cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Elexacaftor/Ivacaftor/Tezacaftor in Lung Transplant Recipients: A Case Series

Purpose Little data is published describing the safety or efficacy of elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor in lung transplant recipients. Even though it is not expected to offer pulmonary benefits in lung transplant recipients with cystic fibrosis (CF), it may improve extrapulmonary manifestations. Methods This retrospective case series summarizes the clinical experience of 7 lung transplant recipients on elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor therapy. Results Patients were 39 +/- 11 years old, 71% male, and 7.6 +/- 7 years post transplant when starting elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor. After 211 +/- 89 days on therapy, 4 (57%) note improvement in at least one domain: 4 (47%) report improved GI symptoms, 2 (29%) report improvement in sinus symptoms, 2 (29%) had pancreatic enzyme dose reductions. Of the 5 patients with CF-related diabetes, 3 (40%) report improvement in diabetes control. Most patients required a tacrolimus dose reduction after starting elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor. In order to maintain the same tacrolimus trough goal, doses were adjusted from 9.3 +/- 5.9 mg/day at baseline to 7.4 +/- 5.3 mg/day after dose titration was complete; this was an average 20% dose reduction. There were no cases of allograft rejection. With regard to drug-related side effects severe enough to warrant intervention, 2 (29%) experienced leukopenia and 1 (14%) experienced transaminitis. Of the two with leukopenia, one improved with dose adjustment to other medications whereas one required elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor discontinuation. The discontinuation rate for any cause was 1 patient (14%). Conclusion In sum, elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor may offer a benefit for management of the extrapulomonary manifestations of cystic fibrosis after lung transplantation. Enhanced monitoring for tacrolimus dose adjustments and drug-related side effects is warranted.
Upgrades to intensive care: The effects of COVID-19 on decision-making in the emergency department.

Abstract Introduction The initial surge of critically ill patients in the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted processes at acute care hospitals. This study examines the frequency and causes for patients upgraded to intensive care unit (ICU) level care following admission from the emergency department (ED) to non-critical care units. Methods The number of ICU upgrades per month was determined, including the percentage of upgrades noted to have non-concordant diagnoses. Charts with non-concordant diagnoses were examined in detail as to the ED medical decision-making, clinical circumstances surrounding the upgrade, and presence of a diagnosis of COVID-19. For each case, a cognitive bias was assigned. Results The percentage of upgraded cases with non-concordant diagnoses increased from a baseline range of 14–20% to 41.3%. The majority of upgrades were due to premature closure (72.2%), anchoring (61.1%), and confirmation bias (55.6%). Conclusion Consistent with the behavioral literature, this suggests that stressful ambient conditions affect cognitive reasoning processes.
Banks’s Librarian

Brown’s appointment as Banks’s librarian meant that he was now in charge of Sir Joseph’s entire library as well as his collections. Brown’s methodical work habits and expertise were indispensable at this critical moment because Banks began to suffer increasingly from a variety of health problems. One of the important works produced by Brown during the decade following Dryander’s death in 1810 was Brown’s memoir inserted as a botanical appendix to Flinders’s A Voyage to Terra Australis, “General Remarks, Geographical and Systematical, on the Botany of Terra Australis” (1814). Brown’s “General Remarks” contained the material he originally intended to publish in a second volume of Prodromus. In the botanical index, Brown included and carefully arranged the plants from the Leguminosae (the pea family whose members contain pods which serve as its fruit), Myrtaceae (dicotyledonous plants from the Myrtle family), and Compositae (including Chrysanthemum, Endive, and Chicory genera). In describing the plants from these groups, Brown considered their geographical distribution as well as their anatomical and physiological adaptations. He also calculated that he had studied approximately 4200 species indigenous to Australia, and further estimated the number of dicotyledons as three times the number of monocotyledons. Brown’s observations on the fructification in mosses critically examined the previous findings of Palisot de Beauvois who regarded the capsule of mosses as containing the organ of both sexes. Brown expanded his examination of the taxonomy and structure of plants with his work on Compositae (the daisy family, a group of widespread flowering plants), a group he described as “strictly natural.” The Linnean Society (1818) published Brown’s paper on Compositae as a monograph as well. Brown went on to describe the fine structure of the flowers of plants in Compositae, and discussed the phenomenon of inflorescence in Compositae, a term he used to refer to how a group or cluster of flowers were arranged on a stem composed of a main branch, or with a complicated arrangement of branches. In 1820, Brown’s life, the fate of science in Great Britain, and British scientific exploration were irrevocably altered: Joseph Banks, the longest-serving President of the Royal Society (over 40 years), passed away. Brown continued his stewardship as librarian of Banks’s collection. He also had the additional responsibility of preserving the magnificent herbarium, library, and drawings in Banks’s London home in Soho Square. The shy and retiring botanist had assumed a preeminent position in British natural history.
Neonatal Development in Prenatally Zika Virus-Exposed Infant Macaques with Dengue Immunity

