cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microalbuminuria. Potential marker for increased cardiovascular risk factors in nondiabetic subjects

Microalbuminuria is associated with progression to renal disease in insulin-dependent diabetes and with increased mortality in noninsulin-dependent diabetes. In contrast, few studies have addressed the effect of microalbuminuria on cardiovascular risk in nondiabetics. We, therefore, determined the level of microalbuminuria in 316 nondiabetic subjects from the San Antonio Heart Study, a population-based study of diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors. Microalbuminuria (greater than or equal to 30 mg/l) was found in 42 of these 316 subjects (13%). Subjects with microalbuminuria had significantly higher blood pressure, triglyceride concentration, sum of insulin concentrations during a glucose tolerance test, and prevalence of hypertension and of self-reported myocardial infarction than subjects without microalbuminuria. When subjects with hypertension were excluded (n = 27), normotensive subjects with microalbuminuria (n = 31) still had significantly higher triglyceride concentrations and insulin sum than normotensive subjects without microalbuminuria (n = 258), suggesting that an increased atherogenic risk factor pattern exists even in normotensive subjects with microalbuminuria. Microalbuminuria may be a marker for cardiovascular risk, although it is not certain whether microalbuminuria causes these metabolic changes or results from some metabolic disturbance such as insulin resistance.
Speech Detection of Stakeholders' Non-Functional Requirements

This paper describes an automatic speech recognition technique for capturing the non-functional requirements spoken by stakeholders at open meetings and interviews during the requirements elicitation process. As statements related to system qualities such as security, performance, and portability are often scattered throughout statements of functional need, the ability to "listen in" on a conversation and correctly capture these statements into a single view is very helpful. The approach is intended to enhance and not replace existing elicitation methods in which stakeholders are more directly asked to describe their needs. Training a speech detection tool to recognize individual users is time consuming while speech detection for un-enrolled users is notoriously difficult. Our approach uses a context-free grammar to boost recognition accuracy, segment the stakeholders' utterances and finally to classify the recognized statements by quality type. This paper describes the preliminary results from experiments with different subjects and then discusses methods for optimizing the recognition and capture of non-functional requirements and contextual domain terms.
Who uses the services of periodontists

A review is provided of data from the 1983 National Health Interview Survey on the use of the services of periodontists.
Thinking Out of the Box to Improve Community Health: How One Secular Hospital is Supporting Parish Nursing in Area Churches and Synagogues:

With shortened hospital stays and decreasing home care benefits, our current health care system is putting our clients at risk. In our society, people desire healthier lifestyles but are inundated with less than reliable information. In recent years, area congregations began reclaiming their role of caring for the health needs of their members by utilizing parish/congregational nurses as part of their ministry. This model offers an opportunity for hospitals and other institutions to partner with the community to promote healthier lifestyles and protect those at risk.
Geometric motion estimation and control for robotic-assisted beating-heart surgery

One of the potential benefits of robotic systems in cardiac surgery is that their use can increase the number of possible off-pump (beating heart) coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. Robotic systems can actively synchronize the motion of surgical tools to the motion of the surface of the heart, with the surgeon specifying only the relative motion of the tool with respect to the heart. Accurate prediction of the motion of the heart surface is obviously of crucial importance for the safety and robustness of such a system. This paper presents a novel approach to predict the motion of the surface of a beating heart. We show how ECG and respiratory information can be used to extract two periodic components from the quasi-periodic motion of the heart surface. Contrary to most existing literature, we consider the full geometric motion, including rotation due to respiration. We then show how to combine the periodic components to accurately predict future motion of the heart surface, and how this information can be used to design an explicit controller that asymptotically stabilizes the relative motion of the surgical tool to a desired relative distance and orientation.
Farmers’ Willingness to Produce Alternative Cellulosic Biofuel Feedstocks Under Contract in Kansas Using Stated Choice Experiments

Many studies have assessed the technical feasibility of producing bioenergy crops on agricultural lands. However, while it is possible to produce large quantities of agricultural biomass for bioenergy from lignocellulosic feedstocks, very few of these studies have assessed farmers’ willingness to produce these crops under different contracting arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to examine farmers’ willingness to produce alternative cellulosic biofuel feedstocks under different contractual, market, and harvesting arrangements. This is accomplished by using enumerated field surveys in Kansas with stated choice experiments eliciting farmers’ willingness to produce corn stover, sweet sorghum, and switchgrass under different contractual conditions. Using a random utility framework to model the farmers’ decisions, the paper examines the contractual attributes that will most likely increase the likelihood of feedstock enterprise adoption. Results indicate that net returns above the next best alternative use of the land, contract length, cost share, financial incentives, insurance, and custom harvest options are all important contract attributes. Farmers’ willingness to adopt and their willingness-to-pay for alternative contract attributes vary by region and choice of feedstock.
An adaptive critic approach for self-learning stock trading

