cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Posture-dependent changes in corticomotor excitability of the biceps after spinal cord injury and tendon transfer

Following tendon transfer of the biceps to triceps after cervical spinal cord injuries (SCI), individuals must learn to activate the transferred biceps muscle to extend the elbow. Corticomotor excitability of the transferred biceps may play a role in post-operative elbow extension strength. In this study, we evaluated whether corticomotor excitability of the transferred biceps is related to an individuals' ability to extend the elbow, and whether posture and muscle length affects corticomotor excitability after SCI and tendon transfer similarly to the nonimpaired biceps. Corticomotor excitability was assessed in twelve nonimpaired arms and six arms of individuals with SCI and biceps-to-triceps transfer using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) delivered at rest. Maximum isometric elbow extensor moments were recorded in transferred arms and the fiber length of the transferred biceps was estimated using a musculoskeletal model. Across the SCI subjects, corticomotor excitability of the transferred biceps increased with elbow extension strength. Thus, rehabilitation to increase excitability may enhance strength. Excitability of the transferred biceps was not related to fiber length suggesting that similar to nonimpaired subjects, posture-dependent changes in biceps excitability are primarily centrally modulated after SCI. All nonimpaired biceps were most excitable in a posture in the horizontal plane with the forearm fully supinated. The proportion of transferred biceps in which excitability was highest in this posture differed from the nonimpaired group. Therefore, rehabilitation after tendon transfer may be most beneficial if training postures are tailored to account for changes in biceps excitability.
Social Status and Consumer Choice

regarding the social correlates of varying orientations toward death. Neither do we feel that the preceding discussion of the elements of the culture complex surrounding death in our society constitutes an exhaustive listing of areas of research within the complex. This paper represents, rather, an attempt to call attention to the sociology of death as a neglected area of study and to suggest some of the rich research possibilities within this area.
Social psychiatry and social work.

For the purpose of this discussion, ‘social psychiatry’ is defined as an attitude or a perspective; its activity or services is ‘community mental health’. The social work methods, casework, group-w...
Ileal Conduit—Jejunal Fistula Following Cystectomy and Urinary Diversion

AbstractA case of fistula between the jejunum and the ileal conduit following radical cystectomy and construction of the conduit is presented and discussed.
Parastomal hernias after radical cystectomy and ileal conduit diversion

Parastomal hernia, defined as an "incisional hernia related to an abdominal wall stoma", is a frequent complication after conduit urinary diversion that can negatively impact quality of life and present a clinically significant problem for many patients. Parastomal hernia (PH) rates may be as high as 65% and while many patients are asymptomatic, in some series up to 30% of patients require surgical intervention due to pain, leakage, ostomy appliance problems, urinary obstruction, and rarely bowel obstruction or strangulation. Local tissue repair, stoma relocation, and mesh repairs have been performed to correct PH, however, long-term results have been disappointing with recurrence rates of 30%-76% reported after these techniques. Due to high recurrence rates and the potential morbidity of PH repair, efforts have been made to prevent PH development at the time of the initial surgery. Randomized trials of circumstomal prophylactic mesh placement at the time of colostomy and ileostomy stoma formation have shown significant reductions in PH rates with acceptably low complication profiles. We have placed prophylactic mesh at the time of ileal conduit creation in patients at high risk for PH development and found it to be safe and effective in reducing the PH rates over the short-term. In this review, we describe the clinical and radiographic definitions of PH, the clinical impact and risk factors associated with its development, and the use of prophylactic mesh placement for patients undergoing ileal conduit urinary diversion with the intent of reducing PH rates.
iCONCUR: informed consent for clinical data and bio-sample use for research

Background Implementation of patient preferences for use of electronic health records for research has been traditionally limited to identifiable data. Tiered e-consent for use of de-identified data has traditionally been deemed unnecessary or impractical for implementation in clinical settings. Methods We developed a web-based tiered informed consent tool called informed consent for clinical data and bio-sample use for research (iCONCUR) that honors granular patient preferences for use of electronic health record data in research. We piloted this tool in 4 outpatient clinics of an academic medical center. Results Of patients offered access to iCONCUR, 394 agreed to participate in this study, among whom 126 patients accessed the website to modify their records according to data category and data recipient. The majority consented to share most of their data and specimens with researchers. Willingness to share was greater among participants from an Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) clinic than those from internal medicine clinics. The number of items declined was higher for for-profit institution recipients. Overall, participants were most willing to share demographics and body measurements and least willing to share family history and financial data. Participants indicated that having granular choices for data sharing was appropriate, and that they liked being informed about who was using their data for what purposes, as well as about outcomes of the research. Conclusion This study suggests that a tiered electronic informed consent system is a workable solution that respects patient preferences, increases satisfaction, and does not significantly affect participation in research.
Ionic liquid hybrids: Progress toward non-corrosive electrolytes with high-voltage oxidation stability for magnesium-ion based batteries

