cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Achilles rupture and return to sport in professional athletes

Context: Despite Achilles rupture posing a potentially career-threatening injury to professional athletes, limited sports medicine research has been conducted to investigate how to improve the ability of players to return to sport after sustaining the injury. Objective: The main objective of the study is to aggregate the current literature on professional athlete return to play after Achilles tendon rupture in an attempt to identify the current strengths and gaps in knowledge. Materials and Methods: A PubMed literature reviews was performed using the terms “Achilles”and/or “elite,” “professional,” “return,” “sport,” “national basketball association”, “national football league,” “major league baseball,” “major league soccer,” “national hockey league,” “injury” to identify articles of interest. Only studies involving professional athletes in the major United States football, soccer, basketball, baseball, and hockey leagues as well as European Soccer Leagues who sustained a torn or ruptured Achilles tendon were included. Data Sources: PubMed literature search utilizing the key words, “Achilles” and/or “elite,” “professional,” “return,” “sport,” “national basketball association,” “national football league,” “major league baseball,” “Major League Soccer (MLS),” “national hockey league,” “injury.” Study Selection: Studies found using the keywords above were considered for inclusion. Individual case studies, injuries other than tear or rupture, and studies with unclear methodology were excluded. Nine studies met inclusion criteria. Study Design: This study is a review of published literature. Level of Evidence-IV: IV. Data Extraction: Data were taken directly from the included studies and aggregated. The quality and validity of the data is limited by the collection methodology of each individual study included. Results: Overall return-to-play percentage of 67.1% across all included studies with a total of 322 included participants. Soccer athletes were found to have the highest return percentage at 70.8% and baseball with the lowest at 55.6%. The average age of the players returning to play across all studies was 28.9 years, with football players comprising the youngest group at 27.5 years and baseball the oldest at 31.4 years. Conclusions: A lack of reliable data has made the study of professional athlete Achilles rupture and return to play a difficult endeavor. Despite the limitations, studies have shown that over 30% of players do not return to their respective sports, with no statistically significant correlation to age or position played. More research is needed to determine how specific injury patterns, rehabilitation protocols, and functional testing plays into the athletes' ability to return to play.
Lopinavir-ritonavir versus hydroxychloroquine for viral clearance and clinical improvement in patients with mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019.

Background/aims The efficacies of lopinavir-ritonavir or hydroxychloroquine remain to be determined in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To compare the virological and clinical responses to lopinavir-ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine treatment in COVID-19 patients. Methods This retrospective cohort study included patients with COVID-19 treated with lopinavir-ritonavir or hydroxychloroquine at a single center in Korea from February 17 to March 31, 2020. Patients treated with lopinavir-ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine concurrently and those treated with lopinavir-ritonavir or hydroxychloroquine for less than 7 days were excluded. Time to negative conversion of viral RNA, time to clinical improvement, and safety outcomes were assessed after 6 weeks of follow-up. Results Of 65 patients (mean age, 64.3 years; 25 men [38.5%]), 31 were treated with lopinavir-ritonavir and 34 were treated with hydroxychloroquine. The median duration of symptoms before treatment was 7 days and 26 patients (40%) required oxygen support at baseline. Patients treated with lopinavir-ritonavir had a significantly shorter time to negative conversion of viral RNA than those treated with hydroxychloroquine (median, 21 days vs. 28 days). Treatment with lopinavir-ritonavir (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24 to 4.21) and younger age (aHR, 2.64; 95% CI 1.43 to 4.87) was associated with negative conversion of viral RNA. There was no significant difference in time to clinical improvement between lopinavir-ritonavir- and hydroxychloroquine-treated patients (median, 18 days vs. 21 days). Lymphopenia and hyperbilirubinemia were more frequent in lopinavir-ritonavir-treated patients compared with hydroxychloroquine-treated patients. Conclusion Lopinavir-ritonavir was associated with more rapid viral clearance than hydroxychloroquine in mild to moderate COVID-19, despite comparable clinical responses. These findings should be confirmed in randomized, controlled trials.
Leibniz and the Molyneux Problem

The Molyneux problem is one of the major questions addressed by early modern authors. Whereas Locke’s response to Molyneux’s question has been the subject of extensive scholarly discussion, Leibniz’s response has received comparatively little attention. This paper defends an interpretation of Leibniz’s nuanced response to the problem and criticizes a competing interpretation that has recently been proposed.
Security Against Data-Sniffing and Alteration Attacks in IJTAG

