Thrombi were found in 26 (67%) dogs. Spayed females (n = 20) were significantly more likely to have thrombosis (P = 0.0127). No significant association was found between presence of thrombosis and any TEG parameter, the calculated coagulation index, results of coagulation testing, type of vascular access, or clinical diagnosis. D-dimers were significantly higher in dogs with thrombosis (P = 0.0207) and a weak positive correlation was found between D-dimer value and number of sites of thrombosis (ρ = 0.18, P = 0.0045). Dogs with WBC > 16 × 103/μL were more likely to have thrombosis compared to others (odds ratio 5.56, 95% confidence interval 1.2–25.7, P = 0.025). Conclusions This study found no association between any TEG parameter and the presence of thrombosis on postmortem examination.
Palladium-Catalyzed Conjugate Addition of Arylboronic Acids to β,β-Disubstituted Enones in Aqueous Media: Formation of Bis-benzylic and ortho-Substituted Benzylic Quaternary Centers

Palladium-catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to β,β-disubstituted enones in aqueous media is reported. Additions of a wide range of arylboronic acids to β,β-disubstituted enones occur to form ketone products bearing benzylic all-carbon quaternary centers. These reactions are promoted by a simple catalyst prepared from palladium trifluoracetate and 2,2′-bipyridine. The use of aqueous sodium trifluoracetate as the reaction medium significantly enhances reactivity and enables the formation of challenging bis-benzylic and ortho-substituted benzylic all-carbon quaternary centers.
Are Automobile Purchasers Dissonant Consumers

Are there really “dissonant consumers”—that is, consumers beset with doubt after a purchase that they have made the correct choice?The author examines this question, using the findings of his study...
Growth in the Global Institutional Asset Management Industry: Structure, Conduct, Performance

This article examines the industrial organization and institutional development of the global asset management industry. It identifies the key components of the “buy side” of financial markets in terms of its four principal domains: pension funds, mutual funds, discretionary alternative assets, and insurance companies. It points out that various kinds of financial firms have emerged to perform asset management functions: commercial banks, savings banks, postal savings institutions, savings cooperatives, credit unions, securities firms (full-service firms and various kinds of specialists), insurance companies, finance companies, finance subsidiaries of industrial companies, mutual fund companies, hedge fund financial advisers, and various others. Members of each strategic group compete with each other, as well as with members of other strategic groups. The article addresses two key questions. First, what determines competitive advantage in operating distribution gateways to the end investor? Second, what determines competitive advantage in the asset management process itself?
To Carlos on his sixtieth birthday: greetings from your friends in Iowa.

It is hard, now, to imagine a time when our math department's graduate program had no minority students. The diversity of our program has become so familiar to us that when, this spring and summer, seven of our minority students earned their doctoral degree it was hardly commented on. Indeed it was only when we began to miss these students -- students who were like family to us -- that the reality of this singular achievement manifested itself to us. Yet there was indeed a time when there were no minority graduate students in mathematics at the University of Iowa. In fact, only two minority students earned their doctoral degrees from our department from1974, when I joined the department, to 1998. And it is no exaggeration at all to state that, without the trust and support of Carlos Castillo-Chavez, it is unlikely that the transformation of our graduate program that took place over the past fifteen years would have occurred. For more information please click the “Full Text” above.
The Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study: Theory-Informed Recruitment in an African American Population

Recruitment for large cohort studies is typically challenging, particularly when the pool of potential participants is limited to the descendants of individuals enrolled in a larger, longitudinal “parent” study. The increasing complexity of family structures and dynamics can present challenges for recruitment in offspring. Few best practices exist to guide effective and efficient empirical approaches to participant recruitment. Social and behavioral theories can provide insight into social and cultural contexts influencing individual decision-making and facilitate the development strategies for effective diffusion and marketing of an offspring cohort study. The purpose of this study was to describe the theory-informed recruitment approaches employed by the Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study (JHKS), a prospective offspring feasibility study of 200 African American children and grandchildren of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS)—the largest prospective cohort study examining cardiovascular disease among African American adults. Participant recruitment in the JHKS was founded on concepts from three theoretical perspectives—the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Strength of Weak Ties, and Marketing Theory. Tailored recruitment strategies grounded in participatory strategies allowed us to exceed enrollment goals for JHKS Pilot Study and develop a framework for a statewide study of African American adolescents.
Study on the risk factors of sports injuries among primary and secondary school students in Lianping county,Guangdong province