Abstract Magnesium – ion batteries have the potential for high energy density but require new types of electrolytes for practical application. Ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes offer the opportunity for increased safety and broader voltage windows relative to traditional electrolytes. We present here a systematic study of both the conductivity and oxidative stability of hybrid electrolytes consisting of eleven ILs mixed with dipropylene glycol dimethylether (DPGDME) or acetonitrile (ACN) cosolvents and magnesium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (Mg(TFSI)2). Our study finds a correlation of higher conductivity of ILs with unsaturated rings and short carbon chain lengths, but by contrast, these ILs also exhibited lower oxidation voltage limits. For the cosolvent additive, although glymes have a demonstrated capability of coordination with Mg2+ ions, a decrease in conductivity compared to acetonitrile hybrid electrolytes was observed. When cycled within the appropriate voltage range, the IL-hybrid electrolytes that show the highest conductivity provide the best cathode magnesiation current densities and lowest polarization as demonstrated with a Mg0.15MnO2 and Mg0.07V2O5 cathodes.
To Mentor Is to Teach: Following Christ and Classrooms of Mutual Peace

Once new teachers enter the K-12 setting, the call to mentoring relationships has strong historical, social, and cultural foundations. Not only is mentoring “best practice” for educational stakeholders in terms of mentoring teacher candidates and new teachers, it is also a worthy approach for student learning. Research overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that providing high-quality, well-trained mentors is an effective means for producing efficacious, self-confident, and proactive individuals. The chapter examines a biblical approach to mentoring, how this can inform the practice of mentoring, emphasizing the mindset and practices that teachers can utilize with students in their own classrooms.
Can Financial Statement Auditors Identify Risk Patterns in IT Control Evidence

Anecdotal evidence suggests that audit clients are automating more internal controls over time. Audit firms customarily respond to their clients’ increasing IT (information technology) risks by including more IT audit specialists in their external audit engagements. But, using IT audit specialists on the audit engagement to examine the IT risks that external financial statement auditors can examine may be detrimental in the long-run for audit firms. First, IT audit specialists receive higher compensation than financial statement auditors. So, using IT audit specialists to perform tasks that could be performed by financial statement auditors may increase audit costs and decrease audit firms’ profits. Second, using IT audit specialist would deny financial auditors the opportunity to gain the procedural-knowledge required to evaluate automated portions of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (ICFR). This paper investigates whether financial statement auditors can interpret risk patterns in automated-control evidence. I find that financial statement auditors with procedural-knowledge of automatedcontrols interpret risk patterns in automated-control evidence, whereas financial statement auditors with no procedural-knowledge of automated-controls do not. My results suggest that audit firms may benefit by allowing their financial statement auditors to gain procedural knowledge of automated-control evidence.
Event models and the fan effect

The current study explored the persistence of event model organizations and how this influences the experience of interference during retrieval. People in this study memorized lists of sentences about objects in locations, such as "The potted palm is in the hotel." Previous work has shown that such information can either be stored in separate event models, thereby producing retrieval interference, or integrated into common event models, thereby eliminating retrieval interference. Unlike prior studies, the current work explored the impact of forgetting up to 2 weeks later on this pattern of performance. We explored three possible outcomes across the various retention intervals. First, consistent with research showing that longer delays reduce proactive and retroactive interference, any retrieval interference effects of competing event models could be reduced over time. Second, the binding of information into events models may weaken over time, causing interference effects to emerge when they had previously been absent. Third, and finally, the organization of information into event models could remain stable over long periods of time. The results reported here are most consistent with the last outcome. While there were some minor variations across the various retention intervals, the basic pattern of event model organization remained preserved over the two-week retention period.
Immunotherapies for Lung Cancer

In 2017, immunotherapy is the standard of care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) either in the first or second line depending on programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and mutation status. For first-line therapy, pembrolizumab is currently the standard of care for patients whose tumors express PD-L1 >50%. All patients with NSCLC should undergo PD-L1 testing before initiating treatment on pembrolizumab. For patients not eligible in the first line, immunotherapy is the standard of care for most in the second line. Nivolumab and atezolizumab are approved in all patients as second-line therapies after platinum-based doublet failure regardless PD-L1 expression level, although pembrolizumab is approved as second-line therapy for those whose tumors express PD-L1 >1%.
Food insecurity and cognitive function in older adults: Brief report.

