cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficiency Analysis of Agricultural Market Advisory Services: A Nonlinear Mixed-Integer Programming Approach

Professional market advisory services provide specific advice (advisory programs) to grain producers on how to market their commodities, and assist them in their efforts to manage price risk. Previous studies analyzed the effectiveness of individual services and could find only weak evidence that these services help farmers improve their returns beyond market prices. The present study applies portfolio theory to determine an efficient combination of advisory programs using a nonlinear integer programming framework. The optimization results provide some evidence that an efficient portfolio provides significantly greater risk and return benefits compared to individual programs and external benchmarks. In a holdout period analysis, efficient portfolios have superior average return performance, but they fail to dominate the relevant benchmarks in terms of mean and variance. However, these out-of-sample results should be considered cautiously, given the small number of observations available.
Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of AMG 531, a novel thrombopoietin receptor ligand

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the tolerability, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics of AMG 531, a novel thrombopoietin receptor ligand, after a single intravenous or subcutaneous injection in healthy subjects. Methods This was a first-in-human randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 48 subjects. Six subjects in each cohort were sequentially randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive a single injection of AMG 531 or placebo. The dose ranges investigated were 0.3 to 10.0 μg/kg and 0.1 to 2.0 μg/kg via the initravenous and subcutaneous dosing routes, respectively. The pharmacodynamic response of AMG 531 was measured as the elevation in platelet counts. AMG 531 serum levels were determined by use of a validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Single intravenous or subcutaneous administration of AMG 531 induced a dose-dependent increase in platelet count in healthy subjects, with peak platelet count being achieved on days 12 to 16. The highest intravenous dose, 10.0 μg/kg, caused a nearly 6-fold increase in platelet count. The maximum increase for this cohort occurred on day 15, and the mean platelet count was 1380 × 109/L (range, 923–1790 × 109/L). Of 8 subjects receiving the 2.0-μg/kg subcutaneous dose, 6 had peak platelet levels that were double the baseline value. Platelet count was elevated to a similar extent after single intravenous or subcutaneous administration of AMG 531 at the same dose level (1.0 μg/kg), even though the subcutaneous serum levels were barely detectable. Platelet counts were close to the baseline value by day 28. After a single intravenous administration, the pharmacokinetics of AMG 531 was nonlinear in the 0.3- to 10.0-μg/kg dose range. Most AMG 531 serum levels fell below the assay's lower quantitation limit of 18 pg/mL after a single subcutaneous dose. There were no serious or life-threatening adverse events reported in this study. The most frequently reported events were mild to moderate headache and sore throat. Conclusion AMG 531 was well tolerated in this study and was effective at raising platelet counts in healthy volunteers after single intravenous or subcutaneous administration. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2004) 76, 628–638; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.08.010
The Impact of Children with High-Functioning Autism on Parental Stress, Sibling Adjustment, and Family Functioning

The article discusses a study conducted to investigate the impact of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) on parental stress, sibling adjustment, and family functioning; the study involves a sample of parents of 15 children with HFA and parents of 15 matched control children who completed questionnaires measuring the dependent variables. The results indicate parents of children with HFA experience significantly more parenting stress than parents of children with no psychological disorder, which was found to be directly related to characteristics of the children. The study further shows that the higher intellectual functioning in children with HFA does not compensate for the stress associated with parenting children with autism spectrum disorders. Because the intervention efforts directed at children with HFA will not eliminate the child's primary symptoms, treatment programs may need to address parental stress, which in turn will help optimize treatment outcome for the child and the family.
Institutional Trades Around Takeover Announcements: Skill vs. Inside Information

This paper examines the pattern and profitability of institutional trades around takeover announcements. We find that the trades of funds as a group, either before or after takeover announcements, are not profitable. However, funds whose main broker is also a target advisor are net buyers of target shares before announcements and their pre-announcement trades are significantly profitable. Therefore, leakage of inside information from brokerages that advise the target is a significant source of funds’ informational advantage. We also find that a subset of funds is skilled at privately gathering information even when they do not trade through target advisors.
A novel design of a miniature wideband corrugated horn antenna employing unique sinusoidal shaped ridges

A novel design was presented for a miniature corrugated ridged horn antenna. The design was manipulated based upon a special application which had stringent design parameters. In this application two such horn antennas were utilized and antenna isolation and bandwidth were key factors in creating a functional system. It was shown that the horn antenna adhered to all of the design constraints including the paramount isolation (Gt60 dB measured) and bandwidth (6.28 GHz to Gt12 GHz) characteristics. This corresponds to 25%-50% more bandwidth than can be realized with a standard scalar horn antenna as seen in [6]. Additionally, simulated data and measured data were in close agreement for all antenna characteristics. As a next step, bandwidth range could be extended even further with the proper insertion of dielectric rods of various radii and dielectric permittivity. These rods would almost completely contain the propagating energy at higher frequencies minimizing the excitation of higher order modes thus increasing the bandwidth of the antenna.
Assessing the potential hydrological impact of the Gibe III Dam on Lake Turkana water level using multi-source satellite data