Objective To explore risk factors of sports injury among primary and secondary school students.Methods Cluster sampling method was used to select 4 middle schools(junior grade 1 and 2,senior grade 1 and 2),16 primary schools(grade 3 to 6) in Lianping county.Sports injury and related risk behaviors were surveyed during July 2005 to June 2006.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression method was applied to analyze their relationship.Results The occurrence rate of sports injury was 21.45% among 9 470 surveyed students.Male,29.23%(1 404/4 804) was higher than female,13.44%(627/4 666).Primary school,junior and senior middle school students were 19.98%、18.98% and 25.60% respectively.Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested old age(OR=1.059),extroverted character(OR=1.265),high education level of father(OR=1.133),sharp articles in pockets(OR=1.349),doing rolling sports on hard floor(OR=1.314),chasing and making a fun in corridor(OR=1.210) or playground(OR=1.267),speeling and playing with classmates(OR=1.475)were risk factors of sports injury in primary and middle school students.Girl was the protective factor(OR=0.326).Conclusions Individual behaviors were the main risk factors of sports injuries among primary and middle school students and needed safety education and behavior intervention.
Morphometric Measurement of Tumor Volume and Per Cent of Gland Involvement as Predictors of Pathological Stage in Clinical Stage B Prostate Cancer

Although tumor volume is an important factor in predicting prognosis in carcinoma of the prostate, direct and accurate estimation of tumor volume is not practical clinically at present because the tumor may not always be palpable (stage A) and when palpable it is difficult to estimate volume in 3 dimensions. For this reason the clinical staging of prostate cancer currently is based on estimations of the per cent of gland involved with tumor: in stage A by per cent of tissue involved with cancer and in stage B by digital palpation (less than 1 lobe, 1 lobe and 2 lobes). In stage A prostate cancer the per cent of the specimen involved with tumor and the volume of tumor have been shown to correlate with tumor progression. Our study was designed to determine if either or both of these morphometric factors would be good predictors of pathological stage in stage B prostate cancer. We analyzed 56 step-sectioned radical prostatectomy specimens: 28 without capsular penetration, 15 with capsular penetration only and 13 with seminal vesicle involvement. The per cent of gland involved with tumor (correlation coefficient 0.67, p less than 0.001) and tumor volume (correlation coefficient 0.55, p less than 0.001) correlated well with pathological stage. Stepwise linear regression showed that the combination of the per cent of gland involved with tumor and the total Gleason grade was statistically the best predictor of pathological stage.
Angiotensin II decreases inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in rat astroglial cultures

Consistent with stimulation of expression of an inducible form of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), exposure of rat astroglial cultures to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) caused a time-dependent increase in the accumulation of nitrite in the culture media. Addition of the peptide angiotensin II (ANG II) with LPS decreased subsequent formation of nitrite in a concentration-dependent manner (concentration inhibiting 50% of maximal response approximately 1 nM). The ANG II effect could be blocked by the ANG II type 1 (AT1 receptor antagonist losartan but not by the ANG II type 2 (AT2) receptor antagonist PD-123177. ANG II had no effect on nitrite formation stimulated by a combination of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interferon-gamma). A brief 10-min exposure to ANG II was sufficient to cause an approximately 30% inhibition of the LPS response, with maximal inhibition of approximately 65% after 3 h, and occurred only when ANG II was added during the iNOS induction phase. Consistent with partial inhibition of LPS-stimulated expression of iNOS, ANG II reduced the levels of both iNOS mRNA and iNOS protein. These results demonstrate that ANG II can decrease LPS-stimulated NO production in astroglia by inhibiting induction of iNOS expression.
A Mixed Case

Two rather different types of multitransition solutions were studied in Chaps. 6–10: those lying between a given gap pair v0 < w0 and those that have the monotonicity property.\(u < \tau^1_{\_1} u\) and cross gaps. The goal of this section is to combine these two cases. Thus we seek solutions of (PDE) that are heteroclinics or homoclinics as a function of x1, lie in prescribed gaps for x1 near \(\pm \infty\),and undergo a prescribed number of transitions between a given set of gap pairs. Roughly speaking, such solutions can be obtained by concatenating those of Chapters 6–10. Different kinds of results are possible depending on how precisely one seeks to shadow the states that are glued together.
Sensitivity of Turkish Income Distributions to Choice of Equivalence Scale

Income surveys are typically designed to collect income data on the household level. In order to obtain reliable outcomes from income distribution and inequality analysis, it is of crucial importance to consider households’ composition and varying needs. Relying on data from Turkey’s 2009-2011 Income and Living Conditions Survey (SILC), this paper examines the GE class inequality indices and Gini coefficient in terms of their sensitivity to choice of equivalence scales. It uses both one-parameter and two-parameter parametric equivalence scales to capture the effects of household size and decomposition. Following Coulter et al. (1992a), this study tests the sensitivity of the inequality indices by calculating a wide range of scale relativities and decomposing the distribution into sub-groups of household sizes. Topics in Middle Eastern and African Economies Vol. 17, Issue No. 1, May 2015
The effects of the 1995/1996 Western Atlantic coral bleaching event on the patch reefs around San Salvador Island, Bahamas

