cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recombinant Biglycan Promotes Bone Morphogenetic Protein-induced Osteogenesis

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of glutathione-S-transferase-fused recombinant biglycan (GST-BGN) on craniofacial bone regeneration. We recently demonstrated a positive effect of tissue-derived BGN on bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) function, which is exerted likely via the BGN core protein. Here, we investigated the effects of GST-BGN lacking any posttranslational modifications on BMP-2 function in vitro and in vivo. In the C2C12 cell culture system, BMP-2-induced Smad 1/5/8 phosphorylation and alkaline phosphatase activity were both enhanced by the addition of GST-BGN. For the in vivo effect, we employed a Sprague-Dawley rat mandible defect model utilizing 1 µg (optimal) or 0.1 µg (suboptimal) of BMP-2 combined with 0, 2, 4, or 8 µg of GST-BGN. At 2 weeks post-surgery, newly formed bone was evaluated by microcomputed tomography and histologic analyses. The results revealed that the greatest amounts of bone within the defect were formed in the groups of suboptimal BMP-2 combined with 4 or 8 µg of GST-BGN. Also, bone was well organized versus that formed by the optimal dose of BMP. These results indicate that recombinant BGN is an efficient substrate to promote low-dose BMP-induced osteogenesis.
Assessment of Pleural Pressure in the Evaluation of Pleural Effusions

(CHEST 2009; 135:201–209) Editor’s note: In this series, interactive diagrams are an important part of each article and are referred to throughout. You can access these diagrams online at www.chestjournal.org/content/135/1/201.full. Included with the diagrams are “Show Me” videos, animated narrations that walk you through the main points of each diagram. The first time you access the online material, you may be asked to update your Web browser’s Flash Player plugin; this will enable you to view the diagrams as intended. If you are not automatically prompted to update the plugin and you have any problems using the diagrams, you can download the latest version of the Flash Player by visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/getflash.
Archeology and the Ethno‐Tyrannies

archeology, while the latter emphasized the history and ideology of elites and ignored the "invisible man" (Craton 1978). One result of this foment was the emergence of ethnoarcheology, ethnohistory, and historical archeology as distinct pursuits (e.g., Axtell 1981; Gould 1978; Schuyler 1988; South 1977). In recent years archeologists have begun to re-embrace the parent disciplines, but this time with epistemologies that eliminate the need for collaborative effort. Such postmodern archeologies reject the concept of cross-cultural generalities that formed the basis for our collaboration (Earle and Preucel 1987; Harris 1987; Hodder 1985; Marcus and Fischer 1986; Shanks and Tilley 1987). In sum, the ethnotyrannies that archeology sought to avoid in the 1970s were being embraced by the close of the 1980s. Our work suggests that a different kind of collaboration is possible. We do not wish to employ Wobst as a foil, or to take his remarks out of the context in
Regulation of reactive oxygen species-induced endothelial cell-cell and cell- matrix contacts by focal adhesion kinase and adherens junction proteins

Oxidants, generated by activated neutrophils, have been implicated in the pathophysiology of vascular disorders and lung injury; however, mechanisms of oxidant-mediated endothelial barrier dysfunction are unclear. Here, we have investigated the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in regulating hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of intercellular adhesion proteins and barrier function in endothelium. Treatment of bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (BPAECs) with H(2)O(2) increased tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK, paxillin, beta-catenin, and vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin and decreased transendothelial electrical resistance (TER), an index of cell-cell adhesion and/or cell-matrix adhesion. To study the role of FAK in H(2)O(2)-induced TER changes, BPAECs were transfected with vector or FAK wild-type or FAK-related non-kinase (FRNK) plasmids. Overexpression of FRNK reduced FAK expression and attenuated H(2)O(2)-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK, paxillin, beta-catenin, and VE-cadherin and cell-cell adhesion. Additionally, FRNK prevented H(2)O(2)-induced distribution of FAK, paxillin, beta-catenin, or VE-cadherin toward focal adhesions and cell-cell adhesions but not actin stress fiber formation. These results suggest that activation of FAK by H(2)O(2) is an important event in oxidant-mediated VE barrier function regulated by cell-cell and cell-matrix contacts.
D-[Ala2]endomorphin 2 and endomorphin 2 have nitric oxide-dependent vasodilator activity in rats

Endomorphin 1 and 2, newly discovered endogenous ligands for the μ-opioid receptor, have vasodepressor activity in the rat. In the present study, the mechanism mediating hemodynamic responses to en...
Neuropsychological Correlates of Complicated Grief in Older Spousally Bereaved Adults