Abstract. Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world, is fed by ungauged or poorly gauged river systems. To meet the demand of electricity in the East African region, Ethiopia is currently building the Gibe III hydroelectric dam on the Omo River, which supplies more than 80% of the inflows to Lake Turkana. On completion, the Gibe III dam will be the tallest dam in Africa with a height of 241 m. However, the nature of interactions and potential impacts of regulated inflows to Lake Turkana are not well understood due to its remote location and unavailability of reliable in situ datasets. In this study, we used 12 yr (1998–2009) of existing multi-source satellite and model-assimilated global weather data. We used a calibrated multi-source satellite data-driven water balance model for Lake Turkana that takes into account model routed runoff, lake/reservoir evapotranspiration, direct rain on lakes/reservoirs and releases from the dam to compute lake water levels. The model evaluates the impact of the Gibe III dam using three different approaches – a historical approach, a rainfall based approach, and a statistical approach to generate rainfall-runoff scenarios. All the approaches provided comparable and consistent results. Model results indicated that the hydrological impact of the Gibe III dam on Lake Turkana would vary with the magnitude and distribution of rainfall post-dam commencement. On average, the reservoir would take up to 8–10 months, after commencement, to reach a minimum operation level of 201 m depth of water. During the dam filling period, the lake level would drop up to 1–2 m (95% confidence) compared to the lake level modeled without the dam. The lake level variability caused by regulated inflows after the dam commissioning were found to be within the natural variability of the lake of 4.8 m. Moreover, modeling results indicated that the hydrological impact of the Gibe III dam would depend on the initial lake level at the time of dam commencement. Areas along the Lake Turkana shoreline that are vulnerable to fluctuations in lake levels due to the Gibe III dam were also identified. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of using existing multi-source satellite data in a basic modeling framework to assess the potential hydrological impact of an upstream dam on a terminal downstream lake. The results obtained from this study could also be used to evaluate alternative dam-filling scenarios and assess the potential impact of the dam on Lake Turkana under different operational strategies.
An examination of user tags in a digitized humanities online collection

The purpose of this study is to examine user tags that describe digitized archival collections for humanities domains. For the current study, we observed what attributes users describe for primary historical and classical resources as tags, and whether tags in digital scholarly collections go beyond content description. Findings of the study show that topic-related tags were more than half of tags while tags representing opinion, usage context, or self-reference were few. Terms related to genre or physical format of a resource were found to be frequently used in describing primary archival resources. The findings help understand users’ tagging behavior and resource interpretation in primary and historical resources in humanities.
Object names and object functions serve as cues to categories for infants

Can object names and functions act as cues to categories for infants? In Study 1, 14- and 18-month-old infants were shown novel category exemplars along with a function, a name, or no cues. Infants were then asked to “find another one,” choosing between 2 novel objects (1 from the familiar category and the other not). Infants at both ages were more likely to select the category match in the function than in the no-cue condition. However, only at 18 months did naming the objects enhance categorization. Study 2 shows that names can facilitate categorization for 14-month-olds as well when a hint regarding the core meaning of the objects (the function of a single familiarization object) is provided. Partitioning the world into meaningful categories is a formidable task, especially considering the vast amount of information that could be organized in the process. Nevertheless, infants succeed at forming a wide variety of categories within their first year of life (e.g., Quinn & Eimas, 1997; Mandler & McDonough, 1993). Although it is commonly assumed that processing biases in the infant can help to explain this remarkable ability, the precise nature of such constraints, and the mechanisms by which they exert their
Current concepts of sexual abnormalities.

The gonads, germ cells, and internal and external genital systems are bipotential early in fetal life. Failure to develop in a manner which corresponds to the genetic sex usually results in gonadal or genital abnormalities. Recent progress has clarified the patterns of sexual development, and it is possible to diagnose and treat most of these abnormalities early in life.Turner's syndrome, true hermaphroditism, Klinefelter syndrome, and pseudohermaphroditism are discussed in relation to normal sexual development, which is categorically divided into six phases.
Roles of DNA helicases and Exo1 in the avoidance of mutations induced by Top1-mediated cleavage at ribonucleotides in DNA

