cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The use of community based learning in educating college students in Midwestern USA

Abstract Community-based learning (CBL) integrates service to the community with classroom learning in order to help students develop personal skills and a sense of civic responsibility as well as academic skills. The current literature describes numerous benefits of CBL, yet it mostly employs qualitative methods and offers mostly anecdotal evidence. This study used survey data in order to provide qualitative assessment of the impact of CBL across multiple domains including: academics, critical thinking skills, communication ability, inter-personal skills, local and global citizenship, and intra-personal development. Age, gender, and year-in-school differences in student perceptions of CBL benefits are also analyzed and reported.
Cellular Redox State and Endothelial Dysfunction in Mildly Hyperhomocysteinemic Cystathionine β-Synthase–Deficient Mice

Previous in vitro experiments have shown that hyperhomocysteinemia leads to oxidative inactivation of nitric oxide, in part by inhibiting the expression of cellular glutathione peroxidase (GPx-1). To elucidate the role of intracellular redox status on homocysteine-induced endothelial dysfunction and oxidant stress, heterozygous cystathionine beta-synthase-deficient (CBS(-/+)) and wild-type (CBS(+/+)) mice were treated with the cysteine donor L-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (OTC). CBS(-/+) mice had significantly lower GPx-1 activity compared with their CBS(+/+) littermates, and OTC treatment led to a modest increase in tissue GPx-1 activity and significant increases in total thiols and in reduced glutathione levels in both CBS(+/+) and CBS(-/+) mice. Superfusion of the mesentery with beta-methacholine or bradykinin produced dose-dependent vasodilation of mesenteric arterioles in CBS(+/+) mice and in CBS(+/+) mice treated with OTC. In contrast, mesenteric arterioles from CBS(-/+) mice manifested dose-dependent vasoconstriction in response to both agonists. OTC treatment of CBS(-/+) mice restored normal microvascular vasodilator reactivity to beta-methacholine and bradykinin. These findings demonstrate that mild hyperhomocysteinemia leads to endothelial dysfunction in association with decreased bioavailable nitric oxide. Increasing the cellular thiol and reduced glutathione pools and increasing GPx-1 activity restores endothelial function. These findings emphasize the importance of intracellular redox balance for nitric oxide bioactivity and endothelial function.
Effect of 5-(phenylselenenyl)acyclouridine, an inhibitor of uridine phosphorylase, on plasma concentration of uridine released from 2',3',5'-tri-O-acetyluridine, a prodrug of uridine: relevance to uridine rescue in chemotherapy.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to study the effects of combining oral 5-(phenylselenenyl)acyclouridine (PSAU) with 2′,3′,5′-tri-O-acetyluridine (TAU) on the levels of plasma uridine in mice. PSAU is a new lipophilic and potent inhibitor of uridine phosphorylase (UrdPase, EC 2.4.2.3), the enzyme responsible for uridine catabolism. PSAU has 100% oral bioavailability and is a powerful enhancer of the bioavailability of oral uridine. TAU is a prodrug of uridine and a far superior source of uridine than uridine itself. Methods: Oral TAU was administered to mice alone or with PSAU. The plasma levels of uridine and its catabolites as well as PSAU were measured using HPLC and pharmacokinetic analysis was performed. Results: Oral administration of 2000 mg/kg TAU increased plasma uridine by over 250-fold with an area under the curve (AUC) of 754 μmol · h/l. Coadministration of PSAU at 30 and 120 mg/kg with TAU further improved the bioavailability of plasma uridine resulting from the administration of TAU alone by 1.7- and 3.9-fold, respectively, and reduced the Cmax and AUC of plasma uracil. Conclusion: The exceptional effectiveness of PSAU plus TAU in elevating and sustaining a high plasma uridine concentration could be useful in the management of medical disorders that are remedied by administration of uridine, as well as the rescue or protection from host toxicities of various chemotherapeutic pyrimidine analogues.
Health related quality of life in patients with total hip or knee replacement.

Abstract Objective: The Quality of Well Being index (QWB) and the SF-36 are questionnaires that have received widespread use in outcomes research. The relationship between the QWB index and the SF-36 was studied in patients receiving total hip or knee replacement because of primary osteoarthritis, and the health status of these individuals was contrasted to that of the general population. Design: The QWB and SF-36 were both administered preoperatively and postoperatively and at 3 and 6 months in individuals with hip or knee replacement. Setting: A primary care university teaching hospital. Patients: Forty-three subjects with an age range of 30 to 78 years (mean 58yrs, SD 10.6) who received total joint replacement, either hip or knee. Results: The change in the QWB at 3 and 6 months after a total hip replacement or total knee replacement was most associated with the change in general health (.50), bodily pain (.72), and vitality (.62) of the SF-36. Both tools (QWB, SF-36) demonstrated similar levels of responsiveness and the scores were lower than the scores from the general population. Conclusion: The summary score of the QWB and various health concepts of the SF-36 respond similarly after joint replacement from osteoarthritis. The relationship between the change in the QWB and SF-36 depends on the time after surgery (3 vs 6 months) and the type of joint replacement (knee vs hip).
The Human and Economic Burden of Epilepsy.