In October 1995, a mass bleaching event was reported in the Western Atlantic, including areas such as Belize, where little bleaching damage had been recorded previously. Reports based on remote sensing data suggest­ ed that sea temperatures in the region were warmer than normal during early October. In November, a monitoring team found that bleaching was well above background levels on the patch reefs around San Salvador Island, Bahamas, a location well out of the main influences of the wider Caribbean. These San Salvador patch reefs have been studied in a long-term monitoring project since 1991. The team found that the overall bleaching level in November was 14% of all coral colonies counted on the three monitored reefs. Bleaching affected the various coral species differently. Agaricia sp. were the most affected, as measured both by the number of colonies affected and by the total coral sur­face area bleached; however, Agaracia was not the most abundant species on any of the sampled reefs. Of those corals colonies affected, the percent of surface area bleached.differed from reef to reef. On Lindsay's Reef, an average of 42.2% of the surface area of the bleached corals was affected, while at Rice Bay, the average was 31.3%, and at French Bay, the average was 15.2%. Sea temperatures taken at each reef during the census were normal for this lime period. Seven corals were marked and photographed at Lindsay's Reef for future analysis. In addition, samples of the surface mucopolysaccharide layer (SML) from bleached and non-bleached Agaricia sp. were taken for microbiolog­ical analysis. The survey and microbiological sampling were repeated in February. One of the marked coral colonies had 100% of its surface bleached in November; by February, it was well on the way lo complete recovery. Metabolic comparisons of bacteria from the SMLs showed that the normal microbiota, which had changed during bleaching, returned to a normal distribution in recovery. The February 1996 census showed that bleaching patterns had remained the same, but that the extent and severity of the bleaching had returned 10 background levels. Sea temperatures at this time were almost 1°C below normal for the time period. By July of 1996, most corals affected by the bleaching event had recovered, with the number damaged or dead representing <1% of the total hard coral cover on these reefs. While ihe extent of this bleaching event was significant, the long-term impact was negligible.
Secular changes in physical growth and obesity among southwestern American Indian children over four decades.

SummaryBackground and Objectives Most studies describing childhood obesity in the United States are based on cross-sectional surveys and do not include substantial numbers of American Indians (AI). Secular trends in height and weight reflect general health status. This study describes weight trends and transitions among AI children over a 43-year period. Methods Anthropometric data were obtained from a prospective study conducted in a southwestern US AI population (1965 through 2007). For cross-sectional analysis, 12 377 observations were available from 6529 children across four birth cohorts (1955–1964, 1965–1974, 1975–1984, 1985–1994). Participants were stratified into three age groups: pre- (5–9 years), early (10–13) and late (14–17) adolescence. Longitudinal analyses included 1737 children with one exam in each age group. Results In early and late adolescence, weight increased across birth cohorts. Prevalence of obesity among pre-adolescents was 17.5% (95% CI, 15.1%–19.9%) in the 1955–1964 cohort and 33.7% (95% CI, 30.1%–36.4%) in the 1985–1994 cohort. 74% of children overweight in pre-adolescence in the 1985–1994 cohort became obese by late adolescence; in the 1955–1964 cohort, only 43% made this transition. Conclusions This study describes the rising prevalence of childhood obesity. Children obese in pre-adolescence remained obese in late adolescence, stressing the need for early intervention.
Triterpenoid Methyl-CDDO Is a Potent Inducer of Apoptosis in CD34 + AML Progenitor Cells Via Activation of SAPK Pathways and Inhibition of MAPK Cascades.

Outcome results in AML are a continued challenge for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. C-28 methyl ester of 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolen-1,9-dien-28-oic acid, CDDO-Me, a novel triterpenoid, induces apoptosis in myeloid and lymphoid leukemic cell lines and in primary AML samples in sub-micromolar concentrations. We reported previously that CDDO-Me inhibits the activation of ERK1/2, blocks Bcl-2 phosphorylation, and promoted apoptosis in AML-derived U937 cells (Blood 2002, 99(1):326–35). Here, we examined the effects of CDDO-Me on CD34 + AML progenitor cells in vitro . Exposure to 1μM CDDO-Me induced apoptosis in all but one AML sample (46±4% annexin(+) CD34 + cells, n=20). To assess the anti-leukemia activity of CDDO-Me in vivo , scid mice intravenously injected with U937 cells were treated with liposomally-delivered CDDO-Me (20mg/kg/day IV every other day, starting at day 7, for a total of 9 injections). While CDDO-Me was not toxic to the mice, pathological and flow cytometry analysis revealed reduced (55–86%) leukemia burden in the bone marrow, liver, and spleen of mice. Since we had shown that CDDO-Me inhibits phosphorylation of pERK in U937 cells, a further goal of this study was to assess the role of ERK in CDDO-Me-induced cell death in primary AML samples. ERK was expressed and phosphorylated in all (n=15) patients’ samples studied. CDDO-Me inhibited ERK phosphorylation in 9 of 15 patient samples and promoted apoptosis. However, CDDO-Me still induced apoptosis in 5/6 samples that displayed no significant changes in pERK levels in response to the drug. This finding suggests that ERK is not the sole target of the compound. The stress-activated protein kinases JNK and p38 are related to ERK but in general activate pathways that are opposed to ERK. By Western blot analysis, CDDO-Me induced early (30 min) phosphorylation of JNK and p38, which preceded induction of cell death. Pre-treatment of U937 cells with JNK and p38 inhibitors SP600125 and SB203580 partially abrogated induction of apoptosis, while MEK inhibitor PD-98059 significantly enhanced cytotoxicity. CDDO-Me induced p38 phosphorylation in 5 of 6 primary AML samples tested. Collectively, these finding indicate that CDDO-Me markedly shifts signaling toward the JNK and p38 MAPK stress-related pathways and away from the cytoprotective MAPK cascade. In summary, the triterpenoid CDDO-Me is a potent inducer of apoptosis in primary AML including CD34 + AML progenitor cells. Induction of apoptosis is in part mediated via inhibition of ERK signaling combined with JNK/p38 activation. These studies in primary AML samples and the anti-leukemia activity of the compound in vivo suggest potential utility of CDDO-Me for the treatment of AML patients.
THE EVOLUTION OF PARASITOID RELATIONSHIPS IN MALACOPHAGOUS DIPTERA, ESPECIALLY THE SCIOMYZIDAE