The paper describes a stock trading system with self learning capability using adaptive critic designs. The same approach can be formulated for other financial applications such as trading of bonds, options, futures, commodities, and the like.
Penicillin Failure in the Treatment of Acute and Relapsing Tonsillopharyngitis Is Associated With Copathogens and Alteration of Microbial Balance: A Role for Cephalosporins

The causes of penicillin failure in eradicating group A β-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngotonsillitis that are due to microbiological interactions are described. These include the presence of β-lactamase— producing bacteria that protect GABHS from penicillins, the absence of bacteria that interfere with the growth of GABHS, and coaggregation between GABHS and Moraxella catarrhalis. Antimicrobials that can overcome and modulate these phenomena achieve better cure of the infection than penicillins. The agents more effective than penicillins in the treatment of acute infections included the cephalosporins and macrolides, and those more effective in the treatment of chronic infections included clindamycin and amoxicillin-clavulanate.
Prevention of oxygen radical disease in the newborn: Possible therapeutic approaches

Free radical injury has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of conditions that may affect newborn infants. This is not surprising since newborns (especially premature infants) are uniquely susceptible to free radical injury. At birth, newborns are exposed to significantly higher oxygen concentrations compared to the intrauterine environment and may develop medical conditions that require treatment with prolonged hyperoxia. In addition, newborns may experience reperfusion injury following periods of hypoxia or ischaemia and may have inadequate antioxidant defences to handle these oxidant challenges. As interest in free radical injury in the newborn has grown, so too has research examining possible methods of prevention and treatment. Antioxidant therapy has great potential to further reduce morbidity and mortality in the newborn period by influencing multiple organ systems and disease states. We will now review current strategies for the prevention and treatment of free radical injury in the newborn.
Infra-red and Raman spectra of diacetylene

The infra-red spectrum of gaseous diacetylene has been investigated in the region 5000 to 500 cm -1 with a Perkin-Elmer spectrometer using prisms of lithium fluoride, sodium chloride and potassium bromide. The Raman spectrum of gaseous diacetylene has been investigated. The perpendicular Raman bands show the expected minima at the band centres, while the parallel bands have strong central Q branches. The Raman spectrum of liquid diacetylene has also been obtained and the depolarization ratios of the lines estimated. These investigations lead to a new assignment of the vibrational spectrum which accounts for the observed overtone and combination bands. In particular, a new Raman band found at 874 cm -1 has been assigned to the C—C stretching mode v 3 . A normal co-ordinate treatment has been carried out using the new assignment. This leads to a value for single bond C—C stretching force constant of 7∙1 × 10 5 dynes cm -1 . Whereas previous calculations of this force constant based on earlier vibrational assignments had led to serious inconsistencies with the observed bond length and with the constants of cyanogen, the value obtained here appears satisfactory in all respects.
Determinants of Ventilatory Efficiency in Heart Failure The Role of Right Ventricular Performance and Pulmonary Vascular Tone

Background— Ventilatory efficiency, right ventricular (RV) function, and secondary pulmonary hypertension are each prognostic indicators in patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction, but the relationships among these variables have not been comprehensively investigated. In this study, we hypothesized that inefficient ventilation during exercise, as defined by an abnormally steep relationship between ventilation and carbon dioxide output (Ve/Vco2 slope), may be a marker of secondary pulmonary hypertension and RV dysfunction in heart failure. Methods and Results— A cohort of patients with systolic heart failure (mean�SD age, 58�13 years; left ventricular ejection fraction, 0.27�0.05; peak oxygen uptake, 11.2�3.2 mL kg−1 min−1) underwent incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing with simultaneous hemodynamic monitoring and first-pass radionuclide ventriculography before and after 12 weeks of treatment with sildenafil, a selective pulmonary vasodilator, or placebo. Ve/Vco2 sl...
Minimal tethered cord syndrome: what's necessary to justify a new surgical indication?

Traditionally, surgical division of the terminal filum (filum terminale) has been reserved for patients with imagingapparent spinal cord tethering. The occurrence of medically refractory voiding dysfunction of neurogenic origin, without magnetic resonance (MR) imaging documentation of abnormality in the spine, has been termed “minimal” tethered cord syndrome (TCS). The rationale for and utility of using surgical division of the terminal filum in the treatment of minimal TCS are unproven. Six studies that involved surgical division of the terminal filum for minimal TCS were identified and reviewed. A seventh study conducted prior to the MR imaging era, in which authors used myelography, was also included. In addition, two investigations of the clinicopathological findings in such cases were analyzed. A tripartite criterion for justifying the introduction of a new surgical indication is proposed and analyzed in light of this evidence. In children with minimal TCS there are definite pathological changes in the terminal filum that are not visible on routine spinal MR imaging. These changes suggest that the pathophysiology of minimal TCS, like TCS that is demonstrated on neuroimaging, may involve abnormal traction on the distal spinal cord. Additional data are needed regarding the sensitivity and specificity of various clinical studies intended to identify children with minimal TCS. All existing data supporting the efficacy of surgery for minimal TCS have been generated by Class III studies. Clinical equipoise exists for this surgical indication, and, therefore, a prospective randomized trial should be completed. (DOI: 10.3171/FOC-07/08/E1)
Vascular endothelial growth factor and hepatocyte regeneration in acetaminophen toxicity