Objectives. Across many research domains, evidence for complicated grief as a distinct psychopathology continues to grow. Previous research from neuropsychology has shown an increased attentional bias to emotionally relevant stimuli in those suffering from complicated grief. This study furthers our understanding of the characteristics that distinguish complicated grief. We expand on previous research by (a) testing older adults, (b) excluding those with comorbid major depressive disorder, (c) using participant-chosen grief-related stimuli, and (d) using a married, nonbereaved control group. Methods. W e recruited 76 older adults in 3 groups: spousally bereaved with complicated grief, spousally bereaved with noncomplicated grief, and nonbereaved controls. Performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Digit Span Backwards, and the emotional counting Stroop was examined. Results. Results indicate longer reaction time across 3 blocks of grief-related w ords in the complicated grief group but no difference across 3 blocks of the neutral words. The 3 groups performed comparably on the other neurocognitive tasks, indicating no cognitive differences in working memory or set shifting between groups. Furthermore, these effects of complicated grief generalize to older adults and appear independent of major depression. Discussion. Complicated grief has cogniti ve interference as a neuropsychological component highlighting it as dis
Rapid Birefringent Delay Scanning for Coherent Multiphoton Impulsive Raman Pump–Probe Spectroscopy

Ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy experiments often measure weak nonlinear interactions, which produce very low signal levels. Averaging is usually required to increase the SNR to obtain the system response from the stochastic noise background. It has been recognized that averaging rapidly acquired pump-probe scans yields performance that is often superior to long averaging at each delay point, particularly in the presence of flicker (1/f) noise. We have demonstrated a particularly simple method for high-speed pump-probe delay scanning that maintains interferometric stability between the two pulses. This technique nicknamed lighthouse scanning uses a spinning birefringent crystal to rapidly vary the time separation between a pump and probe pulse pair. This scanning technique will be valuable for most pump-probe spectroscopy techniques. We demonstrate the technique in a six-wave mixing process of coherence-modulated third-harmonic generation (CM-THG). CM-THG is a recently demonstrated method for separating bulk and interface contributions to vibrational coherences, but the high nonlinearity of the experiment leads to low signal levels. Rapid scan averaging with the lighthouse scanner improves signal to noise by at least an order of magnitude, greatly expanding the number of systems that can be studied with this technique.
Comparison of Device Performance Fabricated on Thick So and Bulk Wafers

We have investigated the surface quality of thick 10μm Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafers by comparing CMOS device performance and reliability of SOI wafers with those of bulk wafers. Large scale CMOS circuits, microcontrollers with 12Kbyte ROM and 512byte EEPROM, were fabricated on thick SOI wafers and on bulk wafers, and device performance and reliability were evaluated by means of functional tests and acceleration tests. A significant difference was observed only in the ROM bit-map failure analysis in the functional tests, in which the number of single bit failures (defined as a chain of up to 4 adjacent bit failures) was more evident on ROM fabricated on the thick SOI than that fabricated on bulk wafers. The result indicates that the crystal defects introduced by the initial oxygen concentration and excess film stress of the SiO interlayer may cause single bit failures. The SOI wafers were prepared by Direct Wafer Bonding 2 (DWB) and a mechanical polishing technique to form a 10μm active silicon layer and a 625μm silicon substrate, which sandwiches a 0.25μm SiO 2 interlayer. Thick SOI wafers such as these are becoming a promising material for one-chip integration of CMOS devices and Micro Electrical Mechanical System (MEMS) devices.
Lactic Acidemia Associated with Metformin

OBJECTIVETo report 2 cases of lactic acidemia associated with the use of metformin in patients with normal renal function.CASE SUMMARYAn 82-year-old African American man and a 76-year-old white man developed an elevated serum lactic acid concentration a few weeks after initiation of metformin therapy for type 2 diabetes. After the patients discontinued metformin, the serum lactic acid concentration normalized in both cases. An objective causality assessment revealed that the adverse drug event was probably related to the use of metformin.DISCUSSIONMetformin interferes with the production and elimination of lactic acid by a variety of mechanisms that are not well understood. Few systematic data are available on changes in plasma lactic acid concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes and normal renal function. Clinical significance of a high serum lactic acid concentration needs clarification.CONCLUSIONSMetformin therapy can be associated with subclinical elevation of lactic acid concentration in the a...
Measurement Errors in the Behavioral Sciences: The Case of Personality/Attitude Research:

It has been established that construct measures often contain measurement error and method effects. However, the extent of these measurement problems and their effects on personality constructs has not been fully examined. In this study, an analysis of published data sets affords estimates of the amount of trait, method, and error variance of measures used in the social/behavioral sciences. It was found that traits accounted for less than 50 percent of the variance in construct measures among the entire group of data sets included in the study. Measures of attitudes and personality variables contain considerably less trait variance. Implications for theory testing are discussed.
Low‐density polyethylene vessel reactors: Part II: A novel controller