The replicative DNA polymerases insert ribonucleotides into DNA at a frequency of approximately 1/6500 nucleotides replicated. The rNMP residues make the DNA backbone more susceptible to hydrolysis and can also distort the helix, impeding the transcription and replication machineries. rNMPs in DNA are efficiently removed by RNaseH2 by a process called ribonucleotides excision repair (RER). In the absence of functional RNaseH2, rNMPs are subject to cleavage by Topoisomerase I, followed by further processing to result in deletion mutations due to slippage in simple DNA repeats. The topoisomerase I-mediated cleavage at rNMPs results in DNA ends that cannot be ligated by DNA ligase I, a 5'OH end and a 2'-3' cyclic phosphate end. In the budding yeast, the mutation level in RNaseH2 deficient cells is kept low via the action of the Srs2 helicase and the Exo1 nuclease, which collaborate to process the Top1-induced nick with subsequent non-mutagenic gap filling. We have surveyed other helicases and nucleases for a possible role in reducing mutagenesis at Top1 nicks at rNMPs and have uncovered a novel role for the RecQ family helicase Sgs1 in this process.
Chronic Weight Dissatisfaction Predicts Type 2 Diabetes Risk: Aerobic Center Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE Weight dissatisfaction, defined as discordance between actual and goal weight, may be associated with increased risk for several obesity-related comorbidities. The purpose of the study was to examine the association between weight dissatisfaction and risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. METHOD This longitudinal study used data from 9,584 adults enrolled in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. Key variables included multiple measures of measured weight, self-reported goal weight, and incident diabetes. Weight dissatisfaction was defined as being above the median of measured weight minus goal weight. Cox proportional hazards regression estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for diabetes incidence by weight dissatisfaction. RESULTS HRs for time until diabetes diagnosis revealed that family history of diabetes (HR = 1.46, 95% CI [1.13, 1.90]), age (HR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.02, 1.04]), and weight dissatisfaction (HR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.50, 2.25]) at baseline were statistically significant predictors. Longitudinally, higher risk was observed in individuals who either stayed dissatisfied (HR = 2.98, 95% CI [1.98, 4.48]) or became dissatisfied (HR = 1.51, 95% CI [0.79, 2.89]), compared with those who stayed satisfied. After additional adjustment for BMI, the elevated HR for those who remained dissatisfied compared with those who remained satisfied persisted (HR = 2.85, 95% CI [1.89, 4.31]). CONCLUSIONS Weight dissatisfaction, regardless of BMI, represents a potentially important psychophysiological modifier of the relationships between BMI and risk of Type 2 diabetes, and warrants greater attention in future studies of chronic disease risk.
FIFA, the video game: a major vehicle for soccer’s popularization in the United States

Soccer in the United States is undergoing major changes. The game’s growth on the fields of the country’s suburbs and among its middle class has been nothing short of sensational. Major events such...
Abstract 1951: Inhibition of aurora kinase using VX-680 enhances the radiation response in glioma cells

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL The central role of aurora kinases in cell cycle regulation coupled with overexpression of aurora A and B kinases in a wide variety of human malignancies that led to the development of pharmacological inhibitors of aurora kinases. New generations of aurora inhibitors, including VX-680, has been evaluated preclinically and are in phase I and II trials for the treatment of solid tumors and leukemia. In this study, we investigated the role of VX680, Aurora kinase inhibitor in malignant human glioma cells with different p53 statuses as well as cytotoxicity of glioma cells to irradiation. VX-680 inhibits aurora A and B kinases and cell proliferation with nanomolar to low micromolar potency. Endoreduplication, the re-replication of DNA in the absence of mitotic division, ultimately results in polyploidy and inhibition of cell proliferation. VX680 treatment led to an increase in the number of multinucleated cells and the ratios of G2/M phase in p53-mutant (LN229) and p53-deleted cells (LNZ308), but minimal in p53-wild type (A172) glioma cells. FACS analysis revealed that the increase in nuclear size correlated with polyploidization, reaching a >16 DNA content on day 2. During mitosis, the cells rounded normally, condensed their chromosomes on a metaphase-like plate. Our results demonstrate that pretreating cells with VX-680 prior to ionizing radiation led to an enhancement of radiation -induced apoptosis. Accordingly, our results suggested that Aurora kinase inhibition followed by irradiation increases in the appearance of multinucleated cells and increase apoptosis, and this treatment may become a potential therapy against malignant human gliomas. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1951. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1951
Fast Gamma Rhythms in the Hippocampus Promote Encoding of Novel Object-Place Pairings.