Infants exposed to Zika virus (ZIKV) prenatally may develop birth defects, developmental deficits, or remain asymptomatic. It is unclear why some infants are more affected than others, although enhancement of maternal ZIKV infection via immunity to an antigenically similar virus, dengue virus (DENV), may play a role. We hypothesized that DENV immunity may worsen prenatal ZIKV infection and developmental deficits in offspring. We utilized a translational macaque model to examine how maternal DENV immunity influences ZIKV-exposed infant macaque neurodevelopment in the first month of life. We inoculated eight macaques with prior DENV infection with ZIKV, five macaques with ZIKV, and four macaques with saline. DENV/ZIKV-exposed infants had significantly worse visual orientation skills than ZIKV-exposed infants whose mothers were DENV-naive, with no differences in motor, sensory or state control development. ZIKV infection characteristics and pregnancy outcomes did not individually differ between dams with and without DENV immunity, but when multiple factors were combined in a multivariate model, maternal DENV immunity combined with ZIKV infection characteristics and pregnancy parameters predicted select developmental outcomes. We demonstrate that maternal DENV immunity exacerbates visual orientation and tracking deficits in ZIKV-exposed infant macaques, suggesting that human studies should evaluate how maternal DENV immunity impacts long-term neurodevelopment.
Risks and Anatomy of Data Breaches

Data breaches are becoming an ever increasingly large threat as reliance on telecommunication devices and services increase. Personally Identifiable Data (PII) is collected by nearly every public facing company and even some that are not publicly interfaced, drastically increasing the rate of data breach incidents. Emergent technologies such as cloud hosting increases the risks involved as it opens the doors for attacks to happen remotely. PII along with metadata that relates every user's actions together pose a threat to the end user if the collecting company does not do their due diligence to secure themselves against the onslaught of threats that exist on the open Internet. This paper aims to discuss the construction of your average data breach and paint a picture of what is at stake if things continue as they are now, and outline ways to mitigate this bleak future.
Tamm Review: Ecological principles to guide post-fire forest landscape management in the Inland Pacific and Northern Rocky Mountain regions

Abstract Post-fire landscapes are the frontline of forest ecosystem change. As such, they represent opportunities to foster conditions that are better adapted to future climate and wildfires with post-fire management. In western US landscapes, post-fire management has been mostly defined by short-term emergency mitigation measures, salvage harvest to recover economic value, and replanting to achieve full stocking. These approaches are largely incongruent with ecologically based forest management due to their limited scope and objectives. Here, we develop a framework for ecologically based post-fire management. Post-fire management principles are to (i) protect large-diameter trees and fire refugia; (ii) anticipate future fuel accumulation from post-fire tree mortality; (iii) reinitiate and maintain stabilizing fire-vegetation feedbacks; (iv) differentiate between climate- and dispersal-mediated transitions to non-forest; and (v) align species composition and structure with future fire regimes and climate. Stand-scale management strategies to implement these principles include (i) maintain or enhance forest resilience; (ii) restore forest conditions and resist transition to non-forest; and (iii) accept or facilitate transition to non-forest. Determining where and over what extent to deploy these stand-scale strategies in large, burned landscapes is informed by a post-fire landscape evaluation, and expressed with a landscape prescription. A post-fire landscape evaluation is a data-driven characterization of current vegetation conditions, including the immediate changes caused by wildfire, and includes a departure analysis—an evaluation of current conditions against reference conditions. The landscape prescription provides guidance about the distribution of different successional patches and their sizes across the topographic template and identifies priority areas for different post-fire treatments. We develop a geospatial framework to integrate ecological principles with a post-fire landscape evaluation that can be readily applied to management planning after wildfire. We illustrate application of these principles through the development of landscape prescriptions for two watersheds, each burned in a recent large fire, in northeast Washington, USA. Use of ecologically based post-fire management principles and landscape evaluations can help shift often contentious debates over salvage harvesting towards a more productive dialogue around how to best adapt landscapes to future conditions.
Poverty screening in primary care

Many thanks to Gopal and colleagues for providing a balanced article about poverty screening and for providing guidance to GPs who wish to take this further.1 However, we must separate our wish to help individuals facing poverty from our concerns about health inequalities: we cannot resolve the latter by doing the …
The Fractal Geometry of Trees and Other Natural Phenomena

Before we can tackle some specific new technical tidbits, which this paper hopes to contribute to the study of the geometry of plants, we must deal with the first term in the title. You are not expected to know it, because I coined it only recently. Before I define it, I beg you to examine Figure 1, which is the bottom half of the combined Figures 1 and 2.
Change by Design

Over the course of a century of professional practice, designers have mastered a set of skills that can be productively applied to a wider range of problems than has commonly been supposed. These include complex social problems, issues of organizational management, and strategic innovation. Conversely, non-designers—those in leadership positions in companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, professionals in a broad range of services and industries—can benefit from learning how to think like designers. We offer some large-scale and more finely grained ideas about how this might happen.
Competing Visions of Patentable Subject Matter

