cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Manual In-Line Stabilization for Acute Airway Management of Suspected Cervical Spine Injury: Historical Review and Current Questions

Direct laryngoscopy with manual in-line stabilization is standard of care for acute trauma patients with suspected cervical spine injury. Ethical and methodologic constraints preclude controlled trials of manual in-line stabilization, and recent work questions its effectiveness. We searched MEDLINE, Index Medicus, Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane Database, and article reference lists. According to this search, we present an ancestral review tracing the origins of manual in-line stabilization and an analysis of subsequent studies evaluating the risks and benefits of the procedure. All manual in-line stabilization data came from trials of uninjured patients, cadaveric models, and case series. The procedure was adopted because of reasonable inference from the benefits of stabilization during general care of spine-injured patients, weak empirical data, and expert opinion. More recent data indicate that direct laryngoscopy and intubation are unlikely to cause clinically significant movement and that manual in-line stabilization may not immobilize injured segments. In addition, manual in-line stabilization degrades laryngoscopic view, which may cause hypoxia and worsen outcomes in traumatic brain injury. Patients intubated in the emergency department with suspected cervical spine injury often have traumatic brain injury, but the incidence of unstable cervical lesions in this group is low. The limited available evidence suggests that allowing some flexion or extension of the head is unlikely to cause secondary injury and may facilitate prompt intubation in difficult cases. Despite the presumed safety and efficacy of direct laryngoscopy with manual in-line stabilization, alternative techniques that do not require direct visualization warrant investigation. Promising techniques include intubation through supraglottic airways, along with video laryngoscopes, optical stylets, and other imaging devices.
Optimization of extraction and enrichment of phenolics from pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) leaves

Abstract Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) leaves, as byproducts, are rich sources of phenolic compounds and possess strong antioxidant activities. The aim of the present study is to optimize the extraction and enrichment conditions of phenolics from pomegranate leaves. Firstly, four solvents (water, 50% methanol, 50% ethanol and 50% acetone) were used to assess the effect of solvent polarity on the extraction yield and total phenolics content in extracts. Then, the response surface methodology based on three-level, three-variable Box–Behnken design was used to optimize and evaluate three independent variables: solvent concentration (25–50–75%), temperature (40–60–80 °C) and extraction time (20–40–60 min) on the extraction yield and total phenolics content. Thereafter, the macroporous resin chromatography was used to enrich the phenolics in the crude extract and the resin types, pH values of samples and elution solvent, and the concentration of elution solvent were optimized based on the absorption and desorption capacity of phenolics. Finally, the optimum conditions of extraction and enrichment were selected: the highest temperature (80 °C), the longest extraction time (60 min) and 61% ethanol solvent concentration for extraction; HPD-100 macroporous resin for chromatography, pH 2.0 for absorption sample solution, and 50% ethanol with pH 2.0 as desorption solvent. The extraction and enrichment process established here can be easily and effectively achieved, and the content of phenolics in the resulting extracts can reach 669.35 ± 19.50 mg GAE/g. Moreover, DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging abilities were significantly increased in the resulting extracts. This is the first time to study the enrichment of phenolics with macroporous resin chromatography from pomegranate leaves.
A hypothesis concerning the caries-preventive mechanism of tin

To determine the caries-preventive mechanism of the stannous ion in stannous fluoride, the action of the stannous ion was compared with that of other ions in fluoride compounds.
Name that room: room identification using acoustic features in a recording

This paper presents a system for identifying the room in an audio or video recording through the analysis of acoustical properties. The room identification system was tested using a corpus of 13440 reverberant audio samples. With no common content between the training and testing data, an accuracy of 61% for musical signals and 85% for speech signals was achieved. This approach could be applied in a variety of scenarios where knowledge about the acoustical environment is desired, such as location estimation, music recommendation, or emergency response systems.
Probabilistic approach to Perron root, the group inverse, and applications

A probabilistic approach to the study of the Perron root of irreducible nonnegative matrices is presented. Our two main results are a probabilistic representation for the generalized inverse of the generator of a continuous-time finite-state Markov chain and the identification of the Hessian of the Perron root of a nonnegative irreducible matrix, with respect to a certain natural transformation of its entries, as a covariance matrix for additive functionals for a related Markov chain. These provide us with a natural approach – at least from the point of view of the probabilist – to study positivity and convexity properties of perturbations to the Perron eigenvalue. We focus on reestablishing and improving a number of known results in the field.
Structural and electronic properties of ultrathin films of Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er.

