cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term evaluation of patient satisfaction and reflux symptoms after laparoscopic fundoplication with Collis gastroplasty

Esophageal shortening is a complication of advanced gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). For patients with short esophagus, Collis gastroplasty combined with fundoplication provides excellent symptomatic relief from GERD disease. The literature lacks studies comparing satisfaction and reflux symptoms between patients who underwent Nissen fundoplication with Collis gastroplasty and those who had primary fundoplication alone. This study aimed to assess long-term satisfaction and GERD-related quality of life after laparoscopic Collis–Nissen fundoplication, and to compare them with those for Nissen fundoplication alone. A nested case–control study was conducted. In this study, 14 cases of laparoscopic Collis–Nissen fundoplications were matched for age, gender, and length of the follow-up period to a cohort of 120 control subjects who underwent laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication. All the patients were mailed a follow-up survey which included a Short Form-12 (SF-12) health status (quality-of-life) questionnaire (a validated quality-of-life instrument), a Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia (QOLRAD) questionnaire (a GERD-specific quality-of-life instrument), and queries regarding long-term satisfaction and medication use. Both groups showed a significant postoperative increase in QOLRAD mean scores (p = 0.01). However, the difference in the delta (postoperative–preoperative) score between the two groups was not significant (Fig. 1). There were no differences in mental (MCS) or physical (PCS) SF-12 scores between the two groups. The rate of satisfaction with the surgery was similar in the Nissen–Collis fundoplication (87.5%) and Nissen fundoplication (87%) groups. Collis gastroplasty combined with Nissen fundoplication is an effective procedure for patients with a shortened esophagus diagnosed intraoperatively during antireflux surgery. Patient satisfaction, postoperative quality of life, and QOLRAD score improvement after this procedure are comparable with those observed in patients treated with Nissen fundoplication alone.
New Molybdenum Catalysts for Alkyl Olefin Epoxidation. Their Implications for the Mechanism of Oxygen Atom Transfer

We report here the design, synthesis, and characterization of new (dioxo)Mo(VI) epoxidation catalysts based on monoanionic tridentate ligands. Two important features distinguish these catalysts from those previously reported. First, their coordination environment remains well-defined during the epoxidation reaction. Second, the ligand design does not permit simultaneous coordination of olefin and alkyl hydroperoxide. Based on the study of these new catalysts, we conclude that direct oxygen atom transfer from coordinated alkyl peroxide to olefin remains the simplest mechanism consistent with the available data. We discuss literature discrepancies in this regard.
The action of 5-hydroxytryptamine on single neurones of the rabbit superior cervical ganglion

Intracellular recordings were made from neurones in the rabbit superior cervical ganglion maintained in vitro. Perfusion of the whole ganglion with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) produced inconsistent and small effects, whereas iontophoretic application of 5-HT induced a depolarization in the majority of neurones. The depolarization was accompanied by a fall in input resistance. The amplitude of the 5-HT potentials was related to the magnitude or duration of the ejection current. The amplitude of the 5-HT potential was augmented by hyperpolarization and decreased by depolarization of the soma membrane of the ganglion cell; it appeared to be linearly related to membrane potential. Iontophoretic responses were reduced in amplitude by superfusion of the ganglion with 5-HT (1 or 50 μM) and by cyproheptadine (50 μM), but unaffected by hexamethonium (500 μM). Tachyphylaxis was apparent when iontophoretic applications were repeated at frequencies of 0.1 Hz or greater.
An Exploratory Analysis of the Relationships between Personality Characteristics and the Perceptions of Virtual Merchandising

This study explored the relationship between individual’s perception of presence within a virtual merchandising environment and their attitudes toward virtual shopping. Symbolic interactionism was used as the theoretical framework. Utilizing four of the Big Five personality framework, it also examined if individual’s personality affected their attitude toward virtual shopping as well as the relationship between presence and attitudes toward online shopping. The study was conducted among 81 students enrolled in an undergraduate Apparel Textiles and Merchandising Program at a university located in Southeastern Michigan. Results indicate a positive correlation between perceptions of presence and individual willingness to make purchases within an online shopping environment as well as their overall satisfaction with shopping in such an environment. Two of the personality factors from the Big Five personality framework, neuroticism and extroversion, were shown to moderate these relationships. Overall, the study confirmed the idea that individual personality traits affect one’s disposition towards shopping within a virtual environment.
Reduction of background noise induced by wind tunnel jet exit vanes