Although many people disagree about whether various types of subject matter (e.g. human genes, diagnostic tests, or business methods) are or should be patentable, they ostensibly agree on the overarching framework within which the issue is analyzed. Almost everyone in legal debates — in courts and in the scholarly literature — talks about patentable subject matter (PSM) in the consequentialist terms of promoting innovation and of maximizing utilitarian benefits while minimizing utilitarian costs. A solution to PSM debates is thus understood to involve merely the collection of better data and more empirical evidence to answer the utilitarian-economic question. This Article challenges the widely shared premise. The ostensible consensus that everyone agrees that PSM law is about answering an agreed-upon utilitarian-economic question is an illusory one. In reality, debates about PSM law are not just about differences in empirical intuitions over economic costs and benefits; they are more importantly about differences in moral values, as well as about the relative weight of moral concerns vis-a-vis utilitarian concerns in patent law. Better data and more evidence will not resolve what is in reality a debate over first- and second-order normative commitments. Without candidly acknowledging and addressing the value differences that underlie PSM debates, the law in this area will remain an intractable mess.
Family – Power, Experience, and Culture (F‐PEC) Scale

The family – power, experience, and culture (F-PEC) scale, which was developed to measure family influence, is described. The three factors of family influence that are measured include (i) power, the influence the family has on governance and management of the firm; (ii) experience, the information knowledge, judgment, and intuition that come through successive generations; and (iii) culture, the alignment of the family's goals and with the firm's goals. Along with the scale's description, the theoretical debate regarding the definition of a family business is summarized along with the evidence that has accumulated regarding the F-PEC's reliability and validity. Keywords: family business, family business measurement; family business culture; family control; family ownership; family business essence; F-PEC
Energy reduction and fundamental energy limits in digital VLSI circuits

We address the problem of deriving the minimum cost (energy), necessary for a unit to process a bit of information. We also address the use of coding in order to achieve this limit.
Adaptation to dynamic environments displays local generalization for voluntary reaching movements

The shape of the directional generalization function for adaptation to a viscous force-field environment has been controversial. Some studies have suggested wide, essentially global generalization and others have suggested narrow, local generalization. Here, we show definitively that motor adaptation displays narrow generalization with a minimal global component and a peak at the trained movement direction for both single-trial and asymptotic adaptation. Furthermore, we find that reaching movements in opposite directions do not interfere with one another during force-field learning.
Multifocal accumulation of p53 protein in esophageal carcinoma: evidence for field cancerization.

A systematic characterization of the cancerization field of esophageal carcinoma based on p53 protein accumulation has not been reported previously. The present report presents such a study based on 50 specimens of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma from northern China. To gain insight into the etiology of this disease among the 50 subjects, DNA was analyzed for a polymorphism of the aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) gene, which has been associated with increased risk for esophageal cancer among alcohol-consuming patients in Japan. However, the frequency of this polymorphism among our subjects, 30% (15/50), was within published control frequencies for this allele, suggesting that this allele may not play a role in the etiology of esophageal cancer in this northern Chinese population. Immuno-histochemical staining showed that 66% of the tumors were p53+. Of 420 pieces near or adjacent to p53+ tumors, p53+ cells were present among 64% of basal-cell hyperplasia (BCH), 70% of dysplasia (DYS) and 88% of carcinoma in situ (CIS). Of 216 pieces near or adjacent to p53− tumors, p53+ frequencies were 25% of BCH, 25% of DYS and 0% of CIS. The proportion of BCH cells that were p53+ decreased at increasing distance from the tumor (p = 0.006). The sporadic distribution of p53+ cells and the distribution and frequency of p53+ precursor lesions support the view that accumulation of p53 protein is multifocal and occurs in precursor lesions in early stages of esophageal carcinogenesis. Int. J. Cancer 78:568–575, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. + This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Coherence-induced entanglement

We show how atomic coherence can lead to entanglement between two thermal fields at a temperature $T$. We first show that the passage of a three-level atom in $V$ configuration without coherence cannot create entanglement. However, if the excited states are driven by a microwave field, the resulting atomic coherence can lead to entanglement between the thermal fields. We show that, no matter how high the temperature of the fields is, the thermal fields can always be entangled in the presence of atomic coherence.
Dynamic New World: Refining Our View of Protein Structure, Function and Evolution

Proteins are crucial to the functioning of all lifeforms. Traditional understanding posits that a single protein occupies a single structure ("fold"), which performs a single function. This view is radically challenged with the recognition that high structural dynamism-the capacity to be extra "floppy"-is more prevalent in functional proteins than previously assumed. As reviewed here, this dynamic take on proteins affects our understanding of protein "structure", function, and evolution, and even gives us a glimpse into protein origination. Specifically, this review will discuss historical developments concerning protein structure, and important new relationships between dynamism and aspects of protein sequence, structure, binding modes, binding promiscuity, evolvability, and origination. Along the way, suggestions will be provided for how key parts of textbook definitions-that so far have excluded membership to intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs)-could be modified to accommodate our more dynamic understanding of proteins.
Multidimensional Map Algebra: Design and Implementation of a Spatio-Temporal GIS Processing Language

