cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutation-Based Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Antisense Treatment Arrives in the Clinic.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) arises from mutations in the dystrophin gene. The dystrophin gene is composed of 79 exons, and the majority of mutations in DMD are deletions, often spanning multiple exons.1 In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for eteplirsen (Exondys51), an antisense oligonucleotide compound designed to block exon 51 of dystrophin to restore the reading frame in patients with DMD with specific mutations (Figure, A).2 This treatment is directed at ≈10% to 15% of patients with DMD (≈1500 treatment-eligible individuals). The approval of eteplirsen is game changing for the field of molecular gene correction. However, its approval was viewed as controversial because of the unconventional clinical trial data and limited efficacy. Figure. Eteplirsen (Exondys51)-mediated reading-frame correction of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) mutations. A, Top , Schematic of the dystrophin protein and its domains. ABD1 indicates actin binding domain; CR, cysteine rich domain; CT, C-terminal domain; and H, hinge regions. The spectrin-like repeats are numbered. The red bar indicates the approximate exon 51 targeting region. Middle , Schematic showing eteplirsen-mediated reading-frame correction of a DMD frameshift mutation. The normal dystrophin locus from exons 41 to 52 is shown, indicating the reading frame of each exon. Many patients with DMD have variable-sized deletions spanning exons 47 to 50, disrupting the reading frame (dashed blue line). Eteplirsen (red box) is an antisense oligonucleotide that binds to exon-splicing enhancer sequences in exon 51, causing its exclusion from mRNA. Because exon 51 is excluded, exons 46 (or 47, 48, and 49) joins to exon 52 (solid blue line) to restore an open reading frame. B , Antisense oligonucleotides have complementary sequences to those within an exon, in this case exon 51. Chemical modifications to the antisense oligonucleotides permit the double-stranded hybrid …
Comparison of Single- and Three-fraction Schedules of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Peripheral Early-stage Non-Small-cell Lung Cancer.

Abstract Background To compare the clinical outcomes of patients with early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had undergone either single-fraction (SF) or three-fraction (TF) stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) at a single institution during over 8-year period. Patients and Methods Patients with peripherally located early-stage NSCLC who had undergone SBRT from February 2007 to November 2015 were included in the present study. SBRT was delivered without heterogeneity correction. Data were retrospectively reviewed and collected in an institutional review board-approved database. R software (version 3.3.2) was used for statistical analysis. Results Of 159 total lung tumors, 65 lesions received 30 Gy (median, 30 Gy) in 1 fraction, and 94 lesions received 48 to 60 Gy (median, 60 Gy) in 3 fractions. Patients with a Karnofsky performance status Conclusion Despite more patients with poor performance status in the SF-SBRT cohort, the SF- and TF-SBRT regimens showed no differences in clinical outcomes. SF-SBRT is now our standard approach.
Everyday nationalism and elite research universities in the USA and England

The reinvigoration of popular nationalism in the USA and UK has largely been framed as counter to the cosmopolitan globalization associated with their elite universities over the past decade. Opposing these two sets of values may be too simplistic, however, given the cultural and political ties long institutionalized between elite universities and the nation. This article endeavors to highlight these entanglements—which were present before the election of Donald Trump or the fateful vote for Brexit—by drawing on interviews conducted with personnel at four elite research universities in these two countries from 2013 to 2014. In particular, this article focuses on the way these individuals invoked symbolic boundaries drawn along national lines as common sense, natural, and enduring, seeing their universities as embodying national characteristics, and as obliged to serve national interests. In providing ontological order to the world, the presence of this “banal” or “everyday” nationalism has arguably been central to the conceptualization and enactment of internationalization in these and other universities. These findings complicate discussions of elite universities as globalizing and unmooring from the nation-state framework, or otherwise working against the forces of nationalism. The article also raises new questions about divisions between different constituents of today’s globalizing academy.
Confocal microscopy as a new real-time quantification method for oil content in produced water

Abstract This research proposes confocal laser fluorescence microscopy (CLFM) as an enabling technology to quantify oil prior to produced water disposal. This method takes advantage of the self-fluorescing properties of oil to visualize and quantify in 3D oil droplets in water in real-time. This investigation initially involves the identification and optimization of parameters affecting CLFM oil measurements in synthetically prepared produced water, followed by validation of the optimum CLFM parameters for oil quantification in real produced water. This study demonstrated that the optimized excitation wavelength, z-step size, image analysis threshold value, and minimum sampling size parameters for the CLFM method are suitable for different types of oil. The optimum amount of time for analysis, however, changed for oils with different densities due to different oil upward movement velocities. The detection range of the CLFM was determined to be between 1 and 250 ppm. The quantification of oil content in three different produced water samples were also investigated with the CLFM method and results were compared with the standard EPA 1664 method. The results for both methods correlated well, which suggests that the CLFM has potential to be used as an initial real-time screening of the oil quantities of treated produced water prior to environmental releases in water streams. This technique has several advantages over other methods, such as does not require hazardous solvents for oil extraction, is less labor intensive, and can be automated for real-time online applications, such as subsea systems.
Deep learning for waveform estimation in passive synthetic aperture radar