Single-crystal ultrathin films of Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er were grown epitaxially on W{l brace}110{r brace} in ultrahigh vacuum. Comparison with single-crystal data available for Tb shows that while the purity of the films may be higher, the crystallinity, i.e., the long-range order, is less well developed in the films than in bulk single crystals.
The Reagan Presidency and the Reagan Experiment

Fred I. Greenstein, ed., The Reagan Presidency: An Early Assessment. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Pp. 196. $7.95 softbound. John L. Palmer and Isabel V. Sawhill, eds., The Reagan Experiment: An Examination of Economic and Social Policies under the Reagan Administration. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 1982. Pp. xvii, 523. $29.95 hardbound; $12.95 softbound.
Dyslipidemia of the metabolic syndrome

The three major components of dyslipidemia associated with the metabolic syndrome are increased fasting and post-prandial triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs), decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and increased small, dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles. Insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia lead to overproduction of very low-density lipoprotein particles. A relative deficiency of lipoprotein lipase, an insulin-sensitive enzyme, is partly responsible for the decreased clearance of fasting and postprandial TRLs, and the decreased production of HDL particles. The resulting increased concentration of cholesteryl ester-rich fasting and postprandial TRLs is the central lipoprotein abnormality of the metabolic syndrome. The increase of small, dense LDL particles, and decrease of large, buoyant HDL particles are consequential events. All these lipoprotein defects contribute largely to the increased cardiovascular disease risk in individuals with insulin resistance. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α, PPARγ, and PPARδ agonists seem to improve dyslipidemia of the metabolic syndrome by regulating the expression of important genes involved in the deranged lipoprotein metabolism associated with insulin resistance.
Free to move, forced to flee: the formation and dissolution of suburbs in colonial Bombay, 1750–1918

This article shows the centrality of movement – the freedom to move, the inability to move and being forced to flee – to the suburban development of Bombay. The reason as well as the spatio-temporal rhythm of movement differed among population groups inhabiting the city. The early suburbs of colonial Bombay were predicated on the ability of a tiny European elite to move to different parts of the city according to the seasons. By the mid-nineteenth century, their movement would no longer be restricted to the several islands that constituted Bombay. Instead, tracing the governor's footsteps they would move many miles away, from Bombay to Poona during the monsoons, to Mahabaleshwar after the rains and back to Bombay for the cool winter season as the seat of governance shifted according to the season. In late nineteenth-century Bombay, the growth of the mill industry would force Europeans to retreat to other areas of the city from their former suburban homes, which were now transformed into mill districts. In contrast to the freedom of movement that underlay the early foundation of European suburban development in Bombay, Indian suburban development was based on the necessity to flee the crowded and insalubrious native city districts. The bubonic plague that first struck the city in 1896 was most virulent in the native districts of the city, long subject to municipal neglect. After 1896, large numbers of Bombay's native citizenry were forced to flee their homes each year during the plague season. Moving to different locations, often along the railway lines, they formed small communities that became the foundation of Bombay's future suburban development.
A New Path Length Measure Based on GO for Gene Similarity with Evaluation using SGD Pathways

We propose a new method for measuring the semantic similarity of genes based on path length between their annotation terms in the gene ontology. Our method applies an exponential transfer function to the average path length between two genes to compute their similarity. The non-linear measure ensures that the semantic similarity decreases with distance and proves to be quite competitive when compared to other measures. The advantage of the proposed measure is its simplicity and ease of implementation which gives it a great appeal in this domain. The measure uses only one feature (path length) for computing the similarity between genes. For validation purposes, we computed the similarity of genes from the Saccharomyces genome database (SGD) taking part in various cellular pathways. We analyzed 152 pathways from SGD and compared our similarity results with two of the leading measures. The proposed measure proved to be very competitive in all cases and the clustering results showed that our method is able to surpass the leading methods in certain cases.
Characterizing cloud computing hardware reliability

Modern day datacenters host hundreds of thousands of servers that coordinate tasks in order to deliver highly available cloud computing services. These servers consist of multiple hard disks, memory modules, network cards, processors etc., each of which while carefully engineered are capable of failing. While the probability of seeing any such failure in the lifetime (typically 3-5 years in industry) of a server can be somewhat small, these numbers get magnified across all devices hosted in a datacenter. At such a large scale, hardware component failure is the norm rather than an exception.Hardware failure can lead to a degradation in performance to end-users and can result in losses to the business. A sound understanding of the numbers as well as the causes behind these failures helps improve operational experience by not only allowing us to be better equipped to tolerate failures but also to bring down the hardware cost through engineering, directly leading to a saving for the company. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to study server failures and hardware repairs for large datacenters. We present a detailed analysis of failure characteristics as well as a preliminary analysis on failure predictors. We hope that the results presented in this paper will serve as motivation to foster further research in this area.
The Absorption of a Disperse Dye by Cellulose Acetate in the Presence and Absence of Butanol

The absorption of Disperse Red I by secondary cellulose acetate yarn has been studied. The experiments were run in such a way that the dye was present in true solution and the concentration of dye ...
Simplified dichromated gelatin hologram recording process