Abstract Hippocampal gamma rhythms increase during mnemonic operations (Johnson and Redish, 2007; Montgomery and Buzsaki, 2007; Sederberg et al., 2007; Jutras et al., 2009; Trimper et al., 2014) and may affect memory encoding by coordinating activity of neurons that code related information (Jensen and Lisman, 2005). Here, a hippocampal-dependent, object–place association task (Clark et al., 2000; Broadbent et al., 2004; Eacott and Norman, 2004; Lee et al., 2005; Winters et al., 2008; Barker and Warburton, 2011) was used in rats to investigate how slow and fast gamma rhythms in the hippocampus relate to encoding of memories for novel object–place associations. In novel object tasks, the degree of hippocampal dependence has been reported to vary depending on the type of novelty (Eichenbaum et al., 2007; Winters et al., 2008). Therefore, gamma activity was examined during three novelty conditions: a novel object presented in a location where a familiar object had been (NO), a familiar object presented in a location where no object had been (NL), and a novel object presented in a location where no object had been (NO+NL). The strongest and most consistent effects were observed for fast gamma rhythms during the NO+NL condition. Fast gamma power, CA3–CA1 phase synchrony, and phase-locking of place cell spikes increased during exploration of novel, compared to familiar, object–place associations. Additionally, place cell spiking during exploration of novel object–place pairings was increased when fast gamma rhythms were present. These results suggest that fast gamma rhythms promote encoding of memories for novel object–place associations.
Effects of sodium iodide, lithium bromide, and deoxycholate on dissociation of [3H]ouabain-Na,K-ATPase complex during enzyme isolation.

In an attempt to resolve the current controversy regarding whether or not myocardial Na,K-ATPase remains inhibited following washout of digitalis inotropy in isolated hearts, the effects of various protein extracting agents used in enzyme isolation procedures were investigated on dissociation of the drug-enzyme complex. The drug-enzyme complex, [3H]ouabain-Na,K-ATPase, was isolated both after in vitro incorporation of [3H]ouabain to crude rabbit heart Na,K-ATPase fraction and after ex vivo binding of [3H]ouabain in isolated Lagendorff rabbit hearts. The drug-enzyme complex was then treated at 0-4°C with 2 M NaI, 0.1% deoxycholate (DOC), or 0.1% DOC plus 2 M NaI, the protein extracting agents used in many laboratories, and compared against treatment with LiBr, the extracting agent used in our laboratory. It was found that a sequential treatment of 0.1% DOC followed by 2 M NaI resulted in over 95% of the [3H]ouabain dissociating from both ex vivo and in vitro bound drug-enzyme complexes in comparison to control. For ex vivo bound drug-enzyme complex, 2 M NaI treatment alone removed approximately 90% of the [3H]ouabain activity and 0.1% DOC removed approximately 45% of the drug. In contrast to these results, treatment of the ex vivo and in vitro labeled drug-enzyme complexes with 1 M LiBr caused no detectable difference in drug dissociation in comparison to control complex treated with 1 mM Tris-HCl. Therefore, these findings may account for the inability of some investigators to demonstrate inhibition of Na,K-ATPase following enzyme isolation from inotropically stimulated Lagendorff rabbit hearts as well as from noninotropic hearts of various species following drug washout due to dissociation of the drug-enzyme complex by NaI and DOC. Since LiBr does not appreciably dissociate the drug-enzyme complex, in comparison to 1 mM Tris-HCl control, the present findings support our original observation that inhibition of Na,K-ATPase is not responsible for the inotropic action of digitalis, because enzyme inhibition is still present in noninotropic rabbit hearts following drug washout.
Determination on the content of Repaglinide tablets by HPLC

OBJECTIVE To establish the quantitative method of determining the content of repaglinide in Repaglinide tablets.METHODS Quantitative was determined by HPLC Column:UltimateT XB-C18(250mm×4.6mm,5μm);mobile phase:methanol-0.1% potassium phosphate buffer(80∶ 20,V/V);flow rate:1.0mL·min-1:column temperature:30℃;detection wavelength:240nm.RESULTS Repaglinide showed a good linear relationship at the range of 0.0542~1.3550μg(r=1.0000).Average recovery was 99.8%(RSD=0.27%).CONCLUSION This method is reliable,reproducible and simple,The acquired method provides the scientific evidence for repaglinide tablets.
Comparative effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus conventional anticoagulation for the treatment of cancer-related venous thromboembolism: A retrospective analysis.

Abstract Purpose The standard of care for the treatment of cancer-related venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) formulation. The recent development of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and their approval for the treatment of VTE has resulted in several new options for treatment. If equivalent to LMWH in terms of safety and effectiveness, the use of DOACs in the treatment of cancer-related VTE would reduce the risk of VTE recurrence while potentially improving the quality of life of many cancer patients. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients with cancer-related VTE treated in our benign hematology clinic. Among the 153 patients included in our final analysis, 123 (80%) were treated with LMWH and 30 (20%) were treated with DOACs. Patients had 36 different histological types of cancer. The primary outcome was the rate of recurrence of VTE evaluated at 6 and 12 months after the initiation of anticoagulation. Secondary outcomes were the rate of anticoagulant-associated clinically relevant bleeding and event-free survival for VTE recurrence. Results In comparing the 2 treatment groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative rates of VTE recurrence at 6 and 12 months or in the rates of major or non-major bleeding at both 6 and 12 months. The median VTE recurrence-free survival rates were not reached and they were not statistically different. Conclusion DOACs appear to be as safe and effective as conventional therapy for the treatment of cancer-related VTE. Results of ongoing randomized clinical studies may provide definitive evidence and clarify the role of the DOACs in the setting of malignancy.
Gustiness Profiles in the Lower Layers of the Atmosphere

