cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Doxorubicin-Vincristine Therapy for Wilms’ Tumor: A Pilot Study

Doxorubicin plus vincristine chemotherapy was given to 31 children following nephrectomy for Wilms' tumor. Radiation therapy was used as indicated. Disease-free survival by stage is: eight of nine patients (stage I), eight of nine (stage II), nine of ten (stage III), and two of three (stage IV). Median follow-up of survivors is 28 months (range, 2-67); for all but four patients, follow-up is greater than 12 months. Two of the three stage I-III failures occurred in children with unfavorable histologies; the third failure was due to fatal anthracycline cardiomyopathy. Lowering the maximal cumulative doxorubicin dose from 450 to 240 mg/m2 did not increase failures. Doxorubicin-vincristine appears to be effective chemotherapy for Wilms' tumor.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT STRATEGY (A TEACHING CASE STUDY)

Despite the benefits offered by the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) strategy with advanced technology, many companies still fail to see competitive advantage results promised by CRM. This case study provides a platform for student analysis and discussion in this area.This case study is presented in two parts. The first part describes the unsuccessful implementation of an integrated CRM system within a midsize financial firm based in the US; the second part provides an overview of CRM development in Russia of two telecommunication companies. Suggested questions for discussion are presented. Appendix A provides an overview of CRM that can be employed at the option of an instructor to transition between a specific curriculum and the case. Teaching notes (including example responses for each discussion question) are available by contacting the corresponding author.
Role of Complement in Severe Malarial Anemia

Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children every year. Most of these deaths are the result of complications such as severe malarial anemia (SMA). There are now considerable data that suggest that complement plays a role in the development of anemia during malaria infection by opsonization of uninfected erythrocytes with C3 fragments which can lead to phagocytosis of erythrocytes. The increased susceptibility to complement deposition of erythrocytes seems to be related to the loss of complement regulatory proteins, in particular CR1, and to age-related decreases in their expression in young children. Further, there is evidence that malaria treatment exacerbates complement activation and may lead to increased opsonization of uninfected erythrocytes. The evidence suggests that complement is an attractive target for adjunctive therapy during the treatment of SMA. Genetic studies have not revealed any strong associations between CR1 polymorphisms and severe malarial anemia. Further genetic association studies between polymorphisms of the complement genes and susceptibility to SMA are needed to identify additional potential therapeutic targets.
Community based lung cancer screening program: Evaluation of the initial lung cancer screening CT scan.

1562Background: Low-dose chest CT for lung cancer screening has shown to have a significant impact on the early diagnosis of lung cancer. In the initial trials, approximately a 20% decrease in lung...
The Split between Neurology and Psychiatry: Historical Overview (P5.305)

Objective: To examine the historical evolution of the gap between neurology and psychiatry over the last two centuries. Background: The concept of “nervous diseases” emerged in 17 th century Britain when Thomas Willis indicated that hysteria was a convulsive disease caused by alterations in the brain and nerves and not by vapors emerging from the uterus, as Galen believed. Design/Methods: Review of the historical publications of Theodore Meynert, Carl Wernicke, Emil Kraepelin, Sigmund Freud, John Hughlings Jackson, and Kinier Wilson. Results: Meynert believed that delusions and hallucinations in psychosis were due to cerebral subcortical irritation, while cortical irritation led to mania. His student, Wernicke, was able to establish a neuroanatomical localization of receptive aphasia. Another student, Freud, focused on what his patients spoke rather than how they spoke. He abandoned his attempts to construct an anatomic-physiologic model of the mind and instead, developed the psychoanalytic theory. Freud separated himself from Kraepelin, a psychiatrist who believed that all mental illnesses were due to organic brain pathology. Jackson recognized two types of brain dysfunction, loss of function leading to paralysis and anesthesia and over-function resulting in chorea and epilepsy. Only the destructive lesions responsible for the former were easily recognized by pathologists. Influenced by Jackson, Wilson used the word “neurosis” to describe nervous system disorders that did not have a structural basis. He indicated that these must also have had a molecular basis that was yet to be elucidated. He was the last British neurologist to include a section on neuroses in a neurology textbook. Conclusions: The 19 th century discoveries in neuroanatomy and neuropathology resulted in the evolution of neurology as a discipline that relied heavily on the concept of localization of disease manifestations. The lack of understanding of the biologic basis of psychiatric disorders led to dominance of psychoanalytic-behavioral psychiatry over biologic psychiatry, and widened the gap. Disclosure: Dr. Kazamel has nothing to disclose.
Association of Fast Food and Supermarket Density with Neonatal Outcomes of Pregnancies Affected by Gestational Diabetes.