Due to the increasing volume of spatio-temporal data generated from remote sensing, sensor networks and computational simulation, there is a need for a generic, domain-independent framework for spatio-temporal data analysis. This research presents a generic set of data processing and manipulation tools for spatio-temporal raster data called multidimensional map algebra (MMA). MMA is an extension of conventional map algebra that operates not only on data that are two-dimensional in space but also on data that are: (1) one-dimensional in time; (2) both two-dimensional in space and one-dimensional in time; (3) three-dimensional in space; and (4) both three-dimensional in space and one-dimensional in time. MMA data types, neighborhoods, lags, and functions are presented, including rules for combining data types of different dimensionality within local, focal, and zonal functions. A prototype implementation in JAVA is provided as a demonstration and syntax specification for the functions. Challenges to continued development of MMA include performance and efficiency issues for processing very large multidimensional data sets.
Reference Sources for the Study of Literary Little Magazines

Abstract This article reviews basic reference sources for the research and study of literary little magazines including overview guides; guides to scholarship and criticism; bibliographies; directories; union lists and catalogs; periodicals; indexes; collections; and useful articles and books about little magazines.
RENAL TOLERANCE TO PROLONGED WARM ISCHEMIA TIME IN A LAPAROSCOPIC VERSUS OPEN SURGERY PORCINE MODEL

ABSTRACTPurpose: To our knowledge the effects of renal warm ischemia (WI) during laparoscopic vs open surgery have not been investigated. Decreased renal blood flow during pneumoperitoneum may precondition the kidney to tolerate longer WI time. Traditionally 30 minutes has defined the limit of renal WI time in open surgery. However, recent reports show renal function recovery at WI times of 45 to 120 minutes. We assessed renal function recovery after prolonged WI during laparoscopic vs open surgery in a solitary kidney porcine model.Materials and Methods: A total of 32 female farm pigs underwent right laparoscopic nephrectomy to create a single kidney model. At 12 days later the animals were randomized into open and laparoscopic groups, each with 4 subgroups, namely 30, 60 and 90 minutes of WI, and a 90-minute control. Serum creatinine and the glomerular filtration rate were assessed preoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 3, 8 and 15.Results: There was no statistical difference in renal function betw...
THE SOLUBILITY LIMITS OF ALUMINUM IN DELTA PLUTONIUM AND SOME REVISIONS OF THE PLUTONIUM-ALUMINUM PHASE DIAGRAM

Abstract The δ-phase solvus and the δ (δ + e) boundary have been determined by the X-ray lattice-spacing method. The maximum solubility of aluminum in δ plutonium was found to be 14.5 ± 0.2 at % aluminum at the peritectoid temperature (788 ± 5° C). With decreasing temperature the solubility decreases to 13.6 at % aluminum at 560° C where the solvus shows a point of inflection at its junction with the δ + PuAlaiPu3Al peritectoid horizontal. Below 560° C the solubility decreases to 11.3 at % aluminum at 350° C, the lowest temperature, so far, at which it is fairly certain that equilibrium has been achieved. The precipitation behaviors of Pu3Al and PuAl in δ phase are discussed. The intermediate phase PuAl was found to have decomposed into Pu3AL and PuAl2 after being aged at room temperature for 10 years. The equilibrium decomposition temperature has been fixed at 193 ± 3° C Changes in aged alloys containing the δ phase indicate that δ phase is stable at room temperature. Additional thermal-analysis work has led to some modifications of liquidus and solidus temperatures.
Citizen crime prevention: Domains and participation

Attempts to engender citizens' participation in crime-prevention activities have met with varied degrees of success. Indeed, studies find great differences in participants. Part of the reason may be that different types of crime prevention are considered in the various programs and analyses. The present study uses the National Crime Survey: Victims Risk Supplement to uncover different domains of crime prevention activity and to investigate who participates in crime prevention. Five distinct types of crime-preventive behavior are isolated in the analysis. Further, path analytic techniques reveal that different demographic and crime related factors influence participation in the various crime-prevention activities. These results suggest that participation in crime prevention is complex and that we need more knowledge about who participates in different crime-prevention programs in order to promote such participation more effectively.
Simultaneous determination of preventive maintenance and replacement policies in a queue-like production system with minimal repair

Abstract This paper addresses the joint effects of preventive maintenance and replacement policies on a queue-like production system with minimal repair at failures. We consider a policy which calls for a preventive maintenance operation whenever N parts have been processed. If a failure occurs and at least K preventive maintenance operations have been carried out, the system is replaced by a new one. Otherwise, a failure is handled by minimal repair. An analytical model is developed and the argument of renewal–reward theory is used to provide long-run expected profit per unit time for a given maintenance and replacement policy. Numerical examples are given to provide some managerial insights.
Leader Behavior, Esteem for the Least Preferred Co-Worker, and Group Performance

