cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
In Patients Undergoing Vascular Surgery, Does Preoperative Coronary Revascularization Reduce the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Death?

Tens of millions of surgical procedures are performed annually in the United States and the world over. A significant proportion of these procedures are associated with perioperative adverse cardiac events and these in turn, increase cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Perioperative myocardial infarction, variably defined in the historical literature, may in fact occur in greater than 1 in 10 post-surgical patients by current definitions. Preoperative risk assessment may be carried out using a variety of validated risk prognostication models. While guideline-driven medical therapies form the foundation of risk reduction in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, high-risk findings on non-invasive assessment may necessitate coronary angiography. Whereas coronary revascularization is widely accepted as the standard of care in preoperative patients with acute coronary syndromes or acute myocardial infarction, the practice of routine preoperative coronary revascularization for the purpose of cardiac risk reduction, is neither supported by the available trial data nor endorsed by the U.S. and European clinical practice guidelines, even in patients undergoing high risk noncardiac surgeries. Despite this, contemporary registry data bears out the wide usage of preoperative coronary revascularization. Small European studies have hinted at benefit associated with a strategy of routine coronary angiography and when necessary, percutaneous revascularization, in high-risk patients pending vascular operations. However these reports have yet to be confirmed in large-scale, randomized, multicenter trials. Unanswered questions remain regarding the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy and timing of surgery in patients who have had prior percutaneous coronary revascularization.
Explosive attractor solutions to a universal cubic delay equation

New explosive attractor solutions have been found in a universal cubic delay equation that has been studied in both the plasma and the fluid mechanics literature. Through computational simulations and analytic approximations, it is found that the oscillatory component of the explosive mode amplitude solutions are described through multi-frequency Fourier expansions with respect to a pseudo-time variable. The spectral dependence of these solutions as a function of a system parameter, ϕ , is studied. The mode amplitude that is described in the explosive regime has two main features: a well-known envelope ( t 0 − t ) − 5 / 2 , with t0 the blow-up time of the amplitude, and a spectrum of discrete oscillations with ever-increasing frequencies, which may give experimental information about the properties of a system's equilibrium.
Novel Method to Predict In Vivo Liver-to-Plasma Kpuu for OATP Substrates Using Suspension Hepatocytes

The ability to predict human liver-to-plasma unbound partition coefficient (Kpuu) is of great importance to estimate unbound liver concentration, develop PK/PD relationships, predict efficacy and toxicity in the liver, and model the drug-drug interaction potential for drugs that are asymmetrically distributed into the liver. A novel in vitro method has been developed to predict in vivo Kpuu with good accuracy using cryopreserved suspension hepatocytes in InVitroGRO HI media with 4% BSA. Validation was performed using six OATP substrates with rat in vivo Kpuu data from i.v. infusion studies where a steady state was achieved. Good in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVE) was observed as the in vitro Kpuu values were mostly within 2-fold of in vivo Kpuu Good Kpuu IVIVE in human was also observed with in vivo Kpuu data of dehydropravastatin from positron emission tomography and in vivo Kpuu data from PK/PD modeling for pravastatin and rosuvastatin. Under the specific Kpuu assay conditions, the drug-metabolizing enzymes and influx/efflux transporters appear to function at physiologic levels. No scaling factors are necessary to predict in vivo Kpuu from in vitro data. The novel in vitro Kpuu method provides a useful tool in drug discovery to project in vivo Kpuu.
Proceedings of the ACL 2010 System Demonstrations

Welcome to the proceedings of the system demonstration session. This volume contains the papers of the system demonstrations presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, held in Uppsala, Sweden, on July 13 2010. The system demonstrations program offers the presentation of early research prototypes as well as interesting mature systems. The system demonstration chair and the members of the program committee received 65 submissions, 14 of which were selected for inclusion in the program after review by two members of the program committee.
First Report of a Putative New Erysiphe sp. Causing Powdery Mildew on Avocado in Florida

The avocado (Persea americana Miller) brings in an estimated $100 million annually to the state of Florida. While its largest threat in recent years continues to be laurel wilt, caused by Raffaelea lauricola, there is a myriad of other diseases affecting avocado. Although powdery mildew on avocadoes is rare, the novel species Podosphaera perseae-americanae has been recently reported in Indonesia (Siahaan et al. 2016). In April 2017, leaf samples from P. americana cv. ‘Waldin’ grown in a greenhouse exhibiting symptoms typical of powdery mildew were submitted to the Florida Extension Plant Diagnostic Clinic in Homestead, FL. Symptoms included white powdery colonies growing on abaxial surfaces of younger leaves, while older damage included veiny, chlorotic lesions. Other cultivars in the same greenhouse including ‘Toro Canyon’, ‘Duke 7’ and ‘Dusa’ did not appear to be susceptible to powdery mildew. Microscopic observations revealed hyaline, ellipsoid to cylindrical conidia measuring 25 to 40 × 15 to 40 μm (a...
Learning about Makerspaces: Professional Development with K-12 Inservice Educators.