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the evolution of parasitoid relationships in Malacophagous diptera, especially the sciomyzidae. More than half of the 143 species reared by a research group at Cornell University are Tetanocerinae having aquatic, predatory larvae. The larvae kill quickly and remain in each snail shell only long enough to satisfy their immediate hunger. When they again get hungry, they kill another snail. Each larva commonly destroys more than a dozen snails during the course of its development. Contrasting with the quick-killing, aquatic predators, the terrestrial parasitoid Sciomyzinae feed on a snail for more than a week before killing it. Larvae of the most highly specialized species obtain all of their food from a single individual, and apparently kill all other larvae that try to feed on the same snail. A newly hatched larva enters the shell to which its egg is attached and remains there throughout both larval and pupal stages.
Man or Monster? The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer

In The Drowned and the Saved Primo Levi (1988 , 69) warned the reader that mass violence does not lead to closure, for we too are so dazzled by power and prestige to forget our essential fragility ...
Transformative Leadership in School Counseling: An Emerging Paradigm for Equity and Excellence

Transformative leadership is a leadership paradigm that addresses the need for systemic, equitable change in education. We propose eight tenets within this paradigm that support equity, inclusion, ...
The Use of Microknives in Brain Lesion Studies and the Production of Isolated Brain-stem Islands

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of microknives in brain lesion studies and the production of isolated brain-stem islands. With most lesion techniques, the only lesion that can be produced is a spherical one of controllable diameter—usually including some uncontrollable offshoots up along the shaft of the lesioning electrode or cryoprobe and along the paths of maximal electrical or thermal conductance—or, in the case of suction lesions, a more massive chunk of brain tissue of the desired shape. Such lesions are, in general, highly reproducible, and the study of the brain and behavior following them has proven fruitful. A crucial step in the analysis of brain function using the lesion method is to determine what fibers carry the functionally important inputs to and outputs from the localized region. Rather than destroying the crucial region, one methodically destroys the different fiber tracts coming from the crucial region to further define the circuitry involved and perhaps further fractionate the syndrome. It is at this stage that microknives seem most useful. By making a thin section in the plane perpendicular to a nerve tract, one can sever the bundle with minimal (but perhaps not negligible) cellular destruction. Each of the important connections of a brain structure can be systematically destroyed and the resulting changes noted. If this type of study is to be performed convincingly, a considerable amount of forethought must precede the actual lesioning. Revolving microknives can also be used to produce the islands of neurally isolated tissue. This technique of isolating the islands of neural tissue can serve two masters. On the one hand, it allows the determination of the capabilities still present in the remaining brain to organize and act upon various physiological challenges and sensory inputs after the circumsected tissue is removed.
Experimental and empirical approaches in the study of aging

Two approaches to the study of aging are contrasted. The results and implications of the gene-by-gene, hypothetico-deductive molecular genetic approach are compared with studies engendered by uniqueempirical findings. The former hypothesis-testingapproach examines the changing phenotype that resultsfrom alterations of the genome and measures therelevance of a gene by the effectiveness with which italters life-span. Investigations of empiricaldemographic and physiological puzzles that have cometo light in aging studies, examine these phenomena forthe broader understanding they bring rather than theknowledge of specific causative genetic elements.While the former hypothesis testing method requirescaution in interpretation of results and conclusions,it has been highly informative. Studies ofempirical phenomena have necessarily progressed moreslowly, but have also yielded substantial gains. Both approaches have advanced the understanding ofthe aging process from distinctly different butcomplementary viewpoints.
CHANNELING OF INTERMEDIATES DURING THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF CYANOGENIC GLYCOSIDES