People with epilepsy may be facing a greater burden from uncontrolled seizures than we have realized. A national cost of epilepsy study just released suggests that more than one million individuals currently living with the disorder (44%) continue to have uncontrolled seizures, despite treatment (1). The report shows a stark division in cost and quality of life between people with persistent seizures and people whose seizures go into early remission. The study, sponsored by the Epilepsy Foundation with support from Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Hoechst Marion Roussel), concluded that the annual economic cost of epilepsy in the United States was $12.5 billion, and the lifetime cost of the 181,000 new cases of seizures and epilepsy that develop each year was $11.1 billion. The report confirms the long-held suspicion that people who continue to have seizures bear a more severe financial burden. In fact, about 80% of the cost is concentrated within the prevalent population with persistent seizures. The average direct medical cost per person (including hospital costs, costs of antiepileptic drugs, physician visits, and diagnostic tests) was $6429 over 6 years, with dramatically higher costs at the beginning. In the first year, for example, 58% visited the emergency room and 40% were hospitalized at least once. Costs for the elderly over the same period were highest, at $10,612. Antiepileptic drug therapy (based on wholesale drug prices) accounted for 29% of the average costs, followed by inpatient hospital care (22%) and physician visits (12%). The latter costs were determined by Medicare reimbursement rates. The study, conducted by Charles E. Begley, Melissa Famulari, the late John F. Annegers, and colleagues, is entitled “The Cost of Epilepsy in the United States: An Estimate from Population-Based Clinical and Survey Data.” The investigators derived direct treatment-related costs of epilepsy from onset through 6 years from billing and medical chart data for 608 incident cases at the Kelsey–Seybold managed care system in Houston, Texas, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
A generalized regression neural network and its application for leaf wetness prediction to forecast plant disease

Abstract The objective of this paper was the development of an optimal generalized regression neural network (GRNN) for leaf wetness prediction. The GRNN prediction results were compared to those obtained with the standard multiple linear regression (MLR). Leaf wetness, which is difficult to measure directly, has an important effect on the development of disease on plants. In this study, leaf wetness was predicted from micrometeorological factors (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and precipitation). Simulations showed than the MLR provided an average absolute prediction error of 0.1300 for the training set and 0.1414 for the test set. The GRNN provided an average absolute prediction errors of 0.0491 and 0.0894 on the same data sets, respectively. This error is very low since the leaf wetness initially varies between 0 and 1. The optimized GRNN, therefore, outperformed the MLR in terms of the prediction accuracy. However, the GRNN required more computational time than the MLR. The main disadvantage of the MLR is that it assumes a linear relationship between the feature to be predicted and the measured features. The GRNN automatically extracts the appropriate regression model (linear or nonlinear) from the data.
Relative persistence and dispersal of age-0 and age-1 largemouth bass stocked into two Ohio River embayments

ABSTRACT In October of 1998 the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources stocked age-0 [mean total length (MTL) = 178 mm] and age-1 (MTL = 273 mm) hatchery-reared largemouth bass into two embayments of the Ohio River. Stocked fish were fitted with both an anchor tag and a visible implant elastomer mark. A multifaceted sampling approach was undertaken to (1) evaluate the persistence of stocked largemouth bass, (2) estimate fidelity of stocked largemouth bass to release sites, and (3) compare return rates of the two age classes. Although stocked largemouth bass comprised the majority (81%) of all bass captured in electrofishing surveys of the stocked embayments during fall 1998, catches declined rapidly during winter 1998, and by spring and summer 1999 stocked largemouth bass were virtually absent from electrofishing surveys. Creel surveys indicated no catch of stocked largemouth bass in the release sites after winter 1998. Electrofishing surveys, creel surveys, and angler call-ins all suggested stocked ...
Immunization with heat-killed Francisella tularensis LVS elicits protective antibody-mediated immunity.

Francisella tularensis (FT) has been classified by the CDC as a category A pathogen because of its high virulence and the high mortality rate associated with infection via the aerosol route. Because there is no licensed vaccine available for FT, development of prophylactic and therapeutic regimens for the prevention/treatment of infection is a high priority. In this report, heat-killed FT live vaccine strain (HKLVS) was employed as a vaccine immunogen, either alone or in combination with an adjuvant, and was found to elicit protective immunity against high-dose FT live vaccine strain (FTLVS) challenge. FT-specific antibodies produced in response to immunization with HKLVS alone were subsequently found to completely protect naive mice against high-dose FT challenge in both infection-interference and passive immunization experiments. Additional passive immunization trials employing serum collected from mice immunized with a heat-killed preparation of an O-antigen-deficient transposon mutant of FTLVS (HKLVS-OAgneg) yielded similar results. These findings demonstrated that FT-specific antibodies alone can confer immunity against high-dose FTLVS challenge, and they reveal that antibody-mediated protection is not dependent upon production of LPS-specific antibodies.
The Evolution of a Teacher and Collaborator Extraordinaire: An Interview With Virginia A. Andreoli Mathie