Makerspaces are the latest educational movement that may disrupt the “grammar of schooling.” Makerspaces may change the ways schools use technology; change the ways schools engage in learning and t...
A Method to Analyze Predicate Transition Nets Using SPIN Model Checker

High-level Petri nets (HLPNs) are a formal method for studying concurrent and distributed systems and have been widely used in many application domains. However, their strong expressive power hinders their analyzability. In this paper, we present a new transformational analysis method for analyzing a special class of HLPNs — predicate transition (PrT) nets. This method extends and improves our prior results by covering more PrT net features including full first-order logic formulas and exploring additional alternative translation schemes. This new analysis method is supported by a tool chain — front-end PIPE+ for creating and simulating PrT nets and back-end SPIN for model checking safety and liveness properties. We have applied this method to two benchmark systems used in annual Petri net model checking contest 2015. We discuss several properties and show the detailed model checking results in one system.
Daily Life in Late Antiquity

Daily Life in Late Antiquity is the first comprehensive study of lived experience in the Late Roman Empire, from c.250–600 CE. Each of the six topical chapters highlight historical 'everyday' people, spaces, and objects, whose lives operate as windows into the late ancient economy, social relations, military service, religious systems, cultural habits, and the material environment. However, it is nevertheless grounded in late ancient primary sources - many of which are available in accessible English translations - and the most recent, cutting-edge scholarship by specialists in fields such as archaeology, social history, religious studies, and environmental history. From Manichean rituals to military service, gladiatorial combat to garbage collection, patrician households to peasant families, Daily Life in Late Antiquity introduces readers to the world of late antiquity from the bottom up.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia, achalasia, and other oesophageal motility problems: clinical relevance and management

Dysphagia is among the most common gastrointestinal symptoms in the elderly, with a population prevalence in the elderly in excess of 10%. While mechanical obstruction accounts for some portion of this burden, the majority of these subjects do not have strictures or cancer. Motility disorders account for a large portion of the remainder of these patients.
Towards a Verification Protocol

Negotiated during the Cold War, the issue of verification and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) has a long and intricate history. France, for instance, was unwilling to sign the BWC initially because “it does not include any satisfactory provision for international control” [U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1972: 758]. The treaty lacked such provisions because the political conditions did not exist at the time which would have permitted countries to conduct on-site inspections within each other’s borders.
Interpersonal Conflict and Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Recovery Experiences

Recovery during nonwork time is essential for restoring resources that have been lost throughout the working day (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). Recent research has begun to explore the nature of recovery experiences as boundary conditions between various job stressors and employee well-being (Kinnunen, Mauno, & Siltaloppi, 2010; Sonnentag, Binnewies, & Mozja, 2010). Interpersonal conflict is an important work stressor that has been associated with several negative employee outcomes, such as higher levels of psychosomatic complaints (Pennebaker, 1982), anxiety, depression, and frustration (Spector & Jex, 1998). This study contributes to recovery research by examining the moderating role of recovery experiences on the relationship between workplace interpersonal conflict and employee well-being. Specifically, it was hypothesized that recovery experiences (e.g., psychological detachment, mastery, control, relaxation, negative work reflection, positive work reflection, and social activities) would moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict and employee well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, burnout, life satisfaction, and general health complaints). Hierarchical regression was used to examine the hypotheses. Relaxation was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between self-reported interpersonal conflict and employee exhaustion. Additional analyses found mastery experiences to be a significant moderator of the relationship between coworker reported interpersonal conflict and both dimensions of burnout (exhaustion and disengagement). Several main relationships between recovery experiences and employee well-being were found that support and extend earlier research on recovery from work. Practical implications for future research are discussed.
Socioeconomic Impact Evaluation of the Drought in Irrigated Lands in Southern Spain: A Multicriteria Decision Making Approach

The severe drought present in Andalusia (Southern Spain) since 1993 determined the complete absence of a water supply for agricultural lands for the following two agricultural years. This situation forced farmers to decide to sow crops with lower hydric demand requirements in irrigated lands. This long period of drought was superimposed by the beginning of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform and this implies that the degree of the socioeconomic impact of the latter cannot be judged just by comparing the income and the labour generated between the pre-drought period (1986 to 1992) and the actual dry period (1994 and 1995). This paper aims to establish a methodology, based upon weighted goal programming, which lets us simulate the farmers' sowing decision if they had disposed of the normal water supply for irrigation, bearing in mind the new CAP institutional environment installed in the European Union. Once this simulation is obtained, we will be able to compare the theoretical sowing decision (without water constraints) for the drought biennium with the ones which occurred in reality. In this way, we will be able to determine, just by difference, the drought effects on income and labour generated. This methodology will be implemented in a practical way in La Campina Baja district (Andalusia).
High-throughput image alignment for connectomics using frugal snap judgments: poster