Summary Objective We evaluated the specific association between food insecurity and cognitive function among a national sample of the broader U.S. older adult population. Methods Data from the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to identify 1851 adults, between 60 and 85 years, with complete data on selected study variables. The Food Security Survey Module (FSSM) was administered to assess food insecurity. We used the 10-item U.S. Food Security Survey Module. Based on responses to the FSSM, four mutually exclusive categories were determined: fully food secure (0), marginally food secure (1–2), food insecure without hunger (3–5) and food insecure with hunger (6–10). The DSST (Digit Symbol Substitution Test) was used to assess cognitive functioning. Results Compared to those who were fully food secure, those who were marginally food secure (β = −13.4; 95% CI: −17.6, −9.2; P adjusted = −7.7; 95% CI: −11.9, −3.5; P = 0.001), food insecure without hunger (β adjusted = −7.0; 95% CI: −11.4, −2.6; P = 0.003) and food insecure with hunger (β adjusted = −14.4; 95% CI: −23.9, −4.5; P = 0.005) had significantly lower cognitive function. Conclusion In this national sample of older adults, there was an inverse association between food insecurity and cognitive function.
Abstract 209: Hemeoxygenase-1 Induction Restores Beta ENaC Expression in Ischemic Placentas

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disease characterized by hypertension, proteinuria, and vascular abnormalities; the etiology of which is under active investigation. Utilizing the rat model of reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP), our lab previously demonstrated that induction of hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) reduces blood pressure and oxidative stress in placental ischemic rats. While epithelial sodium channel proteins (specifically β-ENaC) are important in maintaining vascular myogenic tone and have been implicated in cytotropholast invasion, the effect of placental ischemia and induction of HO-1 on β-ENaC expression in placentas have not been established. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that placental β-ENaC expression is reduced in ischemic placentas and restored by HO-1 induction. Normal pregnant and RUPP rats were treated with the HO-1 inducer, cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP) (n=4 per group/treatment). Blood pressure was measured and placentas were harvested on day 19 of gestation. Blood pressure increased from 101±1 to 141±4 mmHg (p
Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery left upper lobe trisegmentectomy using flexible tip 3D video scope

A 69-year-old male patient with a history of melanoma and prostate cancer was found to have a 2.6 cm PET-avid, slowly enlarging, left upper lobe lung nodule that was suspicious for either metastasis or primary lung cancer. Due to the deep location of the nodule, a wedge resection was not recommended. A diagnostic and therapeutic uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (U-VATS) left upper lobe trisegmentectomy was performed uneventfully. Final pathology confirmed the presence of metastasis from prostate cancer without lymph node involvement. His recovery was uneventful and he was discharged two days after surgery. In this video, we demonstrate our technique for left upper lobe lingula-sparing lobectomy (trisegmentectomy). More importantly, the video demonstrates that a thorough lymphadenectomy can be effectively performed during U-VATS lung resections.
Analyzing Teacher Narratives in Early Childhood Garden-Based Education.

Learning gardens can provide dynamic learning and developmental experiences for young children. This case study of 12 early childhood teachers explores how teachers describe (1) learning across num...
Living where you work: determining the value-added nature of the on-site residential property manager

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether property managers who live on-site within a residential apartment building provide a value-added benefit to the management in the form of cost control and revenue maximization. Design/methodology/approach This research uses two large US data sets that cover operational and financial data of apartment owners/operators and the financial and individual housing situations of renters themselves. The regression models developed were general linear models with operating expenses, rent collection and monthly rent paid as dependent variables, with on-site resident manager status as the experimental variable. Findings This research finds that the value of on-site property managers does not definitively maximize rent revenue, as expected. On-site property managers also don’t show significant reductions in operating expenses, although they are not cost centers either. Individual renter households do, however, pay a significant rent premium for units in communities with on-site personnel living there. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research include the inability to merge the two data sets and the inability to measure the intangible attributes of the on-site residential manager’s experience. Practical implications As roughly 30 per cent of US rental apartment buildings have some form of on-site manager, this research has some practical implications for multifamily housing investors/owners, a highly visible US building sector. Social implications The action of hiring an on-site residential property manager also addresses issues related to the optimization and efficient allocation of human resources for property management companies. Originality/value This appears to be the first research addressing property managers who live at the site where they also work.
Investigation of carrier escape and recombination dynamics in GaAsN/GaAs superlattice and resonantly coupled quantum well solar cells

III-V multijunction devices that incorporate a dilute nitride 1-1.2 eV bottom cell have already demonstrated conversion efficiencies of about 44% under high sunlight concentration (942 Suns). However, the poor minority carrier properties of dilute nitride have, thus far, prevented the full realization of the practical potential for tandem configuration (>40% 1 sun, and >50% at 500X and above). To overcome this shortcoming, our group, over the past years, have focused on dilute nitride-based devices where the degraded minority carrier diffusion length has a minimal impact on the device performance. We have shown that the incorporation of resonantly coupled GaAsN/GaP multi-quantum wells in the intrinsic region of p-i-n GaAs cells allows both a significant sub-GaAs-bandgap photon harvesting while maintaining a high open circuit voltage. Here, in order to gain a better understanding of photo-generated carrier escape and recombination mechanisms in these devices and further optimize the performance, we examine optical and electrical properties of such devices using various characterization techniques such as: photoluminescence (PL), modulated photo-reflectance (PR), photo-current (PC) as well as current-voltage (IV) measurements under dark or illuminated conditions. The temperature dependent analysis enables us to modulate and freezes carrier thermalization phenomena, while simultaneous measurement of photogenerated carrier extraction (SR) and recombination’s (PL) as a function of the applied load (bias) enables a close correlation between the evolution of I-V characteristics and the physics at play. Next, typical temperature and bias dependent activation energies reveal interesting details about carrier escape, intra-cells coupling and recombination sequences.
Echocardiography in Myocardial Infarction