The NASA-Langley 4 x 7 m wind tunnel develops low frequency flow pulsations at certain velocity ranges during open throat mode operation, affecting the aerodynamics of the flow and degrading the resulting model test data. Triangular vanes attached to the trailing edge of flat steel rails, mounted 10 cm from the inside of the jet exit walls, have been used to reduce this effect; attention is presently given to methods used to reduce the inherent noise generation of the vanes while retaining their pulsation reduction features.
Time-resolved magnetic dispersion for large isotope ratio measurements in resonance ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract The principle of time-resolved magnetic dispersion of ions can be used to improve the abundance sensitivity for elemental ratio measurement with laser ionization. A pulsed laser tuned to a discrete electronic transition of an element efficiently and selectively produces a pulsed ion beam. The pulsed ion beam is focused through a magnetic sector and, thus, mass filtering due to time-of-flight dispersion and magnetic dispersion is combined. The time-resolved magnetic dispersion is demonstrated using rhenium. The origin of scattered ions which cause loss of abundance sensitivity is displayed graphically in the magnetic field/time plane. Increased abundance sensitivity is demonstrated using tantalum.
Chemistry of water collected from an unventilated drift, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

The chemical composition of water that may be present in the emplacement drifts is a key issue for the isolation of high-level radioactive waste in a proposed mined geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Chemical constituents in water that may contact waste containers may affect rates of corrosion of the container materials. Long-term simulations of the in-drift chemical environment rely on ambient water chemistry, heat perturbations, and the interaction of ambient water with the engineered barriers (e.g. waste containers) and other introduced materials (e.g. rock bolts). In an attempt to induce seepage in the Enhanced Characterization of the Repository Block Cross Drift, bulkheads were constructed to isolate part of the 2.7-km-long drift from active ventilation. The bulkheads were closed and active ventilation ceased for periods up.to 454 days. After opening the bulkheads, water was observed in small puddles on plastic sheets and on rubber conveyor belt surfaces; droplets of water were observed on many surfaces of various construction-related introduced materials. Mold or fungal colonies also were present. The puddles of water were sampled seven times from January 2003 to June 2005; most samples appeared yellow to brown. The water samples were analyzed for major and trace constituents by using ion more » chromatography and inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Total dissolved solids (TDS) in the puddle-water samples ranged from 195 to 22,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and pH ranged from 4.2 to 8.9; these values are different from ambient pore-water samples extracted from adjacent rock (TDS < 1,400 mg/L and pH from 6.7 to 8.2). The chemical composition of the puddle-water samples is dominated by sodium and chloride, also different from the pore-water samples, which are dominated by sodium, calcium, and bicarbonate. Zinc concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 3,100 mg/L, substantially greater than the less than 0.1 mg/L values measured in pore water. Some of the chemical constituents measured in the puddle-water samples can be traced to interaction with the construction-related introduced materials. The isotopic composition of strontium in the puddle-water samples also indicates a source from introduced materials. Understanding the origin of the unusual chemistry of the puddle waters will facilitate the selection of materials for use in emplacement drifts, and will enhance predictability of the in-drift chemical environment during the post-closure time period. « less
AN ALGORITHM FOR THE SEGREGATED STORAGE PROBLEM

The segregated storage problem involves the optimal distribution of products among compartments with the restriction that only one product may be stored in each compartment. The storage capacity of each compartment, the storage demand for each product, and the linear cost of storing one unit of a product in a given compartment are specified. The problem is reformulated as a large set-packing problem, and a column generation scheme is devised to solve the associated linear programming problem. In case of fractional solutions, a branch and bound procedure is utilized. Computational results are presented.
Chloroplast DNA restriction site variation and phylogeny of the Berberidaceae.

Comparative restriction site mapping of the chloroplast genome was performed to examine phylogenetic relationships among 27 species representing 16 genera of the Berberidaceae and two outgroups. Chloroplast genomes of the species included in this study showed no major structural rearrangements (i.e., they are collinear to tobacco cpDNA) except for the extension of the inverted repeat in species of Berberis and Mahonia. Excluding several regions that exhibited severe length variation, a total of 501 phylogenetically informative sites was mapped for ten restriction enzymes. The strict consensus tree of 14 equally parsimonious trees indicated that some berberidaceous genera (Berberis, Mahonia, Diphylleia) are not monophyletic. To explore phylogenetic utility of different parsimony methods phylogenetic trees were generated using Wagner, Dollo, and weighted parsimony for a reduced data set that included 18 species. One of the most significant results was the recognition of the four chromosomal groups, which were strongly supported regardless of the parsimony method used. The most notable difference among the trees produced by the three parsimony methods was the relationships among the four chromosomal groups. The cpDNA trees also strongly supported a close relationship of several generic pairs (e.g., Berberis-Mahonia, Epimedium-Vancouveria,etc.). Maximum likelihood values were computed for the four different tree topologies of the chromosomal groups, two Wagner, one Dollo, and one weighted topology. The results indicate that the weighted tree has the highest likelihood value. The lowest likelihood value was obtained for the Dollo tree, which had the highest bootstrap and decay values. Separate analyses using only the Inverted Repeat (IR) region resulted in a tree that is identical to the weighted tree. Poor resolution and/or support for the relationships among the four chromosomal lineages of the Berberidaceae indicate that they may have radiated from an ancestral stock in a relatively short evolutionary time.
Information Politics Versus Organizational Incentives: When Are Amnesty International's “Naming and Shaming” Reports Biased?