Accurate and computationally efficient image alignment is a vital step in scientific efforts to understand the structure of the brain through electron microscopy images of neurological tissue. Connectomics is an emerging area of neurobiology that uses cutting edge machine learning and image processing algorithms to extract brain connectivity graphs from electron microscopy images. This poster abstract describes a high-throughput image alignment system that is designed to run on commodity multicore machines. We achieve alignments that differ by no more than 2 pixels from state-of-the-art alignment pipelines while achieving 40x additional throughput. The tools employed to achieve this performance boost include application-specific optimizations and the use of frugal snap judgments: a general purpose technique for optimizing computations that have strict accuracy-performance trade-offs.
Reg3 Proteins as Gut Hormones

C-type lectins of the Reg3 family belong to antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which function as a barrier to protect body surfaces against microorganisms. Reg3 mainly expressed throughout the small intestine modulate host defense process via bactericidal activity. A wide range of studies indicate that Reg3 family plays an important role in the physical segregation of microbiota from host as well as the immune response induced by enteric pathogens. In this review, we review a growing literature on the potential metabolic functions of Reg3 proteins and their potential to act as important gut hormones.
Direct oral factor Xa inhibitors for the treatment of acute cancer-associated venous thromboembolism: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

e23156Background: A direct meta-analysis was performed to explore the efficacy and safety of direct oral factor Xa inhibitors with dalteparin in patients with cancer associated acute venous thrombo...
Cardiovascular risk and mortality in patients with active and treated hypercortisolism

Patients with hypercortisolism demonstrate high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, especially if diagnosis is delayed. Hypercortisolism-induced cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities include hypertension, impaired glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, and obesity. High prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors leads to increased rate of cardiovascular events and mortality. This risk is reduced, albeit not reversed even after successful treatment of hypercortisolism. In this review we will describe prevalence and mechanisms of cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with hypercortisolism. In addition, we will summarize the effect of therapy on cardiovascular risk factors, events, as well as mortality.
Clinicopathologic features of invasive breast cancer (BC) diagnosed in carriers of germline PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM pathogenic variants.

1549Background: While germline pathogenic variants (PVs) in BRCA1/2 account for a large proportion of hereditary breast cancer (BC), PVs in PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM are increasingly detected. However, ...
Protsome analysis of the total protein in Vibrio cholerae by 2-DE

Objective To study the different proteins of human and environment Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) by two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and TOF-TOF-MS. Methods Total cellular pro-tein was extracted by lysate from V. cholerae, and proteins were separated by 2-DE under immobilized pH gradients(IPG), then electrophoregrams were dealed with coomassie brilliant blue, and analyzed by Im-ageMaster 2D Elite 5.0, finally the different protein spots were identified by TOF-TOF-MS. Results High repetitive 2-DE maps were obtained. 2-DE and image analysis revealed 1032±22 protein spots, and PI value was among 4.00 to 7.20. Matching spots were 1025±24 in two repeats electrophoregrams and matching ratio was 96.30%. Conclusion The different protein spots were successfully established with high quality and sharpness separation by 2-DE and TOF-TOF-MS, which stands as a valuable resource for proteomics re-search of V. cholerae. Key words: Vibrio cholerae; Two dimensional electrophoresis; MALDI-TOF-MS; Proteomics
Recommendations and Follow-Up Measures in Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-Finding Missions

This paper examines follow-up measures that have been undertaken in the wake of reports published by monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding missions tasked to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. Section 1 explores the perspectives of both MRF practitioners and scholars on the importance of recommendations offered in MRF reports. Section 2 examines the impacts that MRF practitioners seek to achieve. Section 3 provides an overview of the methodological dilemmas of assessing the outcomes of MRF work. Section 4 presents an assessment of the implementation of recommendations articulated in reports of fifteen MRF missions implemented over the course of the past decade. Section 5 examines the factors that shape practitioners’ decisions about crafting recommendations in MRF reports. Section 6 posits questions for practitioners and policy actors to consider as part of the ongoing discourse regarding devising MRF methodologies, learning lessons from past MRF experiences, and building a community of practice among MRF practitioners.
Reliability and Validity of 2 Surgical Prioritization Systems for Reinstating Nonemergent Benign Gynecologic Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Scientifically evaluate the validity and reproducibility of 2 novel surgical triaging systems, as well as offer modifications to the Medically-Necessary, Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) criteria for improved application in gynecologic surgeries. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Academic university hospital. PATIENTS: Ninety-seven patients with delayed benign gynecologic procedures owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. INTERVENTION(S): Surgical prioritization was assessed using 2 novel scoring systems, the Gynecologic Medically-Necessary Time-Sensitive (Gyn-MeNTS) and modified Elective Surgery Acuity Scale (mESAS) systems for all 93 patients included. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The interrater reliability and validity of 2 novel surgical prioritization systems (Gyn-MeNTS and mESAS) were assessed. The Gyn-MeNTS scores were calculated by 3 raters and analyzed as continuous variables, with a lower score indicating more urgency/priority. The mESAS score was calculated by 2 raters and analyzed as a 3-level ordinal variable with a higher score indicating more urgency/priority. All 5 raters were blinded to reduce bias. The Gyn-MeNTS interrater reliability was tested using Spearman r and paired t tests were used to detect systematic differences between raters. Weighted κ indicated mESAS reliability. Concurrent validity with mESAS and surgeon self-prioritization (SSP) was examined with Spearman r and logistic regression. Spearman r's for all Gyn-MeNTS rater pairs were above 0.80 (0.84 for 1 vs 2; 0.82 for 1 vs 3; and 0.82 for 2 vs 3, all p <.001) indicating strong agreement. The weighted κ for the 2 mESAS raters was 0.57 (95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.73) indicating moderate agreement. When used together, both scores were significantly independently associated with SSP, with strong discrimination (area under the curve, 0.89). CONCLUSION: Interrater reliability is acceptable for both scoring systems, and concurrent validity of each is moderate for predicting SSP, but discrimination improves to a high level when they are used together.
Preferential Forest Assembly of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Low-Energy Electron-Beam Patterned Nafion Films

