cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pancreatitis in tigecycline Phase 3 and 4 clinical studies

Methods: Subject data from Phase 3 and 4 comparative tigecycline studies were included in the analysis; investigator-reported adverse events of ‘pancreatitis’, ‘necrotizing pancreatitis’ or ‘pancreas disorder’ were reviewed. Data were summarized and cases were reported. No statistical comparisons were made. The incidence of overall pancreatitis with 95% CIs was calculated. The Wilson score method was used to calculate CIs. Results: Nineteen subjects with investigator-determined pancreatitis were identified from the programme database, which included 3788 subjects treated with tigecycline and 3646 subjects treated with a comparator. There were 9 cases identified among the tigecycline-treated subjects [9 of 3788 (0.24%; 95% CI, 0.11‐0.45)] and 10 cases among the comparator-treated subjects [10 of 3646 (0.27%; 95% CI, 0.13‐0.50)]. The demographic characteristics of the subjects with pancreatitis were similar between treatment groups. The median duration of tigecyclinetherapywas8.0 dayscomparedwith11.0 daysofcomparatortreatment.Concomitantorpriorexposureto a Badalov class I medication was evident in the majority of subjects who developed pancreatitis. A numerically higher number of tigecycline-treated subjects were exposed to furosemide prior to the onset of pancreatitis than comparator-treated subjects. Conclusions: Pancreatitis was uncommon in subjects treated with tigecycline, with an occurrence of ,1%. Concomitant medications known to cause pancreatitis should be considered when prescribing tigecycline, but may not identify those at risk of developing pancreatitis.
Scheduling real-time and non-real-time traffic under nonstationary conditions

In this paper a statistical multiplexer that processes a mixture of real-time and non-real-time traffic is studied under bursts of traffic. Different scheduling algorithms are compared under conditions when one of the classes of traffic has a sudden increase in its arrival rate during a short period of time. The results show a difference in the way the scheduling disciplines studied behave under short overloads of traffic even though the scheduling algorithms had been set up to give similar performance under steady-state arrivals. The lifetime of real-time packets is shown to have a great effect on the way in which the performance of the scheduling algorithms compare.
Detection of Type A, B, E, and F Clostridium botulinum Neurotoxins in Foods by Using an Amplified Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay with Digoxigenin-Labeled Antibodies

An amplified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Clostridium botulinum complex neurotoxins was evaluated for its ability to detect these toxins in food. The assay was found to be suitable for detecting type A, B, E, and F botulinum neurotoxins in a variety of food matrices representing liquids, solid, and semisolid food. Specific foods included broccoli, orange juice, bottled water, cola soft drinks, vanilla extract, oregano, potato salad, apple juice, meat products, and dairy foods. The detection sensitivity of the test for these botulinum complex serotypes was found to be 60 pg/ml (1.9 50% lethal dose [LD50]) for botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A), 176 pg/ml (1.58 LD50) for BoNT/B, 163 pg/ml for BoNT/E (4.5 LD50), and 117 pg/ml for BoNT/F (less than 1 LD50) in casein buffer. The test could also readily detect 2 ng/ml of neurotoxins type A, B, E, and F in a variety of food samples. For specificity studies, the assay was also used to test a large panel of type A C. botulinum, a smaller panel of proteolytic and nonproteolytic type B, E, and F neurotoxin-producing Clostridia, and nontoxigenic organisms using an overnight incubation of toxin production medium. The assay appears to be an effective tool for large-scale screening of the food supply in the event of a botulinum neurotoxin contamination event.
Use of B-Spline in the Finite Element Analysis: Comparison With ANCF Geometry

Abstract : This paper examines the limitations of using B-spline representation as an analysis tool by comparing its geometry with the nonlinear finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) geometry. It is shown that while both B-spline and ANCF geometries can be used to model non-structural discontinuities using linear connectivity conditions, there are fundamental differences between B-spline and ANCF geometries. First, while B-spline geometry can always be converted to ANCF geometry, the converse is not true; that is, ANCF geometry cannot always be converted to B-spline geometry. Second, because of the rigid structure of the B-spline recurrence formula, there are restrictions on the order of the parameters and basis functions used in the polynomial interpolation; this in turn can lead to models that have significantly larger number of degrees of freedom as compared to those obtained using ANCF geometry. Third, in addition to the known fact that B-spline does not allow for straight forward modeling of T-junctions, B-spline representation cannot be used in a straight forward manner to model structural discontinuities. It is shown in this investigation that ANCF geometric description can be used to develop new spatial chain models governed by linear connectivity conditions which can be applied at a preprocessing stage allowing for an efficient elimination of the dependent variables. The modes of the deformations at the definition points of the joints that allow for rigid body rotations between ANCF finite elements are discussed. The use of the linear connectivity conditions with ANCF spatial finite elements leads to a constant inertia matrix and zero Coriolis and centrifugal forces. The fully parameterized structural ANCF finite elements used in this study allow for the deformation of the cross section and capture the coupling between this deformation and the stretch and bending.
Treatment of mild hypertension and the problem of compliance

The results of the majority of the on-going large-scale studies in patients with hypertension underline the importance of lowering diastolic blood pressure to levels below 90 mmHg and the benefits, in terms of reduced morbidity and mortality, of the treatment even of those with mild hypertension. Because the patient with mild hypertension is generally asymptomatic, treatment must not only be effective but also have minimal side-effects and a simple regimen to ensure patient compliance. The step-care approach to the treatment of such patients and the drugs of choice are reviewed briefly.
Mothers' Social Coaching, Mother‐Child Relationship Style, and Children's Peer Competence: Is the Medium the Message?