Two sets of experimental gustiness profiles in the lower layers of the atmosphere under a range of stability conditions are presented. One set was obtained in the lower 200 ft over a desert in Arizona and the other set was obtained in the lower 2000 ft over Los Angeles, California. These measurements were made with the aid of British bivanes and by observing diffusion rates of smoke plumes. Some interpretations of the diurnal variations of these gustiness profiles are given.
Asylum and Terrorism: The Death of Human Rights Law?

The article compares the Justice Department’s historical treatment of removal cases that involve individuals who qualify as refugees, but who are implicated in terrorists acts, to decisions by the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee in similar situations. This comparison is used to challenge an accepted wisdom in the discipline. While the United States is generally viewed as exceptional in its refusal to sign onto international human rights treaties, it is not an outlier in this case. I show, first, that even those states that consented to the jurisdiction of human rights enforcement bodies, are, in fact, unlikely to toe the line. They, much like the United States, will refuse to provide safe haven to individuals involved in acts of terrorism and violence, regardless of their human rights commitments. Second, and related, this political reality leaves human rights courts and quasi-judicial institutions in an intractable situation: an impossible choice between a decision that is politically unsustainable and one that is normatively unjustifiable. I argue that it is important to be honest and realistic about the political limits of the law, especially as such cases that bear on both terrorism and asylum become ever more prevalent.
Large‐Pore Functionalized Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Vector for a Highly Cytotoxic Hybrid Platinum–Acridine Anticancer Agent

Large-pore mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) were prepared and functionalized to serve as a highly robust and biocompatible delivery platform for platinum-acridine (PA) anticancer agents. The material showed a high loading capacity for the dicationic, hydrophilic hybrid agent [PtCl(en)(N-[acridin-9-ylaminoethyl]-N-methylpropionamidine)] dinitrate salt (P1A1) and virtually complete retention of payload at neutral pH in a high-chloride buffer. In acidic media mimicking the pH inside the cells' lysosomes, rapid, burst-like release of P1A1 from the nanoparticles is observed. Coating of the materials in phospholipid bilayers resulted in nanoparticles with greatly improved colloidal stability. The lipid and carboxylate-modified nanoparticles containing 40 wt.% drug caused S phase arrest and inhibited cell proliferation in pancreatic cancer cells at submicromolar concentrations similar to carrier-free P1A1. The most striking feature of nanoparticle-delivered P1A1 was that the payload did not escape from the acidified lysosomal vesicles into the cytoplasm, but was shuttled to the nuclear membrane and released into the nucleus.
Perioperative Management of Pediatric Patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Undergoing Orthopedic Procedures

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a predominantly autosomal dominant inherited condition involving connective tissue associated with not only bone fragility, but multi-system involvement with perioperative implications. The perioperative management of patients with OI undergoing orthopedic procedures is high risk for anatomical and physiological reasons. We performed a retrospective analysis of 13 years of data covering the perioperative management of 146 pediatric patients with OI for 280 operative procedures involving up to five bones each by two fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic surgeons and a team of pediatric anesthesiologists. The purpose of the review was to describe updated perioperative anesthetic management based on over a decade of experience in a pediatric hospital specializing in the management of OI patients.
Abstract 076: Modeling Heterogeneity of Benefit in Patients Eligible for Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators: Insights From the SCD-HeFT Registry

Background: Guidelines recommend that patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (<35%; HFrEF), on goal-directed medical therapy be considered for placement of an implantable cardiac...
Continuous interscalene brachial plexus blockade is associated with reduced length of stay after shoulder arthroplasty

Abstract Background Catheter-delivered continuous interscalene anesthesia has demonstrated improved pain control in randomized clinical trials. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the introduction of continuous catheter anesthesia was associated with a change in length of stay (LOS), readmission, rates of discharge home without home health or nursing services, or opioid administration. We hypothesized that the introduction of continuous catheter anesthesia would be associated with a decrease in LOS, readmission, non-home discharge, and opioid administration. Methods During 2012, our center transitioned from ultrasound-guided single-dose interscalene regional anesthesia to combined single-dose anesthesia and additional continuous catheter anesthesia over 48–72 hours. This retrospective chart review compared primary shoulder arthroplasties with single-dose anesthesia to those with continuous catheter anesthesia, after excluding the learning curve, with univariate and multivariate analyses. Results In total, 1697 patients met criteria, 41% with single-dose anesthesia and 59% with continuous catheter anesthesia. On univariate analysis, the continuous catheter group LOS was 2.2 ± 0.7 day and single-dose group LOS was 2.5 ± 0.8 days (P ≤ 0.001). One day LOS's comprised 1% of the single-dose group and 27% of the continuous catheter group (P Conclusion In this retrospective review of 1697 primary shoulder arthroplasties performed at our high-volume, referral center, continuous catheter anesthesia was associated with reduced length of stay when compared to single-dose anesthesia. Level of evidence Therapeutic, level IV.
Anesthetic Implications of Robotic Surgery