Objective To measure the association of fast food density (FFD) and supermarket density (SD) with adverse neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Study Design This was a retrospective cohort study of women with GDM who delivered at a tertiary care center in a large metropolitan area (1/2010–2/2016). ZIP codes were used to link women with surrounding food environment. FFD and SD were calculated as the number of establishments per 100,000 residents for each ZIP code and classified into quartiles. Quartile 1 represented lowest FFD or SD. Four neonatal outcomes were assessed: large for gestational age (LGA) neonate, shoulder dystocia, neonatal hypoglycemia, and neonatal intensive care unit admission > 3 days. Bivariable and multivariable analyses estimated associations of FFD and SD with outcomes. Results A total of 2,373 women met eligibility criteria. Insurance, race/ethnicity, language, and body mass index differed between quartiles, although GDM type did not. High FFD was associated with lower odds of LGA but not with other outcomes. Low SD and FFD:SD ratios were not associated with any outcomes. Conclusion Among women with GDM, high FFD was associated with some neonatal outcomes, but low SD and FFD:SD ratio was not. Food environment may not be the only social determinant of neonatal outcomes in pregnancies with GDM.
The divided city: Poverty and prosperity in urban America, by Allan Mallach

Revival is happening in America’s cities and it is no longer restricted to the hot coastal markets. Millennials have embraced urban living and are moving to cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleve...
Geolocating Aeola for Use in Wind Turbine Siting

Electrical power generated by wind turbines is determined by the cube of the wind speed. With all other parameters being identical, wind turbines experiencing different wind profiles will generate varying amounts of electricity. Wind profiles change drastically across terrains, therefore not all locations are suitable for wind projects. As such, effective and efficient identification and geolocating of land parcels featuring proper wind resources suitable for wind turbine siting, known as an Aeola, is critical for a wind project’s success. The scope of this research is to identify terrain patterns conducive for the formation of high wind resource levels defined as average annual wind speeds in excess of ten meters per second, known as Aeolas. This research is intended to (1) formally define and discuss Aeolas, (2) locate Aeolas within the contiguous United States, (3) identify terrain patterns controlling formations of the previously located Aeolas, and (4) successfully geolocate an Aeola within Honduras’ Bay Islands using patterns developed based on conterminous United States Aeolas.
This is Your President Speaking: Spoofing Alerts in 4G LTE Networks (demo)

Modern cell phones are required to receive and display alerts via the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) program, under the mandate of the Warning, Alert, and Response Act of 2006. These alerts include AMBER alerts, severe weather alerts, and (unblockable) Presidential Alerts, intended to inform the public of imminent threats. Recently, a test Presidential Alert was sent to all capable phones in the United States, prompting concerns about how the underlying WEA protocol could be misused or attacked. In this paper, we investigate the details of this system, and develop and demonstrate the first practical spoofing attack on Presidential Alerts, using both commercially available hardware as well as modified open source software. Our attack can be performed using a commercially-available software defined radio, and our modifications to the open source NextEPC and srsLTE software libraries. We find that with only four malicious portable base stations of a single Watt of transmit power each, almost all of a 50,000-seat stadium can be attacked with a 90% success rate. The true impact of such an attack would of course depend on the density of cell phones in range; fake alerts in crowded cities or stadiums could potentially result in cascades of panic. Fixing this problem will require a large collaborative effort between carriers, government stakeholders, and cell phone manufacturers. To seed this effort, we also discuss several defenses to address this threat in both the short and long term.
Psychotherapy with Suicidal Patients: The Integrative Psychodynamic Approach of the Boston Suicide Study Group.

Psychotherapy with suicidal patients is inherently challenging. Psychodynamic psychotherapy focuses attention on the patient’s internal experience through the creation of a therapeutic space for an open-ended exploration of thoughts, fears, and fantasies as they emerge through interactive dialogue with an empathic therapist. The Boston Suicide Study Group (M.S., M.J.G., E.R., B.H.), has developed an integrative psychodynamic approach to psychotherapy with suicidal patients based on the authors’ extensive clinical work with suicidal patients (over 100 years combined). It is fundamentally psychodynamic in nature, with an emphasis on the therapeutic alliance, unconscious and implicit relational processes, and the power of the therapeutic relationship to facilitate change in a long-term exploratory treatment. It is also integrative, however, drawing extensively on ideas and techniques described in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), as well on developmental and social psychology research. This is not meant to be a comprehensive review of psychodynamic treatment of suicidal patients, but rather a description of an integrative approach that synthesizes clinical experience and relevant theoretical contributions from the literature that support the authors’ reasoning. There are ten key aspects of this integrative psychodynamic treatment: 1. Approach to the patient in crisis; 2, instilling hope; 3. a focus on the patient’s internal affective experience; 4. attention to conscious and unconscious beliefs and fantasies; 5. improving affect tolerance; 6. development of narrative identity and modification of "relational scripts"; 7. facilitation of the emergence of the patient’s genuine capacities; 8. improving a sense of continuity and coherence; 9 attention to the therapeutic alliance; 10. attention to countertransference. The elements of treatment are overlapping and not meant to be sequential, but each is discussed separately as an essential aspect of the psychotherapeutic work. This integrative psychodynamic approach is a useful method for suicide prevention as it helps to instill hope, provides relational contact and engages the suicidal patient in a process that leads to positive internal change. The benefits of the psychotherapy go beyond crisis intervention, and include the potential for improved affect tolerance, more fulfilling relational experiences, emergence of previously warded off experience of genuine capacities, and a positive change in narrative identity.
Mechanism of an Elusive Solvent Effect in Organozinc Reagent Synthesis