Hill, Daniel W., Will H. Moore, and Bumba Mukherjee. (2013) Information Politics Versus Organizational Incentives: When Are Amnesty International's ‘‘Naming and Shaming’’ Reports Biased? International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/isqu.12022 © 2013 International Studies Association ‘‘Information politics’’ INGOs such as Amnesty International have incentives to maintain their credibility by carefully vetting information about rights abuses committed by governments. But they are also strategic actors that may inflate allegations of abuse to fulfill organizational imperatives. This raises an intriguing question: When are INGOs more likely to exaggerate their allegations? In answer to this question, we argue that news media reporting pressures INGOs to comment for organizational reasons, even if the information available to them is poor. On the other hand, higher numbers of domestic human rights NGOs increase the quality of available information, and INGOs will find more credible information provided about states as the winning coalition to the selectorate rises. Yet, an incentive to exaggerate allegations under certain conditions does not imply that INGOs will always do so. Indeed, there exists significant observed variation in INGO reports about government abuse. To test our hypotheses, we employ a zero-inflated ordered probit model with correlated errors that permits us to model an unobservable probability (the probability that the INGO exaggerates its allegations) and correct for potential bias. Results provide support for our hypotheses, and suggest that Amnesty International adheres to its credibility criterion, rarely succumbing to incentives to exaggerate abuse.
Three-dimensional nanoscopy of biological samples

We have demonstrated super-resolution imaging of protein distributions in cells at depth at multiple layers with a lateral localization precision better than 50nm. The approach is based on combining photoactivated localization microscopy with temporal focusing.
The Culture Broker in Post-RN Education: A View from a Distance

The role of brokering needs to be carefully integrated into any scheme of distance education.
Inflammatory markers and particulate air pollution: characterizing the pathway to disease

Supported by the Harvard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) PM Center, Grant R827353. The VA Normative Aging Study (NAS) is supported by the Cooperative Studies Program/ ERIC of the US Department of Veterans Affairs and is a component of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Informative Center (MAVERIC), Boston, MA. We wish to thank Elaine R Dibbs and Jordan D Awerbach for their invaluable assistance in conducting the laboratory measurements.
The effects of infused materials upon the regeneration of newt limbs. III. Blastemal extracts and alkaline phosphatase in irradiated limb stumps

Forelimbs of adult eastern spotted newts were irradiated with 2000 or 3000 r of x-rays, and were amputated through the elbow region. Limbs treated in this way or infused by means of a Singer microinfusion apparatus with amphibian Ringer's solution were observed as controls. Experimental limbs were infused at various times with (1) amphibian Ringer's solution containing material extracted from two-week-old blastemata from unirradiated limb stumps or (2) one of four concentrations of alkaline phosphatase dissolved in Ringer's solution. Small polyps or blastema-like conical structures were the only regenerative responses that followed the various infusion procedures. Blastemal extract and Ringer's solution alone seemed to be equally effective in inducting these regenerative growths, but no such growths followed mere irradiation and amputation. Alkaline phosphatase was more effective than either the blastemal extract or Ringer's solution in inducing the growth of conical structures. These initial growths in a number of cases persisted as very short cones composed mostly of amorphous cartilage and connective tissue or as pseudoblastematous aggregations of cells. However, extensive regression of tissues and shortening of the limb was seen rather frequently in limbs treated with alkaline phosphatase. Ringer's solution and blastemal extracts did little to reverse the regeneration-inhibiting effects of irradiation on amputated limbs. It appears that alkaline phosphatase caused a more frequent, if still limited, reversal of these effects, and it is suggested that a part of these inhibitory effects may result from damage done to the production of alkaline phosphatase.
The Multiple Branch Waveguide Coupler

A multiple branch directional coupler is discussed for rectangular waveguide applications for series junctions. A design method is developed which is valid for any coupling ratio and any number of branch lines with perfect match and directivity. The frequency response of this type coupler is calculated with the aid of a digital computer.
Comparative studies of a palladium- enriched amalgam