Over the last few years, robotic surgeries have revolutionized the approach to urological disease, resulting in better surgical exposure and shorter lengths of stay for patients. However, the use of the robot presents many unique challenges to the anesthesiologist. This chapter will discuss these issues and their management, in addition to those related to comorbidities commonly found in urologic patients.
Algorithms for fast estimation of social network centrality measures

Centrality measures are extremely important in the analysis of social networks, with applications such as the identification of the most influential individuals for effective target marketing. Eigenvector centrality and PageRank are among the most useful centrality measures, but computing these measures can be prohibitively expensive for large social networks. This paper explores multiple approaches to improve the computational effort required to compute relative centrality measures. First, we show that small neural networks can be effective in fast estimation of the relative ordering of vertices in a social network based on these centrality measures. Then, we show how network sampling can be used to reduce the running times for calculating the ordering of vertices; degree centrality-based sampling reduces the running time of the key node identification problem. Finally, we propose the approach of incremental updating of centrality measures in dynamic networks.
Future Therapies in Medical Oncology

Antibodies to EGFR (cetuximab and panitumumab) and VEGF-A (bevacizumab) that are routinely used for treating metastatic colorectal cancer have failed to find a role in the management of localized rectal cancer. Other molecular targets worth considering include Her2/neu, BRAF, the PI3 kinase pathway, HSP90, and most recently the hypermutated phenotype of MSI tumors. Here we review selected trials using targeted agents in localized rectal cancer and propose other targeted strategies that have not yet been tested. In this era of molecular profiling, rectal cancer is an ideal opportunity to test the biological effects and clinical outcomes of preoperative molecularly targeted therapy.
SYSTOLIC IMPEDANCE AND DIASTOLIC WALL STRESS ARE NOVEL PREDICTORS OF HEART FAILURE HOSPITALIZATIONS IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT

Unlike native aortic valves with normal transvalvular gradients, stenotic aortic valves have altered flow dynamics both during systole and diastole. Such hemodynamic changes can predict heart failure (HF) hospitalizations after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Prognostic tools for the
Perampanel (Fycompa) Use in the Treatment of Pediatric Epilepsy (P5.234)

Objective: Report the effectiveness and tolerability of perampanel in pediatric patients with epilepsy. Background: Perampanel is a novel antiepileptic drug approved as adjunctive therapy for partial and primary generalized seizures in patients 12 years and older. This study aims to assess outcomes of perampanel use in the pediatric population. Design/Methods: Patients included in this single center, retrospective medical chart review were children ( Results: Of 14 patients meeting study inclusion criteria 64% (N=9) received perampanel for intractable focal or multifocal epilepsy. The average patient age was 11 (range 4–17 years). Reduction in seizure burden greater than 50% was reported in 43% of patients (N=6). Two of these patients had autoimmune disorders, Hashimoto’s Encephalitis and Rasmussen Syndrome, and discontinued therapy due to increased seizure burden secondary to disease progression. A discontinuation due to negative effect on seizure burden occurred in 14% (N=2) of patients. A third patient discontinued therapy without mention of cause, though complaints of depressed mood, anxiety, and decreased energy may have led to preemptive discontinuation. Severe treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in one patient, due to concern for encephalopathy secondary to polytherapy. The most common side effect was fatigue occurring in 21% of patients (N=3). Other reported side effects included cognitive dysfunction (N=1) and aggression (N=1). Conclusions: Overall perampanel was effective in seizure control and well tolerated with minimal treatment related side effects. Further controlled trials are warranted to better understand perampanel in this population. Disclosure: Dr. Cokley has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kotagal has received research support from UCB Pharma, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Hoover has nothing to disclose.
Volume Management in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Patients: An Expert Pulmonary Hypertension Clinician Perspective

Fluid volume management in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is essential in preventing right ventricular failure. Volume overload may be caused by disease progression, indiscretion of dietary sodium and fluid intake, or medication side effects, and is a frequent complication in patients with PAH. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) who care for patients with PAH have a key role in monitoring, preventing, and managing volume overload. Volume management techniques in patients with PAH include managing diuretic use and electrolyte imbalances, and monitoring fluid retention that can occur from the use of endothelin receptor antagonists or calcium channel blockers. Healthcare providers can create volume management protocols as well as patient educational materials. Patients should be educated to self-monitor their daily weights, incorporate dietary restrictions, and recognize symptoms associated with volume overload. Tools to help HCPs with volume management in patients with PAH are provided in this article. Funding Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.
Neoliberal crises of social work in the Global South: Ethnography of individualizing disability and empowerment practice in India:

This article examines the World Bank’s disability and development projects in rural South India and illuminates neoliberalism’s dangers for social work theory and practice in the Global South. Base...
The External Chemical Senses

Neither in the nerves of taste nor of smell are the lines of communication uniquely ‘labelled’ for qualities. Specificity of responsiveness of individual afferent fibers of the chemical senses is a matter of degree. Nevertheless the question of a limited number of ‘fundamental’ tastes and odors is not resolved. If such exist, the question is whether individual receptor cells each contain a mixture of several specialized ‘receptor molecules’ in varying proportions. If there are no ‘fundamental’ stimuli of taste and of smell then some alternative scheme of the relatedness of sapid and odoriferous stimuli must be found.
Numerical Homogenization via Approximation of the Solution Operator

The paper describes techniques for constructing simplified models for problems governed by elliptic partial differential equations involving heterogeneous media. Examples of problems under consideration include electro-statics and linear elasticity in composite materials, and flows in porous media. A common approach to such problems is to either up-scale the governing differential equation and then discretize the up-scaled equation, or to construct a discrete problem whose solution approximates the solution to the original problem under some constraints on the permissible loads. In contrast, the current paper suggests that it is in many situations advantageous to directly approximate the solution operatorto the original differential equation. Such an approach has become feasible due to recent advances in numerical analysis, and can in a natural way handle situations that are challenging to existing techniques, such as those involving, e.g.concentrated loads, boundary effects, and irregular micro-structures. The capabilities of the proposed methodology are illustrated by numerical examples involving domains that are loaded on the boundary only, in which case the solution operator is a boundary integral operator such as, e.g., a Neumann-to–Dirichlet operator.
Dipole Re-Radiation Effects in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

In this chapter we use extensions of Mie theory to study electromagnetic enhancement factors associated with surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from molecules adsorbed onto metal sphere array structures, comparing results from the more rigorous dipole re-radiation (DR) expression for Raman enhancement with the commonly used plane-wave (PW) enhancement formula. The DR and PW calculations are based on the T-matrix method for determining optical scattering from multiple spheres. In the PW expression, the enhancement is considered to be equal to the product of the squares of the local electric fields, \(|\mathbf{E}_\mathrm{ loc}(\omega )|^2|\mathbf{E}_\mathrm{ loc}(\omega ^{\prime })|^2\) or \(|\mathbf{E}_\mathrm{ loc}(\omega )|^4\) for zero Stokes shift, obtained from plane wave Mie scattering. In the DR calculation, the induced dipole in a molecule that is located at the surface of one of the particles serves as a dipole source at the Stokes-shifted frequency that scatters from the particles to define an overall enhancement factor. The SERS enhancement factors are determined for chains of 100 nm diameter Ag spheres and for chains of 100 nm Ag sphere dimers for various sphere and dimer separations and for various chain lengths, with the dimer gap fixed at 6.25 nm. We compare the PW and DR results for two different detector locations, a backscattering configuration normal to the axis of the chain, and a \(135^\circ \) scattering direction that includes the plane of the chain axis, in order to highlight far-field phase interference effects that are incorporated in the DR result but not PW. We find that the DR and PW results have negligible differences for the backscattering geometry, but far-field effects play a significant role in the overall enhancement factor for the non-backscattered location. This demonstrates the importance of including DR effects in the interpretation of SERS experiments.
Comparative transcriptomics of limb regeneration: Identification of conserved expression changes among three species of Ambystoma

Abstract Transcriptome studies are revealing the complex gene expression basis of limb regeneration in the primary salamander model – Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotl). To better understand this complexity, there is need to extend analyses to additional salamander species. Using microarray and RNA-Seq, we performed a comparative transcriptomic study using A. mexicanum and two other ambystomatid salamanders: A. andersoni, and A. maculatum. Salamanders were administered forelimb amputations and RNA was isolated and analyzed to identify 405 non-redundant genes that were commonly, differentially expressed 24 h post amputation. Many of the upregulated genes are predicted to function in wound healing and developmental processes, while many of the downregulated genes are typically expressed in muscle. The conserved transcriptional changes identified in this study provide a high-confidence dataset for identifying factors that simultaneous orchestrate wound healing and regeneration processes in response to injury, and more generally for identifying genes that are essential for salamander limb regeneration.
Mass spectrometric quantification of plasma glycosphingolipids in human GM3 ganglioside deficiency