With the aid of low-energy (500 eV) electron-beam direct writing, patterns of perpendicularly aligned single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) forests were realized on Nafion modified substrates via Fe3+-assisted self-assembly. Infrared spectroscopy (IR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) profilometry, and contact angle measurements indicated that a low-energy electron beam cleaved the hydrophilic side chains (−SO3H and C−O−C) of Nafion to low-molecular-weight byproducts that sublimed in the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment exposing the hydrophobic Nafion backbone. Auger mapping and AFM affirmed that the exposed hydrophobic domains absorbed considerably fewer Fe3+ ions upon exposure to pH 2.2 aqueous FeCl3 solution, which yielded considerably less FeO(OH)/FeOCl precipitates (FeO(OH) in majority) upon washing with lightly basic DMF solution containing trace amounts of adsorbed moisture. Such differential deposition of FeO(OH)/FeOCl precipitates provided the basis for the patterned site-specific self-assembly of SW...
Do Hospitals Providing Telehealth in Emergency Departments Have Lower Emergency Department Costs

Background: Since 2003, the University of Mississippi Medical Center has operated a robust telehealth emergency department (ED) network, TelEmergency, which enhances access to emergency medicine-tr...
Vernacular transactions: Aḥmad Shāmlū’s Persian translations of Langston Hughes’s poetry

In 1973, Iranian poet Aḥmad Shāmlū (d. 2000) published a collection of Persian translations of world poetry, Hamchūn kūchah-ī bī intihā (Like an Endless Alley). This collection includes the transla...
Toward snapshot correction of 3D flash LiDAR imagers

We present methods enabling rapid non-uniformity and range walk error correction of 3D flash LiDAR imagers that exhibit electronic crosstalk caused by simultaneously triggering too many detectors. This additional electronic crosstalk is referred to as simultaneous ranging crosstalk noise (SRCN). Using a method in which the 3D flash LiDAR imager views a checkerboard target downrange, the SRCN is largely mitigated. Additionally, processing techniques for computing the non-uniformity correction (NUC) and range walk error correction are described; these include an in-situ thermally compensated dark-frame non-uniformity correction, image processing and filtering techniques for the creation of a photo-response non-uniformity correction, and characterization and correction of the range walk error using data collected across the full focal plane array without the need for sampling or windowing. These methods result in the ability to correct noisy test validation data to a range precision of 8.04 cm and a range accuracy of 1.73 cm and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the intensity return by 15 to 49 dB. Visualization of a 3D scene corrected by this process is additionally presented.
{101¯2} Twin interface structure and energetics in HCP materials

Abstract This study systematically analyzes the { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twin in Hexagonally Close Packed (HCP) materials. Despite several propositions over 50 years, the Twin Boundary (TB) structure and twinning mechanism remain a debated topic, precluding determination of twinning energy barriers. This debate is resolved via Crystallographic Analytical Methods (CAM), Molecular Statics (MS) simulations in HCP Ti and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation of the Generalized Planar Fault Energy (GPFE) curve for several HCP materials. The { 10 1 ¯ 2 } crystallographic plane is “corrugated” comprising of two non-coincident sub-planes of lattice-sites (L-plane) and motif-sites (M-plane), causing ambiguity in determining the TB structure. This study resolves this ambiguity by establishing an energy-minimizing lattice-offset between the twin and matrix. At this offset, the TB forms by relaxation of both sub-planes into coincidence on a common atomic plane. A crystallographic calculation of this offset is proposed, extendable to non-single-lattice structures, in general. The twinning mechanism is determined, obtaining a shear-shuffle partition clarifying the motion of lattice and motif atoms. Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) simulations verify the mechanism along with disconnection-mediated migration of the twin. The GPFE is calculated for the first time in literature, to the best of our knowledge, revealing energy barriers for twin nucleation and migration. An absence of correlation of the unstable twinning energy barrier against twinning shear, Burgers vector magnitude or cohesive energy is shown, emphasizing the irreplaceability of the calculated barriers for predictive twinning models. Thus, a thorough clarification of the { 10 1 ¯ 2 } twinning mode is proposed, converging on the correct TB structure, twinning mechanism and energy barriers.
Prophetic Politics and Tyranny: A Reassessment of Rosenzweig’s the Star of Redemption