A simplified method for making dichromated gelatin (DCG) holographic optical elements (HOE) has been discovered. The method is much less tedious and it requires a period of processing time comparable with that for processing a silver halide hologram. HOE characteristics including diffraction efficiency (DE), linearity, and spectral sensitivity have been quantitatively investigated. The quality of the holographic grating is very high. Ninety percent or higher diffraction efficiency has been achieved in simple plane gratings made by this process.
Wireless powering and data telemetry for biomedical implants

Wireless powering and data telemetry techniques for two biomedical implant studies based on (1) wireless in vivo EMG sensor for intelligent prosthetic control and (2) adaptively RF powered implantable bio-sensing microsystem for real-time genetically engineered mice monitoring are presented. Inductive-coupling-based RF powering and passive data telemetry is effective for wireless in vivo EMG sensing, where the internal and external RF coils are positioned with a small separation distance and fixed orientation. Adaptively controlled RF powering and active data transmission are critical for mobile implant application such as real-time physiological monitoring of untethered laboratory animals. Animal implant studies have been successfully completed to demonstrate the wireless and batteryless in vivo sensing capabilities.
Diabetes-related risk factors across Hispanic subgroups in the Hispanic health and nutritional examination survey (1982-1984).

Objective The Hispanic Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (HHANES) was utilized to examine diabetes-related risk factor variables between and among 3 Hispanic subgroups. Design The study design that was conducted was descriptive using the HHANES secondary data set. Sample The sample included individuals between 20 and 74 years of age, self-identified as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and/or Cuban American and had been told by a doctor that they had diabetes. Measurements The 5 diabetes-related risk factor variables were obesity measured by body mass index (BMI), hypertension by systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), hyperlipidemia by cholesterol and triglyceride levels, renal insufficiency by blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine and fasting plasma glucose. Results This study demonstrates significant differences between specific subgroups through chi-square. SBP in Cuban Americans was significantly higher than that of Puerto Ricans (28.39 mmHg) and of Mexican Americans (25.94 mmHg). Cuban Americans also had significantly higher cholesterol values than Mexican Americans (88.49 mg/dL) and Puerto Ricans (84.49 mg/dL). The only significant difference for triglyceride was between Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans (37.25 mg/dL). For BUN, there were significant differences when Cuban Americans (9.06 mg/dL) and Mexican Americans (2.20 mg/dL) were separately compared from Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans had significantly higher creatinine values than Puerto Ricans (0.38 mg/dL) and Mexican Americans (0.25 mg/dL). Through linear regression, significant differences for the association of each diabetes-related risk factor and the risk for diabetes complications were computed for each subgroup. For Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans there were significant differences in overweight BMI (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) and obesity (> or =30.0 kg/m2); for Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans in elevated SBP (130-139 mmHg) or elevated DBP (80-89 mmHg), for high SBP (> or =140 mmHg) or high DBP (> or =90 mmHg), and for high glucose (> or =126 mg/dL); and for Mexican Americans in elevated triglyceride (> or =150 mg/dL), elevated BUN (> or =21 mg/dL), and elevated creatinine (> or =1.5 mg/dL). Conclusion The findings of this study will add to the diabetes and Hispanic literature highlighting the need to evaluate Hispanic subgroups in future health behavior and outcomes research.
Heterochronic scaling of developmental durations in evolved soft robots

In the evolution of Generative and Developmental Systems (GDS), the choice of where along the ontogenic trajectory to stop development in order to measure fitness can have a profound effect upon the emergent solutions. After illustrating the complexities of ontogenic fitness trajectories, we introduce a GDS encoding without an a priori fixed developmental duration, which instead slowly increases the duration over the course of evolution. Applied to a soft robotic locomotion task, we demonstrate how this approach can not only retain the well known advantages of developmental encodings, but also be more efficient and arrive at more parsimonious solutions than approaches with static developmental time frames.
Dynamic Response of Small Cantilever Beams in Viscous Media

We have considered two configurations of cantilever beam for characterization of rheological properties (density and viscosity) of viscous material. Both the beams are made of thin steel foils, having different free end condition. The beams were vibrated in various viscous fluids such as water and lubrication oils under sweeping modes, and the frequency response of the beam was measured using Polytec laser vibrometer. For both beam configurations, the resonance frequency decreased while the width of the resonance peak (related to Q-factor) increased with increasing viscosity and density. Thus, the viscosity and the density of a liquid can be determined simultaneously using the experimentally measured resonance frequency and peak width.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Creating a Responsive Curriculum for Inclusive Schools

As school communities begin to serve students with significant disabilities in general education classrooms, there is a need to recognize and employ curriculum orientations and practices that interface with the purposes and principles of inclusive education. this article begins by offering reconstructionism---or the process of critique and reformulation of practice---as a useful orientation for viewing the design of curriculum in inclusive schools. sound theoretical foundations and the use of learner-centered, process-oriented, and communication-based instructional approaches are proposed as promising practices for designing a curriculum that is responsive to the needs of diverse learners. following this discussion, implications for future research are articulated.
Mechanical Amplification by Non-Oscillating Saccular Hair Cell Bundles