Abstract Studies to develop laboratory data on conventional silver, high-copper and palladium-enriched amalgams were conducted. The SEM-EDAX chemical comparisons were shown to be similar to the available nominal analyses. Size ranges and surface geometries were correlated. The spherical high-copper alloys revealed higher compressive strength magnitudes, less percentage flow, lower creep and less relative dimensional change than the dispersed phase and conventional lathe-cut alloys, while the lathe-cut amalgam exhibited a different behaviour pattern than the other three high-copper amalgams during corrosion. Microleakage studies revealed similar results for all of the alloys.
Are cochlear implant patients suffering from perceptual dissonance

Cochlear implants provide functional hearing to the majority of recipients and have gained widespread acceptance clinically, but the range of performance remains great and largely unexplained. Designs for implanted electrodes and electronics have converged, whereas novel speech processing strategies have proliferated. For each patient, the fitting audiologist must sort empirically through options that produce large but idiosyncratic differences in both objective performance and subjective preference. This review and analysis suggests that the place-pitch and rate-pitch theories on which cochlear implants have been designed are incomplete. The missing component may be related to the phase-locking of auditory nerve activity to both acoustic and electrical stimulation. This component is likely to be highly distorted by electrical stimulation but its importance as one of several different pitch encoding mechanisms may vary widely among patients. Systematic means to control these putative phase effects using modern, high-speed, and high-density cochlear implants may make it possible to identify more efficiently the best strategy for a given patient and to minimize the perceptual confusion that arises from conflicting cues.
Selective management of penetrating neck wounds

Of 67 patients with penetrating neck wounds admitted to the hospital between 1969 and 1979, 22 (32.8%) were taken to the operating room and 14 (63.6%) were found to have major structural damage. Three patients died (4.4%), all as a direct result of their associated head injuries and none as a result of their neck wounds, regardless of management. Five patients (7.4%) had complications. The average hospital stay for patients undergoing surgery was 4.9 days; for those observed with multiple injuries, 4.6 days; and for those observed with isolated neck wounds, 2.4 days. Indications for selective exploration are presented.
TESTING FOR DISTRIBUTIONAL CHANGE IN TIME SERIES

This paper proposes nonparametric tests of change in the distribution function of a time series. The limiting null distributions of the test statistics depend on a nuisance parameter, and critical values cannot be tabulated a priori. To circumvent this problem, a new simulation-based statistical method is developed. The validity of our simulation procedure is established in terms of size, local power, and test consistency. The finite-sample properties of the proposed tests are evaluated in a set of Monte Carlo experiments, and the distributional stability in financial markets is examined.
Fish Locomotion: Recent Advances and New Directions

Research on fish locomotion has expanded greatly in recent years as new approaches have been brought to bear on a classical field of study. Detailed analyses of patterns of body and fin motion and the effects of these movements on water flow patterns have helped scientists understand the causes and effects of hydrodynamic patterns produced by swimming fish. Recent developments include the study of the center-of-mass motion of swimming fish and the use of volumetric imaging systems that allow three-dimensional instantaneous snapshots of wake flow patterns. The large numbers of swimming fish in the oceans and the vorticity present in fin and body wakes support the hypothesis that fish contribute significantly to the mixing of ocean waters. New developments in fish robotics have enhanced understanding of the physical principles underlying aquatic propulsion and allowed intriguing biological features, such as the structure of shark skin, to be studied in detail.
Mining multi-faceted overviews of arbitrary topics in a text collection

A common task in many text mining applications is to generate a multi-faceted overview of a topic in a text collection. Such an overview not only directly serves as an informative summary of the topic, but also provides a detailed view of navigation to different facets of the topic. Existing work has cast this problem as a categorization problem and requires training examples for each facet. This has three limitations: (1) All facets are predefined, which may not fit the need of a particular user. (2) Training examples for each facet are often unavailable. (3) Such an approach only works for a predefined type of topics. In this paper, we break these limitations and study a more realistic new setup of the problem, in which we would allow a user to flexibly describe each facet with keywords for an arbitrary topic and attempt to mine a multi-faceted overview in an unsupervised way. We attempt a probabilistic approach to solve this problem. Empirical experiments on different genres of text data show that our approach can effectively generate a multi-faceted overview for arbitrary topics; the generated overviews are comparable with those generated by supervised methods with training examples. They are also more informative than unstructured flat summaries. The method is quite general, thus can be applied to multiple text mining tasks in different application domains.
Blind channel identification for multirate CDMA systems

In this paper, we propose a unified approach to blindly identify channels for multirate CDMA systems-both multiple code (MC) and variable processing gain (VPG) systems are considered. A time-domain subspace approach to blind channel estimation introduced in Torlak and Xu (1997) is generalized to the multi-rate case. Performance evaluation is conducted based on the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) with an appropriate single-rate as a baseline for comparison.
Magnetic resonance imaging of peri-aqueductal lesions

