cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
From The Flying Deck, Get A Breast Check

A103 OBJECTIVE: To promote a year-round worksite breast health education program to the employeees/support staff of the worlds9s busiest airport; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport utilizing the AeroClinic located within the airport. The guiding principles for the program are: a) Acceptability, b) Availability, c) Accessibility, d) Affordability, and e) Accountability. METHODS: Include the "E Factors" - A) Employ - multicultural Community Health Advcoates (CHAs), b) Encourage - employers to give their employees time to attend the program, c) Educate - women/men learn the importance of breast health, d) Engage - through educational sessions, e) Empower - women/men to take self responsibility, and f) Evaluate - through process, outcome and impact measures the feasibility of replication. ChAs obtaine baseline pre/post data, educate the airport workforce and facilitate appointments for screening and follow-up. Quarterly, program performed in Spanish.
The effect of cognitive impairment on prosthesis use in older adults who underwent amputation due to vascular-related etiology: A systematic review of the literature:

Background:Older adults with amputations secondary to vascular etiologies may additionally present with cognitive impairment. Cognition plays an important role in the adoption of a prosthetic limb, although the degree and type of impact are debated. Previous literature reviews have not been directed at the specific population of older adults who underwent vascular-related lower limb amputation.Objectives:First, to assess extant literature for relationships between cognitive function and prosthesis-related outcomes in older adults who underwent lower limb amputation for vascular-related etiologies. Second, to perform a critical analysis of prosthesis-related outcomes and cognitive assessments performed in the studies.Study design:Systematic literature review.Methods:A systematic review of the literature was performed in databases using keyword combinations. A total of nine articles were selected to be included in this review.Results:Seven of the nine included studies found a relationship between decreased ...
Visualization of extracellular DNA released during border cell separation from the root cap.

Premise of the study Root border cells are programmed to separate from the root cap as it penetrates the soil environment, where the cells actively secrete >100 extracellular proteins into the surrounding mucilage. The detached cells function in defense of the root tip by an extracellular trapping process that also requires DNA, as in mammalian white blood cells. Trapping in animals and plants is reversed by treatment with DNase, which results in increased infection. The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of DNA in the structural integrity of extracellular structures released as border cells disperse from the root tip upon contact with water. Methods DNA stains including crystal violet, toluidine blue, Hoechst 33342, DAPI, and SYTOX green were added to root tips to visualize the extracellular mucilage as it absorbed water and border cell populations dispersed. DNase I was used to assess structural changes occurring when extracellular DNA was degraded. Key results Complex masses associated with living border cells were immediately evident in response to each stain, including those that are specific for DNA. Treating with DNase I dramatically altered the appearance of the extracellular structures and their association with border cells. No extracellular DNA was found in association with border cells killed by freezing or high-speed centrifugation. This observation is consistent with the hypothesis that, as with border cell extracellular proteins, DNA is secreted by living cells. Conclusion DNA is an integral component of border cell extracellular traps.
Response to: HCV viremic donors with hepatic bridging fibrosis: Are we ready to use their livers in the era of direct-acting antivirals?

We read with interest the response by Martini et al to our consensus conference and recommendations on the use of hepatitis C viremic organs in negative recipients (1,2). Their case report is certainly provocative in considering fibrotic viremic donors, given the ability to eradicate HCV early and prevent further damage to a more injured graft. As we mentioned in our report, we should see an increase number of HCV-infected baby boomers within the next decade who have more likelihood of hepatic fibrosis compared to the younger, drug-injecting population (3). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Integrated code design for a joint source and channel LDPC coding scheme

This paper presents a design of LDPC codes for a joint source-channel (JSC) coding system. In the construction of such an LDPC code, the source compression matrix and the channel code parity-check matrix are designed jointly. The integrated matrix is used for both JSC encoding and decoding. Experimental results show that the codes constructed not only perform well in the waterfall region but also achieve low error-floors.
Using Observed Behavior to Reformulate Queries during Text Retrieval-based Bug Localization

Text Retrieval (TR)-based approaches for bug localization rely on formulating an initial query based on a bug report. Often, the query does not return the buggy software artifacts at or near the top of the list (i.e., it is a low-quality query). In such cases, the query needs reformulation. Existing research on supporting developers in the reformulation of queries focuses mostly on leveraging relevance feedback from the user or expanding the original query with additional information (e.g., adding synonyms). In many cases, the problem with such lowquality queries is the presence of irrelevant terms (i.e., noise) and previous research has shown that removing such terms from the queries leads to substantial improvement in code retrieval. Unfortunately, the current state of research lacks methods to identify the irrelevant terms. Our research aims at addressing this problem and our conjecture is that reducing a low-quality query to only the terms describing the Observed Behavior (OB) can improve TR-based bug localization. To verify our conjecture, we conducted an empirical study using bug data from 21 open source systems to reformulate 451 low-quality queries. We compare the accuracy achieved by four TR-based bug localization approaches at three code granularities (i.e., files, classes, and methods), when using the complete bug reports as queries versus a reduced version corresponding to the OB only. The results show that the reformulated queries improve TR-based bug localization for all approaches by 147.4% and 116.6% on average, in terms of MRR and MAP, respectively. We conclude that using the OB descriptions is a simple and effective technique to reformulate low-quality queries during TR-based bug localization.
Les bibliothéques de La Pocatiére et les programmes d'immersion