Abstract Background Among Amish communities of North America, biallelic mutations of ST3GAL5 (c.694C > T) eliminate synthesis of GM3 and its derivative downstream a- and b-series gangliosides. Systemic ganglioside deficiency is associated with infantile onset psychomotor retardation, slow brain growth, intractable epilepsy, deafness, and cortical visual impairment. We developed a robust quantitative assay to simultaneously characterize glycan and ceramide moieties of plasma glycosphingolipids (GSLs) among ST3GAL5 c.694C > T homozygotes (n = 8), their heterozygous siblings (n = 24), and wild type control (n = 19) individuals. Methods Following extraction and saponification of total plasma lipids, GSLs were purified on a tC18 cartridge column, permethylated, and subjected to nanospray ionization mass spectrometry utilizing neutral loss scanning and data-dependent acquisition. Plasma GSLs were quantified against appropriate synthetic standards. Results Our method demonstrated linearity from 5 to 250 μl of plasma. Recovery of synthetic GSLs spiked into plasma was 99–104% with no matrix interference. Quantitative plasma GSL profiles discriminated among ST3GAL5 genotypes: GM3 and GD3 were undetectable in ST3GAL5 c.694C > T homozygotes, who had markedly elevated lactosylceramide (19.17 ± 4.20 nmol/ml) relative to heterozygous siblings (9.62 ± 2.46 nmol/ml) and wild type controls (6.55 ± 2.16 nmol/ml). Children with systemic ganglioside deficiency had a distinctive shift in ceramide composition toward higher mass species. Conclusions Our quantitative glycolipidomics method discriminates among ST3GAL5 c.694C > T genotypes, can reveal subtle structural heterogeneity, and represents a useful new strategy to diagnose and monitor GSL disorders in humans.
Establishment Limitation Constrains the Abundance of Lactic Acid Bacteria in the Napa Cabbage Phyllosphere

ABSTRACT Patterns of phyllosphere diversity have become increasingly clear with high-throughput sequencing surveys, but the processes that control phyllosphere diversity are still emerging. Through a combination of lab and field experiments using Napa cabbage and lactic acid bacteria (LAB), we examined how dispersal and establishment processes shape the ecological distributions of phyllosphere bacteria. We first determined the abundance and diversity of LAB on Napa cabbage grown at three sites using both culture-based approaches and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Across all sites, LAB made up less than 0.9% of the total bacterial community abundance. To assess whether LAB were low in abundance in the Napa cabbage phyllosphere due to a limited abundance in local species pools (source limitation), we quantified LAB in leaf and soil samples across 51 vegetable farms and gardens throughout the northeastern United States. Across all sites, LAB comprised less than 3.2% of the soil bacterial communities and less than 1.6% of phyllosphere bacterial communities. To assess whether LAB are unable to grow in the phyllosphere even if they dispersed at high rates (establishment limitation), we used a gnotobiotic Napa cabbage system in the lab with experimental communities mimicking various dispersal rates of LAB. Even at high dispersal rates, LAB became rare or completely undetectable in experimental communities, suggesting that they are also establishment limited. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the low abundance of LAB in phyllosphere communities may be explained by establishment limitation. IMPORTANCE The quality and safety of vegetable fermentations are dependent on the activities of LAB naturally present in the phyllosphere. Despite their critical role in determining the success of fermentation, the processes that determine the abundance and diversity of LAB in vegetables used for fermentation are poorly characterized. Our work demonstrates that the limited ability of LAB to grow in the cabbage phyllosphere environment may constrain their abundance on cabbage leaves. These results suggest that commercial fermentation of Napa cabbage proceeds despite low and variable abundances of LAB across different growing regions. Propagule limitation may also explain ecological distributions of other rare members of phyllosphere microbes.
Can PROMIS domains of pain and physical functioning detect changes in health over time for children with sickle cell disease

Background The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) includes multiple domains that measure pain and physical functioning which are valid and reliable for use in children with sickle cell disease. The responsiveness of these measures to detect changes in health status over time among children with sickle cell disease is unknown. Procedure We conducted a prospective cohort study of children presenting to emergency department (ED) with vaso-occlusive crises. Children completed PROMIS surveys in the ED and at two follow-up time points (7-10 days and 1-3 months) after their acute care visit. Linear mixed models were used to determine if there were significant changes in PROMIS T scores over time. We used a patient's global assessment of change in pain question to anchor the changes in PROMIS scores (mean and 95% confidence interval). A change was considered statistically significant if the 95% CI did not include 0. Results We found that patients improved significantly in all domains 1 to 3 months after discharge from an acute care visit for pain. In addition, the pain and physical stress experience domains were responsive to change 7 to 10 days after discharge. Using the anchor of change in pain, for children who had considerable improvement in pain, there were significant changes in PROMIS T scores ranging from 6 to 15. Conclusions Relevant PROMIS domains detect changes in children experiencing acute vaso-occlusive crises. These domains can be used in research and clinic settings to measure clinically relevant change in children with sickle cell disease.