Contributions of mothers' social coaching and responsive style to preschoolers' peer competence were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, 43 mother-child dyads participated in 3 laboratory tasks; videotapes were coded for responsive interaction style in play, advice regarding videotaped peer dilemmas (coaching), and nonsocial teaching in a puzzle task. Coaching and style were largely independent and were correlated with measures of social competence. In Study 2 (n = 62), coaching and style uniquely predicted teacher ratings, but only style predicted peer acceptance. To investigate whether coaching mediated the effects of style and/or whether style moderated the effects of coaching, the samples were combined. No evidence was found for mediation, but coaching was a more powerful predictor of lower levels of boys' aggression when the mother-child relationship was less responsive. Discussion focuses on models of socialization that stress the interplay of general style and specific socialization practices in promoting social competence.
Multi-armed bandits with switching penalties

The multi-armed bandit problem with switching penalties (switching cost and switching delays) is investigated. It is shown that under an optimal policy, decisions about the processor allocation need to be made only at stopping times that achieve an appropriate index, the well-known "Gittins index" or a "switching index" that is defined for switching cost and switching delays. An algorithm for the computation of the "switching index" is presented. Furthermore, sufficient conditions for optimality of allocation strategies, based on limited look-ahead techniques, are established. These conditions together with the above-mentioned feature of optimal scheduling policies simplify the search for an optimal allocation policy. For a special class of multi-armed bandits (scheduling of parallel queues with switching penalties and no arrivals), it is shown that the aforementioned property of optimal policies is sufficient to determine an optimal allocation strategy. In general, the determination of optimal allocation policies remains a difficult and challenging task.
Reduced Dimensionality Theories of Quantum Reactive Scattering: Applications to Mu+H2, H+H2, O(3P)+H2, D2 and HD

A hierarchy of reduced dimensionality exact quantum theories of reactive scattering is presented for the vibrational state-to-state cumulative reaction probability and vibrational state-to-state thermal rate constant. The central approximation in these theories is the adiabatic treatment of the bending motion of the reactive species in the strong interaction region of configuration space. Applications of the theories are made to the reactions Mu+H2, H+H2, O(3p)+H2, D2 and HD
Disruption of Mosquito Olfaction

Abstract The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae and yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti are dangerous vectors for blood-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue, and chikungunya, because of an innate preference of these mosquito species to blood-feed on humans. Given this relationship, identifying the chemosensory cues and neural circuits that act in concert to guide these mosquito species toward humans may help to devise powerful strategies that halt pathogen transmission. In part, mosquitoes are thought to target vertebrate hosts by using their sense of smell. Comparative studies on the genetics of olfaction in Drosophila and mosquitoes as well as recent technical advances in heterologous expression and genome-editing systems provide a robust framework to identify mosquito genes contributing to host-seeking behavior. An improved understanding of the molecular and cellular pathways driving mosquito attraction to humans stands to inform the development of both chemical and genetic strategies to control dengue and malaria.
The connotative dimensions of selected display typefaces

This paper reports research on the use of the semantic differential to determine the connotative meaning of ten display typefaces using laymen as subjects. There were several surprising outcomes of the study. Helvetica, the only sans serif typeface, was not perceived as differing significantly from serifed typefaces on most dimensions. Examples of different typeface classifications were also perceived as having similar connotative meanings, and two very distinctive novelty typefaces were surprisingly neutral on all factoral dimensions.
Induction of Interferon by Nonreplicating Single-Stranded RNA Virus

SummaryA study was undertaken to help determine whether the input virions of a nonreplicating single-stranded RNA virus could stimulate interferon production. Rat embryo cells were treated with inhibitors of protein synthesis during infection with chikungunya virus. After 4.5 hr incubation, RNA synthesis was inhibited with actinomycin D and 1 hr later the inhibition of protein synthesis was reversed by washing. There after, the culture fluids were tested for production of interferon. Since not even partial replication of chikungunya virus or its components was demonstrable under the conditions of inhibition of protein synthesis, the finding of full yields of interferon indicated that a component of the input virion stimulated production of the interferon. The results of control experiments make it unlikely that contaminating double-stranded RNA was the stimulus for interferon production. Since viral and other nucleic acids are the most general inducers of interferon, and since the input chikungunya virion...
Turbulence in Hurricane-Generated Coastal Currents