We propose Deep Learning (DL) as a framework for simultaneous waveform estimation and image reconstruction in passive synthetic aperture radar (SAR). We consider a passive imaging scenario where the scene is illuminated by source of opportunity with known position, but transmitting an unknown waveform. Image reconstruction is then posed as a machine learning task for which a recurrent neural network (RNN) can be constructed by unfolding the iterations of a proximal gradient descent algorithm. We separate the unknown waveform from the known components of the forward model and parameterize the network operator by the waveform coefficients. The image estimate generated by the RNN is then mapped back to the data space by a linear decoder stage, so that the waveform coefficients are refined in an unsupervised manner using passive SAR measurements as training data. As a result, network becomes a recurrent auto-encoder. In this architecture, forward propagation recovers scene reflectivity, and backpropagation solves for waveform coefficients. The non-convex training routine is initialized using the partially known SAR forward model, which helps ensure that the optimization problem converges to a satisfactory optimal point.
Female Medical Student Retention in Neurosurgery: A Multifaceted Approach.

Background Since 2011, more women than men have graduated from medical school, yet there remains a paucity of female physicians in surgical specialties. After the 2018 Neurosurgery Match, only 17.5% of neurosurgery residents are women. Previous literature documented gender inequality, poor medical school exposure, and lack of female mentorship as reasons for this disparity. We sought to further explore factors that deter female medical students from pursuing neurosurgery. Methods A comprehensive survey was created and distributed to the 2017–2018 Rutgers New Jersey Medical School student body, requesting anonymous input from female medical students. Results Of 104 female respondents, 26.9% had considered neurosurgery as a career and felt dissuaded because of their gender. Of respondents, 88% did not have a senior female medical student pursuing neurosurgery or a female neurosurgical resident as a mentor. More than half of respondents disagreed that they would be dissuaded from a field if they did not have a female mentor. The 88.46% of women who felt that there was a glass ceiling in medicine were also more likely to feel that they would face inequality and adversity that would inhibit training in a male-dominated field. Women who described themselves as seeking challenging and competitive careers strongly felt that they would benefit from exposure to surgical subspecialties during their preclinical years. Conclusions Female medical students remain resilient, ambitious, interested in competitive specialties, and eager to explore surgical subspecialties during preclinical years. A multifaceted approach is imperative to recruit and retain qualified women interested in neurosurgery.
Yoga and Female Objectification: Commodity and Exclusionary Identity in U.S. Women’s Magazines:

Using textual and visual media framing analysis, this research examines contemporary depictions of yoga in U.S. general interest women’s magazines. Critique of narrative and images from three leadi...
Experimental Assessment of PCR Specificity and Copy Number for Reliable Data Retrieval in DNA Storage

ABSTRACT Synthetic DNA has been gaining momentum as a potential storage medium for archival data storage1–9. Digital information is translated into sequences of nucleotides and the resulting synthetic DNA strands are then stored for later individual file retrieval via PCR7–9 (Fig. 1a). Using a previously presented encoding scheme9 and new experiments, we demonstrate reliable file recovery when as few as 10 copies per sequence are stored, on average. This results in density of about 17 exabytes/g, nearly two orders of magnitude greater than prior work has shown6. Further, no prior work has experimentally demonstrated access to specific files in a pool more complex than approximately 106 unique DNA sequences9, leaving the issue of accurate file retrieval at high data density and complexity unexamined. Here, we demonstrate successful PCR random access using three files of varying sizes in a complex pool of over 1010 unique sequences, with no evidence that we have begun to approach complexity limits. We further investigate the role of file size on successful data recovery, the effect of increasing sequencing coverage to aid file recovery, and whether DNA strands drop out of solution in a systematic manner. These findings substantiate the robustness of PCR as a random access mechanism in complex settings, and that the number of copies needed for data retrieval does not compromise density significantly.
Patient-reported outcomes in systemic AL amyloidosis with functional assessment of cancer therapy-general (FACT-G) and patient-reported outcomes measurement information system-global health (PROMIS-GH) in a real-world population

AbstractWe performed an observational study on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with AL amyloidosis diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 at our institution. A total of 81 patients were...
The Influence of Native- Versus Foreign-Accented Speech on Spanish–English Bilingual Children's Spanish Receptive Vocabulary Performance: A Pilot Study