Among the earliest detectable changes in myocardial ischemia or an acute MI are regional LV and potentially also right ventricular wall motion abnormalities. The LV can be divided into 17 anatomic segments, which can be viewed as a composite from the standard echocardiographic views, and have standardized nomenclature as recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) (it see Chapter 5, Figs. 1 and 10). Normal wall motion (normally kinetic segments) is seen as wall thickening, caused by the contraction of individual myocardial fibers; on echocardiography, this is seen as the radial distance between the epi- and endocardial borders, which increases by at least 10–20% during systole. Abnormal wall motion owing to insufficient blood supply to the myocardium may be graded as hypokinetic (thickening, but less than normal), akinetic (no thickening), and dyskinetic or aneurysmal (no thickening, with outward movement of the segment during systole, owing to increased intraventricular pressure on a scarred and noncontractile area of myocardial fibrosis). In general, myocardium that is transmurally infarcted tends to have more severe dysfunction, with akinetic or dyskinetic motion.
Is Edema at the Posterior Medial Tibial Plateau Indicative of Ramp Lesion? An Examination of 852 Patients with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction:

Objectives:Meniscal injuries are commonly observed with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency. A subset of these injuries includes tears of the medial meniscus at the posterior meniscocapsula...
Medicaid is associated with increased readmission and resource utilization after primary total knee arthroplasty: a propensity score–matched analysis

Abstract Background Medicaid payer status has been shown to affect resource utilization across multiple medical specialties. There is no large database assessment of Medicaid and resource utilization in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA), which this study sets out to achieve. Methods The Nationwide Readmissions Database was used to identify patients who underwent TKA in 2013 and corresponding "Medicaid" or "non-Medicaid" payer statuses. Demographics, 15 individual comorbidities, readmission rates, length of stay, and direct cost were evaluated. A propensity score–based matching model was then used to control for baseline confounding variables between payer groups. A chi-square test for paired proportions was used to compare readmission rates between the 2 groups. Length of stay and direct cost comparisons were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results A total of 8372 Medicaid and 268,261 non-Medicaid TKA patients were identified from the 2013 Nationwide Readmissions Database. A propensity score was estimated for each patient based on the baseline demographics, and 8372 non-Medicaid patients were propensity score matched to the 8372 Medicaid patients. Medicaid payer status yielded a statistically significant increase in overall readmission rates of 18.4% vs 14.0% (P Conclusions This study demonstrates that Medicaid payer status is independently associated with increased resource utilization, including readmission rates, length of stay, and total cost after TKA.
Ocean acidification and warming affect skeletal mineralization in a marine fish

Ocean acidification and warming are known to alter, and in many cases decrease, calcification rates of shell and reef building marine invertebrates. However, to date, there are no datasets on the combined effect of ocean pH and temperature on skeletal mineralization of marine vertebrates, such as fishes. Here, the embryos of an oviparous marine fish, the little skate ( Leucoraja erinacea), were developmentally acclimatized to current and increased temperature and CO2 conditions as expected by the year 2100 (15 and 20°C, approx. 400 and 1100 µatm, respectively), in a fully crossed experimental design. Using micro-computed tomography, hydroxyapatite density was estimated in the mineralized portion of the cartilage in jaws, crura, vertebrae, denticles and pectoral fins of juvenile skates. Mineralization increased as a consequence of high CO2 in the cartilage of crura and jaws, while temperature decreased mineralization in the pectoral fins. Mineralization affects stiffness and strength of skeletal elements linearly, with implications for feeding and locomotion performance and efficiency. This study is, to my knowledge, the first to quantify a significant change in mineralization in the skeleton of a fish and shows that changes in temperature and pH of the oceans have complex effects on fish skeletal morphology.
The 2015 Hurricane Season in the North Atlantic: An Analysis of Environmental Conditions

The 2015 North Atlantic hurricane season was particularly inactive, this inactivity occurring in the presence of a near-record El Nino, the strongest since 1997. When analyzing large-scale environmental conditions utilizing NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 2, we show that the Caribbean was particularly inactive under very strong wind shear and positive Omega conditions. While conditions generally were not conducive in the North Atlantic, there were conducive conditions present at specific times and specific locations, and these tended to be when and where we saw tropical cyclone activity. Vorticity in particular showed large intraseasonal variability with the location of the positive vorticity relating to storms such as Ana in May, Claudette in July, multiple storms in August and September, and Joaquin in October. We assess how the active and inactive periods observed during the 2015 hurricane season were related to this month to month atmospheric variability.
Constructing the patriarchal city: gender and the built environments of London, Dublin, Toronto, and Chicago, 1870s into the 1940s

Maureen Flanagan, the esteemed historian of women, gender, and urban reform has joined the growing circle of scholars who study modern cities from a transnational perspective. She investigates refo...
Cultural competence and metaphor in mental healthcare interactions: A linguistic perspective.