Wind and current meter records taken during the passage of a hurricane were subjected to time series analysis Filtering techniques isolated the speed fluctuations m the 10-60 CPH frequency band These turbulent fluctuations proved to follow the Gaussian distribution for both wind and current With the passage of the storm front the turbulence intensity of the wind actually decreased, while, on the other hand, the turbulence intensity of the current rose to extremely large values, even exceeding 27 percent of the mean flow speed Three phases of the storm were examined separately, and the energy density of the wind varied with the -1 power of the frequency in all phases With respect to the energy density of the current, a -1 power dependency on the frequency was approximated by the first two phases, whereas m the third phase, which was the most intense, the energy density varied approximately as the -0 5 power of the frequency The characteristics of the spectra indicate that there is little direct transfer of energy from the wind to the current m the frequency range studied Energy is passing into the 10-60 CPH band of the current from still lower frequencies.
A New Taeniodont from the Paleocene of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico

We describe a new genus and species of taeniodont from the early Paleocene (Puercan) of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. This new taeniodont combines derived features of the upper premolars with primitive upper molars and thus forces a reassessment of taeniodont phylogeny that recognizes Conoryctidae as a paraphyletic taxon.
Analysis on Epidemic of Chronic Non-infectious Diseases in Guangxi

Objective To analyze the morbidity and death characteristics of chronic non-infectious diseases in domestic areas and Guangxi,and to investigate the severity of chronic non-infectious disease in Guangxi.Method The existing data of chronic non-infectious diseases were used to reanalyze.Results The leading death cause was cardio-cerebrovascular diseases,other as follows:malignant tumors,respiratory diseases,injuries,endocrine and nutritive diseases in residents.Hypertension disease,chronic gastroenteritis,rheumatoid arthritis,and digestive diseases were separately took the first place in the morbidity.The mortality and morbidity of these diseases showed an increasing tendency in recent decade.Conclusions Chronic non-infectious diseases become the main cause of death.It is necessary for us to prevent and control chronic non-infectious diseases through carrying out the policy of prevention first and adopting health promotion and the integrated prevention and control strategy.
A planning support system to optimize approval of private housing development projects

Out of 182 million population of Pakistan, 38% reside in urban areas having an average growth rate of 1.6%, raising the urban housing demand significantly. Poor state response to fulfil the housing needs has resulted in a mushroom growth of private housing schemes (PHS) over the years. Consequently, only in five major cities of Punjab, there are 383 legal and 150 illegal private housing development projects against 120 public sector housing schemes. A major factor behind the cancerous growth of unapproved PHS is the prolonged and delayed approval process in concerned approval authorities requiring 13 months on average. Currently, manual and paper-based approaches are used for vetting and for granting the permission which is highly subjective and non-transparent. This study aims to design a flexible planning support system (PSS) to optimize the vetting process of PHS projects under any development authority in Pakistan by reducing time and cost required for site and documents investigations. Relying on the review of regulatory documents and interviews with professional planners and land developers, this study describes the structure of a PSS developed using open- source geo-spatial tools such as OpenGeo Suite, PHP, and PostgreSQL. It highlights the development of a Knowledge Module (based on regulatory documents) containing equations related to scheme type, size (area), location, access road, components of layout plan, planning standards and other related approval checks. Furthermore, it presents the architecture of the database module and system data requirements categorized as base datasets (built-in part of PSS) and input datasets (related to the housing project under approval). It is practically demonstrated that developing a customized PSS to optimize PHS approval process in Pakistan is achievable with geospatial technology. With the provision of such a system, the approval process for private housing schemes not only becomes quicker and user-friendly but also transparent.
Prefrontal responses to Stroop tasks in subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder assessed by functional near infrared spectroscopy

Studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing attentional deficits have implicated abnormal activities in the frontal lobe. In this study, we utilized multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate selective attention-related hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex among 15 combat-exposed war-zone veterans with PTSD and 13 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. While performing the incongruent Stroop task, healthy controls showed significant activations in the left lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) compared to baseline readings. This observation is consistent with previously reported results. In comparison, subjects with PTSD failed to activate left LPFC during the same Stroop task. Our observations may implicate that subjects with PTSD experienced difficulty in overcoming Stroop interference. We also observed significant negative correlation between task reaction times and hemodynamic responses from left LPFC during the incongruent Stroop task in the PTSD group. Regarding the methodology used in this study, we have learned that an appropriate design of Stroop paradigms is important for meeting an optimal cognitive load which can lead to better brain image contrasts in response to Stroop interference between healthy versus PTSD subjects. Overall, the feasibility of fNIRS for studying and mapping neural correlates of selective attention and interference in subjects with PTSD is reported.
Multiple Comparisons for Poisson Rates

Given independent observations from k Poisson populations it is frequently of interest to make simultaneous confidence interval statements concerning the parameters and linear functions of them. It is suggested that estimation of arbitrary linear combin..
INCREASED MYOCARDIAL STIFFNESS ESTIMATED BY INTRINSIC VELOCITY PROPAGATION METHOD IS ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERSE CARDIAC EVENTS AT FOLLOW-UP IN PATIENTS WITH AMYLOIDOSIS