VEGF or VEGF-A is a major regulator of angiogenesis and has been recently shown to be important in organ repair. The potential role of VEGF in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity and recovery was investigated in B6C3F1 male mice. Mice were treated with APAP (300 mg/kg ip) and killed at various time points that reflect both the acute and recovery stages of toxicity. VEGF-A protein levels were increased 7-fold at 8 h and followed the development of hepatotoxicity. VEGF receptor 1, 2, and 3 (VEGFR1, VEGFR2, and VEGFR3, respectively) expression increased throughout the time course, with maximal expression at 48, 8, and 72 h, respectively. Treatment with the VEGF receptor inhibitor SU5416 (25 mg/kg ip at 3 h) had no effect on toxicity at 6 or 24 h. In further studies, the role of SU5416 on the late stages of toxicity was examined. Treatment of mice with APAP and SU5416 (25 mg/kg ip at 3 h) resulted in decreased expression of PCNA, a marker of cellular proliferation. Expression of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule, a measure of small vessel density, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS), a downstream target of VEGFR2, were increased at 48 and 72 h following toxic doses of APAP, and treatment with SU5416 decreased their expression. These data indicate that endogenous VEGF is critically important to the process of hepatocyte regeneration in APAP-induced hepatotoxicity in the mouse.
Severe Obesity In Adults Cost State Medicaid Programs Nearly $8 Billion In 2013

Efforts to expand Medicaid while controlling spending must be informed by a deeper understanding of the extent to which the high medical costs associated with severe obesity (having a body mass index of [Formula: see text] or higher) determine spending at the state level. Our analysis of population-representative data indicates that in 2013, severe obesity cost the nation approximately $69 billion, which accounted for 60 percent of total obesity-related costs. Approximately 11 percent of the cost of severe obesity was paid for by Medicaid, 30 percent by Medicare and other federal health programs, 27 percent by private health plans, and 30 percent out of pocket. Overall, severe obesity cost state Medicaid programs almost $8 billion a year, ranging from $5 million in Wyoming to $1.3 billion in California. These costs are likely to increase following Medicaid expansion and enhanced coverage of weight loss therapies in the form of nutrition consultation, drug therapy, and bariatric surgery. Ensuring and expanding Medicaid-eligible populations' access to cost-effective treatment for severe obesity should be part of each state's strategy to mitigate rising obesity-related health care costs.
Adapting to a Changing Tobacco Landscape: Research Implications for Understanding and Reducing Youth Tobacco Use

Patterns of youth tobacco use in the U.S. are becoming increasingly complex with the greater availability, marketing, and promotion of a diverse set of tobacco products. Using data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), the series of papers in this issue present a multifaceted examination of the attitudes and behaviors surrounding the diversity of tobacco products with a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students. Taken together, these papers represent one of the most comprehensive pictures of adolescent tobacco use in the U.S. and highlight both encouraging signs in reducing cigarette smoking and some early warning signs of potential new risks. The changing patterns of tobacco use attitudes and behaviors place a cautionary note on the progress made with adolescent tobacco use. As the recent Surgeon General’s Report The Health Consequences of Smoking— 50 Years of Progress concludes, the current rate of progress with tobacco control is not fast enough to reach the Healthy People 2020 objective of reducing the prevalence of smoking among adults to 12%, and the actual number of youth starting to smoke has increased over the past decade. 1 The Surgeon General’s Report and others 2 have emphasized that our foremost efforts need to remain strongly focused on reducing the toll from combustible tobacco products, the primary cause of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. Thus, understanding how attitudes and behaviors surrounding various tobacco products influence reductions in total combustible tobacco use is of paramount importance. We continue to make progress in reducing traditional markers of tobacco use among adolescents, primarily cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars. 3 However, these
Patient Motion During Clinical MR Examinations, Beyond the Economic Burden