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study is to understand how Spanish-speaking patients conceptualize mental health issues. This study uses a linguistic perspective to focus on how 23 Mexican-origin patients and their doctor talk about mental health during psychiatric interviews conducted in Spanish and how they negotiate cultural barriers. Methods This work analyzes when the doctor and his patients reference metaphors (e.g. feeling “empty,” feeling “low”). Metaphors are pervasive in all cultures and languages and reveal important information about people’s attitudes and feelings about a range of conditions and circumstances. Results This work demonstrates the role of metaphor and linguistic analysis in uncovering culturally based constructions of mental health. The results reveal that the doctor and patients reference different sets of metaphors, which, at times, causes miscommunication. Conclusions Practitioner awareness of how patients use metaphorical expressions in health is crucial for promoting advanced cultural and linguistic competence and ultimately, patient-centered care. Practice implications The main findings have implications for health communication with minority groups such as Spanish-speaking Latinos/as in the United States. Practitioners working with Spanish-speaking patients should be familiar with how Latinos/as conceptualize health and how to avoid or repair confusion caused by cultural barriers.
Use of genetic data in a species status assessment of the Sicklefin Redhorse (Moxostoma sp.)

Under the United States Endangered Species Act, a species is granted protection if it is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Since 2016, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has adopted a more analytical approach to determining significant portion of its range. Termed Species Status Assessment (SSA), this approach addresses whether loss of individuals from a portion of its range will influence at least one of the conservation biology principles of redundancy (ability to withstand catastrophic events), resiliency (ability to withstand stochastic events), and representation (ability to adapt over time to long-term changes in the environment). Using Sicklefin Redhorse (Moxostoma sp.), we illustrate the use of genetic data to evaluate each SSA metric. We sampled (n = 382) Sicklefin Redhorse from three major river basins throughout its contemporary distribution and estimated genetic parameters using ten microsatellite markers. Using STRUCTURE analyses, we showed that redundancy was three, but our approximate Bayesian computation analysis revealed that this value could be reduced to two if admixture, due to anthropogenic stressors of the 1900s, continues. We used estimates of effective population size (Ne) to measure resiliency and representation and found that all populations showed resiliency and representation with Ne ≥ 479. Genetic monitoring of the Little Tennessee and Tuckasegee populations will be necessary to assess the future status of redundancy for this species. Any reduction in redundancy would warrant further ESA evaluation.
Improving Access to Integrative Oncology Through Group Medical Visits: A Pilot Implementation Project.

Abstract Objectives: This article describes the implementation of a group medical visit (GMV) model to increase access to integrative oncology (IO) care. The most challenging and critical time to a...
Technological Advancements to Promote Adherence

Non-adherence to prescribed medications costs the United States $100–$290 billion USD annually. There has been significant research and innovation surrounding the use of various health information technologies to improve adherence. Dermatology is a specialty with high rates of non-adherence. In this chapter, we present and discuss some of the technological advancements in medication adherence that can be utilized in dermatology. We outline various clinical interventional studies within the realms of mobile phone-based technology (text message reminders, telecommunications, smartphone applications), electronic health (web-based education, internet-based surveys, teledermatology), physical technologies/devices, and multimodal approaches. Furthermore, we describe emerging concepts within this domain along with highlighting technologies not yet studied in randomized controlled settings. In this fashion, this chapter is intended to inform the clinician about technological advancements to promote adherence and stimulate discussion of this important matter.
Disk galaxies and their dark halos as self-organized patterns

Abstract Galaxies are built by complex physical processes with significant inherent stochasticity. It is therefore surprising that the inferred dark matter distributions in galaxies are correlated with the observed baryon distributions leading to various ‘Baryon-Halo conspiracies’. The fact that no dark matter candidate has been definitively identified invites a search for alternative explanations for such correlations and we present an approach motivated by the behaviors of self organized patterns. We propose a nonlocal relativistic Lagrangian theory for a ‘pattern field’ which acts as an ‘effective dark matter’, built on the idea that defects in this pattern field couple to the baryonic matter distribution. The model applies to rotation supported systems and, for them, we compute galactic rotation curves, obtain a radial acceleration relation with two branches, and deduce the Freeman limit for central surface brightness.
Enantioselective Synthesis of Functionalized Arenes by Nickel-Catalyzed Site-Selective Hydroarylation of 1,3-Dienes with Aryl Boronates.