Cardiac deposition of amyloid fibrils increases myocardial stiffness. Intrinsic velocity propagation (iVP) of myocardial stretch is a new validated measure of myocardial elasticity. Herein, we tested whether quantitative measurement of myocardial elasticity (stiffness) by iVP is related to outcomes
Association between mood-stabilizing medication and mental health resource use in the management of acute mania.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand how mood-stabilizing agents other than lithium have changed treatment and outcomes in bipolar disorder, this study examined health service utilization among patients with acute mania who were being treated with a variety of regimens using mood stabilizers. METHODS: Demographic, clinical, and resource utilization data were collected from the records of 96 inpatients with a discharge diagnosis of bipolar mania. Patients were categorized into four major treatment groups: lithium monotherapy, anticonvulsant monotherapy, treatment with multiple mood stabilizers, and treatment with no mood stabilizers. RESULTS: The mean +/- SD age of the sample was 50 +/- 12.3 years. Lithium was the most commonly prescribed antimanic agent, with 29 of the 96 patients on lithium monotherapy, 17 on anticonvulsant monotherapy, 42 taking multiple mood stabilizers, and eight taking no mood stabilizers. The mean inpatient stay was significantly longer for patients on multiple mood stabilizers (30.3 +/- 20.7 days) than for those on lithium monotherapy (20.7 +/- 14.4 days), anticonvulsant monotherapy (17 +/- 9.3 days), and no mood stabilizers (17.3 +/- 14.4 days). Patients who were not taking a mood stabilizer had a higher rate of leaving the hospital against medical advice than the other groups. Patients on anticonvulsant monotherapy had significantly more comorbid psychiatric illnesses than patients taking multiple mood stabilizers. Inpatient use of seclusion or restraint and of concurrent antipsychotic medications did not differ significantly between the treatment groups. Compliance with outpatient follow-up was poor in all treatment groups, and almost absent in the group taking no mood stabilizers. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the pharmacological management of acute mania will have an impact on clinical outcomes and health resource utilization.
Experimental Hypoglycemia: Correlation Between EEG Abnormalities and Structural Alterations

Ischemic injury is characterized by a combination of decreased arterial flow, decreased tissue oxygen, limited availability of energy substrates, anaerobic glycolysis, retention of metabolic end-products (such as lactic acid), and depressed function [5]. The latter, in the case of the brain, is usually reflected in disappearance of delta waves in the electroencephalogram [1].
Determination of Pesticides and Their Transformation Products in Air

The atmosphere has been postulated as a major route for the widespread distribution of the more persistent pesticides in the environment (Risebrough et al., 1968; Woodwell et al., 1971). This has been supported by a growing reservoir of data reporting the presence of residues in air samples from areas far removed from normal sites of application. Risebrough et al. (1968), for example, found an average concentration of DDT-related pesticides and dieldrin of 7.8 × 10−14 g/m3 in dust collected at Barbados in 1965–1966. A later study (Seba and Prospero, 1971) revealed average concentrations of aerosol-borne DDT and DDE approximately three times higher in tradewinds sampled at Barbados in 1968. In a more recent study (Bidleman and Olney, 1974) average DDT levels of approximately 20 × 10−12 g/m3, 100 times those of the earlier studies, were reported from air sampled at and near Bermuda.
A Formal Total Synthesis of Epothilone A: Enantioselective Preparation of the C1−C6 and C7−C12 Fragments1

Our continued interest in the anticancer agent paclitaxel is driven by the desire to understand the structural features and spatial arrangement necessary for tubulin binding2 and stabilization of microtubule dynamics.3 The recently reported class of natural products, epothilone, now provides us with compounds structurally distinct from taxol and taxol analogues but with similar biological activity. In addition, epothilones have much greater activity against multi-drug resistant cell lines.4 After independently determining the relative stereochemistry of epothilone A we reported our synthetic approach, Figure 1, which includes a late-stage macrocyclic olefin metathesis.5 Our initial publication presented an enantioselective preparation of thiazole fragment C and the successful application of a ring-closing olefin metathesis reaction to an epothilone model system. Concurrently, three other synthetic groups reported similar approaches to epothilone A all of which have culminated in total synthesis.6-10 Herein we report the details of our independent, enantioselective preparation of the ketone fragment B and aldehyde A. Ketone B has been prepared from a sequence which is highlighted by a samarium-mediated Reformatsky reaction11 originally developed by Molander, Scheme 1. The sequence begins with racemic alcohol 2 readily prepared in one step from propionaldehyde and 3-methyl-2-butenylmagnesium chloride. Enzymatic resolution in methyl tert-butyl ether using Altus Biologics12 Chiro-CLECPC(which is reusable without significant loss of activity) provided an efficient route to gram quantities of (R)-2 after purification and deacylation. The enantioselectivity of the resolution at 47% conversion was determined to be >20:1 by Mosher ester methodology13 and chiral capillary gas chromatography (see Experimental Section for details). The enantiomeric excess was found to be dependent upon percent conversion (97% ee at 15% conversion and 92% ee at 48% conversion). The unreacted alcohol 2 can be easily recycled by a two-step oxidationreduction sequence. Acylation of the secondary hydroxyl occurred readily with bromoacetyl bromide in the presence of N,N-dimethylaniline to provide ester 3 in excellent yield. Ozonolytic cleavage of the terminal olefin yielded the necessary Reformatsky precursor which under exposure to freshly prepared SmI2 provided the lactone 4 in quantitative yield with >20:1 diastereose-
Streams in the desert: exploring religion and spirituality among incarcerated women with lengthy sentences