Fourteen lesions in the peri-aqueductal region were evaluated by 0.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT). Fifty normal magnetic resonance studies of the same region were reviewed. The aqueduct of Sylvius is seen in the midline sagittal MRI sections in all normal patients. It is not usually visible in cases of benign stenosis but may be seen in membraneous obstruction. Benign stenosis is distinguished from neoplastic obstruction by the lack of increased signal on T2 weighted techniques. Blood within pineal tumours is easily detected and may be differentiated from lipomas, cystic lesions and solid tumours of the brain stem. Arachnoid cysts are also visible in MRI scans.
Symbolic Threats in the Schools of Post-Conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia

How does the education of children shape the prospects for lasting peace in countries recently rent by civil war? When the wars that raged through the former Yugoslavia ended, the fight over ethnically cleansed territory moved from the battlefield to the classroom, and is now being waged over the next generation's identities. Students throughout the region continue to learn group-specific curricula in segregated schools. Conflicts over post-conflict education reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H) and Croatia have pitted ethno-nationalist entrepreneurs against the international community, which seeks to reconcile the deep divisions wrought by armed conflict. This paper investigates how international interventions in education are perceived by the local communities through an analysis of a large qualitative dataset, which includes 78 interviews and 20 focus groups with 140 principals, teachers, students and parents in the divided towns of Mostar, B-H and Vukovar, Croatia. The analysis reveals that the international community's efforts to reintegrate the schools constitute a symbolic threat to many respondents' ethno-national identities. These findings are in line with a long line of work in the social identity theory tradition which suggests that symbolic threats to collective identity play an important role in inter-group behavior. From these findings, I argue that education reform efforts in post-conflict contexts need to take symbolic threats to identity seriously.
Microtubules Are Essential for Mitochondrial Dynamics–Fission, Fusion, and Motility–in Dictyostelium discoideum

Mitochondrial function is dependent upon mitochondrial structure which is in turn dependent upon mitochondrial dynamics, including fission, fusion, and motility. Here we examined the relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and the cytoskeleton in Dictyostelium discoideum. Using time-lapse analysis, we quantified mitochondrial fission, fusion, and motility in the presence of cytoskeleton disrupting pharmaceuticals and the absence of the potential mitochondria-cytoskeleton linker protein, CluA. Our results indicate that microtubules are essential for mitochondrial movement, as well as fission and fusion; actin plays a less significant role, perhaps selecting the mitochondria for transport. We also suggest that CluA is not a linker protein but plays an unidentified role in mitochondrial fission and fusion. The significance of our work is to gain further insight into the role the cytoskeleton plays in mitochondrial dynamics and function. By better understanding these processes we can better appreciate the underlying mitochondrial contributions to many neurological disorders characterized by altered mitochondrial dynamics, structure, and/or function.
A Further Study of the Morphology and Life History of the Rose Black Spot Fungus

One who attempts to grow hybrid roses in this part of the country is apt to find sooner or later some of them being defoliated by the black spot fungus, Diplocarpon Rosae. For example, at The New York Botanical Garden it has been observed for several years that certain varieties among our most beautiful roses such as Los Angeles, Mrs. Henry Bowles, Felicity and Padre, always show some spotting in spite of the fungicides which have been applied rather frequently. On the other hand, there are those roses like Red Radiance, Ethel Sommerset, Mrs. C. W. Edwards, La France, Radiance and others, which under the same treatment scarcely ever show black spot. The writer has been asked frequently why it is that the Red Radiance, for example, is comparatively resistant to this parasite. Is it because, as some say, the leaves probably have a cuticle which the fungus cannot penetrate? Or is it due to something more fundamental and inherent in the cytoplasm so that the fungus is unable to live even though it may readily penetrate the cuticle and so cause only a mere flecking. This is among the problems being studied, and some information on this question obtained as a result of preliminary experiments is also presented at this time.
Crossed Molecular Beam Study of the Reaction Br + O3†

The reaction of ground-state (2PJ) chlorine atom with ozone molecule was studied by the crossed molecular beams technique at four different center-of-mass (CM) collision energies ranging from 6 to ...
Leucine equivalency system in managing branched chain ketoaciduria.