L’auteure presente un tour d’horizon des differentes bibliotheques que l’on trouve a La Pocatiere : relations entre elles, personnels, credits, automatisation, prets, etc. Dans cette ville, on compte cinq bibliotheques qui restent ouvertes pendant la periode des cours d’ete : celles du College de Sainte-Anne, du Cegep de La Pocatiere et de l’Institut de technologie agroalimentaire, la Bibliotheque municipale ainsi que les Archives de la Cote-du-Sud. La ville accueille les etudiants venus suivre un programme d’immersion en francais durant l’ete. L’auteure croit que ces bibliotheques pourraient offrir davantage de ressources documentaires et des services supplementaires au cours de la periode ou est dispense ce programme.
From biopower to necroeconomies: Neoliberalism, biopower and death economies:

The deaths of millions from war, genocide, poverty and famine are symptomatic of a crisis that extends beyond site-specific failures of governance, culture or economies. Rather than reiterate stand...
Boiling water reactor benchmark calculations

A typical advanced boiling water reactor (BWR) pin cell configuration is used to develop numerical benchmarks for the effects of moderator and fuel properties on the eigenvalue. Results are developed for pin cell configurations with different moderator densities and temperatures and different fuel exposures and temperatures. These configurations (98) correspond to those typical of cold, hot-operating, and transient conditions in BWRs. All of the calculations were performed using the Monte Carlo code MCNP with the continuous-energy cross sections derived from version VI of the Evaluated Nuclear Data Files ENDF/B.
Trust-Based Scenarios Predicting Future Agent Behavior in Open Self-organizing Systems

Agents in open self-organizing systems have to cope with a variety of uncertainties. In order to increase their utility and to ensure stable operation of the overall system, they have to capture and adapt to these uncertainties at runtime. This can be achieved by formulating an expectancy of the behavior of others and the environment. Trust has been proposed as a concept for this purpose. In this paper, we present trust-based scenarios as an enhancement of current trust models. Trust-based scenarios represent stochastic models that allow agents to take different possible developments of the environment's or other agents' behavior into account. We demonstrate that trust-based scenarios significantly improve the agents' capability to predict future behavior with a distributed power management application.
AEROBIC METABOLISM OF CARBOHYDRATES

This chapter discusses the aerobic metabolism of carbohydrates. The most universal means of hexose oxidation is probably the metabolism by way of the Embden–Meyerhof pathway to pyruvate followed by oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA and oxidation of acetyl-CoA by means of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Energy is obtained both by substrate-level phosphorylation, the sole energy mechanism in fermentation, and by oxidative phosphorylation resulting from electron transport through the cytochrome system. It is not easy to decide which of the several pathways of hexose oxidation is the major pathway unless the enzymes of only one pathway exist in a given organism. Frequently, however, enzymes of the Embden–Meyerhof pathway occur alongside those of another pathway, usually those of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. All pathways that result in the complete oxidation of hexose to carbon dioxide will theoretically yield respiratory carbon dioxide of the same specific activity from specifically labeled glucose. In practice, however, labeled substrates are of some value in determining the major pathway of hexose oxidation because of assimilation of a part of the substrate, in particular, those carbons of glucose farthest removed from oxidative attack.
NMDA Antagonists for Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Fifteen to thirty percent of patients with major depressive disorder do not respond to antidepressants that target the monoaminergic systems. NMDA antagonists are currently being actively investigated as a treatment for these patients. Ketamine is the most widely studied of the compounds. A brief infusion of a low dose of this agent produces rapid improvement in depressive symptoms that lasts for several days. The improvement occurs after the agent has produced its well characterized psychotomimetic and cognitive side effects. Multiple infusions of the agent (e.g., 2–3× per week for several weeks) provide relief from depressive symptoms, but the symptoms reoccur once the treatment has been stopped. A 96-h infusion of a higher dose using add-on clonidine to mitigate the psychotomimetic effects appears to also provide relief and resulted in about 40% of the subjects still having a good response 8 weeks after the infusion. As this was a pilot study, additional work is needed to confirm and extend this finding. Nitrous oxide also has had positive results. Of the other investigational agents, CERC-301 and rapastinel remain in clinical development. When careful monitoring of neuropsychiatric symptoms has been conducted, these agents all produce similar side effects in the same dose range, indicating that NMDA receptor blockade produces both the wanted and unwanted effects. Research is still needed to determine the appropriate dose, schedule, and ways to mitigate against unwanted side effects of NMDA receptor blockade. These hurdles need to be overcome before ketamine and similar agents can be prescribed routinely to patients.
Empirical assignment of absorbing electronic state contributions to OCS photodissociation product state populations from 214 to 248 nm