By the use of an imperfectly mixed model developed for LDPE vessel reactors, we show that a linear controller cannot perform satisfactorily in the entire range of operating conditions of industrial interest. Based on the concept of reaction rate control, a novel controller is developed which provides satisfactory closed-loop dynamics independent of steady-state conditions. A nonlinear controller is shown to be more effective in avoiding reactor light-off.
Inductive Coupling between Loops Lying on a Polarizable Half-Space

The influence of induced polarization (IP) of the Earth inan inductive polarization scheme is exhibited. A Cole-Cole model isadopted for the complex resistivity. It is shown that the IP effects aresignificant and should not be ignored.
Comparative Analysis of Sequence Periodicity among Prokaryotic Genomes Points to Differences in Nucleoid Structure and a Relationship to Gene Expression

Regular spacing of short runs of A or T nucleotides in DNA sequences with a period close to the helical period of the DNA double helix has been associated with intrinsic DNA bending and nucleosome positioning in eukaryotes. Analogous periodic signals were also observed in prokaryotic genomes. While the exact role of this periodicity in prokaryotes is not known, it has been proposed to facilitate the DNA packaging in the prokaryotic nucleoid and/or to promote negative or positive supercoiling. We developed a methodology for assessments of intragenomic heterogeneity of these periodic patterns and applied it in analysis of 1,025 prokaryotic chromosomes. This technique allows more detailed analysis of sequence periodicity than previous methods where sequence periodicity was assessed in an integral form across the whole chromosome. We found that most genomes have the periodic signal confined to several chromosomal segments while most of the chromosome lacks a strong sequence periodicity. Moreover, there are significant differences among different prokaryotes in both the intensity and persistency of sequence periodicity related to DNA curvature. We proffer that the prokaryotic nucleoid consists of relatively rigid sections stabilized by short intrinsically bent DNA segments and characterized by locally strong periodic patterns alternating with regions featuring a weak periodic signal, which presumably permits higher structural flexibility. This model applies to most bacteria and archaea. In genomes with an exceptionally persistent periodic signal, highly expressed genes tend to concentrate in aperiodic sections, suggesting that structural heterogeneity of the nucleoid is related to local differences in transcriptional activity.
Aztreonam Therapy for Complicated Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Aztreonam was administered to 145 consecutive patients with complicated urinary tract infections caused by multidrug-resistant, aztreonam-sensitive bacteria. Multidrug resistance was defined by disk diffusion testing as resistance to aminopenicillins and to first- and second-generation cephalosporins, with or without resistance to aminoglycosides. The first 40 assessable patients received 1 g of aztreonam intravenously three times daily for a median period of eight days; the remaining 95 assessable patients received 0.5 g twice daily for a median period of nine days. Fifty-five patients were infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 24 with Escherichia coli, 18 with Serratia marcescens, 13 with Morganella morganii, 12 with Providencia rettgeri, and 10 with Enterobacter species. Bacteriologic cure rates were 98% for the group given 3 g daily and 96% for that given 1 g daily. Minimal and transient adverse reactions occurred with both dosages.
Control of a virtual ambulation influences body movement and motion sickness

Drivers typically are less susceptible to motion sickness than passengers. The influence of vehicle control has theoretical implications for the etiology of motion sickness, and has practical implications for the design of virtual environments. In the present study, participants either controlled or did not control a nonvehicular virtual avatar (i.e., an ambulatory character in a console video game). We examined the incidence of motion sickness and patterns of movement of the head and torso as participants either played or watched the game. Motion sickness incidence was lower when controlling the virutal avatar than when watching an avatar that was controlled by someone else. Patterns of head and torso movement differed between particpants who did and did not control the avatar. Indepenently, patterns of movement differed between participants who reported motion sickness and those who did not. The results suggest that motion sickness is influenced by control of stimulus motion, whether that motion arises from a vehicle or from any other source. We consider implications for the design of humancomputer interfaces.
Predicting susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime by cefuroxime and ceftizoxime disk diffusion testing.

In this study, disk diffusion testing with ceftizoxime and cefuroxime was evaluated for use in predicting the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime. Of the 194 isolates included in this study, 138 were susceptible, 34 were intermediate, and 22 were resistant to cefotaxime by MIC testing; 138 isolates were susceptible, 35 were intermediate, and 21 were resistant to ceftriaxone by MIC testing. A zone of inhibition around the cefuroxime disk of ≥32 mm correctly categorized 101 of 138 isolates as susceptible to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone. A zone of inhibition around the ceftizoxime disk of ≥26 mm correctly categorized 111 of 138 isolates as susceptible to cefotaxime and 114 of 138 as susceptible to ceftriaxone. We conclude that disk diffusion can separate S. pneumoniae isolates susceptible to ceftriaxone and cefotaxime from those that are not susceptible. Isolates not falling into the susceptible category by disk diffusion require additional testing to determine the MIC.
Promotion of Family-Centered Birth With Gentle Cesarean Delivery