A large body of research examines the effects of religion and spirituality on criminality and recidivism in the United States. The goal of much of this work has been to determine the effectiveness ...
Nazi Germany and American Indians

In the early 1930's, Nazi scholars, lawyers, jurists, and party officials were heavily influenced by United States law when they were developing racial policies and laws concerning Jewish people. Research demonstrates that when Nazis were turning their ideas into legislative proposals and laws that they were also carefully studying federal Indian laws and American state laws that discriminated against American Indians.
DESIGN AND STUDY OF ONE-DIMENSIONAL ORGANIC CONDUCTORS II: TTF - TCNQ AND OTHER ORGANIC SEMIMETALS

What are the implications of the disordered one-dimensional conductors, discussed in the previous paper, for the development of organic materials of still higher conductivity? Simply, the situation is this. In lover-dimensional, narrow-band organic charge-transfer salts, we have systems in which the metallic state is inherently unstable. One way of suppressing the instabilities is by introducing sufficient disorder to “wash them out”. As demonstrated by examples12 such as NMP-TCNQ, this can lead in favorable circumstances to a spectacular increase in conductivity. Nevertheless the structural disorder remains itself a limiting factor. The localization of the electronic states at the Fermi level limits the conductivity to the diffusive range25 of a few hundred reciprocal ohm-centimeters—enormous by organic standards, but low compared with good inorganic conductors. To elevate organic conductivities into the truly metallic range requires some way of suppressing the tendency toward a distorted insulator without resorting to the introduction of structural disorder. We therefore seek materials consisting of symmetric molecules with no strong dipole moment, and forming structures which offer more flexibility for design than does a single conducting chain.
Tumor slice culture as a biologic surrogate of human cancer.

Background The tumor microenvironment (TME) is critical to every aspect of cancer biology. Organotypic tumor slice cultures (TSCs) preserve the original TME and have demonstrated utility in predicting drug sensitivity, but the association between clinicopathologic parameters and in vitro TSC behavior has not been well-defined. Methods One hundred and eight fresh tumor specimens from liver resections at a tertiary academic center were procured and precisely cut with a Vibratome to create 250 μm × 6 mm slices. These fixed-dimension TSCs were grown on polytetrafluoroethylene inserts, and their metabolic activities were determined by a colorimetric assay. Correlation between baseline activities and clinicopathologic parameters was assessed. Tissue CEA mRNA expression was determined by RNAseq. Results By standardizing the dimensions of a slice, we found that adjacent tumor slices have equivalent metabolic activities, while those derived from different tumors exhibit >30-fold range in baseline MTS absorbances, which correlated significantly with the percentage of tumor necrosis based on histologic assessment. Extending this to individual cancers, we were able to detect intra-tumoral heterogeneity over a span of a few millimeters, which reflects differences in tumor cell density and Ki-67 positivity. For colorectal cancers, tissue CEA expression based on RNAseq of tumor slices was found to correlate with clinical response to chemotherapies. Conclusions We report a standardized method to assess and compare human cancer growth ex vivo across a wide spectrum of tumor samples. TSC reflects the state of tumor behavior and heterogeneity, thus providing a simple approach to study of human cancers with an intact TME.
Understanding avoidance, refusal, and abandonment of chemotherapy before and after cystectomy for bladder cancer.

Objective To analyze trends in perioperative chemotherapy and optimize use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for bladder cancer. Methods From 2005-2012, 284 consecutive patients underwent robot-assisted radical cystectomy at our facility. Patients with disease ≥T2 and nodal involvement and positive surgical margins were reviewed and considered candidates for referral to medical oncology for chemotherapy. The study was conducted in two phases: phase 1 included 242 consecutive patients between 2005 and 2011, and phase 2 analyzed the effect of changes in 42 patients during a 1-year period (2011-2012). Results In phase 1, 148 patients (61%) were candidates for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Consultation for NAC was sought for 44 patients (29%), and 104 (71%) did not receive consultation. Of the 44 patients, 36% received NAC, 7% refused, 32% were recommended for immediate cystectomy, and 25% did not receive NAC for other reasons. Phase 2 was more stringent, with a multidisciplinary approach. Significant improvement in referral and NAC use was seen. About 78% vs 30% of patients were seen by medical oncology for consideration of NAC before robot-assisted radical cystectomy and 71% vs 36% received NAC compared with phase 1. The NAC utilization rate improved from 10.8% to 55% over 1 year with a diligent multidisciplinary approach. Medical comorbidities were the main reason for patients not receiveing adjuvant chemotherapy (AC; 30% and 33%). Conclusion A multidisciplinary approach and coordination of services can help optimize the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for bladder cancer.
Holobiont Evolution: Population Genetic Theory for the Hologenome