Purpose There are many fewer speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who can administer Spanish language testing than there are children in the United States who need such testing. Although there are p...
Chinese Text Project: a dynamic digital library of premodern Chinese

This article presents technical approaches and innovations in digital library design developed during the design and implementation of the Chinese Text Project, a widely-used, large-scale full-text digital library of premodern Chinese writing. By leveraging a combination of domain-optimized Optical Character Recognition, a purpose-designed crowdsourcing system, and an Application Programming Interface (API), this project simultaneously provides a sustainable transcription system, search interface and reading environment, as well as an extensible platform for transcribing and working with premodern Chinese textual materials. By means of the API, intentionally loosely integrated text mining tools are used to extend the platform, while also being reusable independently with materials from other sources and in other languages.
Dropout rates of in-person psychosocial substance use disorder treatments: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Relapse rates for psychosocial substance use disorder (SUD) treatments are high, and dropout is a robust predictor of relapse. This study aimed to estimate average dropout rates of in-person psychosocial SUD treatments and to assess predictors of dropout. DESIGN A comprehensive meta-analysis of dropout rates of studies of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment. Studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. SETTING Studies conducted anywhere in the world that examined SUD treatment and were published from 1965 to 2016, inclusive. PARTICIPANTS/CASES One hundred and fifty-one studies, 338 study arms and 299 dropout rates including 26 243 participants. MEASUREMENTS Databases were searched for studies of SUD treatment that included an in-person psychosocial component. Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted to estimate dropout rates and identify predictors of dropout, including participant characteristics, facilitator characteristics and treatment characteristics. Pooled estimates were calculated with random-effects analyses accounting for the hierarchical structure of study arms nested within studies. FINDINGS The average dropout rate across all studies and study arms was 30.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 27.2-33.8 and 95% prediction interval (PI) = 6.25-74.15], with substantial heterogeneity (I2 = 93.7%, P < 0.0001). Studies including a higher percentage of African Americans and lower-income individuals were associated with higher dropout rates. At intake, more cigarettes/day and a greater percentage of heroin use days were associated with lower dropout rates, whereas heavier cocaine use was associated with higher dropout rates. Dropout rates were highest for studies targeting cocaine, methamphetamines and major stimulants (broadly defined) and lowest for studies targeting alcohol, tobacco and heroin, although there were few studies on methamphetamines, major stimulants and heroin. Programs characterized by more treatment sessions and greater average session length were associated with higher dropout rates. Facilitator characteristics were not significantly associated with dropout. CONCLUSIONS On average, approximately 30% of participants drop out of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment studies, but there is wide variability. Drop-out rates vary with the treated population, the substance being targeted, and the characteristics of the treatment.
Teacher–Student Working Alliance Among Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders:

Children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; N = 182) and their teachers (N = 76) completed an instrument designed to assess the quality of their classroom working alliance. Confirmatory ...
Custom built scanner and simple image processing pipeline enables low-cost, high-throughput phenotyping of maize ears

High-throughput phenotyping systems are becoming increasingly powerful, dramatically changing our ability to document, measure, and detect phenomena. Unfortunately, taking advantage of these trends can be difficult for scientists with few resources, particularly when studying nonstandard biological systems. Here, we describe a powerful, cost-effective combination of a custom-built imaging platform and open-source image processing pipeline. Our maize ear scanner was built with off-the-shelf parts for
Fire, rodent herbivory, and plant competition: implications for invasion and altered fire regimes in the Mojave Desert.

Biological invasions are responsive to changing wildfire regimes related to human activities that are altering biological communities. Our objective was to investigate how fire, rodent activity, and competition among plant species modify plant community structure, invasion patterns, and vulnerability to altered fire regimes. We imposed experimental fires, and reduced rodent density using fencing in a full factorial design and quantified competitive interactions among plant species in the northeast Mojave Desert that has experienced dramatic increases in plant invasion and fire in recent years. Vegetation surveys were conducted in the experimental plots to determine plant density, cover, and biomass of herbaceous plants over a 5-year period. Rodent exclusion increased the density, cover, and biomass of Bromus rubens, an invasive annual grass, and density of forb species. In contrast, rodent exclusion decreased the density, cover, and biomass of Schismus spp. another dominant annual invader. Fire increased Schismus spp. and forb species density, cover, and biomass but decreased B. rubens density. Negative spatial correlation between B. rubens and Schismus spp., and forbs indicated interspecific competition among the dominant plant species. Fire reduced rodent community diversity (Shannon’s) 2.5-fold, which was correlated with increases in B. rubens cover and biomass, and native forb diversity. Fire, high rodent diversity, and competition from the other plant species may decrease fire potential in our study system by reducing the density and biomass of B. rubens, which because of its taller growth form tends to ignite and carry fire better than Schismus spp. and forbs.
Amino/Amido Conjugates Form to Nanoscale Cobalt Physiometacomposite (PMC) Materials Functionally Delivering Nucleic Acid Therapeutic to Nucleus Enhancing Anticancer Activity via Ras-Targeted Protein Interference