The IEEE Std. 1687 (IJTAG) facilitates access to on-chip instruments in complex system-on-chip designs. However, a major security vulnerability in IJTAG has yet to be addressed. IJTAG supports the integration of tapped and wrapped instruments at the IP provider with hidden test-data registers (TDRs). The instruments with hidden TDRs can alter and steal the data that is shifted through them. These attacks are called “data-alteration” and “data-sniffing” attacks, respectively. We propose the addition of shadow TDRs (STDRs) and information-flow tracking logic to protect the shifted in test data from illegitimate alteration and leakage by malicious third-party IPs. We present two security architectures for IJTAG. The first architecture secures the IJTAG against data alteration and incurs no timing overhead. However, it does not secure IJTAG against data-sniffing attacks (DS). The second architecture is an upgrade to the first architecture where we repurpose the use of the STDRs and information-tracking logic to secure the IJTAG against both data-alteration and DS. However, it incurs timing overhead. We present security proofs, simulation results, and the overheads associated with these countermeasures for various benchmarks. We also discuss the tradeoffs in security and overhead between the two proposed architectures.
Running-specific prostheses reduce lower-limb muscle activity compared to daily-use prostheses in people with unilateral transtibial amputations.

Abstract People with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA) have biomechanical differences between the amputated and intact legs and compared to people without TTA during running. Additional biomechanical differences emerge between running with running-specific (RSPs) and daily-use prostheses (DUPs), but the associated underlying muscle activity is unclear. We collected surface electromyography from the biceps femoris long head, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and gastrocnemius as well as body kinematics and ground reaction forces in six people with and six people without TTA. We compared stance phase muscle activity and peak activation timing in people with and without TTA and between people using RSPs compared to DUPs during running at 3.5 m/s. Peak amputated leg hamstring activity occurred 34% (RSP) and 31% (DUP) earlier in stance phase compared to the intact leg. Peak amputated leg rectus femoris activity of people wearing DUPs occurred 8% and 9% later in stance phase than the intact leg of people wearing DUPs and amputated leg of people wearing RSPs, respectively. People with TTA had 45% (DUP) and 61% (RSP) smaller peak amputated leg knee extension moments compared to people without TTA, consistent with observations of quadriceps muscle activity. Using RSPs decreased overall muscle activity compared to DUPs.
"That is Care That you Just can't fake!": Identifying Best Practices for the Care of Vietnam Veterans at End of Life.

Abstract Context We reviewed the Veterans Health Administration Bereaved Family Survey's open-ended responses to understand end-of-life (EOL) care best practices for Vietnam and pre-Vietnam Veterans. Objectives To identify 1) recommendations for improved EOL care enhancements for older Veterans, 2) a model of best practices in EOL care for Veterans, and 3) any relevant differences in best practices between Vietnam and prior war eras. Methods We examined five years of Bereaved Family Survey data (n = 2784), collected between 2013 and 2017, from bereaved family members of Veterans focusing on 2 open-ended questions: 1) Is there anything else you would like to share about the Veteran's care during his last month of life? 2) Is there anything else you would like to share about how the care could have been improved for the Veteran? Applied thematic analysis identified successes and challenges in the experience of the bereaved of Vietnam and pre-Vietnam era Veterans. Results Regardless of war era and death venue, a patient-centered approach to EOL care with readily available staff who could 1) provide ongoing support, comfort, honor, and validation; 2) routinely adjust to the patient's changing needs; 3) and provide clear, honest, timely, compassionate communication was important to the bereaved. Consideration of the uniqueness of Vietnam Veterans is beneficial. Conclusions Patient-centered EOL care should include assigning a point of contact that follows the patient, educates the family on expectations, ensures the patient's changing needs are met, ensures the family has appropriate support, and communicates updates to the family throughout the patient's care continuum.
River segmentation for autonomous surface vehicle localization and river boundary mapping

We present a vision‐based algorithm that identifies the boundary separating water from land in a river environment containing specular reflections. Our approach relies on the law of reflection. Assuming the surface of water behaves like a horizontal mirror, the border separating land from water corresponds to the border separating three‐dimensional (3D) data which are either above or below the surface of water. We detect a river by identifying this border in a stereo camera. We start by demonstrating how to robustly estimate the normal and height of the water's surface with respect to a stereo camera. Then, we segment water from land by identifying the boundary separating dense 3D stereo data which are either above or below the water's surface. We explicitly show how to find this boundary by formulating and solving a graph‐based optimization problem using dense 3D stereo data near the shoreline and Dijkstra's algorithm. With the border of water identified, we validate the proposed river boundary detection algorithm by applying it to a chronologically sequential video sequence obtained from the visual‐inertial canoe data set. The intended purpose of the proposed river segmentation algorithm is to be used as a front‐end object recognition module for solving the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem; therefore, using the extracted river boundary, we apply the recently developed visual‐inertial Curve SLAM algorithm to localize a canoe and create a sparse map that recovers the outline, shape, and dimensions of the shoreline of a river.
Assessing and managing symptom burden and quality of life in primary sclerosing cholangitis patients