Abstract The photodissociation dynamics of OCS near 214 nm for the S( 1 D 2 ) channel were studied using velocity map ion imaging. Earlier studies at this wavelength were extended with new measurements of vector correlations and reanalysis of the rotational distributions in the υ = 0 and υ = 1 CO products. The results were employed to identify the contributions of the 2 1 A ′ (A) and 1 1 A ″ (B) electronic state absorptions in OCS to the population of each CO final state. The contributions of the 1 1 A ″ (B) state to the CO (υ = 1) population was found to be ∼ 2.5 times smaller ( f B = 0.14 ± 0.04 ) than previous theoretical estimates, and that to the CO (υ = 0) distribution ∼ 1.7 times smaller ( f B = 0.20 ± 0.04 ). A similar analysis was applied to experimental rotational distributions from the literature at photolysis wavelengths of 223 nm, 230 nm, and 248 nm.
Smart Phone/Device Application to Improve Delivery of Enteral Nutrition in Adult Patients Admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit:

Background:Resident physicians are frequently uncomfortable ordering enteral nutrition (EN) and are unaware of the variety of formulas and supplements available for different disease processes. Man...
Forests of Vermont, 2017

This publication provides an overview of the forest resources in Vermont based upon inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the Northern Research Station. Information about the national and regional FIA program is available online at www.fia.fs.fed.us. Since 2003, FIA has implemented an annual inventory measuring 14 percent of sample plots each year. For the 2017 inventory, estimates for current variables, such as area, volume, and biomass, are based on 1,125 (925 forested) plots inventoried from 2011–2017. Change variables, such as net growth, removals, and mortality, are based on 970 (775 forested) plots inventoried in 2008-2012 and resampled in 2011–2017. Estimates from earlier annual and periodic inventories are included for comparison. See Bechtold and Patterson (2005) and O'Connell et al.(2017) for definitions and technical details. Additional data and reports are available online (www.nrs.fs.fed.us/fia/data-tools/state-reports/VT). A complete set of inventory tables is available at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-164.
The School of the Pacific: The Asian Side of the Postwar Transatlantic Exchanges

In the 1950s, many people in Paris were talking about a School of the Pacific. The term referred to various artists connected with the West Coast of the United States, including Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, and Sam Francis. Parisians praised those artists for the meditative quality of their works, which they contrasted with the action painting of the New York School. Relying on a systematic study of the reception of American art in postwar France, my paper will show that the artists associated with the Pacific School were then highly visible in Paris, where they enjoyed public and critical favor. Unlike their "European" colleagues from the East Coast, they were deemed to be truly American, because they belonged to the Far West and from there to the Pacific world, and so had their roots not just outside Europe but most importantly in Asia. In Postwar France, Asian culture played an important role, and many artists and thinkers were deeply influenced by Buddhism and calligraphy. By a complex play of cultural transfers, this interest, fed by several important exhibitions of Chinese and Japanese art, shaped the French reception and interpretation of American art scene of the 1950s.
Analysis and Design of Actuation–Sensing–Communication Interconnection Structures Toward Secured/Resilient LTI Closed-Loop Systems

This paper considers the analysis and design of resilient/robust decentralized control systems. Specifically, we aim to assess how the pairing of sensors and actuators lead to architectures that are resilient to attacks/hacks for industrial control systems and other complex cyber-physical systems. We consider inherent structural properties such as internal fixed modes of a dynamical system depending on actuation, sensing, and interconnection/communication structure for linear discrete time-invariant dynamical systems. We introduce the notion of a resilient fixed-modes free system that ensures the nonexistence of fixed modes when the actuation–sensing–communication structure is compromised due to attacks by a malicious agent on actuators, sensors, or communication components and natural failures. Also, we provide a graph-theoretical characterization for the resilient structurally fixed modes that enables to capture the nonexistence of resilient fixed modes for almost all possible systems’ realizations. Additionally, we address the minimum actuation–sensing–communication codesign ensuring the nonexistence of resiliently structurally fixed modes, which we show to be NP-hard. Notwithstanding, we identify conditions that are often satisfied in engineering settings and under which the codesign problem is solvable in polynomial-time complexity. Furthermore, we leverage the structural insights and properties to provide a convex optimization method to design the gain for a parameterized system and satisfying the sparsity of a given information pattern. Thus, exploring the interplay between structural and nonstructural systems to ensure their resilience. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated on a power grid example.
On the Entropy Power Inequality for the Rényi Entropy of Order [0, 1]