Aberrant splicing and protein interaction of Ras binding domain (RBD) are associated with melanoma drug resistance. Here, cobalt or nickel doped zinc oxide (ZnO) physiometacomposite (PMC) materials...
Current State of Foreign Language Instruction in U.S. K-12 Christian Schools

AbstractThis study surveyed heads of schools of U.S. K-12 Christian Schools concerning foreign language instruction in the 2016–2017 school year. The purpose was to determine 1) the number of schoo...
Participation and non-participation in FEMA's Community Rating System (CRS) program: Insights from CRS coordinators and floodplain managers

Abstract Given that floods cause the greatest economic impact and affect more communities annually than any other natural hazard, there is a compelling need to better understand how communities can enhance their resilience to future flood disasters. One mechanism for enhancing communities' resilience to future flood disasters is through participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Community Rating System (CRS). The CRS is a federal voluntary program that incentivizes communities in the United States to implement floodplain management activities that exceed those required under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In exchange for engaging in additional floodplain management activities, policyholders residing in CRS-participating communities receive discounts in their flood insurance premiums. To better understand the factors driving CRS participation, this study uses propensity score matching to match 100 randomly selected CRS participating communities with 100 non-CRS participating communities. Data gathered from CRS coordinators and floodplain managers indicate several factors are responsible for why communities participate, continue to participate, or do not participate the CRS. The main reason for participating in the CRS and continuing to participate is the reduction in flood insurance premiums, while the main reason for not joining the CRS is lack of resources (staff, funding, and time).
Abstract IA08: Organoid modeling of tumor and tissue microenvironments

Within the tumor microenvironment are diverse populations including fibroblasts, vasculature, and immune cells, all of which critically regulate cancer progression. A major historical impediment to basic and translational cancer studies has been the lack of in vitro methods that allow tumor epithelium to be robustly cultured together with stromal components. This talk will describe advances in 3D tumor organoid culture that allow tumor cells to be grown in a manner that preserves their native interaction with diverse tumor-infiltrating immune cells and allows analysis of immune checkpoint inhibition. Such organoid modeling of the tumor immune microenvironment within human clinical cancer biopsies will facilitate basic and translational immune-oncology studies. Additional applications to nonmalignant diseases will also be discussed. Citation Format: Calvin J. Kuo. Organoid modeling of tumor and tissue microenvironments [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Evolving Landscape of Cancer Modeling; 2020 Mar 2-5; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(11 Suppl):Abstract nr IA08.
Neuromuscular Complications With SARS-COV-2 Infection: A Review

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases were first reported in Wuhan, Hubei province of China in December, 2019. SARS- COV-2 primarily affects the cardio-respiratory system. Over the last few months, several studies have described various neurological sequelae of SARS-COV-2 infection. Neurological complications are more frequent in patients with severe respiratory infections. In this review, we have analyzed the current literature on neuromuscular complications associated with SARS-COV-2 and highlighted possible mechanisms of neuromuscular invasion. We reviewed 11 studies describing 11 cases of Guillain Barre syndrome (GBS), and 1 case each of Miller Fisher syndrome, Polyneuritis Cranialis, Acute myelitis, Oculomotor paralysis and Bell's Palsy associated with SARS-COV-2 infection. Mean age of patients with GBS was 61.54 years, with standard deviation (SD) 14.18 years. Majority patients had fever and cough as the first symptom of SARS COV-2 infection. Mean time for onset of neurological symptoms from initial symptoms in 11 patients was 8.18 days, with SD of 2.86 days. Mean time to performing electrodiagnostic study from onset of neurological symptom was 6 days with standard deviation of 3.25. Six patients had demyelinating pattern, three had acute sensory motor axonal neuropathy, and one had acute motor axonal neuropathy on electrodiagnostic studies.
Comparison of the Analgesic Effect of Clonidine and Lidocaine When Administered Epidurally in Cattle

