cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deficits in ultrasonic vocalization development and production following neonatal hypoxic ischemic insult.

Abstract Neonatal hypoxic ischemia encephalopathy (HIE) leads to major deficits in language development. While clinically there is a known correlation in the degree of HIE injury and subsequent language disability, there are no treatments beyond speech and language therapy; therefore, experimental studies with a HIE animal model to test new interventions and therapeutics are warranted. Neonatal rodents normally ultrasonically vocalize at postnatal day 7 (PND 7) to PND 14 in response to removal from their mothers. At 6–8 weeks of age juvenile male rodents ultrasonically vocalize in response to exposure to a mature female mouse. Changes in ultrasonic vocalization (USV) production after neonatal brain injury, such ashypoxic ischemia (HI), have not been studied. This study examines the acute and long-term ultrasonic vocalization ability of mice after HI at PND 10. Pups were subjected to HI, sham, or naive conditions; where in HI and sham surgeries the right common carotid artery was exposed, in the HI this artery was double ligated. The HI and sham pups were then exposed to60minof hypoxia. Naive pups did not undergo surgery and were subjected to60minof room air. At 3 days following surgery, HI and sham pups vocalize less than nonsurgical naive controls; yet “juvenile” mice of 6–8 weeks old that underwent HI at PND 10 vocalize less than sham and naive mice. We conclude that HI injury has significant impact on later adult vocalization.
Remaining useful life prediction based on degradation signals using monotonic B-splines with infinite support

AbstractDegradation modeling traditionally relies on monitoring degradation signals to model the underlying degradation process. In this context, failure is typically defined as the point where the...
Mapping Driver Mutations to Histopathological Subtypes in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: Applying a Deep Convolutional Neural Network.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common subtype of thyroid cancers and informative biomarkers are critical for risk stratification and treatment guidance. About half of PTCs harbor BRAFV600E and 10%-15% have RAS mutations. In the current study, we trained a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) model (Google Inception v3) on histopathology images obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to classify PTCs into BRAFV600E or RAS mutations. We aimed to answer whether CNNs can predict driver gene mutations using images as the only input. The performance of our method is comparable to that of recent publications of other cancer types using TCGA tumor slides with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.878-0.951. Our model was tested on separate tissue samples from the same cohort. On the independent testing subset, the accuracy rate using the cutoff of truth rate 0.8 was 95.2% for BRAF and RAS mutation class prediction. Moreover, we showed that the image-based classification correlates well with mRNA-derived expression pattern (Spearman correlation, rho = 0.63, p = 0.002 on validation data and rho = 0.79, p = 2 × 10-5 on final testing data). The current study demonstrates the potential of deep learning approaches for histopathologically classifying cancer based on driver mutations. This information could be of value assisting clinical decisions involving PTCs.
Rationale, Methods, Feasibility, and Preliminary Outcomes of a Transdiagnostic Prevention Program for At-Risk College Students.

Purpose Early adulthood represents one period of increased risk for the emergence of a serious mental illness. The college campus provides a unique opportunity to assess and monitor individuals in this at-risk age group. However, there are no validated early detection programs that are widely implemented on college campuses. In an effort to address this gap, we designed and tested an early detection and prevention program tailored to college students. A transdiagnostic approach was employed because of evidence for shared risk factors across major mental illnesses. Design Single arm, prospective study evaluating outcomes following a 4-week intervention. Method Three in-person mental health screenings were conducted on the campus of one university. Undergraduate students with at least mildly elevated, self-reported levels of depressive or subclinical psychotic symptoms, who were not receiving treatment for these symptoms, were invited to participate in a 4-session workshop focused on increasing self- and other- awareness and emotion regulation using established mindfulness, self-compassion, and mentalization principles and experiential exercises. Symptoms, resilience-promoting capacities, and aspects of social functioning were assessed pre- and post- intervention. Results 416 students were screened and a total of 63 students participated in the workshop. 91% attended at least 3 of the 4 sessions. The majority of participants found the workshop interesting and useful and would recommend it to a friend. Significant pre-to-post reductions in symptoms (depression, anxiety, and subclinical psychotic symptoms, ps < 0.004) and improvements in resilience-promoting capacities (self-compassion and self-efficacy, ps < 0.006) and indices of social functioning (social motivation, activity, and a measure of comfort with the physical presence of others, ps < 0.04) were observed. Moreover, the significant increases in resilience-promoting capacities correlated with the reductions in affective symptoms (ps < 0.03). Conclusions These findings suggest that an on-campus mental health screening and early intervention program is feasible, acceptable, and may be associated with improvements in resilience-related capacities and symptom reductions in young adults with non-impairing, subclinical symptoms of psychopathology. Follow-up work will determine whether this program can improve both shorter and longer-term mental health and functional outcomes in this at-risk population.
125 – Lyapunov Functions