This paper develops a mathematical theory for holobiont evolution that parallels the population-genetic theory of classical evolutionary biology. It presents theory for hologenomes having two haploid microbial strains and two diploid host alleles. The theory shows how selection on holobionts causes the joint evolution of microbial and host components of the hologenome. The theory also reveals the distribution of microbiome configurations across hosts as well as stable strategies for microbiome-host coadaptation.
Metal-semiconductor sorting of large-diameter single-wall carbon nanotubes by pH-dependent binding to a hydrophobic-interaction adsorbent

Abstract A batch adsorption method for sorting large-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is described that employs a hydrophobic-interaction chromatography (HIC) adsorbent and a single nonionic surfactant. The method is based on the creation of significant differences between metallic and semiconductor SWCNTs in their adsorption affinity to a HIC adsorbent. These differences are then used for the efficient separation of the electronic forms of large-diameter SWCNTs. To gain a better understanding of the mechanism involved, the effects of various HIC adsorbents under different pH conditions were studied. The results obtained demonstrate the importance of the type and density of the hydrophobic functional groups on the adsorbent in determining the relative strength of the adsorptive interactions for various electronic forms of SWCNTs. The results also show the effects of negatively charged adventitious functional groups on the nanotube on the relative hydrophobicity of the nanotubes. The method described here is implemented using widely-available HIC adsorbents, and only requires simple titration with HCl or NaOH to adjust the pH. Furthermore, the method is potentially suitable to be performed using liquid chromatography with a packed adsorbent column and with a liquid-phase pH gradient in order to achieve high-resolution separations.
Degree of biliary tract violation during treatment of gallbladder adenocarcinoma is independently associated with development of peritoneal carcinomatosis

BACKGROUND Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is often incidentally diagnosed after cholecystectomy. Intra-operative biliary tract violations (BTV) have been recently associated with development of peritoneal disease (PD). The degree of BTV may be associated with PD risk, but has not been previously investigated. METHODS We reviewed patients with initially non-metastatic GBC treated at our institution from 2003 to 2018. Patients were grouped based on degree of BTV during their treatment: major (e.g., cholecystotomy with bile spillage, n = 27, 29%), minor (e.g., intra-operative cholangiogram, n = 18, 19%), and no violations (n = 48, 55%). Overall survival (OS) and peritoneal disease-free survival (PDFS) were evaluated with Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards modeling. RESULTS Ninety-three patients were identified; the median age was 64 years (range 31-87 years). Seventy-six (82%) were incidentally diagnosed. The median follow-up was 23 months; 20 (22%) patients developed PD. The 3-year PDFS for patients with major, minor, and no BTV was 52%, 83%, and 98%, respectively (major vs. none: p < 0.001; minor vs. none: p < 0.01). BTV was not associated with 5-year OS (HR 1.53, p = 0.16). CONCLUSION Increasing degree of BTV is associated with higher risk of peritoneal carcinomatosis in patients with GBC and should be considered during preoperative risk stratification. Reporting biliary tract violations during cholecystectomy is encouraged.
WHAT DOES GREATER ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MEAN FOR INTERREGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY? AN ANALYSIS OF OECD COUNTRIES AND REGIONS

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of interregional income disparities among 304 regions from 27 OECD countries between 1995 and 2005. This sample of regions allows to compare interregional income inequality in different economic integration systems: the USA (used as an example of a political union), the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the European Union (EU), and the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Overall, interregional income inequality is lower among US states and EMU regions than among EU regions and NAFTA regions. Thus, interregional income inequality seems to be negatively related to economic integration. However, income inequality has risen among US states, while it has been stable among OECD regions, and has even decreased among European regions. Moreover, rank-size scatterplots suggest that inequality is higher among low-income regions than among richer regions.
Derives diazepiniques-1,2—III

Abstract 2-Methyl 7-aryl 2,4,5,6-tetrahydro (3 H ) 1,2-diazepin-3-ones react with N-bromosuccinimide giving 6-bromoderivatives which on dehydrobromination with various bases yield 3,4-diaza 5-oxo bicyclo[4,1,0]2-heptenes, and also in some cases 2,4-dihydro (3 H ) 1,2 diazepin-3-ones, a new class of heterocyclic compounds.
Pain Education: Innovation, Scholarship, and Evidence