Summary This study investigated relations between Fiddler's esteem for the least preferred co-worker (LPC) measure, leader behavior, and group performance among 53 first-line supervisors of life insurance agents. The overall findings indicated that the relative amount of consideration given to subordinates increased with increased group performance. However, this general trend was particularly marked with respect to low LPC supervisors. It was concluded that LPC measures a triggered behavioral disposition reflecting the degree to which leaders are responsive to task-related feedback.
The politics of expertise in Congress and the news media

Objective. Experts are increasingly active in U.S. policymaking, but what accounts for their varied visibility is unclear. The agenda-setting and media studies literature suggest that experts are generally neutral, distant actors in policymaking whose products are made visible by Congress and the news media when helpful. This study examines how and when the intentional efforts of experts can also affect their relative visibility and whether a proliferation of expert organizations, as has occurred in American policymaking in recent decades, is correctly viewed as creating conditions for more rational, thoughtful decisionmaking, as some existing scholarship might suggest. Methods. I consider the conveyance of expertise among a sample of 66 public policy think tanks in congressional testimony and three national newspapers between 1991 and 1995. In a multivariate analysis, I evaluate what accounts for the quantity of congressional and media visibility. I then use a content analysis to examine differences in the nature of visibility received by think tanks. Results. Washington-based think tanks and think tanks of no identifiable ideology have some advantage in gaining congressional and media visibility overall. Think tanks deemed credible receive more, and more substantive, visibility than those that are ideological and marketing-oriented. Conclusions. Cumulatively, my findings suggest that more credible, staid, not identifiably ideological expert organizations are slightly favored by congressional staff members and journalists to provide guidance on issues and news stories. More ideological and marketing-oriented sources of expertise, by contrast, are more relied upon to build support for ideas, either in staged congressional hearings or on the editorial pages of newspapers. Expert organizations can affect their relative visibility; the evidence is mixed on whether their proliferation makes policymaking and decisionmaking better informed or more rational or thoughtful.
Activation of the frog sartorius acetylcholine receptor by a covalently attached group.

The frog sartorius motor endplate was treated with the specific disulfide bond reducing agent dithiothreitol and subsequently exposed to a covalently reacting compound (the nitrophenyl ester ofp-carboxyphenyltrimethylammonium iodide, NPTMB) known to activate the dithiothreitol-reduced acetylcholine receptor inElectrophorus electroplax. NPTMB causes a maximum depolarization of about 35 mV when applied to the dithiothreitol-treated sartorius motor endplate. It is ineffective on postjunctional membrane prior to disulfide bond reduction and on extrajunctional regions, reduced or unreduced. High concentrations of a competitive antagonist such as (+)-tubocurarine prevent reaction between NPTMB and the reduced receptor and cause a repolarization of the membrane when applied to the already-depolarized preparation. We conclude that in frog muscle, as in electroplax, the attached activator bridges the acetylcholine binding site of the reduced receptor between a sulfhydryl group, to which it is covalently bound, and a negative subsite, with which it forms a reversible ionic bond.
Patient self-treatment using lansoprazole for frequent nighttime heartburn. Commentary.

Practice PearlLansoprazole 15 mg or, 30 mg effectively reduced, frequent nighttime heartburn.
Epistemicism and the Combined Spectrum

Derek Parfit's combined-spectrum argument seems to conflict with epistemicism, a viable theory of vagueness. While Parfit argues for the indeterminacy of personhood, epistemicism denies indeterminacy. But, we argue, the linguistically based determinacy that epistemicism supports lacks the sort of normative or ontological significance that concerns Parfit. Thus, we reformulate his argument to make it consistent with epistemicism. We also dispute Roy Sorensen's suggestion that Parfit's argument relies on an assumption that fuels resistance to epistemicism, namely, that ‘the magnitude of a modification must be proportional to its effect.’
Synthesis of collagenase and neutral proteases by articular chondrocytes: stimulation by a macrophage-derived factor.

Summary Rabbit peritoneal macrophages, when incubated in culture with bacterial lipopolysaccharides, release a factor which stimulates the production of collagenase and neutral proteases by chondro- cytes. The possible role of these enzymes in cartilage destruction in chronic inflammatory conditions is discussed.
Calcium uptake by mechanically disaggregated heart muscle