Hair cells from the inner ear are the mechano-electrical transducers for biological sound detection. Under in vitro conditions, hair bundles from bullfrog sacculus can exhibit spontaneous oscillations, which suggest the existence of an active process that might underlie its exquisite sensitivity to mechanical stimulations. However, it was shown that these bundles do not spontaneously oscillate under in vivo conditions: the overlying membrane applies not only elastic and mass loading, but also large mechanical offsets. While oscillating hair bundles were shown to amplify mechanical stimuli, it is still unknown whether or not a non-oscillating (quiescent) hair bundle benefits from its active process. Therefore, we focus on the response to mechanical sinusoidal stimulus of non-oscillating hair bundles under mechanical offsets. In this work, stimuli were applied to bundles with flexible glass fibers of stiffness 100-200 μN/m. Hair bundle motions were recorded with a high-speed CMOS camera at 500 frames per second. We found that, under large mechanical offsets, stochastic brief excursions (spikes) are observed in bundle motion, indicating the existence of an excitable regime. Application of a small sinusoidal stimulus entrains the occurrence of these mechanical spikes, leading to an amplified movement of the bundle with respect to the passive response.
Hurricane Katrina's Impact on African Americans' and European Americans' Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic

The Protestant work ethic (PWE), the belief that hard work leads to success, is a quintessentially American belief. The present research addresses a critical gap in psychological research on PWE: can a single, large-scale sociopolitical event (government's response to Hurricane Katrina) produce changes in PWE? We review evidence showing that the salience of Katrina led to a reduction in African Americans' (not European Americans') endorsement of PWE and that this result appears explained by African Americans' greater belief in the government's inadequate response to Katrina victims, who were predominately African American. The implications of differential endorsement of PWE for future expectations of societal treatment, motivation to pursue important goals, and willingness to endorse structural corrections of inequality are discussed.
Cacheminer: A runtime approach to exploit cache locality on SMP

Exploiting cache locality of parallel programs at runtime is a complementary approach to a compiler optimization. This is particularly important for those applications with dynamic memory access patterns. We propose a memory-layout oriented technique to exploit cache locality of parallel loops at runtime on Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP) systems. Guided by application-dependent and targeted architecture-dependent hints, our system, called Cacheminer, reorganizes and partitions a parallel loop using the memory-access space of its execution. Through effective runtime transformations, our system maximizes the data reuse in each partitioned data region assigned in a cache, and minimizes the data sharing among the partitioned data regions assigned to all caches. The executions of tasks in the partitions are scheduled in an adaptive and locality-presented way to minimize the execution time of programs by trading off load balance and locality. We have implemented the Cacheminer runtime library on two commercial SMP servers and an SimCS simulated SMP. Our simulation and measurement results show that our runtime approach can achieve comparable performance with the compiler optimizations for programs with regular computation and memory-access patterns, whose load balance and cache locality can be well optimized by the tiling and other program transformations. However, our experimental results show that our approach is able to significantly improve the memory performance for the applications with irregular computation and dynamic memory access patterns. These types of programs are usually hard to optimize by static compiler optimizations.
Reliability prediction of solid dielectrics using electrical Noise as a screening parameter

The use of electrical noise for the screening of dielectric sheet material for reliability is studied. Results are presented which indicate that high-noise units have a greater failure rate compared to low-noise units when subjected to identical voltage and temperature stresses. Data for the various solid dielectric sheet materials and small transformers tested are presented. >
Novel INK4 Proteins, p19 and p18, Are Specific Inhibitors of the Cyclin D-Dependent Kinases CDK4 and CDK6

Cyclin D-dependent kinases act as mitogen-responsive, rate-limiting controllers of G1 phase progression in mammalian cells. Two novel members of the mouse INK4 gene family, p19 and p18, that specifically inhibit the kinase activities of CDK4 and CDK6, but do not affect those of cyclin E-CDK2, cyclin A-CDK2, or cyclin B-CDC2, were isolated. Like the previously described human INK4 polypeptides, p16INK4a/MTS1 and p15INK4b/MTS2, mouse p19 and p18 are primarily composed of tandemly repeated ankyrin motifs, each ca. 32 amino acids in length, p19 and p18 bind directly to CDK4 and CDK6, whether untethered or in complexes with D cyclins, and can inhibit the activity of cyclin D-bound cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Although neither protein interacts with D cyclins or displaces them from preassembled cyclin D-CDK complexes in vitro, both form complexes with CDKs at the expense of cyclins in vivo, suggesting that they may also interfere with cyclin-CDK assembly. In proliferating macrophages, p19 mRNA and protein are periodically expressed with a nadir in G1 phase and maximal synthesis during S phase, consistent with the possibility that INK4 proteins limit the activities of CDKs once cells exit G1 phase. However, introduction of a vector encoding p19 into mouse NIH 3T3 cells leads to constitutive p19 synthesis, inhibits cyclin D1-CDK4 activity in vivo, and induces G1 phase arrest.
Holy Water and Human Rights: Indigenous Peoples' Religious Rights Claims to Water Resources