Abstract Virginia Andreoli Mathie received her BMath and BA from the University of Waterloo and her MA and PhD in social psychology from the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. She taught at James Madison University (JMU) for 29 years. In July 2004 she became Executive Director of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. She has held several prominent leadership positions in psychology including secretary of the Virginia Psychological Association, president of the Virginia Academy of Academic Psychologists, president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, member of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Board of Educational Affairs, and chair of the APA Psychology Partnerships Project (P3). She has been a Harry Kirke Wolfe Lecturer, received an APA Presidential Citation for her leadership of P3, and received the 2002 APA Distinguished Contributions to Applications of Psychology to Education and Training Award. Peter J. Giordano is Professor and Chair of the Psychology Depar...
Association between the Inwald Personality Inventory Interpersonal Conflict Measures and Perceived Quality of Law Enforcement Officer Response to Domestic Disturbances

We examined the association between the Interpersonal Conflict Measures of the Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI) and law enforcement officer performance during domestic disturbances. Seventy-six officers completed the IPI and had their performance rated by supervisors and peers. There were modest correlations between peer ratings and the GD, US, and SP scales. Similar analyses examining supervisor ratings were nonsignificant. Marital status and years of law enforcement experience were related to supervisor ratings. Findings suggest interpersonal difficulties may contribute to poor performance, while law enforcement experience as well as experience in managing conflicts in the context of an intimate relationship may enhance performance during domestic disturbances.
Space charge in ionic crystals—III. Silver halides containing divalent cations

Abstract The method for calculating the defect distribution in an ionic crystal with Schottky disorder formulated by the author is utilized to calculate the defect distribution in a silver halide crystal containing divalent cationic impurities. Interpreting several experiments in terms of the results of this calculation it is concluded that the Frenkel pair formation energy for AgCl, 1.44 eV − 9.4 kT , can be split into the vacancy and interstitial free formation energies as F V = 0.47 eV − 7.7 kT and F I = 0.97 eV − 1.7 kT . Some consequences of the space charge surrounding the vacancy sources are discussed.
Ideas and possible approaches for ultra-reliability

Ultra-reliability means assured, dependable operation over the required service life with repeatable success. This will be a vital part of any system developed for the NASA space exploration vision. In order to achieve this goal, equipment must be able to survive the stresses of prolonged operation and there has to be a drastic reduction in manufacturing flaws and the human error rate. There will have to be a dedication to the practice of designing in highly robust electrical, mechanical, and electromechanical components into complex systems and special attention to survival of environmental threats such as radiation and micro-meteors. Complex systems present an exceptional challenge because of the large number of potential failure modes as well as the possibilities for system interactions and failure propagation. Failure mode and effects analysis, Event Tree, and fault tree analysis should be applied to the hardware and software as an integrated configuration. In many cases, it will be determined that existing technology has reached its reliability or operating life limit and new technology will be required. Sustained research and development over a period of 20 years or beyond may be needed to develop Ultra-reliable systems on a mass scale. New technology with greater operating life may be able to support the goal of ultra-reliability but that new technology also introduces new reliability problems that will have to be overcome. Resources and established practices for reliability engineering must be strongly maintained as the foundation for achieving ultra-reliability.
Polarization-multiplexed nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation with optimal signal constellations

We propose using nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation with optimal constellations obtained via iterative polar quantization (IPQ). The proposed scheme significantly outperforms its prior-art bit-interleaved LDPC-coded modulation counterpart, e.g., by 2.78 dB for the 128-point IPQ constellation.
The Strength of the Relation Between Performance-Approach and Performance-Avoidance Goal Orientations: Theoretical, Methodological, and Instructional Implications

In current research on achievement goal theory, most researchers differentiate between performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations. Evidence from prior research and from several previously published data sets is used to highlight that the correlation is often rather large, with a number of studies reporting correlations above .50. The large magnitude of this correlation raises questions and warrants further investigation. The size of the correlation also varies substantially across studies; thus, several potential moderators were considered. Minimal evidence for moderation was found, with little variability in relations as a function of fear of failure, culture, and specificity of the goal assessment. There was some evidence of variability in the correlation based on age, perceived competence, and assessment instrument. The article concludes by highlighting theoretical, methodological, and instructional questions that arise as a result of the large correlation and making recommendatio...
Three-dimensional model of modern channel bend deposits

[1] We present a three-dimensional model of heterogeneous modern channel bend deposits developed through purely structure-imitating interpolation (kriging) of hydraulic properties. This model, augmented with ground-penetrating radar data and directional variograms, agrees with detailed observations in similar modern environments and leads to a process-based interpretation of the presented hydraulic conductivity structure. Integration of all available information permitted delineation and characterization of the modern streambed as a distinct hydrostratigraphic unit without coring or outcrop studies. Our results imply that the modern streambed is commonly oversimplified in available analytical and numerical models of groundwater-surface water interactions where it is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic and characterized by a constant width and thickness. This three-dimensional approach that integrates concepts and principles developed in sedimentology, hydrogeology, geophysics, and geostatistics has potential implications on model development of stream-aquifer systems.
The effects of magnetite particles encapsulated in dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) vesicles on the luminescence characteristics of molecules