Using a sharp version of the reverse Young inequality, and a Renyi entropy comparison result due to Fradelizi, Madiman, and Wang (2016), the authors derive Renyi entropy power inequalities for log-concave random vectors when Renyi parameters belong to [0, 1]. Furthermore, the estimates are shown to be sharp up to absolute constants.
The Some Predictive Factors for Survival of Newborns with Esophageal Atresia

Background The esophageal atresia (EA) is the most common esophageal congenital anomaly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive factors in the survival of newborns with esophageal atresia. Materials and Methods This was a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study performed on newborns with esophageal atresia who were admitted at Bahrami children’s hospital, Tehran-Iran, during 7 years (2009-2015). The patient’s information was collected from their medical records and recorded in a checklist. The variables of the checklist included: age, sex, gestational age, birth weight, congenital anomalies, duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of hospitalization, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), and age at surgery, complications, and cause of death. Then, the relationship between different variables was evaluated with mortality and morbidity and the factors that had the greatest impact on patients' prognosis were identified. Results: The study included 95 neonates with EA. Fifty-three (55.8%) were male. The most common anomalies were cardiac (38.9%), renal (15.8%), and skeletal (9.5%). The most common postoperative complication was pneumothorax (31.6%), pneumonia (25%), and stenosis at the site of anastomosis (21.1%). In this study, 15 children died (mortality rate 15.7%), and the most common cause was sepsis. There was a significant relationship between birth weight and death, pneumothorax (P=0.008, and P=0.037, respectively). There was no significant relationship between gestational age and mortality (P>0.05). There was a significant relationship between major cardiac anomalies and duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality (P= 0.043, and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion This study showed that neonates with esophageal atresia, low birth weight, major cardiac anomalies and the need for prolonged mechanical ventilation are poor prognosis predictor factors.
South American Climate during the Early Eocene: Impact of a Narrower Atlantic and Higher Atmospheric CO2

AbstractThe Cenozoic climate of tropical South America was fundamental to the development of its biota, the most biodiverse on Earth. No previous studies have explicitly addressed how the very diff...
The Virgin Mary As Lady Grammar In The Medieval West

the virgin mary, as mother of the word, has long been associated with early literacy training in the medieval west, an association that, as this article argues, connects her to the marriage of philology and mercury's lady grammar. while gary p. cestaro has demonstrated the ways in which representations of lady grammar became more maternal throughout the medieval period, this article demonstrates how and why the virgin mother took on the persona of lady grammar in both verbal and material arts from the high to the late middle ages . it explores the famous sculptures of the virgin and lady grammar on the royal portal at chartres cathedral, the writings of grammatical theorists that led to these depictions, and the thirteenth-century artes poetriae that portray mary as a christian grammatica . from st. augustine's declaration that grammar is a “guardian” to the claims of gervais of melkley, john of garland, and eberhard the german that mary is the mother of beautiful expressions, grammatical thought and practice in the medieval west led to a characterization of the virgin, guardian of the word in her womb and parent to wisdom, as the supreme teacher and exemplar of latin. adopting lady grammar's iconography of the nourishing breast, classroom text, and punitive whip, the virgin mary is not only connected to basic latin instruction but also comes to embody its principles.
Scheduling of EV battery swapping in microgrids

Abstract This chapter focuses on the operation aspect of an electric vehicle (EV) station system in the battery swapping context and investigates analytical scheduling methods for cost saving, efficiency improvement, and its complementarity with microgrids as an energy carrier. Specifically, we formulate an optimal scheduling problem for battery swapping in a microgrid that assigns to each EV a best battery station to swap its depleted battery based on its current location and state of charge. The schedule aims to minimize a weighted sum of EVs’ travel distance and electricity generation cost over both station assignments and power flow variables, subject to EV range constraints, grid operational constraints, and AC power flow equations. Due to the nonconvexity of standard power flow equations and the binary nature of station assignments, the joint battery swapping and optimal power flow problem is computationally intractable in general. We first summarize and discuss several representative linearized/convexified network models for microgrids. On this basis, we then provide two possible analytical solutions to the problem that may both find their application in real scenarios, either solving for an optimum in a centralized manner with potential difficulties in scaling or solving for one desirable suboptimum in a scalable distributed manner. Both solutions are numerically validated using a real test case.
Minority Report: Prevalence of Fear of Violent and Property Crimes Among a Diverse College Sample