Since the 2011 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the status of pain and pain care in America, there has been a renewed appreciation for the scope of the pain “epidemic” ⇓. Many solutions have been proposed, but it is clear that no one specialty or discipline can address the needs of 100 million people with pain in the United States alone, much less the many, many more hundreds of millions suffering from conditions causing chronic pain around the globe. The number of pain care specialists remains small compared with the needs for pain care, but in truth, much of the most-needed pain care can be managed effectively by skillful, knowledgeable, and compassionate primary care providers and members of their clinical teams. The biggest barrier to primary care clinicians more effectively managing pain is that most of them are not trained to assess and manage even common problems such as back pain, headache, or …
Nonionic surface-active agents

Abstract The thermodynamic quantities associated with micellization have been measured for polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl alcohol in water/dioxane and water/ethanol solvents, by determination of the effect of temperature on the critical micelle concentration. If the CMC is measured over a sufficiently large temperature range, the dependence of the enthalpy and entropy of micellization on temperature and composition of solvent is seen to be quite complex. Over most of the range, the fraction of the free energy of micellization due to enthalpic contributions and that due to entropic contributions maintain an essentially constant ratio. At high temperatures and high concentrations of additive, however, the enthalpy becomes strongly negative, while the entropy may be small or negative. This presumably corresponds to the situation in which the monomeric surface-active agent is sufficiently soluble so that micelle formation does not take place.
Overestimating the Importance of the Given Information in Multi Attribute Consumer Judgment

Consumer judgment often is based on incomplete or limited knowledge of the relevant attributes. Three experiments were performed to investigate why these judgments are often insensitive to set size and why evaluations based on limited information tend to be stronger (more extreme and confident) than is warranted. The findings indicate that the importance of the given or known attributes is often overestimated, leading to evaluations that are overly extreme. The experiments also revealed important factors moderating this insensitivity to limited information. The overweighing of the given evidence was attenuated when participants were knowledgeable of the target domain. Overweighing and the formation of extreme judgments based on limited information was also diminished when participants considered their judgmental criteria prior to evaluating a target or when a comparison target described by different attributes was present.
Changes in gene expression and signal transduction in microgravity

Studies from space flights over the past three decades have demonstrated that basic physiological changes occur in humans during space flight. These changes include cephalic fluid shifts, loss of fluid and electrolytes, loss of muscle mass, space motion sickness, anemia, reduced immune response, and loss of calcium and mineralized bone. The cause of most of these manifestations is not known and until recently, the general approach was to investigate general systemic changes, not basic cellular responses to microgravity. This laboratory has recently studied gene growth and activation of normal osteoblasts (MC3T3-El) during spaceflight. Osteoblast cells were grown on glass coverslips and loaded in the Biorack plunger boxes. The osteoblasts were launched in a serum deprived state, activated in microgravity and collected in microgravity. The osteoblasts were examined for changes in gene expression and signal transduction. Approximately one day after growth activation significant changes were observed in gene expression in 0-G flight samples. Immediate early growth genes/growth factors cox-2, c-myc, bcl2, TGF beta1, bFGF and PCNA showed a significant diminished mRNA induction in microgravity FCS activated cells when compared to ground and 1-G flight controls. Cox-1 was not detected in any of the samples. There were no significant differences in the expression of reference gene mRNA between the ground, 0-G and 1-G samples. The data suggest that quiescent osteoblasts are slower to enter the cell cycle in microgravity and that the lack of gravity itself may be a significant factor in bone loss in spaceflight. Preliminary data from our STS 76 flight experiment support our hypothesis that a basic biological response occurs at the tissue, cellular, and molecular level in 0-G. Here we examine ground-based and space flown data to help us understand the mechanism of bone loss in microgravity.
Studies of e.s.r. linewidths in coals and related materials

Abstract An investigation was carried out to explore the importance of two line-broadening mechanisms which may be responsible for the width of the electron spin resonance signals exhibited by coals. Studies of catalytically dehydrogenated coals, isotopically substituted low-temperature chars, and a large number of vitrains from coals of all ranks support the view that electron-nuclear hyperfine interactions produce significant contributions to the e.s.r. linewidths found for low-rank coals. Anisotropic g-values appear to be relatively unimportant for low-rank coals, but measurements made on oriented sections of young anthracitic coals revealed a small but reproducible anisotropy in the e.s.r. g tensor.
The Reaction of Reduced Xanthine Dehydrogenase with Molecular Oxygen REACTION KINETICS AND MEASUREMENT OF SUPEROXIDE RADICAL

Xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) from bovine milk contains significant activity in xanthine/oxygen turnover assays. The oxidative half-reaction of XDH with molecular oxygen has been studied in detail, at 25 °C, pH 7.5, to determine the basis of the preference of XDH for NAD over oxygen as oxidizing substrate. Spectral changes of XDH accompanying oxidation were followed by stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The amount of superoxide radicals formed during oxidation was investigated to assess the ability of XDH to catalyze production of oxygen radicals. Reduced XDH reacts with oxygen in at least 4 bi-molecular steps, with 1.7-1.9 mol of superoxide per mol of XDH formed from the last 2 electrons oxidized. A model is discussed in which the flavin hydroquinone transfers electrons to oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide at a rate constant of at least 72,000 M−1 s−1, whereas flavin semiquinone reduces oxygen to form superoxide as slow as 16 M−1 s−1. Steady-state kinetics of xanthine/oxygen and NADH/oxygen turnover of XDH were determined to have kcat values of 2.1 ± 0.1 and 2.5 ± 0.9 s−1, respectively, at 25 °C, pH 7.5. XDH is therefore capable of catalyzing the formation of reduced oxygen species at one-third the rate of xanthine/NAD turnover, 6.3 s−1 (Hunt, J., and Massey, V. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 21479-21485), in the absence of NAD. As XDH contains a significant and intrinsic xanthine oxidase activity, estimates of relative amounts of XO and XDH based solely upon turnover assays must be made with caution. Initial-rate assays containing varying amounts of xanthine, NAD, and oxygen indicate that at 100% oxygen saturation, NADH formation is only inhibited at concentrations of xanthine and NAD below Km for each substrate.
An Overview of Multivariate Analysis

Abstract Multivariate statistical analysis is appropriate whenever several responses are measured on the same experimental unit. Univariate analysis applied separately to each response variable leads to incorrect tests of significance, since responses measured on the same experimental unit generally are correlated. Many multivariate techniques have univariate analogues and, therefore, can be easily understood and applied with only a general knowledge of matrix algebra. A wide variety of procedures exist which will meet the requirements of a wide range of experimental situations. High-speed computer programs for multivariate analysis have eliminated the tedious computations once required.
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis: Characterization Rb Promoted Iron Catalyst

Rubidium promoted iron Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalysts were prepared with two Rb/Fe atomic ratios (1.44/100 and 5/100) using rubidium nitrate and rubidium carbonate as rubidium precursors. Results of catalytic activity and deactivation studies in a CSTR revealed that rubidium promoted catalysts result in a steady conversion with a lower deactivation rate than that of the corresponding unpromoted catalyst although the initial activity of the promoted catalyst was almost half that of the unpromoted catalyst. Rubidium promotion results in lower methane production, and higher CO2, alkene and 1-alkene fraction in FTS products. Mossbauer spectroscopic measurements of CO activated and working catalyst samples indicated that the composition of the iron carbide phase formed after carbidization was χ-Fe5 C2 for both promoted and unpromoted catalysts. However, in the case of the rubidium promoted catalyst, ɛ′-Fe2.2C became the predominant carbidic phase as FTS continued and the overall catalyst composition remained carbidic in nature. In contrast, the carbide content of the unpromoted catalyst was found to decline very quickly as a function of synthesis time. Results of XANES and EXAFS measurements suggested that rubidium was present in the oxidized state and that the compound most prevalent in the active catalyst samples closely resembled that of rubidium carbonate.
Approximating a linear operator equation using a generalized Fourier series: development

Many important engineering problems fall into the category of being linear operators, with supporting conditions. In thispaper, a new inner-product and norm is developed which enables the numerical modeler to approximate such engineering problems by developing a generalized Fourier series. The resulting approximation is the ‘best’ approximation in that a least-squares (L2) error is minimized simultaneously for fitting both the problem's boundary conditions and satisfying the linear operator relationship (the governing equations) over the problem's domain (both space and time). Because the numerical technique involves a well-defined inner-product, error evaluation is readily available using Bessel's inequality. Minimization of the approximation error is subsequently achieved with respect to a weighting of the inner product components, and the addition of basis functions used in the approximation.
Nano- and microscale mechanical characterization using instrumented indentation

This overview presents instrumented indentation as a powerful tool for qualitative and quantitative mechanical characterization of nano-andmicroscale volumes and structures. A brief review of existing methodologies for estimating elasto-plasticpropertiesfromrepresentative load-depth data is presented and the principle behind such approaches is emphasized. Selected examples are also presented to illustrate the applicability of nanoindentation to a variety of material classes and geometries.
Betaxolol in Anxiety Disorders

Betaxolol, a long-acting β-adrenergic blocker that enters the central nervous system, was examined for therapeutic effects on the persistent anxiety of anxiety disorders. Prior studies of β-blockers examined only agents that were short-acting or did not enter the brain. Betaxolol was administered to 31 patients in open trials. Of 13 outpatients, 11 had generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and 2 had adjustment disorder with anxiety. Five with GAD had concurrent panic disorder. Of 18 inpatients, 16 had GAD and 2 had adjustment disorder with anxiety. Betaxolol doses were increased until the patient responded or declined further dosage. Severity was rated on a 4-point global scale. Before betaxolol, all were moderately or severely ill. In all patients with panic disorder panic attacks stopped within 2 days (p<0.001). Anxiety decreased to no more than marginally ill in 85% of outpatients (p<0.0001) and all inpatients (p<0.0001). Betaxolol doses were usually 5 mg once or twice daily; four inpatients took 10 to 20 mg twice daily. In sum, betaxolol administration was rapidly followed by improvements that were easily noticed by the doctor, even in patients with longstanding anxiety and obsessive–compulsive personality disorder. Preliminary observations in posttraumatic stress disorder are similar.