This study was conducted to compare clonidine and saline to lidocaine for epidural analgesia in cows. Four adult mixed-breed beef cattle weighing 1241±268 lb (564 ± 122 kg) were used. Each cow was randomly assigned to receive each of the three treatments, with a 1-week interval between each treatment. Treatments included epidural administration of 1) 5 ml of physiological saline (0.9% NaCl) solution, 2) 0.2 mg of lidocaine/kg of body weight, not to exceed 100 mg (5 ml), and 3) 5 pg of clonidine/kg, diluted with 0.9% NaCl to provide a volume of 5 ml. The site of epidural injection was the first or second caudal intervertebral space. Heart rate, respiratory rate and arterial blood pressure were recorded before injection; at 5, 10, 20 and 30 minutes after injection; and at 15-minute intervals thereafter. Onset and duration of analgesia, sedation and ataxia were recorded. Analgesia was evaluated by the response to an electrical stimulus and to a needle prick. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to detect differences between treatments.Lidocaine-induced analgesia occurred within 10 ± 7 minutes and lasted 56.3 ± 40.1 minutes. Analgesia induced with clonidine occurred within 34 ± 11 minutes and lasted at least 6 hours when tested with electrical stimulus, and 11.6 hrs (699 ± 178 minutes) when tested with needle prick. Epidurally administered 0.9% NaCl solution did not induce analgesia. Heart rate decreased significantly at 45 minutes and 30 minutes following epidural administration of lidocaine and clonidine, respectively. Slight to mild sedation and ataxia were observed in three cows, and one cow showed moderate sedation and ataxia following epidural administration of clonidine. Increased salivation and frequency of urination were observed in each cow treated with clonidine.
Revealing the energy spectrum of plasmonic hot-carriers via single molecule transport measurements

Direct experimental elucidation of steady-state energy distributions of hot-carriers in plasmonic nanostructures is key for systematically advancing and evaluating competing theoretical frameworks as well as for rationally engineering hot-carrier technologies. In this study, we present a novel scanning probe-based approach and show that quantum transport measurements from single molecule junctions, created by trapping suitably chosen single molecules between an ultra-thin gold film supporting surface plasmon polaritons and a scanning tunneling microscope probe tip, can enable quantification of plasmonic hot-carrier energy distributions. Several key physical insights on the nature of hot-carrier distributions, obtained from these measurements, will be discussed.
Increasing Consulting Fee Payments to Interventional Radiologists in the United States From Industry, 2014 to 2018: Analysis of the Open Payments Database.

Abstract Purpose To evaluate trends in consulting fees from industry to US-based interventional radiologists from 2014 to 2018. Methods Payments to interventional radiologists from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2018, were analyzed from the CMS Open Payments Database. Payment type, total consulting fee payments per year and total payment per physician, and aggregate payments per company were analyzed before and after adjustment for outliers. Results Over the 5-year period, a total of $79.8 million was paid from industry to interventional radiologists, of which $17.6 million (22.1%) represented consulting fees. Per physician, the median total yearly amount paid as consulting fees was $5,050. Consulting fees increased from a total of $2.8 million per year in 2014 to $4.6 million per year in 2018 (+65%). After adjustment for outliers, consulting fee payments rose from $1.8 million to $3.5 million (+94%). The number of physicians paid each year increased from 156 to 219 physicians and the median payment increased from $4,327 to $5,419. Before ($5,118,966) and after adjustment, Sirtex Medical Inc paid the highest total aggregate consulting fee payments per year to self-identified interventional radiologists. After expansion to include both interventional and diagnostic radiologists by specialty type, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp ($21,505,861) and Pfizer Inc ($11,798,255) followed by Sirtex Medical Inc ($8,276,818) paid the highest total aggregate in consulting fees. Conclusion Total consulting fees to interventional radiologists increased between 2014 and 2018 by 65%, driven by both the increased number of physicians paid consulting fees and the increased average payment amount.
SU-E-T-124: Anthropomorphic Phantoms for Confirmation of Linear Accelerator Based Small Animal Irradiation

Purpose: To document the support of radiobiological small animal research by a modern radiation oncology facility. This study confirms that a standard, human use linear accelerator can cover the range of experiments called for by researchers performing animal irradiation. A number of representative, anthropomorphic murine phantoms were made. The phantoms confirmed the small field photon and electron beams dosimetry validated the use of the linear accelerator for rodents. Methods: Laser scanning a model, CAD design and 3D printing produced the phantoms. The phantoms were weighed and CT scanned to judge their compatibility to real animals. Phantoms were produced to specifically mimic lung, gut, brain, and othotopic lesion irradiations. Each phantom was irradiated with the same protocol as prescribed to the live animals. Delivered dose was measured with small field ion chambers, MOS/FETs or TLDs. Results: The density of the phantom material compared to density range across the real mice showed that the printed material would yield sufficiently accurate measurements when irradiated. The whole body, lung and gut irradiations were measured within 2% of prescribed doses with A1SL ion chamber. MOSFET measurements of electron irradiations for the orthotopic lesions allowed refinement of the measured small field output factor to better than 2% and validated the immunology experiment of irradiating one lesion and sparing another. Conclusion: Linacs are still useful tools in small animal bio-radiation research. This work demonstrated a strong role for the clinical accelerator in small animal research, facilitating standard whole body dosing as well as conformal treatments down to 1cm field. The accuracy of measured dose, was always within 5%. The electron irradiations of the phantom brain and flank tumors needed adjustment; the anthropomorphic phantoms allowed refinement of the initial output factor measurements for these fields which were made in a large block of solid water.
The ideal observer objective assessment metric for magnetic resonance imaging application to signal detection tasks