Purpose: In this commentary we describe our experience developing a “gentle cesarean” program at a community hospital housing a family medicine residency program. The gentle cesarean technique has been popularized in recent obstetrics literature as a viable option to enhance the experience and outcomes of women and families undergoing cesarean delivery. Methods: Skin-to-skin placement of the infant in the operating room with no separation of mother and infant, reduction of extraneous noise, and initiation of breastfeeding in the operating room distinguish this technique from traditional cesarean delivery. Collaboration among family physicians, obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians, neonatologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, and operating room personnel facilitated the provision of gentle cesarean delivery to families requiring an operative birth. Results: Among 144 gentle cesarean births performed from 2009 to 2012, complication rates were similar to or lower than those for traditional cesarean births. Gentle cesarean delivery is now standard of care at our institution. Conclusion: By sharing our experience, we hope to help other hospitals develop gentle cesarean programs. Family physicians should play an integral role in this process.
Altered Proteolysis and Global Gene Expression in Hepatitis B Virus X Transgenic Mouse Liver

Hepatitis B virus X (HBX) is essential for the productive infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vivo and has a pleiotropic effect on host cells. We have previously demonstrated that the proteasome complex is a cellular target of HBX, that HBX alters the proteolytic activity of proteasome in vitro, and that inhibition of proteasome leads to enhanced viral replication, suggesting that HBX and proteasome interaction plays a crucial role in the life cycle and pathogenesis of HBV. In the present study, we tested the effect of HBX on the proteasome activities in vivo in a transgenic mouse model in which HBX expression is developmentally regulated by the mouse major urinary promoter in the liver. In addition, microarray analysis was performed to examine the effect of HBX expression on the global gene expression profile of the liver. The results showed that the peptidase activities of the proteasome were reduced in the HBX transgenic mouse liver, whereas the activity of another cellular protease was elevated, suggesting a compensatory mechanism in protein degradation. In the microarray analysis, diverse genes were altered in the HBX mouse livers and the number of genes with significant changes increased progressively with age. Functional clustering showed that a number of genes involved in transcription and cell growth were significantly affected in the HBX mice, possibly accounting for the observed pleiotropic effect of HBX. In particular, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 was down-regulated in the HBX mouse liver. The down-regulation was similarly observed during acute woodchuck hepatitis virus infection. Other changes including up-regulation of proteolysis-related genes may also contribute to the profound alterations of liver functions in HBV infection.
Estimation of changes in side chain configurational entropy in binding and folding: General methods and application to helix formation

Theoretical estimations of changes in side chain configurational entropy are essential for understanding the different contributions to the overall thermodynamic behavior of important biological processes like folding and binding. The configurational entropy of any given side chain in any particular protein can be evaluated from the complete energy profile of the side chain. Calculations of the energy profiles can be performed using the side chain single bond dihedrals as the only independent variables as long as the structures at each value of the dihedrals are allowed to relax through small changes in the valence bond angles. The probabilities of different side chain conformers obtained from these energy profiles are very similar to the conformer populations obtained by analysis of side chain preferences in the proteins of the Protein Data Bank. Also, side chain conformational entropies obtained from the energy profiles agree extremely well with those obtained from the Protein Data Bank conformer populations. Changes in side chain configurational entropy in binding and folding can be computed as differences in conformational entropy because, in most cases, the frequency of the rotational oscillation around the energy minimum of any given conformer does not appear to change significantly in the reaction. Changes of side chain conformational entropy calculated in this way were compared with experimental values. The only available experimental data–the effect of side chain substitution on the stability of α-helices–were used for this comparison. The experimental values were corrected to subtract the solvent contributions. This comparison yields an excellent agreement between calculated and experimental values, validating not only the theoretical estimates but also the separability of the entropic contributions into configurational terms and solvation related terms. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effect of Signal Temporal Shaping on the Frequency Specificity of the Action Potential in Gerbils: Effet de la forme temporelle du signal sur la spécificité fréquentielle du potentiel global chez la gerboise

We examined the effects of temporal shaping of a tone burst on the frequency specificity of evoked responses in gerbils. Frequency specificity was assessed by means of whole-nerve action potential (AP) tuning curves (APTCs). The envelopes of the onset and offset portions of the AP-eliciting tone burst (or probe) were either a linear or nonlinear (1/4 sine) function of time. At probe frequencies of 1, 4 and 8 kHz, APTCs in the two envelope conditions were similar in shape and had equally narrow tips. This was true at both low (40-50 dB SPL) and high (70-75 dB SPL) probe levels. It suggests that tone bursts in the two envelope conditions evoke AP responses that are equally frequency specific. Despite these similarities, a notable difference in the two conditions was found at high probe levels. Specifically, raising the level of an 8-kHz probe from 40 to 70 dB SPL resulted in a downward shift of the APTC tip frequency, and this shift was greater for probes with linear on-off envelopes than for those with non...
Detecting Health Related Discussions in Everyday Telephone Conversations for Studying Medical Events in the Lives of Older Adults