The enzymes in sorghum seedlings which catalyze all except the last step in the biosynthesis of dhurrin are contained in a membrane-bound (microsomal) fraction. Four lines of evidence suggest that these microsomal enzymes may be arranged as a complex which efficiently channels the flow of carbon from L-tyrosine into dhurrin. First, the membrane preparation catalyzes the multi-step conversion of L-tyrosine to p-hydroxymandelonitrile. Second, each individual step of the reaction sequence can be demonstrated but the conditions necessary for this demonstration vary. Third, kinetic analysis shows that the particles preferentially utilize tyrosine and p-hydroxyphenylacetaldoxime (aldoxime) instead of p-hydroxyphenylacetonitrile (nitrile), a late intermediate, in the reaction sequence. Four, 3 H-aldoxime and 3 H-nitrile produced from 3 H-tyrosine by the membrane-bound biosynthetic enzymes do not readily equilibrate with 14 C-aldoxime or 14 C-nitrile incubated simultaneously with the particles, but instead are preferentially converted to 3 H-p-hydroxymandelonitrile.
Identifying MicroRNA Regulators of Cell Death in Drosophila

Animal genomes contain on the order of at least hundreds of microRNAs (miRNAs). Although most remain uncharacterized, it is already clear that miRNAs regulate many biological processes. A number of Drosophila miRNAs have been identified as likely cell death regulators, but functions for most have simply not been explored. Here we describe a protocol for identifying miRNAs that can act as cell death regulators. We also describe a simple protocol for testing roles for mRNAs identified as candidate miRNA targets using computational or other approaches.
Gas Absorption by Vacuum Evaporated Magnetic Films

Mass spectrometric determinations have been made of the types and amounts of gases absorbed during the deposition of vacuum evaporated magnetic thin films. Films were evaporated under varying conditions which included: from 10-4to 10-6 mm Hg pressure, with and without liquid nitrogen trapping, with either oil or mercury diffusion pumping and various deposition rates. Analyses have been made of gas samples collected by outgassing the source material, outgassing the evaporated films, and by sampling the bell jar atmosphere during the evaporation. It will be shown that the gas absorbed in the films is much greater than that present in the starting charges and is due to dissociation of vapors backstreaming from the oil diffusion pump. The experimental apparatus and techniques employed for this gas analysis study are described.
A study of mature alpha-DC-1 vaccine to induce immune responses in ovarian cancer.

e14033 Background: Ovarian cancer (OvCa) is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and relapse is common despite current treatments. The number of circulating CD4+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) correl...
Diderot’s Letter on the Blind as Disability Political Theory:

This essay considers Denis Diderot’s Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those Who Can See as a work that can contribute to a disability political theory. By recounting the experiences of visually i...
Learning to Generate Synthetic 3D Training Data through Hybrid Gradient

Synthetic images rendered by graphics engines are a promising source for training deep networks. However, it is challenging to ensure that they can help train a network to perform well on real images, because a graphics-based generation pipeline requires numerous design decisions such as the selection of 3D shapes and the placement of the camera. In this work, we propose a new method that optimizes the generation of 3D training data based on what we call "hybrid gradient". We parametrize the design decisions as a real vector, and combine the approximate gradient and the analytical gradient to obtain the hybrid gradient of the network performance with respect to this vector. We evaluate our approach on the task of estimating surface normal, depth or intrinsic decomposition from a single image. Experiments on standard benchmarks show that our approach can outperform the prior state of the art on optimizing the generation of 3D training data, particularly in terms of computational efficiency.
Prenatal Dilated Rectum: Do We Need to Worry?

Abstract Background Advances in prenatal imaging is increasing detection of abnormally dilated bowel. There is no literature to date defining the criteria for a dilated rectum or its association with postnatal pathology. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical significance of a prenatally identified dilated rectum. Methods A retrospective review was performed of all cases of “dilated bowel” on prenatal ultrasound between January 2000 and December 2017 at a single institution. We excluded ventral wall defects from review and sought to include only cases of a prominent or dilated rectum. Collected data included prenatal bowel measurements, postnatal diagnoses, need for surgical intervention, and outcomes. Descriptive statistics were applied. Results One hundred and ninety-three cases of prenatal “dilated bowel” were identified in which 12 (6.2%) had specifically visualized a prominent or dilated rectum. Nine of these (75.0%) had no rectal or intestinal abnormality on postnatal evaluation and were discharged feeding and defecating normally. The remaining three cases exhibited clinical pathology necessitating additional management: (1) meconium plug, (2) jejunal atresia with cecal perforation, and (3) rectal perforation with retroperitoneal abscess. All three had rectal biopsies with identification of ganglionated submucosa. Conclusions Although a prenatal dilated rectum is a normal variant in the vast majority of cases, it may be associated with a gastrointestinal abnormality requiring surgical intervention. Interestingly, there were no cases of Hirschsprung's disease or anorectal malformations in this cohort. These results, in conjunction with continued efforts to identify and define rectal dilation, are useful for prenatal counseling and postnatal evaluation.
Hyperechoic malignancies of the breast: Underlying pathologic features correlating with this unusual appearance on ultrasound.