Abstract Luminescence of organic molecules is observed in DHP vesicles in the absence and presence of magnetite encapsulated in the vesicles. Room temperature phosphorescence calibration curves for carbazole were constructed at 297/440 nm and at 330/440 nm in the absence and presence of magnetite. The linear dynamic range was found to be over 2.5 orders of magnitude. At 297/440 nm, the limits LOD's were found to be 30 ng/ml and 9 ng/ml in the absence and presence of magnetite, respectively. At 330/440 nm, the LOD's were found to be 30 ng/ml both in the presence and absence of magnetite. The effect of the internal magnetic field on the luminescence properties of various molecules is discussed. The precision of the method ranged from ∼ 1 % to ∼ 40%.
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG WIFE'S EMPLOYMENT STATUS, STAGE IN THE FAMILY LIFE CYCLE, MEAL PREPARATION TIME, AND EXPENDITURES FOR MEALS AWAY FROM HOME

The allocation of time is an ultimate reflection of quality of life choices. Since the current trend for increased proportions of dual wage earner families will probably continue, data on how they allocate and consume time will help in clarification of this dual wage earner lifestyle on future consumer decision making and behaviour. Role theory is used to organize data on the relationships between consumption of time in the wives’ provider and homemaker roles. The relationship between purchased services, i.e. meal preparation, and wives’ time use is explored. Employment is related to meal preparation time, but not to the substitution of buying meals away from home. The age of the youngest child is important in explaining out-of-home meals. Implications for research and future lifestyles are discussed.
A prospective clinical trial of open-label etanercept for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa

Background Medical therapies for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are often ineffective. Tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors may be a potential treatment for patients with moderate to severe HS. Objectives We sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of etanercept for patients with severe HS. Methods We conducted a phase II clinical trial of etanercept (50 mg/wk subcutaneously) in patients with moderate to severe HS. Efficacy was measured using a Physician Global Assessment and several secondary physician- and patient-reported outcome measures. Responders were classified as those achieving at least a 50% reduction on the Physician Global Assessment score at week 12 compared with baseline. Results Only 3 of the 15 patients who entered the study were classified as responders (response rate of 20%; 95% confidence interval: 4.3-48.1) based on the intention-to-treat analysis. Dermatology Life Quality Index scores improved slightly from a median of 19 to 15 ( P = .02). Comparison of baseline with week-12 Physician Global Assessment scores, and secondary outcome measures of lesion counts and patient pain scores, failed to show statistically significant improvement. Etanercept was generally well tolerated; however, two patients discontinued the study as a result of skin infections at the site of hidradenitis lesions requiring oral antibiotics. Limitations Lack of a control group and a small number of participants are limitations. Conclusions Our study demonstrated minimal evidence of clinically significant efficacy of etanercept (50 mg/wk subcutaneously) in the treatment of hidradenitis. Future studies using higher doses of etanercept are indicated; however, patients need to be carefully monitored for infection and other adverse events. Randomized, controlled trials will be necessary to demonstrate the risk-to-benefit ratio of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors in the treatment of hidradenitis.
CETP-mediated cholesteryl ester enrichment of apoB subclasses in type 1 diabetes.

Eur J Clin Invest 2012; 42 (7): 709–716 Abstract Objective Accelerated cholesteryl ester transfer (CET) in patients with types 1 (T1D) and 2 diabetes enhances the atherogenicity of the apoB-containing CE acceptor lipoproteins. The study of lipoprotein density fractions cannot identify which of the five immunologically distinct apoB subclasses function as CE acceptors because they are heterogeneous and present in very low-, intermediate- and low density lipoproteins (VLDL, IDL and LDL, respectively). In order to design lipid-modifying therapies that specifically target these CE-enriched lipoprotein particles, it is necessary to first characterize their CE acceptor function. Methods and Results To identify the CE acceptors, we estimated CE net mass transfer to the apoB subclasses LpB:C, LpB:E + LpB:C:E, LpB and LpAII:B:C:D:E from changes in neutral lipids measured by gas chromatography following their separation by sequential immunoaffinity chromatography in the plasma of 12 patients with T1D and six control subjects. In both groups, CE was distributed equally to LpB:E + LpB:C:E and LpB:C. In the T1D CE acceptors, however, both the magnitude of the increase (18% vs. 10%; P < 0·01) and the per particle mass of CE transferred were significantly greater than in controls (T1D: 2·29 μmol ± 2·1 vs. control 0·43 ± 0·43/mg apoB; P < 0·047). Conclusion While LpB:E + LpB:C:E and LpB:C functioned as CE acceptors in both groups, these subclasses increased their CE content to a greater degree and accrued more CE per particle in the patients with T1D. As this disturbance in lipoprotein remodelling may increase the cholesterol burden and potential atherogenicity of these apoB subclasses, it may be a previously unrecognized factor that increases cardiovascular risk in patients with T1D.
Iris melanocyte numbers in Asian, African American, and Caucasian irides.