Solvent effects are often difficult to understand in cases where reaction intermediates, and thus their differential behavior in different solvents, are not directly observable by traditional ensemble analytical techniques. Herein, the sensitivity of single-particle fluorescence microscopy uniquely enables direct observation of organozinc intermediates and solvent effects on their build-up and persistence. When combined with NMR spectroscopy, these imaging data pinpoint the previously elusive mechanistic origin of solvent effects in the synthesis of widely used organozinc reagents. These findings characterize the acceleration of oxidative addition of the starting organoiodide to the surface of zinc metal in DMSO relative to THF, but once formed, surface intermediates display similar persistence in either solvent. The current studies are the first demonstration of a highly sensitive, single-particle fluorescence microscopy technique to pinpoint otherwise elusive solvent effects in synthetic chemistry.
Male Secondary Features Discriminate Two Closely Related Species of Dichrorampha (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Grapholitini)

Male secondary features of the hindleg and abdomen of Dichrorampha caribe Brown, new species distinguish it from the closely related D. manilkaraHeppner, 1981. The new species is recorded from several locations in Florida and from Caye Caulker, Belize. Dichrorampha manilkara is newly reported from the Bahamas.
Noradrenergic tone mediates marble burying behavior after chronic stress and ethanol

Stress plays a major role in the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD)—a history of chronic stress contributes to alcohol misuse, and withdrawal from alcohol elevates stress, perpetuating cycles of problematic drinking. Recent studies have shown that, in male mice, repeated chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) and stress elevates alcohol use above either manipulation alone and impacts cognitive functions such as behavioral flexibility. Here, we investigated the impact of CIE and stress on anxiety in both sexes, and whether the norepinephrine (NE) system via locus coeruleus, which is implicated in both stress and alcohol motivation, is involved. Male and female mice received multiple cycles of CIE and/or repeated forced swim stress (FSS), producing elevated drinking in both sexes. CIE/FSS treatment increased anxiety, which was blocked by treatment with the α1-AR inverse agonist prazosin. In contrast, administration of the corticotropin releasing factor receptor antagonist CP376395 into locus coeruleus did not reduce CIE/FSS-elevated anxiety. We also observed sex differences in behavioral responses to a history of CIE or FSS alone as well as differential behavioral consequences of prazosin treatment. These data indicate that NE contributes to the development of anxiety following a history of alcohol and/or stress, and that the influence of both treatment history and NE signaling is sex dependent. These results argue for further investigation of the NE system in relation to disrupted behavior following chronic alcohol and stress, and support the assertion that treatments may differ across sex based on differential neural system engagement.
Amplitude modulations of sensory responses, and deviations from Weber's Law in pulsatile evidence accumulation

Abstract How do animals make behavioral decisions based on noisy sensory signals, which are moreover a tiny fraction of ongoing activity in the brain? Some theories suggest that sensory responses should be accumulated through time to reduce noise. Others suggest that feedback-based gain control of sensory responses allow small signals to be selectively amplified to drive behavior. We recorded from neuronal populations across posterior cortex as mice performed a decision-making task based on accumulating randomly timed pulses of visual evidence. Here we focus on a subset of neurons, with putative sensory responses that were time-locked to each pulse. These neurons exhibited a variety of amplitude (gain-like) modulations, notably by choice and accumulated evidence. These neural data inspired a hypothetical accumulation circuit with a multiplicative feedback-loop architecture, which parsimoniously explains deviations in perceptual discrimination from Weber-Fechner Law. Our neural observations thus led to a model that synthesizes both accumulation and feedback hypotheses.
Influence: Getting Into the Zone on Demand

By learning how to teach ‘grit’ and creating the concept ‘prelive’ it is now possible to teach how to get into the zone on demand. A group of 24 second graders were taught how to work a Rubik’s Cube. Ten students mastered the cube and all continued to work the cube for the entire academic year. During this process it was learned how to teach ‘grit’ through perseverance. While learning how confidence is developed in business executives, salespersons and athletes the concept of ‘prelive’ was developed. ‘Prelive’ is a way to activate the brain in believing an event or task has been successfully executed before it has actually happened. When an individual imagines a positive result has happened to such a degree of intensity, before it has happened, the individual, at times, may experience zoneness which results in superior performance. A sequence of events leading to zoneness is presented, illustrating pedagogical best practices for teaching how to get into the zone on demand.
Margin-Based Asset Pricing and the Determinantsof the CDS Basis

The credit default swap (CDS) basis was significantly negative during the 2007–2009 financial crisis, which was considered an anomaly. Using single-name CDS data, the author finds that the CDS basis decreased as the funding costs, credit risk premium, and market illiquidity increased. Furthermore, cross-sectional results show that the sensitivities of the CDS basis to funding costs, credit risk premium, and market illiquidity are priced, even after controlling for the individual bond liquidity and other firm characteristics. The results are consistent with margin-based asset pricing theories that the difference in margin requirements on two otherwise identical securities gives rise to the CDS basis.
Lumbar Spine Osteoblastoma with Secondary Aneurysmal Bone Cyst Causing Severe Trunk Imbalance and Radiculopathy: A Case Report.