Fear is associated with several adverse health behaviors and outcomes. Fear of crime is associated with less exercise and outdoor activity, worse self-rated health status, and increased BMI. Fear of crime is also associated with more anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Yet little is known about the predictors of fear of specific types of crime. The objectives of this study are to (1) determine the prevalence of fear of violent victimization and fear of property crime among university students, (2) assess the association between sociodemographic predictors and (a) fear of violent victimization and (b) property crimes. A cross-sectional study was conducted among university students (n = 1415). Data on sociodemographics, fear of a variety of types of violent crime (physical assault, sexual assault, robbery/burglary, murder, and verbal threats), and property crime (arson, theft, and vandalism) were collected using online surveys. Summary variables for fear of violent crime and fear of property crime were created. Wilcoxen rank-sum and Kruskal–Wallis tests, and multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to assess relationships between sociodemographic predictors and fear variables. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students had the highest mean fear scores of physical assault, robbery/burglary, arson, and theft, while fear of verbal threats and vandalism were highest among Middle Eastern students. Muslim students reported the highest fear of verbal threats, arson, and vandalism. In multivariate models, fear of violent crime was significantly higher among Black (ME: 5.59), Hispanic (ME: 5.16), Asian (ME: 3.07), female (ME: 8.19), transgender/gender non-conforming (ME: 9.82), gay (ME: 12.16), and bisexual (ME: 3.74) students while fear of property crime was significantly higher among Black (ME: 2.81), Hispanic (ME: 2.10), Asian (ME: 1.84), female (ME: 2.49), and gay (ME: 3.11) students. Minority students have higher levels of fear than their peers. Universities must consider the issue of fear among minority students in an effort to prevent this public health issue.
Development of paper-based colorimetric assays for monitoring gestational diabetes at the point-of-care

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects between 2-14% of pregnant women in the United States every year. The glycated version of serum albumin, the most abundant protein in blood, owing to its half-life of ~21 days can effectively be used as an intermediate biomarker for monitoring GDM. Normal level of glycation of albumin is between 10-16% whereas in patients with diabetes it is much higher, between 16-40%. Thus, a point-of-care (POC) monitoring system to detect glycated albumin (GA) as a % of total serum albumin has been developed here. Specifically, a paper fluidic test to measure glycated and unglycated serum albumin has been developed that uses an aptamer-based assay with gold nanoparticles to produce colorimetric measurements. The assays were constructed using a sandwich aptamer format and colorimetric intensity was measured by scanning the capture layer of the paper fluidic device using a standard flatbed scanner followed by RGB analysis. The assays are able to determine the concentration of glycated and serum albumin in their physiologically relevant ranges of 50-300μM and 500-750μM. The paper fluidic system enabled the placement of gold nanoparticle probes in the device thereby automating the system and minimizing user intervention. Using aptamers as recognition elements and colorimetric transduction with gold nanoparticles, the system was shown, to possess the required sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range for physiologic monitoring.
Clinical Outcomes of Revision Biceps Tenodesis for Failed Long Head of Biceps Surgery: A Systematic Review.

Purpose We summarize the indications, assess the modes of failure, and analyze the clinical and functional outcomes of revision biceps tenodesis after failed primary surgical treatment of long head of biceps (LHB) pathology. Methods A computerized search of PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases and manual screening of selected article reference lists was performed in September 2020. Randomized controlled trial, cohort, case-control, and case series studies reporting clinical outcomes of revision biceps tenodesis following failed LHB surgery were eligible. Patient demographics, indications for revision, intraoperative findings, surgical techniques, and patient-reported outcomes were recorded. Functional assessment and pain scores were assessed and summarized as forest plots with means and 95% confidence intervals. Results Five of 465 identified studies met inclusion criteria, encompassing 70 revision biceps tenodesis procedures with mean follow-up of 2.4-6.4 years. The failed index procedure was biceps tenodesis in 62 patients and tenotomy in 8 patients. The most common indications for revision were pain or cramping and rerupture, cited by 4 and 3 articles, respectively. After failed conservative treatment, open subpectoral revision tenodesis was performed with concomitant arthroscopic debridement in 65 of 70 cases. Common intraoperative findings at time of revision were adhesions or scarring (39.0-83.0%), fixation failure (8.7-75.0%), and biceps rupture (17.4-80.0%). Revision tenodesis patients reported good to excellent functional outcomes with improvements in Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder, and visual analog scale pain scores, and satisfaction ranged from 88.0 to 100%. All studies demonstrated moderate quality of evidence and risk of bias when critically appraised. Conclusion This systematic review of 5 moderate risk of bias studies demonstrated that the most common reasons for revision biceps tenodesis were pain or cramping and rerupture. Open subpectoral revision tenodesis with concomitant arthroscopic debridement provided improvements in functional scores with high patient satisfaction at mid-term follow up. Level of Evidence IV, Systematic Review of level III and IV investigations.
Closed loop communication using provider team-specific smartphones improves the critical laboratory value notification process in paediatric inpatients