Water, perhaps more than any other natural resource, has profound religious meaning: in ceremonial uses, as a spiritual symbol, and as an object of worship. The scarcity of legal scholarship regarding the nexus between religious rights and water law is therefore curious. This paper examines that nexus and its implications in the context of indigenous peoples and international law. The international human right to water has developed as an implicit right necessary to securing jurisprudentially underdeveloped positive rights explicitly provided for under international human rights covenants, such as the right to a standard of living, but can also be built upon the foundation of broadly accepted, jurisprudentially mature civil rights, like the freedom of religion. Grounding the human right to water on such a foundation has important implications for indigenous peoples’ religious-rights-based claims to water resources. The stability of such claims depends upon effective frameworks within which international tribunals can adjudicate such claims. Ultimately, this Article evaluates the development of the international human right to water, discusses the nexus of that right with religious rights in the context of indigenous peoples’ water-resource claims, and proposes frameworks for evaluating those claims. The formulation and interpretation of water law requires greater consideration of the cultural meaning of water to promote cooperation within the watershed and to protect natural and cultural resources.
Elimination of Photo-Induced Degradation in Semiconductor Devices

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon and related alloys ordinarily exhibit photo-induced changes that degrade device behavior, particularly in solar-cell applications. On the basis of a recently developed theory for the electronic structure of such alloys, two approaches for elimination of these changes are proposed.
Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: Focus on Clinical Practice

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal stem cell disorder with features that overlap those of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia often results in peripheral blood monocytosis and has an inherent tendency to transform to acute myeloid leukemia. Clonal cytogenetic changes are seen in approximately 30% of patients, and molecular abnormalities are seen in more than 90%. Gene mutations involving TET2 (∼60%), SRSF2 (∼50%), ASXL1 (∼40%), and RAS (∼30%) are frequent, with nonsense and frameshift ASXL1 mutations being the only mutations identified thus far to have an independent negative prognostic effect on overall survival. Contemporary molecularly integrated prognostic models (inclusive of ASXL1 mutations) include the Molecular Mayo Model and the Groupe Francais des Myelodysplasies model. Given the lack of formal treatment and response criteria, management of CMML is often extrapolated from MDS and MPN, with allogeneic stem cell transplant being the only curative option. Hydroxyurea and other cytoreductive agents have been used to control MPN-like features, while epigenetic modifiers such as hypomethylating agents have been used for MDS-like features. Given the relatively poor response to these agents and the inherent risks associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant, newer drugs exploiting molecular and epigenetic abnormalities in CMML are being developed. The creation of CMML-specific response criteria is a much needed step in order to improve clinical outcomes.
C3 nephritic factor stabilization of the classic C3 convertase: a role for C2 in C3 nephritic factor activity.

SummaryThe C3 Nephritic Factor (C3Nef) from two patients with partial lipodystrophy was partially isolated in order to study the role of early classic C-complement components in C3Nef activity. Both C3Nef preparations were C2 dependent for C3 inactivation, although one C3Nef was C2 dependent only following dilution of the C3Nef preparation. Reconstitution of C2-deficient sera with either human or guinea pig C2 restored C3Nef activity in C2-deficient sera. C3Nef prolonged the decay of the classic complement C3 convertase (EAC142gp) in a dose-dependent manner, and this function of C3Nef may explain, in part, the role of C2 in C3Nef activity.
Catalytic Reduction of Hexavalent Chromium Using Flexible Nanostructured Poly(amic acids)

Conducting polymers can be tuned by manipulating the delocalized π electron system for chemical and electrocatalytic applications. We hereby describe the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by flexible nanostructured conducting poly(amic acid) (PAA) in both solution phase and as a thin film on a gold electrode. Sodium borohydride was used as a reducing agent to prepare different sizes (3−20 nm) of palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs). The effects of experimental parameters such as particle size, temperature, and Cr(VI) concentration on the kinetics and efficiency of reduction process were investigated. Results show that in PAA solution, Cr(VI) was efficiently reduced by 85.9% within a concentration range of 1.0 × 10−1−1.0 × 102 mM. In the presence of PdNPs and heat (40 °C), the reduction efficiency increased to 96.6% and 99.9% respectively. When employed on a solid electrode, PAA undergoes a quasi-reversible electrochemistry in acidic media with reduction efficiency for Cr(VI) at 72.84%. The method was validated us...
Exploring How Christians and Atheists Deal with Issues Related to Their Disability