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates the yield and applications of Lyapunov functions. It is applicable to ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations. It yields bounds on the solution in phase space. Even without solving a given differential equation, sometimes one can restrict the solution to be in a certain portion of phase space. Given a differential equation, find a nonnegative functional of the solution, which has a nonpositive derivative. The solution of the differential equation will remain in a region described by the functional and the initial conditions. The functional will involve the dependent variable, and some of its derivatives.
Chapter 15 – Lymphadenopathy and Splenomegaly

Publisher Summary Lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly are benign and malignant processes that can produce common findings in children and it is important to distinguish between the two so that appropriate management can be undertaken. Lymphadenopathy might be caused by proliferation of cells intrinsic to the node, such as lymphocytes, plasma cells, monocytes or histiocytes or by infiltration of cells extrinsic to the node, such as neutrophils and malignant cells. Lymphadenopathy is also a presenting sign of malignancies such as leukemia, lymphoma, or neuroblastoma and it is important to be able to differentiate benign from malignant lymphadenopathy. Splenomegaly can be caused by diseases that result in hyperplasia of the lymphoid and reticuloendothelial systems, infiltrative disorders, hematologic disorders and conditions that cause distention of the sinusoids whenever there is increased pressure in the portal or splenic veins. The significance of splenomegaly depends on the underlying disease. In children, a palpable spleen may occasionally be due to visceroptosis rather than true splenomegaly. This distinction is important to make so that extensive investigations for the cause of splenomegaly are not undertaken unnecessarily.
Social systems for technology.

In reviewing a recent book, Chris Toumey reflects on the impact that social networks can have on the development of a number of technologies.
Denoising RF Data via Robust Principal Component Analysis: Results in Ultrasound Elastography

Ultrasound data often suffers from an excessive amount of noise especially from deep tissue or in synthetic aperture imaging where the acoustic wave is weak. Such noisy data renders Time Delay Estimation (TDE) inaccurate in the context of ultrasound elastography. Herein, a novel two-step elastography technique is presented to ensure accurate TDE while dealing with noisy ultrasound data. In the first step, instead of one, we acquire several Radio-Frequency (RF) frames from both pre- and post-deformed positions of the tissue. We stack the frames collected from pre- and post-deformed planes in separate data matrices. Since each set is collected from the same level of tissue compression, we assume that the Casorati data matrices exhibit underlying low-rank structures, which are sought by taking the low-rank and sparse decomposition framework into account. This Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) approach removes the random noise from the datasets as sparse error components. In the second step, we select one frame from each denoised ensemble and employ GLobal Ultrasound Elastography (GLUE) to perform the strain elastography. We call the proposed technique RPCA-GLUE. Our preliminary validation of RPCA-GLUE against simulation phantoms containing hard and soft inclusions proves its robustness to large noise. Substantial improvement in Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and Contrast-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) has also been observed. Simulation results show that in the presence of large noise, the proposed method substantially improves CNR from 5.0 to 22.6 in a soft inclusion and from 2.2 to 21.7 in a hard inclusion phantom.
Trump, Recent Cases and the 2020 Presidential Election

I will discuss recent U.S. Supreme Court cases as well as international trade cases decided this year by the specialized international trade courts in the United States. I will then discuss recent U.S. trade action concerning China and put this in the context of President Trump’s generalized approach to China and international trade. I will conclude with a few observations pertaining to the upcoming presidential election in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled on two highly politicized and historic cases on executive power. Observers have commented that these decisions have restricted excessive claims of executive authority. However, these same observers have overlooked a United States Court of International Trade decision made at about the same time that limits presidential authority on trade issues. These cases ought to be placed in the context of even more recent restrictions President Trump has placed on Chinese trade and investment activities. Additionally, those restrictions should be seen in the broader context of President Trump’s generalized hatred of laws and rules, both domestic and international, which is being especially accentuated in the run-up to the presidential election this November.
Compression-based Network Interpretability Schemes