I read with interest the article by Andre et al [1] titled “Toward Quantifying the Prevalence, Severity, and Cost Associated With Patient Motion During Clinical MR Examinations.” In their article, the authors eloquently demonstrated that motion artifacts represent a frequent cause of image degradation in MRI and impose a significant financial burden on radiology departments. There are some additional points worth mentioning. The authors recommended more investment in research and software packages for motion correction, but it would be interesting to know how often the currently available motion correction sequences and softwares were used in the study. Some motion correction techniques, such as PROPELLER, have been shown to be very useful in clinical settings, are available on the majority of imaging platforms [2], and are commonly used in moving patients. Another example is the echo-planar imaging fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence, which has shown to produce qualitative and quantitative results comparable with those obtained using conventional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging in the
Investigations of a Dual Seeded 1178 nm Raman Laser System

The leakage of 1121 nm power from a resonator cavity because of spectral broadening seriously degrades the performance of a Raman resonator by reducing the 1121 nm circulating power and the 1178 nm output power. Therefore, it is important to understand the conditions which minimize 1121 nm power leakage, maximize 1121 intracavity and 1178 nm output power while enabling a manageable Stimulated Brillouin Scattering gain for narrow linewidth systems. It was found that cavity lengths longer than approximately 40 m didn’t result in significantly more 1121 nm linewidth broadening. Relative to the high reflectivity bandwidth of the fiber Bragg gratings, it was found that 4 nm FBGs seemed to optimize 1178 nm amplification while minimizing the amount of 1121 nm power leakage. A two stage high power 1178 nm Raman system was built and 20 W of 1178 nm output power was achieved with a polarization extinction ratio of 21 and nearly diffraction limited beam quality. Linewidth broadening was found to increase as the 1178 nm output increased and was approximately 8 GHz when the 1178 nm output power was 20 W. Because of the linewidth broadening, a co-pumped second Stokes Raman laser system is not useful for the sodium guidestar laser application which requires narrow linewidth. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Shinto ritual. Managing chaos in contemporary Japan

The A. addresses why an animistically-inspired system of ritual practices, structured around hazy notions of « chaos » and « order », remain viable in Japan for both the common person as well as for elites, based upon both ancient and « invented » rituals. Shinto religious practices would seem a likely candidate for extinction within Japan's hightech consumer society. And yet, it is commonplace that new cars be blessed at a shrine, that new residences, officers, or factories be built after exorcism ceremonies purify and calm the land and its deity, that children are dedicated there, and that governmental functions frequently invite ritualistic encapsulation that shapes and orders the consciousness of those involved, often in nationalistic directions.
On the Prediction of Unsteady Forces on Gas-Turbine Blades: Part 1 — Typical Results and Potential-Flow-Interaction Effects

This paper is a contribution to the study of the generation of unsteady forces on turbine blades due to potential-flow interaction and viscous-wake interaction from upstream blade rows. A computer program is used to compute the unsteady forces on a rotor. The accuracy of the computer program is tested by comparing the results of a steady-flow calculation case and of an unsteady-flow calculation case with theory and experiment respectively. Results are shown for typical stator-to-rotor-pitch ratios and stator outlet-flow angles. These results show that the first spatial harmonic of the unsteady force may decrease for higher stator-to-rotor-pitch ratios. This trend is explained by considering the mechanisms by which the unsteady forces are generated. In this paper the mechanism by which the potential-flow interaction affects the flow field to generate these unsteady forces is shown to vary with the stator-to-rotor-pitch ratio and with the outlet flow angle of the stator.Copyright © 1988 by ASME
Effect of amino acids on the growth of Acetobacter suboxydans

Published disagreements between amino acid growth requirements and the reported ability of extracts to synthesize amino acids prompted a nutritional study onAcetobacter suboxydans ATCC strain 621. A chemically defined medium containing no amino acids supported cellular growth. Growth was stimulated by the addition of either glutamate, glutamine, α-ketoglutarate, proline, histidine, and to a lesser extent by the addition of either glycine, hydroxyproline, or mesaconate.
THE 7-REGULAR AND 13-REGULAR PARTITION FUNCTIONS MODULO 3

Let $b_{\ell }(n)$ denote the number of $\ell$ -regular partitions of $n$ . In this paper we establish a formula for $b_{13}(3n+1)$ modulo $3$ and use this to find exact criteria for the $3$ -divisibility of $b_{13}(3n+1)$ and $b_{13}(3n)$ . We also give analogous criteria for $b_{7}(3n)$ and $b_{7}(3n+2)$ .
Research on Energy Mobilization Legal System

The legalization of energy mobilization is the important foundation to ensure energy mobilization target and improve energy mobilization efficiency.The scarcity of effective energy mobilization management system and an all-inclusive legal system in our country has seriously restricted the enforcement of energy mobilization and improvement of energy mobilization efficiency.First,the paper analyzes energy mobilization legal system's current situation and trait of other countries.Second,it studies the current demand and feature of energy management and national economy mobilization management in our country.Finally,it makes suggestions on perfecting frame,completing content and enhancing utility of legal system in our country.
Research on Non-Circular Helical Gear NC Hobbing Linkage Control Scheme