In order to study the mechanism by which spontaneous rhythmic contractions occur in hyperpermeable fragments of mechanically minced mammalian myocardium, we have examined their calcium uptake in a phosphate-buffered medium in which beating is particularly vigorous. 45Ca uptake was dependent on added ATP and varied with temperature, protein concentration and time. 923 μmol of 45Ca/kg myocardium were taken up during the first minute of measurement. This corresponds to approximately 21 μmol of Ca/kg wet wt/beat at the observed frequency of 44 beats/min. Uptake continued until a steep gradient of [Ca2+]i/[Ca2+]0 was formed. Although the mechanism determining [Ca2+]i oscillations which underlie beating is unknown for this preparation, it appears that sufficient calcium transits from the extracellular fluid and through the cytosol to produce the observed contractions and is sequestered in intracellular sites rapidly enough to allow the observed number of relaxations.
Cardiac Output in Premature Neonates with Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Cardiac Output in Premature Neonates with Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Patent Ductus Arteriosus
Cattle as a Store of Wealth in Swaziland: Comment

In a recent article in the Journal, Doran, Low, and Kemp (DLK) argue that Swazi herders hold cattle as a store of wealth apart from their productive value. In Swaziland, "insofar as cattle are regarded as an end in themselves, they cannot be likened to conventional disposable productive assets which are held as long as their capital value in production exceeds their current market value" (DLK, p. 42). DLK believe that the store-of-wealth motive induces herders to maintain individual animals be-
Association of depression witk reduced heart rate variability in coronary artery disease

Decreased heart rate (HR) variability is an independent risk factor for mortality in cardiac populations. Clinical depression has also been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study tests the hypothesis that depressed patients with CAD have decreased HR variability compared with nondepressed CAD patients. Nineteen patients with angiographically documented CAD and either major or minor depression were compared with a sample of nondepressed CAD patients according to age, sex, and smoking status. All patients underwent 24-hour Holter monitoring, and the standard deviation of all normal-to-normal intervals was used as the primary index of HR variability. HR variability was significantly lower in depressed than nondepressed patients (90 +/- 35 vs 117 +/- 26 ms; p < or = 0.01), even after adjusting for relevant covariates. Thus, decreased HR variability may help explain the increased risk for cardiac mortality and morbidity in depressed CAD patients.
Oxidation Behavior of Nb-20Mo-15Si-25Cr and Nb-20Mo-15Si-25Cr-5B Alloys

Nb-20Mo-15Si-25Cr (25Cr alloy) and Nb-20Mo-15Si-25Cr-5B (25Cr/5B alloy) alloys have been subjected to oxidation in air for 24 hours from 973 K to 1673 K (700 °C to 1400 °C). Even though B additions do not improve oxidation resistance at temperatures higher than 1473 K (1200 °C), the lower temperature oxidation resistance is superior with B by influencing the microstructure. Porous oxide scale development at lower temperatures has been attributed to the dominant growth of Nb2O5 and the vaporization of MoO3. An intermediate oxidation layer is developed between the scale and the metal for the 25Cr/5B alloy at temperatures above 1173 K (900 °C). Scale densification at elevated temperatures results in higher stress development as a result of the mismatch of coefficients of thermal expansion, ultimately resulting in oxide spallation.
Effect of H2 on the Martian ionosphere: Implications for atmospheric evolution

Because H 2 reacts efficiently with O + , CO + 2, CO + , and N + 2, the molecular hydrogen abundance assumed in models of the Martian ionosphere greatly affects the high altitude density profiles of these ions. We have found that models of the low solar activity Martian ionosphere exhibit much smaller O + densities than the measured values if the adopted H 2 abundance is of the order of 40 ppm, the value proposed in a 1998 model of the Martian atmosphere. For a model based on the recently measured H 2 abundance of 15 ppm [Krasnopolsky and Feldman, 2001a, 2001b], the O + densities are closer to, but still somewhat less than the Viking densities. The O + peak densities of ∼600-750 cm -3 measured by the retarding potential analyzers on Vikings 1 and 2 [Hanson et al., 1977] are best reproduced with H 2 abundances less than ∼4 ppm. We have investigated the effect of various H 2 mixing ratios at the lower boundary of our model, and we find that the high altitude densities of O + , CO + 2, CO + , and N + 2 ions decrease as the H 2 abundance increases, and are much less for H 2 mixing ratios greater than 4 ppm than previous models have shown. Moreover, the photochemical escape rates of heavy atoms, such as C and N that are due to reactions of these ions, are also reduced. The Martian atmosphere was probably more reducing in past epochs, and therefore consisted of a larger fraction of H 2 . As the abundance of H 2 increases, the composition of the exosphere will also be altered, and the altitude of the exobase will rise. At very large mixing ratios, H and H 2 could potentially dominate the absorption of EUV radiation. Thus the escape of species by other photochemical mechanisms such as photodissociation and photodissociative ionization could also be reduced. If so, the nonthermal escape rates of heavy atoms in past epochs may have been much lower than previous estimates in which it is assumed that the oxidation state of the Martian atmosphere has remained constant over time.
Application of a flexible synthesis of (5R)-thiolactomycin to develop new inhibitors of type I fatty acid synthase.