Hyperechogenicity in the breast on ultrasound (US) is usually regarded as a benign feature with only rare hyperechoic malignancies reported to date. In this study, we evaluated the pathologic findings on core needle biopsy of hyperechoic lesions and investigated the histologic features in malignancies that give rise to an echogenic pattern. A total of 163 core needle biopsies (CNB) were performed for "hyperechoic" or "echogenic" lesions between 1/1/05 and 7/31/17. Lesions were classified based on the proportion of hyperechoic areas identified. We found that all lesions with a homogenous hyperechoic pattern (>90% hyperechoic) were benign (n = 17), regardless of the type of margins. Malignancies were found in 21% (7/34, six invasive carcinomas and one lymphoma) of heterogenous lesions with ≥50% hyperechoic areas (all with noncircumscribed margins) and in 31% of lesions with <50% hyperechoic areas (19/61, 14 invasive carcinomas, two lymphomas, and three metastases), including five with circumscribed margins (one invasive carcinoma, one lymphoma, and three metastases). Two major US patterns were identified in malignant lesions, those with a hypoechoic center and hyperechoic rim, corresponding to a central tumor area with dense stroma and tumor cells infiltrating adipose tissue at the periphery ("rim pattern"), and a second "dispersed pattern" with hyperechoic areas distributed throughout the lesion. Hyperechoic malignancies were found to be comprised of a complex intermixture of elements of differing echogenicity including tumor cells, adipose tissue, and fluid (in tubules, stromal clefts, or blood vessels). Our findings support the importance of radiologists specifying the echogenic pattern of hyperechoic lesions, as heterogenous lesions are associated with a higher risk of malignancy and pathologists should be alert to the associated pathologic findings.
Incidence and Outcomes for Veno-Occlusive Disease in a Pediatric Transplant Cohort on Retrospective Application of Modified Seattle and EBMT Criteria

Background Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a serious complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and is associated with significant mortality. There are published clinical criteria applied for diagnosis, including Baltimore, modified Seattle, and European Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). The lack of consensus on what defines VOD and the subjective nature of clinical criteria used in its definition likely account for the broad range of VOD incidence (10-35%). Given improved outcomes with earlier treatment with defibrotide, there exists a need to be more precise and prompt in diagnosing VOD. The primary goal of this study was to assess the incidence of VOD, as designated in the electronic medical record (EMR) and compare this to when the actual clinical definitions were met. The secondary goal was to identify additional clinical or laboratory trends that could be predictive of VOD risk and outcome. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on pediatric patients that underwent HSCT at a single institution from 2009-2018. Various patient and transplant data were collected and analyzed in a univariate and multivariate manner to assess potential risk factors. Outcomes included VOD, 100-day survival, and length of hospitalization post-HSCT. FisherOs exact test was used for categorical variables; t test or ANOVA were used for continuous variables. Results A total of 215 transplants in 184 pediatric patients met inclusion for the analysis. Twenty-seven patients were diagnosed with VOD per the EMR (15%), 22 were treated with defibrotide. There were 63 transplants that met the modified Seattle criteria; however, these patients were not clinically diagnosed with VOD by the treating physician (30%). On application of the EBMT criteria, the estimated incidence was 50%. In the entire cohort, 16 patients died within day 100 from the HSCT (100-day survival=91%). Interestingly, percent survival at 100 days for those who met either modified Seattle or EBMT criteria but were not clinically diagnosed with VOD was similar to those who did not meet criteria (92% vs 95%) yet differed from those given a clinical diagnosis of VOD (78%, p=0.013, Figure 1). Only those with a clinical diagnosis of VOD had a longer hospitalization post-HSCT (Figure 2). An increase in VOD was observed for patients receiving myeloablative conditioning (p=0.033) while age, sex, stem cell source, transaminitis at the time of transplant, number of blood transfusions pre-HSCT ( 10), and rapidity of weight gain were not risk factors for VOD. Late diagnosis (>14 days post-HSCT) and rapid rise in total bilirubin were associated with a poor outcome (Figure 3). In conclusion, our study demonstrates the challenges in using defined clinical criteria to diagnose VOD and verifies earlier studies noting the importance of prompt diagnosis and treatment for optimal outcomes.
Current knowledge and conservation status of the gray-headed chickadee in North America

The gray-headed chickadee Poecile cinctus is a Holarctic songbird that occurs from northern Europe across Asia and into northwestern North America. Historically, the endemic North American subspeci...
Evidence of pulmonary arterial hypertension in two patients with common variable immunodeficiency