We apply semi-supervised topic modeling techniques to detect health-related discussions in everyday telephone conversations, which has applications in large-scale epidemiological studies and for clinical interventions for older adults. The privacy requirements associated with utilizing everyday telephone conversations preclude manual annotations; hence, we explore semi-supervised methods in this task. We adopt a semi-supervised version of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to guide the learning process. Within this framework, we investigate a strategy to discard irrelevant words in the topic distribution and demonstrate that this strategy improves the average F-score on the in-domain task and an out-of-domain task (Fisher corpus). Our results show that the increase in discussion of health related conversations is statistically associated with actual medical events obtained through weekly selfreports.
Iterative image subset scanning for image reconstruction from sensor signals

Image reconstruction techniques from signals received by sensors find application in several fields, including radio interferometry for astronomical investigations and magnetic resonance imaging for medical applications. This paper presents a novel method for image reconstruction based on the iterative scanning of a region of interest. A modified approximate message passing (AMP) algorithm is adopted to extract relevant image information with low computational complexity from signals received by sensors. The method is illustrated by simulations, with reference to the LOFAR radio interferometer, and compared in the case of radio astronomy with the CLEAN algorithm.
RNA in-situ hybridization is a practical and effective method for determining HPV status of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma including discordant cases that are p16 positive by immunohistochemistry but HPV negative by DNA in-situ hybridization.

Summary Objectives Evaluation of human papillomavirus (HPV) status in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has become increasingly important for prognostication and clinical trial enrollment. This assessment is confounded in OPSCCs that are p16 positive by immunohistochemistry (IHC) but HPV negative by DNA in situ hybridization (DISH). This study evaluates whether E6/E7 mRNA in situ hybridization (RISH) can detect transcriptionally active HPV in these problematic cases. Materials and methods Eighty-two head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cases that had previously undergone p16 IHC and HPV DISH were evaluated with two RISH platforms and a second-generation DISH probe. The study included 21 p16+/DISH+ concordant cases, 19 p16−/DISH− concordant cases, and 42 p16+/DISH− discordant cases. Results RISH identified E6/E7 mRNA in 37 (88%) p16+/DISH− cases, 21 (100%) p16+/DISH+ cases, and 0 (0%) p16−/DISH− cases. RISH signals were clearly visible at low to medium magnification in 97% of positive cases, facilitating almost-perfect inter-observer reproducibility. The performance of the manual and automated RISH platforms were equivalent (kappa = 0.915). Only 29% of carcinomas that demonstrated E6/E7 mRNA transcriptional activity were positive using the 2nd generation DISH probe. Conclusions HPV RISH is a highly sensitive and specific platform that can clarify the HPV status of those perplexing OPSCCs that are p16 positive by IHC but HPV negative by DISH. Moreover, it is easy to interpret, readily adaptable to the clinical laboratory, and provides direct evidence of HPV transcriptional activity. E6/E7 RISH should be considered as a first-line platform for determination of HPV status in OPSCCs.
Security concerns and mitigation approaches for MOOC-based applications

MOOCs have expanded educational access beyond the traditional scope and masses. Cloud computing, open source platforms and software frameworks have provided the MOOC elements to support the creation of cost effective infrastructures, minimizing costs with widespread accessibility. However, these foundational elements present security concerns, which include non-enforceable policies, system and software vulnerabilities and the ever-present human error. Mitigating the risks are crucial to effective implementation since exploitation and risk adversities are compounded by scale. This paper presents an exploratory study on the risks, issues and challenges related to MOOC platforms. We introduce some critical security concerns and their impact on end users and providers. We also provide guidelines and suggestions to mitigate these concerns.
A Synthetic Precursor of Verrucarin A

The trichothecane antibiotics, produced by the fungi Trichothecium, Trichoderma, Myrothecium and Fusarium constitute an important class of antifungal, cytotoxic and phytotoxic sesquiterpenes. These compounds are all oxygenated derivatives of the tetracyclic 12,13-epoxytrichothec-9-ene (1) skeleton. Verrucarin A (2), a potent cytotoxin with significant anti-tumor activity, gives the trichothecane verrucarol on hydrolysis. In addition to verrucarin A, several other macrolides also contain a verrucarol moiety.
Personality and evolutionary strategies: The relationships between HEXACO traits, mate value, life history strategy, and sociosexuality