Contemporary political theology is often considered an outgrowth of Carl Schmitt’s daring association between politics, God, and power. However, this is only half of the story, since the discourse ...
Diabetes and cataracts

The ability to see depends on the complex anatomical structures of the eye working together to focus an image on the retina. Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, one of two key focusing structures in the eye. The light rays then pass through the pupil followed by the crystalline lens, the second focusing structure of the eye located immediately posterior to the iris. Together, the cornea and the lens focus light rays onto the retina, a tissue that performs the first step in neural processing of an image and begins the transmission of the image to the occipital lobe of the brain.
Electric-field-dependent dynamic polarizability and state-insensitive conditions for optical trapping of diatomic polar molecules

Selection of state-insensitive or ``magic'' trapping conditions with ultracold atoms or molecules, where pairs of internal states experience identical trapping potentials, brings substantial benefits to precision measurements and quantum computing schemes. Working at such conditions could ensure that the detrimental effects of inevitable inhomogeneities across an ultracold sample are significantly reduced. However, this aspect of confinement remains unexplored for ultracold polar molecules. Here, we present means to control the ac Stark shift of rotational states of ultracold diatomic polar molecules, when subjected to both trapping laser light and an external electric field. We show that both the strength and relative orientation of the two fields influence the trapping potential. In particular, we predict ``magic electric field strengths'' and a ``magic angle,'' where the Stark shift is independent of the dc external field for certain rotational states of the molecule.
Characterization of Pd-based automotive catalysts

Abstract Characterization studies were undertaken to determine the cause of large differences in activity between various commercial automotive catalysts after aging for 75 or 120 h on an accelerated engine-dynamometer cycle. In all, a set of nine catalysts was examined, comprised of both fresh and aged Pd-only, Pd/Rh, and Pt/Rh catalysts. Catalyst activity, as measured by CO/NOx crossover efficiencies in dynamometer airfuel sweep tests, showed no correlation with either noble metal dispersion or noble metal surface area. The amount of stored oxygen required to obtain 100% CO conversion in the A/F-modulated dynamometer sweep experiments was estimated at 15 μ-mol O/g-cat. Bench reactor experiments involving both titration of pre-oxidized catalysts with CO and cyclic CO oxidation confirmed that the 15 μ-mol O/g-cat. storage requirement represents a threshold level separating high- and low-activity catalysts. Formation of bulk PdO is the main oxygen storage mode in the 120 h dynamometeraged Pd-based catalysts. Pd loading is important: the higher the Pd loading, the greater the capacity for oxygen storage via PdO. Dispersion of Pd in the dynamometer-aged catalysts (2–6%) was too low to account for significant oxygen storage via chemisorbed oxygen. Furthermore, temperature-programmed reduction experiments and comparisons of oxygen uptakes on catalysts with and without rare earth oxides both indicated that the rare earth oxides play little role in oxygen storage after 120 h dynamometer aging. Not only does the formation of bulk PdO account for the quantities of oxygen stored in the aged catalysts, but the observed rates of oxygen uptake are consistent with bulk Pd oxidation kinetics reported by Remillard et al [J. Appl. Phys. 71 (9), 1992, pp. 4515–4522].
Improved survival using intensity-modulated radiation therapy in head and neck cancers: a SEER-Medicare analysis.

BACKGROUND Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a technologically advanced, and more expensive, method of delivering radiation therapy with a goal of minimizing toxicity. It has been widely adopted for head and neck cancers; however, its comparative impact on cancer control and survival remains unknown. The goal of this analysis was to compare the cause-specific survival (CSS) for patients with head and neck cancers treated with IMRT versus non-IMRT from 1999 to 2007. METHODS CSS was determined using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database and analyzed regarding treatment details, including the use of IMRT versus non-IMRT, using claims data. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated by the frailty model with a propensity score matching cohort and instrumental variable analysis. RESULTS A total of 3172 patients were identified. With a median follow-up of 40 months, patients treated with IMRT had a statistically significant improvement in CSS compared with those treated with non-IMRT (84.1% versus 66.0%; P < .001). When each anatomic subsite was analyzed separately, all respective subgroups of patients treated with IMRT had better CSS than those treated with non-IMRT. In multivariable survival analyses, patients treated with IMRT were associated with better CSS (HR = 0.72, 95% confidence interval = 0.59 to 0.90 for propensity score matching; HR = 0.60, 95% confidence interval = 0.41 to 0.88 for instrumental variable analysis). CONCLUSIONS Patients with head and neck cancers who were treated with IMRT experienced significant improvements in CSS compared with patients treated with non-IMRT techniques. This suggests there may be benefits to IMRT in cancer outcomes, in addition to toxicity reduction, for this patient population. Cancer 2014;120:702–710. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Providers in Rural Locations