Introduction Osteoblastomas are primary bone tumors, rarer than osteoid osteomas, and <10% of these lesions occurs in the spine. Aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) are rare, benign lesion of the bone and approximately 8-30% of ABCs arise in the spine, mostly in the thoracic and the lumbar regions. The association between them is quite rare in the general population. Case Report We report a case of a 14-year-old boy, soccer player, with an osteoblastoma of the left posterior neural arc of L2 and a secondary aneurismal bone cyst compressing the left L2 nerve root, causing severe antalgic scoliosis and back pain with radiculopathy. A complete surgical excision with radicular decompression has been performed, and the histologic examination confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis (osteoblastoma + ABC). At 6 months follow-up, the patient presented a complete resolution of symptoms, but the trunk imbalance was not completely resolved. Conclusion Spine localization of osteoblastoma + ABC is rare and its diagnosis and treatment are often challenging. Complete surgical excision seems to be confirmed as the gold standard of treatment, but the option of instrumented arthrodesis should be carefully evaluated.
Lemborexant (Dayvigo) for the Treatment of Insomnia

Lemborexant (Davigo) is labeled for adults with insomnia to improve with sleep onset and maintenance.
Online Crowdsourcing to Explore Public Perceptions of Robotic-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery.

Abstract Background The clinical benefits of robotic-assisted technology in total joint arthroplasty are unclear, but its use is increasing. This study employed online crowdsourcing to explore public perceptions and beliefs regarding robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery. Methods A 30-question survey was completed by 588 members of the public using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants answered questions regarding robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery, sociodemographic factors, and validated assessments of health literacy and patient engagement. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to determine population characteristics associated with preference for robotic technology. Results Most respondents believe robotic-assisted surgery leads to better results (69%), fewer complications (69%), less pain (59%), and faster recovery (62%) than conventional manual methods. About half (49%) would prefer a low-volume surgeon using robotic technology to a high-volume surgeon using conventional manual methods. The 3 main concerns regarding robotic technology included lack of surgeon experience with robotic surgery, robot malfunction causing harm, and increased cost. Only half of respondents accurately understand the actual role of the robot in the operating room. Overall, 34% of participants have a clear preference for robotic-assisted surgery over a conventional manual approach. After multivariable regression analysis, Asian race, working in healthcare, early technology adoption, and prior knowledge of robotic surgery were independent predictors of preferring robotic-assisted surgery. Conclusion The public’s unawareness of the dubious outcome superiority associated with robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery may contribute to misinformed decisions in some patients. Robotic-assisted technology appears to be a powerful marketing tool for surgeons and hospitals.
DETECÇÃO MOLECULAR DE Leptospira interrogans EM BOVINOS ABATIDOS EM CONCÓRDIA, SANTA CATARINA

A leptospirose e uma doenca infectocontagiosa de carater zoonotico de relevância nos rebanhos bovinos, causada por bacterias do genero Leptospira, esta associada a grandes impactos economicos. Caracteriza-se principalmente por ocasionar problemas reprodutivos, como abortos, infertilidade, repeticao de cio, nascimento de bezerros fracos e disturbios da glândula mamaria. O diagnostico da leptospirose e realizado atraves do teste sorologico de aglutinacao microscopica (MAT), definido como teste padrao pela Organizacao Mundial de Saude Animal (OIE), no entanto e dificultoso devido a algumas adversidades, tais como os sinais clinicos inespecificos, a necessidade de um laboratorio especializado, bem como pelo processo laborioso de isolar e classificar os sorovares. Em virtude disso, o presente estudoteve como proposito utilizar tecnicas de biologia molecular para deteccao de cepas de L. interrogans em bovinos abatidos em Concordia SC, visando um diagnostico mais rapido, preciso e acessivel. Para isso, foram coletadas amostras de sangue, urina e tecido renal de 178 animais no momento do abate, que posteriormente foram submetidas a um processo de extracao de DNA e a PCR. As amostras que resultaram em amplificacao passaram pelas tecnicas de MAT, coloracao histologica a base de prata (Warthin-Starry) e histopatologia comparativa. Das amostras de urina, 3,9% (7/178) apresentaram positividade na PCR e destas 1,1% (2/178) apresentaram anticorpos anti-Leptospira mais especificamente para o sorovar Hardjo, todas apresentaram nefrite intersticial e em nenhuma foi possivel detectar a espiroqueta atraves da coloracao a base de prata. Das amostras de tecido renal, nenhuma apresentou amplificacao na PCR. Os resultados obtidos apontam a presenca desse patogeno em portadores cronicos na regiao do estudo, estes sao os principais contribuintes para a circulacao e disseminacao da doenca nos rebanhos, sendo assim necessarios mais estudosacerca de testes diagnosticos mais efetivos e rapidos, como a PCR que demonstrou ter uma boa sensibilidade nesse caso, para auxiliar no controle e prevencao dessa importante enfermidade.
Optimal minimum wage setting in a federal system