Common variable immunodeficiency is a chronic illness plagued with recurrent infections and the potential to develop autoimmune disease. These patients may manifest a spectrum of complications ranging from hematologic malignancy to chronic parenchymal lung disease. Regular immunoglobulin replacement therapy improves immunologic debility but does not mitigate other features of this disease. Here, we discuss a complication of common variable immunodeficiency not previously characterized in the literature. We present two cases of advanced pulmonary vascular disease associated with common variable immunodeficiency treated with pulmonary vasodilators.
Pregnant trauma patients may be at increased risk of mortality compared to nonpregnant women of reproductive age: trends and outcomes over 10 years at a level I trauma center:

Background:Pregnancy has been identified as a risk factor for poor outcomes after traumatic injury, but prior outcome analyses are conflicting and dated. We sought to examine outcomes in a contempo...
AI-supported citizen science to monitor high-tide flooding in Newport Beach, California

Monitoring High-tide Flooding (HTF) is challenging because HTF usually spreads widely and forms localized water accumulations depending on the natural processes and infrastructure. Stationary monitoring systems and satellite imaging have their certain limitations. To date, citizen science is considered as the most promising means to monitor HTF, which provides wide and continuous coverage of the community and real-time first-hand witness of the flooding event. Here, we present a flexible Artificial Intelligence (AI) -supported citizen science platform for HTF monitoring. Flood extent is identified through standard photogrammetry algorithms and a Computer vision technique called monoplotting, and water depth can be estimated using reference objects. In this paper, monoplotting is employed to establish a correlation between photos and the corresponding digital elevation model (DEM) data, allowing to map the flood extent and water depth to the DEM map to minimize the data uncertainty and enhance the data credibility, resolution, and overall value.
Adjacent Display of Relevant Discussion Helps Resolve Confusion

Discussion fora of instructional videos contain previously-discussed questions and answers. These video comments can resolve many points of confusion for learners. However, finding relevant content in a separated discussion forum is challenging and disruptive to learning flow. This paper introduces Adjacent Display of Relevant Discussion (ADRD): it displays threaded comments in a panel adjacent to the video and dynamically updates the content of the panel based on the time of the video. In a between-subjects lab study (n=20), ADRD helped participants resolve confusion points, skim and read comments, and encouraged video interaction.
Clinical and Hematological Predictors of High-Grade Immune-Related Adverse Events Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Background: Life-threatening immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that require hospital admission are not uncommon in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The clinical and hematological parameters are attractive biomarkers as potential predictors of irAE. Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with melanoma and lung cancer treated with ICIs between 2015 and 2019 at the University of South Alabama Mitchell Cancer Institute. Fisher’s exact test, Pearson Chi-squared test, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazard model were used to evaluate clinical and hematological parameters as possible predictors of irAE. Results: The cohort consisted of 160 patients treated with at least two doses of ICI, of which 54 (33.8%) patients had melanoma and 106 (66.3%) had lung cancer. Incidence of irAE did not have any bearing on the overall survival (OS) or progression-free survival (PFS) of the cohort. The clinical factors associated with irAE were dual-agent therapy (ipilimumab/nivolumab combination) and high disease burden (? 2 metastatic sites). The irAE-group had a lower mean platelet-to-lymphocyte ration (PLR, 200 vs. 257, P = 0.04). Although not statistically significant at the level of 0.05, other factors such as type of cancer (lung cancer > melanoma (P = 0.06)), stage at treatment (stage IV > stage II and III disease (P = 0.06)), and higher absolute lymphocyte counts (P = 0.07) showed a considerable association with irAE and warrants further review with different patient data. Conclusions: Irrespective of ICI used to treat lung cancer and melanoma, patients with high disease burden and dual-agent ICI therapy were more prone to irAE. The only hematological parameter that may predict the incidence of irAE is low baseline PLR. J Clin Med Res. 2021;13(5):268-275 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr4511
DC Link Capacitor Sizing for 240°-Clamped Space Vector PWM for EV Traction Inverters

DC link capacitor is one of the critical components in EV powertrain affecting the size, weight, and reliability. In a cascaded architecture (DC-DC stage followed by DC-AC stage), the size of DC link capacitor is dictated by the ripple current it has to support from both the stages. This work explores the benefits of relatively new PWM method called 240°-Clamped space vector PWM (240CPWM) in terms of reduced current stress on the DC link capacitor which corresponds to reduction in the DC link capacitor size. Detailed analysis of ripple current contribution from DC-DC and DC-AC stages is carried out leading to design methods for the DC link capacitor. It is shown that the current stress on the DC link capacitor for 240CPWM is 25% lower as compared to CSVPWM under same operating conditions. The analysis is validated by the experimental results from a 5 kW, 500 V (line to line voltage) hardware prototype.
Structures of Protein Farnesyltransferase