Abstract Deep learning methods have achieved state-of-the-art performance in many domains of artificial intelligence, but are typically hard to interpret. Network interpretation is important for multiple reasons, including knowledge discovery, hypothesis generation, fairness and establishing trust. Model transformations provide a general approach to interpreting a trained network post-hoc: the network is approximated by a model, which is typically compressed, whose structure can be more easily interpreted in some way (we call such approaches interpretability schemes). However, the relationship between compression and interpretation has not been fully explored: How much should a network be compressed for optimal extraction of interpretable information? Should compression be combined with other criteria when selecting model transformations? We investigate these issues using two different compression-based schemes, which aim to extract orthogonal kinds of information, pertaining to feature and data instance-based groupings respectively. The first (rank projection trees) uses a structured sparsification method such that nested groups of features can be extracted having potential joint interactions. The second (cascaded network decomposition) splits a network into a cascade of simpler networks, allowing groups of training instances with similar characteristics to be extracted at each stage of the cascade. We use predictive tasks in cancer and psychiatric genomics to assess the ability of these approaches to extract informative feature and data-point groupings from trained networks. We show that the generalization error of a network provides an indicator of the quality of the information extracted; further we derive PAC-Bayes generalization bounds for both schemes, which we show can be used as proxy indicators, and can thus provide a criterion for selecting the optimal compression. Finally, we show that the PAC-Bayes framework can be naturally modified to incorporate additional criteria alongside compression, such as prior knowledge based on previous models, which can enhance interpretable model selection.
Effects of Free and Targeted Legal Assistance on Financially Exploited Older Adults.

Every year between 2.2% and 6.6% of older adults in the United States fall prey to different forms of financial exploitation (Deane, 2018). According to estimates, older adults lose approximately 2...
Oxidative Stress Resistance 1 Gene Therapy Retards Neurodegeneration in the rd1 Mutant Mouse Model of Retinopathy.

Purpose Oxidative stress is a major factor underlying many neurodegenerative diseases. However, antioxidant therapy has had mixed results, possibly because of its indiscriminate activity. The purpose of our study was to determine if the human OXR1 (hOXR1) antioxidant regulatory gene could protect neurons from oxidative stress and delay photoreceptor cell death. Methods The cone-like 661W cell line was transfected to stably express the hOXR1 gene. Oxidative stress was induced by the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), caspase cleavage, and cellular resistance to oxidative stress were determined and compared between the control and hOXR1 cells. For in vivo analysis, AAV8-hOXR1 was injected subretinally into the rd1 mouse model of retinal degeneration. Functional and structural integrity of the photoreceptors were assessed using electroretinography (ERG), histology, and immunofluorescence analysis. Results Expression of hOXR1 increased cellular resistance and reduced ROS levels and caspase cleavage in the 661W cell line after H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Subretinal injection of AAV8-hOXR1 in the rd1 mice improved their photoreceptor light response, expression and localization of photoreceptor-specific proteins, and delayed retinal degeneration. Conclusions Our results suggest that OXR1 is a potential therapy candidate for retinal degeneration. Because OXR1 targets oxidative stress, a common feature of many retinal degenerative diseases, it should be of therapeutic value to multiple retinal degenerative diseases.
Improvement of magnetic resonance imaging using a wireless radiofrequency resonator array.

In recent years, new human magnetic resonance imaging systems operating at static magnetic fields strengths of 7 Tesla or higher have become available, providing better signal sensitivity compared with lower field strengths. However, imaging human-sized objects at such high field strength and associated precession frequencies is limited due to the technical challenges associated with the wavelength effect, which substantially disturb the transmit field uniformity over the human body when conventional coils are used. Here we report a novel passive inductively-coupled radiofrequency resonator array design with a simple structure that works in conjunction with conventional coils and requires only to be tuned to the scanner’s operating frequency. We show that inductive-coupling between the resonator array and the coil improves the transmit efficiency and signal sensitivity in the targeted region. The simple structure, flexibility, and cost-efficiency make the proposed array design an attractive approach for altering the transmit field distribution specially at high field systems, where the wavelength is comparable with the tissue size.
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) of epitaxial oxide thin films

Abstract This chapter reviews the studies of epitaxial oxide films with several scanning probe microscopic techniques, mainly focusing on resolving the local structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of a few subjectively selected oxide systems. Both thin films of “colossal” magnetoresistive manganites and ferroelectric oxide films are the main focus of the reviews. The effects of surface, interface, defects, and off-stoichiometry on film properties are discussed.
The impact of ecological momentary assessment on posttraumatic stress symptom trajectory

Ecological momentary assessment includes continuous, real-time gathering of self-report data in a participant's natural environment. The current study evaluated the possible impact of this assessment strategy on severity of posttraumatic stress (PTS) in a sample of participants who reported experiencing a past traumatic event. Participants with clinically elevated PTS symptoms reported symptom severity at three time-points: during an initial screening, following an unmonitored period, and following two weeks of monitoring. During the monitoring period, participants carried an Android device which prompted them to report PTS symptoms and negative emotions six times daily. PTS severity scores were then compared across these three time-points. Results indicated that participating in the ecological momentary assessment protocol was associated with a significant reduction in PTS severity, whereas significant changes were not noted over the unmonitored control condition. The authors conclude that ecological momentary assessment may have therapeutic value even when not combined with formal intervention, and it may be a useful tool for improving the efficiency of a stepped-care approach to treating PTS symptoms.
One Strike and You're Out: Padilla Advisement About Public Housing Eligibility