Abstract Minimum wages in the United States are jointly set by federal, state, and local governments, while many other countries have a single national policy. This paper studies the relative merits of centralized and decentralized policy setting. A binding policy is optimal if the benefits from redistribution outweigh the costs from migration, which are relatively steeper for local governments. Centralized policy, though uniform in practice, reduces horizontal migration externalities, which improves decentralized minimum wage setting. Our results therefore indicate that decentralized and centralized policy setting exhibit strategic complementarity; the extent of which depends on mobility and regional heterogeneity. We then calibrate a model of the continental US and find that joint policy setting leads to a small welfare gain over centralization, and closely resembles the social planner’s optimal policies.
Event-driven Data Mining Techniques for Automotive Fault Diagnosis

The increasing sophistication of electronics in vehicular systems is providing the necessary information to perform data-driven diagnostics. Specifically, the advances in automobiles enable periodic acquisition of data from telematics services and the associated dealer diagnostic data from vehicles; this requires a data-driven framework that can detect component degradations and isolate the root causes of failures. The event-driven data consists of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) and the concomitant parameter identifiers (PIDs) collected from various sensors, customer complaints (CCs), and labor codes (LCs) associated with the repair. In this paper, we discuss a systematic data-driven diagnostic framework featuring data pre-processing, data visualization, clustering, classification, and fusion techniques and apply it to field failure datasets. The results demonstrated that the support vector machine (SVM) classifier with DTCs and customer complaints as features provides the best accuracy (74.3%) compared to any other classifier and that a tree- structured classifier with SVM as the base classifier at each node achieves approximately 75.2% diagnostic accuracy.
Wide-area Synchronous Sampling Technique for Terminal Devices of Distribution IoT

With the rapid development of the scale of the power grid, problems such as the changing operation mode of the distribution network and a large amount of monitoring data have become increasingly prominent. At present, the centralized sensing system based on synchronous phasor measurement has been researched, but there are still problems such as synchronization data delay mismatch in the implementation process, and the sampling data caused by clock differences are not timely and asynchronous, which is a problem in the construction of the power distribution IoT. The emergence of Beidou satellite timing, voltage-controlled crystal oscillator and other technologies provide new solutions to the above problems. This paper proposes a wide-area synchronous sampling technology for power distribution IoT terminal equipment that combines Beidou satellite timing with automatic frequency control. This technology can effectively solve the problems of too long time delay and too large synchronization error, and is an important technology to improve the real-time performance of synchronization data in the distribution network. The paper firstly compares various clock synchronization technologies, and then focuses on analyzing the causes of crystal oscillator errors, and then supplements the error control algorithm. Finally, the Beidou satellite timing and automatic frequency control combination of sampling synchronization software and hardware design methods are proposed, and the experimental data is analyzed. Experimental verification shows that the above method can control the clock synchronization error within one hundred nanoseconds, and realize the wide-area high-precision synchronous sampling of the power distribution IoT terminal equipment.
Controversies regarding intestinal phosphate transport and absorption.

Phosphate balance is ultimately dependent upon the relationship between the intestinal absorption of ingested phosphate, the skeletal affinity for mineral and the degree of phosphaturia. Although inorganic phosphate is usually considered a hand-maiden to calcium, it should be emphasized that a variety of disease entities which are characterized by disturbances in calcium absorption also present with alterations in intestinal phosphate transport. Hyperabsorption of phosphate, although uncommon, has been noted in primary hyperparathyroidism, idiopathic hypercalci-uria, normal subjects given an excess of vitamin D, and in sarcoidosis. Phosphorus malabsorption has been documented in vitamin D deficiency (both in the absence or presence of dietary calcium), chronic renal failure, hepatic cirrhosis, glucocorticoid excess syndrome, hyperthyroidism, hypoparathyroidism and in an inherited vitamin D-resistant form of hypophosphatemic rickets.
Plasma processing of high T/sub c/ superconducting films

A method for plasma-assisted laser deposition of thin films has been developed by the authors and used to generate in-situ films at substrate temperatures between 400 degrees C and 500 degrees C without any postannealing. For Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductors, a zero-resistance temperature of about 90 K has been obtained for such substrate materials as SrTiO/sub 3/, ZrO/sub 2/, MgO, sapphire, Si, stainless steel, and Ni. Various surface and plasma analytical techniques have been applied to study the microstructure of the superconducting film and its interaction with the substrate and the plasma. >
Semi‐Markov Processes