A useful leucine equivalency system is described for simple and efficient dietary management of cases of branched chain ketoaciduria (maple sirup urine disease). The method is designed to achieve maximum variety in menu planning, consistent with good clinical progress.
Abstract 4639: Reproductive hormone levels modulate doxorubicin induced cardiomyopathy in female tumor-bearing spontaneously hypertensive rats

The anthracycline doxorubicin (dox) is known to cause cardiomyopathy, at least in part, through the generation of excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the mitochondria. Cardiomyocytes have higher concentrations of mitochondria and lower concentrations of antioxidants, making them more sensitive to excessive ROS. The incidence of dox induced cardiac stress is greater in pre-pubescent and post-menopausal females compared to age-matched males but lower in women of reproductive age. Previous studies have associated gender and age differences in cardiosensitivity with estrogen production. This is the first part of a two part study investigating the role that reproductive hormones (estrogen and progesterone) play in dox induced cardiotoxicity in female, tumor-bearing spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). In this portion of the study our aim was to evaluate the effect of hormone therapy on cardioprotection from dox. Reproductively mature ovariectomized animals were implanted with time-release pellets containing a “carrier-matrix” (vehicle), 17-β-estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), Tamoxifen (Tam) or combinations thereof. The animals were implanted with cells from an SHR-derived syngeneic breast cancer cell line (SST-2). Tumor-bearing animals were then treated with a single dose of saline or dox and monitored for 12 days. Daily vaginal cytologies were obtained to measure estrous cycle status. Serum was collected throughout the study to correlate estrous phase to E2 and P4 levels and evaluate serum protein cTnI as a biomarker for cardiac injury. In all hormone groups, dox exhibited significant anti-tumor activity and resulted in a net decrease in growth rate compared to saline controls. After 12 days exposure, animals treated with dox and implanted with Tam, Tam+E2 or vehicle pellets showed a significant increase in cTnI, indicative of cardiac damage. Dox treated animals with pellets containing E2, P4 or the combination showed a significant decrease in cTnI, demonstrating potential cardioprotection from reproductive hormone therapy. Furthermore, histopathology of cardiac sections from dox-treated groups displayed lower cardiomyopathy scores in animals that received E2, P4 or the combination of the two. We are currently evaluating additional endpoints for cardiotoxicity and cellular stress to assess the mechanism behind E2 and P4 cardioprotection from chemotherapy. Overall, our findings suggest that the hormones estrogen and progesterone reduce dox-induced cardiotoxicity. Citation Format: Kaytee L. Pokrzywinski, Elliot T. Rosen, Julia Bonanno, Thomas Biel, Delaram Moshkelani, Baikuntha Aryal, Steven Mog, V. Ashutosh Rao. Reproductive hormone levels modulate doxorubicin induced cardiomyopathy in female tumor-bearing spontaneously hypertensive rats. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4639.
Open Standards and the Digital Age: Open Systems and the Limits of Democratic Design, 1970s–1980s

Networks are political issues at government or corporate levels. In hush statements, communications and computer organizations leak their feelings that the other guys had better mind their own business. Since they are big, and more or less monopolies, each scrambles at shaping the world into specific designs before the others do it. Lost in the turmoil is the user. He has no strategy, no power. He thinks the big brothers know what they’re doing. No doubt, there are some who do. Take for example our beloved friend IBM. – Louis Pouzin, “The Communications Network Snarl,” 1975 The promise of data networking was evident to everyone who worked near the intersections of digital computer and communication technologies. The Bell Labs economist Jeffrey Rohlfs articulated the new conventional wisdom in a pioneering 1974 article, in which he based his “theory of interdependent demand for a communications service” on a forceful assertion: “The utility that a subscriber derives from a communication service increases as others join the system.” Rohlfs theorized and mathematized the lessons that the packet-switching researchers we met in Chapter 6 – such as Louis Pouzin, Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, Remi Despres, and Marc Levilion – understood intuitively: the value of a digital computer-communication network would reside primarily in its ability to facilitate and sustain interconnections on an ever-increasing scale. As we have seen, these packet-switching researchers gained firsthand experience with the obstacles that prevented the universal adoption of new standards for data networking. As the “virtual circuit versus datagram” controversy described in Chapter 6 demonstrated, many technical disagreements mapped directly to conflicting strategic priorities and conflicting visions of control: telecommunications engineers used virtual circuits to keep more control inside the network, but computer engineers favored connectionless datagrams to shift control to the computers at the edges of the network. As positions hardened in the mid-1970s and it became clear that the argument was unlikely to be settled on technical merits alone, the network engineers we will meet in this chapter sought to create effective alliances that could constrain and direct the creation of international networking standards.
A data-driven heuristic for corrective transmission switching

Utilizing flexibility of the transmission network has gained significant attention recently. Prior efforts have shown that various benefits could be achieved by appropriately changing the network topology. This paper focuses on the reliability gains that can be achieved through corrective transmission switching (CTS). A full AC contingency analysis is conducted to identify critical contingencies that would result in violations. CTS is employed on these critical contingencies to test for violation reductions. A data-driven heuristic is proposed in this paper to identify the candidate switching list. This heuristic, also referred to as enhanced data mining (EDM) approach, provides a static lookup table consisting of corrective switching solutions, which is fast and effective. The lookup table can be created through a straightforward data mining technique. Simulations on the TVA system demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed heuristic.
The Feminist Identity Composite: An Examination of Structural Validity With Sexual Minority Women