Post Padilla an attorney has an affirmative duty under the Sixth Amendment to advise a client about the loss of public housing eligibility as a consequence of a criminal conviction or plea. This collateral consequence is even more severe than civil commitments, loss of pension, sex offender registry and parole eligibility in that it not only punishes the offender but the offender’s entire family. No other collateral consequence directly affects innocent bystanders in such a direct and punitive way. Attorneys must begin to recognize that there already exist an ethical and moral duty to advise clients of the collateral consequence of the loss of public housing eligibility and that this duty to advise meets the Sixth Amendment requirement for effective assistance to counsel. Moving forward attorneys must become aware and be more vigilant about collateral consequence advice if they want to successfully avoid Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claims especially when it comes to a well-established federal law such as the One Strike Policy.
The Relationship between Federal Deficits and Real Interest Rates

Real interest rates fluctuated a great deal since the 1970s. In the 1980s federal deficits accelerated and their impact on both nominal and real interest rates gained lots of attention. Based on monthly and quarterly data from January 1971 to December 1997 it is found that federal deficits had significant positive effect on the real interest rates: Personal income or consumption are found to have significant positive impact on the real interest rates, whereas expected inflation and money supply are found to have negative impact on the real interest rates. These findings are consistent with the conventional economic theory.
Programming Languages for Computational Linguistics

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the major programming systems currently in use for research in machine translation and computational linguistics in the United States. In general, programming languages are machine-oriented, problem oriented, or combinations of the two. In planning a programming language, certain restrictions imposed by the machine-oriented language should be removed while care should be taken to avoid imposing any particular linguistic philosophy on the user. Among the inconveniences that any linguist would desire to avoid are those involving restriction on word length, the need to anticipate the length of the longest word, phrase, or sentence in the data along with the need for conscious shifting of data words back and forth to match them with computer words. The linguist wants to deal with the words of his data as units no matter what their length, but he also wants to be able to decompose these words easily and at will into their constituent characters for morphological examination and later, to recompose the words of which they were originally formed.
Broadband Internet and Political Behavior: Evidence from the United States

This paper examines the effect of the introduction of broadband Internet on voting and campaign donations in the 2000s. To identify the effect of broadband, I use an instrumental variable strategy based on geographic terrain attributes which affected the cost of building cable infrastructure. I find that broadband has led to a large increase in voter turnout in presidential elections, as well as an increase in the total amount donated to political campaigns. Consistent with the hypothesis that Democrats have a stronger online presence, I also find a large effect on Democratic vote share in presidential elections. Evidence suggests the existence of both direct and indirect channels for the broadband effect. In particular, I find that broadband availability is associated with greater political knowledge, an increase in online (but not offline) donations, and the promotion of liberal values.
Separation of the half-molecular weight nonidentical subunits of pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase by affinity chromatography.

Abstract Two half-molecular weight subunits of 4'-phospho[14C]pantetheine-labeled pigeon liver fatty acid synthetase have been separated and shown to be nonidentical. An affinity chromatographic column containing e-aminocaproylpantetheine bound to cyanogen bromide-activated Sepharose via the e-amino group was used to achieve this separation. The subunit containing 4'-phospho[14C]pantetheine and β-ketoacyl thioester reductase activity is only slightly retarded on this column, whereas the subunit containing acetyl coenzyme A transacylase activity is strongly adsorbed. The latter sub-unit is eluted from the column with 0.1 m phosphate buffer at pH 10. Each subunit is then purified free of small amounts of the other subunit. This is accomplished by subjecting each to conditions which effect fatty acid synthetase formation. Subsequent sucrose density gradient centrifugation then separates the pure half-molecular weight subunits containing transacylase or β-ketoacyl thioester reductase activity from the small amount of fatty acid synthetase complex. Recombination of the purified subunits under appropriate conditions yields enzymatically active fatty acid synthetase complex.
Urology nursing practice educational preparation, titles, training, and job responsibilities around the globe: Republication