Abstract Evolutionary approaches to understanding personality variation have proposed how general personality factors might be reframed in terms of adaptive tradeoffs, but many of these explanations remain speculative. The present research evaluates the relationships between the HEXACO general personality traits and evolutionarily-relevant variables tied to individual differences in mating characteristics and strategies. Participants (n = 209) completed measures of the HEXACO traits, mate value, life history strategy, and sociosexual orientation (short-term mating orientation and long-term mating orientation). There was good support for a number of hypothesized relationships between mating-relevant personality constructs and HEXACO traits. Additionally, the constructs of mate value, life history strategy, and sociosexuality were significantly intercorrelated, indicating that they are not independent. Further work is needed to clarify those relationships, and differential relationships with HEXACO traits can aid in this work.
Current situation of health economics evaluation method and its application in public health

This article introduced four common methods in health economics evaluation:cost-minimization analysis,cost-effectiveness analysis,cost-utility analysis and cost-benefit analysis.It pointed out the 9 steps of health economics evaluation and common used benefit indexes,and reviewed their use in public health.
Analysis on the epidemic characteristics and spatiotemporal distribution of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Xiamen city from 2010 to 2013

Objective To understand the recent epidemic characteristics and spatiotemporal distribution of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS) and put forward the proposal for the forecast and early warning in Xiamen city.Methods Date of HFRS cases from 2010 to 2013 were collected and linked to analysis of gender,occupation and age groups frequency statistics,calculation the data of incidence and description of the distribution of HFRS temporal and population of Xiamen City.The spatial distribution characteristics of regional were showed in the form of a map of the incidence by Mapinfo11.0.Results The overall incidence rate of HFRS in Xiamen city from 2010 to 2013 was 0.38/105 of population(51/13 344 344).The incidence was higher in males(0.51/105) than in females(0.25/105).And the highest incidence of HFRS consisted of cases with age group of 40~69 was 62.75%(32/51).The cases were accounted intensively in autumn to winter season(from October to December) or in spring season(from March to May),the incidences were 12(23.53%),21(41.18%).Conclusion The incidence of HFRS recently displayed a trend of aging in Xiamen;farmers still were at high risk of the disease exposure.The monitoring in the high risk area and population in the high risk should be enhanced.
Inhibition of von Willebrand factor-dependent platelet function by increased platelet cyclic AMP and its prevention by cytoskeleton-disrupting agents.

Abstract PGI2, PGE1, dibutyryl cyclic AMP, and other agents known to raise platelet cyclic AMP were found to inhibit the initial slope of platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma induced by ristocetin and bovine von Willebrand factor. The inhibition was not due to an effect on the release reaction since aspirin treatment of platelets completely blocked release but did not significantly inhibit the initial slope of aggregation. These agents also inhibited the decrease in platelet electrophoretic mobility, which has previously been shown to be associated with the binding of von Willebrand factor to platelets, suggesting that they act by decreasing the interaction of von Willebrand factor with platelets. PGI2 and PGE1 did not inhibit the von Willebrand factor-dependent agglutination of formaldehyde-fixed platelets, indicating that they do not have a direct effect on the von Willebrand factor itself and that they require platelet metabolism and/or membrane protein mobility to express their inhibition. Preincubation of platelets with the microtubule-disrupting agents colchicine and vinblastine and microfilament-altering agents cytochalasin-D and cytochalasin-B prevented the inhibition produced by increasing platelet cyclic AMP, raising the possibility that the latter’s effect is mediated by changes in the platelet’s cytoskeleton. These studies suggest a new mechanism whereby agents that increase platelet cAMP may inhibit platelet adhesion.
The effect of polypropylene morphology on AC breakdown

It is well known that when a crystallizable polymer is solidified from a solution or a melt, a wealth of physical structures can be obtained depending on the processing conditions. In addition, the structures so obtained can be further altered by additional steps such as drawing and annealing. Consequently, polymeric solids exhibit a range of values for the same physical property, a behavior which is quite unlike that observed with low molecular weight solids. This, therefore, offers the possibility of modifying a material's physical properties by changing its physical structure. The property of interest here was the AC breakdown strength and the polymer used was isotactic polypropylene.
Structured drawing tasks support research ideation: A mentor-mentee report on iteration, invention, and collaboration

In this paper, we report on our creation and use of of three structured drawing tasks. This reports includes the perspectives of a a mentor-mentee pair who promoted ideation and iteration in research planning through their use of these drawing pages. Each of the structured drawing tasks are reproduced visually in this report. In concluding we provide recommendations for future applications.
Performance as Pedagogy: Children’s Trust and the Negotiation of Subjectivities in the Context of Deliberative Dialogue

In this article, we examine children’s (aged 9–11) experience of deliberative dialogue in which they sought to reach consensus around a shared problem with their peers. Through analysis of pre- and post-task interviews as well as videotapes of the sessions, we explore the pedagogical nature of children’s engagement. In light of shifting trust assessments of their peers, children tried on new roles and identities, even as they bumped up against entrenched narratives of self gleaned from prior experience. It is in the negotiation of these multiple subjectivities that children demonstrated their potential for rereadings of themselves in relation to others, challenging stereotyped subjectivities, and experimenting with their emerging voices. We foreground three children, Helen, David, and Addie, whose experiences serve as windows into the role of trust in civic learning.
Multifractal Geometry & Standard Model Symmetries

Despite being supported by overwhelming evidence, the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is challenged by many foundational questions. The root cause of its gauge structure and of discrete symmetry breaking continues to be unknown. Here we show how these questions may be approached using the multifractal geometry of the SM near the electroweak scale.
Monitoring alert and drowsy states by modeling EEG source nonstationarity.