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) resources to individuals in twenty rural communities in two western states and to ascertain the contribution of one type of CAM provider, naturopathic physicians, to rural health care. Resource data were collected through internet phone directories searches and an on-line survey of Montana naturopaths. Seventy-three CAM providers were identified in the target communities. The naturopathic physician’s practices were located in urbanized areas of Montana, some with outreach clinics. Most naturopaths made regular referrals to conventional medical practitioners; however few received referrals. Comparison of use patterns of CAM by older residents of these communities to the presence of providers in the communities suggests that local availability is not the critical factor in use of a CAM therapist or self-directed therapy.
Molecular Heterogeneity of the Voltage-Gated Fast Transient Outward K+ Current, IAf, in Mammalian Neurons

Recently, we identified four kinetically distinct voltage-gated K + currents, I Af , I As , I K , and I SS , in rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and demonstrated that I Af and I As are differentially expressed in type I ( I Af , I K , I SS ), type II ( I Af , I As , I K , I SS ), and type III ( I K , I SS ) SCG cells. In addition, we reported that I Af is eliminated in most (∼70%) SCG cells expressing Kv4.2W362F, a Kv4 subfamily-specific dominant negative. The molecular correlate(s) of the residual I Af , as well as that of I As , I K , and I SS , however, are unknown. The experiments here were undertaken to explore the role of Kv1 α-subunits in the generation of voltage-gated K + currents in SCG neurons. Using the Biolistics Gene Gun, cDNA constructs encoding a Kv1 subfamily-specific dominant negative, Kv1.5W461F, and enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were introduced into SCG neurons. Whole-cell recordings from EGFP-positive Kv1.5W461F-expressing cells revealed a selective decrease in the percentage of type I cells and an increase in type III cells, indicating that I Af is gated by Kv1 α-subunits in a subset of type I SCG neurons. I Af is eliminated in all SCG cells expressing both Kv1.5W461F and Kv4.2W362F. I Af τ decay values in Kv1.5W461F-expressing and Kv4.2W362F-expressing type I cells are significantly different, revealing that Kv1 and Kv4 α-subunits encode kinetically distinct I Af channels. Expression of Kv1.5W461F increases excitability by decreasing action potential current thresholds and converts phasic cells to adapting or tonic firing. Interestingly, the molecular heterogeneity of I Af channels has functional significance because Kv1- and Kv4-encoded I Af play distinct roles in the regulation of neuronal excitability.
A Pragmatic Approach to the Parasitic Gap Construction in Chinese

This paper argues that there is no need to posit a syntactic-based licensing mechanism for Chinese parasitic gaps, because putative adjunct island condition doesn’t hold in Chinese. This is evidenced by an array of circumvention data, where context-salient contrastive reading or coherent rhetorical relation (e.g. cause-effect, result, violated expectations) can make adjunct extraction acceptable even without a second gap. I propose that biclausal relatives must be construed as identificational, and adjunct relatives in generic contexts may not fulfill this requirement. Consequently, multiple gap extraction is freely allowed in Chinese, and separate, pragmatic reasons rule out certain adjunct extraction.
Prostate cancer-specific monoclonal antibody 5D4 significantly enhances the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin-loaded liposomes against target cells in vitro

Long-circulating liposomes loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) were additionally modified with the prostate cell-specific monoclonal antibody 5D4 (mAb 5D4). The resultant Dox-loaded 5D4-immunoliposomes specifically recognized prostate cancer cell lines of several different types expressing the mAb 5D4 antigen, PSMA, and significantly enhanced cytotoxicity toward these cells compared with the non-targeted Dox-liposomes in vitro while no increased toxicity was observed toward non-prostate (lung) cancer cell line.
Regularity of growth and the class

In many studies involving one complex variable, the class of meromorphic (entire) functions S (Speiser) plays a role which mimics that of rational functions, while at the same time including many of the most familiar transcendental functions. I will discuss several examples, from values distribution theory and dynamics, of this phenomenon, and present some examples which show limitations to this principle.
Scattering from a right interior angle wedge loaded by a slot

The transverse electric scattering from a right interior angle wedge (270 degrees wedge) with a slot in one of its faces is considered. The slot is backed by a parallel-plate waveguide. This problem is being studied for he purpose of determining how a slot affects the scattering from such a structure. The equivalence principle is used to replace the slot aperture with a conductor with magnetic surface currents on each side. The method of moments with pulse basis functions and point matching is used to find an approximation for these equivalent magnetic currents. These approximation currents are then used to calculate the scattered fields. A computer program that implements this procedure has been developed, and numerical results for various scattering configurations and a comparison against published data are presented. It is found that the analysis does appear to accurately model the corner loaded by a slot. It is observed that as the slot size and waveguide loading is varied, the slot scattering is changed. >
Cerebral mycosis: 7‐year retrospective series in a tertiary center