Introduction: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a progressive disease of the bile ducts for which there is no cure. As no therapy has proven to delay this progression, the current focus for t...
Cost-effectiveness of Nivolumab-Ipilimumab Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Importance Treatment with nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy was found to improve overall survival compared with chemotherapy among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the CheckMate 227 clinical trial. However, these drugs are substantially more expensive than chemotherapy and, given the high incidence of advanced NSCLC, the incorporation of dual immune checkpoint inhibitors into the standard of care could have substantial economic consequences. Objective To assess whether nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy is a cost-effective first-line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. Design, Setting, and Participants This economic evaluation designed a Markov model to compare the cost-effectiveness of nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy with platinum-doublet chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. The Markov model was created to simulate patients with advanced NSCLC who were receiving either nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy or platinum-doublet chemotherapy. Transition probabilities, including disease progression, survival, and treatment toxic effects, were derived using data from the CheckMate 227 clinical trial. Costs and health utilities were obtained from published literature. Data analyses were conducted from November 2019 to September 2020. Exposures Nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary study outcomes were quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and cost in 2020 US dollars. Cost-effectiveness was measured using an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), with an ICER less than $100 000 per QALY considered cost-effective. Model uncertainty was assessed with 1-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Results Treatment with nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy was associated with an increase in overall cost of $201 900 and improved effectiveness of 0.50 QALYs compared with chemotherapy, yielding an ICER of $401 700 per QALY. The study model was sensitive to the cost and duration of immunotherapy. Treatment with nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy became cost-effective when monthly treatment costs were reduced from $26 425 to $5058 (80.9% reduction) or when the maximum duration of immunotherapy was reduced from 24.0 months to 1.4 months. The model was not sensitive to assumptions about survival or programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 status. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that, at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000 per QALY, nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy was less cost-effective than chemotherapy 99.9% of the time. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, first-line treatment with nivolumab-ipilimumab combination therapy was not found to be cost-effective at current prices despite clinical trial data indicating that this regimen increases overall survival among patients with advanced NSCLC.
Depressive Symptomology and Hostile Affect among Latinos Using Housing Rental Assistance: the AHOME Study

Studies show that those residing in households subsidized with federal housing vouchers exhibit fewer mental health problems than residents of public housing. The role of housing conditions and neighborhood quality in this relationship is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between rental assistance, housing and neighborhood conditions, and the risk of depressive symptomology and hostile affect among low-income Latino adults living in the Bronx, NY. Latino adults participating in the Affordable Housing as an Obesity Mediating Environment (AHOME) study were used for analysis. All AHOME participants were eligible for federal low-income housing rental assistance (n = 385) and living in the Bronx, New York (2010–2012). Housing (crowding and structural deficiencies) and neighborhood (physical disorder and social cohesion) were measured by questionnaire during in-home interview. Depressive symptomology was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale Short Form, CES-D 10 (score ≥10). Hostile affect was measured using items from the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (score ≥ 4). Results suggest residents of Section 8 housing have similar levels of depressive symptomology and hostility compared to residents in public housing or those receiving no federal housing assistance. However, depressive symptomology was significantly associated with maintenance deficiencies [OR = 1.17; CI 1.02, 1.35] and social cohesion [OR = 0.71; CI 0.55, 0.93]. Hostility was significantly associated with perceived crowding [OR = 1.18; CI 1.16, 2.85], neighborhood physical disorder [OR = 1.94; CI 1.12, 3.40], and social cohesion [OR = 0.70; CI 0.50, 0.98]. Low-income housing assistance did not have an independent effect on mental health outcomes. However, characteristics of the housing and neighborhood environments were associated with depressive symptomology and hostility.
Asymmetric group iv msm photodetectors with reduced dark currents

Effective dark current suppression in metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PD) using asymmetric metal electrodes is demonstrated. Improved signal-to-noise ratios normalized to input optical power (NSNR) as high as ~800mW−1 is achieved for Ge MSMs.
From hypercentralization to diversity

Abstract The Soviet secondary education system has been undergoing a protracted period of reform. Initiated in the Brezhnev era as a way to improve central control and coordination to meet economic and labor force needs, the reforms have changed profoundly as Gorbachev's perestroika has evolved. In the face of resource stringency and political confusion, authority over the education system and responsibility for its financing has increasingly devolved to republican, regional, and local authorities. In this process there have been a few striking success stories, accompanied by a tremendous amount of confusion. It would now be impossible to reassemble the old centralized system, but it is not yet clear what will take its place.
Unique roles for E2F1 in the mouse lens in the absence of functional pRB proteins.