This thesis analyzes the key technology of non-circular helical gear linkage control CNC hobbing, which is also the most critical challenges. According to the formation principle of non-circular gear gallery in the CNC hobbing process, the author uses complex motion geometrical relationship to establish a simplest mathematical model of non-circular gears Helical in CNC hobbing process, and designs a control scheme of CNC control system linkage program, which is needed in CNC hobbing machining of helical non-circular gear, in order to solve the problem of non-circular manufacture helical gears and implement the manufacture of non-circular CNC hobbing.
Cultural valorization and African American literary history : Reconstructing the canon

The determinants of and variations in processes of cultural valorization are of increasing interest to sociologists. In the case of high-culture literary texts, the central evaluation process takes place through canon formation. We explore the mechanisms of canon formation and of cultural valorization processes more generally by analyzing the critical history of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Published in 1937 to lukewarm reviews, the novel is currently considered a core canonical text. We specify three processes involved in the reconstruction of Hurston's novel and in the establishment of the African American literary canon: (1) the application of new evaluative criteria, (2) the reconstruction of textual meaning through newly available interpretative strategies, and (3) changes in the institutional and organizational environment that allowed new claims on high-status critical positions to be made by those previously outside the literary hierarchy. The implications of this study for theoretical models of cultural valorization in sociology are considered.
Geography and Geology

Generally speaking, we may say that the Nile surpasses all the rivers of the inhabited world in its benefactions to mankind. Diodorus Siculus “The land of Egypt is the gift of the river,” one of the most often quoted observations about ancient Egypt, was made by Herodotus, the fifth-century BCE Greek historian. It was not an original idea of his, and he may have even borrowed it from another ancient author, but it was a common way in his time to describe the dependence that the country had on the life-giving renewal brought by the annual inundation, or flooding, of the river Nile. His statement also emphasized the fact that the fertile Nile delta had been built up over centuries by the silt carried downstream each year by that flood, and it was fundamentally the delta that the world of the Greeks and Romans knew best. The landscape of Egypt as seen from space has been compared to a lotus flower on a long stalk, with only one large leaf on one side. In a satellite image the long ribbon of the Nile and the narrow cultivated area along its banks terminates in the fan-shaped delta, the “flower.” The “leaf” is the Fayum depression on the west, with its large lake. Although it is obviously a coincidence, the visual comparison of Egypt to the lotus is an apt one because the ancient Egyptians had a strong belief in the symbolism of the flower as an image of rebirth or resurrection.
The Language-Identity Dilemma: An Examination of Language, Cognition, Identity, and Their Associated Implications for Learning

Language and identity are critical components of teaching and learning interactions in science classrooms. This chapter attempts to shed light on the role of culturally- based communication in generating effects that are both cognitive and socioemotive in nature. The challenge in recognizing the interaction of these communicative features involves two potential outcomes. First, recognizing their impact on classrooms helps scholars understand how language can serve as a gatekeeper into framing issues of access for students. Second, understanding this dilemma may help teachers limit the influence of language-identity interactions as a subtle component of teaching and learning. In this chapter, I propose moving toward incorporating an informed lens on language, cognition, and identity as an explicit goal of contemporary science teaching.
Nucleation rates of spherulites in natural rhyolitic lava

The rates of nucleation and crystal growth from silicate melt are difficult to measure because the temperature–time path of magma is often unknown. We use geochemical gradients around spherulites in obsidian glass to estimate the temperature–time interval of spherulite crystallization. This information is used in conjunction with new high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) data on the size distributions of spherulites in six samples of rhyolite obsidian lava to infer spherulite nucleation rates. A large data set of geochemical profiles indicate that the lavas cooled at rates of 10 −2.2 to 10 −1.2 °C/h, and that the spherulites grew at rates that decreased exponentially with time, with values of 10 −0.70 to 10 0.30 μm/h at 600 °C. Spherulites are estimated to have begun nucleating when undercooling [Δ T , = liquidus T (≈800 °C) minus nucleation T ] reached 100–277 °C, and stopped when Δ T = 203–365 °C, with exact values dependent on assumed cooling and growth rates. Regardless of rates, we find that spherulites nucleated within a ~88–113 °C temperature interval and, hence, began when Δ T ≈ 0.65–0.88 × T L , peaking when Δ T ≈ 0.59–0.80 × T L . A peak rate of nucleation of 0.072 ± 0.049 cm −3 h −1 occurred at 533 ± 14 °C, using cooling and growth rates that best fit the data set of geochemical profiles. While our inferred values for Δ T overlap those from experimental studies, our nucleation rates are much lower. That difference likely results from experimental studies using hydrous melts; the natural spherulites grew in nearly anhydrous glass.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations on breast cancer screening (BCS): Are they justified?