ABSTRACTSpirituality is an understudied topic among people with disabilities, particularly among atheists with disabilities. The current paper explores the research question: how do the spiritual beliefs of people with disabilities affect how they deal with issues related to their disability? Data for this study were gathered from interviews of individuals with disabilities who identified as either Christian or as atheist/agnostic. Atheists reported using meditation to deal with issues related to their disabilities, while Christians reported using prayer. Interestingly, people from both spiritual groups relied on developing a sense of connection with others to deal with issues related to their disability.
Network neutrality: Avoiding the extremes

This paper addresses QoS provision in the presence of the regulatory threat of network neutrality. We formulate a technological implementation that enables QoS provision while requiring minimum alteration of the current network. Our proposal permits to avoid the political economic shock that would accompany any major network neutrality regulation. Specifically, we propose an x-network, in which an ISP is explicitly assured in its property rights to a pre-specified fraction of its capacity; the leftover fraction of capacity should continue to function as it does in the existing network, where the risks of regulations remain substantial. This proposal is based on the fact that current technology permits a reliable estimate of ISPs' installed (and activated) capacity. The x-network creates better delineated ISP property rights, which improve their incentives to (i) experiment with providing enhanced quality of service, (ii) introduce novel products which require packet differentiation, (iii) invest in capacity expansion. The x-network permits to explore the advantages of a non neutral network, while limiting its disadvantages to a small fraction of the existing network capacity.
Microplasma-based flowing atmospheric-pressure afterglow (FAPA) source for ambient desorption-ionization mass spectrometry.

A new direct-current microplasma-based flowing atmospheric pressure afterglow (FAPA) source was developed for use in ambient desorption-ionization mass spectrometry. The annular-shaped microplasma is formed in helium between two concentric stainless-steel capillaries that are separated by an alumina tube. Current-voltage characterization of the source shows that this version of the FAPA operates in the normal glow-discharge regime. A glass surface placed in the path of the helium afterglow reaches temperatures of up to approximately 400 °C; the temperature varies with distance from the source and helium flow rate through the source. Solid, liquid, and vapor samples were examined by means of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Results suggest that ionization occurs mainly through protonation, with only a small amount of fragmentation and adduct formation. The mass range of the source was shown to extend up to at least m/z 2722 for singly charged species. Limits of detection for several small organic molecules were in the sub-picomole range. Examination of competitive ionization revealed that signal suppression occurs only at high (mM) concentrations of competing substances.
Hepatitis C (HC) Virus Infection Is Associated with Worse Survival after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (alloSCT) for Hematological Malignancies.

The influence of chronic HC on the outcome of patients undergoing alloSCT is not clearly defined. We hypothesized that HC is associated with increased risk of non-relapse mortality (NRM) after alloSCT. We performed a retrospective matched-control study of the outcomes of 31 patients (table 1) with serological evidence of HC at the time of alloSCT performed between 1998 and 2007. Control patients (N=31) had negative serology for HC and were matched on age, diagnosis, disease stage, type of conditioning regimen and donor type (referred to as matched controls ). To confirm the validity of the matching procedure we extended the comparison to the 1800 seronegative patients ( all controls ) transplanted for the same diagnoses during the same period of time in our institution. Multivariate analysis took into account all variables used in our matching algorithm. All HC patients had ALT levels less than 3 times the upper limit of normal and normal bilirubin levels at alloSCT. There were no significant differences in these parameters compared to control patients. Median follow-up was 34 (range 3–53), 27 (4–74) and 29 months (1–108), respectively for HC, matched and all controls. Overall survival post-alloSCT was significantly inferior in the HC group, with a median OS of 3 versus 18 and 20 months in the control groups. The cumulative rate of disease progression and acute or chronic GVHD was comparable, but NRM was significantly increased in the HC group (table 2). Results were similar regardless of the control group used, which validated our matching procedure. In conclusion, serological evidence of HC virus infection at the time of alloSCT, even with normal or minimally abnormal liver tests, is associated with worse survival in the context of alloSCT, due to an increased rate of non-relapse deaths.
A geometry-based algorithm for cloning real grains 2.0