Purpose: The anatomical basis for iris color has long been a controversial issue in ophthalmology. Recent studies demonstrated that in Caucasians, blue-eyed, gray-eyed, and hazel-eyed individuals have comparable numbers of iris melanocytes. The present investigation was carried out to compare melanocyte numbers in the irides of Asian, African American, and Caucasian brown-eyed individuals. Methods: Paraffin-embedded sections from 71 brown-colored irides were incubated with rabbit anti-cow antibody against S100a, linked with an FITC conjugate antibody, and counterstained with Evans blue. Cells were counted under a fluorescence microscope and scored as melanocytes or other cells. Cell number, density, and iris area were calculated for each specimen. Results: Caucasian and African American irides had comparable mean total melanocyte numbers. Asian irides had fewer total melanocytes than African American (P = .042) and Caucasian (P = .001) irides and smaller total number of cells (ie, melanocytes plus other cells) than African American (P = .054) or Caucasian (P = .009) irides. Conclusions: There is a statistically significant smaller mean total melanocyte number and mean total cellularity in Asian irides as compared to Caucasian and African American irides. This difference appears to be due to the combination of smaller iris area and lower melanocyte density in the Asian irides. The possibility exists that this may be a factor in ethnic variations in certain ocular diseases.
The membrane components of crustacean neuromuscular systems. I. Immunity of different electrogenic components to tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin.

Axon spikes in crayfish and lobster neuromuscular preparations were blocked by tetrodotoxin or saxitoxin (concentration 10−9 to 10−8 g/ml). Responses evoked in the excitatory synaptic membrane by ionophoretically applied glutamate, or in the inhibitory by GABA were unaffected by concentrations of the poisons up to 10−5 g/ml. These confirm other findings that the poisons do not affect electrically inexcitable membrane components. “Miniature” p.s.p.’s, which indicate local secretory activity in the presynaptic terminals were unaffected by the poisons. Electrical stimuli applied to the axon terminals elicited localized p.s.p.’s after spike electrogenesis of the axons was blocked. Thus, persistence of secretory activity may be linked to persistence of depolarizing K activation in the axons. Spikes induced in the muscle fibers by procaine were not affected by the poisons. In correlation with other data this finding indicates that the depolarizing electrogenic element, which does not depend upon Na activation in the normally gradedly responsive muscles, differs chemically from the Na activation component which is present in the conductile membrane of various cells. Three other varieties of electrically excitable response which are present in crayfish muscle fibers (hyperpolarizing Cl activation, depolarizing K inactivation, and K activation) were, likewise, immune to the toxin.
Automatic memory management in utility accrual scheduling environments

Convenience, reliability, and effectiveness of automatic memory management have long been established in modern systems and programming languages such as Java. The timeliness requirements of real-time systems, however, impose specific demands on the operational parameters of the garbage collector. The memory requirements of real-time tasks must be accommodated with a predictable impact on the timeline, and under the purview of the scheduler. Utility accrual is a method of dynamic overload scheduling that is designed to respond to CPU overload conditions by producing a schedule that heuristically maximize a predefined metric of utility. There also exists in such systems the possibility of memory overload situations in which the cumulative memory demand exceeds the amount of memory available. This paper presents a utility accrual algorithm for uniprocessor CPU and garbage collection scheduling that addresses memory overload conditions. By tightly linking CPU and memory allocation, the scheduler can appropriately respond to overload along both dimensions. This scheduler is the first of its kind to enable the use of automatic memory management in a utility accrual system. Experimental results using actual Java application profiles indicate the viability of this model.
Large‐Area Assembly of Densely Aligned Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes Using Solution Shearing and Their Application to Field‐Effect Transistors

Dense alignment of single-walled carbon nanotubes over a large area is demonstrated using a novel solution-shearing technique. A density of 150-200 single-walled carbon nanotubes per micro-meter is achieved with a current density of 10.08 μA μm(-1) at VDS = -1 V. The on-current density is improved by a factor of 45 over that of random-network single-walled carbon nanotubes.
A sensitive method for determination of cholesterol growth using model solutions of supersaturated bile

We describe a novel, facile, and highly reproducible spectrophotometric technique to measure a cholesterol crystal growth curve. This method permits a quantitative estimate of the potency or comparative abundance of a given kinetic effector substance. In addition to several internal validation procedures, data are provided that support the usefulness of the technique in the assay of substances with either known promoting activity, i.e., human mucin glycoprotein, or those with known inhibitory activity, i.e., human apolipoprotein A-I.
Online information seeking for cardiovascular diseases: a case study from Mayo Clinic.