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) catalyzes the synthesis of palmitate from the sequential condensation of an acetyl primer with two carbon units added from malonyl-CoA. Inhibition of the β-ketoacyl synthase domain of mammalian FAS leads to selective cytotoxicity to various cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Also, inhibitors of FAS can cause reduced food intake and body weight in mice. Naturally occurring thiolactomycin (TLM) was used as a template to develop a new class of type I FAS inhibitors. Using a flexible synthesis, families of TLM structural analogues were obtained that possess selective FAS activity and display anticancer and weight loss effects. Compounds 13a and 13d inhibit pure FAS (ZR-75-1 breast cancer, IC50 = ≤20 μg/mL), are nontoxic (MCF-7, IC50 = >50 μg/mL), and display effective weight loss in BalbC mice (>5%). Another subclass of TLM derivatives (23b−d, 31a) exhibits FAS activity (IC50 = ≤15 μg/mL), causes weight loss (>5%), and is cytotoxic to cancer cells (IC50 < 38 μg/mL). Finally, a t...
Use of Directed-Choice Menu Design Can Guide Patients Toward Healthier Meal Selections

Abstract The menu plays an important role in patient satisfaction while impacting the nutritional value of meals provided to patients in a hospital setting. The present study was conducted to determine the impact of a new menu design on the frequency of food item selection by inpatients. A directed-choice menu design was implemented; this design offers a featured meal (entree, starch, and vegetable) of the day appearing at the top of the menu, with alternative choices in each category at the bottom of the menu. Pre and post-implementation data was used to evaluate whether the design of the menu acts to guide patients to select the featured meal. Data on the frequency of selections before the menu was redesigned was compared to similar data collected after the new menu was implemented. Results showed a significant increase in patient selections of the featured lunch and dinner entrees (44% and 54% respectively; p
How to treat bipolar II depression and bipolar II mixed depression? – A reply to Benazzi

I have read with interest the letter by Dr Benazzi who raises a significant public-health concern in response to our recent publication that highlighted the dearth of placebo-controlled trials in bipolar I disorder (Muzina and Calabrese, 2003). Dr Benazzi appropriately draws our attention to an even greater unmet need, which is the current state of research that informs the treatment of bipolar II disorder. Whereas it is accurate to describe the literature in bipolar I depression as being terribly inadequate given the morbidity and mortality associated with bipolar I disorder, the literature regarding the treatment of bipolar II disorder is considerably worse. In fact, there are no treatments approved for use in bipolar II disorder by the US Food and Drug Administration despite its higher prevalence.
Continuous sheet of lens epithelium on an intraocular lens: Pathological confirmation of specular microscopy

A monolayer of proliferating lens epithelium on the anterior surface of an intraocular lens was found cytologically and confirmed histologically in a postmortem examination of one eye of a 57-year-old man. The man had had extracapsular cataract surgery five years earlier. This pathological finding confirms observations with specular microscopy.
Symposium on Assets, Incomes and Retirement

In most developed countries, an increase in the retirement-aged population has put considerable financial pressure on public pension systems. In response, a number of countries have reformed their systems and have encouraged a substitution toward private pensions and tax-sheltered saving. As the baby-boom cohort reaches retirement age, it is likely that further policy change will be required; however, knowledge about the behaviour of people as they approach and reach retirement age and how they might react to policy change is vital for the formulation of good policy. In the UK, for example, the fiscal treatment of pensions has changed, leading to changes in the way people save for retirement. We would like to know if this has altered retirement behaviour and changed economic resources following retirement. We would like to learn how further policy changes may affect future behaviour. It is fortunate that we have available a new dataset — the Retirement Survey — that can be used to answer these kinds of questions. The three papers in this symposium analyse some of the data from this survey. The Retirement Survey is the first major survey in the UK to follow individuals over time and report on their labour force activity, on their income and assets and on a broad range of personal characteristics. Previous studies have provided a cross-section (where we only observe individuals at one point in time) but have not included a panel element (where we follow the same individual over several time periods). Although cross-section data are well-suited for characterising a population, they may not be particularly useful in understanding behaviour. Retirement is a good example. To understand the economic determinants of retirement, we need
Agricultural lending and early warning models of bank failures for the late 2000s Great Recession

Purpose – The late 2000s Great Recession led to a surge of bank failures in the USA with nearly 300 banks failing from 2009 to 2010. Recalling the farm crises of the 1980s where the farm sector was pinpointed as one of the major precursors of such crises, this study is an attempt to validate if the agricultural sector can once again be considered as a major instigator of the current financial crises.Design/methodology/approach – An early warning model is developed based on factors that may cause bank failures, with special attention given to the role of the agricultural lending portfolios of commercial banks. The model will have several time period versions that will determine the length of time prior to the actual bank bankruptcy declarations that early warning signals could be detected.Findings – The empirical results indicate that credit exposure to the farm sector does not necessarily enhance a bank's tendency to fail or its probability of success or survival. This lends support to the reality that ag...
Vented chest seals for prevention of tension pneumothorax in a communicating pneumothorax.