Objective. As a human brain performs various cognitive functions within ever-changing environments, states of the brain characterized by recorded brain activities such as electroencephalogram (EEG) are inevitably nonstationary. The challenges of analyzing the nonstationary EEG signals include finding neurocognitive sources that underlie different brain states and using EEG data to quantitatively assess the state changes. Approach. This study hypothesizes that brain activities under different states, e.g. levels of alertness, can be modeled as distinct compositions of statistically independent sources using independent component analysis (ICA). This study presents a framework to quantitatively assess the EEG source nonstationarity and estimate levels of alertness. The framework was tested against EEG data collected from 10 subjects performing a sustained-attention task in a driving simulator. Main results. Empirical results illustrate that EEG signals under alert versus drowsy states, indexed by reaction speeds to driving challenges, can be characterized by distinct ICA models. By quantifying the goodness-of-fit of each ICA model to the EEG data using the model deviation index (MDI), we found that MDIs were significantly correlated with the reaction speeds (r = −0.390 with alertness models and r = 0.449 with drowsiness models) and the opposite correlations indicated that the two models accounted for sources in the alert and drowsy states, respectively. Based on the observed source nonstationarity, this study also proposes an online framework using a subject-specific ICA model trained with an initial (alert) state to track the level of alertness. For classification of alert against drowsy states, the proposed online framework achieved an averaged area-under-curve of 0.745 and compared favorably with a classic power-based approach. Significance. This ICA-based framework provides a new way to study changes of brain states and can be applied to monitoring cognitive or mental states of human operators in attention-critical settings or in passive brain-computer interfaces.
Stuck like glue: the formation and consequences of brand attachments among salespeople

Although managers and researchers put utmost importance on uncovering factors that affect effort and performance of sales representatives, they have largely overlooked a key factor. This research aims to remedy this neglect by shedding light on salesperson brand attachment. A qualitative study first examines the prevalence of attachment and uncovers several potential antecedents. Two follow-up empirical studies show that identification and psychological ownership are significant predictors of salesperson brand attachment. Informed by this research, managers can encourage brand attachment, with the end goal of increasing salesperson effort and ultimately performance, by increasing feelings of identification and psychological ownership among salespeople. This impact is particularly notable among brands with low market share, which are often a key concern of managers. The findings provide novel insights into how attachment affects sales representatives, as well as potential methods to cultivate such an attac...
Multiple bus motor drive based on a single inductor multi output converter in 48 V electrified vehicles

The 48 V power supply system has been recently introduced by German automobile companies due to an increasing electric power demand in electrified vehicles. For the 48 V electrified vehicles, typically, 48 V and 14 V buses are used to supply power to 48 V and 14 V loads. In this paper, a multiple voltage bus power conversion system, to drive multiple motors/actuators based on a single inductor multi output (SIMO) structure to supply 24 V and 36 V nets besides the existing 48 V and 14 V nets, is proposed. The proposed structure can provide a better option to optimize the motor drive's power density choosing a proper voltage/current match. To test and verify the proposed approach, both simulations and experiments have been performed connecting 24 V and 36 V PMSM motor drives to the multiple output buses.
The extent of vascular resection is associated with perioperative outcome in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Abstract Background Few studies have examined the relation between extent of vascular resection and morbidity following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) with vein resection (PDVR). Methods Patients undergoing PD for malignancy were identified using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project from 2006 to 2013. Current procedural terminology codes were used to characterize PDVR. Results 9235 patients underwent PD, 977 (10.6%) had PDVR - 640 with direct and 224 with graft repair. PDVR had longer operative times (456 ± 136 vs 374 ± 128 min, p Discussion The risk of significant morbidity and mortality for PDVR is associated with the extent of vascular resection, with graft repairs having increased morbidity and mortality rates.
Design of adaptive output feedback synchronizing controllers for networked PDEs with boundary and in-domain structured perturbations and disturbances