Purpose Normal lens fiber cell differentiation requires functional retinoblastoma protein (pRB), because inactivation of this protein results in proliferation and apoptosis in normally postmitotic, differentiating fiber cells. Loss of either E2F1 or -3 can partially rescue the lens phenotype in Rb-deficient mice, implying that these E2Fs may have specific targets in this system. The purpose of this study was to determine what unique role E2F1 may play. Methods Expression of E2F family members and target genes was analyzed in the lenses of nontransgenic, E2F1-null, alphaAE7;E2F1-sufficient; and alphaAE7;E2F1-null mice by in situ hybridization, Northern blot analysis, and RT-PCR. Results In lenses of E2F1-null mice, there was no change in the expression of E2F-2 to -5 or their target genes, compared with E2F1-sufficient mice. However, in the lens of alphaAE7 mice where pRB proteins are inactivated, expression of E2F2 and -3a was increased. The E2F3a increase, but not that of E2F2, was dependent on E2F1. Expression of E2F target genes was increased with expression of E7 and expression of one of these, p19ARF, was E2F1 dependent. Conclusions Although in the normal lens there do not appear to be unique roles for E2F1 that cannot be fulfilled by other E2F family members, in the absence of functional pRB proteins, E2F1 is specifically responsible for the increased expression of E2F3a and p19ARF. These findings suggest that E2F1 may be the preferred E2F regulating these target genes in the normal lens.
Attorney General Mukasey’s Defense of Irresponsibility

Attorney General Mukasey’s commencement speech at Boston College Law School did a disservice to the institution. First, it gave a platform to one whose position on torture is contrary to the humanitarian values of the school. Second, by encouraging students to divorce their own morals from their legal reasoning and simply “say what the law is,” it reduced the practice of law to a mere exercise in research, devoid of any of the principles for which the school (and legal education in general) stands. This Article addresses two issues surrounding Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s invitation to speak at Boston College Law School. First, his invitation undercut what we teach about the role of the lawyer. Second, the speech he gave was insulting to our graduates and unhelpful to our pedagogical goals. As a member of the faculty, I welcome and encourage debate and discourse at Boston College Law School, both inside and outside the classroom. In furtherance of such debate, individual professors and students need not be neutral about legal controversies.1 Moreover, in celebrating debate within an institution, the institution itself need not refrain from taking a strong position.2 * Professor of Law and Law Fund Research Scholar, Boston College Law School. The author thanks Greg Nannery and Zack Kurland for excellent research assistance. 1 See, e.g., An Examination of the Constitutional Amendment on Marriage Before the Subcomm. on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, 109th Cong. (2005) (statement of Scott Fitzgibbon) (BCLS professor arguing that expanding definition of marriage to allow gay couples to marry degrades institution of marriage and family unit); Ray D. Madoff, Dog Eat Your Taxes?, N.Y. Times, July 9, 2008, at A23 (BCLS professor arguing “there should be a limit . . . on the estate tax charitable deduction” so that U.S. taxpayers are not “subsidiz[ing] the whims of the rich and fulfill[ing] their fantasies of immortality.”); John H. Garvey, State Putting Church Out of Adoption Business, Boston Globe, Mar. 14, 2006, at A15 (Dean of BCLS arguing that religious institutions that refuse to place children in homosexual households should be allowed to participate in Massachusetts adoption services). 2 See Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, 547 U.S. 47, 60 (2006) (“The Solomon Amendment neither limits what law schools may say nor requires them to say anything. Law schools remain free under the statute to express whatever views they may have on the military’s congressionally mandated employment policy, all the while retaining eligibility for federal funds.”); Transcript of Oral Argument at 25, Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, 547 U.S. 47 (No. 04-1152) (Solicitor General acknowledging that law
A prototype of WideBand/Ethernet bridge using WEMAC

In this paper we present a full System prototype for the WideBand/Ethernet Bridge for Application Specific Integrated Circuit, (ASIC) Using WEMAC, WEMAC is the WideBand Embedded Media Access Controller (WEMAC), which provides the efficient bandwidth for WideBand network users. WEMAC controls the flow of data between its different network devices. WEMAC prevents collisions using the Buffered Packet Synchronization (BPS) approach. It also eliminates the need of a computer to connect any digital device to a Local Area Network (LAN), with significant improvement for the performance/cost ratio. WEMAC is synthesized in FPGA using ASIC. Performance characteristics like power consumption and delay are measured using the ASIC tool. Analysis revealed that WEMAC reduces the power consumption. If the devices are no longer consuming high power, they can be powered through a category-5 network cable and eliminate the process of regular electrical power outlet installations and maintenance. The full System prototype can be used in future for quantitative buffer measures, and total performance/cost evaluation.
Comparative biochemistry and pharmacology of salivary gland secretions : III. Chromatographic isolation of a myocardial depressor protein (MDP) from the venom of crotalus atrox