We introduce a computational algorithm to “clone” the grain morphologies of a sample of real grains that have been digitalized. This cloning algorithm allows us to generate an arbitrary number of cloned grains that satisfy the same distributions of morphological features displayed by their parents and can be included into a numerical Discrete Element Method simulation. This study is carried out in three steps. First, distributions of morphological parameters such as aspect ratio, roundness, principal geometric directions, and spherical radius, called the morphological DNA, are extracted from the parents. Second, the geometric stochastic cloning (GSC) algorithm, relying purely on statistical distributions of the aforementioned parameters, is explained, detailed, and used to generate a pool of clones from its parents’ morphological DNA. Third, morphological DNA is extracted from the pool of clones and compared to the one obtained from a similar pool of parents, and the distribution of volume-surface ratio is used to perform quality control. Then, from these results, the error (mutation) in the GSC process is analyzed and used to discuss the algorithm’s drawbacks, knobs (parameters) tuning, as well as potential improvements.
VEGF nanoparticles repair the heart after myocardial infarction.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a well-characterized proangiogenic cytokine but has a short half-life and a rapid clearance rate. When encapsulated in nanoparticles, VEGF was released ...
Diffusion tensor imaging MRI of sickle cell kidney disease: initial results and comparison with iron deposition

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) occurs in over one-third of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and can progress to end-stage renal disease. Unfortunately, current clinical assessments of kidney function are insensitive to early-stage CKD. Previous studies have shown that diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can sensitively detect regional renal microstructural changes associated with early-stage CKD. However, previous MRI studies in patients with SCD have been largely limited to the detection of renal iron deposition assessed by T2 * relaxometry. In this pilot imaging study, we compare MRI assessments of renal microstructure (diffusion) and iron deposition (T2 *) in patients with SCD and in non-SCD control subjects. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and T2 * relaxometry MRI data were obtained for pediatric (n = 5) and adult (n = 4) patients with SCD, as well as for non-SCD control subjects (n = 10), on a Siemens Espree 1.5-T MRI scanner. A region-of-interest analysis was used to calculate mean medullary and cortical values for each MRI metric. MRI findings were also compared with clinical assessments of renal function and hemolysis. Patients with SCD showed a significant decrease in medullary fractional anisotropy (FA, p = 0.0001) in comparison with non-SCD subjects, indicative of microstructural alterations in the renal medulla of patients with SCD. Cortical and medullary reductions in T2 * (increased iron deposition, p = ≤0.0001) were also observed. Significant correlations were also observed between kidney T2 * assessments and multiple measures of hemolysis. This is the first DTI MRI study of patients with SCD to demonstrate reductions in medullary FA despite no overt CKD [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) > 100 mL/min/1.73 m2 ]. These medullary FA changes are consistent with previous studies in patients with CKD, and suggest that DTI MRI can provide a useful measure of kidney injury to complement MRI assessments of iron deposition.
Randomized study of adjunctive belimumab in participants with generalized myasthenia gravis.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of belimumab, a fully human immunoglobulin G1λ monoclonal antibody against B-lymphocyte stimulator, in participants with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) who remained symptomatic despite standard of care (SoC) therapy. Methods Eligible participants with MG were randomized 1:1 to receive IV belimumab 10 mg/kg or placebo in this phase II, placebo-controlled, multicenter, double-blind study (NCT01480596; BEL115123). Participants received SoC therapies throughout the 24-week treatment phase and 12-week follow-up period. The primary efficacy endpoint was mean change from baseline in the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scale at week 24; safety assessments included the frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) and serious AEs. Results Forty participants were randomized (placebo n = 22; belimumab n = 18). The mean change in QMG score from baseline at week 24 was not significantly different for belimumab vs placebo ( p = 0.256). There were no statistically significant differences between treatment groups for secondary endpoints, including the MG Composite and MG–Activity of Daily Living scores. Acetylcholine receptor antibody levels decreased over time in both treatment groups. No unexpected AEs were identified and occurrence was similar in the belimumab (78%) and placebo (91%) groups. One participant receiving placebo died (severe sepsis) during the treatment phase. Conclusions The primary endpoint was not met for belimumab in participants with generalized MG receiving SoC. There was no significant difference in mean change in the QMG score at week 24 for belimumab vs placebo. The safety profile of belimumab was consistent with previous systemic lupus erythematosus studies. Classification of evidence This study provides Class I evidence that for participants with generalized MG, belimumab did not significantly improve QMG score compared with placebo.
Regularized LMS and diffusion adaptation LMS with graph filters for non-stationary data

In sensor networks, adaptive algorithms such as diffusion adaptation LMS are commonly used to learn and track non-stationary signals. When such signals have similarities across certain nodes as captured by a graph, then Laplacian Regularized (LR) LMS and diffusion adaptation LR LMS can be utilized for the respective centralized and distributed estimation cases. In this paper, we re-examine these adaptive methods, and use graph signal processing notions to augment the algorithms with an additional graph filtering step for regularization. Moreover, we demonstrate how to design these graph filters, leading to performance improvements over existing methods in both the centralized and distributed cases. Furthermore, we analyze the stability and convergence of our methods and illustrate how the empirical performance is captured by the theoretical results which unveil the bias and variance tradeoff.
Pre-clinical evaluation of 124I-FIAU and 18F-FIAU for the assessment of the HSV1-tk reporter gene expression with PET