This study focuses on the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, risk factors, diagnosis and outcome of all cases of central nervous system (CNS) fungal infections in a tertiary center. Medical records of 18 patients of culture-proven CNS fungal infections were retrospectively reviewed from 2000 to 2007, including 12 isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and seven from tissue biopsy. Patient demographic data included 10 males and eight females. The mean age was 55 years (range: 24-89 years). All but one patient were immunocompromised. Fungal organisms isolated from CSF included: Cryptococcous neoformans (8 patients), Coccidioides immitis (3 patients), and Aspergillus versicolor (1 patient). Histopathology of seven biopsy cases revealed groups of pigmented golden-brown fungal forms in three cases; three cases showed septate fungi, two of which had melanin in their walls; and one case showed multiple round spherules. These cases on microbiological cultures grew Coccidioides immitis (1 patient), Aspergillus fumigatus (1 patient), Cladophialophora bantiana (2 patients), Fonsecaea monophora (1 patient) and Scedosporium apiospermum (2 patients). Five of the seven fungal organisms isolated from tissue biopsies were dematiaceous fungi. Twelve patients died after a period of a few weeks to months, two were lost to follow-up, and four are alive with severe neurological sequelae. CNS fungal infections in our cohort were more common in patients post-transplant and with hematologic malignancies. In our series, rare dematiaceous fungi are emerging agents for cerebral mycosis. The outcome of CNS fungal infections is poor despite vigorous antifungal therapy.
Hospital primary cesarean delivery rates and the risk of poor neonatal outcomes.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether risk-adjusted hospital primary cesarean delivery rates are associated with poor neonatal outcomes. Study Design: The Washington State Birth Events Records for 1995 and 1996 were used. Predicted primary cesarean delivery rates were calculated for each hospital. Women were divided by whether the hospital had an actual primary cesarean delivery rate below, within, or greater than the predicted CI. Asphyxia (a lack of oxygen that leads to organ damage) was used as a marker of poor neonatal outcome. Risk of neonatal asphyxia was compared for each of the 3 cesarean rating groups. Results: The risk for asphyxia among infants who were born to women who delivered at hospitals that had more, within, or fewer cesarean deliveries than predicted were 0.58%, 0.17%, and 0.33%, respectively ( P Conclusion: Infants born to women who delivered at hospitals that had more than or fewer than the predicted number of primary cesarean deliveries experienced a greater risk of neonatal asphyxia. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;187:721-7.)
Range resolution improvement of eyesafe ladar testbed (ELT) measurements using sparse signal deconvolution

The Eyesafe Ladar Test-bed (ELT) is an experimental ladar system with the capability of digitizing return laser pulse waveforms at 2 GHz. These waveforms can then be exploited off-line in the laboratory to develop signal processing techniques for noise reduction, range resolution improvement, and range discrimination between two surfaces of similar range interrogated by a single laser pulse. This paper presents the results of experiments with new deconvolution algorithms with the hoped-for gains of improving the range discrimination of the ladar system. The sparsity of ladar returns is exploited to solve the deconvolution problem in two steps. The first step is to estimate a point target response using a database of measured calibration data. This basic target response is used to construct a dictionary of target responses with different delays/ranges. Using this dictionary ladar returns from a wide variety of surface configurations can be synthesized by taking linear combinations. A sparse linear combination matches the physical reality that ladar returns consist of the overlapping of only a few pulses. The dictionary construction process is a pre-processing step that is performed only once. The deconvolution step is performed by minimizing the error between the measured ladar return and the dictionary model while constraining the coefficient vector to be sparse. Other constraints such as the non-negativity of the coefficients are also applied. The results of the proposed technique are presented in the paper and are shown to compare favorably with previously investigated deconvolution techniques.
Task-Specific Speed Preferences When Sitting on a Rotary Dynamic Seat:

Eleven subjects, 5 male and 6 female, all with back pain, performed 3 times 10-minute tasks separated by 2 × 10-minute relaxation tasks, while sitting for one 1-hour session on a rotary dynamic seat (DS). Ss preferred different speed settings depending on task. Ss chose to have no motion (speed setting 0) for “active tasks” (writing, typing, and using the mouse) and moderate speed (speed setting 3 or 4) for passive (relaxation) tasks. Subjective responses showed that Ss needed to concentrate and felt the movement was interfering with performance and attention during active tasks. Ss found the DS relaxing and soothing during passive tasks, which required less concentration and performance.
Automated docking of glucosyl disaccharides in the glucoamylase active site

To better understand the mo- lecular basis of glucomylase selectivity, low- energy conformers of glucosyl disaccharides obtained from relaxed-residue conformational mapping were flexibly docked into the glu- coamylase active site using AutoDock 2.2. This procedure ensures that significant conforma- tional space is searched and can produce bound structures comparable to those obtained by protein crystallography. a-Linked glucosyl di- saccharides except a,a-trehalose dock easily into the active site while exclusively b-linked disaccharides do not, explaining why only the former are glucoamylase substrates. The opti- mized docking modes are similar at the nonre- ducing end of the different substrates. Indi- vidual atomic energies of intermolecular interaction allow the definite identification of key hydroxyl groups for each substrate. This approach confirmed the versatility of the sec- ond subsite of the glucoamylase active site in binding different substrates. Proteins 28:162-
Functional Genomic Responses to Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) and CFTRΔ508 in the Lung