Research Summary Describing urologic nursing practice is an essential step in determining how urology nurses are prepared for practice, the titles they claim, and the job responsibilities performed by urology nurses around the globe to identify commonalities and differences, and to work toward establishing consistency and excellence in care. The purpose of this study was to determine the training preparation for urology nurses at all levels of practice, the titles used by urology nurses, and the clinical responsibilities of urology nurses. The study used a prospective descriptive survey design. The questionnaire was distributed via the Internet with a link to an online survey that was anonymously completed by urology nurses around the world. There were 709 valid responses from urology nurses representing 34 different countries around the world. A total of 82 different titles were identified by urology nurses around the world. The most common title was registered nurse/staff nurse. The most common age group of urology nuses in the study was 51 to 60 years of age (38·7%), with the next most common age being 41 to 50 years of age (36·3%). The most common certification held by urology nurses was urology certification (34·8%, n = 247), with nurses in North America most commonly certified (n = 124), followed by Europe (n = 66) and the United Kingdom (n = 33). The urology nurses identified 98 distinct roles, and the most common activities performed by the entire group were patient/family education, catheterization, intermittent catheterization, bladder ultrasound, change/manage suprapubic catheters, medication administration, uroflow, and assist urologist with procedure. Nursing titles vary greatly around the globe. The lack of continuity in titles may lead to confusion among nurses and the public at large. Nurses around the world reported many roles, and although there were many common roles shared by many nurses, nurses are taking on advanced roles, such as performing cystoscopy, circumcision, and prostate biopsy.
Latino Heterogeneity and the Politics of Education: The Role of Context*

Objective The sheer size of the Latino population in the United States has resulted in increased scholarly attention to the role Latinos play in the U.S. political system. A less-studied phenomenon, however, is whether the diversity of Latinos matters for electoral representation. This analysis tests how Latino homogeneity might influence representation by evaluating three contingencies: Latino majority versus minority status, electoral structure, and partisan versus nonpartisan election rules. Methods This study combines original survey data with data gathered by the U.S. Census on the national origin of Latinos in the United States. Results Latino homogeneity affects the chances of gaining representatives; however, this impact is evident only when Latinos constitute a numerical minority, hold at-large elections, and engage in nonpartisan contests. Conclusion Theories of representation must move beyond traditional assessments of context and examine how the seemingly negligible characteristics of minority populations might affect their prospects for politics.
Type of preoperative aura may predict postsurgical outcome in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and mesial temporal sclerosis.

Abstract Purpose As the initial symptoms of epileptic seizures, many types of auras have significant localizing or lateralizing value. In this study, we hypothesized that the type of aura may predict postsurgical outcome in patients with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). Methods In this retrospective study, all patients with a clinical diagnosis of medically refractory TLE due to unilateral mesial temporal sclerosis who underwent epilepsy surgery at the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center were recruited. Patients were prospectively registered in a database from 1986 through 2014. Postsurgical outcome was classified into two groups: seizure freedom or relapse. Outcome was compared between seven groups of patients according to their preoperative auras. Results Two hundred thirty-seven patients were studied. The chance of becoming free of seizures after surgery in patients with abdominal aura was 65.1%, while in other patients, this was 43.3% (P = 0.01). In two-by-two comparisons, no other significant differences were observed. Conclusion Patients with medically refractory TLE–MTS who reported abdominal auras preceding their seizures fared better postoperatively with regard to seizure control compared with those who did not report auras, which may indicate bitemporal dysfunction, and to patients with other auras, which may indicate a widespread epileptogenic zone in the latter group of patients.
Inheritance of an oviposition behavior by an egg parasitoid.

A quantitative genetic study revealed genetic and environmental sources of variance in percentage parasitism of European corn borer egg masses and secondary sex ratios by Trichogramma nubilale. Full and half-sib groups of T. nubilale were obtained from a nested mating design, which permitted the partitioning of the variance of T. nubilale parasitism of European corn borer egg masses into additive genetic variance, maternal/dominant variance and environmental variance. A mother–daughter regression of the percentage of an egg mass parasitized allowed a determination of the direction of a potential response to selection in the event of maternal effects. No or very little additive genetic effects were associated with the percentage of eggs within a mass parasitized and secondary sex ratios, but a significant amount of the variance for both traits had a maternal and/or dominant genetic source. The relationship between mothers and daughters in egg mass parasitism was positive, and 55.4% of the progeny of a given mother had behaviors that resemble their mother. Most of the variance had an environmental and/or unknown genetic source implying potentially high phenotypic plasticity associated with all these traits. The presence of maternal effects and phenotypic plasticity could have multiple and complex effects on progeny characters and potential responses to selection.
A technique for fixation of the mobilized testis in neonatal herniorrhaphy

Dissection of the cord structures during herniorrhaphy in term infants may result in inadvertant mobilization of the testes from its gubernaculum attachments. Additionally, inguinal hernias in premature infants may be associated with ipsilateral cryptorchidism. However, creation of a subdartos pouch for fixation of the testis is generally unnecessary in this group of patients. We have devised a simple technique for fixation of the testis in this setting which will prevent subsequent testicular entrapment or torsion of the surgically mobilized or cryptorchid infantile testis.
Pubrarians and Liblishers at 20: Reflections on Library Publishing from 1995–2014