Abstract Background Tension pneumothorax accounts for 3%–4% of combat casualties and 10% of civilian chest trauma. Air entering a wound via a communicating pneumothorax rather than by the trachea can result in respiratory arrest and death. In such cases, the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care advocates the use of unvented chest seals to prevent respiratory compromise. Objective A comparison of three commercially available vented chest seals was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of tension pneumothorax prevention after seal application. Methods A surgical thoracostomy was created and sealed by placing a shortened 10-mL syringe barrel (with plunger in place) into the wound. Tension pneumothorax was achieved via air introduction through a Cordis to a maximum volume of 50 mL/kg. A 20% drop in mean arterial pressure or a 20% increase in heart rate confirmed hemodynamic compromise. After evacuation, one of three vented chest seals (HyFin ® , n = 8; Sentinel ® , n = 8, SAM ® , n = 8) was applied. Air was injected to a maximum of 50 mL/kg twice, followed by a 10% autologous blood infusion, and finally, a third 50 mL/kg air bolus. Survivors completed all three interventions, and a 15-min recovery period. Results The introduction of 29.0 (±11.5) mL/kg of air resulted in tension physiology. All three seals effectively evacuated air and blood. Hemodynamic compromise failed to develop with a chest seal in place. Conclusions HyFin ® , SAM ® , and Sentinel ® vented chest seals are equally effective in evacuating blood and air in a communicating pneumothorax model. All three prevented tension pneumothorax formation after penetrating thoracic trauma.
Computing in the Humanities: An Interdisciplinary Partnership in Undergraduate Education

Computing in the Humanities, an undergraduate course for Computer Science Department majors and minors and Web Programming minors at New York University, represents a unique collaboration between the Computer Science Department and the University Archives. The course's final assignment required students to select, digitize, and contextualize materials from the Archives’ collections in an interactive Web site. The design and implementation of the course incorporates four current and important trends in both disciplines. First, the professor and archivist worked closely together before and during the course, which served to integrate the archival research component into the core mission of the course. Second, the students’ projects provided increased subject access and dynamic Web content to the repository and meaningful work to the students. Third, this course produced students who “bridge” the needs of humanists with the capabilities of technology. Fourth, this course illustrated the growing importance of...
Chronology of Hawaiian Glaciations

Both potassium/argon and carbon-14 ages of lava flows and tephra layers interstratified with glacial deposits on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, indicate that four episodes of ice cap glaciation culminated about 20,000, 55,000, 135,000, and 250,000 years ago. These episodes are correlated with marine isotope stages 2, 4, 6, and 8, marking times of high global ice volume.
Microsurgical management of tuberculum sellae meningiomas. Results in 28 consecutive cases

Abstract A series of 28 cases of meningioma of the tuberculum sellae is reviewed. This tumor was most frequent in the fifth decade, with a clear predominance in women. Neurological and endocrine deficits were minimal, whereas ophthalmologic signs were always present. Visual deficits were bilateral in cases with more than a 1-year history. Osteoma of the tuberculum sellae was rare and had no correlation with tumor size. Angiography of the internal carotid artery was found useful in demonstrating vascular displacements and tumor blush. Computed tomography was the most reliable diagnostic tool. All patients underwent a unilateral pterional craniotomy using the operating microscope. Outside of patients with total blindness, improvement of visual acuity was the rule, even in cases of long-term duration. Best results were obtained in patients operated upon within 1 year of the onset of visual symptoms.
Tumor cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix and signal transduction mechanisms implicated in tumor cell motility, invasion and metastasis

The relationship between tumor cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM) and invasion and metastasis formation is one of the most intensively studied topics in cancer biology within the last 10-15 years. The aberrant molecular relationships between malignant tumor cells and their surrounding ECM have been implicated at virtually every stage of the metastatic process; ranging from steps that involve the local invasion of tumor cells away from the primary tumor to those that are involved in mediating extravasation through microvessel-associated basement membranes at the site(s) of metastasis formation. The complexity of tumor metastasis has required that a reductionist approach be taken in order to identify and relate specific molecular mechanisms involved in tumor cell adhesion to various aspects of tumor metastasis. The intensive research efforts into cell adhesion and tumor cell biology have generated many significant new concepts towards our understanding of the molecular aspects of tumor cell adhesion and metastasis. Our purpose in this article is to briefly summarize the relationship of ECM-stimulated tumor cell adhesion to the processes of tumor cell motility and invasion. This is followed by a discussion of certain aspects of signal transduction pathways that may impact on cell motility, with an emphasis on the relationship between phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis and actin polymerization, as well as certain GTP-binding protein-(G-protein) mediated events that could influence cytoskeletal organization and cell motility. Our emphasis is based on increasing evidence that implicates members of the signal transduction G-proteins in the motility and invasion of many normal and transformed cells.
Photonic implementation of a neuronal learning algorithm based on spike timing dependent plasticity

A photonic system exemplifying the biological neural process of spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) is experimentally demonstrated using nonlinear polarization rotation. STDP represents the neuronal responses for learning based on input/output timing, order, and sequence.