1584 Background: Nine randomized population trials (RPTs) on BCS with mammography have been reported. Conclusions based upon mortality (MOR) comparisons in RPTs have long led to uncertainty about w...
Conditioned taste avoidance, conditioned place preference and hyperthermia induced by the second generation 'bath salt' α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP).

Abstract Background α-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP) has been reported to be rewarding in a variety of pre-clinical models. Given that a number of drugs of abuse have both rewarding and aversive effects, the balance of which influences addiction potential, the present study examined the aversive properties of α-PVP by assessing its ability to induce taste avoidance. This assessment was made in a combined taste avoidance/place conditioning design that also allowed an evaluation of the relationship between α-PVP's aversive and rewarding effects. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a novel saccharin solution, injected with one of four doses of α-PVP (0, 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg) (IP) and placed on one side of a place conditioning apparatus. The next day, they were injected with vehicle, given access to water and placed on the other side. Following four conditioning cycles, saccharin avoidance and place preferences were then assessed. The effects of α-PVP on body temperature were also examined. Results α-PVP induced dose-dependent taste avoidance as well as significant increases in time spent on the drug-paired side (although this effect was not dependent on dose). α-PVP also induced dose- and time-dependent hyperthermia. Conclusions α-PVP induced significant taste avoidance whose strength relative to the psychostimulants methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and cocaine paralleled their relative binding to the dopamine transporter. Similar to other drugs of abuse, α-PVP has both aversive and rewarding effects. It will be important to assess how various experiential and subject variables impact these effects and their balance to predict abuse liability.
Implementação de cotas raciais em universidades e concursos públicos: problemas procedimentais e técnicas para sua superação

O presente artigo analisa os problemas procedimentais decorrentes da implementacao de cotas raciais em concursos publicos e para o ingresso nas universidades, sobretudo no que tange a identificacao dos beneficiarios da politica publica e a prevencao das fraudes. Embora considere problematica a opcao nacional pelas politicas de heterorreconhecimento racial, apresenta medidas para que esse procedimento, quando adotado, resguarde a seguranca juridica dos candidatos, a objetividade da avaliacao e o controle publico e social da selecao. A proposta e composta por tres tecnicas, iniciando com a criacao de parâmetros de comparacao racial nos editais, passando pela exigencia de fundamentacao adequada das decisoes das comissoes e concluindo com a ampliacao do controle social sobre os candidatos selecionados. This paper aims to propose procedural techniques capable of implementing affirmative actions based on race, considering the specificities of race relations in Brazil. Although the country has recognized its racial inequality, it is impossible to adopt criteria based on genotype or ascendency. Moreover, the high number of interracial marriages through time originated a population with a wide variety of phenotypical profiles. It is difficult, in this context, to develop a procedure to implement affirmative action without making it useless, due to the large number of possible beneficiaries, but, on the other hand, avoiding to create a racial tribunal. This paper aims to overcome these difficulties.
15 Years of the Orphan Drug Act: What Lies Ahead?

I often hear people ask, “What is an orphan drug? ” — “Is it a drug used to treat orphans? ” The answers to these questions are found in the 1984 amendments to the 1983 Orphan Drug Act (ODA) which state quite simply: An orphan drug is a drug intended to treat a condition affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S., or a product that will not be profitable within 7 years following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. To most of us, a population of 200,000 sounds like a lot of people; but, 200,000 patients with a particular disease — dispersed among the total U.S. population of 265 million people — may be very hard to find, or virtually lost for all intents and purposes. Consequently, a disease affecting such a small number of patients is determined to be very rare. In the years before passage of the ODA, individuals with a very rare disease had significant difficulty interesting pharmaceutical firms in doing research on, or developing a drug for their disease; pharmaceutical firms felt there would be no return on their investment.
Outcomes of laparoscopic resection of Meckel's diverticulum are equivalent to open laparotomy

Abstract Purpose Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is a common congenital anomaly caused by failure of involution of the omphalomesenteric duct. Enthusiasm for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in children has burgeoned as technologies have advanced, but the outcomes of laparoscopic resection in comparison to open laparotomy for MD remain poorly defined. We queried a large national database to compare current practice patterns and clinical outcomes between surgical approaches for MD in the pediatric population. Methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (NSQIP-Ped) database was queried for patients undergoing surgical intervention for MD (2011–2014). Patients were stratified by surgical approach. Baseline characteristics, intraoperative variables, and perioperative complications were compared by univariate analysis using Pearson's χ 2 test for categorical variables and Kruskall-Wallis test for continuous variables. Primary outcomes of interest were length of stay (LOS), rate of readmission, and 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included operative time, anesthesia time, postoperative complications, and rates of reoperation. Results A total of 148 cases of MD were identified, of which 73 (49.3%) were initially managed with a laparoscopic approach and 75 (50.7%) were managed with an open approach. We found a high rate of conversion from laparoscopy to an open approach (20/73 or 27.4%). The median age of the laparoscopic group was higher than the open group (8.3 vs. 2.5years, p 0.05). Conclusion Nearly half of all resections for MD in children are now approached laparoscopically. This approach has equivalent outcomes to traditional open laparotomy. More widespread use of a hybrid approach with laparoscopy and exteriorization of the small bowel through an extended port site may facilitate avoiding open laparotomy. Routine conversion to open for palpation of the MD or segmental small bowel resection should be avoided in the absence of compelling intra-operative findings or operative complications. Level of evidence Level III (retrospective comparative study).
Phenology and Seasonal Modeling in Insects