A catalytic method for the site-selective and enantioselective synthesis of functionalized arenes by the intermolecular hydroarylation of terminal and internal 1,3-dienes with aryl pinacolato boronates is reported. The reactions are promoted by 5.0 mol % of a readily available monodentate phosphoramidite-Ni complex in ethanol, affording a variety of enantioenriched products in up to 96 % yield and 99:1 er. Mechanistic studies indicate that Ni-allyl formation is irreversible and related to the nature of the arylboronate.
A single-center retrospective cohort study evaluating the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

e21093Background: Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare variant of malignant mesothelioma, representing < 30% of cases. Standard of care is cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic...
Telemetry evaluation of carbon dioxide as a behavioral deterrent for invasive carps

Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) mixed into water is being explored as a possible management strategy to deter the upstream movements of invasive carps through navigation locks and other migratory pinch-points. This study used two-dimensional acoustic telemetry to assess the effectiveness of dissolved CO2 as a chemosensory deterrent to two carp species in a large U-shaped pond. Free-swimming movements of telemetered bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) were documented 24 h before treatment and 24 h during treatments at 60, 121 and 213 mg/L CO2 (mean concentrations in pond water). Several behavioral endpoints were then quantified and compared to evaluate deterrence efficacy. In general, results showed that both carp species responded similarly to CO2 treatments. Carps consistently relocated into areas away from the injection site and made fewer attempts to re-enter CO2 treated areas. On average, CO2 treatments reduced mid-line crosses between untreated and treated sides of the pond by 58% at 121 mg/L CO2 and 78% at 213 mg/L CO2 relative to normal swimming movements recorded before treatment. Fish swim speeds increased significantly when inside the CO2 plume during treatments during 213 mg/L CO2 trials relative to swim speeds outside the plume, possibly indicative of active searching and avoidance responses. Overall, this study found that CO2 altered the behavior of bighead carp and grass carp. Natural resource agencies could consider the CO2 concentrations identified in this study to inform future applications to deter invasive carps from locations where they are at-risk to move upstream.
Near-optimal observation selection using submodular functions

AI problems such as autonomous robotic exploration, automatic diagnosis and activity recognition have in common the need for choosing among a set of informative but possibly expensive observations. When monitoring spatial phenomena with sensor networks or mobile robots, for example, we need to decide which locations to observe in order to most effectively decrease the uncertainty, at minimum cost. These problems usually are NP-hard. Many observation selection objectives satisfy submodularity, an intuitive diminishing returns property - adding a sensor to a small deployment helps more than adding it to a large deployment. In this paper, we survey recent advances in systematically exploiting this submodularity property to efficiently achieve near-optimal observation selections, under complex constraints. We illustrate the effectiveness of our approaches on problems of monitoring environmental phenomena and water distribution networks.
Feature matching for object localization in the presence of uncertainty

The author focuses on the central problem of image and model feature matching. In particular he defines a model of the geometrical uncertainty of image features, and devises a tractable algorithm for determining all feasible sets of feature correspondences given the uncertainty tolerances. A key insight into the matching problem provided by this work is that the search for a matching should be guided by analysis of (feasible) transformation space rather than the space of feature correspondences. This is because the author is only interested in maximal feasible match-sets and not the exponentially many subsets of them as found by correspondence space search. >
NASA Langley's research program in formal methods

An overview of NASA Langley's research program in formal methods is presented. Although the program is concerned with the application of formal methods to a wide range of aerospace designs, the focus of the work is on the design and verification of a fault-tolerant computing platform suitable for advanced flight control applications. The research team consists of NASA civil servants and contractors. Much of the progress has already been made in applying formal methods to critical subsystems such as clock synchronization, Byzantine agreement, voting, etc. >
Principles of Experience-Dependent Neural Plasticity: Implications for Rehabilitation After Brain Damage

Purpose This paper reviews 10 principles of experience-dependent neural plasticity and considerations in applying them to the damaged brain. Method Neuroscience research using a variety of models o...
Thermal and tritium transport in Li2O and Li2ZrO3

Abstract Lithium oxide (Li 2 O) and lithium zirconate (Li 2 ZrO 3 ) are promising tritium breeder ceramics for fusion reactors. The thermal and tritium transport databases for these materials are reviewed. Algorithms are presented for predicting the temperature and retained-tritium profiles across sintered-product and pebble-bed regions. The thermal conductivity of sintered-product material has been measured and correlated over a wide range of temperatures and densities. A modified Hall and Martin model gives good agreement with data for the effective conductivity of pebble beds of these ceramics. Laboratory data for tritium behavior in Li 2 O have been used to determine model parameters in the TIARA code, which has been validated to 20 post-irradiation inventory data points. As the fundamental database for Li 2 ZrO 3 is less complete, a residency-time correlation, based on 31 inventory data points, is proposed. The two ceramics are compared in the context of an ITER breeding-blanket design.
It's the data!