Cystic fibrosis (CF), a common lethal pulmonary disorder in Caucasians, is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene (CFTR) that disturbs fluid homeostasis and host defense in target organs. The effects of CFTR and Δ508-CFTR were assessed in transgenic mice that 1) lack CFTR expression (Cftr-/-); 2) express the human Δ508 CFTR (CFTRΔ508); 3) overexpress the normal human CFTR (CFTRtg) in respiratory epithelial cells. Genes were selected from Affymetrix Murine Gene-Chips analysis and subjected to functional classification, k-means clustering, promoter cis-elements/modules searching, literature mining, and pathway exploring. Genomic responses to Cftr-/- were not corrected by expression of CFTR Δ508. Genes regulating host defense, inflammation, fluid and electrolyte transport were similarly altered in Cftr-/- and CFTR Δ508 mice.CFTRΔ508 induced a primary disturbance in expression of genes regulating redox and antioxidant systems. Genomic responses to CFTRtg were modest and were not associated with lung pathology. CFTRtg and CFTRΔ508 induced genes encoding heat shock proteins and other chaperones but did not activate the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway. RNAs encoding proteins that directly interact with CFTR were identified in each of the CFTR mouse models, supporting the hypothesis that CFTR functions within a multiprotein complex whose members interact at the level of protein-protein interactions and gene expression. Promoters of genes influenced by CFTR shared common regulatory elements, suggesting that their co-expression may be mediated by shared regulatory mechanisms. Genes and pathways involved in the response to CFTR may be of interest as modifiers of CF.
Purification of blood carbonic anhydrases and specific detection of carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes on polyacrylamide gels with 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonamide (DNSA).

Abstract Methods are presented for purification of carbonic anhydrases from guinea pig blood and specific visualization of carbonic anhydrase bands during and after electrophoresis using nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels. The carbonic anhydrases are detected on the gels as fluorescent complexes with 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonamide in protein mixtures and in erythrocyte lysates that have been prechromatographed to remove hemoglobin.
Facilitated phosphatidylcholine flip-flop across erythrocyte membranes using low molecular weight synthetic translocases.

The transmembrane distribution of phospholipids plays an important regulatory role in human erythrocytes. Membrane-bound translocase enzymes maintain an asymmetric phospholipid distribution across the membrane monolayers by promoting transmembrane diffusion or flip-flop. Mechanistic understanding of the flip-flop process is weak at the molecular level. Recently, we discovered that amide and sulfonamide derivatives of tris(aminoethyl)amine facilitate phospholipid flip-flop across vesicle membranes; that is, they act as low molecular weight, synthetic translocases. In this report, NMR evidence is provided that suggests that the synthetic translocases work by forming a hydrogen-bonded complex with the phosphocholine headgroup which decreases headgroup polarity and promotes diffusion across the lipophilic interior of the membrane. Also cell morphology and fluorescence probe methods are used to show that these synthetic translocases facilitate phosphatidylcholine flip-flop across erythrocyte membranes. Additio...
An Ecological Model for Premature Infant Feeding

Premature infants are at increased risk for poor health, feeding difficulties, and impaired mother-infant interaction, leading to developmental delay. Social-environmental risks, such as poverty or minority status, compound these biological risks, placing premature infants in double jeopardy. Guided by an ecological model, the Hospital-Home Transition: Optimizing Prematures' Environment intervention combines the auditory, tactile, visual, and vestibular intervention with participatory guidance provided by a nurse and community advocate to address the impact of multiple risk factors on premature infants' development.
A low-power instruction replay mechanism for design of resilient microprocessors

There is a growing concern about the increasing rate of defects in computing substrates. Traditional redundancy solutions prove to be too expensive for commodity microprocessor systems. Modern microprocessors feature multiple execution units to take advantage of instruction level parallelism. However, most workloads do not exhibit the level of instruction level parallelism that a typical microprocessor is resourced for. This offers an opportunity to reexecute instructions using idle execution units. But, relying solely on idle resources will not provide full instruction coverage and there is a need to explore other alternatives. To that end, we propose and evaluate two instruction replay schemes within the same core for online testing of the execution units. One scheme (RER) reexecutes only the retired instructions, while the other (REI) reexecutes all the issued instructions. The complete proposed solution requires a comparator and minor modifications to control logic, resulting in negligible hardware overhead. Both soft and hard error detection are considered and the performance and energy impact of both schemes are evaluated and compared against previously proposed redundant execution schemes. Results show that even though the proposed schemes result in a small performance penalty when compared to previous work, the energy overhead is significantly reduced.