Semi-Markov processes are useful generalizations of a class of stochastic processes commonly referred to as Markov jump processes in continuous time. In most of the applications of this class of processes in biostatistics and biology, the state space is chosen as a discrete set with finite or countable elements that have biological meaning. One of the properties of Markov processes is that it follows from the Markov property in continuous time that the sojourn time (holding time) in any state has an exponential distribution with a parameter depending on that state. Semi-Markov processes are a generalization of Markov jump processes in that the distribution of the sojourn time in any state can, in principle, be arbitrary. Furthermore, in semi-Markov processes the finite dimensional distributions of the sample paths of the process are modeled directly in terms of arbitrary distributions of sojourn times for each state and conditional distributions of a jump to another future state, given the present state. In many applications, this property makes it possible to set down a formula for the likelihood function of the data with relative ease. Briefly, the paper contains substantive examples and a description of the mathematical tools needed to work with semi-Markov processes. Keywords: state spaces; one-step transition matrices; renewal type integral equations; Laplace transforms
In Vitro Effects of X-radiation on White Blood Cells and Blood Platelets

1) Alkaline phosphatase activity of leukocytes is enhanced by radiation with 50,000 r. This disturbance accentuates the inherent aging process of white blood cells and may be explained by changes in the cell envelope. 2) X-radiation diminishes the endogenous oxygen uptake of leukocyte-platelet suspensions by approximately 20 per cent. This response to radiation is demonstrable at exposures of as little as 5,000 r. The decreasing effect is diminished when substrates such as sodium succinate or α-glycerophosphate are added, within a wide range of their concentration. With increasing substrate concentration the decrease due to radiation approaches that of the endogenous respiration and even exceeds it in some of the experiments. 3) In pure blood platelets a similar decreasing x-radiation effect occurs for endogenous respiration as well as succinic dehydrogenase activity; α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase activity, on the other hand, is enhanced. 4) The oxygen uptake in leukocyte-platelet suspensions due only to leukocytes can be calculated. While the percentage radiation decrease of pure leukocytes is unchanged for endogenous and succinate activity, the decrease for α-glycerophosphate as substrate reaches considerably higher levels (68 per cent compared with 8.2 per cent in leukocyte-platelet suspensions). Thus α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase activity seems to be most sensitive to x-radiation. It was shown in one of our previous studies that α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase is one of the most important respiratory enzymes in leukocytes. 5) The glycolytic system in leukocytes remains intact following exposure to radiation with 50,000 r.
Tritiated digoxin. XIX. Turnover studies in diabetes insipidus.

Abstract The effect of chronically increased urinary volumes on renal digoxin excretion and digoxin turnover was studied in 2 patients with nephritogenic diabetes insipidus and urinary volumes in excess of 9 liters/ 24 hours. The serum half-lives were 48 and 54 hours and the 7 day urinary excretion totals 46 and 41 percent, respectively. Comparison with values obtained in patients with congestive heart failure demonstrated no increase in excretion of renal digoxin. Increased urinary volume without change in glomerular filtration rate does not increase excretion of digoxin, and would not be expected to decrease the duration of digitalis toxicity.
Forcing through Tumor Metastasis: The Interplay between Tissue Rigidity and Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition

The mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment have been increasingly recognized as potent modulators of cell behavior and function. In particular, tissue rigidity is functionally important during tumor progression. In this review, we survey recent advances in our understanding of the role of tissue rigidity in tumor progression and metastasis, the mechanisms by which mechanical cues integrate with biochemical signals from the microenvironment, and the underlying mechanotransduction pathways involved in tumor progression. These findings highlight the importance of understanding and defining cellular mechanotransduction pathways and the breadth of signals derived from the tumor microenvironment that influence tumor progression.
Air Core Cryogenic Magnet Coils for Fusion Research and High Energy Nuclear Physics Applications

In the fields of controlled fusion research and high-energy nuclear physics it is becoming evident that means for the efficient generation of very high magnetic fields must be sought. Since ferromagnetic materials are of no help at the required fields of 105 gauss, one can only rely on the use of air core coils, so that the fields which can be reached depend only on the ampere-turns achievable and simple geometrical factors. In this case the limitations on attainable fields usually come down to a question of available electrical power, or, more fundamentally, to limitations imposed by heating of the coil conductors and problems of heat transfer within the coil. For laboratory — sized magnets, the limit is reached in magnets such as the Bitter magnet, where the ultimate limit is nearly reached in power density and heat transfer while achieving steady fields of 105 gauss in volumes of the order of 1 liter.
Fee Shifting in Litigation: Survey and Assessment