The ideal Bayesian observer is a mathematical construct which makes optimal use of all statistical information about the object and imaging system to perform a task. Its performance serves as an upper bound on any observer's task performance. In this paper a methodology based on the ideal observer for assessing magnetic resonance (MR) acquisition sequences and reconstruction algorithms is developed. The ideal observer in the context of MR imaging is defined and expressions for ideal observer performance metrics are derived. Comparisons are made between the raw-data ideal observer and image-based ideal observer to elucidate the effect of image reconstruction on task performance. Lesion detection tasks are studied in detail via analytical expressions and simulations. The effect of imaging sequence parameters on lesion detectability is shown and the advantages of this methodology over image quality metrics currently in use in MR imaging is demonstrated.
Expectations and Outcomes

This chapter describes deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for pain, motor cortex stimulation (MCS) for neuropathic pain, and vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) for epilepsy with respect to the end-user experience that includes patient clinical outcomes and perceptions. Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's patients is complicated in part because of the spectrum of symptoms that are not just movement related. The stimulation effect reaches other aspects of the disease and does so to varying degrees depending on the target. Neurostimulation for tremor can significantly benefit a patient's quality of life. Even while undergoing intraoperative testing, patients may feel tearfully happy about the prospect of better motor function. Vagal nerve stimulation is one of the most recent developments in neurostimu–lation in selected patients with generalized epilepsy. Neurostimulation techniques have the ability to improve patients' lives by decreasing the disability. The level of this disability is measured, in part, by how ill the patients feel.
What Differential Weighting of Subsets of Items Does and Does Not Accomplish: Geometric Explanation

A little-known theorem, a generalization of Pythagoras's theorem, due to Pappus, is used to present a geometric explanation of various definitions of the contribution of component tests to their composite. I show that an unambiguous definition of the unique contribution of a component to the composite score variance is present if and only if the component scores are uncorrelated. I further show the effect of differentially weighting the composites on the definitions of unique contributions and discuss some of the implications for composite score reliability and validity.
Perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Following a brief introduction to the history of AIDS and the global impact of the AIDS epidemic the important yet difficult to research role of perinatally transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from mother to infant is pointed out. Approximately 80% of all HIV infections in children in the US and Europe stem from perinatal transmission; similar rates are expected for sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Accordingly current understanding of the epidemiology of HIV transmission from mothers to children is reviewed. While obstacles exist to AIDS surveillance determining the frequency and timing of perinatal HIV transmission planning treatment trials and clinical treatment information has been gained over the years from AIDS surveillance data HIV seroprevalence surveys and studies of HIV transmission and disease progression. The focus here is primarily upon information obtained since early 1988 methodological issues and future research priorities. The scope of the HIV epidemic in the US and Europe is considered with sections on the epidemiology of AIDS in women and children the prevalence and incidence of HIV infection therein and other surveillance approaches. Epidemic scope in Africa the Caribbean South America Asia and the Pacific is also addressed. Discussion also includes rates risk factors and mechanisms of transmission as well as incubation period and clinical presentations of morbidity and mortality.
Neighborhoods of subvarieties in homogeneous spaces

We study the holomorphic/meromorphic function theory and the fundamental group of Euclidean open neighborhoods of compact subvarieties in homogeneous spaces; building on results of Hironaka, Hartshorne, Napier and Ramachandran in the ample normal bundle case.
Multitemporal data mining: From biomass monitoring to nuclear proliferation detection

We are living in an era of unprecedented population growth and migration, expanding urban and agriculture lands, depleting forests and portable water resources, and natural hazards and climate changes that are changing the face of the planet Earth. Multitemporal remote sensing observations provide a powerful means to monitor the Earth to identify and characterize these changes in near-real time. Data mining is proven to be highly useful in analyzing multi-resolution, multi-spectral, multisensor, and multi-temporal remote sensing data. In this paper we describe the state-of-the-art data mining approaches with applications in biomass and critical infrastructure monitoring.
Mechanisms of rectal continence. Lessons from the ileoanal procedure.