Appropriate handling of ‘critical’ laboratory test result values is an essential component of timely, quality patient care. While interinstitutional variability exists,1 critical values have historically been defined as potentially ‘life-threatening’ if not attended to quickly,2 necessitating prompt notification of a responsible clinician. Given patient safety implications, timely communication of results to a provider is a common regulatory element, including: (1) Joint Commission patient safety goals,3 (2) Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments4 and (3) the International Organization for Standardization.5 Inpatient values comprise a significant proportion of notifications,6 and among inpatients, oncology inpatients typically constitute a substantial volume.7 After laboratory result generation, contacting a responsible clinician can be complicated by multiple barriers. Previous approaches to improve this process include using call centres, automatic pager notifications and automatic personal digital assistant (PDA) telephone notifications.8–11 In our hospital, the inpatient haematology/oncology/stem cell transplantation (H/O) service had an overall notification success rate substantially lower than the hospital average as an effect of the large volume of critical results that typically returned in a short time period at certain times of day, leading to a multidisciplinary initiative to improve the notification process. In our free-standing 360-bed paediatric hospital, ‘overall’ successful critical result notification must: (1) be acknowledged by a licenced individual provider (LIP) and (2) meet criteria for ‘timely’ notification, indicating that both outgoing notification from the laboratory/call centre and LIP acknowledgement occur within 30 min of result generation. H/O inpatients account for 15%–20% of all inpatient critical values but had a significantly lower overall successful notification rate than the hospital average. Timely outgoing notification occurred >90%, but timely LIP acknowledgement was <5% for H/O inpatients. A multidisciplinary group with representatives of the H/O division, call centre, laboratory and patient safety analysed key drivers. Our group aimed to increase …
“Without Drug Court, You’ll End Up in Prison or Dead”: Therapeutic Surveillance and Addiction Narratives in Treatment Court

Drug treatment courts have continued to gain local, state, and national support in the United States. In lieu of incarceration, participants receive treatment and work with a drug court team comprised of treatment specialists and criminal justice actors. Upon program completion, the participant receives a lesser sentence; if the participant does not fulfill requirements, the original charges stand. Given the overlap between medical and criminal views of addiction, drug courts operate through therapeutic surveillance, merging forms of care and control. This article asks: in what ways are participants made to become objects of therapeutic surveillance in drug court? Drawing on narrative criminology, I observed judge–participant interactions in thirty-one drug court sessions in a deindustrialized city in Upstate New York. I find that participants are storied into the program as both a “criminal-addict” (object of control, associated with Black criminality) and a “recovering-addict” (object of care, associated with White middle-class citizenship). This liminal and racialized drug court identity presumes two narrative endings in program completion: social/corporal disposability (prison or death) in criminality and addiction or freedom in productive citizenship. This narrative identity is developed throughout program participation, in admission to the program, progress meetings, and graduation/termination. As criminal justice programs mix punitive and medical approaches, ongoing consideration of identity, narrative, and therapeutic surveillance is warranted.
Detection of Intact Transcription Factors in Human Neutrophils

The crucial contribution of neutrophils to innate immunity extends well beyond their traditional role as professional phagocytes. Indeed, it is now well established that neutrophils generate a plethora of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that are profoundly involved in the onset and evolution of the inflammatory reaction. Several recent studies have shown that neutrophils can represent an important source of inflammatory cytokines in pathophysiological settings. The inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines produced by neutrophils are generally encoded by immediate-early response genes, which in turn depend on the activation of transcription factors such as those belonging to the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) families. We have shown in the past that the expression of such factors is induced in neutrophils stimulated by physiological agonists. However, the detection of intact (i.e., undegraded) transcription factors in neutrophils requires special precautions and a specially designed protocol, due to the huge amounts of endogenous proteases present in these cells. This protocol is the focus of this chapter.
The midpoint locus of a triangle in a corner

We are given an equilateral triangle with vertices constrained to lie in each of the three positive octant coordinate planes (colloquially, “a triangle in a corner”). We wish to describe the locus of points covered by the midpoint of the triangle, as the vertices range over configurations allowed by the above constraint. This locus comprises a solid region. We use numerical and graphical methods, and also computational algebra, to find the boundary surface and visualize this locus.
Chemical and physical characteristics of springs discharging from regional flow systems of the carbonate-rock province of the Great Basin, western United States

The regional carbonate aquifer in the carbonate-rock province of the Great Basin, USA, covers thousands of square kilometers. It is a significant potential source of water for growth in this arid area. Few wells penetrate the carbonate aquifer, so information on water quantity and quality is derived in large part from ‘regional springs’ that discharge from regional interbasin flow systems. For this study, springs in the carbonate-rock province were sampled; their physical, chemical, and isotopic characteristics were compared to those of known regional springs to identify previously unrecognized regional waters using both examination of the data and multivariate statistical analysis. Criteria for comparison included temperature, discharge, 3H activity, carbon isotope values, and ratios of major and trace ions. Of the 18 springs selected for detailed chemical and isotopic sampling, five springs—Hot, Littlefield, Petrified, Saratoga, and Warm (a)—were identified as regional, and one (Monte Neva Hot) was identified as a possible regional spring. Regional springs provide an easy, low-cost means of investigating aquifer properties; identification of regional springs thus increases the ability to understand the regional carbonate aquifer. The techniques applied in this study can also be used in other regional aquifer systems with diverse and complex geology.
The Origins of Modern Jazz Dance