Should the party who loses in litigation be forced to pay the legal fees of the winner? This paper surveys the economic literature regarding the effects of legal fee shifting on a variety of decisions arising before and during the litigation process. Section 2 provides a brief survey of the practical situations in which legal fee shifting does and does not arise. Section 3 analyzes the effects of indemnification on the incentives to expend resources in litigated cases. Section 4 examines how indemnification influences the decisions to bring and to defend against suit, and Section 5 assesses its effects on the choice between settlement and trial. Section 6 addresses the interaction between the allocation of legal fees and the parties’ incentives for efficient primary activity behavior. Section 7 considers two important variants on simple indemnification: rules that shift costs based on the parties’ settlement negotiations (such as US Federal Rule 68 and the English practice of payment into court), and rules that shift costs based on the margin of victory (such as US Federal Rule 11 and the common law tort of malicious prosecution). Section 8 reviews the brief but instructive empirical literature on legal cost shifting, and Section 9 summarizes the discussion and offers conclusions.
Assessing the effects of sodium on fire ant foraging in the field and colony growth in the laboratory

Sodium is an essential dietary element and preferential foraging for high concentrations of sodium by inland herbivorous and omnivorous ants suggests it may be limiting. If so, increased sodium availability through altered deposition and anthropogenic sources may lead to increased colony and population growth and cascading ecological impacts. For red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, the present study tests: (i) whether colonies from coastal and inland sites differ in their responses to NaCl baits; and (ii) whether supplemental NaCl increases growth of fire ant colonies in the laboratory. Fire ants in inland sites with low sodium deposition responded roughly an order of magnitude more strongly to high concentrations of NaCl baits than did fire ants in coastal sites with high sodium deposition. Laboratory colonies of fire ants, however, showed no signs of sodium limitation or benefits of increased sodium. The link between behavioural responses to baits in the field and effects on colony growth deserves further investigation to assess the ecological impacts of altered sodium availability.
Systemic mastocytosis in adults: 2015 update on diagnosis, risk stratification, and management.

Disease overview: Systemic mastocytosis (SM) results from a clonal proliferation of abnormal mast cells (MC) in one or more extracutaneous organs. Diagnosis: The major criterion is presence of multifocal clusters of morphologically abnormal MC in the bone marrow. Minor diagnostic criteria include elevated serum tryptase level, abnormal MC expression of CD25 and/or CD2, and presence of KITD816V. Risk stratification: The 2008 World Health Organization classification of SM has been shown to be prognostically relevant. Classification of SM patients into indolent SM (ISM), aggressive SM (ASM), SM associated with a clonal non-MC lineage disease (SM-AHNMD), and mast cell leukemia (MCL) subgroups is a useful first step in establishing prognosis. Management: SM treatment is generally palliative. ISM patients have a normal life expectancy and receive symptom-directed therapy; infrequently, cytoreductive therapy may be indicated for refractory symptoms. ASM patients have disease-related organ dysfunction; interferon-α (+/−corticosteroids) can control dermatological, hematological, gastrointestinal, skeletal, and mediator-release symptoms, but is hampered by poor tolerability. Similarly, cladribine has broad therapeutic activity, with particular utility when rapid MC debulking is indicated; the main toxicity is myelosuppression. Imatinib has a therapeutic role in the presence of an imatinib-sensitive KIT mutation or in KITD816-unmutated patients. Treatment of SM-AHNMD is governed primarily by the non-MC neoplasm; hydroxyurea has modest utility in this setting; there is a role for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in select cases. Investigational Drugs: Recent data confirms midostaurin's significant anti-MC activity in patients with advanced SM. Am. J. Hematol. 90:251–262, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Relative longitudinal motion of the finger flexors, subsynovial connective tissue, and median nerve before and after carpal tunnel release in a human cadaver model.

Purpose The normal gliding environment in the carpal tunnel is complex. The median nerve and flexor tendons are surrounded by a multilayered subsynovial tissue. To date, observations of the relative motions of the flexor tendon, median nerve and multilayered subsynovial tissue have been through a surgically released open carpal tunnel. The purpose of this study was to compare the motions of these tissues in an intact and open carpal tunnel. Methods We measured the relative motion of the middle finger flexor digitorum superficialis tendon, its surrounding subsynovial connective tissue (SSCT) and the median nerve in 8 human cadavers. The flexor retinaculum was used as a fixed reference point. The motions were compared for simulated isolated middle finger and simulated fist motion as measured fluoroscopically in the closed carpal tunnel and directly in the open carpal tunnel. Results While the simulated isolated finger motion produced significantly less SSCT and median nerve motion (p Conclusions Relative motion of the flexor tendons, SSCT, and median nerve within the carpal tunnel follows a certain pattern, which may indicate the physiological state of the SSCT. This relative motion pattern was not affected by flexor retinaculum release.
Influence of the concentration dependence of the mass transfer properties on the chromatographic band profiles I. Apparent axial dispersion coefficient in frontal analysis

The influence of the concentration dependence of axial dispersion on the profiles of breakthrough curves was studied using the equilibrium-dispersive model. A simple linear relationship between the apparent axial dispersion coefficient and the concentration was assumed and calculations of band profiles were carried out for both increasing and decreasing values of the axial dispersion coefficient with increasing concentration. A comparison of the profiles with those obtained with a constant coefficient shows that the effect of a concentration dependence is significant even for moderate variations.
Balancing domain decomposition