Three articles from the early years of Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC) have had remarkably many citations in the literature since their publication ∼10 years ago. As a coauthor of these articl...
The Roles of Injury, Nerves, and the Wound Epidermis during the Initiation of Amphibian Limb Regeneration

11, Singer [2], and Thornton 131). If any one of these three prerequisites is absent, regeneration does not take place. The exact roles of injury, the wound epidermis, and nerves in the initiation of regener- ation are not understood, but recent work in our laboratory [4-81 has led to the development of
The electrophoretic behaviour of ten enzyme systems in the larval integument of Drosophila melanogaster.

Abstract A procedure for the bulk isolation of integument from late third larval instar Drosophila melanogaster is described. The electrophoretic patterns obtained when a general protein stain is used indicate that the bulk isolated integument is comparable to dissected integument and differs from whole larvae. Electrophoretic enzyme patterns are presented and their significance discussed.
Factors That Impact Mature Customer Dining Choices in Las Vegas

As the mature consumer market continues to grow in importance, the foodservice industry needs to understand its purchasing behaviors. The city of Las Vegas is a popular tourism destination as well as a popular place to live for older adults. This study was designed to identify the restaurant attributes important to mature restaurant customers, specifically in three restaurant sectors—fine dining, buffet, and family/casual dining restaurants. A self-administered questionnaire was developed, tested, and applied in Las Vegas. The participants (n = 393) in this study were 50 years old or older. The results were analyzed using descriptive analysis and exploratory factor analysis. The study concluded that respondents highly valued the quality of food and service as well as comfortable restaurant facilities. It was also found that price promotions and nutritional menu information seem to be secondary concerns to mature customers, which is contrary to the reviewed literature.
767-4 Elevated Defibrillation Threshold When Right-Sided Venous Access is Used for Nonthoracotomy ICD Lead Implantation

Because the defibrillation threshold (DFT) is related to the vector of energy delivery and amount of myocardium included in the shock field, we hypothesized that implantable defibrillator (ICD) leads implanted from the right side would yield higher DFTs than those implanted from the left. The database of the Endotak lead trial using a biphasic ICD (P2, CPI) was used to determine if the DFT depended on the site of venous access. The lead is a tripolar endocardiallead capable of bipolar sensing and pacing, and defibrillation using the lead alone (LA). The most commonly used models were the 0062 and 0064 leads (13 and 16 cm between the two defibrillation electrodes, respectively). The lead may be also linked to a subcutaneous/submuscular patch electrode (SQ/SM) using a Y-connector. Lead placement data were available from 595 (97.5%) of the 610 patients (pts) in the trial, and of those 345 (58%) had the DFT, defined as the lowest energy that was successful in terminating ventricular fibrillation, determined by a step-down protocol. There were 274 males and 71 females, with a mean age of 61 ± 13 years, and LVejection fraction (LVEF) 0.33 ± 0.13. The cardiac disease was ischemic in 247 pts (72%), nonischemic cardiomyopathy in 74 pts (21%), and other etiologies in the rest. The endocardial lead was implanted from the left in 324 pts (93.9%) and the right in 21 pts (6.1%). There were no differences between the two groups with respect to gender, age, LVEF, or underlying cardiac disease. The mean DFTs (joules) were: LA ± SQ/SM LA (all) LA 0062 LA 0064 N 345 230 32 198 Left approach 99 ± 4.8 10.1 ± 5.0 10.6 ± 6.1 10.1 ± 4.8 Right approach 14.0 ± 7.3 146 ± 6.6 15.0 ± 0.0 14.5 ± 7.3 P value 0.02 l0.01 0.13 0.04 Conclusion Nonthoracotomy ICD leads implanted from the right yield higher biphasic DFTs than those implanted from the left confirming the important influence that lead position and vector have on the DFT.
The southwestern center for minimally invasive surgery.

As the 80-hour work week impacts training that occurs in the operating room, and as Residency Review Committees seek evidence of how skills are taught, there is a need to focus on innovative strate...
Styrene–maleic anhydride copolymerization through polar transition states in polar solvents