(2012). The Origins of Modern Jazz Dance. The Black Scholar: Vol. 42, Black Scholar Classics: Remembering the 1970's In Memorium: Elizabeth Catlett, 1915–2012, pp. 8-13.
Unbiased forward genetics and systems biology approaches to understanding how gene-environment interactions work to predict susceptibility and outcomes of infections

Like most human diseases, infectious diseases are effected by complex genetic traits and multiple, interactive environmental and inherent host factors. By linking specific genotypes to disease susceptibility phenotypes we can identify the genetic basis for inter-individual differences in disease susceptibility as well as gain insight into how gene-environment interactions influence infection outcomes. Our research has focused on delineating interactive pathways and molecular events modulating host resistance or susceptibility to specific pathogens. Our model system has been that of Group A Streptococcus infections that can manifest in starkly different ways and cause distinct diseases in genetically distinct individuals. We have extended our work to other pathogens, including those with a potential of causing major, global biological threats. In as much as it is quite difficult to conduct certain infectious disease studies in humans, there has been a critical need for small animal models for infectious diseases. Appreciating the limitations of existing models, we developed several novel and complementary mouse models that are ideal for use in systems genetics studies of complex diseases. These models not only allow biological validation of known genetic associations, but importantly they afford an unbiased tool for discovering novel genes and pathways contributing to disease outcomes, under different environments.
A FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBLE RETAILING (SRR) BUSINESS PRACTICES

The role of retailers in the practice of social responsible initiatives has been overlooked in the literature. This paper develops a framework for analysis of Social Responsible Retailing (SRR) by focusing on retailing business practices across the supply chain to the end consumer and among the internal and external stakeholders of the retail landscape. The framework is presented as a starting point to develop the concept of SRR and focuses on the potential role retailers can play in developing and coordinating social responsible business practices.
Cryobiology of Neurospora crassa: I. Freeze response of Neurospora crassa conidia

Abstract Neurospora crassa conidia were frozen and thawed in water suspensions at various rates and with different minimum temperatures. Colony counts of the experimental conidia were compared with those of controls, which were taken as 100% survival. The data revealed that (1) survivals were near 100% after fast thaw (400 °/min) regardless of the freeze rate, (2) percentage of survival was inversely related to freeze rate when combined with slow thaw, (3) slow thaw (0.5 °/min) was damaging, and (3) the rates of freeze-thaw affected the system only in the −5 to −20 ° interval. The damaging freeze conditions were those which favor ice crystal growth. It is suggested that rupture of the membrane by ice crystals seems to be the plausible mechanism of damage in freezing and thawing N. crassa conidia.
Performance of a block coded modulation scheme with equalization and antenna diversity

One of the main issues in evaluating the applicability of block coded modulation (BCM) for cellular communications is equalization, which is necessitated by delay spread caused by the channel. In this paper, we present a combined equalization and decoding (CED) algorithm for BCM schemes. The equalization is done via ISI cancellation using past decoder decisions. Using performance simulations, it is shown that CED algorithms are insensitive to the different delay spread conditions. Using pre-detection antenna selection diversity with the CED algorithm, performance improvements of 4-5 dB are demonstrated at a BER level of 1.0 E-03.
Rapid Demethylation of the IFN-γ Gene Occurs in Memory but Not Naive CD8 T Cells

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism of gene regulation. We have determined that specific modifications in DNA methylation at the IFN-gamma locus occur during memory CD8 T cell differentiation in vivo. Expression of the antiviral cytokine IFN-gamma in CD8 T cells is highly developmental stage specific. Most naive cells must divide before they express IFN-gamma, while memory cells vigorously express IFN-gamma before cell division. Ag-specific CD8 T cells were obtained during viral infection of mice and examined directly ex vivo. Naive cells had an IFN-gamma locus with extensive methylation at three specific CpG sites. An inhibitor of methylation increased the amount of IFN-gamma in naive cells, indicating that methylation contributes to the slow and meager production of IFN-gamma. Effectors were unmethylated and produced large amounts of IFN-gamma. Interestingly, while memory cells were also able to produce large amounts of IFN-gamma, the gene was partially methylated at the three CpG sites. Within 5 h of antigenic stimulation, however, the gene was rapidly demethylated in memory cells. This was independent of DNA synthesis and cell division, suggesting a yet unidentified demethylase. Rapid demethylation of the IFN-gamma promoter by an enzymatic factor only in memory cells would be a novel mechanism of differential gene regulation. This differentiation stage-specific mechanism reflects a basic immunologic principle: naive cells need to expand before becoming an effective defense factor, whereas memory cells with already increased precursor frequency can rapidly mount effector functions to eliminate reinfecting pathogens in a strictly Ag-dependent fashion.
Using novobiocin as a specific inhibitor of breast cancer resistant protein to assess the role of transporter in the absorption and disposition of topotecan