The Neumann–Neumann algorithm is known to be an efficient domain decomposition preconditioner with unstructured subdomains for iterative solution of finite-element discretizations of difficult problems with strongly discontinuous coefficients (De Roeck and Le Tallec, 1991). However, this algorithm suffers from the need to solve in each iteration an inconsistent singular problem for every subdomain, and its convergence deteriorates with increasing number of subdomains due to the lack of a coarse problem to propagate the error globally. We show that the equilibrium conditions for the singular problems on subdomains lead to a simple and natural construction of a coarse problem. The construction is purely algebraic and applies also to systems such as those that arise in elasticity. A convergence bound independent of the number of subdomains is proved and results of computational tests are reported.
Aberrant sensory branch of the median nerve to the third web space–Case report

Summary An aberrant sensory branch of the median nerve to the third web space was found within the carpal canal as a separate branch.
A real-time data-logger system using an optical disk WORM for archiving continuous 12-lead ECG data during exercise testing

Abstract An exercise ECG analysis program was developed over 15 years on a number of mainframes, minicomputers and, most recently, microcomputer-based systems. It has been rehosted into both Motorola MC68000 and Intel 80286 microprocessor-based development systems and is currently used with a removable 200 Mbyte optical disk (Write-Once-Read-Many, WORM) based data-logger system that can record and store all 12 leads simultaneously and continuously for an entire exercise test (up to 38 minutes). Data is acquired with 12-bit A D resolution at 500 samples/sec. All ECG data and patient information are archived on the optical disk for later off-line recall and analysis on a PC or real-time replay through a D A converter. Recorded ECG signals are at patient levels so they can be replayed through the patient cable box on any commercial system. Current development includes both simultaneous on-line processing and storage of 12-lead ECG data and off-line processing and development performed on the long-term, continuous ECG data being archived on optical disk. Patient medical histories and clinical information are separately entered into an applications database, where ECG measures and test results are later included. This new optical disk based exercise ECG database contains more than 600 complete exercise tests and is projected to increase to nearly 3,000 within 2 years.
Polycide contact interface to suppress squegging in micromechanical resoswitches

The use of a Pt-silicide-based contact interface has greatly reduced impact-induced energy loss in comb-driven resonant micromechanical switches (a.k.a., resoswitches) to the point where squegging phenomena (whereby impacts do not occur on every cycle) are eliminated, so no longer constrain the clock frequency of recently demonstrated mechanical charge pumps [1]. This opens the application range of such charge pumps to power converters capable of delivering currents much higher than the low current-draw MEMS dc-biasing applications targeted by [1]. The key to eliminating squegging in the present work is contact engineering, where softer contact materials, including Au, Ag, and Ni, steal too much energy on each impact; but harder contact materials, like Pt-silicide, allow more elastic impact while still maintaining low contact resistance due to the large impulsive force generated by impact - a distinct advantage of the resoswitch over conventional non-resonant counterparts.
Measurement non‐invariance of DSM‐IV narcissistic personality disorder criteria across age and sex in a population‐based sample of Norwegian twins

We investigated measurement non-invariance of DSM-IV narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) criteria across age and sex in a population-based cohort sample of 2794 Norwegian twins. Age had a statistically significant effect on the factor mean for NPD. Sex had a statistically significant effect on the factor mean and variance. Controlling for these factor level effects, item-level analysis indicated that the criteria were functioning differently across age and sex. After correcting for measurement differences at the item level, the latent factor mean effect for age was no longer statistically significant. The mean difference for sex remained statistically significant after correcting for item threshold effects. The results indicate that DSM-IV NPD criteria perform differently in males and females and across age. Differences in diagnostic rates across groups may not be valid without correcting for measurement non-invariance.
Significance of Asymmetric Sites in Choosing Siderophores as Deferration Agents

The syntheses of the microbial iron chelators l-fluviabactin, its unnatural enantiomer, d-fluviabactin, l-homofluviabactin, and l-agrobactin, are described. The key steps involve the selective bis-acylation of the terminal nitrogens of norspermidine, spermidine, or homospermidine with 2,3-bis(benzyloxy)benzoic acid in the presence of 1,1-carbonyldiimidazole, followed by coupling of the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of CBZ-protected l- or d-threonine with the central nitrogen. The effectiveness of each of these ligands in supporting the growth of Paracoccus denitrificans in a low-iron environment and the ability of these compounds to promote iron uptake are evaluated. The stereochemical configuration of the oxazoline ring is shown to be the major structural factor controlling both microbial growth stimulation and iron uptake. l-Fluviabactin, l-homofluviabactin, and l-agrobactin all promoted growth and iron uptake; d-fluviabactin was only marginally active. As with the microorganism's native siderophore, l-par...