The objective of this study is to understand the types of health information (health topics) that users search online for Cardiovascular Diseases, by performing categorization of health search queries (from Mayoclinic.com) using UMLS Metamap based on UMLS concepts and semantic types. queries into 17 health categories using UMLS Metamap 8 based on UMLS concepts and semantic types. As per our study, 'Vital Signs', 'Symptom', 'Treatment', 'Drugs and Medications', 'Diet', and 'Cause' are the top health categories that users search for concerning CVD. We also identified that 80% of the CVD search queries are categorized into either one or two health categories.
Informed Trading Strategies with Borrowing Costs

Informed investors have been shown to strategically break up their larger trades into smaller trades in order to disguise their information (Kyle, 1985, Barclay and Warner, 1993, and Alexander and Peterson, 2007). In this paper, we consider informed trading strategies when investors face borrowing costs. Borrowing costs may induce more intense trading and increase the use of unusually large trade sizes. Using data which consists of a subset of trades that are both informed and face borrowing costs, we test this assertion empirically. Following prior work that documents that short sales contain information about future stock prices, we show that the most informed short sales are driven primarily by large, unrounded short sales in stocks that are most likely to face higher equity borrowing costs.
Lymphatic vessel density is not associated with lymph node metastasis or survival in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC)

18008 Background: Angiogenesis is accepted as being essential for tumors to grow and metastasize to distant sites. Lymphatic metastasis is also an important means of tumor spread. Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) plays and important role in lymphangiogenesis and activates VEGFR (VEGF receptor)-3. Numerous studies suggest that tumor expression of VEGF-C is a significant prognostic factor in NSCLC. In non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), the relationship of lymphangiogenesis with lymph node metastasis and patient prognosis is unknown. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 78 patients who were diagnosed with NSCLC from 1987 to 2004 were analyzed for lymphatic vascular density (LVD). LVD was measured by use of D2–40 monoclonal antibody staining. Survival was assessed and Mantel-Cox and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Intratumoral and peritumoral LVD was significantly higher than in the uninvolved adjacent lung, but showed no significant association with ly...
Ontogenic regulation of spatial differentiation in the crypt-villus axis of normal and isografted small intestine.

Despite rapid proliferation, the mammalian intestinal epithelium maintains precise spatial differentiation from crypt to villus tip and from duodenum to colon. During perinatal life, the rodent gut...
Vitamin C and the Adrenal Gland in the Dog.

ConclusionNo evidence has been obtained that the adrenal gland, as an organ in the dog, is concerned with either the synthesis or the metabolism of vitamin C. If the adrenals do play any role in the metabolism of this compound the action is conferred by the adrenal cortical hormone.Harris and collaborators1,2 have shown that dogs do not require vitamin C in their diets for adequate nutrition. Others have kept dogs upon synthetic rations, presumably devoid of this vitamin, for periods of 1-4 years without symptoms of scurvy. Tissues from such animals, notably the adrenals and liver, show by chemical and biological tests the presence of large amounts of ascorbic acid. Similar tissues from guinea pigs kept upon scorbutic diets reveal a marked diminution in the content of ascorbic acid as scurvy develops.The early observation3 that the cortex of the adrenal gland contained large amounts of “hexuronic acid”, later shown to be vitamin C4,5,6 has led to speculation upon the relationship of this vitamin to the fu...
Quanta image sensor: concepts and progress

The QIS was conceived when contemplating shrinking pixel sizes and storage capacities, and the steady increase in digital processing power. In the single-bit QIS, the output of each field is a binary bit plane, where each bit represents the presence or absence of at least one photoelectron in a photodetector. A series of bit planes is generated through high-speed readout, and a kernel or “cubicle” of bits (x,y,t) is used to create a single output image pixel. The size of the cubicle can be adjusted post-acquisition to optimize image quality. The specialized sub-diffraction-limit photodetectors in the QIS are referred to as “jots” and a QIS may have a gigajot or more, read out at 1000 fps, for a data rate exceeding 1Tb/s. Basically, we are trying to count photons as they arrive at the sensor. This paper reviews the Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) concept and its imaging characteristics. Recent progress towards realizing the QIS for commercial and scientific purposes is discussed. The QIS represents a possible major paradigm shift in image capture.
Traumatic corneal abrasions following photorefractive keratectomy.

Background During excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy, central Bowman's layer and superficial stroma are removed. A potential disadvantage of this technique is whether proper epithelization of the cornea will occur in the event of a corneal abrasion. A potential advantage of photorefractive keratectomy over radial keratotomy in the event of blunt trauma is the presumably sound structural integrity of the cornea following superficial removal of stroma in photorefractive keratectomy compared to the weakened cornea following deep incisions in radial keratotomy. Methods We report two patients who sustained corneal abrasions from blunt trauma to the eye and orbit following photorefractive keratectomy--one following a fist injury and the other following a karate kick. Results In both patients, the corneal abrasions healed without incident and without recurrent erosions and both corneas remained intact. Conclusions Corneal abrasion following trauma in two patients who has undergone photorefractive keratectomy healed as expected in a normal cornea. Although it is uncertain whether the trauma in these patients would have been sufficient to rupture radial keratotomy incisions, as would be expected from a superficial photorefractive keratectomy, the corneas remained intact following blunt trauma.
Development of efficient obstacle avoidance and line following mobile robot with the integration of fuzzy logic system in static and dynamic environments