This work considers a class of networked distributed parameter systems with structured perturbations and disturbances. These systems are assumed to have identical unknown structured perturbations and unknown disturbances but different initial conditions. The multi-task controllers aim to adaptively compensate both structured perturbation and disturbance effects. Additionally, to follow a virtual leader by ensuring the asymptotic convergence of each of the networked states to the leader’s state. Finally, to synchronize in the sense of the convergence of the pairwise state errors. A four-part controller is proposed to address all tasks and provides many new elements for control of networked spatially distributed systems. The adaptive estimates of both the disturbance and the structured perturbation terms include a consensus term in their adaptive laws which provide the first coupling of the networked systems and aims at providing a weak version of persistence of excitation. The consensus protocol included in the synchronization component of the controller addresses the communication burden by transmitting output signals to its communicating systems instead of entire states and further, adapts the synchronization weights in proportion to the pairwise state disagreement, as a means to minimize the control effort. An abstract theoretical framework is established which handles a wide class of infinite dimensional systems including PDEs with both in-domain and boundary control and observation, and is conducive to well-posedness and stability analysis. Using the proposed multi-component controllers, the convergence of the networked states to the leader’s state is established using Lyapunov stability arguments for infinite dimensional systems, along with the boundedness of all signals. The well-posedness of all networked closed loop systems is shown by using established results on an analytic semigroup approach. A numerical example involving five networked partial differential equations with boundary observation, control, and disturbances and structured perturbations at the boundary, is presented and which provides insights on the control and synchronization of networked PDE systems.
Evaluation of lipid extractability after flash hydrolysis of algae

Abstract Microalgae is identified as a promising feedstock for producing renewable liquid transportation fuels; however, lipids extraction from microalgae for downstream processing to biofuels is one of the important challenges for algal based biorefineries. This work aims at evaluating the potential of applying flash hydrolysis (FH) as a chemical-free technique to increase the lipids extractability of algal biomass as well as its integration with the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae to enhance the biocrude yields and characteristics for fuel production. To this aim, the FH process was performed on three different algal species (Scenedesmus sp., Nannochloropsis sp., and Chlorella vulgaris) at 280 °C and 10 s of residence time. Following FH, in addition to the nutrients rich hydrolysate, approximately, 40 wt% of solids containing almost all (>90 wt%) the lipids termed as biofuels intermediates (BI), were recovered. Kinetics study on lipids extractability from the BI and their lipid profile analyses were conducted for each algal species. The results showed that the FH process had significantly enhanced the lipids extractability. For all three algae species, lipid yields from BI were higher than that of the raw algae. Lipid yields of Chlorella vulgaris in the first 15 min were more than five times higher (52.3 ± 0.8 vs. 10.7 ± 0.9 wt%) than that of raw algae during n-hexane based solvent extraction. The kinetics of lipids extractability followed a zero-order reaction rate for all wet raw microalgae and the BI of Scenedesmus sp., while the BI recovered from the other two algal species were determined as a second-order reaction. Comparison of fatty acids profiles indicated the contribution of the FH process in saturating fatty acids. Subsequent to lipids extraction, a conventional hydrothermal liquefaction was performed at 350 °C and 1 h to compare the biocrude yields from raw versus BI of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae. The results showed that the biocrude yields from the BI and its quality was significantly enhanced post FH than that of raw algae. The FH process was proven to be a viable option for lipid extraction by increasing the extent of recovery and decreasing the extraction time. Its integration with HTL notably impact the biocrude yields and characteristics for fuel production.
The Simultaneous Measure In Vivo of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow and Regional Cerebral Oxygen Utilization by Means of Oxyhemoglobin Labelled with Radioactive Oxygen15

Regional cerebral blood flow and oxygen utilization are measured simultaneously in vivo with a single radioactive label by the following method.
Traumatic cervical fusion hardware displacement presenting with dysphagia and dysphonia

Abstract Surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy has been increasing in incidence. Almost 20% of patients have complications related to their surgery, although hardware extrusion is rare and generally reported in the first post-operative month. We report the case of a woman with new dysphagia and hoarseness secondary to traumatic screw dislodgement into her pre-vertebral space 5 months after cervical discectomy.
Characteristics and outcomes of breast cancer patients with leptomeningeal metastasis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).

2026 Background: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common solid tumors with metastases to the leptomeninges. Disease presentation, prognostic factors, and treatment patterns for BC patients (pt...
Sliding mode control for performance improvement of shunt active power filter

The increased use of non-linear loads results in more harmonics content in the source current. Shunt active power filters are used for correction of distorted source current by injecting a compensating current in parallel to the load current. The injected current will shape the supply current to a sinusoidal. In this paper an improved performance of shunt active power filter is achieved by using sliding mode controller for generation of gate pulses of voltage source inverter. The implemented control technique has been evaluated and compared with hysteresis current control. The performance parameters used for evaluating the shunt active power filter are total harmonic distortion, power factor and harmonics compensation ratio. The simulation results show excellent performance of active power filter in terms of harmonics mitigation and dynamic response. Experimental tests are also performed using NI DAQ card in Labview environment to validate the simulation results. Both the simulation and experimental results prove good performance of sliding mode control for accurate injection of reference current.