1957 Objectives 2’-fluoro-2’-deoxy-1β-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-[124I]iodouracil (124I-FIAU) is a widely used imaging agent for in vivo evaluation of the HSV1-tk reporter gene expression. The long half-life of 124I (t1/2 ~ 4 days) limits its use in situations where repetitive imaging with sequential radiotracer administration is necessary. In addition, based on the dosimetry calculations the amount of 124I-FIAU which can be safely administered to patients is ~3 fold lower compared with the dose of the 18F-labeled radiotracer. We compared the efficacy of 124I-FIAU and 18F-FIAU PET imaging for the assessment of the HSV1-tk reporter gene expression. Methods The accumulation of 18F-FIAU and 124I-FIAU in subcutaneous HSV1-tk- expressing tumors in mice was assessed using microPET. Imaging was performed at 2 hours after 450 uCi 18F-FIAU administration. 24 hours later 150 uCi of 124I-FIAU were injected into the same animals followed by microPET imaging at 2 and 24 hours after radiotracer administration. Region of interest–to-background (ROI:BGR) ratios were calculated. Results In vivo 18F-FEAU and 124I-FIAU accumulation in HSV1-tk- expressing tumors were 4.2 and 2.5 %ID/g, respectively at 2 hours and 0.93 %ID/g at 24 hours after 124I-FIAU administration. The ROI:BGR ratios were 11.2 and 4.9 for 18F-FIAU and 124I-FIAU, respectively at 2 hours. The ROI:BGR ratio for 124I-FIAU at 24 hours was 10.5. Conclusions 18F-FIAU and 124I-FIAU radiotracers can be used for imaging of the HSV1-tk reporter gene expression with PET. 18F-FIAU can be used for repetitive PET imaging when sequential radiotracer administration is required. 124I-FIAU allows for PET visualization of HSV1-tk-transduced tissues at later time points.
Adjuvant therapy for prostate cancer patients at high risk of recurrence following radical prostatectomy

Objective: To identify which patients with prostate cancer are at high risk for local or distant recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Methods: Review of data from several historical and contemporary series of patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Results: Patients with high-grade disease (i.e., Gleason score ≥ 8), positive margins, and seminal vesicle invasion have relatively high risks of biochemical and clinical failure if no adjuvant therapy is given. Use of radiation therapy may improve local control rates for a subset of these patients (i.e., those with positive margins) but appears to have little impact on the later development of metastatic disease or of prostate cancer death. Hormone therapy may delay the onset of failure for other patients with 'high-risk' disease but there are few data to support its widespread use. Conclusions: Enhanced ability to predict which patients with high-risk prostate cancer will fail locally after radical prostatectomy is needed. Such patients should then be enrolled in a randomized study of postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy. Similarly, patients predicted to be at high risk for distant failure should be enrolled in trials evaluating conventional and 'novel' forms of hormonal therapy (i.e., potency sparing regimens) to determine whether such therapy delays the time to biochemical or clinical progression without compromising the patient's quality of life.
Careers of Women Civil Rights Activists

Stages in the civil rights careers of a sample of women active in northern communities were studieC. Committed to racial 'ustice, mnost intensified their participation in the early 1960's. In the second half cf the decade, the "Black Power" phase, roles for whites became fewer. Orcanizations exnerience,& chnges in membership and direction; factionalism ensued. Yan, women welcomec black leaders'l ' _ _ , and olaved roles i'U new black-lea com runitv agencies. Arrests of blacks allegedly involved in riots elicited support in -he fcr.ati on of defense committees and orison refo r organizations. Later, many women entered uman service professions; they chose jobs wi . poor, minority or clsadvantagec lientel s. Half are still volunteers. Continuity is sought between paid or volunteer worc ana soczal concerns. In its ansence, a sense cr loss or cuilt I-s experienced. Movement commitment tends to be translated into institutional roles, most especiaz ly paid careers in the human services. Although research -s accumulating, many cuestions of theoretical as well as social policy interest remain about the nature of white participation in the civil riahts movement of the 1980's. Some suggest that whites, as outsiders, became a hindrance in the later stages of this minority movement (Marx and Useen 1971). Another ateroach stresses the generally declining function of the Membership base in civil rights durinq the latter half of the 1960's, the "'lack Power" phase. It was during this period that Q0vernment, business, and foundations helped to create paid social careers (-cCarthy and Zald 1973). Financial resources Provided by mainstream white institutions would appear to have This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual -eetings of the Easze-rn SociioLoical Society, March 16, 1977, flew York City. Thanks are due to Cheryl Townsend Gilkes for her tbofstructi.:e re--arks as discussant, to Richard M. Stephenson for COmments on an earlier draft, and to the Rutgers University ersearch Council for grants which supported the research. -"blications of the author prior to 1979 appeared under the name a Lois Goldstein.