The following is a lightly edited transcript of the opening keynote address delivered March 5, 2014 at the inaugural Library Publishing Forum in Kansas City, Missouri.
A Rapid Approximate Method of Determining Axial-Flow Turbine Disk and Blade Temperatures

A method of determining the temperature profile of a single-stage axial-flow turbine disk with uncooled blades is presented. The blade temperature is also estimated. Information required for the solution is: the gas properties and velocity entering the rotor, the blade and disk geometry, the blade fastening geometry, and the disk-to-shaft attachment geometry. Impingement disk cooling may be used. The temperature of the shaft at a point near the journal bearing mutt be assumed, but it is shown that this assumption is not critical. A stepwise numerical solution, suitable for either hand calculation or computer programming, is employed. The method may be extended to multi-stage turbines. A typical example is given and the effect of changing the radius of injection of the disk cooling air is shown.Copyright © 1967 by ASME
Atypia of undetermined significance and nondiagnostic rates in The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology are inversely related

There is substantial variation in the reported rates of different diagnostic categories in The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBS). Specifically, the relationship between the nondiagnostic (ND) and atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) categories has not been closely examined previously. Data from published series in the literature and from 2 separate hospitals with more than 15,000 thyroid aspirates were reviewed. The AUS and ND rates were consistently negatively correlated when analyzed by year, aspirator, and cytologist. The strongest correlation was with cytologists (P < .0003). Absolute ND rates decreased by 1% for every 3.5% increase in AUS, implying the existence of a discrete population of cases that cytologists will classify as ND or AUS. As such, AUS and ND are not independent variables. Awareness of this relationship may be useful for laboratories and individual cytopathologists for refining the use of TBS.
Survival of artificially inoculated Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium on the surface of raw poultry products subjected to crust freezing

Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. are ubiquitous in the poultry production environment, and hence, their transmission to poultry products is of concern. Industry has widely used freezing as a strategy to halt pathogen growth, and more recently, crust freezing has been suggested as a means to improve mechanical operations, quality, and safety of poultry products. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of crust freezing on the survival of Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium that were artificially inoculated on the surface of raw poultry products with or without adhering skin. Ampicillin-resistant (AR) E. coli JM 109 and nalidixic acid-resistant (NAR) Salmonella Typhimurium were used in the experiments. A set of cultures was subjected to cold-shock stress by storage at 4°C for 10 d. After being either cold-shocked or non-cold-shocked, commercial chicken breasts without skin and chicken thighs with skin were inoculated in separate experiments with each bacterium. Samples were crust frozen at -85°C for 20 min or completely frozen at -85°C for 60 min. The E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium were recovered on appropriate selective and nonselective media containing the corresponding antibiotic. Log reductions and extent of injury were calculated and treatments were compared using ANOVA. No significant differences were observed in the reduction of cold-shocked or non-cold-shocked bacteria on products with or without skin that were crust or completely frozen. The average reduction for E. coli was 0.15 log(10) cfu/mL of rinse, and for Salmonella Typhimurium 0.10 log(10) cfu/mL of rinse; therefore, none of the final reductions were greater than the desired target (1 log). Bacterial cell injury was not significantly different (P > 0.05) among any of the treatments. Data showed no practical significance for initial reduction of these pathogens from crust freezing and thus, this technology should not be considered as a strategy for the reduction of E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium on poultry.
Adsorption and dissociation of hydrazoic acid on Al(111)

Hydrazoic acid $({\mathrm{N}}_{3}\mathrm{H})$ is a possible precursor for the low-temperature growth of aluminum nitride (AlN), a wide-gap semiconductor with many potential applications. We have investigated the adsorption of ${\mathrm{N}}_{3}\mathrm{H}$ on the Al(111) surface using ab initio density-functional theory and a self-consistent-charge density-functional tight-binding method. This process may be seen as an initial step of the heteroepitaxial growth of AlN. Our results show that the molecule dissociates on the surface into ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ and a NH radical without encountering a barrier. Furthermore, while the NH radical forms strong bonds with the top surface atoms, there is no significant binding between the ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ fragment and the surface. We display the complete dissociation path and the total energies associated with the different intermediate configurations and compare our results to experimental data.
Thoracic gas volume measurements in paralyzed mice.