Abstract A protein has been isolated from the venom of the western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) which induces acute myocardial depression when administered to experimental animals. Purification was achieved by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, DEAE- and CM-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography, ultrafiltration, and adsorption chromatography on hydroxyapatite. Amino acid analysis of the highly purified protein indicated N-terminal isoleucine and C-terminal tyrosine residues, and the absence of free sulfhydryl groups. Rabbits were immunized against the myocardial depressor protein (MDP) and a highly specific antiserum prepared which made it possible to study other snake venoms for the presence or absence of MDP. All of the North American Crotalid species of snakes contain MDP in varying degrees of concentration, but none of the Asiatic snake venoms tested reacted with the antiserum to the myocardial depressor protein. Intravenous administration of MDP to experimental animals (dogs, cats) produces an immediate and profound decrease in the cardiac output, the left ventricular systolic and mean pressures, the velocity of shortening of the contractile element, the systemic arterial pressure and an elevation in the left ventricular end-diastolic and pulmonary wedge pressures. These hemodynamic changes indicate that MDP administration induces an acute myocardial failure which is dose dependent. The potential use of this protein for the reproducible causation of left ventricular failure, obviating the need for the more commonly used surgical ligation of the coronary arteries, warrants a full investigation into its structure, active site and its mechanism of action on the myocardial cell.
Regional assignment of ADA and ITPA to mouse chromosome 2 (C1→ter) A demonstration of the conserved linkage of enzyme and proto-oncogene loci

Similarity of G-band patterns between the long arm of Chinese hamster chromosome 6 and mouse chromosome 2, combined with the assignments of AK1, ADA, and ITPA to hamster chromosome 6 and AK1 to mouse chromosome 2, suggested mouse chromosome 2 also might contain ADA and ITPA. Here, concordant segregation analysis of enzyme loci and chromosomes in mouse spleen X CHO as well as mouse microcell X CHO somatic cell hybrids established the assignments of ADA and ITPA onto mouse chromosome 2 in the region between the first G-band and the terminus (C1----ter). This assignment presents a demonstration of the conservation and evolution of enzyme and proto-oncogene loci linkage since two cellular homologs of viral oncogenes--c-src and c-abl--also map to mouse chromosome 2. In humans c-src, ADA, and ITPA remain conserved on chromosome 20, whereas AK1 and c-abl are together on chromosome 9. These observations and concepts are discussed with respect to the role of proto-oncogenes in chromosomal evolution and suggest the long arm of chromosome 6 as a fruitful place to look for c-src and c-abl in the Chinese hamster.
The Road Toward Tenure

This paper/presentation outlines a “top ten list” of key strategies that will aid in the tenure process for new faculty members. Research and focus group comments are interwoven with the experiences of one faculty member. The strategies described include; integrating teaching, research and service, learning the culture and politics, organization, devoted time to research and planning, focusing on your passions, setting goals, setting high standards, learning from others, prioritizing and balancing, and celebrating your accomplishments. As one begins an academic career, the thought of earning tenure can be daunting and overwhelming, yet by approaching it as a planned journey, one can enjoy the road along the way and celebrate the destination. In September, 2008 I earned tenure. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the steps and strategies that guided me during my process. Although I will cite recommendations outlined by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the American Council on Education (ACE) and other research (Boyer, 1990; Bradley, 2005; Caesar, 2004; DeGeorge, 1997; Fox, 2006; Holly 1977; Mullen, 2000; Ward, 2004; Sotello, 2000; Zellers, 2006), my intent is primarily to share my own experiences. I will contrast this with conversations I have had with other colleagues during focus group discussions to demonstrate that we must each follow our own path to arrive at our destination. Hopefully, this will assist you as you plan your journey. But please note that this is what worked for me. Do not follow my precise path; I encourage you to set your own course. Know where you are headed and plan, intentionally and deliberately, to ensure that you will not only be successful in reaching your destination but to grow and develop throughout the entire journey.
The program of grand challenge problems: expectations and results

The US high performance computing community still uses the term "Grand Challenge" for a variety of difficult problems in computational science. Though it was primarily a means of communicating computing goals to nonpractitioners, it also serves the useful purpose of letting practitioners focus on defining goals more carefully. For purposes of Grand Challenge computing, it is essential to have precise goals, and a way of measuring progress toward those goals. Many Grand Challenges have neither. A particularly common error is to measure the size of a computing problem with some integer "N" that represents the number of grid points or the number of particles or some other count of a discrete quantity. Another common error is to use measures of hardware activity, such as floating point operations per second, as a valid goal for an application programmer. The paper presents an approach to measuring the progress of physical simulations that shows promise for putting computational efforts on firmer scientific ground.
Building for Earthquakes