Insects exhibit a wide variety of seasonal adaptations. Studies of seasonality in insects have generally considered whole populations rather than repeated observations of individuals. The reason for this approach is that insects, as a rule, are small, short-lived, and extremely abundant. Insects are therefore more cryptic, more ephemeral, and are potentially endowed with much greater genetic variability than most plants or vertebrates. The importance of these attributes in phenological studies cannot be overemphasized. In different seasons of the same year or during the same season of successive years, one can expect to find individuals and gene frequencies which are significantly different from those encountered in prior sample populations. Consequently, the insect phenologist may deal with greater variation in the timing of a phenophase or in the extent of population growth than a phenologist concerned with plants or vertebrates. Seasonal models of insect populations will reflect this greater variation by exhibiting greater variance or lower confidence limits in their prediction of future events than will models concerning plants or vertebrates.
Personal and Contextual Predictors of Mental Health Counselors' Compassion Fatigue and Burnout

This study applied transactional stress and coping theory to explore the contributions of counselor gender, years of experience, perceived working conditions, personal resources of mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction to predict compassion fatigue and burnout in a national sample of 213 mental health counselors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that in this sample while perceived working conditions, mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction accounted for only 31.1% of the variance in compassion fatigue, these factors explained 66.9% of the variance in burnout. Counselors who reported less maladaptive coping, higher mindfulness attitudes and compassion satisfaction, and more positive perceptions of their work environment reported less burnout. The utility of these findings in understanding the development of counselor burnout and compassion fatigue are discussed, as are directions for future research.
An Image Recognition Processor with Time-domain Accelerators using Efficient Time Encoding and Non-linear Logic Operation

This paper presents novel time-domain circuit techniques including double encoding strategy, shared time generator (TG) and bit-scalable design which significantly improve the performance of time-domain signal processing (TDSP) and error tolerance. A feature-extraction and vector-quantization processor accelerated by TDSP has been developed for real-time image recognition. A 55nm prototype chip shows 72 fps/core (@1.33 GHz) operation with significant enhancement from time-domain techniques compared with conventional digital implementation.
Migration and the search for home: mapping domestic space in migrants’ everyday lives

The variable most commonly used to assess peoples’ emotional connection to a place is the length of time. The longer an individual lives in a location, the more likely they are to develop feelings ...
The Greek Debt Crisis: The Need for "Heroic" Economic Policy Reforms in the European Economic and Monetary Union

Greece is in the midst of a devastating economic and financial crisis that the European Union has been trying ardently to resolve since the default of Lehman Brothers in 2008. A significant number of other European Union (EU) Member States are also in crisis due to various state-level economic and monetary causes. Meanwhile, the European Union has consistently used the existing treaty articles and legislation within its competence to impose traditional and homogenized austerity measures on highly indebted Member States, most notably Greece. In sum, the European Union has zealously advocated for fiscal conservatism driven by the German “uber-fear” of inflation, which the European Union firmly believes is not only an indicator of economic instability, but also an ineffective debt reduction policy. The discord sown by such a policy at the EU level is evident even without detailed economic analysis: inflation, wages, unemployment, debt, and other economic indicators are affected, and often controlled, by a wide variety of factors, both global and domestic. This Note will deal chiefly with the economic and monetary causes of the crisis in Greece, and it will briefly discuss the crisis in Spain. While an understanding that each crisis is different would induce a reasonable expectation that each of those countries—as well as any other Member State in need of assistance—would have been prescribed a tailored solution to the extent that is practicable, this Note will explain that this has not been the case.
Pediatric airway dimensions-A summary and presentation of existing data