We have previously measured thoracic gas volume (V-TG) in spontaneously breathing mice using a whole body plethysmograph and have now extended our technique to allow for V-TG measurements during paralysis. BALB/c mice were anesthetized and placed in a body-box and ventilated via a tracheostomy cannula through the box wall. Box pressure (P-b) and tracheal pressure (P-ao) were measured during spontaneous breathing, and again after paralysis while mechanically compressing the chest. V-TG was much larger after paralysis (0.49+/-0.06 ml, positive end-expiratory pressure=2 cmH(2)O) when compared with spontaneous breathing (0.31+/-0.01 ml). External chest compression produced looping in the plots of P-b versus P-ao that was attributable to gradual changes in P-b upon release of the mechanical chest compression and had the character of thermal transients. Under the assumption that the rate of heating of the air in the chamber was proportional to the pressure applied to the animal's chest, and that any increase in air temperature was dissipated by heat absorption by the chamber walls, we developed an algorithm that corrected for the thermal events. This yielded similar results for V-TG (0.30+/-0.02 ml) as obtained during spontaneous efforts. Our method may prove particularly useful when paralysis is required for the precise measurement of lung mechanics. (Less)
The appearance of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor during chick embryo development.

Abstract The appearance of the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor in intestine, kidney, and chorioallantoic membrane of chick embryo was followed by sucrose density gradient sedimentation analysis and Scatchard plot analysis. The receptor from each of these organs sediments as a single 3.7S component. At 19 days of embryonic life, intestine had the highest specific 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 binding activity followed by kidney and chorioallantoic membrane. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 binding activity increased gradually at 12–15 days and rapidly until 20 days in intestine. In kidney, this protein increased rapidly from 12 to 16 days and did not change subsequently. In chorioallantoic membrane, the receptor increased slowly from 8 through 15 days, rapidly until 19 days, and decreased at 20 days. The injection of hydrocortisone into the chick embryo at 10 days increased receptor number in intestine, kidney, and chorioallantoic membrane by a factor of 2 at 12 days. Injection of this hormone after this time had little or no effect.
Nutritive Value of High-Moisture Corn When Fed with Various Silages to Lactating Dairy Cows

Summary A feeding trial was conducted comparing the nutritive value of high-moisture corn when fed in combination with corn, oat, or sorghum silage to cows of varying productive capacity. An attempt was made to feed the high-moisture corn on an equal dry matter basis and any variation in the total dry matter consumption that did occur was removed by regression techniques before a final analysis was made. The efficiency of utilization of the dry matter of the high-moisture corn increased as the moisture content of the corn increased from 22 to 32% moisture. The dry matter of oat silage was used less efficiently for the production of milk than was the dry matter of corn or sorghum silage. The latter two were about equally well utilized for milk production. The significance of body weight changes of cows fed the various high-moisture corns and silages was obscured by a second-order interaction. However, the lower-moisture corns fed in combination with oat silage to high-producing cows were less efficient in maintaining body weight than were other possible combinations. The high-moisture corn fed in this trial was found to contain yeast rather than mold when removed from storage. No difficulties were observed when high-moisture corn was fed to lactating dairy cows.
Current status and future directions of EMR use in psychology clinics

Abstract Objectives The use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems is an identified competency for psychologists. However, limited information is available regarding EMR use in behavior health settings and in clinical training for psychologists. We wanted to assess current EMR use in psychology training clinics, describe adoption and implementation processes and compare perceived concerns across the diffusion of EMR systems in these clinics. In addition, we explored system features/functions used and perceptions of training needs and impact. Methods This paper reports a survey of Clinic Directors within psychology training programs, whose clinics were members of the Association of Psychology Training Clinics (APTC). Using current theoretical frameworks, an online survey was developed and administered to Clinic Training Directors, with a return rate of 41%. Results Findings suggested ongoing diffusion of EMR systems across these clinics and identified differences in concerns associated with EMR status. Those clinics which adopted or were planning to adopt had lower concerns than clinics not planning to adopt for Cost, Time to Document, Interaction with Patients, Implementation Time, and Computer Challenges. Adopters had least concern about IT Support. Clinic Directors׳ responses to qualitative questions indicated benefits relating to clinic efficiencies, providing training to students, and improving documentation. Only a few clinics had progressed to considering how EMR use could enhance patient care. Conclusion The paper discusses diffusion of EMR across these clinics, limitations in current use as well as future directions.
A 4-methyl-substituted meta-iodobenzylguanidine analogue with prolonged retention in human neuroblastoma cells

Purpose As a part of our efforts to develop a meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) analogue with improved characteristics for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine tumours, 3-[131I]iodo-4-methyl-benzylguanidine ([131I]MeIBG) has been developed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate [131I]MeIBG in vitro using the uptake-1 positive SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cell line and in vivo in normal mice and mice bearing human neuroblastoma xenografts.
A shell-model study of the isotopes of O, F and Ne