Most earthquake losses result from damage to structures, but much can be done to mitigate urban earthquake risk. Because basic data and analysis are lacking for how buildings and other structures perform under extreme loads, this Policy Forum describes two U.S. government programs for expanding placement of recording instruments and sensors in seismic regions and for developing tools for modeling and simulation to predict building performance during earthquakes. These combined efforts could lead to significant progress toward building resiliency in the urban environment.
Effect of primary language on developmental testing in children born extremely preterm

Aim The aim of this study was to better understand the impact of non-English language spoken in the home on measures of cognition, language and behaviour in toddlers born extremely preterm. Methods Eight hundred and fifty children born at <28 weeks of gestational ages were studied. 427 male and 423 female participants from three racial/ethnic groups (White, Black and Hispanic) were evaluated at 18–22 months adjusted for age using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development third edition and the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA). Children whose primary language was Spanish (n = 98) were compared with children whose primary language was English (n = 752), using multivariable regression adjusted for medical and psychosocial factors. Results Cognitive scores were similar between groups; however, receptive, expressive and composite language scores were lower for children whose primary language was Spanish. These differences remained significant after adjustment for medical and socio-economic factors. Spanish-speaking children scored worse on the BITSEA competence and problem scores using univariate analysis, but not after adjustment for medical and socio-economic factors. Conclusion Our finding that preterm children whose primary language was Spanish had similar cognitive but lower language scores than those whose primary language was English suggests that using English language-based testing tools may introduce bias against non-English-speaking children born preterm.
Hypoglycemia in childhood type 1 diabetes mellitus: Understanding and managing the dark side of intensive insulin therapy

Abstract Background: Despite the availability of advanced insulin delivery systems, blood glucose-monitoring equipment, and insulin analogue formulations, hypoglycemia remains a significant concern in the treatment of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). Furthermore, patients who manage their blood glucose levels most effectively may also be the ones at greatest risk for hypoglycemia. Objective: The aim of this article was to review current issues surrounding the pathophysiology and frequency of hypoglycemia in children and adolescents with type 1 DM. Methods: Relevant articles for this review were identified through a search of MEDLINE (1992–2007; English-language articles only). The search terms used were children, adolescents, hypoglycemia, diabetes, insulin, and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion . Results: The threat of severe hypoglycemia remains a major obstacle to the effective treatment of type 1 DM. Basalbolus therapy, using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion or multiple daily injections, is the most effective and flexible method available for maintaining good glycemic control in children as well as in adults. Insulin analogues can be used effectively in these regimens and may be helpful toward addressing risks for hypoglycemia. Patient education should also be given a high priority in addressing the risk of hypoglycemia in children and adolescents with type 1 DM. The development of continuous glucose-monitoring systems offers the potential for an even brighter future for this group of patients. Conclusions: Recent advances in DM technology reduce but do not eliminate the risk of hypoglycemia in youth with type 1 DM. These observations underscore the need for a closed-loop insulin delivery system in which the rate of insulin infusion is regulated by real-time changes in glucose concentrations. ( Insulin. 2007;2:157–165) Key words: type 1 diabetes mellitus; hypoglycemia; children; adolescents; insulin analogue; continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion; multiple daily injections; basal-bolus therapy. Accepted for publication 09052007
Fatigue behavior of a precipitation hardening Ni−Al−Cu medium carbon steel

The fatigue behavior of an Fe-0.3 wt pet C-4 wt pet Ni-1 wt pet Al-1 wt pet Cu precipitation hardening steel was investigated in three different heat treated conditions which give similar tensile strengths but different microstructures. One heat treatment produced a lightly tempered lath martensite having fine carbides and a high dislocation density. The other two heat treatments produced highly tempered martensite with coarse carbides, fine intermetallic precipitates and a relatively low dislocation density. The steel in the lightly tempered condition showed marked softening on strain cycling while the highly tempered conditions resulted in both hardening and softening. The lightly tempered structure had better low cycle fatigue resistance but the two highly tempered structures had better high cycle resistance. The dislocation substructure in the lightly tempered steel rearranges itself and accommodates plastic strain during cyclic deformation while the substructure in the highly tempered structures containing fine precipitates resists rearrangement. This difference is suggested as the reason for the differences in behavior. The three conditions show little variation in their resistance to fatigue crack propagation. However, the highly tempered, precipitate containing structures were much more resistant to fatigue crack initiation in notched specimens.
Disynaptic vestibulospinal and reticulospinal excitation in cat lumbosacral motoneurons : modulation during fictive locomotion