High resolution three-dimensional crystal structures of protein farnesyltransferase (FTase) complexed with substrates and inhibitors provide a framework for understanding the molecular basis of substrate specificity and mechanism and may facilitate the development of improved chemotherapeutics. The 2.25A resolution crystal structure of rat FTase provided the first structural information on any protein prenyltransferase enzyme (1). Rat FTase shares 93% sequence identity with the human enzyme and is predicted to be indistinguishable from human FTase in the active site region. Subsequently, a co-crystal structure of rat FTase with bound farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) revealed the location of the isoprenoid binding and gave insight into the molecular basis of isoprenoid substrate specificity (2). Recently, two co-crystal structures of rat FTase with a bound peptide substrate and a nonreactive isoprenoid diphosphate analog have identified the location of both the peptide and isoprenoid binding sites in a ternary enzyme complex (3,4). In this chapter we describe the recent crystal structures of rat FTase, and discuss their implications on understanding substrate specificity, mechanism, and inhibitor design.
Aberrant Forms of Escherichia coli in Blood Cultures: In Vitro Reproduction of an In Vivo Observation

Aberrant filamentous forms of Escherichia coli were observed on direct Gram stain of blood cultures from a patient being treated with the beta-lactam antibiotic cephalexin. After the institution of an alternative antibiotic regimen which included a different cell wall-active agent, E. coli of normal morphology was detected in blood cultures for an additional 48 h. Filamentous forms of E. coli could be reproduced reliably in vitro by incubating the organism in Mueller-Hinton broth containing various concentrations of cephalexin. Both supra- and subinhibitory concentrations of cephalexin resulted in filament formation after 4 h of incubation, whereas 24 h of incubation yielded intact filaments at only a narrow range of subinhibitory concentrations of cephalexin. In vitro comparison of the ability of cephalexin, cephalothin, ampicillin, and gentamicin to cause filamentous forms of E. coli showed that cephalexin and cephalothin produced pure filament formation after 4 h of incubation at subinhibitory concentrations of as low as one-fourth the minimum inhibitory concentration of the antibiotic. Ampicillin was not associated with pure filament formation at concentrations below the minimum inhibitory concentration, and gentamicin produced no filaments at any concentration. The effect of preincubation of E. coli with subinhibitory concentrations of cephalexin on subsequent minimum inhibitory concentrations of ampicillin was examined in an effort to develop an explanation for the persistent sepsis exhibited by the patient. No diminution of the activity of ampicillin by preincubation with cephalexin could be demonstrated. Other possible clinical implications of filamentous forms of gram-negative bacilli are discussed.
Affordable Financial Services and Credit for the Poor: The Foundation of Asset Building

Abstract The financial services and sources of credit available to poor families affect the rate at which families can be financially empowered through building assets. This paper provides background information on financial services, including credit sources, which are available for low-income people and communities. Also discussed are policies affecting financial markets and promising innovations in delivering affordable financial services to low-income families. Implications for social work education, practice and advocacy are discussed.
Risk of end-stage renal disease among liver transplant recipients with pretransplant renal dysfunction.

Guidelines recommend restricting simultaneous liver–kidney (SLK) transplant to candidates with prolonged dialysis or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 30), Group 2 (eGFR fluctuated), Group 3 (eGFR always <30) and Group 4 (short-term dialysis). For Group 2, we characterized fluctuations in renal function using time-weighted mean eGFR. Among liver-alone recipients in Group 3, the rate of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) by 3 years was 31%, versus <10% for other groups (p < 0.001). In multivariable Cox regression, eGFR Group, diabetes (HR 2.65, p < 0.001) and black race (HR 1.83, p = 0.02) were associated with ESRD. Among liver-alone recipients in Group 2, only diabetics with time-weighted mean eGFR <30 had a substantial ESRD risk (25.6%). In summary, among liver transplant candidates not on prolonged dialysis, SLK should be considered for those whose eGFR is always <30 and diabetic candidates whose weighted mean eGFR is <30 for 90 days.
Psychopathology and Its Antecedents among American Indian Adolescents

The psychopathology among American Indian adolescents appears qualitatively similar to that found in the rest of the United States adolescent population. There are, however, substantial quantitative differences in psychopathology among various tribes and in comparison to non-native American adolescents. In some circumstances, there are qualitative differences also. In a few tribes adolescents appear to have no greater incidence of major psychopathology than do adolescents in the Anglo population. But in many tribes, the incidence is far greater than that found in the Anglo population. When this quantitative difference occurs it is usually in a tribe with a juxtaposition of extreme poverty, fragmentation of both the nuclear and extended family, and serious morale problems stemming mainly from enormous changes in religious traditions and traditional ways of living. Enforced reservation life frequently has contributed heavily to the demoralization of these tribes by denying them, in effect, their traditional means of subsistence, like hunting, and providing no new means of becoming economically self-sufficient, through agriculture or herding, for instance.