The Feminist Identity Composite is a commonly used measure of feminist identity development. However, psychometric examinations of this measure with samples of diverse women are lacking. The curren...
Topical Corticosteroid Phobia in Atopic Dermatitis: A Systematic Review

Importance Topical corticosteroid (TCS) phobia refers to the negative feelings and beliefs related to TCSs experienced by patients and patients’ caregivers. This phenomenon may be a major contributing factor in treatment failure in patients with atopic dermatitis, yet it has been sparsely described in the literature. Objective To systematically assess the nomenclature, prevalence, origins, and effect on treatment adherence of TCS phobia in atopic dermatitis. Evidence Review A literature search was conducted using specific eligibility criteria across electronic databases, including Ovid (MEDLINE, EMBASE), PubMed, and Web of Science, for articles published from January 1, 1946, to October 31, 2016. Included articles must have assessed TCS phobia in patients with atopic dermatitis or their caregivers. Quality ratings of studies were based on a modified version of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine quality rating scheme for individual studies. Findings Of the 490 articles identified by literature search, 16 met the eligibility criteria. All studies were cross-sectional. Topical corticosteroid phobia prevalence ranged from 21.0% (95% CI, 15.8%-26.2%) to 83.7% (95% CI, 81.9%-85.5%). There was significant variation in how phobia was defined, ranging from concern to irrational fear. Questionnaires used to assess for TCS phobia included 1 to 69 questions. In the 2 studies that compared nonadherence between a phobia group and a nonphobia group, patients in both phobia groups were found to have a significantly higher rate of nonadherence (49.4% vs 14.1% and 29.3% vs 9.8%). The sources from which patients were receiving information about corticosteroids included physicians, friends and relatives, broadcast media, print media, and the internet. Conclusions and Relevance Features of TCS phobia are commonly reported by patients across cultures and may be associated with a higher rate of nonadherence. Patients with TCS phobia and the sources from which patients are receiving information about corticosteroids may be targetable for intervention to increase adherence to treatment regimens. The nomenclature and assessment methods for TCS phobia used in studies, however, lack standardization, precluding quantitative comparison and extrapolation of data. Additional research, using standardized definitions and methods of assessment, is needed to better characterize this phenomenon and evaluate the efficacy of potential interventions.
Microsponges: An Overview

Microsponge and Nanosponge delivery System was originally developed for topical delivery of drugs can also be used for controlled oral delivery of drugs using water soluble and bioerodible polymers. Microsponge delivery system (MDS) can entrap wide range of drugs and then release them onto the skin over a time by difussion mechanism to the skin. It is a unique technology for the controlled release of topical agents and consists of nano or micro porous beads loaded with active agent and also use for oral delivery of drugs using bioerodible polymers.
Rafinesque's Sicilian whale, Balena gastrytis

In 1815, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque described a new species of cetacean, Balena gastrytis, from Sicily, based on a whale that stranded on Carini beach near Palermo. In comparing the characteristics of his new whale with known species, Rafinesque also took the opportunity to name a new genus, Cetoptera, to replace Balaenoptera Lacepede, 1804. Unfortunately, few of Rafinesque's contemporaries saw his article, which appeared in Il Portafoglio, a local journal that he published and distributed. The journal remains rare, and awareness of the whale remains minimal, despite its relevance to cetacean taxonomy and understanding of whale diversity and distribution in the Mediterranean. We describe the circumstances of the stranding of the Sicilian whale and provide Rafinesque's original description of the whale, as well as an evaluation of its reported characteristics and its current identity.
Colorectal carcinoma in patients less than 40 years of age: pathology and prognosis.

Between 1960 and 1979, 37 patients, ranging in age from 18 to 40 years, were treated for colorectal cancer. Symptoms typical of colorectal malignancy had been present for an average of 10.4 months; a positive family history, previous colonic disease, or immunosuppression was present in 22 patients (59 per cent). Distribution of lesions was unusual in that only 40 per cent were within reach of the sigmoidoscope, and only 7.5 per cent could be palpated on rectal examination. Dukes' staging at diagnosis was improved in distribution to that reported in the adult population (51 per cent localized vs. 40.1 per cent). Histologic characteristics of the tumors were not unusual; however, incidence of poorly differentiated (18.9 per cent) and mucin-producing (10.8 per cent) cancers was increased. Perineural invasion was associated with disseminated disease. Vascular invasion was associated with disseminated disease and poor prognosis. Overall fiver-year survival was 56.8 per cent. Five-year survival in 24 patients undergoing potentially curative resection increased to 70.8 per cent. Colorectal carcinoma in patients under 40 years of age is unusual, and delay in diagnosis is common. The distribution of lesions is more homogeneous than that seen in older patients, and high-grade malignancies are more frequent. Survival data in this series are more favorable than those generally reported. Improved five-year survival following potentially curative resection (70.8 per cent) stresses the need for early diagnosis and treatment
Incidental Metastatic Meningioma Presenting as a Large Liver Mass