This study compares some characteristics of the disynaptic excitatory pathways from the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) and medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF) to lumbosacral α-motoneurons in the decerebrate cat. We used the spatial facilitation technique to test whether disynaptic LVN and MLF excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) are produced by common last-order interneurons in the lumbosacral segments of the spinal cord. Of 77 motoneurons examined, 26 exhibited disynaptic EPSPs from both supraspinal sources. No spatial facilitation was found between LVN and MLF EPSPs in 21 of 24 cells that were adequately tested. In 3 of 23 cells (all flexor motoneurons), some spatial facilitation was found in some but not all trials. These observations suggest that stimulation of the LVN and MLF produces disynaptic EPSPs in motoneurons through largely separate populations of last-order interneurons. Disynaptic MLF and LVN EPSPs showed parallel patterns of modulation during fictive locomotion. Maximal disynaptic EPSP amplitudes occurred during the phase of the step cycle when the recorded motoneuron, whether flexor or extensor, exhibited depolarizing locomotor drive potentials and the corresponding muscle nerve was active. These observations, taken together, suggest that disynaptic LVN and MLF EPSPs are produced in motoneurons by at least four separate populations of segmental last-order excitatory interneurons, with separate populations projecting to flexor versus extensor cells. The results also suggest that the modulation of the disynaptic EPSPs during fictive locomotion is mainly due to premotoneuronal convergence of input from the respective descending systems and from the segmental central pattern generator for locomotion onto common interneurons.
Solvent perturbs the reactivity of tert-butylcarbene

Abstract Two different sources of tert -butylcarbene are used to generate this reactive intermediate in a variety of solvents. Two products, 1,1-dimethylcyclopropane and 2-methyl-2-butene are formed. Solvents able to form an ylid or complex with the carbene strongly favor the alkene product.
A Data Locality and Skew Aware Task Scheduler for MapReduce in Cloud Computing

Abstract Inspired by the success and the increasing prevalence of MapReduce, this work proposes a novel MapReduce task scheduler. MapReduce is by far one of the most successful realizations of large-scale, data-intensive, cloud computing platforms. As compared to traditional programming models, MapReduce automatically and efficiently parallelizes computation by running multiple Map and/or Reduce tasks over distributed data across multiple machines. Hadoop, an open source implementation of MapReduce, schedules Map tasks in the vicinity of their input splits seeking diminished network traffic. However, when Hadoop schedules Reduce tasks, it neither exploits data locality nor addresses data partitioning skew inherent in many MapReduce applications. Consequently, MapReduce experiences a performance penalty and network congestion as observed in our experimental results. Recently there has been some work concerned with leveraging data locality in Reduce task scheduling. For instance, one study suggests a locali...
Patient knowledge of immunotherapy before and after an educational intervention: a comparison of 2 methods.

Background Immunotherapy is an invaluable therapy for allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, and hymenoptera hypersensitivity. It is, however, not without risks. Objectives To examine patient knowledge regarding immunotherapy and to determine the most effective educational method to improve their knowledge by answering the following questions: Before educational intervention, what is the current knowledge level regarding allergy vaccinations of patients receiving immunotherapy? What effect does an educational encounter have on that level of knowledge? Which educational intervention-a one-on-one session vs a handout-if either, increases patient knowledge more? Methods An original, self-administered patient questionnaire was distributed to all patients receving immunotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to a control group, an intervention group that received an educational handout monthly for 2 months, or an intervention group that had a one-on-one educational session with a physician or nurse practitioner. After 3 months, all patients completed an identical followup questionnaire. Pretest and posttest scores were compared for each group and among the different groups to determine which method was more effective. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine the effect of instruction type on differences in pretest and posttest scores. Results All 3 groups significantly improved their mean overall questionnaire scores ( P P = .59). Conclusions Baseline immunotherapy knowledge of allergy vaccination patients was better than expected, and further educational interventions did not significantly improve this knowledge.
Variegated Gene Activation and Stochastic Odorant Receptor Choice

Abstract Each olfactory sensory neuron in the mammalian nose selects just a single member of the large odorant receptor (OR) gene family. The core processes regulating OR selection may involve mechanisms that limit initial OR transcription and once a single OR is chosen, repress subsequent activations. We have used a genetic strategy to monitor the transcriptional permissiveness of the OR gene P2 by inserting an exogenous promoter, the tetracycline-dependent transactivator responsive promoter (teto), into its start site through homologous recombination. We observe that the OR locus limits the expression of the teto: repressing it outside of the wild type P2 zone while allowing sporadic activation from within its zone. Staged conditional expression experiments reveal that the receptor locus becomes fully repressed over time and that this repression does not require the receptor's open reading frame. Further, the exogenous promoter is inhibited by an OR transgene that similarly suppresses the endogenous rec...
Biomimetic CaP coating incorporated with parathyroid hormone improves the osseointegration of titanium implant