Abstract The nuclei 18,19,20 O, 18,19,20 F and 20 Ne are described in terms of the shell model within the configurations ( 1 d 5 2 , 2 s 1 2 ) n , n = 2–4 . The residual nucleon-nucleon interaction is parametrized in terms of its two-body matrix elements, which are varied until a best fit to the spectra is obtained. The resulting wave functions are used to compute static and dynamic nuclear properties. In general, the model fits the known experimental data on spectra, transition rates and static multipole moments quite satisfactorily. In particular, good agreement with experiment is obtained for the rotational spectrum of 20 Ne and for the lifetimes of several of the states of its ground-state rotational band. Fitting the level properties of 20 Ne, however, is found to impose on the interaction parameters few restrictions beyond those already implied by a successful treatment of the O and F spectra. Although 36 states are fitted with a 16-parameter potential, it is found that several of the two-body matrix elements are not very well determined. Those interaction parameters that are well determined are compared with the results of a recent reaction-matrix calculation. It is found that satisfactory over-all agreement with experiment can be obtained only if the 1 + excited state of 18 F at 1.7 MeV is omitted from the fitting procedure. Rough estimates suggest that a core-excited 1 + state should occur at about this energy. Thus although the shell model with effective interaction can absorb large amounts of configuration impurity, it cannot do so successfully when the degree of configuration impurity in one of the states under consideration differs radically from that in its neighbors.
Novel Pluripotent Adult Stem Cell Source for Neurogenesis

A novel pluripotent stem cell population discovered by our laboratory, periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) are a viable source for regenerative medicine. We have demonstrated that these cells form all three germ layers in-vivo, and hypothesized that PDLSCs would be an ideal cell source for neurogenesis in-vitro. In our study, we evaluate the potential of Connexin 43+ PDLSCs to differentiate into a neural lineage. Control Connexin 43+ PDLSCs were cultured in complete culture media. Neuro-induced Connexin 43+PDLSCs were grown in a neurogenic cocktail media. Media was changed every three days for a total of 6 days of treatment. Following treatment, cell morphology, gene expression, and immunohistochemistry were evaluated. Gene expression data was analyzed using a two-tailed t-test, with p<;0.05 considered significant. Morphological differences were evident in neuro-induced Connexin 43+ PDLSCs, along with a significant increase in gene expression of neuro filament medium over control samples. Immunohistochemical staining in neuro-induced Connexin 43+ PDLSCs demonstrated neurite-like processes and synaptophysin not found in control samples. Conclusion: Our neuro-induction protocol successfully induces Connexin 43+ PDLSCs to a neural lineage.
Convex hulls of samples from spherically symmetric distributions

Abstract The convex hull of a set of independent random points sampled from three types of spherically symmetric distributions in R d is investigated. Asymptotic behavior of the expected number of vertices, number of facets, probability content, surface area, and volume is estimated as sample size grows without bound. The estimates are applied to analyzing algorithms for constructing convex hulls.
Numerical experiments for Coulomb's law particle flow for nonlinear filters

We show numerical results for a new nonlinear filtering algorithm that is analogous to Coulomb's law. We have invented a new theory of exact particle flow for nonlinear filters. The flow of particles corresponding to Bayes' rule is computed from the gradient of the solution of Poisson's equation, and it is analogous to Coulomb's law. Our theory is a radical departure from other particle filters in several ways: (1) we compute Bayes' rule using a flow of particles rather than as a pointwise multiplication; (2) we never resample particles; (3) we do not use a proposal density; (4) we do not use importance sampling or any other MCMC algorithm; and (5) our filter is roughly 6 to 8 orders of magnitude faster than standard particle filters for the same accuracy.
Association Between Retinopathy and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (From the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort [CRIC] Study)

Patients with chronic kidney disease experience co-morbid illnesses, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and retinopathy. The purpose of the present study was to assess the association between retinopathy and self-reported CVD in a subgroup of the participants in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study. For this observational, ancillary investigation, 2,605 Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort participants were invited to participate in the present study, and nonmydriatic fundus photographs in both eyes were obtained for 1,936 subjects. The photographs were reviewed in a masked fashion at a central photograph reading center. The presence and severity of retinopathy (diabetic, hypertensive, or other) and vessel diameter caliber were assessed using standard protocols by trained graders who were masked to the information about the study participants. A history of self-reported CVD was obtained using a medical history questionnaire. Kidney function measurements and traditional and nontraditional risk factors for CVD were obtained from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study. A greater severity of retinopathy was associated with a greater prevalence of any CVD, and this association persisted after adjustment for the traditional risk factors for CVD. The presence of vascular abnormalities usually associated with hypertension was also associated with increased prevalence of CVD. We found a direct relation between CVD prevalence and mean venular caliber. In conclusion, the presence of retinopathy was associated with CVD, suggesting that retinovascular pathology might indicate macrovascular disease, even after adjustment for renal dysfunction and traditional CVD risk factors. This would make the assessment of retinal morphology a valuable tool in CKD studies of CVD outcomes.