Radical copolymerization of styrene (M 1 ) and maleic anhydride (M 2 ) was performed in highly polar, oxygen lone-pair donor solvents (N,N-dimethylformamide, N-methylformamide) at high temperatures (135 and 145°C) and in strong π-electron donor solvents (1,3-dimethoxybenzene and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene) at 60-145°C. The corresponding reactivity ratios were evaluated by Fineman-Ross, Kelen-Tudos, and error-in-variables model (RREVM) methods. The reactivity ratios obtained (r 1 r 2 120°C, random copolymers were obtained in decalin. Thus, in decalin, styrenemaleic anhydride charge-transfer complexes are present at lower temperatures where they might play a role in alternation. In decalin the solvation of the polar transition states (relative to the macroradicals and monomers) does not favor copolymerization through such dipolar structures. Thus, at low temperatures growing chains could add to charge-transfer complexes. However, at temperatures above 120°C the concentration of charge-transfer complexes becomes so small that they can no longer be kinetically important contributions to the copolymerization. Thus, random copolymers with high styrene mole ratios are produced in decalin. The equilibrium constants for complex formation between maleic anhydride and both 1,3-dimethoxybenzene and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene were determined in 1 : 1 (v/v) CCI 4 /CDCl 3 using a technique based on changes in the NMR chemical shifts of the maleic anhydride protons. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Effect of prolonged fluconazole treatment on Candida albicans in diffusion chambers implanted into mice.

Received 24 June 2002/Returned for modification 28 June 2002/Accepted 15 July 2002 Fluconazole is an azole agent with primarily fungistatic activity in standard in vitro susceptibility tests. The present study was undertaken to develop a diffusion chamber model system in mice in order to study the in vivo effects of prolonged fluconazole treatment on Candida albicans. Chambers containing 100 C. albicans yeast cells were implanted subcutaneously on the flanks of C57BL/6 mice and were then retrieved 6 or 14 weeks later (after fluconazole treatment for 4 or 12 weeks, respectively). Leukocyte counts demonstrated that implantation of the chambers did elicit an inflammatory response but that only small numbers of inflammatory cells were able to enter the chamber interior. Treatment with fluconazole at 10 mg/kg of body weight/day for 12 weeks not only reduced the numbers of viable organisms within the chambers compared to those in untreated mice (mean standard deviation of log10 CFU of 0.7 1.2 versus 2.3 2.0; P < 0.001 by the Bonferroni test) but also increased the numbers of chambers that became sterile over the treatment period (14 of 16 versus 6 of 19; P 0.0009 by the chi-square test). However, treatment for only 4 weeks had minimal effects on the numbers of chamber CFU, and none of the chambers became sterile during this period. Distribution of retrieved organisms between interior fluid and the chamber filters was approximately equal in all the treatment groups. This model system appears to be useful for evaluating the effects of antifungal drugs over prolonged periods in vivo. Its use in the present study demonstrates that fluconazole can increase the rate of sterilization of C. albicans foci that are protected from the host’s inflammatory response.
Influence of object size, speed, direction, height, and distance on interception of a moving object

Eighty second graders participated in a study assessing the influence of a moving object's distance, size, direction, height, and speed and the subject's sex on the interception of the object. An experimental apparatus was designed to permit the necessary variations. The child's task was to strike the moving object with a paddle before the object moved the selected distance. Frequencies of object interception were compared for both sexes for all of the object distances, sizes, directions, heights, and speeds within the study. Analysis of variance indicated the following significant interactions: distance by direction, distance by height, size by direction, direction by height, height by speed, distance by direction by speed, size by sex by speed, and distance by direction by height by speed. All the main effects, except object size, were significant.
Antibodies as Specific Renin Inhibitors: Studies with Polyclonal and Monoclonal Antibodies and Fab Fragments

The use of antirenin antibody and Fab may provide a more specific physiologic tool and potential therapeutic agent than the existing pharmacologic inhibitors. The antibody combining site, by virtue of its larger size than organic compounds, has the capacity for a larger number of intramolecular contacts with its ligands, thus allowing increased selectivity and affinity. Renin-specific Fab obtained through immunization with purified dog renal renin has been studied. Fab had no effect on blood pressure in the sodium replete conscious dog but induced systemic hypotensive responses in the sodium deplete animal or during acute renovascular hypertension. These responses were accompanied with complete suppression of plasma renin and angiotensin II levels. The vasodepressor responses of Fab were comparable to the converting enzyme inhibitor, teprotide. However, the latter induced a greater renal vasodilator effect. Since antibodies and their fragments derived from immune sera are limited in their application to physiologic study with respect to lack of homogeneity, reproducibility and limitation of quantity, we obtained monoclonal antibodies to purified human renal renin. Fusion HR3 yielded 14 renin-antibody secreting clones. Six clones have been isolated and characterized. Isotypes include IgG1 and IgM. Kd's range from 6 X 10(-9) to 7.5 X 10(-10)M renin concentration. Five clones produce antibodies with antienzymatic activity. IC50's of these antibodies range from 1 X 10(-6) to 6 X 10(-8)M. All antibodies are renin-specific and do not bind several nonrenin enzymes and proteins examined. They are also highly species specific, i.e., do not crossreact with mouse, dog, bovine or rat renins but recognize hog renin. These catalytic-site directed antibodies may be highly potent and specific tools for physiologic studies in subhuman primates and man.