Purpose. To investigate the role of intestinal breast cancer resistant protein (BCRP) in the absorption and disposition of topotecan (TPT) using novobiocin (NOV) as a specific inhibitor. Methods. Transporter inhibition specificity of NOV was assessed in cells overexpressing BCRP or Pgp. Sprague-Dawley rats were orally or intravenously dosed with TPT (2 and 1 mg/kg for p.o. and i.v., respectively) with or without oral co-administration of NOV (50 mg/kg). Pharmacokinetic parameters of TPT were obtained by noncompartmental analysis. To assess the role of BCRP in TPT intestinal permeation, rat ileal segment was perfused with 10 uM TPT in the presence or absence of NOV (500 uM), TPT permeability was calculated based on drug appearance in mesenteric blood. To assess the role of BCRP in TPT intestinal secretion, rat ileal segment was perfused with saline in the presence or absence of NOV (500 uM), while TPT was i.v. infused into rat. Intestinal secretion of TPT was calculated based on drug appearance in the perfusate. Results. NOV significantly inhibited efflux activity of BCRP, but not Pgp. Coadministration of NOV markedly increased oral TPT AUC(0–720) and Cmax by 3- and 4.5-fold, respectively, and decreased systemic clearance of i.v. injected TPT (from 44.40±7.28 without NOV to 29.44±1.99 ml/min/kg with NOV). The inclusion of NOV in perfusate significantly increased TPT permeability from 0.81±0.30 x10(-6) to 1.26±0.12 x10(-6) cm/s, while, the intestinal secretion of TPT was reduced by ~50% when NOV was included in perfusate. Conclusions. The present study establishes in vitro and in vivo inhibition potency and specificity of NOV on BCRP and provides direct evidence that intestinal BCRP plays an important role in limiting the oral absorption and influencing the systemic elimination of TPT.
Agenesis of the corpus callosum: neonatal sonographic detection.

Context Agenesis of the corpus callosum is a rare congenital midline brain abnormality that can disrupt normal cognitive progression. Primary complete agenesis usually occurs earlier in embryologic development, while partial agenesis occurs in later gestation. Agenesis of the corpus callosum has an estimated incidence ranging from 0.03% to 0.7% in the general population and is considered to be a component of as many as 50 to 200 different syndromes. Objective The purpose of this article is to summarize recent literature pertaining to the diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum, including etiology, prognosis and the use of diagnostic medical sonography in the detection of this abnormality during the neonatal period. Results Agenesis of the corpus callosum can be easily detected with diagnostic medical sonography when a thorough evaluation of midline structures is performed. Summary A thorough understanding of related anomalies, an inclusive imaging protocol and the combination of critical thinking with investigative imaging will ensure that the diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum can be accurately established.
Structures of Trypanosoma brucei Methionyl-tRNA Synthetase with Urea-Based Inhibitors Provide Guidance for Drug Design against Sleeping Sickness.

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase of Trypanosoma brucei (TbMetRS) is an important target in the development of new antitrypanosomal drugs. The enzyme is essential, highly flexible and displaying a large degree of changes in protein domains and binding pockets in the presence of substrate, product and inhibitors. Targeting this protein will benefit from a profound understanding of how its structure adapts to ligand binding. A series of urea-based inhibitors (UBIs) has been developed with IC50 values as low as 19 nM against the enzyme. The UBIs were shown to be orally available and permeable through the blood-brain barrier, and are therefore candidates for development of drugs for the treatment of late stage human African trypanosomiasis. Here, we expand the structural diversity of inhibitors from the previously reported collection and tested for their inhibitory effect on TbMetRS and on the growth of T. brucei cells. The binding modes and binding pockets of 14 UBIs are revealed by determination of their crystal structures in complex with TbMetRS at resolutions between 2.2 A to 2.9 A. The structures show binding of the UBIs through conformational selection, including occupancy of the enlarged methionine pocket and the auxiliary pocket. General principles underlying the affinity of UBIs for TbMetRS are derived from these structures, in particular the optimum way to fill the two binding pockets. The conserved auxiliary pocket might play a role in binding tRNA. In addition, a crystal structure of a ternary TbMetRS•inhibitor•AMPPCP complex indicates that the UBIs are not competing with ATP for binding, instead are interacting with ATP through hydrogen bond. This suggests a possibility that a general ‘ATP-engaging’ binding mode can be utilized for the design and development of inhibitors targeting tRNA synthetases of other disease-causing pathogen.