Meningiomas are slow growing neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS). Most of the tumors are benign and distant metastasis from a benign meningioma is rare. Metastasis to the liver, although rare, usually presents with hypoglycemia or occurs in conjunction with a clinical history of an intracranial meningioma or following the resection of a prior CNS meningioma, thus making clinical diagnosis relatively easy. Here we present an unusual case of metastatic meningioma to the liver in a 54-year-old female who presented with an incidental liver mass by ultrasound. Her clinical history and physical examination were unremarkable. A partial hepatectomy revealed a meningioma on histology. Further investigation by imaging studies showed a frontal parasagittal dural mass which was confirmed to be a World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 meningioma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a clinically silent metastatic meningioma to the liver without either a concurrent or a previous history of meningioma. Precise diagnosis of this challenging case requires high clinical suspicion, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry.
Three New Blind Guidance Prostheses and What They Teach Us

Over the years a number of devices for the guidance of the blind have been developed. However, there are still possibilities for fresh thought to suggest new approaches. Partially tested proposals are made here for a traversed distance indicator, a straight path guidance device, and a moving hazard indicator. The approaches can result in potentially practical devices, and they can also provide instructive new concepts in their analysis.
The Study of Religion in Husserl’s Writings

In this paper I attempt to systematize Husserl’s remarks in the Nachlass on the study of religion. I will not be dealing primarily with his own philosophical theology which he regards as the culmination of his transcendental phenomenology, but rather with what he thinks religion is and what is studied when people study religion. I will first briefly discuss how religion is a developing cultural phenomenon which comes to have a relationship to philosophy and reason. This leads us to the consideration of a variety of senses of theology.
Site-directed mutagenesis of Campylobacter concisus respiratory genes provides insight into the pathogen’s growth requirements

Campylobacter concisus is an emerging human pathogen found throughout the entire human oral-gastrointestinal tract. The ability of C. concisus to colonize diverse niches of the human body indicates the pathogen is metabolically versatile. C. concisus is able to grow under both anaerobic conditions and microaerophilic conditions. Hydrogen (H2) has been shown to enhance growth and may even be required. Analysis of several C. concisus genome sequences reveals the presence of two sets of genes encoding for distinct hydrogenases: a H2-uptake-type (“Hyd”) complex and a H2-evolving hydrogenase (“Hyf”). Whole cells hydrogenase assays indicate that the former (H2-uptake) activity is predominant in C. concisus, with activity among the highest we have found for pathogenic bacteria. Attempts to generate site-directed chromosomal mutants were partially successful, as we could disrupt hyfB, but not hydB, suggesting that H2-uptake, but not H2-evolving activity, is an essential respiratory pathway in C. concisus. Furthermore, the tetrathionate reductase ttrA gene was inactivated in various C. concisus genomospecies. Addition of tetrathionate to the medium resulted in a ten-fold increase in cell yield for the WT, while it had no effect on the ttrA mutant growth. To our knowledge, this is the first report of mutants in C. concisus.
Effect of longwall-induced subsurface deformations on shale gas well casing stability under deep covers

Abstract This paper presents the results of a 2017 study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), to evaluate the effects of longwall-induced subsurface deformations within a longwall abutment pillar under deep cover. The 2017 study was conducted in a southwestern Pennsylvania coal mine, which extracts 457 m-wide longwall panels under 361 m of cover. One 198 m-deep, in-place inclinometer monitoring well was drilled and installed over a 45 m by 84 m center abutment pillar. In addition to the monitoring well, surface subsidence measurements and underground coal pillar pressure measurements were conducted as the 457 m-wide longwall panel on the south side of the abutment pillar was being mined. Prior to the first longwall excavation, a number of simulations using FLAC3D™ were conducted to estimate surface subsidence, increases in underground coal pillar pressure, and subsurface horizontal displacements in the monitoring well. Comparisons of the pre-mining FLAC3D simulation results and the surface, subsurface, and underground instrumentation results show that the measured in-place inclinometer casing deformations are in reasonable agreement with those predicted by the 3D finite difference models. The measured surface subsidence and pillar pressure are in excellent agreement with those predicted by the 3D models. Results from this 2017 research clearly indicate that, under deep cover, the measured horizontal displacements within the abutment pillar are approximately one order of magnitude smaller than those measured in a 2014 study under medium cover.