Autonomous mobile robots have been widely used in many researches and applications. Mobile robots can be programmed to do specific tasks such as collision avoidance and trajectory planning. Various types of sensors and actuators are mounted on these robots for sensing the surrounding environment and making decisions accordingly. In this paper, we develop collision avoidance and line following techniques for mobile robot navigation in static and dynamic environments with the integration of fuzzy logic fusion. For the collision avoidance technique, eight proximity sensors are used to detect static and dynamic obstacles. The proposed fuzzy logic for the line following mechanism consists of one input and two outputs. The input is the difference between right and left ground sensors values whereas the outputs are the left and right speeds to steer the mobile robot. Several membership functions and fuzzy rules are designed. The proposed method has been successfully tested in Webots Pro simulator and in real time experiment.
The Social Context of Sex Role Socialisation

‘When a child is born parents first look at its genitals. If it’s a boy they spoil it, if it’s a girl they discipline it.’ So spoke a Brazilian physician who, in describing the way parents rear children in rural Brazil, expressly pointed up the early age at which sex role socialisation begins in a pre-industrial community. For pre-industrial parents know that gender critically affects a child in almost every arena of activity: in the home when relating to parents and siblings, at school when responding to teachers and other persons of authority, on the playground when interacting with peers. And on becoming an adult, the child’s gender will fix its status in the family and community, dictate or limit the work it will perform, and shape the way it will relate to people of either sex. Hence conscientious parents, and even others not as dutiful, early on teach their children the attitudes and values, and the skills and competencies it will need to function as a male or female throughout the course of life.
Increasing coherence in a distributed problem-solving network

Globally coherent behavior is the holy grail of distributed problem solving network research. Obtaining coherent network activity without sacrificing node autonomy and network flexibility places severe demands on the local control component of each node. We introduce new mechanisms that allow a node to compute an abstracted, high-level description of its local state which it then uses to formulate multi-step plans. Not only do these mechanisms significantly improve local problem solving performance, but they also enable nodes to make dynamic refinements to their long-term network organisation knowledge. The coordination decisions made by nodes are thus increasingly responsive to changes in network activity as problem solving progresses. We provide experimental results indicating that these new mechanisms improve the internal control decisions of a node, reduce the communication requirements of the network, and improve network coherence. We believe that these mechanisms would also be useful for control in centralised multi-level blackboard-based problem solving systems.
Torque improvement of synchronous reluctance machines by utilizing orthogonal experimental design methodology

The performance of synchronous reluctance machines (SynRM) in terms of average torque and torque ripple depends on rotor geometry. In this paper, a novel technique for SynRM design based on orthogonal experimental design (OED) optimization method is proposed which considers the interaction of various design variables. These variables include several rotor geometric parameters such as flux barrier width, insulation ratio, pole span angle, and etc. First, the effects of rotor geometric parameters on average output torque and torque ripple are studied. Then, the rotor design process is carried out through OED method. Finally, finite element analysis is used to verify the validity of the results obtained from the proposed optimization methodology.
Catastrophic Optical Bulk Damage in High-Power InGaAs-AlGaAs Strained Quantum Well Lasers

High-power single-mode (SM) and multi-mode (MM) InGaAs-AlGaAs strained quantum well lasers are critical components for terrestrial and space satellite communications systems. Thus, it is crucial to understand reliability, failure modes, and degradation mechanisms of these lasers for the high-reliability applications. However, a little has been reported on failure modes and degradation mechanisms of state-of-the-art SM and MM InGaAs-AlGaAs strained quantum well (QW) lasers. This study addresses the aforementioned issues by performing long-term life tests, failure mode analysis (FMA), and physics of failure (root causes) investigation. We performed long-term accelerated life tests on SM and MM InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers. Our life tests have accumulated over 25 000 test hours for SM lasers and over 35 000 test hours for MM lasers. FMA was performed on degraded lasers using electron-beam-induced current, electroluminescence, focused ion beam, and high-resolution TEM. All the SM failures showed catastrophic and sudden degradation and all of these failures were bulk failures. Our group previously reported that bulk failure or catastrophic optical bulk damage (COBD) is the dominant failure mode of MM InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first group demonstrating that the dominant failure mode of both SM and MM InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers is bulk failure. Since degradation mechanisms responsible for COBD are still not well understood, we also employed other techniques for the physics of failure investigation including deep level transient spectroscopy, time-resolved electroluminescence, and time-resolved photoluminescence to investigate COBD processes in SM and MM lasers.
Oral mesalamine for ulcerative colitis

Source Citation Sninsky CA, Cort DH, Shanahan F, et al. Oral mesalamine (Asacol) for mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. A multicenter study. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Sep 1;115:350-5.
Copper-Catalyzed Hydroarylation of Internal Alkynes: Highly Regio- and Diastereoselective Synthesis of 1,1-Diaryl, Trisubstituted Olefins