Summary To clarify mechanisms of rectal continence, we evaluated 34 patients who had straight or J-pouch ileoanal anastomosis. This evaluation included pressures, anal inhibitory reflex, neorectal capacity, neorectal compliance, and the ability to discriminate stool from gas. Both groups of patients had satisfactory anal sphincter resting pressures and neorectal capacities, and all could discriminate stool from gas despite the absence of any rectal mucosa. We conclude that normal rectal mucosa is not necessary to be able to discriminate stool from gas; a long rectal muscular cuff is not necessary for rectal sensation; essentially normal sphincter function is preserved, and this procedure does not normally fail because of inadequate sphincter function or the absence of the anal inhibitory reflex; and in the presence of normal sphincter function, continence is not dependent on the presence of normal mucosa or the anal inhibitory reflex but correlates with reservoir capacity and compliance as well as with the frequency and strength of intrinsic bowel contractions.
The Number of Graduates from U.S. Accounting Doctoral Programs: The Association with Faculty Attributes and Institutional Reputation

The supply of accounting doctoral graduates has been decreasing at the same time the demand for accounting doctoral faculty has been increasing. This situation has economic consequences that are likely to affect the accounting profession as a whole and may have adverse spillover effects on accounting education. We empirically examine the productivity of U.S. business schools in terms of the quantity of accounting doctoral graduates. Using a sample of 358 institution-year observations for 91 U.S. doctoral-granting institutions, we identify 20 variables that we conjecture to be associated with the number of U.S. accounting doctoral graduates. We find that three main factors (faculty composition, faculty qualifications, and institutional reputation) explain 47.15 percent of the cross-sectional variation using exploratory factor analysis. The results suggest that there is a positive and significant relation between the identified factors and the number of U.S. accounting doctoral graduates. As a sensitivity check, our results are supported by the use of alternate regression models and robust regression.
Simultaneous thermospheric observations during the geomagnetic storm of April 2002 from South Pole and Arrival Heights, Antarctica

[1] Simultaneous ground-based optical measurements of the response of the thermosphere to the geomagnetic storm of April 2002 were made at South Pole (90°S) and Arrival Heights (78°S). Large meridional and zonal winds were observed, with values reaching 600 m/s. The kinetic temperature during the storm showed an increase nearly 3-fold from the normal values during the time of peak wind, while the emission of the 630 nm increased over 20-fold. Simulation of the storm with the TIME-GCM model, including low energy electron precipitation observed by the DMSP satellites, shows good agreement with the measurements. Without low energy electron precipitation, the model simulation underestimates the kinetic temperature and emission.
White dwarf — accretion disk boundary layers

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to calculate the detailed structure of white dwarf- accretion disk boundary layers. Both optically thick and thin boundary layers are investigated for various values of the relevant parameters, as long as the layer's vertical extension remains very much smaller than the white dwarf's radius. Detailed, self consistent solutions for the boundary layer's and disk's structure are calculated and used to find the amount of energy, radiated onto the accreting white dwarf (recently recognized to be an important factor in nova outburst modelling).
Import of nuclear encoded tRNA into mitochondria.

The assembly of functional, biosynthetically active, mitochondria requires RNAs and proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome. Typically, mitochondrial transcripts include ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs). These transcripts are indispensable in the formation of mitochondrial ribosomes, in mitochondrial protein synthesis and the formation of inner mitochondrial membrane complexes involved in electron transport and ATP synthesis.
Congenital Erosive and Vesicular Dermatitis with Reticulated Scarring

Congenital erosive and vesicular dermatitis healing with reticulated scarring is a rare entity presenting in the early childhood. It is manifest as crusted erosions and vesicles that heal relatively rapidly forming unique reticulated scars. Cohen first reported this entity in 1985 and since then, only ten patients have been reported. We herein report an additional case of this extremely unusual disorder. A 23 month-old girl who was noted to have “rashes” and sores over her body at birth. Her twin sister was unaffected. She was born preterm at 35 weeks gestation but her developmental milestones have been within normal range. On exam she had depressed and somewhat macerated erosions and erythema primarily on her trunk, axillae, and ears. No vesicles or bullae were present. The skin biopsy showed neutrophilic and eosinophilic infiltrates with abundant crusting. Cultures were negative for infectious agents and direct immunofluorescent studies were also negative. Over the next two years she periodically developed erosions which healed quickly. However, the depressed reticulated scars have persisted and are more sensitive to sun exposure. This scarring disorder may be associated with mild ongoing blistering and must be distinguished from other congenital blistering disorders and immunobullous diseases. The pathophysiology remains unclear.
DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF INORGANIC MERCURY SALTS IN SOILS BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY

Abstract A technique has been developed to analyze environmentally relevant samples for organic and inorganic mercury compounds. A solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was used as a sampling medium in both water and water/soil slurries. Quantification of inorganic mercury was accomplished through a chemical alkylation reaction designed to convert an inorganic mercury salt to an organomercury compound prior to GC/MS analysis; this was found to be the rate limiting step in the analysis. Two alkylating reagents were investigated: methylpentacyanocobaltate (III) (K3[Co(CN)5CH3]) and methylbis(dimethylglyoximato)pyridinecobalt (III) (CH3Co(dmgH)2Py). Methylbis(dimethylglyoximato)pyridinecobalt (III) was found to be superior for this application because it produced a single reaction product, methylmercury iodide, with an efficiency of ∼95%. Detection limits were ∼7 ppb in water and ∼2 ppm in soil. The poorer results in soil were due to an increase in background signal (∼10 times compared to water) and a reduction in analyte signal (as much as 100 times). This reduction in signal intensity is believed to be caused by complex soil chemistry. Manipulation of the solution chemistry [e.g. oxidation of mercury (0) → mercury (II)], before or during the alkylation step, may improve the detection limits and increase the number of elements amenable to analysis. Keywords: Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; Inorganic analysis; Elemental; Mercury compounds; Chemical alkylation
Apparent stabilization of rat liver lysosomes by cytosol and serum proteins.

SummaryCytosol or serum proteins promote the cosedimentation of rat liver lysoso-mal enzymes with the large granular fraction membranes at neutral pH. Cytosol promoted cosedimentation of three lysosomal enzymes but not a mitochondrial or a perox-isomal enzyme. Dialyzed or boiled cytosol are as effective as untreated cytosol whereas γ-globulin is more effective than albumin in promoting cosedimentation.
Routine Chest X-Ray Prior to Thyroid Surgery: Is It Always Necessary?

Despite lack of evidence-based support, chest X-ray (CXR) prior to thyroid surgery is often used to identify tracheal deviation that may predict difficulty with intubation. The aim of this study is to establish the utility of preoperative CXR to assess tracheal deviation in this group of patients. We analyzed a prospective database of 1,000 consecutive patients who underwent thyroid surgery. Patients’ charts were reviewed for demographic data, CXR readings, other imaging findings, anesthesia records, and pathology findings. Patients with tracheal deviation (TD) on CXR were compared to patients without (no TD). Six hundred eighty-nine (69 %) patients had a CXR performed prior to surgery. TD was identified in 252 (37 %) patients while 437 (63 %) did not have TD. The two groups did not significantly differ in mean age, BMI, or gender. Patients with TD on CXR had larger thyroid glands (51 ± 4 vs. 28 ± 2 g, p < 0.001) and reported a higher rate of tracheal compressive symptoms (19 vs. 12 %, p = 0.005). However, this did not translate into more difficult intubations as reported by the anesthesiologist (5 vs. 7 %, p = 0.31) or more intubation attempts (1.2 ± 0 vs. 1.1 ± 0, p = 0.1). Lung findings on CXR that resulted in further workup were identified in 32 (5 %) patients, with additional pathology found in only 6 (1 %) patients. There is no correlation between a finding of tracheal deviation on preoperative CXR and difficult intubation in thyroid patients. Therefore, CXR for the sole purpose of identifying tracheal deviation in thyroid surgery candidates is not warranted.
Control of inhomogeneous ensembles on the Bloch sphere

Developing control fields (pulse sequences) that can compensate for the dispersion in the parameters governing the evolution of a quantum system is an important problem in coherent spectroscopy and quantum information processing. The use of composite pulses for compensating for dispersion in system dynamics is widely known and applied. In this paper, we introduce pulse elements for correcting pulse errors. These design methods are analytical and can be used to prove arbitrarily good robust performance. Furthermore, the time to compensation is superior to existing Fourier synthesis methods, which is critical for minimizing errors due to relaxation effects.
Inhibition of inosinate dehydrogenase by metabolites of 2-β-D-ribofuranosylthiazole-4-car☐amide

Abstract Addition of 2-β-D-ribofuranosyl-thiazole-4-car☐amide (NSC 286193, RTC, T-CAR) to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in culture drastically reduced the level of IMP dehydrogenase activity in the cell sonicate. Dialysis of the sonicate removed this inhibition. NSC 286193 was phosphorylated to the 5′-monophosphate in vitro in the presence of ATP and Mg ++ . The monophosphate was further converted to another compound in the presence of ATP and Mg ++ which has been found to be a potent inhibitor of IMP-dehydrogenase. This metabolite is tentatively identified as thiazole-4-car☐amide adenine dinucleotide.
Sufficient conditions for complexity reduction in min-max control of constrained uncertain linear systems

In this paper we consider finite-time min-max optimization problems for linear systems with additive disturbances subject to hard input constraints and soft state constraints.
DNA strand breaks and cell cycle perturbation in herceptin treated breast cancer cell lines.

Background. Herceptin is a humanized antibody that binds to the product of the HER-2 oncogene. Clinical studies have indicated that treatment with Herceptin may slow disease progression in tumors expressing high levels of the HER-2 antigen. However, the mechanism of this action is not known.