Background Age-related pediatric airway dimension reference values for cricoid, tracheal, and bronchial diameters as well as tracheal and bronchial lengths are essential for distinguishing normal from pathological airway findings and for manufacturing and selecting appropriately sized airway equipment. Aim The aim of this work was to summarize and present existing pediatric airway dimension data for the larynx, trachea, and main stem bronchi from fetus to adolescence. Methods A systematic literature search was carried out using PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar. Publications containing original data on pediatric airway dimensions as mean or median in tabular form and spanning narrow age groups of 1 or 2 years were included in our study. Original data such as diameters, lengths, and cross-sectional areas of trachea, cricoid, left and right main bronchi in fetuses and children were collected and presented as figures. Results Pediatric airway dimension data were gathered and compiled from 15 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Data were obtained from different measurement methods such as autopsy, chest X-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, rigid and flexible bronchoscopy as well as ultrasound examinations. There was considerable variation among age-related data due to biologic heterogeneity, different presentation of data, different definitions, and various measurement techniques. Conclusion This investigation revealed heterogeneous data on pediatric airway dimensions, making it impossible to compile them into standard reference values for airway dimensions. New studies with structured and standardized measurements and data presentation in large populations of children are required to provide more valid pediatric airway dimension data.
Gender Disparities in Surgical Treatment of Axis Fractures in Older Adults.

Study Design:Retrospective cohort study.Objectives:Gender appears to play in important role in surgical outcomes following acute cervical spine trauma, with current literature suggesting males have...
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells Are Resistant to the Apoptotic Effects of Transforming Growth Factor-β

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia of the western world and is characterized by a slowly progressing accumulation of clonal CD5+ B cells. Our laboratory has investigated the role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in the pathogenesis of B-cell expansion in CLL. In vitro addition of TGF-beta did not increase spontaneous apoptosis of B cells from most CLL patients, as determined using the TUNEL method, compared with a twofold increase observed in cultures of normal B cells. There was similar expression of TGF-beta type II receptors on both CLL B cells and normal B cells. In contrast to apoptosis, CLL B-cell proliferation was variably inhibited with addition of TGF-beta. In vitro addition of IL-4, previously reported to promote CLL B-cell survival, dramatically reduced spontaneous apoptosis of CLL B cells compared with normal B cells. CLL B-cell expression of IL-4 receptors was increased compared to normal B cells. Thus, our results show aberrant apoptotic responses of CLL B cells to TGF-beta and IL-4, perhaps contributing to the relative expansion of the neoplastic clone.
To treat or not to treat, that is the question.

Following a diagnosis and surgical treatment for localized breast cancer, medical oncologists present patients with adjuvant systemic therapeutic options that have been shown to reduce the risk of ...
Increased vertebral exposure in anterior lumbar interbody fusion associated with venous injury and deep venous thrombosis.

Abstract Background Published outcomes on anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) have focused on 1-2 level fusion with and without vascular surgery assistance. We examined the influence of multi-level fusion on exposure-related outcomes when performed by vascular surgeons. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical and radiographic data for patients undergoing anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) with exposure performed by vascular surgeons at a single practice. Results From 2017-2018, 201 consecutive patients underwent vascular-assisted ALIF. Patients were divided by number of vertebral levels exposed (90 patients with 1 level exposed, 71 with 2, 40 with 3+). Demographically, 3+ level fusion patients were older (p=.0045) and more likely to have had prior ALIF (p=.0383). Increased vertebral exposure was associated with higher rates of venous injury (p=.0251), increased procedural time (p= .0116), length of stay (p=.0001), and incidence of postoperative DVT (p=.0032). There was a 6.5% rate of intraoperative vascular injury, comprised of 3 major and 10 minor venous injuries. In patients who experienced complications, 92.3% of injuries were repaired primarily. 23% of patients with venous injuries developed postoperative deep venous thrombosis. In a multivariate logistic regression model, increased levels of exposure (RR = 6.23, p = .026) and a history of degenerative spinal disease (RR = .033, p = .033) were predictive of intraoperative venous injury. Conclusion Increased vertebral exposure in anterior lumbar interbody fusion is associated with increased risk of intraoperative venous injury and postoperative deep venous thrombosis, with subsequently greater lengths of procedure time and length of stay. Rates of arterial and sympathetic injury were not affected by exposure extent.
Gluon Polarization in Longitudinally Polarized pp Collisions at STAR

The STAR Collaboration is performing a wide range of measurements to determine the gluon helicity distribution in the proton. Gluon-gluon and quark-gluon scattering dominate jet production in proton-proton collisions at RHIC, so the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry, ALL, for jet production places significant constraints on the gluon polarization in the proton. In recent years STAR has recorded large longitudinally polarized pp data sets at both s = 200 GeV and 510 GeV. The 2009 STAR inclusive jet ALL measurements at s = 200 GeV show the first experimental evidence of non-zero gluon polarization over the Bjorken-x range, x > 0.05. Furthermore, data collected at s = 510 GeV during the 2012 and 2013 RHIC runs allow access to the gluon polarization at lower x. In this talk, I will present the final results of the 2009 inclusive jet ALL measurement at 200 GeV, the analysis status of the 2012 inclusive jet ALL measurement at 510 GeV, and the status of di-jet and other STAR measurements that are sensitive to gluon polarization.