The copper-catalyzed hydroarylation of internal, unsymmeric alkynes is presented. Trisubstituted alkenes are obtained as single diastereomers in good to excellent yields and excellent regioselectivities. The scope of the reaction is presented with respect to alkyne and aryl iodide coupling partners. Initial mechanistic experiments indicate a hydrocupration event followed by a two-electron oxidative addition/reductive elimination pathway.
Molecular Engineering of Near Infrared Absorbing Thienopyrazine Double Donor Double Acceptor Organic Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The thienopyrazine (TPz) building block allows for NIR photon absorption in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) when used as a π-bridge. We synthesized and characterized 7 organic sensitizers employing thienopyrazine (TPz) as a π-bridge in a double donor, double acceptor organic dye design. Donor groups are varied based on electron donating strength and sterics at the donor-π bridge bond with the acceptor groups varied as either carboxylic acids or benzoic acids on the π-bridge. This dye design was found to be remarkably tunable with solution absorption onsets ranging from 750 to near 1000 nm. Interestingly, the solution absorption measurements do not accurately approximate the dye absorption on TiO2 films with up to a 250 nm blue-shift of the dye absorption onset on TiO2. This shift in absorption and the effect on electron transfer properties is investigated via computational analysis, time-correlated single photon counting studies, and transient absorption spectroscopy. Structure–performance relationships...
Copper-Catalyzed Chan-Lam Cyclopropylation of Phenols and Azaheterocycles.

Small molecules containing cyclopropane–heteroatom linkages are commonly needed in medicinal chemistry campaigns yet are problematic to prepare using existing methods. To address this issue, a scalable Chan–Lam cyclopropylation reaction using potassium cyclopropyl trifluoroborate has been developed. With phenol nucleophiles, the reaction effects O-cyclopropylation, whereas with 2-pyridones, 2-hydroxybenzimidazoles, and 2-aminopyridines the reaction brings about N-cyclopropylation. The transformation is catalyzed by Cu(OAc)2 and 1,10-phenanthroline and employs 1 atm of O2 as the terminal oxidant. This method is operationally convenient to perform and provides a simple, strategic disconnection toward the synthesis of cyclopropyl aryl ethers and cyclopropyl amine derivatives bearing an array of functional groups.
Abstract P3-09-09: Assessing utility of breast cancer risk assessment tool in comparison to Tyrer-Cuzick model for determination of breast cancer risk and implications for chemoprevention

Background Despite findings that the Tyrer-Cuzick (IBIS Breast Cancer Risk Evaluation Tool or TC) model is more predictive of breast cancer risk than the Gail model (NCI maintained Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool or BCRAT), BCRAT is commonly clinically used as per the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), with a 5-year risk for breast cancer (BC) of greater than 3% on BCRAT, the benefits of preventive medication likely outweigh the risks. We aimed to compare the models, 1: to see if a 10 year risk estimate per the TC model reliably correlated with the 3% 5 year risk per BCRAT, and 2: to analyze the subset of patients with atypical hyperplasia (AH) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) who are known both to be at high risk for breast cancer and to benefit from chemoprevention. Our hypothesis is that BCRAT has limited utility in risk estimation, and the most comprehensive model for risk estimation and clinical decision making is TC. Methods 200 women ages 35-64 women followed in benign breast clinic were included. Risk estimations were run using BCRAT, TC version 7 (v7) and TC version 8 (v8). A Pearson9s Correlation test was conducted to investigate the relationship between the TC models and the BCRAT model. A p-value Results Analysis showed a positive moderate-strength relationship between the TC v7 10-year risk and the 5-year BCRAT risk for this population (R = 0.468, P A total of 36 patients were diagnosed with AH, 2 patients were diagnosed with LCIS and 7 patients were diagnosed with both AH and LCIS. 11 patients who had AH had an estimated 5-year risk per the BCRAT model of Of the 30 patients who had a BCRAT 5-year estimated risk of BC of >3% but no AH or LCIS, 12 had two first degree relatives with breast cancer and 16 had a first-degree relative with BC and at least two benign breast biopsies. Conclusion BCRAT is limited and caution is warranted with its use in assessing risk and for counseling around chemoprevention benefit. There is not reliable correlation between the 5 year BCRAT risk estimate and the 10 year TC risk estimate. Chemoprevention should be discussed for patients with AH, LCIS or 2+ first degree relatives with breast cancer. Further, BCRAT may underestimate risk in minority populations and others with AH. For a limited group of patients with moderate risk, dual modeling may be clinically useful in making chemopreventive recommendations. Citation Format: Pederson HJ, Yanda C, Kline M, Stephens M, Goraya ST, Grobmyer SR, Kattan MW. Assessing utility of breast cancer risk assessment tool in comparison to Tyrer-Cuzick model for determination of breast cancer risk and implications for chemoprevention [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-09-09.