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a well-known therapeutic agent for osteoporosis treatment, however, the inconvenience of daily administration and side effect from systematic administration severely limits its application in clinic. PTH has been incorporated into a biomimetic calcium phosphate (CaP) coating via a co-precipitation method in a modified simulated body fluid. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the osseointegration response of PTH incorporated CaP coating on titanium implants. Implants with different doses of PTH were inserted into tibiae of mice and evaluated by X-ray, micro-CT, histology and back-scattered scanning electron microscopy. Improved osseointegration of the implants loaded with PTH was observed compared to CaP coating only after 28 days of implantation in mouse tibiae. Micro-CT analysis showed better bone integration around the implant incorporated with PTH. Bone area and bone contact evaluations have demonstrated that peri-implant bone regeneration is highly dependent on the dosage of PTH incorporated. The higher the PTH content, the more bone formed surrounding the implant. Therefore, our results suggest that biomimetic CaP coating could be a useful a carrier for PTH local delivery, which results in improved bone-to-implant integration.
Review: chemokines in transplantation

Abstract The alloimmune response in solid organ transplantation is characterized by antigen presentation, activation of the recipient's immune system, and an effector response. Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines and play a role in all 3 components of the alloimmune response. Early studies showed an effectiveness of chemokine receptor blockade in experimental transplant models; chemokine receptor blockers will become more widely available because of their development for other applications. This review intends to summarize the available experimental evidence surrounding chemokines in transplantation. It will first describe the inflammatory chemokine/receptor pairs IP-10/CXCR3, Regulated upon Activation, Normal T-cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES)/CCR5, and MCP-1/CCR2 and then cover studies regarding dendritic cell trafficking, memory cell trafficking, and regulatory cell trafficking, as well as the role of chemokines in the innate immune system. The role of S1P receptors and its antagonist FTY720 will be covered because it exemplifies the importance of trafficking for the immune response. Especially as subsets of lymphocytes and dendritic cells will be better defined as far as their regulatory and memory function is concerned, chemokine targeting strategies will be important in transplantation.
Human mitochondrial transcription factor A and promoter spacing integrity are required for transcription initiation.

Abstract The two major promoters for transcription of the human mitochondrial genome are located near each other in the displacement-loop region of the molecule. Previous work has localized these promoters to regions of
Husband-Wife Differences In Coping With Product Malfunctions

The subject of this paper is how households divide the labor of dealing with product mal functions. To date, this question has been treated only obliquely in studies of overall division of household work or consumer complaining behavior. Comparing data from both husband and wife in each of 457 households, substantial differences in the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of spouses toward product malfunctions are found. The most important finding is that even when one controls for gender differences in the attitudes and types of knowledge which assist consumers in handling product breakdowns, husbands are consistently assigned the role of handling malfunctions. This pattern is so strong that it persists even in house holds where wives have superior resources with which to cope with product malfunctions.
Angular and time dependence of electron transmission through a macroscale tapered glass capillary

The transmission of electrons through a tapered glass capillary was observed for 500, 800 and 1000 eV incident electrons up to about ~1?. No significant energy loss was found for the sample tilt angles investigated. The guiding ability of electrons was found to decrease with increasing energy. Time evolution measurements reveal unstable transmission through the capillary consistent with sudden bursts of elastic transmissions.
Antioxidant enzyme activities in lens, liver and kidney of calorie restricted Emory mice

Abstract Dietary calorie restriction extends both mean and maximum life span and retards age-related diseases, including eye lens cataract in Emory mice. The beneficial effects of calorie restriction have been hypothesized to reflect enhanced tissue antioxidant capacity. As a test of this hypothesis, we reared male and female Emory mice on control (C) or 40% calorie-restricted (R) diets. We then determined activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) in eye lens, liver and kidney of young (4.5 or 6 months), mature (11 or 12 months) and old (22 months) animals. Effects of diet, age and sex were evaluated by multi-factor ANOVA. Only kidney GR activities (mean±S.E.M.) were significantly enhanced with the R diet (R, 61±2 vs. C, 54±3 U/mg protein; P=0.03). More frequently, we noted reduced antioxidant enzyme activity in R as compared with C animals, including reduced activities of T-SOD in lens, liver and kidney, Cu/Zn-SOD in liver and kidney, liver Mn-SOD and liver CAT (P
Current patterns in nosocomial urinary tract infections.

Abstract Nosocomial infections develop in about 5 percent of patients admitted to acute care hospitals in the United States. The genitourinary tract is the primary site of infection in about 40 percent of cases, and urinary tract instrumentation and catheterization are implicated in about 80 percent of genitourinary tract nosocomial infections. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections are a frequent source of serious patient morbidity, urosepsis, and even death. The pathogenesis, risk factors, consequences, and preventive measures concerning nosocomial urinary tract infections are reviewed and specific guidelines for catheter management are offered.